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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Geraint Johnes |
| Abstract: | This study uses LSMS microdata to evaluate the impact of early years education on subsequent educational participation in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Northern India. It is established that, alongside a number of economic and demographic variables, pre-school education has a significantly positive impact on subsequent experience. The result is robust to correction for endogeneity bias and clustering of observations. |
| Keywords: | education, development |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:005763&r=cwa |
| By: | Gruere, Guillaume; Mehta-Bhatt, Purvi; Sengupta, Debdatta |
| Abstract: | "Suicides in general, including farmers' suicides, are a sad and complex phenomenon. Hence, their underlying causes need to be addressed within an equally complex societal framework. Here, we provide a specific case study on the potential link between technological choices and farmer suicides in India. Although officially recognized for having increased production and farmers' income, Bt cotton, genetically-modified, insect-resistant cotton, remains highly controversial in India. Among other allegations, it is accused of being the main reason for a resurgence of farmer suicides in India. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of evidence on Bt cotton and farmer suicides, taking into account information from published official and unofficial reports, peer-reviewed journal articles, published studies, media news clips, magazine articles, and radio broadcasts from India, Asia, and international sources from 2002 to 2007. The review is used to evaluate a set of hypotheses on whether or not there has been a resurgence of farmer suicides, and the potential relationship suicide may have with the use of Bt cotton. We first show that there is no evidence in available data of a “resurgence” of farmer suicides in India in the last five years. Second, we find that Bt cotton technology has been very effective overall in India. However, the context in which Bt cotton was introduced has generated disappointing results in some particular districts and seasons. Third, our analysis clearly shows that Bt cotton is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the occurrence of farmer suicides. In contrast, many other factors have likely played a prominent role. Nevertheless, in specific regions and years, where Bt cotton may have indirectly contributed to farmer indebtedness, leading to suicides, its failure was mainly the result of the context or environment in which it was planted. We close the paper by proposing a conceptual framework for empirical applications linking the different agricultural and institutional factors that could have contributed to farmer suicides in recent years in certain districts of Central and Southern India." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Cotton, Genetically modified crops, farmer suicides, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:808&r=cwa |
| By: | Birthal, Pratap S.; Jha, Awadhesh K.; Tiongco, Marites; Narrod, Clare |
| Abstract: | "Contract farming is emerging as an important form of vertical coordination in the agrifood supply chain in India, and its socioeconomic consequences are attracting considerable attention in public policy debates. This study is an empirical assessment of the costs and benefits of contract farming in milk using information generated through field surveys in the western state of Rajasthan. Contract farming is found to be more profitable than independent production. Its major benefits come from a reduction in marketing and transaction costs, which are otherwise much higher in the open markets. Contract farming also contributes toward improving milk yield and reducing production costs, albeit not significantly. Dairy producers also benefit from provision of services and technical advice by integrators/firms who secure milk supplies from farmers through contract. The benefits of contract farming vary by scale of operation. Economies of scale are also important determinants of competitiveness, in which large farms (both contract and independent) have lower per unit cost due to buying of inputs in bulk and greater access to markets. Smallholders, on the other hand, derive significant benefits from a reduction in marketing and transaction costs due to their participation in contract farming." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Contract farming, smallholder dairying in India, marketing and transaction costs, milk supply chain, treatment effects model, mass balance approach, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:814&r=cwa |
| By: | Gajwani, Kiran; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | "This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on village governance and local public goods provision. Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we examine whether the gender and caste of village government leaders influence village public goods provision. In particular, we examine: 1) whether public goods are provided in accordance with gender or caste preferences; and 2) whether public goods provision differs based on the knowledge level of the village government leader. We find evidence of different preferences for public goods between men and women, and between Scheduled Caste (SC) and non-SC persons. Additionally, a test of knowledge regarding the village government reveals that female and SC presidents receive lower scores relative to male and non-SC presidents, with women scoring lowest overall. We find that preferences and knowledge have little effect on public goods provision by female presidents, and hypothesize that this may be due to the influence of their male spouses. In the context of SC presidents, we find evidence that SC presidents provide more drinking water access—a location-specific public good—to SC-inhabited village areas." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Local governance, public goods provision, Gender, Caste, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:807&r=cwa |
| By: | Ziya Öniş (Koc University); İsmail Emre Bayram |
| Abstract: | This article assesses the recent performance of the Turkish economy, questioning whether the currently observed unusual boom conditions will lead to a process of sustainable growth. The latest phase of Turkish neo-liberal transformation in the post-2001 era is placed in a broader historical and global context; at the same time, the performance of the economy in recent years is compared with that of other key emerging markets, based on selected macroeconomic indicators. Utilizing the East Asian experience as the principal benchmark for comparison, this paper examines whether Turkey is on its way to accomplishing tiger-like development performance. Given the current challenges to sustainable growth, we conclude that it is premature to suggest that the impressive performance of the recent years will lead to durable success and tiger-like performance. While the focus is on the Turkish experience, the paper also probes the very nature of tiger-like performance itself, highlighting the fact that in setting standards for exceptional economic performance we need to extend our horizons beyond high rates of economic growth sustained over time, to broader indicators of social, political and human development. |
