|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Pradeep Srivastava |
| Abstract: | The study seeks to answer two very basic questions in the Indian context: first, are there economies of scale and scope in Indian banking? In other words, are bigger banks better for India? And, second, to what extent has the domestic impetus, i.e., financial-sector policy reforms during the nineties, made banks in India more efficient? [WP no. 49]. |
| Keywords: | banks, Cost Structure, indian banking, Econometric,Economies, mergers, financial services, trade liberalization, Indian, acquisitions |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2223&r=cwa |
| By: | Maja Micevska |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the determinants of participation in nonfarm activities and of nonfarm incomes across rural households. A unique data set collected in the Himalayan region of India allows us to deal with the heterogeneity of rural nonfarm activities by using aggregations into categories that are useful both analytically and for policy purposes. [WP no. 205]. |
| Keywords: | rural households, productivity, wage employment, data set, India, Himalayas, Nonfarm employment; Rural households; Incomes; Education; India, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2226&r=cwa |
| By: | Lalitha N |
| Abstract: | The Doha Declaration provides for access to medicines particularly by simplifying the compulsory licensing (CL) clause. This paper tries to provide a comprehensive review of the working of CL in the developed and developing countries with some useful case studies. [GIDR WP No. 184]. |
| Keywords: | compulsory licensing, CL, HIV AIDS, developed, developing countries, case studies, medicines, doha, declaration, Indian companies, drugs, patients, India, Anti-cancer drugs, prices |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2216&r=cwa |
| By: | Nelson, Gerald C.; Robertson, Richard; Msangi, Siwa; Zhu, Tingju; Liao, Xiaoli; Jawajar, Puja |
| Abstract: | "By some estimates, agricultural practices account for 20 percent of India's total greenhouse gas (GSG) emissions; thus, cost-effective reductions in agricultural emissions could significantly lower India's overall emissions. We explore mitigation options for three agricultural sources of GHGs—methane (CH4) emissions from irrigated rice production, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the use of nitrogenous fertilizers, and the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from energy sources used to pump groundwater for irrigation. We also examine how changes in land use would affect carbon sequestration. We find great opportunities for cost-effective mitigation of GHGs in Indian agriculture, but caution that our results are based on a variety of data sources, some of which are of poor quality." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Greenhouse gas, Climate change, Mitigation, Sequestration, Mid-season drying, groundwater, Pumping, Payments for environmental services, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:900&r=cwa |
| By: | International Rivers Network IRN |
| Abstract: | This new report discusses the experience with environmental standards and how it can be useful for new financiers. It contains ten papers written by experts from civil society, financial institutions and academia. The authors present case studies of overseas projects funded by Chinese, Indian and Thai financiers, and analyze the experience with environmental standards which could be applied by these financiers. |
| Keywords: | financiers, financial instituions, academia, china, india, chinese, indian, Thai, environmental standards, civil society, hydropower development, dams, Social, Socially Responsible Investment, Thailand, Environmental |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2228&r=cwa |
| By: | Pan, Suwen; Hudson, Darren; Mutic, Maria |
| Abstract: | Domestic subsidies for cotton and other commodities have been a major topic of interest, especially during the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization trade negotiations. Many developing countries have insisted that domestic subsidies in countries like the United States represent significant trade barriers because they lower world price below their cost of production. India, Brazil, and other developing countries intimate that unless these domestic subsidies are lowered, they are unwilling to provide any more market access concessions in trade negotiations. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2009–08–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ttucer:53143&r=cwa |
| By: | William R Cline |
| Abstract: | There is a growing recognition that global warming is a problem, but little attention has been paid to the likely impact at the country level, especially in the developing world. The stakes for world agriculture, with special attention to China, India, Brazil, and the poor countries of the tropical belt in Africa and Latin America are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Industrialized Countries, agricultural productivity, global warming, India, Technological Change, China, Brazil, Africa, Latin America, agriculture, developing world, poor countries, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2221&r=cwa |
| By: | People's Science Institute PSI |
| Abstract: | India is home to fantastic water harvesting traditions that have evolved over millennia. The central western Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are no exceptions to these traditions. The present review describes a variety of water harvesting structures found in this region. It highlights their features with reference to specific structures. Traditionally, local communities exercised rights of ownership, use and management over their natural resources. They devised a variety of management systems suited to their own specific situation. Examples of innovative management systems are cited for traditional farmer managed irrigation systems. |
| Keywords: | India, traditions, central, western Himalayan, Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, harvesting structures, local communities, management, natural resources, farmer, traditional, irrigation systems, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2217&r=cwa |
