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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Sonia Bhalotra; Christine Valente; Arthur van Soest |
| Abstract: | Muslim children in India face substantially lower mortality risks than Hindu children. This is surprising because one would have expected just the opposite: Muslims have, on average, lower socio-economic status, higher fertility, shorter birth-spacing, and are a minority group in India that may be expected to live in areas that have relatively poor public provision. Although higher fertility amongst Muslims as compared with Hindus has excited considerable political and academic attention in India, higher mortality amongst Hindus has gone largely unnoticed. This paper considers this seeming puzzle in depth. |
| Keywords: | religion, child mortality, Muslim, Hindu, India |
| JEL: | I12 O12 J13 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:07/185&r=cwa |
| By: | Dholakia Ravindra H.; |
| Abstract: | The Planning Commission’s premise that the growth in India has bypassed the weaker sections due to their ineffective access to the basic services like primary education needs to be tested against the evidence. Traditionally identified weaker section on social criteria (SC and ST population) seems to have a similar or relatively better access to the primary education. However, there is no direct evidence available for the weaker section on the economic criteria or the population living below poverty line (BPL). The present paper attempts to provide an empirical evidence for the premise of the Planning Commission from the household survey of BPL families in five states of India including the survey of primary schools for the same states and localities. Our findings suggest that there is a problem of access of the poor (BPL) households to the primary education services in rural areas. Primary enrolment ratios among the children of poor households are considerably lower than the respective state average and also the aggregate enrolment ratio of the country. Our findings also reveal that the incentives such as mid-day meals, free textbooks and cash subsidies given by government schools to the poor children do actually reach them. The problem of insufficient effective access of the poor to primary education still persists. It calls for a change in the policy level thinking. Qualitative aspects like school infrastructural deficiencies and functioning of teachers having a direct bearing on the quality and access of education in the rural areas need urgent attention. |
| Keywords: | Poor households, Primary education, Rural India. |
| Date: | 2008–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2008-02-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Sonia Bhalotra; Bernarda Zamora |
| Abstract: | This paper uses two large repeated cross-sections, one for the early 1990’s, and one for the late 1990’s, to describe growth in school enrolment and completion rates for boys and girls in India, and to explore the extent to which enrolment and completion rates have grown over time. It decomposes this growth into components due to change in the characteristics that determine schooling, and another associated with changes in the responsiveness of schooling to given characteristics. Our results caution against the common practice of using current data to make future projections on the assumption that the model parameters are stable. The analysis nevertheless performs illustrative simulations relevant to the question of whether India will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of realising universal primary education by the year 2015. The simulations suggest that India will achieve universal attendance, but that primary school completion rates will not exhibit much progress. |
| Keywords: | Millennium Development Goals, primary schooling, attendance, completion rates, gender, India, decomposition |
| JEL: | I21 I28 O12 J18 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:07/190&r=cwa |
| By: | Ramana Nanda (Harvard Business School, Entrepreneurial Management Unit); Tarun Khanna (Harvard Business School, Strategy Unit) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the importance of cross-border social networks for entrepreneurship in developing countries by examining ties between the Indian expatriate community and local entrepreneurs in India's software industry. We find that entrepreneurs located outside software hubs - in cities where monitoring and information flow on prospective clients is harder - rely significantly more on diaspora networks for business leads and financing. Relying on these networks is also related to better firm performance, particularly for entrepreneurs located in weaker institutional environments. Our results provide micro-evidence consistent with a view that cross-border social networks serve an important role in helping entrepreneurs to circumvent the barriers arising from imperfect local institutions in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Diasporas, Informal Networks, Institutions, Entrepreneurship. |
| JEL: | F22 L14 L26 L86 O17 O19 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hbs:wpaper:08-003&r=cwa |
| By: | Pal, Rupayan; Das, Aparajita |
| Abstract: | The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MP-LADS) came in effect in 1993, closely followed by the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, along with the wave of democratic decentralisation process in India. The MP-LADS allows for a fixed amount, non-lapsable Rs. 2 crores per year for each Member of the Parliament (MP), at the discretion of the MPs to carry out developmental works of capital nature in their respective constituencies. In last 14 years, more than 8 times of the annual expenditure on higher education by the central government has been spent on the MP-LADS. This paper examines whether there is any political business cycle in spending funds under the MP-LADS, its extent, and determinants. We find that there are political business cycles in spending by the MPs, and its extent varies across Lok Sabha constituencies. The extent of political business cycle is lower in case of leftist MPs compared to that in case of centrist and rightist MPs. Higher degree of competition faced in the last election by an MP induces him/her to misuse the scheme more severely, and younger MPs seems to be less inclined to generate political business cycle in spending. We also find that higher level of awareness of general citizens and better law and order conditions in states restricts MPs from misusing funds to gain political mileage. |