| Keywords: | Turkey, hyper-growth, East Asian tigers, emerging markets, human development, democratization. |
| JEL: | O11 O5 O57 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:0805&r=cwa |
| By: | Ranjula Bali Swain; Maria Floro |
| Abstract: | Uncertainty and unpredictability faced by low-income households increase their vulnerability making poverty even more unbearable. India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)-initiated Self-Help Group (SHG) program, which is currently the largest and fastest growing microfinance program in the developing world, has been aggressively promoted as a way of combating poverty. This paper investigates whether or not SHG participation results in reducing poverty and vulnerability. A theoretical framework is developed to examine the mechanisms through which the pecuniary and non-pecuniary effects of the SHG program on the beneficiaries’ earnings and empowerment, influence their households’ ability to manage risk. Going beyond the traditional poverty estimates, we use a vulnerability measure which quantifies the welfare loss associated with poverty as well as different types of risks like aggregate and idiosyncratic risks. Applying this measure to an Indian panel survey data for 2000 and 2003, we find that SHG members have lower vulnerability as compared to a group of non-SHG (control) members. Furthermore, we find that the poverty contributes to about 80 percent of the vulnerability faced by the household followed by aggregate risk. |
| Keywords: | Microfinance, Vulnerability, Poverty, Risk Coping |
| JEL: | D14 G21 I32 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amu:wpaper:0208&r=cwa |
| By: | Bedri Kamil Onur Tas; Rasim Ozcan; Ilke Onur |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tob:wpaper:0814&r=cwa |
| By: | Abdul Qayyum (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Idrees Khawaja (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | Following the Hausmann, et al. (2005) methodology, we attempt to identify the constraints to growth in Pakistan. We argue that governance failure and institutional shortcomings are the heart of the matter: corruption is rampant, judicial independence is low, educational institutions do not furnish the right kind of labour force, legal institutions do not protect the lenders against loan defaults, ambiguous land titles constrain mortgage financing and construction activity, labour market institutions restrict hiring/firing, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has not done its duty to contain the rising interest spread, and SECP/stock market has not played its due role in the transfer of funds from savers to investors. We identify three binding constraints to growth in Pakistan. These are (i) poor state of governance, (ii) poor state of institutions, and (iii) lack of competitive environment (that restricts innovation and hence growth). Without improving the state of governance and that of institutions, sustainable growth cannot occur even if other factors, like a reasonable savings rate, are put in place. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth, Institutions and Growth |
| JEL: | O40 O43 O11 O12 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2008:47&r=cwa |
| By: | Mehar, Ayub |
| Abstract: | Regional-based quota in public sector employment was always considered as one of the important cause of the ethnic politics in Pakistan and particularly in Karachi. The majority of educated youth and middle classers in Pakistan belong to the urban areas and big cities where public sector employment is a frictional part of the total employment. However, households’ economic statuses in those areas are closely related with the employment status of the households’ members. This study has one objective only: to test the hypothesis that socio-economic variation between the ethnic groups was the origin of the emerging ethnic politics in Karachi. The disparities in income, employment and social status have been compared between the nine ethnic groups of Karachi. It is noteworthy that statistical evidences have rejected the hypothesis that rise in ethnic politics was a consequence of socio-economic discrepancies between the ethnic groups. |
| Keywords: | Household income; Gini coeffecient; ethnic politics; unemployment |
| JEL: | I31 J71 Z10 |
| Date: | 1998 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11286&r=cwa |
| By: | Alexander M. Danzer; Hulya Ulku |
| Abstract: | Using a new data on 590 Turkish households in Berlin, we investigate the determinants and impact of integration on economic performance. We find that usual suspects such as time spent in Germany and education have positive impact, while networks have no impact on integration. There is strong evidence that political integration and the degree of full integration promote income. Using endogenous switching regression models, we show that local familial networks increase the income of unintegrated migrant groups only, while transnational networks decrease it. We also find that education is more welfare improving for integrated than non-integrated immigrants. |
| Keywords: | integration, economic success, ethnic networks, Turkish migrants |
| JEL: | O15 J15 C25 D10 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp833&r=cwa |
| By: | Ceyhun Bora Durdu; Serdar Sayan |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the implications of remittance fluctuations for various macroeconomic variables and Sudden Stops. The paper employs a quantitative two-sector model of a small open economy with financial frictions calibrated to Mexican and Turkish economies, two major recipients, whose remittance receipts feature opposite cyclical characteristics. We find that remittances dampen the business cycles in Mexico, whereas they amplify the cycles in Turkey. Their quantitative effects in the long run, approximated by the stochastic steady state are mild. In the short run, however, remittances have quantitatively large impacts on the economy, when the economy is borrowing constrained. This is because agents in the economy cannot adjust their precautionary wealth to sudden tightening in credit, hence, fluctuations in remittances get magnified through an endogenous debt-deflation mechanism. Our findings suggest that procyclical (or countercyclical) remittances can play a significant deepening (or mitigating) role for Sudden Stops. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:946&r=cwa |
