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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Lorenz Kueng; Evgeny Yakovlev |
| Abstract: | We use the Anti-Alcohol Campaign in 1986 and the rapid expansion of the beer market after the collapse of the Soviet Union as two quasi-natural experiments to identify highly persistent habit formation in alcohol consumption among Russian males. Importantly, these results apply to all levels of alcohol consumption and are not driven by heavy drinking or alcoholism. The two large shocks combined with persistent habits lead to large cohort differences in consumer behavior even decades later. We derive a basic model of habit formation with homogeneous preferences over two habit-forming goods, which is consistent with these facts. Using placebo tests as well as simple descriptive statistics, we show that habits are formed during early adulthood and remain largely unaffected afterward. The main alternative hypotheses such as income effects, unobserved taste heterogeneity, stepping-stone effects, and changes in culture or social norms are inconsistent with those patterns. Using the experiments as IVs, we estimate the first-order autoregressive coefficient to be 0.83, which is almost three times larger than its OLS estimate. Finally, our results suggest that male mortality in Russia will decrease by one quarter within twenty years even under current policies and prices due to the long-run consequences of the large changes in the alcohol market. |
| JEL: | D12 E21 G02 I10 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20298&r=cis |
| By: | Mosalev, Anton |
| Abstract: | Modernization as a platform for a possible innovative development of Russia's economy in general and in particular mesoeconomics of the regions is of paramount importance. However, its systematic conduct is faced with many obstacles. So in the article, it is determined that many institutional factors can act as positive and neutral basis for current and future development programs. Attracting investors to the territory of the region should be determined by the parameters of how the internal environment (expectations may have a counter-proposal), and external, that are largely mediated by government policy. In a number of hypotheses based on the analysis of public statistics, verification and evaluation of the significance of which allowed us to determine those "buckles", the account of which may contribute to a systematic, competent program of modernization of economic activities and opportunities for innovative development agents on the mesoeconomics’ level. |
| Keywords: | mesoeconomics, modernization, experimental design techniques, education, labor, investments |
| JEL: | E22 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57327&r=cis |
| By: | M. Kemal Yilmaz; Orhan Erdem; Veysel Eraslan; Evren Arik |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effects of technological changes on selected stock market qualities such as liquidity, turnover and volatility. The data set includes daily data of 361 stocks from 10 emerging market exchanges, namely Colombia, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Thailand. The analysis is based mainly on the comparison between the pre- and post-launch of a new trading platform for equity markets. A panel data regression analysis shows that technological upgrade decreases the bid-ask spread and increases trading activity. In other words, launching a more sophisticated trading platform contributes to the overall efficiency of the market. Moreover, we find that, in some exchanges, an important upgrade in the technological infrastructure of the exchange decreases its level of volatility. |
| Keywords: | Market Microstructure, Technological Upgrade, High Frequency Trading, Emerging Markets, Liquidity |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bor:wpaper:1420&r=cis |