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on Confederation of Independent States |
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Issue of 2017‒08‒06
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Nazmus Sadat Khan |
| Abstract: | What is the relative importance of Russia and Western European countries on Central and East European and Baltic (CEE-Baltic) countries? This paper tries to address this geo-politically important question by quantifying and comparing the spillover effects of a growth and trade shocks coming out of Russia and three major Western European countries (i.e. Germany, France and Italy) on ten CEE-Baltic countries. It uses a global vector autoregression (GVAR) model with quarterly data from 2003Q1-2015Q3. In constructing the foreign variables, a time varying trade weight is used instead of a fixed weight in order to take account of the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the recent economic sanctions on Russia. The results show that growth spillover effects are strong in the region. However, shocks to Russia have higher and persistent spillover effects on CEE-Baltic countries compared to shocks to Western European countries. Spillover effects of growth shocks also show that Russia is affected more by Western European countries than the other way round. Trade balance shocks on the other hand do not play an important role in this transmission process. |
| Keywords: | economic growth, spillover e ects, global vector autoregression, Central and East European countries |
| JEL: | C32 F43 O47 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cqe:wpaper:6517&r=cis |
| By: | Lyazzat Nugumanova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies); Miriam Frey; Natalya Yemelina; Stanislav Yugay |
| Abstract: | We provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of environmental governance concerning air pollution, water problems and waste generation in Kazakhstan. The overview of the environmental and institutional framework in these fields reveals that major environmental problems exist in the country. Some steps have already been taken to ensure a proper management of air, waste and water. However, more coordinated cross-sectoral actions, both on the regional and the national level, need to be undertaken to ensure a productive cooperation between state institutions, business and the society. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, waste generation, water usage, environmental policy, institutions, Kazakhstan |
| JEL: | O13 O44 Q53 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:366&r=cis |
| By: | Kobil Ruziev (University of the West of England, Bristol); Davron Rustamov (University of the West of England, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first study that carefully documents higher education reforms in Uzbekistan since the demise of the former Soviet Union. It analyses evolution of the sector with clear emphasis on government policy and its impact on changing the country's higher education landscape since independence. The study highlights complex interactions between the distinct pre- and post-independence contexts, policy legislation and its implementation on the one hand, and the demands of the new market-based economic system and the requirements of building and strengthening state institutions to support the transition process on the other hand. The paper will show why the country's peculiar 'strictly top-down' approach to reforms has not been successful on improving a number of key areas including access to higher education, and human as well as physical capacities of high education institutions which ultimately determine the quality of higher education provisioning. |
| Date: | 2016–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20161604&r=cis |
| By: | Lyazzat Nugumanova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg); Miriam Frey |
| Abstract: | We provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of environmental governance and policy in Kazakhstan as the country is assumed to have a leading role in Central Asia in terms of green growth and sustainable development. The overview of the environmental and institutional framework in the country reveals that the significant steps towards an improvement of environmental governance have been undertaken. |
| Keywords: | shadow economy; environmental governance, environmental policy, institutions, Kazakhstan |
| JEL: | Q50 Q58 Q59 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:365&r=cis |
| By: | Sushama Murty (Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Exeter) |
| Abstract: | We develop a methodology for (a) constructing unilateral profit (producer surplus)- increasing and emission-decreasing policy reforms and (b) measuring marginal abatement cost (MAC), when countries operate inefficiently in meeting their self-imposed emission caps and when instantaneous radical jumps from their inefficient status-quos to their emission-constrained optima are infeasible due to existing institutional and political constraints. Data from 118 countries combined with the theoretical methodology developed reveals that (a) allocative inefficiencies are pervasive, (b) our proposed unilateral-efficiency increasing reform can result in more than 8% increase in global profit and 30% reduction in net global emission of CO2 – the biggest gainers being USA, China, Japan, Russia, India, and several countries from western European, and (c) MACs range from zero to 3,000 USD per ton of carbon (USDptc) in 94% of countries in our sample. MAC is more than (resp., less than) 1,000 USDptc in 80% of OECD (resp., 61% of non-OECD) countries. While MACs are zero for many countries in the former Soviet block, they are more than 2,000 USDptc for countries in western Europe. These differences in MACs imply considerable scope for multilateral efficiency improvements in meeting voluntary emission reduction targets through international emission trading and other international climate initiatives. Length:74 pages |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:citdwp:16-02&r=cis |