|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Mishra, SK |
| Abstract: | Development of village, micro and small enterprises in India has a special significance with regard to bridging up the disparities between urban and rural sectors of the economy on the one hand and the more industrialized and the less industrialized states on the other. It would also channelize to the mainstream the forces of development in the rural and remote areas presently strewn with the immense possibilities of manufacturing and service activities. Mahatma Gandhi had envisioned this long back, but Indian planners exhibited their preference to development of large-scale industries first. However, after having taken a step further to globalization and liberalization, India has recognized the relevance of small enterprises. Enactment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 is an instance of the action taken in the wake of this recognition. The North Eastern Region (NER) of India comprises eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, all well known for their handicrafts. The Schedule Tribes form the majority of population there. Most of these states are hilly and have remained agriculturally as well as industrially backward. Promotion of small enterprises is most suitable for their timely development. In this paper we present a statistically detailed profile of small enterprises in the NER. We explore the possibilities of development of the small enterprises sector and discuss the constraints on the same. |
| Keywords: | Micro and small enterprises; small-scale industries; North Eastern Region; India; MSME; MSE; rural; village; Arunachal Pradesh; Assam; Manipur; Meghalaya; Mizoram; Nagaland; Tripura; Sikkim; development; prospects; constraints |
| JEL: | D29 Z0 L88 D24 L60 O53 L80 |
| Date: | 2007–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:3752&r=cwa |
| By: | Ali T. Akarca (University of Illinois at Chicago); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | 1995 Turkish parliamentary election was held almost under the conditions of a controlled experiment. The unique cross-section data pertaining to this election is utilized to study the voter behavior in Turkey. Turkish voters are found to take government’s economic performance into account but not look back beyond one year. A poor performance is found to benefit the extremist opposition parties at the expense of the major incumbent party. The minor incumbent and the centrist opposition parties appear to be unaffected by economic conditions. Voters also exhibit a tendency to vote against the parties holding power. The party preferences of Turkish voters depend on their socioeconomic characteristics as well. |
| Keywords: | elections, voter behavior, economic voting, party preference, Turkey |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2881&r=cwa |
| By: | Parthapratim Pal; Jayati Ghosh |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the nature and causes of the patterns of inequality and poverty in India. Since the economic liberalization in the early 1990s, the evidence suggests increasing inequality (in both spatial and vertical terms) as well as persistent poverty. The macroeconomic policies possibly responsible for these trends include—fiscal tightening, regressive tax policies and expenditure cuts; financial sector reform that reduced institutional credit flow to small producers and agriculturalists; liberalization of rules for foreign and domestic investment, leading to more regional imbalance and skewed investment patterns, and trade liberalization, which has affected livelihoods and employment generation. |
| Keywords: | India, inequality, poverty, growth and distribution, macroeconomic policies |
| JEL: | O15 O53 |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:45&r=cwa |
| By: | Menon, Sudha Venu |
| Abstract: | As Gandhi often pointed out, India lives in villages and unless village life can be revitalized the nation as a whole can hardly come alive. When India became independent in 1947, perhaps one-third of the villages of India had traditional Panchayats and many of them were far from flourishing conditions. The congress government has made a determined effort to promote the creation of Panchayats and to make them effective units of local self- government. Article 40 of the Constitution clearly declares ‘The state shall take necessary actions to organize village Panchayats and to endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government’. The aim was to foster democratic participation, to involve villagers in the development of the community and to reduce the burden of higher level of administration. Though various steps were taken by successive governments to revitalize the system, Gramswaraj through village Panchayats remained as a distant dream till 1992. Bureaucratic apathy, indifference of the people, lack of political will, lack of uniformity etc were the main factors behind the failure of the system. Realizing the potential of the PR system, Rajeev Gandhi government initiated a process of Constitutional amendment to give sanctity and uniformity to Panchayati Raj system so that it can be immune from political interference and bureaucratic indifference. Rajeev Gandhi introduced 64th Constitutional amendment Bill in 1989. But the Bill did not materialize because of the fall of his Ministry. Finally the P.V.Narasimha Rao government introduced Panchayati Raj system in India through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in 1992. The article mainly focuses on the effectiveness of 73rd Constitutional amendment in securing empowerment of people. The article tries to capture the efforts of various states to implement panchayati Raj system and makes a comparative study of performance of states in terms of people’s participation, capacity building, de-bureaucratization and decentralization of powers. The salient features of 73rd Amendment Act including reservation of seats, provision for separate election commission and finance commission, gramsabha, taxes, periodic elections etc are discussed. More over it examines the initiatives of state governments towards democratic decentralization and highlights special programmes initiated by Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh etc to make the system effective. The article critically evaluates the effectiveness of PRIs as a system of governance for increased people’s participation empowerment and social change. Here attempt is made to incorporate the results of impact assessment studies conducted by World Bank. Concluding section highlights the need for revitalizing the system through integrating NREGP [National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme] and NRHM [National Rural Health Mission] etc |
| Keywords: | Democracy; decentralization; India; Panchayati Raj |
| JEL: | R0 |
| Date: | 2007–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:3839&r=cwa |
| By: | Sarmistha Pal (Brunel University and IZA); Sugata Ghosh (Brunel University) |
