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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Meyer, Thomas |
| Abstract: | India’s actual export specialisation in IT services is unrivalled by any comparable country and it is evidence of a strong comparative advantage. This paper finds that India owes its IT specialisation in part to its reliance on offshoring - driven by the supply of well-educated, English-speaking and affordable workers - but also to a shift away from high-tech manufacturing exports. Going forward, India's specialisation on IT and other high-tech exports may decline as rising wages erode one of the reasons for offshoring. |
| Keywords: | International trade; comparative advantage; offshoring; India |
| JEL: | O1 O33 F1 F47 |
| Date: | 2007–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5780&r=cwa |
| By: | Wim Suyker; Henri L.F. de Groot; Piet Buitelaar; Jos Ebregt; Stefan Groot; Jan Möhlmann; Hugo Rojas-Romagosa; Bas Straathof |
| Abstract: | India’s impressive economic performance over the past few decades has had a positive net impact on the Dutch economy. Peculiar for India is its relatively strong position on the global markets for services. Imports of cheap Indian products have slightly improved Dutch households’ purchasing power. Increasing Indian exports did not have a noticeable impact on the pace of restructuring in the Netherlands. Nor did this development lead to a marked widening of Dutch wage differentials. Concerning global competition, Indian export products tend to be more complements than substitutes for Dutch export products. The large Indian market yields interesting investment opportunities for Dutch firms. Over the next few decades, the Indian economy is expected to continue its rapid expansion. Increasing trade with India will continue and is expected to enhance Dutch welfare in the upcoming years and will continue to be associated with modest increases in competition and continued restructuring on some markets. |
| Keywords: | India; Dutch economy; globalisation; trade; foreign direct investment; scenario analysis |
| JEL: | F14 F23 F40 F47 J31 O40 O57 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:docmnt:155&r=cwa |
| By: | Sushanta Mallick; Helena Marques |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the extent of pass-through of exchange rate and tariff changes into import prices using sectoral panel data (at the 2-digit SITC level) for the post-reform period in India (1990-2001). After having controlled for unobserved effects that might have an impact on the import prices by using sector dummies, we find that on average exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) is a dominant effect compared to tariff rate pass-through (TRPT) in explaining changes in India’s import prices. The sectoral panel results suggest that the pass-through of exchange rates and tariff rates varies across products. ERPT into import prices is significant in 12 industries, whereas TRPT is significant only in 6 industries, with full pass-through. However, ERPT is incomplete only in 4 industries, but TRPT is incomplete in 36 industries, which means that firms exporting to India more frequently adopt strategies to maintain their market share against tariffs than against exchange rate changes. The sectoral differences in pass-through seem to be related to the sector’s share in total imports and the sector’s effective protection rate. Hence India’s relatively high levels of protection have an impact on the behaviour of foreign exporters. |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:3&r=cwa |
| By: | Muhammad Akram (International Institute of Islamic Economics, International Islamic University, Islamabad.); Faheem Jehangir Khan (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | The study has been carried out to measure the incidence of government spending on education in Pakistan at the provincial (both rural and urban) level, using the primary data of the Pakistan Social Standard Living Measures Survey (PSLM), 2004-2005, and by employing the three-step Benefit Incidence Approach methodology. The paper reviews the national policies emphasising provision of education in Pakistan, as well as the trend in coverage and public sector spending on education facilities in Pakistan. The study examines the inequalities in resource distribution and service provision in relation to the government education expenditure. The rural areas of Pakistan are the more disadvantaged in the provision of the education facilities. Overall, the expenditure on the education sector is progressive, both at the regional and the provincial levels. However, variation exists in the shares of different income groups’ benefit from the provision of educational facilities created by public expenditure. |
| Keywords: | Education, Public Expenditure, Public Policy, Gini Coefficient, Concentration Coefficient, Benefit Incidence Approach |
| JEL: | H52 H53 I21 I22 I28 I38 O18 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2007:40&r=cwa |
| By: | Christian Milelli |
