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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Gilmour, Brad; Gurung, Rajendra |
| Abstract: | With a population of about 1.1 billion, India is expected to overtake China as the world's most populous country by 2030. India's economy ranks as Asia's third largest, after Japan and China, and is now one of the world's fastest growing. While growth has led to significant reductions in poverty, India still ranks among the world's low income countries in terms of income per capita. Nevertheless, economic growth has resulted in a burgeoning middle-class. India's agriculture sector accounts for 18% of GDP, and employs around 60% of the workforce. Rice, wheat, cotton, oilseeds, jute, tea, sugarcane, milk and potatoes are India's major agricultural commodities. With its growing urban middle-class and increasing influence in global affairs, India's policies have important implications not only for its own economic development but also for global agricultural markets and trade. This note first reviews India's macro reforms, followed by discussion of the competitiveness of Indian agriculture. The evolution of India's major agricultural policies is then described, and new policy directions and emerging challenges are discussed. The note closes with some of the prospects for India's agri-food. |
| Keywords: | India, economic growth, agricultural policy, water scarcity, market regulations, agriculture, water, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaacem:46456&r=cwa |
| By: | Sunil Mani |
| Abstract: | The paper takes a critical look at the available quantitative evidence on the growth of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship. It then looks at five facilitating factors for the emergence of this phenomenon in terms of the existence of increased market opportunities, availability of financial support schemes in the form of venture capital funds, existence and enlargement of a number of government programmes, a number of private sector initiatives and education and training leading to the supply of technically trained personnel. The paper concludes with certain policy suggestions for the continued sustenance of this activity. [ WP 409] |
| Keywords: | India, knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship, knowledge |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1877&r=cwa |
| By: | Fuwa, Nobuhiko; Ito, Seiro; Kudo, Kensuke; Kurosaki, Takashi; Sawada, Yasuyuki |
| Abstract: | Using a unique dataset obtained from rural Andhra Pradesh, India that contains direct observations of household access to credit and detailed time use, results of this study indicate that credit market failures lead to a substantial reallocation of time used by children for activities such as schooling, household chores, remunerative work, and leisure. The negative effects of credit constraints on schooling amount to a 60% decrease of average schooling time. However, the magnitude of decrease due to credit constraints is about half that of the increase in both domestic and remunerative child labor, the other half appearing to come from a reduction in leisure. |
| Keywords: | Child labor, Schooling, Gender bias, Credit constraint, Household models |
| JEL: | I21 I22 J22 O12 O16 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper183&r=cwa |
| By: | Bandyopadhyay, Simanti; Rao, M. Govinda |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the fiscal problems faced by five urban agglomerations in India, namely, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, and Pune. It analyzes the fiscal health of the five urban agglomerations, quantifies their revenue capacities and expenditure needs, and draws policy recommendations on the means to reduce the gaps between revenue raising capacities and expenditure needs. The main findings suggest that, except for five small urban local bodies in Hyderabad, the others are not in a position to cover their expenditure needs by their present revenue collections. All the urban agglomerations have unutilized potential for revenue generation; however, with the exception of Hyderabad, they would fail to cover their expenditure needs even if they realized their revenue potential. Except in Chennai, larger corporations are more constrained than smaller urban local bodies. The paper recommends better utilization of"own revenue"through improved administration of property taxes, implementation of other taxes, and collection of user charges. It recommends that state governments should explore the option of allowing local bodies to piggyback a small proportion on their value-added tax collections. Another way to reduce the fiscal gap would be to earmark a portion of the sales proceeds from land and housing by state governments sold through their development agencies for improvements in urban infrastructure. The paper also recommends that the State Finance Commissions should develop appropriate norms for estimating expenditure needs, based on which transfers from the state to local governments can be decided. |
| Keywords: | Public Sector Economics&Finance,Debt Markets,Municipal Financial Management,Public Sector Management and Reform,Banks&Banking Reform |
| Date: | 2009–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4863&r=cwa |
| By: | Sandrine Mathy (CIRED - Centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et des Forêts); Céline Guivarch (CIRED - Centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et des Forêts) |
| Abstract: | One of the current main objective of international negotiations on climate change aims at enlarging the coordination regime to developing countries (DCs), and particularly to emerging countries. The international coordination system built at the Kyoto Conference relies on a coordination system based on a purely climate centric approach which shows irreconcilable contradictions between climate and development issues. This article aims at evaluatingpossible pathways implementing synergies between climate policies and development policies in order to create an incentive towards DCs to take part in climate mitigation. We focus on an illustrative example on India.When most reference scenarios postulate rapid energy decoupling of the GDP and rapid decarbonisation of DCs economies in the future, this article elaborates, with the IMACLIM-R model, a baseline taking into account weaknesses and current disequilibria of the Indian technico-economic system such as the high dependency on imported energy, or the structural shortage in electricity. We show why a purely climate centric approach (quota allocation), adopted to commit with a world objective of tabilization to 550ppm, induce very high transition costs in spite of significant financial transfers. On the contrary, a strategy based on the research of synergies between the reduction of these disequilibria, and the mitigation of GHG emissions is investigated in the power sector, which presents the biggest potential of no-regret measures. This permits to drop down transition costs applied to the Indianeconomy by improving the overall energy efficiency. An economic and environmental evaluation of this alternative scenario is lead. |
