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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Parashar Kulkarni (CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment) |
| Abstract: | This paper tries to understand whether importers in the North are able to push exporters in the South towards sustainable production, with the help of a case study of the Indian leather industry. After providing a short description of the global leather footwear industry, the first section provides insights into the competitive advantages of different countries, characteristics of developing country exporters and the difference between large and small European buyers of Indian leather footwear. The subsequent section provides an insight into the different chains of influence that exist in trying to make international trade more sustainable with the help of a broad understanding of the means, their effectiveness, their constraints and a few examples of such chains of influence. Section four studies whether ecolabels are in a position to be suitable indicators of sustainability. Further it delves into understanding the perspectives of consumers, producers and regulators on whether ecolabels are useful in promoting sustainable exports. The explanation of how ecolabels conflict with brand dynamics is quite interesting. The policy measures provide clear options for targeting sustainable production. Suggestions include use of eco-elasticity indicator, toolbox approach to environment policy, introducing comprehensive sustainability labels, maintaining a level of mandatory legislations as well as a constructive effort to increase transparency in supply chains. The annexure include the research methodology adopted for the paper, the reason for choosing Europe as destination for the research, a brief overview about types of ecolabels and a small description of integrated product policies. |
| Keywords: | Ecolabels, Export promotion, Leather footwear, Market access |
| JEL: | F18 |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.15&r=cwa |
| By: | Amit K. Bhandari (University of Kalyani); Almas Heshmati (MTT Economic Research, Seoul National University and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | The process of globalization is an international economic order which has led to the progressive integration of the world economy through the pulling the barrier of trade and greater mobility of factors of production. In addition the technological innovation also provides impetus to the progressive integration of the nations. The elements of globalization include free movement of goods and services, flow of capital, movement of labor and the transfer of technology. Many transition and developing countries through liberalization and increased openness to trade have benefited from the process. Apart from the economic benefits, globalization also indicates the flow of ideas, norms, information and peoples. There is a large heterogeneity in the degree of globalization over time and across countries and regions of the World, as well as within countries. The present study is an attempt to measure globalization by using both parametric and non-parametric approaches. The data cover a wide range of industrialized, transition and developing countries on the basis of their international integration. We identify the factors influencing globalization among the countries in the form of economic integration, personal contact, technology and political engagement. We isolate the contribution of the factors by quantifying the individual factor contribution to the overall integration. Finally, we investigate the links between globalization and labor market in India manufacturing industry. |
| Keywords: | globalization, economic integration, composite index, manufacturing, India |
| JEL: | C43 F15 L60 O50 |
| Date: | 2005–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1578&r=cwa |
| By: | Carlo Carraro (University of Venice, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, CEPR and CEPS); Barbara Buchner (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | No international regime on climate change is going to be fully effective in controlling GHG emissions without the involvement of countries such as China, India, the United States, Australia, and possibly other developing countries. This highlights an unambiguous weakness of the Kyoto Protocol, where the aforementioned countries either have no binding emission targets or have decided not to comply with their targets. Therefore, when discussing possible post-Kyoto scenarios, it is crucial to prioritise participation incentives for all countries, especially those without explicit or with insufficient abatement targets. This paper offers a bottom-up game-theoretic perspective on participation incentives. Rather than focusing on issue linkage, transfers or burden sharing as tools to enhance the incentives to participate in a climate agreement, this paper aims at exploring whether a different policy approach could lead more countries to adopt effective climate control policies. This policy approach is explicitly bottom-up, namely it gives each country the freedom to sign agreements and deals, bilaterally or multilaterally, with other countries, without being constrained by any global protocol or convention. This study provides a game-theoretic assessment of this policy approach and then evaluates empirically the possible endogenous emergence of single or multiple climate coalitions. Welfare and technological consequences of different multiple bloc climate regimes will be assessed and their overall environmental effectiveness will be discussed. |
| Keywords: | Agreements, Climate, Incentives, Negotiations, Policy |
| JEL: | C72 H23 Q25 Q28 |
| Date: | 2005–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.21&r=cwa |
| By: | Raghbendra Jha; Raghav Gaiha; Anurag Sharma |
| Abstract: | The contribution of the present paper is threefold. First, we formally test whether the effect of calorie deprivation on wages is more significant/higher for the lower quantiles of workers. In the extant literature this is established through non-linear terms in the wage equation. A more satisfactory method of doing this is through quantile regressions. Second, the quantile regression approach helps us identify the exact group for which the poverty-nutrition trap holds. The extant literature is unable to establish whether there are systematic differences across different quintiles in the response of productivity/wages to nutrition. The present paper addresses this lacuna. Third, we are able to establish a critical wage level for which the PNT trap hypothesis holds. For wages higher than this the hypothesis does not hold. We then argue that this value of the wage rate should set a floor for any minimum wage for agricultural labourers. |