| Abstract: | This contribution attempts to shed light on the surge of direct investment flows from India because of the limited understanding of this huge country in the context of liberalization of inward and outward foreign direct investment. As far as the latter is concerned, India cannot be described as an underdeveloped country since it can mobilize substantial native capital and it hosts flourishing multinational companies. The liberalization of the national economy in the early 1990s and the resulting arrival of large foreign multinationals have prompted domestic companies to engage in a restructuring path along with to seek new business opportunities overseas in order to expand market share. If the bulk of Indian outward direct investment is still directed toward developing countries, mature economies are emerging as a growing host place. The paper focuses on Europe and draws on a wide range of data from various sources, and tackles the question empirically in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding on entry modes and strategies followed by Indian investors. |
| Keywords: | Foreign direct investment, multinational firm, India, European economies |
| JEL: | F14 F23 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2007-25&r=cwa |
| By: | T. Krishna Kumar; Sushanta Mallick; Jayarama Holla |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses deprivation in India employing a measure proposed by Sitaramam and using consumption data at the household level. As cereals constitute a staple food and form a major portion of expenditure on food, the deprivation measure considered here is deprivation in cereal consumption. The total expenditure at which the Engel curve for cereals turns from concave to convex is taken as the cut-off to determine the deprived households. It is shown that cereal deprivation at the all-India level exhibits a declining trend over the period 1987-88 and 1999-2000, in the rural sector, while there is little change in the urban sector. Further, this decline in cereal deprivation seems to have been slowing down during the reform period. The estimates of deprivation are poorly correlated with the HCI and PGI at state level, both in rural and urban sectors. They, however, have better temporal correlations with those poverty measures. We offer some explanation for these observed differences in alternate deprivation indices. The trends in cereal deprivation are accompanied in some cases by a decline, in real terms, in maximum cereal consumption of each group of consumers. Whether this is an improvement or otherwise of the living standards of the poor, must await further analysis of per capita food consumption in general, with an analysis of prices and quantities of various food items. It is hoped that this kind of study on deprivation of essential commodities may increase our understanding of poverty, and even suggest direct intervention strategies. |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:7&r=cwa |
| By: | van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique; Medvedev, Denis; E. De Hoyos, Rafael; Bussolo, Maurizio |
| Abstract: | Over the past 20 years, aggregate measures of global inequality have changed little even if significant structural changes have been observed. High growth rates of China and India lifted millions out of poverty, while the stagnation in many African countries caused them to fall behind. Using the World Bank ' s LINKAGE global general equilibrium model and the newly developed Global Income Distribution Dynamics (GIDD) tool, this paper assesses the distribution and poverty effects of a scenario where these trends continue in the future. Even by anticipating a deceleration, growth in China and India is a key force behind the expected convergence of per-capita incomes at the global level. Millions of Chinese and Indian consumers will enter into a rapidly emerging global middle class-a group of people who can afford, and demand access to, the standards of living previously reserved mainly for the residents of developed countries. Notwithstanding these positive developments, fast growth is often characterized by high urbanization and growing demand for skills, both of which result in widening of income distribution within countries. These opposing distributional effects highlight the importance of analyzing global disparities by taking into account - as the GIDD does - income dynamics between and within countries. |
| Keywords: | Inequality,Economic Theory & Research,,Emerging Markets,Achieving Shared Growth |
| Date: | 2007–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4392&r=cwa |
| By: | Eric V. Edmonds (Dartmouth College, NBER and IZA); Philip Salinger (Dartmouth College) |
| Abstract: | Why do young children migrate without a parent? We consider the economic components of the answer to this question by examining the correlates of out-migration for children under 15 whose mother's reside in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India. 1 million children appear to have migrated away from home in our data. On average 3 percent of living children 5-14 in our communities are away from home, but the fraction of out-migrant children ranges between 0 and 29 percent. We find that the data are consistent with a classical view of migration: children on average appear to migrate out of competitive, rural child labor markets for net financial gain. The costs of migration are important. Children are less likely to migrate from more remote locations. Children are less likely to migrate from locations where child wages are higher. Overall, patterns of child migration away from their mothers look similar to what other researchers have observed in adult populations in different social and economic contexts. |