| Keywords: | India, domestic policies and measures, climate policies, long term scenarios, international egotiations, power sector, climate regime, policies and measures, energy efficiency, realistic baselines, peak-oil |
| Date: | 2009–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00366276_v1&r=cwa |
| By: | Sandrine Mathy (CIRED - Centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et des Forêts); Céline Guivarch (CIRED - Centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - CIRAD : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et des Forêts) |
| Abstract: | Reference GHG emissions scenarios are critical for estimates of the costs of stabilization and for climate policy recommendations. But recently, existing reference scenarios, notably the SRES, have been the target of criticisms that question their relevance in the light of current emissions trends, dispute the suitability, for developing countries, of the modeling methodologies used and suggest they convey too optimistic views on spontaneous energy decoupling of emerging countries economies. This article focuses on an illustrative example on India. It proposes an alternative reference scenario built with a modeling framework representing as realistically as possible the processes driving energy intensity and carbon intensity changes, in particular accounting for the interactions between energy systems and economic constraints and capturing the sub-optimalities of the energy sector. The mechanisms leading to moderate energy decoupling in this alternative scenario are analysed. From a methodological point of view, our results call for the improvement of the realism of modeling tools for scenarios elaboration. From a mitigation point of view, it appears that the challenge for climate policies to lift the barriers to the diffusion of energy efficiency improvement in India is considerable, but we identify a potential for synergies between development policies and climate policies. |
| Keywords: | India; energy-GDP decoupling; investment constraint; power sector; reference scenario |
| Date: | 2009–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00366274_v1&r=cwa |
| By: | Lanjouw, Peter; Murgai, Rinku |
| Abstract: | The authors analyze five rounds of National Sample Survey data covering 1983, 1987/8, 1993/4, 1999/0, and 2004/5 to explore the relationship between rural diversification and poverty. Poverty in rural India declined at a modest rate during this period. The authors provide region-level estimates that illustrate considerable geographic heterogeneity in this progress. Poverty estimates correlate well with region-level data on changes in agricultural wage rates. Agricultural labor remains the preserve of the uneducated and also to a large extent of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Although agricultural labor grew as a share of total economic activity over the first four rounds, it had fallen back to the levels observed at the beginning of the survey period by 2004. This all-India trajectory masks widely varying trends across states. During this period, the rural non-farm sector grew modestly, mainly between the last two survey rounds. Regular non-farm employment remains largely associated with education levels and social status that are rare among the poor. However, casual labor and self-employment in the non-farm sector reveal greater involvement by disadvantaged groups in 2004 than in the preceding rounds. The implication for poverty is not immediately clear - the poor may be pushed into low-return casual non-farm activities due to lack of opportunities in the agricultural sector rather than being pulled by high returns offered by the non-farm sector. Econometric estimates reveal that expansion of the non-farm sector is associated with falling poverty via two routes: a direct impact on poverty that is likely due to a pro-poor marginal incidence of non-farm employment expansion; and an indirect impact attributable to the positive effect of non-farm employment growth on agricultural wages. The analysis also confirms the important contribution to rural poverty reduction from agricultural productivity, availability of land, and consumption levels in proximate urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Crops&Crop Management Systems |
| Date: | 2009–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4858&r=cwa |
| By: | Nistha Sinha; Joanne Yoong |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1990s, several states in India have introduced financial incentive programs to discourage son preference among parents and to encourage investments in daughters' education and health. This study evaluates one such program in the state of Haryana, Apni Beti Apna Dhan (Our Daughter, Our Wealth). Since 1994, eligible parents in Haryana are offered a financial incentive if they give birth to a daughter. The incentive consists of an immediate cash grant and a long-term savings bond redeemable upon the daughter's 18th birthday provided she is unmarried, with additional bonuses for education. While no specific program participation data is available, the authors estimate early intent-to-treat program effects on mothers (sex ratio among live children, fertility preferences) and children (mother's use of antenatal care, survival, nutritional status, immunization, schooling) using statewide household survey data on fertility and child health and constructing proxies for household and individual program eligibility. Their results based on this limited data imply that Apni Beti Apna Dhan had a positive effect on the sex ratio of living children, but inconclusive effects on mothers' preferences for having female children as well as total desired fertility. They also find that parents increased their investment in daughters' human capital as a result of the program. Families made greater post-natal health investments in eligible girls, with some mixed evidence of improving health status in the short and medium term. Further evidence also suggests that the early cohort of eligible school-age girls are not significantly more likely to attend school; however, conditional on first attending any school, they may be more likely to continue their education. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 O12 O15 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:667&r=cwa |