| Abstract: | Inter- and intra-state disparities in levels of literacy rates in India are striking, especially for the marginalized groups of women and low caste population. The present paper offers an explanation of this disparate development in terms of elite dominance that discriminates against the minority groups of people and systematically under-invests in mass education. We experiment with various indirect economic and political measures of elite dominance. Results based on the Indian state-level data for the period 1960-92 suggest that higher share of land held by the top 5% of the population (a) lowers spending on education as well as total developmental spending and (b) increases total non-developmental spending. Greater proportion of minority representations (female and low caste members) in the ruling government however fails to have any perceptible impact on development (including education) spending in our sample. This analysis also identifies land reform and poverty alleviation as two important policy instruments to erode the initial disadvantage of the marginalised people. |
| Keywords: | under-investment in education, discrimination against female and low-caste population, persistence of elite dominance, poverty, land reform |
| JEL: | I28 J15 O15 P48 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2852&r=cwa |
| By: | Necmiddin Bagdadioglu (Department of Public Finance, Hacettepe University and Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia); Catherine Waddams Price (Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia); Thomas Weyman-Jones (Department of Economics, Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | Turkish electricity reform is entering a new phase through the Turkish Government's proposal to create 21 new distribution companies, 18 of them through merger. Two aspects of merger analysis are the operational cost savings and the potential production efficiency gains. This paper concentrates on the second aspect and uses a recently developed methodology to assess the potential effect of these mergers and whether these mergers are efficiency enhancing. This is performed by comparing the actual efficiency levels of observed distribution companies with the merger of proposed aggregated companies. The model is calibrated on panel data from 1999 to 2003 which include measures of physical capital and labour inputs, as well as customer and energy related outputs. The results indicate potential for considerable efficiency gains from the proposed mergers. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency and productivity analysis, data envelopment analysis, electricity distribution |
| JEL: | G34 C14 L5 L94 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ccp:wpaper:wp06-13&r=cwa |
| By: | Sarmistha Pal (Brunel University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | The present paper argues that intergenerational transfers between elderly parents and adult children are important determinants of any coresidency arrangement though generally overlooked in the existing literature. In this respect the paper distinguishes between exchange of both financial and other kinds of transfers between elderly parents and adult children and then examines the effects of these transfers on coresidency taking account of the inherent endogeneity of these transfers to coresidency decision. There is evidence that the effects of transfers on coresidency arrangements could be biased if one does not correct for the endogeneity bias. The corrected estimates derived from a system of correlated and recursive system of transfers and coresidency equations suggest that the probability of coresidence is generally lower among the better off elderly; the likelihood is also lower for the older and female elderly without a spouse and also those with poor health, thus necessitating social protection for these disadvantaged elderly. |
| Keywords: | co-residence with children, intergenerational transfers, elderly health and wealth effects, simultaneity bias, correlated recursive model |
| JEL: | H55 I31 J14 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2847&r=cwa |
| By: | Pushkar Maitra (Monash University); Sarmistha Pal (Brunel University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between early childbearing and child mortality in Bangladesh, a country where adolescent childbearing is of particular concern. We argue that effective use of specific health inputs could however significantly lower child mortality rates even among adolescent women. This offers an attractive policy option particularly when compared to the costly alternative of delaying age at marriage. In particular, we find that women having early childbirth tend to use health inputs differently from all other women. After correcting for this possible selectivity bias, the adverse effects of early childbirth on child mortality are reversed. The favourable effects of use of health inputs however continue remain statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | family formation, adolescent childbearing, hospital delivery, child vaccination, child mortality, selectivity bias, unobserved heterogeneity, correlated estimates |
| JEL: | D13 I12 O15 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2841&r=cwa |
| By: | Gunseli Berik; Yana van der Meulen Rodgers |
| Abstract: | This study examines the nature and enforcement mechanisms of labor standards in two Asian economies (Cambodia and Bangladesh) that are experiencing strong pressures to cut labor costs and improve the price competitiveness of their textile and garment exports. Analysis of survey, interview, and compliance data indicate differing trajectories in compliance with basic labor standards. While problems persist in Bangladesh, compliance has improved in Cambodia following a trade agreement with the United States that linked positive trade incentives with labor standards enforcement. These contrasting experiences present important lessons for the debate on enforcing standards that protect female workers in formal-sector jobs. |
| Keywords: | Working conditions, enforcement, labor laws, female workers, gender and trade |
| Date: | 2007–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uta:papers:2007_03&r=cwa |
| By: | Aamer Abu-Qarn (Department of Economics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev); Suleiman Abu-Bader (Department of Economics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) |
| Abstract: | IThis paper endogenously determines the timing of structural breaks in military expenditures and military burdens for the major parties involved in the Israeli-Arab conflict, namely Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Syria over the period 1960-2004. Utilizing a test proposed by Vogelsang (1997), we find that all these countries experienced structural breaks, though at different periods in the late 70s and during the 80s. These structural breaks mark a sharp decline in the military burden that can be attributed to the peace talks that were initiated shortly after the 1973 war. When applying the Bai and Perron (1998, 2003) multiple structural break tests we detect two structural breaks for every country. The first break occurred during the 60s and demonstrated a significant rise in the military burden prior to the 1973 war, whereas the second break occurred in the late 70s and during the 80s and was characterized by a sharp decline in the military burden following the instigation of peace negotiations. |
| Keywords: | Military Expenditures, Military Burden, Middle-East, Israeli-Arab Conflict, Structural Breaks. |
| JEL: | H56 O53 C22 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bgu:wpaper:231&r=cwa |