nep-cis New Economics Papers
on Confederation of Independent States
Issue of 2013‒12‒15
five papers chosen by
Alexander Harin
Modern University for the Humanities

  1. Land Tenure and Productivity in Agriculture: The Case of the Stolypin Reform in Late Imperial Russia By Paul Castaneda Dower; Andrei Markevich
  2. INEFFICIENT SOCIAL EXPENDITURES IN THE CONTEXT OF SPATIAL POLICY By Irina Starodubrovskaya
  3. The Gas Target Model for the Vysehrad 4 Region. Conceptual Analysis By Sergio Ascari
  4. Spillover versus Ownership: A Meta-Analysis of Transition Literature By Iwasaki, Ichiro; Tokunaga, Masahiro
  5. Migration-Induced Women’s Empowerment: The Case of Turkey By Şule Akkoyunlu

  1. By: Paul Castaneda Dower (New Economic School and Centre of Economic and Financial Research); Andrei Markevich (New Economic School and University of Warwick)
    Abstract: We study the effect of improvements in peasants’ land tenure, launched by the Stolypin reform, on agricultural productivity in late imperial Russia. The reform allowed peasants to obtain land titles and consolidate plots. We find that land consolidations increased productivity. We argue that changes in peasant de facto land usage rights caused this effect. In contrast, the titling component of the reform was associated with a decrease in land productivity. We present evidence that this negative effect was driven by transaction costs to exit the commune and the outflow of labor from the countryside.
    Date: 2013–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfr:cefirw:w0202&r=cis
  2. By: Irina Starodubrovskaya (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy)
    Abstract: Nowadays, the issue of inefficient social expenditures is not just a local item of social policy, rather it comes as far as the macroeconomic level, being considered in discussions about sources of financing of the national long-term development strategy.
    Keywords: Russian economy, regional economy, social expenditure, social polic
    JEL: H5 H7
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0075&r=cis
  3. By: Sergio Ascari
    Abstract: The Gas Target Model is a challenge, notably for the less than large European markets that are fostered to merge in order to boost liquidity. Th challenge is even tougher for the Vysehrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), which have long been dependent on Russian supplies and are therefore characterised by less open markets than their Western neighbours. This paper analyses the reality of the V4 countries vis -à-vis the European Gas Target Model, starting from their current and expected infrastructural endowment, and suggests ways to develop and implement it in the most efficient way for them and for the EU as a whole.
    Keywords: Gas Target Model, Vysehrad 4, Security of Supply, Gas Hubs
    Date: 2013–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2013/78&r=cis
  4. By: Iwasaki, Ichiro; Tokunaga, Masahiro
    Abstract: In this paper, we conduct a meta-analysis of the literature that empirically examines the microeconomic impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The meta-synthesis of estimates collected from relevant studies shows that both the effect size and the statistical significance of the indirect effect of FDI, namely the productivity spillover effect, are obviously lower than those of the direct effect caused by foreign participation in company management through ownership. Moreover, the meta-regression analysis reveals that, probably due to the presence of publication selection bias, previous studies have not yet provided empirical evidence of a non-zero productivity spillover effect in the region. Further research efforts are required to capture the true effect.
    Keywords: foreign direct investment (FDI), technology spillover, foreign ownership, meta-analysis, publication selection bias, Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union
    JEL: D22 F21 F23 P33
    Date: 2013–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:rrcwps:42&r=cis
  5. By: Şule Akkoyunlu
    Abstract: Migration not only contributes to development through financial remittances, but also through flows of knowledge and through the diffusion of social, cultural and political norms and values. In fact, these more intangible contributions are more appreciated during economic and financial crises, as financial remittances become unstable or decrease in those circumstances. This paper, therefore, addresses the effect of migration on women’s empowerment in Turkey. The number of women in parliament in Turkey is chosen as a gauge of women’s empowerment and is explained by the emigration rate, the relative education of women to men, and a measure of democracy. Utilization of data over six decades from 1960 until 2011 gives the possibility that these series can be spuriously correlated. Therefore, the paper addresses the issue of spurious correlation in an analytical way. Spurious correlation is the risk of linking the share of women in parliament, for example, to the emigration rate when in fact there is no association. This study adopts the bounds testing procedure as a method to determine and to avoid spurious correlation. The results of bounds testing gives clear-cut evidence that women’s empowerment, the share of women in parliament in the present context, is related to the emigration rate, the relative education of women and to a measure of democracy. The bounds-testing procedure is replicated for emigration flows by destination country groups such as European and other core OECD countries, Arab countries, and Russia and CIS (Commonwealth Independent States) countries. Again, it is found that the share of women in parliament is related to the country groups with the largest effect in European and core OECD countries. The results are robust for the inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees in the emigration data. These results have important policy implications for sending as well as for destination countries, implications which are discussed in the paper.
    Keywords: Emigration, Social Remittances, Women's Empowerment, Women share in parliament, Turkey
    Date: 2013–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2013/77&r=cis

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