| By: | Berisha-Krasniqi, Valdete; Bouet, Antoine; Laborde, David; Mevel, Simon |
| Abstract: | "The benefits least-developed countries (LDCs) can draw from a multilateral trade reform as designed by the modalities made public in May 2008 are negligible, and some countries will even face adverse effects. World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators should make a supplementary effort in favor of the poorest countries. The Duty-Free Quota-Free (DFQF) Initiative moves in the right direction, but it should be extended not only from a product point of view—with a 100, not 97, percent application—but also in terms of geographic coverage. This initiative has to be supported by both Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and BrIC (Brazil, India, and China) countries. It is in the interests of Asian LDCs to prioritize full openness of OECD markets (a 100-percent DFQF regime) and full access to the U.S. market in particular, while African countries will draw more benefits from a geographic extension of this regime to BrIC countries." from Text |
| Keywords: | Trade reform, Doha Development Agenda, Least developed countries, World Trade Organization Developing countries, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resbrf:14&r=cwa |
| By: | Attiya Y. Javid (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Eatzaz Ahmad (Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | This is an attempt to empirically investigate the risk and return relationship of individual stocks traded at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), the main equity market in Pakistan. The analysis is based on daily as well as monthly data of 49 companies and KSE 100 index is used as market factor covering the period from July 1993 to December 2004. The natural startingpoint of this study is to test the adequacy of the standard Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) of Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965). The empirical findings do not support the standard CAPM model as a model to explain assets pricing in Pakistani equity market. The critical condition of CAPM—that there is a positive trade-off between risk and return—is rejected and residual risk plays some role in pricing risky assets. This allows for the return distribution to vary over time. The empirical results of the conditional CAPM, with time variation in market risk and risk premium, are more supported by the KSE data, where lagged macroeconomic variables, mostly containing business cycle information, are used for conditioning information. The information set includes the first lag of the following business cycle variables: market return, call money rate, term structure, inflation rate, foreign exchange rate, growth in industrial production, growth in real consumption, and growth in oil prices. In a nutshell, the results confirm the hypothesis that risk premium is time-varying type in Pakistani stock market and it strengthens the notion that rational asset pricing is working, although inefficiencies are also present in unconditional and conditional settings. The observation is that the dynamic size and book-to-market value coefficient explain the cross-section of expected returns in a few sub-periods. The conditional approach to testing the CAPM and the three-factor CAPM shows that the asset prices relationship is better explained by accommodating business cycle variables as information set. The findings of the conditional three-factor CAPM also give support to the fact that time-varying firm attributes have only a limited role in Pakistani market to explain the asset price behaviour. |
| Keywords: | Capital Asset Pricing Model, Fama-French Three Factor Model, Market Risk, Residual Risk, Size, Book-to-market Value, Information Set, Business Cycle Variables |
| JEL: | C53 E44 G11 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2008:48&r=cwa |
| By: | Mehar, Ayub |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this study is to compare Muslim countries with the rest of world in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of the factors of competitiveness. Another objective of this paper is to determine the factors of competitiveness of the nations. The study has also assessed the impacts of improvement in political and corporate governances of the institutions, technological advancement and higher education on the business competitiveness. The World Competitiveness Index constructed by the World Economic Forum and World Banks statistics on aggregate savings and investment were used to estimate the regression parameters. It was hypothesized that Muslim world is significantly different from the rest of world in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of the factors of competitiveness. The role of innovations and knowledge creating activities in determining of business competitiveness was not found statistically significant in Muslim world; it was highly significant in case of the rest of world. It was concluded that investment and technology readiness affects the competitiveness in Muslim countries in different ways. It was recommended that Muslim countries should improve their governance of the corporate and political institutions and the higher education to achieve the efficiency and higher targets of competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness; Innovations; Higher Education; Efficiency; Governance |
| JEL: | F59 O16 I23 O31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11283&r=cwa |
| By: | Mehar, Ayub |
| Abstract: | The study tests the existence of a vicious circle of the lack of investable funds, weaker technological advancement and business competitiveness in Muslim countries. Its second objective is to quantify the magnitude of variations in competitiveness between the Muslim world and the rest of world. A model was established to quantify the linkages between the financial resources, technological advancement, business sophistication and competitiveness. The results are based on 111 countries, 30 out of which belong to Muslim world. The governance of the political and corporate institutions, higher education and technology readiness are classified as significant factors of the business competitiveness. It was concluded that governance, technological readiness and higher education are the important and major factors of business competitiveness, while investment was not identified as major determinant of the competitiveness. The study rejects the hypothesis of existence of the vicious cycle in Muslim world. It concludes that Muslim world can achieve the higher target of business competitiveness and ultimately the sustainable economic development by improvement in the higher education and institutional governance. |
| Keywords: | Muslim world; Competitiveness; Globalization; Governance; Vicious circle; |
| JEL: | O16 I23 O31 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11284&r=cwa |