| By: | K P Kannan |
| Abstract: | This paper is an attempt to apply the technique of social cost - benefit analysis to the problem of choice of technology in building construction in Kerala. [WP No. 30]. |
| Keywords: | technique, social cost-benefit analysis, technology, building construction, Kerala, construction, industrial, agricultural projects, irrigation, transport, health, housing, India, goods, resources, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2215&r=cwa |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas; Vandeplas, Anneleen |
| Abstract: | "Food supply chains are being transformed in a number of developing countries due to widespread changes in urban food demand. To better anticipate the impact of this transformation and thus assist in the design of appropriate policies, it is important to understand the changes that are occurring in these supply chains. In a case study of India, we find that overall urban consumption is increasing; the urban food basket is shifting away from staples toward high-value products; and modern market channels (modern retail, food processing, and the food service industry) are on the rise. We document differing practices in traditional and modern food supply chains and identify an agenda for future research." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Agricultural marketing, Market transformation, Rural-urban linkages, Globalization, Markets, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:883&r=cwa |
| By: | Jeemol Unni |
| Abstract: | In this paper, with empirical data, the Capabilities Approach to identify 'conversion factors' that are not typically addressed in the utility approach is used. The two approaches are juxtaposed to examine how institutions such as caste and religion mediate access and returns to education of men and women. The effort is to discuss whether, the capabilities approach provides any advantage in addressing questions of inequity that may be mediated through such institutions. The main innovation in this paper is a comparison between the knowledge generated through use of traditional data sources to measure access and returns to education compared with knowledge about the dynamics of capability formation generated through a mixture of traditional quantitative and some qualitative data within the capabilities approach. |
| Keywords: | institutions, knowledge, attendance,Child Labour, school, children, Education, Capabilities approach, human capital, caste, religion, India, traditional data, quantitative, qualitative, data, men, women, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2227&r=cwa |
| By: | Milanovic, Branko |
| Abstract: | The results of new direct price level comparisons across 148 countries in 2005 have led to large revisions of purchasing power parity exchanges rates, particularly for China and India. The recalculation of international and global inequalities, using the new purchasing power parity rates, shows that inequalities are substantially higher than previously thought. Inequality between global citizens is estimated at 70 Gini points rather than 65 as before. The richest decile receives 57 percent of global income rather than 50 percent. |
| Keywords: | Inequality,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Emerging Markets,Equity and Development,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2009–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5061&r=cwa |
| By: | Sumru Altug (Koc University and Centre for Economic Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Is çevrimlerinin tanim ve özelliklerinin arastirilmasi modern makroekonomi kuraminda önemli bir yer tutmaktadir. Bu çalismamizda Türkiye’de ve yükselen piyasa ekonomilerinde is çevrimlerinin gerek ampirik gerekse teorik yönden ele alip ilk olarak tarih ve süre araliklarinin belirlenmesi için kullanilan yöntemleri ve Türkiye açisindan uygulamalarini inceleyecegiz. Ikincisi, Türkiye gibi diger yükselen piyasa ekonomilerinde yasanan is çevrimlerinin ayirtedici özelliklerini (stylized facts) ve kaynaklarini ele alacagiz. Bu baglamda yükselen piyasa ekonomilerideki iktisadi dalgalanmalari Reel Is Çevrim modelleri çerçevesinde soklar ve aktarim mekanizmalari açisindan inceleyecegiz. Trend büyümedeki meydana gelen soklarin ve özellikle kriz dönemlerinde ortaya çikan faiz soklarinin önemini arastiracagiz. The analysis of business cycles and their characteristics constitutes an important area of research in the modern economics literature. In this study, we will examine business cycles in Turkey and in emerging market economies both from an empirical and a theoretical perspective. First, we will discuss the methods used for determining business cycle turning points and their applications in the context of Turkey. Second, we will consider the stylized facts of business cycles and their determinants for emerging market economies. Specifically, we will analyze the shocks and propagation mechanisms of business cycles in emerging market economies based on Real Business Cycle modeling, and investigate the importance of shocks to trend growth and the role of interest rate shocks, especially during crisis periods. |
| Keywords: | Yükselen piyasa ekonomileri, iktisadi dalgalanmalarin tarih ve süre araliklarinin belirlenmesi, soklarin kaynagi, kalici ve geçici soklar, faiz soklari |
| JEL: | E32 F32 F41 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yil:wpaper:0015&r=cwa |
| By: | Tapasvi I Puwar |
| Abstract: | A situational analysis of recording and reporting maternal deaths in Gandhinagar district, Gujarat, India and to suggest improvements in the system for reporting and recording maternal deaths based on the findings. This qualitative study was conducted during June-August 2008 and analyzed maternal deaths occurred during April 2007–March 2008. To understand the current reporting system of maternal deaths, semi-structured interviews were conducted with all the concerned officials and offices. Forms and formats relating to death registration and registers containing information on deaths in the villages and towns were studied. Deaths of women in reproductive age group (15-49), reported by the district for the same year were also analyzed. Analysis of 15 verbal autopsy forms filled by the Medical Officers and Block Health Officers was also carried out using Epi Info software. Verbal autopsy method was used for in-depth understanding the circumstances and issues relating to 2 maternal deaths occurred during the study period and its reporting. A group meeting was conducted with Anganwadi workers to understand the reporting of maternal deaths through ICDS. |