| By: | Sinha, Nistha; Yoong, Joanne |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1990s, several states in India have introduced financial incentive programs to discourage son preference among parents and encourage investment in daughters'education and health. This study evaluates one such program in the state of Haryana, Apni Beti Apna Dhan (Our Daughter, Our Wealth). Since 1994, eligible parents in Haryana have been offered a financial incentive if they give birth to a daughter. The incentive consists of an immediate cash grant and a long-term savings bond redeemable on the daughter's 18th birthday provided she is unmarried, with additional bonuses for education. Although no specific program participation data are available, we estimate early intent-to-treat program effects on mothers (sex ratio among live children, fertility preferences) and children (mother's use of antenatal care, survival, nutritional status, immunization, schooling) using statewide household survey data on fertility and child health, and constructing proxies for household and individual program eligibility. The results based on this limited data imply that Apni Beti Apna Dhan had a positive effect on the sex ratio of living children, but inconclusive effects on mothers'preferences for having female children as well as total desired fertility. The findings also show that parents increased their investment in daughters'human capital as a result of the program. Families made greater post-natal health investments in eligible girls, with some mixed evidence of improving health status in the short and medium term. Further evidence also suggests that the early cohort of eligible school-age girls was not significantly more likely to attend school; however, conditional on first attending any school, they may be more likely to continue their education. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies,Youth and Governance,Adolescent Health,Gender and Health |
| Date: | 2009–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4860&r=cwa |
| By: | Kannan, Srinivasan |
| Abstract: | Tourism is a service sector which earns a substantial foreign exchange to developing countries. In India, Kerala is one of the important destination for the international tourists with its unique nature beauty with backwaters, mountains and beaches. To make the tourism a great success one has to take advantage of the modern technology to full extent. Present paper is an attempt to market tourism by adapting the service marketing approach for achieving great success. |
| Keywords: | Tourism; Service Marketing; 8 Ps; Marketing Mix |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14031&r=cwa |
| By: | Varma, Sumati |
| Abstract: | Cross border mergers and acquisitions is the fastest means of making an international presence for a business firm. It is a mode of outward FDI which has so far been explained best in terms of Dunning’s OLI framework. The emergence of outbound FDI from the developing world however, has looked at alternate frameworks emphasizing outward orientation, leverage through building linkages and achieving organizational efficiency through integration. The study seeks to explain outbound M&A in the Indian IT industry during 2000-2006, in the changing global competitive scenario . |
| Keywords: | Cross-border mergers and acquisitions; Indian IT; motives; strategy |
| JEL: | F23 G34 |
| Date: | 2008–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14028&r=cwa |
| By: | Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva (International Poverty Centre and Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | For South-South cooperation, the current moment of global economic downturn is one of anxiety. South-South cooperation was born with the Non-Aligned Movement. It went through a latent period, but re-emerged in the 1990s and early 2000s. The momentum gathered when a handful of middle-income countries such as Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa were set to improve their position as global players. They had developed some relatively successful social programmes, which they sought to share with other developing countries. Considering that conventional North-South cooperation had turned out to be of limited effectiveness, South-South cooperation gained further impetus. |
| Keywords: | South-South Cooperation in Times of Global Economic Crisis |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:76&r=cwa |
| By: | van Kooten, G. Cornelis; Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| Abstract: | This study reviews the prospects of wind power at the global level. Existing studies indicate that the earth's wind energy supply potential significantly exceeds global energy demand. Yet, only 1 percent of the global electricity demand is currently derived from wind power despite 40 percent annual growth in wind generating capacity over the past 25 years. More than 98 percent of total current wind power capacity is installed in the developed countries plus China and India. It has been estimated that wind power could supply 7 to 34 percent of global electricity needs by 2050. However, wind power faces a large number of technical, economic, financial, institutional, market, and other barriers. To overcome these barriers, many countries have employed various policy instruments, including capital subsidies, tax incentives, tradable energy certificates, feed-in tariffs, grid access guarantees and mandatory standards. Besides these policies, climate change mitigation initiatives resulting from the Kyoto Protocol (e.g., CO2-emission reduction targets in developed countries and the Clean Development Mechanism in developing countries) have played a significant role in promoting wind power. |
| Keywords: | Energy Production and Transportation,Carbon Policy and Trading,Windpower,Environment and Energy Efficiency,Energy and Environment |
| Date: | 2009–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4868&r=cwa |
