|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Pradhan, Jaya Prakash |
| Abstract: | This study deals with the outward FDI (OFDI) behaviours of the emerging multinationals from India and China. In the backdrop of changing public policies and economic performance of the home country, it traces the evolution of OFDI by these emerging multinationals over a long period, from early 1950s to the present decade. Indian and Chinese multinationals, in addition to their similarity of achieving high growth rates of OFDI with long term sectoral and geographical diversification, are observed to have a number of important differences in terms of characteristics of outward investing firms and their locational motivations. |
| Keywords: | Outward FDI; Emerging multinationals; India; China |
| JEL: | F23 O53 F21 |
| Date: | 2009–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18210&r=cwa |
| By: | D Subbarao |
| Abstract: | From the perspective of Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) and particularly for that of India, five concerns are expressed. These are: first, timing of exit from the accommodative monetary policy in the context of rising food price-led inflation but still weak growth; second, the possibility of another surge in capital flows, especially if we turn out to be an outlier in withdrawal of monetary stimulus; third, monetary transmission mechanism as it is evolving from the crisis period; fourth, return to fiscal consolidation and quality of fiscal adjustment; and finally, the implications of the efforts towards financial stability on financial inclusion and growth. [Remarks by Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India at G-30 International Banking Seminar in Istanbul on organized on the occasion of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings 2009]. |
| Keywords: | India, emerging markets, monetary policy, capital flows, fiscal, adjustments, reserve bank India, financial stability, inclusion, growth, food price, inflation, consolidation |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2246&r=cwa |
| By: | Tejas A. Desai |
| Abstract: | Both India and the U.S. were once colonies of Great Britain, the world''s first but short-lived global power. And both India and the U.S. ultimately threw off the imperialist yoke. Despite independence, both democracies inherited certain things from Great Britain. Whereas India inherited the English language, parliamentary governance, socialism, and, last but not least, the English educational system; the U.S. inherited the English language, the Judeo-Christian value system, and the .white. racial identity. The English educational system of India was augmented by Soviet-style central planning which resulted in several .Institutes. that have come to dominate higher education in India. Despite being ethnically closer to Great Britain, the U.S. evolved its own system of political governance, and, more important, its own educational system. While American higher education has come to define the .gold standard. for higher education, India still lags considerably behind in higher education. This paper seeks to explain certain cultural differences that may have contributed to this imbalance between the Indian and American higher education systems. |
| Date: | 2009–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-04-03&r=cwa |
| By: | Ravindra H. Dholakia |
| Abstract: | Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the major contributors to the growth acceleration in India after 1991-92. Although the Regional Disparity may increase temporarily, causality test provides support to the hypothesis about spread effects. The Regional growth targets assigned by the 11th Plan in India seem to rely on the spread effects of economic growth acceleration in the better off states to achieve its 9 percent growth target and reduce regional disparity in the long run. To strengthen spread effects, the domestic economy should be further integrated and interlinked with free flow of goods, services and factors of production. |
| Date: | 2009–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-03-06&r=cwa |
| By: | Tejas A. Desai |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to derive some important lessons in economic philosophy from two recent Indian films. The two films, Mani Ratnam.s Guru (2007) and Madhur Bhandarkar.s Corporate (2006), are explicitly about the world of business and the people who inhabit it. The former film is not only a history lesson about the political and economic environment in India during the first 40 years after India.s independence, but is also a celebration of Adam Smith.s philosophy and, in general, capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit. At the same time, it brings to the fore the possibly misguided economic policies adopted by India during the first few decades after independence. .Corporate., on the other hand, complements .Guru., in the sense that it highlights the consequences borne by powerless individuals when corporations have profit as their sole aim and are willing to achieve them by hook or by crook. Also, highlighted in .Corporate. is how disastrous events can occur when politics and big business collude to undermine the interests of the working class. Thus, .Corporate. provides a case for Keynesian economics. The role of gender and family in economics is also explored in this film, as is the role and importance of ethics in economics. Last but not least, the limitations of rationality and rational behaviour are highlighted in .Corporate.. Classical economics assumes that people are perfectly rational in their decision-making. This assumption has been challenged by newer economic theories, and is also challenged by .Corporate. |