| Keywords: | Decentralisation; Political Business Cycle; Local Area Development; Members of Parliament |
| JEL: | D7 O53 H7 |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7055&r=cwa |
| By: | Shahbaz Akmal, Muhammad; Naveed, Aamir |
| Abstract: | There is scantiness of empirical research on the specific relationship between financial institutions, capital account liberalization and trade-openness but there is no particular study in the case of Pakistan. This study investigates the importance of financial institutions, net financial capital inflows and trade-openness for financial sector’s development in a small developing economy like Pakistan. Further, it also examines the hypothesis (Zingales and Rajan, 2003), predicts combined influence of capital account liberalization and trade openness on financial sector’s efficiency but insignificant. We employed three approaches (Johansen Test, DOLS and ARDL bounds testing) for the robustness of long run relationships among the variables utilizing the annual data for the period 1971-2006. We found that, under the investigation of three new alternative techniques, results are robust for long run relationships in the case of Pakistan. Coefficient of net capital inflows is having positive impact on financial development in the long run but insignificant in short run. Trade openness is the main source of financial sector’s development both in long run as well as in short run. On the other hand, financial institutions and economic growth also help to improve the development of financial markets in both the periods. Finally, rise in inflation reduces the efficiency of financial markets through its detrimental channels in the economy in short run as well in long run |
| Keywords: | Capital Account Liberalization; Financial development; Trade Openness |
| JEL: | F10 F1 F43 F36 |
| Date: | 2007–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7148&r=cwa |
| By: | Wasim Shahid Malik (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Musleh-ud Din (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses monetary policy transparency of the central bank (SBP) using the Eijffinger and Geraats (2006) index. The results show that the SBP scores 4.5 out of 15, which is lower than any of the central banks’ score in Eijffinger and Geraats (2006). The SBP is completely opaque on the procedural issues, whereas it is the least transparent in the policy transparency. On the political and the economic matters, the SBP is partially transparent. An area where the SBP is quite transparent, with moderate score, is operational transparency. In comparison with the other central banks, the SBP is at par with some of the central banks in political and operational transparency but ranks behind in all other respects. |
| Keywords: | Monetary Policy Transparency, State Bank of Pakistan, Developing Countries |
| JEL: | E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2008:44&r=cwa |
| By: | Sonia Bhalotra |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent to which the decline in childhood mortality over the last three decades can be attributed to economic growth. In doing this, it exploits the considerable variation in growth over this period, across states and over time. The analysis is able to condition upon a number of economic and demographic variables. The estimates are used to produce a crude estimate of the rate of economic growth that would be necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the under-5 mortality by two thirds, from its level in 1990, by the year 2015. The main conclusion is that, while growth does have a significant impact on mortality risk, growth alone cannot be relied upon to achieve the goal. |
| Keywords: | childhood mortality, economic growth, MDGs, India |
| JEL: | O12 I12 I18 J13 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:07/188&r=cwa |
| By: | Rizwana Siddiqui (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | Is household income enough for human development or should government direct resources towards the provision of social services to improve capabilities of individuals? The former is emphasised by the World Bank, and the latter by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). This paper tests both sides of the question by estimating a basic needs policy model for Pakistan, using cross-district data for the year 1998-99. The results are consistent with the view that government provision of social services affects human capabilities significantly. However, the ultimate constraints on the sustainable capability development are the availability of material resources. |
| Keywords: | Basic Needs, Capabilities and Income Poverty, Public Provision of Social Services and Household Income |
| JEL: | I31 I32 I38 D31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2008:43&r=cwa |
| By: | Hatipoglu, Ozan; Alper, C. Emre |
| Abstract: | Design of policy rules for an an emerging market central bank (EMCB) operating in an inflation-targeting framework presents additional challenges beyond those for describing the behavior of a central bank in a developed economy. Even though an inflation-targeting regime entails abolishing the exchange rate target in favor of an inflation target, it is more difficult for an EMBC to ignore movements in exchange rates given the relatively shallow depth of financial markets and the the high degree of dollarization. Additionally the EMCB may be forced to change the pursued exchange rate regime following a capital account reversal so that linear Taylor rules may be inadequate for describing EMCB reactions. We develop an empirical framework that addresses these issues and propose a new methodology to estimate unobserved variables such as expected inflation and potential output within the rule. Specifically, we employ a structural, nonlinear Kalman filter algorithm to estimate time-dependent parameters and unobserved variables, and we experiment with various exchange rate mechanisms that can be employed by an EMCB. This approach allows us to track any changes in EMCB behavior - including regime shifts - following a switch to inflation targeting. Using post-2001 data from Turkey, which is a fairly dollarized small open economy, we document that the Central Bank of Turkey has given relatively more importance to the inflation gap than to the output gap or to exchange rates, but not until some time after it had switched to an inflation-targeting framework. |