| Keywords: | nutrition, calories, wages, poverty trap, labourers Length (pages): 33 |
| JEL: | I I I J |
| Date: | 2005–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2005-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Bernardi, Luigi; Fraschini, Angela |
| Abstract: | This paper is part of a wider research on South-East Asia countries’ taxation carried on under the supervision of. V. Tanzi. India is a federal republic and a big, highly populated and poor country, which however since some years has entered the catching up stage of development and shows impressive rates of GDP growth. General Government budget is structurally imbalanced and public debt stays high. Public spending (about 25 percent of GDP) is mainly devoted to general services, defense, and the support of economic activities, rather than to public health and welfare programs. Total fiscal pressure (about 17 percent of GDP) is in line with per capita GDP and is shared evenly enough between central and states governments. The structure of the tax system is not much beyond the Musgravian “early stage”. A complex structure of taxes on goods and services is largely the main heading of the tax system and it is difficultly moving towards a VAT-kind structure. Direct taxes still are in an infant state, both as weight as well as structure. Import duties remain at not negligible levels. Social contributions are entirely lacking. A tax system of a country like India unavoidably raises more than one problem: foremost among these problems appear to be a too large dominance of a complex and obsolete indirect taxation and the fiscal relations among government layers. The road to updating and improving the Indian tax system has been entered since the early 1990s, but the reform is still largely to be accomplished. Introducing VAT – so successfully adopted in other developing countries – is the most striking but not the only example. |
| JEL: | H20 H24 H25 H29 |
| Date: | 2005–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uca:ucapdv:45&r=cwa |
| By: | Mahesh Kumar Tambi (ICFAI institute for Management Teachers) |
| Abstract: | Generally there is a common belief that returns and trading activities have a strong positive relationship. This paper analyzes return-volume relationship in Indian context, both in contemporaneous as well as lead- lag. Initial screening of returns and trading activity data shows some idiosyncratic aspect of Indian market although a positive return- activity relationship is acknowledged. This study also documents the dissimilarity in relationship for positive and negative changes in prices. As regards lead-lag relationship, this paper finds strong evidence of volume causing returns than vice-versa. |
| Keywords: | Trading volume, Price change, contemporaneous relationship, lead-lag relationship, systematic irregularities, ARIMA filtering, Haugh test, Granger Sims Causality |
| JEL: | G |
| Date: | 2005–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpfi:0504013&r=cwa |
| By: | Mahesh Kumar Tambi (ICFAI Institute for Management Teachers) |
| Abstract: | Paper analyzes the degree of integration of Indian stock market with other developing and developed nations’ stock markets using various techniques of cointegration like Engle Granger two stage method, Johansen cointegration method, VAR-ECM, Principle-Component Analysis and Impulse-response analysis. |
| Keywords: | Financial markets Integration, Johansen test, VAR-ECM, Engle- Granger Two stage method, Developed nations, Developing Nations. |
| JEL: | G |
| Date: | 2005–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpfi:0504014&r=cwa |
| By: | Rahul Shastri (National Akademi of Development) |
| Abstract: | Globalisation is likely adversely impact the traditional classes. It also threatens to destroy national market, from which stems the bargaining power of the traditional classes.In spite of this, the paper suggests that the response to globalisation in India has necessarily to be discordant. It argues that the state will be unable to oppose globalisation due to the strategic need for economic growth, new technology, military knowhow, and ultimately the survival of India as a nation. Hence the society must protect itself from globalisation, independently of the positions of the Indian state. The paper argues that class actions will primarily protect the special interests of different classes, but may fail to protect the national market. Yet, since the national market is the basis of the independence of the national classes, it needs to be protected at all costs. For this, a socio-cultural mobilisation to protect the national market is required. The struggle to conserve cultural barriers to the national market is a common struggle of all national classes. However, this struggle can be informed by a knowledge of the labour content of different items sold to the consumers. Protection of the national market from globalisation is urgent, and its loss may put the Indian people at the mercy of forces beyond their national borders and political control. |
| Keywords: | Globalisation, National Market, Capital, Labour, Culture, Labour Theory of Value, Karl Marx |
| JEL: | A F3 |
| Date: | 2005–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpgt:0504001&r=cwa |
| By: | Wietze LISE (Vrije Universiteit) |
| Abstract: | There is a multi-dimensional need for studying the energy situation in Turkey and to ob-tain insight into the development of CO2 emissions. On the one hand, recent projections of the OECD show that Turkey has a yearly GDP growth potential of over 7%. On the other hand, recent projections of UNDP and World Bank indicate that the level of CO2 emission is going to rise six-fold by 2025 with respect to the level of emissions in 1990. It is a great challenge to both meet the growth target and keep the CO2 under control. Thereupon, this paper tries to unfold factors that explain CO2 emissions by undertaking a complete decomposition analysis for Turkey over the period 1980–2003. The analysis shows, as is common to relatively fast growing economies, that the biggest contributor to the rise in CO2 emissions is the expansion of the economy (scale effect). The carbon intensity and the change in composition of the economy, which nearly move in tandem, also contribute to the rise in CO2 emissions, albeit at a slower rate. The energy intensity of the economy, which is decreasing, is responsible for a modest reduction in CO2 emissions. Hence, in congruence with the scale effect, we do not find a decoupling of carbon emissions and economic growth in Turkey over the period 1980–2003. |
| Keywords: | Decomposition analysis, Turkey, Energy, CO2 emissions, Economic growth |
| JEL: | Q4 Q54 |
| Date: | 2005–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.24&r=cwa |