| Keywords: | child labor, migration, India |
| JEL: | J82 O15 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3174&r=cwa |
| By: | Rao, B. Bhaskara; Singh, Rup |
| Abstract: | The Solow growth model is extended with an endogenous growth framework to estimate the effects of trade openness on the steady state growth rate (SSGR). Estimates of the augmented production functions are used to compute the SSGRs for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and Thailand. That good policies increase the growth effects of openness is also tested with an interactive term. Our results show that Singapore has the highest SSGR of 2.75%, followed by Hong Kong and Thailand with 2.5%. India and Malaysia have lower SSGRs of 1.7% and 0.5% respectively. |
| Keywords: | Exogenous and Endogenous Growth; Trade Openness; Steady State Growth Rate; Country Specific Estimates with Time Series Data; Asian Countries |
| JEL: | O33 |
| Date: | 2007–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5851&r=cwa |
| By: | Bhattacharya, Soma; Cropper, Maureen |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the role of public transport and the nature and incidence of transport subsidies in Mumbai, India. Mumbai has an extensive rail and bus network, and public transport is used for over 75 percent of all motorized trips in Greater Mumbai. Both rail and bus fares in Mumbai are subsidized: BEST, which operates public buses in Mumbai, is also an electric utility, and subsidizes bus fares from electricity revenues. We analyze the incidence of these subsidies, and their effect on mode choice, using data from a survey of households in Greater Mumbai. In Mumbai, as in many cities, the middle class is more likely to use public transport for travel than the poor. The poor, however, also use public transit, and their expenditure on public transit constitutes, on average, a larger share of their income than it does for the middle class. It is, therefore, the case that the poor benefit from transit subsidies in Mumbai, as well as the middle and upper-middle classes; however, the poorest 27 percent of the population receives only 19 percent of bus subsidies and 15.5 percent of rail subsidies. Indeed, 26 percent of the lowest income households surveyed do not use rail, while 10 percent do not use bus, implying that they receive no transit subsidies. Expenditure on transpo rt accounts for 16 percent of income in the lowest income category ( < 5000 Rs./month), with 10 percent of income, on average, spent on bus and rail fares. This percentage, however, is not evenly distributed: it is much higher than 10 percent for households in which workers take the bus or train to work, and lower for households in which the main earner walks to work. Even in these households, however, 12.5 percent of income is spent on transportation. Expenditure on public transport would be even higher if bus fares in Mumbai were not subsidized. In 2005-2006, transport revenues of BEST fell below total costs by 30 percent and below operating costs by 20 percent. Rail fares, which are much lower than bus fares per km traveled, officially covered operating costs and almost covered depreciation expenses. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy & Planning,Transport in Urban Areas,Urban Transport,Roads & Highways, |
| Date: | 2007–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4395&r=cwa |
| By: | Vyas Preeta H. |
| Abstract: | Indian organised retail industry is poised for growth. Apparel sector in particular has a great opportunity with alignment of Indian economy to globalised markets. With the widespread use of sales promotions- short term activities which provide material inducements to consumers and trade it becomes imperative for managers to understand such practices and understand challenges. This study investigates sales promotion activities of six apparel stores in Ahmedabad market and compares them on various dimensions. It presents major findings and provides insights on consumer behaviour. Lifestyle, for instance, has a loyalty programme called `The Inner Circle', while Pantaloons offers a `Green Card' Rewards programmes, Westside has `Club West' to woo the customers. Managerial challenges are posed in planning and implementing such activities. The paper concludes with future bright outlook. |
| Date: | 2007–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2007-11-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Fasih, Tazeen |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits a natural experiment approach to identify the impact of legislation (Employment of Children Act 1991) in Pakistan on participation of children in the labor markets. The law prohibits employment of children less than 14 years of age in sectors other than agriculture or household enterprises. With micro-data, making use of regression discontinuity data design, the study finds some evidence that the Employment of Children Act 1991 helped in reducing the employment of children immediately after its implementation. |