| Keywords: | maternal deaths, autopsy, Mumbai, gujarat state, maternal mortality ratio, MMR, south asia, NFHS, births, MDGs, Anganwadi workers, ICDS,women, reproductive age group, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2222&r=cwa |
| By: | Lant Pritchett; Martina Viarengo |
| Abstract: | Does the government control of school systems facilitate equality in school quality? There is a trade-off. On the one hand, government direct control of schools, typically through a large scale hierarchical organization, could produce equalization across schools by providing uniformity in inputs, standards, and teacher qualifications that localized individually managed schools could not achieve. But there is a tendency for large scale formal bureaucracies to “see” less and less of localized reality and hence to manage on the basis of a few simple, objective, and easily administratively verified characteristics (e.g. resources per student, formal teacher qualifications). Whether centralized or localized control produces more equality depends therefore not only on what “could” happen in principle but what does happen in practice. When government implementation capacity is weak, centralized control could lead to only the illusion of equality: in which central control of education with weak internal or external accountability actually allows for much greater inequalities across schools than entirely “uncontrolled” local schools. Data from Pakistan, using results from the LEAPS study, and from two states of India show much larger variance in school quality (adjusted for student characteristics) among the government schools—because of very poor public schools which continue in operation. We use the PISA data to estimate school specific learning achievement (in mathematics, science, and reading) net of individual student and school average background characteristics and compare public and private schools for 34 countries. For these countries there is, on average, exactly the same inequality in adjusted learning achievement across the private schools as across the public schools. But while inequality is the same on average, in some countries, such as Denmark, there was much more equality within the public sector while in others, such as Mexico, there was much more inequality among the public schools. Among the 18 non-OECD participating PISA countries the standard deviation across schools in adjusted quality was, on average, 36 percent higher in government than in private schools. In cases with weak states the proximate cause of high inequality again was that the public sector distribution of performance had a long left tail—schools with extremely poor performance. Relying on blinded weak states for top-down control of educational systems can be lose-lose relative to localized systems relying on bottom-up control—producing worse average performance and higher inequality. |
| Keywords: | education; inequality; centralized; localized; bureaucracy |
| JEL: | I20 H42 H11 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:178&r=cwa |
| By: | Mattoo, Aaditya; Subramanian, Arvind |
| Abstract: | This paper documents an unusual and possibly significant phenomenon: the export of skills, embodied in goods, services or capital from poorer to richer countries. The authors first present a set of stylized facts. Then, using a measure that combines the sophistication of a country’s exports with the average income level of destination countries, they show that the performance of a number of developing countries - notably China, Mexico and South Africa - matches that of much more advanced countries - such as Japan, Spain and the United States. The authors create a new combined dataset on foreign direct investment (covering greenfield investment as well as mergers and acquisitions). The analysis shows that flows of foreign direct investment to developed countries from developing countries - like Brazil, India, Malaysia and South Africa - as a share of their GDP, are as large as flows from developed countries - like Japan, Korea and the United States. The authors suggest that it is not just the composition of exports but their destination that matters. In both cross-sectional and panel regressions, with a range of controls, a measure of uphill flows of sophisticated goods is significantly associated with better growth performance. These results suggest the need for a deeper analysis of whether the benefits of development might derive not from deifying comparative advantage but from defying it. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Investment and Investment Climate,Trade Policy |
| Date: | 2009–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5047&r=cwa |
| By: | A. Nazif Catik (Department of Economics, Ege University); A. Özlem Önder (Department of Economics, Ege University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates distribution of inflation items using various measures of skewness and kurtosis for Turkey covering the period 1996-2007. Considering sensitivity of traditional distribution measures to outlying observations robust skewness and kurtosis are also computed as a novelty. Analysis results mainly reveal that inflation components are right skewed and fat tailed as documented by the previous studies. However due to possible effects of the outliers traditional measures, in particular skewness, are lagging behind the robust measures in identifying underlying dispersion. Therefore one can say that weighted mean inflation used to measure general price changes is not trustworthy and a biased estimator of central location. Our results further suggest that core measures based on constant and symmetric trimming applied by the previous studies for Turkey is somewhat deficient since skewness of the data is ignored in the estimation process. Therefore, to obtain more reliable information in monitoring general price movements we suggest use of asymmetric trimmed means estimators which allows trimming different percentages from each tail of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | Infation, Prices, Distribution, Robust Skewness, Robust, Kurtosis. |