| Date: | 2009–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-04-02&r=cwa |
| By: | G. Raghuram,Samantha Bastian,Satyam Shivam Sundaram |
| Abstract: | Mega projects (primarily infrastructure) receive a sizable investment (~10%) of the gross fixed capital formation in India. Environmental clearances and land acquisitions have been the two major reasons for delays in the projects. However, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of projects running on schedule and a sharp decline in the proportion of projects with cost overruns. These accomplishments have been achieved due to better financing, project management, and reform in the regulatory frameworks related to environmental and land acquisition aspects. |
| Date: | 2009–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-03-07&r=cwa |
| By: | Vasant P. Gandhi,N.V. Namboodiri |
| Abstract: | Groundwater has rapidly emerged to occupy a dominant place in India.'s agriculture and food security in the recent years. It has become the main source of growth in irrigated area over the past 3 decades, and it now accounts for over 60 percent of the irrigated area in the country. It is estimated that now over 70 percent of India.'s food grain production comes from irrigated agriculture, in which groundwater plays a major role. Since the development of groundwater irrigation has not largely been government or policy driven . has happened gradually through highly decentralized private activity, this revolution has often gone largely unrecognized. |
| Date: | 2009–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-03-08&r=cwa |
| By: | Abhay Pethe |
| Abstract: | The Finances of the PRIs are looked into. The role of 13th Finance Commissionis is explained. Some ‘learnings’ from International experience is given. |
| Keywords: | finances, PRIs, coalitional government, India, finance commission, tax revenue, liabilities, RBI, decentralization, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2245&r=cwa |
| By: | Engel, Nora (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Innovation dynamics in Tuberculosis control in India: The shift to new partnerships Tuberculosis remains the biggest infectious killer in India and worldwide, and it has recently regained substantial international attention with its come-back in drug resistant forms. The environment, the disease and the societal response to it are changing and with it challenges and opportunities to control the disease. Innovation in a variety of areas such as improved diagnostic tests, drugs, delivery mechanisms, service processes, institutions and treatment regimes is needed in order to be able to respond to the changing public health challenge. Recent developments in the literature emphasize that innovation is a complex endeavour that includes processes of negotiation, learning and alignment amongst researchers, health practitioners, firms and public authorities. The ground level realities for innovation in countries such as India where TB is a social as much as a clinical problem are complicated with challenges and constraints inherent to the health and wider social system that hamper learning, experimenting and thus innovation. Based on preliminary results from qualitative fieldwork in India this paper will examine the innovation dynamics in one of the recent policy changes in TB control in India: the emergence of new partnerships between private medical providers, NGOs and the government. The paper traces where new ideas come from, how they make their way through the existing control structure and how the existing efforts to control TB respond to and cope with these new developments. The central argument is that the dynamics of innovation in a complex, conflicting and confusing setting like TB control can be understood as a continuous evolution of problems, promises and solutions. |
| Keywords: | Innovation dynamics, public-private mix, Tuberculosis, India |
| JEL: | I18 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2009040&r=cwa |
| By: | Parvathy Sankara Raman,Bharati Sharma,Dileep Mavalankar,Mudita Upadhyaya |
| Abstract: | Maternal mortality remains to be one of the very important public health problems in India. The maternal mortality estimates, is about (300-400/100,000 live births). There are diverse management issues, policy barriers to be overcome for improving maternal health. Especially, the operationalization of Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) and access to skilled care attendance during delivery. This study focuses on understanding the regional and district level capacity of the state government to operationalize First Referral Units for providing Emergency Obstetric care. This study is a part of a larger project for strengthening midwifery and Emergency Obstetric Care in India. |