| Keywords: | Youth and Governance,Street Children,Children and Youth,Child Labor,Labor Policies |
| Date: | 2007–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4399&r=cwa |
| By: | Umakrishnan, K U; Bandyopadhyay, Arindam |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the changing patterns of bank’s source of income and risk adjusted performance. A database of 77 banks over the period of 1999 to 2004 is constructed for the 27 public sector banks, 22 private banks, 25 foreign banks and 3 cooperative banks to compare their change in income composition. Bank’s performance is measured by risk adjusted return on BIS risk allocated capital (RARORAC). To examine the relationship between ownership pattern and performance, we compare the difference between new generation private sector banks and foreign banks with their public sector and cooperative banks counterparts. We argue that in a competitive financial market in order to change the profitability drivers in banking, Indian banks need to improve their non-interest income and also augment risk adjusted interest income through better risk based pricing. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Value creation and performance |
| JEL: | L11 G32 D60 G21 |
| Date: | 2005–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5779&r=cwa |
| By: | Murat Iyigun (University of Colorado, CID, Harvard University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | The Axial Age, which lasted between 800 B. C. E. and 200 B. C. E., covers an era in which the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently in various geographic areas, and all three major monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam were born between 1200 B. C. E. and 622 C. E. in the Middle East. In this paper, I offer a taxonomy to comprehensively characterize the impact of monotheism on early economic development. Monotheist religions produced a paradigm shift in sociopolitical institutions because they (a) involve a strong degree of increasing returns to scale and the natural monopoly powers commensurate with it, (b) not only personalize the spiritual exchange relationship between the individual and the one deity, but also, due to the fact that this relationship extends into the afterlife as well, enhance individual accountability, and (c) expand their adherents’ time horizon beyond biological life and impact the time discount between one’s lifetime and the after-life. Taken together, these features suggest that the spread of monotheism ought to have promoted sociopolitical stability. Utilizing original historical data between 2500 B. C. E. and 1750 C. E. on 105 limited access orders, such as dynasties, kingdoms and empires, I show that monotheism had a positive and statistically significant impact on the length of reign as well as the average geographical size of social orders. Thus, I find empirical evidence that the birth and adoption of monotheistic religions aided early development both in the West and the Near East until the advent of the Industrial Revolution. |
| Keywords: | economic development, religion, institutions |
| JEL: | C72 D74 N33 N43 O10 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3116&r=cwa |
| By: | Das, Maitreyi Bordia; Blunch, Niels-Hugo |
| Abstract: | Using a recent household survey for two cohorts of married women, this paper examines norms about gender equality in education for children and adults. Among the main findings are that gender education gap norms have changed: younger generations of women are more positive about female vs. male education, both as pertaining to child and adult education outcomes. Perhaps the strongest result is that Bangladeshi women are more likely to espouse attitudes of gender equalit y in education for their children and less so about gender equality among spouses. It is also easier to explain norms regarding children ' s education and more difficult to explain norms about equality in marriages. The authors believe that question on relative education of boys and girls captures the value of education per se, while the question on educational equality in marriage captures the norms regarding marriage and the relative worth of husbands and wives. The effect of education in determining norms is significant though complex, and spans own and spousal education, as well as that of older females in the household. This indicates sharing of education norms effects or externalities arising from spousal education in the production of gender education gap norms within marriage as well as arising from the presence of older educated females in the household. Lastly, the authors also find associations between gender education gap norms and household poverty, information processing and religion, though the evidence here is more mixed. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Development,Population Policies,Primary Education,Gender and Law,Access & Equity in Basic Education |
| Date: | 2007–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4404&r=cwa |