| JEL: | C43 E31 E52 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ege:wpaper:0902&r=cwa |
| By: | Raabe, Katharina; Sekher, Madhushree; Birner, Regina |
| Abstract: | "In 1993, India introduced quota-based political reservations for women in rural areas with the objective to promote gender equality in human development by making rural service provision and local governance inclusive and responsive to the needs of women. Recent evidence shows that reservation policies for women (1) stimulate the political participation of women in rural areas, (2) shift rural service provision to public goods that reflect gender preferences, and (3) improve the access to and the quality of public services. Despite the suggested positive effects of women's reservation policies on service provision and local governance, the gender bias in human development is still pronounced. This casts doubt on the effectiveness of reservation policies as an instrument for making rural service provision and local governance more gender equitable and raises questions about the nature and direction of the major constraints. This paper aims to qualify and quantify the role of political reservation policies for women as a determinant of rural service provision and local governance and seeks to identify the social, economic, and institutional factors that constrain effective local governance and rural service provision beyond the women's reservation effect. Our empirical sample consists of 80 Gram Panchayats (GP) and 966 households in 12 districts in Karnataka in 2006. In contrast to the main existing literature, the empirical evidence from (non-)linear probability models lends weak support to the existence of gender effects of reservation policies on local governance and rural service provision. The local governance and service delivery outcomes are predominantly determined by social, economic, and institutional factors that are unrelated to women's reservation requirements. For example, (1) individual characteristics such as literacy, household institutional and political linkages, or the household location in the GP and (2) GP-specific factors such as the degree of community involvement in service provision and the fiscal devolution of activities are more likely to have a significant effect on service provision and governance than reservation policies for women. These results suggest that women's reservation policies per se are insufficient means for making rural service provision and local governance more inclusive and gender equitable. In addition, it appears that gender-integrated policy approaches that are targeted at both women and men are needed." from authors' abstract |
| Keywords: | Gender, Decentralization, Local governance, Rural service provision, Affirmative action, Governance, Women, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:878&r=cwa |
| By: | Anil Markandya (University of Bath and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); S. Arnold (University of Bath); M. Cassinelli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); T. Taylor (University of Bath) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines existing measures taken to protect the coastal zones of the Mediterranean Sea and assesses their success. A summary of the main pressures facing these zones is given, followed by an analysis of the legislation covering coastal zone development in ten countries: Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. We find that not all of these states have legislation specifically covering coastal zones, but there is concern in all areas that the legislation is not working, We also look at the costs and benefits of controlling coastal development. Firstly, a literature review of valuation studies identifies a range of values placed on developed and undeveloped coastline for both users and local property owners. These values were then used in a model to evaluate policy options to control development of a stretch of coastline. The model indicates that a stricter control regime of coastal development may provide significant benefits. |
| Keywords: | Coastal Zone Management, Legislation, Littoral, Mediterranean, Recreation |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2009.71&r=cwa |
| By: | Kühl Teles, Vladimir; Zaidan, Marta |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to evaluate the validity of the Taylor principle for inflation control in 12 developing countries that use inflationtargeting regimes: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Israel, Mexico,Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey. The test is based on a state-space model to determine when each country hasfollowed the principle; then a threshold unit root test is used to verify if the stationarity of the deviation of the expected inflation from itstarget depends on compliance with the Taylor principle. The results show that such compliance leads to the stationarity of the deviation of the expected inflation from its target in all cases. Furthermore, in mostcases, non-compliance with the Taylor principle leads to nonstationary deviation of the expected inflation. |
| Date: | 2009–08–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:197&r=cwa |
| By: | Selim, Tarek; Salem, Sherif |
| Abstract: | We study students placement in Egyptian colleges under the current demand/supply placement mechanism implemented in Egypt (e-mechanism). We show that the e-mechanism is not Pareto efficient nor strategy proof and, moreover, it can not be improved to accommodate Pareto efficiency nor strategy proofness. The final conclusion is that it is better, from an efficiency point of view, to adopt a matching algorithm, like the Gale-Shapley mechanism, in students placement. |
| Keywords: | Student placement; Gale-Shapley mechanism; e-mechanism; Egypt |
| JEL: | C78 D71 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17596&r=cwa |