| Date: | 2009–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-04-01&r=cwa |
| By: | Vijay Paul Sharma; Kalpesh Kumar; Raj Vir Singh |
| Abstract: | In response to structural transformations taking place in the Indian dairy sector mainly in processing segment this paper examines determinants of market channel choices of milk producers based on a survey of 390 farm households in 2007. It also attempts to investigate what impacts these market channel choices may have on farmers' income and technology adoption. A two-stage multinomial logit model is employed to investigate determinants and effects of market channel choices of milk producers. While modern marketing channels have emerged in the Indian dairy sector, the traditional sector is still dominant. Farmers sell nearly 85 per cent of milk to traditional channels. The share of the modern organized sector is growing but at a slow pace. The dominance of the traditional channel is an indication of a very competitive and cost-effective traditional market in linking producers and consumers. It is possible that high transaction costs also act as a barrier. However, issues of hygiene and quality of milk being sold through traditional channels require attention. Results indicate that small dairy farmers and the poor are mostly excluded from modern private sector channels. Household's socio-economic variables (farm size, age and education) are important determinants of marketing channel choice in the case of the modern private sector. Large farmers have better opportunity to participate in modern private channels. Market infrastructure such as road, provision of veterinary services, distance from milk collection centre, markets, milk collection centres, price risks, etc. have significant effect on farmers' marketing choices. The second stage results of the Heckman model show that education, membership of producers' association/cooperatives, provision of veterinary services, and farm size have significant impact on cooperative marketing channel farmers' income while in the case of modern private sector, education and price risk have significant impact on income. |
| Date: | 2009–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-02-01&r=cwa |
| By: | GŸl ERTAN …ZG†ZER (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Luca PENSIEROSO (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) FNRS) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we build a two-country dynamic general equilibrium model to study whether European citizens would benefit from the eventual accession of Turkey to the European Union. The results ofthe simulations show that Turkey's accession to the European Union is welfare enhancing for Europeans, provided that Turkish total factor productivity (TFP) increases sufficiently after enlargement. In the model with no capital mobility, the Europeans are better off it the Turkish TFP increase bridges more than 31% of the initial TFP gap between Turkey and the European Union. That figure becomes 45% when capital mobility is introduced. |
| Keywords: | European Union, Turkey, Enlargement, Dynamic General Equilibrium, Open Economy Macroeconomics |
| JEL: | F41 |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2009029&r=cwa |
| By: | Dileep V. Mavalankar; Tapasvi I. Puwar; Dipti Govil; Tiina M. Murtola; S.S. Vasan |
| Abstract: | Background In this working paper, a preliminary estimate of the immediate cost of chikungunya and dengue to the Indian state of Gujarat has been estimated by combining nine earlier studies on major cost factors such as costs of illness and control, and thus building a more comprehensive picture of the immediate cost of these Aedes mosquito-borne diseases to Gujarat. Methods Costs of illness and vector control comprise the immediate cost of chikungunya and dengue. In this working paper, cost of illness has been calculated using the RUHA matrix approach. Using the shares of reported (R) and unreported (U) hospitalised (H) and ambulatory (A) cases of chikungunya and dengue, a RUHA matrix has been constructed for the state of Gujarat. Cost of illness has been estimated by combining this matrix with ambulatory and hospitalisation costs per case and the number of reported cases. For this study, chikungunya and dengue were assumed to be identical from the point of view of disease control and management. Vector control cost includes state and municipal expenditure to prevent/control these diseases, a conservative fraction of the household insecticides market, and private sector cost. Comparisons with Asian countries have been used to estimate a parameter if direct data is unavailable. Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis was carried out to find out how uncertainties in each cost parameter affected the total cost of chikungunya and dengue. Findings Using Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis, the immediate cost of chikungunya and dengue to Gujarat has been estimated to be 3.7 (range 1.6-9.0) billion rupees per annum. This is a preliminary estimate; research is in progress to refine key parameters from the Monte-Carlo analysis such as ambulatory cost per case and reporting rate. The emotional and long-term burden of illness and deaths due to these diseases including impact on tourism, education, economic growth, per capita income, FDI, etc. are beyond the scope of this study. Extrapolating from Gujarat to the whole of India (after adjusting for the relative number of cases in each state and differences in state GSDP per capita), the immediate cost of chikungunya and dengue to the whole of India is approximately INR 61 billion (range INR 26-148 billion). Interpretation The annual cost of INR 3.7 billion (range INR 1.6-9.0 billion) translates to approximately INR 66 per capita (range INR 29-159), or US$ 1.6 (range US$ 0.7-3.8) per capita using an exchange rate 42 INR/US$. Comparable cost of dengue is US$ 5.3 in Malaysia and US$ 6.2 in Panama, while Brazil spends US$ 4.3 per capita on dengue prevention alone. The differences in these costs can be partially be explained by roughly five times higher GDP per capita in Malaysia, Panama and Brazil than in Gujarat. However, higher incidence of chikungunya increases the relative cost in Gujarat. As policy makers weigh investments in new technologies and expanded use of existing interventions to control neglected tropical diseases, the economic cost of illness is a major input into decision making. It is hoped that this preliminary estimate will trigger more refined studies on cost of illness as well as cost-effectiveness of vaccines and other interventions to combat these neglected tropical diseases |
| Date: | 2009–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-01-01&r=cwa |
| By: | Laura Alfaro (Harvard Business School, Business, Government and the International Economy Unit); Anusha Chari (Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) |
| Abstract: | Using firm-level data this paper analyzes, the transformation of India's economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly-listed and unlisted firms from across a wide spectrum of manufacturing and services industries and ownership structures such as state-owned firms, business groups, private and foreign firms. Detailed balance sheet and ownership information permit an investigation of a range of variables such as sales, profitability, and assets. Here we analyze firm characteristics shown by industry before and after liberalization and investigate how industrial concentration, the number, and size of firms of the ownership type evolved between 1988 and 2005. We find great dynamism displayed by foreign and private firms as reflected in the growth in their numbers, assets, sales and profits. Yet, closer scrutiny reveals no dramatic transformation in the wake of liberalization. The story rather is one of an economy still dominated by the incumbents (state-owned firms) and to a lesser extent, traditional private firms (firms incorporated before 1985). Sectors dominated by state-owned and traditional private firms before 1988-1990, with assets, sales and profits representing shares higher than 50%, generally remained so in 2005. The exception to this broad pattern is the growing importance of new and large private firms in the services sector. Rates of return also have remained stable over time and show low dispersion across sectors and across ownership groups within sectors. |
| JEL: | O12 O14 O19 L10 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hbs:wpaper:10-030&r=cwa |
| By: | G Raghuram,Rachna Gangwar |
| Abstract: | The focus of this paper is on how Indian Railways can service the steel sector better. The steel sector is a core sector, with railways playing a critical role in its logistics. The paper examines the changing industry structure and brings to light the increased need for transportation, as compared to normal planning processes. Traditionally, crude and finished steel making was done in the same location by big producers having integrated plants. Now the industry has a large number of producers who primarily focus on crude steel making or finished steel making, necessitating the need for transporting crude steel to the finished steel makers. Even within finished steel making, there could be levels of value addition where the output of one finished steel maker could become the input for another. |
| Date: | 2009–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-04-04&r=cwa |
| By: | Pratibha Esther Singh |
| Abstract: | The methodology had two parts - secondary data analysis and a descriptive cross sectional study. Secondary date analysis was carried our using a sample of 1,028 men and 1,028 women in the reproductive ages drawn from the phase-2 RCH survey. The RCH surveys consist of sample sizes adequate at the district level to obtain estimates of reproductive morbidity. The primary data collection for this study was conducted in the Tehri Garhwal district of UA. The sampling frame consisted of all trained Traaditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in six of nine blocks in the chosen district. Several NGOs have undertaken TBA training in Tehri Garhwal. [WP no. 11] |
| Keywords: | women, reproductive ages, RCH sirveys, birth attendants, TBAs, uttaranchal, child survial, health workers, Indian, morbidity, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2249&r=cwa |
| By: | Rakesh Basant,Partha Mukhopadhyay |