| By: | Kinda, Tidiane; Plane, Patrick; Veganzones-Varoudakis, Marie-Ange |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the World Bank Investment Climate Assessment surveys, this paper investigates the relationship between firm-level technical efficiency and the investment climate for 22 developing economies and eight manufacturing industries. The authors first propose three measures of firms'productive performance: labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency. They show that, on average, enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa have performed poorly compared with other countries in the sample. The exception is Morocco, whose various measures of firm-level productivity rank close to the ones of the most productive economies. The analysis also reveals that the competitiveness of countries in the region has been handicapped by high unit labor cost, compared with main competitors like China and India. The empirical results show then? that the investment climate matters for firms'productive performance. This is true (depending on the industry) for the quality of various infrastructure, the experience and education level of the labor force, the cost of and access to financing, as well as different dimensions of the government-business relation. The analysis reveals that some industries, more exposed to international competition, are more sensitive to investment climate deficiencies. For some industries, this is also true for small and medium domestic enterprises that do not have the possibility to influence their investment climate or choose their location. These findings bear clear policy implications by showing that increasing firms'size and improving the investment climate (in particular of small and medium firms and industries more exposed to international competition) could constitute a powerful means of industrial development and competitiveness, in the Middle East and North Africa region in particular. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Political Economy,Labor Policies,,Investment and Investment Climate |
| Date: | 2009–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4869&r=cwa |
| By: | Habibullah, M.S.; Baharom, A.H.; Fong , Kin Hing |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of inflation and output growth on stock market returns and volatility in selected Asian countries, namely India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Philippines. By using monthly data from 1991 to 2004 and by employing GARCH (1, 1) model, it is found that macroeconomic volatility, which is measured by movement in inflation and output growth, have a weak predictive power for stock market returns and volatility in these countries. The movements of the inflation rate have significant impact to the stock market returns, either positive or negative depending on the inflation rates and their fluctuation in that country. While output growth movements have significant effect to stock market volatility, countries with relatively higher output volatility is associated with higher conditional volatility of stock returns, which is positive effect but is negative for countries which have relatively lower output volatility. |
| Keywords: | Stock returns; volatility; output; inflation; Asian countries |
| JEL: | G14 E44 |
| Date: | 2009–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14114&r=cwa |
| By: | Gordhan K. Saini (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides some important indicators of non-tariff measures in Indian textiles and clothing exports. The paper identifies major trading partners and HS codes to study the impact of Non Taiff Measures (NTMs) on Indian exports. First, using count measures i.e. frequency and coverage ratios, suggests that more than 60 of export value is affected by the NTMs in USA, EU-25 and Canada at various points in time. Second, it calculates Ad-Valorem Equivalents using price differential methods which are imposed in the SMART model under the partial equilibrium framework to know the trade impact of NTMs. A total trade loss of about billion 2.34 US$ 16.8 of base trade value is estimated, while the zero tariff gains are roughly billion 1.36 US$ that's 9.8 of base trade. Also this paper develops the framework for the primary research in the field of Non-Tariff Measures. |
| Keywords: | Non-Tariff Barriers, Ad-Valorem Equivalents of Non-Tariff Measures |
| JEL: | F10 F13 F14 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2009-002&r=cwa |
| By: | Mario Holzner (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Sebastian Leitner (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Josef Pöschl (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Anton Mihailov; Waltraut Urban (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Hermine Vidovic (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Leon Podkaminer (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Sándor Richter (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Olga Pindyuk (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Vladimir Gligorov (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Gábor Hunya (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Vasily Astrov (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Peter Havlik (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Zdenek Lukas (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | The report analyses recent economic developments and short- and medium-term development prospects, covering the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe including Turkey, together with Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and China. Separate chapters present an overview of developments in the European Union's New Member States and in Southeast European countries, or deal with the global economic environment and the role of the energy sector. |
| Keywords: | Central and East European new EU member states, Southeast Europe, Balkans, former Soviet Union, China, Turkey, economic forecasts, GDP growth, labour productivity, exchange rates, inflation, EU integration |
| JEL: | O52 O57 P24 P27 P33 P52 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:fpaper:fc:3&r=cwa |
| By: | M. Zaman (Ithaca College) |
| Abstract: | Turkey and the central Asian nations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan all have linguistic and cultural ties that could blossom into some form of economic bloc that could also attract a number of Middle Eastern states as well as China, Mongolia, and South Korea into more closer coordination of economic and regional policies.This study analyzes the likely economic and socio-political benefits of a cooperative bloc of the Turkic nations. It also elaborates on the possible domestic as well as regional and international antagonism against the formation and operation of such a bloc. This paper was presented May 23, 2008, at the 18th International Conference of the International Trade and Finance Association at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal. |
| Date: | 2008–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:itfapp:1110&r=cwa |