| Keywords: | Dual Extended Kalman Filter; Taylor Rule; inflation targeting; emerging markets |
| JEL: | C32 C50 E52 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7107&r=cwa |
| By: | Chaudhury, Nazmul; Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz |
| Abstract: | There has been a proliferation of non-state providers of education services in the developing world. In Bangladesh, for instance, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee runs more than 40,000 non-formal schools that cater to school-drop outs from poor families or operate in villages where there ' s little provision for formal schools. This paper presents a rationale for supporting these schools on the basis of their spillover effects on fema le enrollment in secondary (registered) madrasa schools (Islamic faith schools). Most madrasa high schools in Bangladesh are financed by the sate and include a modern curriculum alongside traditional religious subjects. Using an establishment-level dataset on student enrollment in secondary schools and madrasas, the authors demonstrate that the presence of madrasas is positively associated with secondary female enrollment growth. Such feminization of madrasas is therefore unique and merits careful analysis. The authors test the effects of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee primary schools on growth in female enrollment in madrasas. The analysis deals with potential endoegeneity by using data on number of the number of school branches and female members in the sub-district. The findings show that madrasas that are located in regions with a greater number of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee schools have higher growth in female enrollment. This relationship is further strengthened by the finding that there is, however, no effect of these schools on female enrollment growth in secular schools. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Education For All,Gender and Education,Teaching and Learning |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4511&r=cwa |
| By: | Melad, Khaled |
| Abstract: | Despite Egypt’s adoption of an “open-door” policy since the 1970s and a rapid expansion of world trade in recent decades, the openness indicator, nearly halved from 1980 (46%) to 2000 (24%), with the same trend recorded for services. Since 2001, a number of trade liberalization and reform measures, although falling short of opening Egypt’s protected market, contributed to enhancing exports to the global market place. The pace of liberalization received a boost with the new government’s reinforcement of export -oriented policies. |
| Keywords: | EU; TIFA; QIZ; trade; liberalization; partnership agreement |
| JEL: | F15 F13 |
| Date: | 2008–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7084&r=cwa |
| By: | Chaudhury, Nazmul; Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz |
| Abstract: | This paper identifies endogenous social effects in mathematics test performance for eighth graders in rural Bangladesh using information on arsenic contamination of water wells at home as an instrument. In other words, the identification relies on variation in test scores among peers owing to exogenous exposure to arsenic contaminated water wells at home. The results suggest that the peer effect is significant, and school selection plays little role in biasing peer effects estimates. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Secondary Education |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4508&r=cwa |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:341&r=cwa |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma EL-Hamidi; Cem Baslevent |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:335&r=cwa |
| By: | Dalila NICET-CHENAF (GREThA) |
| Abstract: | The study aims at examining the assumption of a “Barcelona agreement” effect on the convergence of Morocco economy. The concept of convergence will be approached according three logics: convergence of Morocco economy towards its own steady state; towards the others countries of the Agreement (the UMA countries) and towards the countries of the EU. This study uses, as an indicator, the β-convergence and the σ-convergence.\r\n |
| Keywords: | Economic integration, Trade policy, Neoclassical model of Trade, convergence |
| JEL: | F15 F14 F11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2008-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Dalila NICET-CHENAF (GREThA-GRES) |
| Abstract: | The study aims at examining the assumption of a “Barcelona agreement” effect on the convergence of Morocco economy. The concept of convergence will be approached according three logics: convergence of Morocco economy towards its own steady state; towards the others countries of the Agreement (the UMA countries) and towards the countries of the EU. This study uses, as an indicator, the β-convergence and the σ-convergence.. |
| Keywords: | Economic integration, Trade policy, Neoclassical model of Trade, convergence. |
| JEL: | F15 F14 F11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grs:wpegrs:2008-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi; Mona Said |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:338&r=cwa |
| By: | Majid Ahmadian (Faculty of Economics, University of Tehran); Mona Chitnis (Research Group on Lifestyles, Values and Environment (RESOLVE) & Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC), University of Surrey); Lester C. Hunt (Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC), Department of Economics, University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates a gasoline demand function for Iran using the structural time series model over the period 1968-2002 and uses it to estimate the change in social welfare for 2003 and 2004 of a higher gasoline price policy. It is found that short and long run demand price elasticities are inelastic, although the response is greater in the long run. Hence, social welfare is estimated to fall because of the higher gasoline price (ceteris paribus). However, allowing all variables in the model to change, social welfare is estimated to increase since the changes in the other variables more than compensate for the negative effects of the policy. |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sur:seedps:117&r=cwa |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2004–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:337&r=cwa |