| Abstract: | We provide a brief but comprehensive overview of linkages between higher education and the high tech sector and study the major linkages in India. We find that the links outside of the labor market are weak. This is attributed to a regulatory structure that separates research from the university and discourages good faculty from joining, which erodes the quality of the intellectual capital necessary to generate new knowledge. In the labor market, we find a robust link between higher education and high-tech industry, but despite a strong private sector supply response to the growth of the high-tech industry, the quality leaves much to be desired. Poor university governance may be limiting both labor market and non-labor market linkages. Industry efforts to improve the quality of graduates are promising but over reliance on industry risks compromising workforce flexibility. Addressing the governance failures in higher education is necessary to strengthen the links between higher education and high tech industry. |
| Date: | 2009–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-05-01&r=cwa |
| By: | Dileep V. Mavalankar; Tapasvi I. Puwar; Tiina M. Murtola; S.S. Vasan |
| Abstract: | Background Health economists have traditionally quantified the burden of vector-borne diseases (such as chikungunya and dengue) as the sum of the cost of illness and the cost of intervention programmes. The objective of this paper is to predict the order of magnitude of possible reduction in tourism revenues if a major epidemic of chikungunya or dengue were to discourage visits by international tourists, and to prove that even a conservative estimate can be comparable to or even greater than the cost of illness and intervention programmes combined, and therefore should not be ignored in the estimation of the overall burden. Methods We have chosen three Asian economies where the immediate costs of these diseases have been recently calculated: Gujarat (an economically important state of India), Malaysia, and Thailand. Only international tourists from non-endemic countries have been considered to be discouraged, and a 4% annual decline in their numbers has been assumed. Revenues from these tourists have been calculated assuming that tourists from non-endemic countries would spend, on average, the same amount as all international tourists. These assumptions are conservative and consistent with the recent experience of Mauritius and Réunion islands. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have been considered half as likely to avoid travel to Gujarat compared to non-Indians. This paper reports inflation-adjusted expenditure figures as 2008 US$, assuming recent market exchange rates of 42.0 INR/US$, 3.22 MYR/US$, 0.68 EUR/US$, and 33.6 THB/US$. Findings A 4% decline in tourists from non-endemic countries would result in a substantial loss of tourism revenues . at least US$ 8 million for Gujarat, US$ 65 million for Malaysia, and US$ 363 million for Thailand. The estimated immediate annual cost of chikungunya and dengue to these economies is US$ 90 million, US$ 133 million, and approximately US$ 127 million respectively, indicating that impact on tourism revenues should not be ignored when calculating the burden of infectious diseases. The impact on Gujarat is relatively less because its share of world tourism receipts is just 0.04%, whereas Malaysia and Thailand have healthy shares of 1.64% and 1.82% respectively. A 4% decline in tourists to Gujarat from other Indian states would amount to US$ 9.6 million loss in domestic tourism revenues to Gujarat. Interpretation This paper shows that potential loss of tourism revenues due to a severe epidemic outbreak could be substantial. In some cases, ignoring this component could seriously underestimate cost-benefit results, forestalling promising interventions that could benefit the society as a whole or leading to inadequate investment of resources in prevention and public-funded control programmes. This would be to the detriment of especially poorer sections of the society, who may not be able to afford treatment costs. At present data are insufficient for us to make more than a preliminary estimate of the magnitude of the potential loss of revenues from tourism due to a major outbreak of chikungunya or dengue. |
| Date: | 2009–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-02-03&r=cwa |
| By: | Laura Alfaro; Anusha Chari |
| Abstract: | Using firm-level data this paper analyzes the transformation of India’s economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly-listed and unlisted firms in manufacturing and services industries. Detailed balance sheet and ownership information permit an investigation of a range of variables. We analyze firm characteristics shown by industry before and after liberalization and investigate how industrial concentration, number, and size of firms evolved between 1988 and 2005. We find great dynamism displayed by foreign and private firms as reflected in the growth in their numbers, assets, sales and profits. Yet, closer scrutiny reveals no dramatic transformation in the wake of liberalization. The story rather is one of an economy still dominated by the incumbents (state-owned firms) and to a lesser extent, traditional private firms (firms incorporated before 1985). Sectors dominated by state-owned and traditional private firms before 1988-1990, with assets, sales and profits representing shares higher than 50%, generally remained so in 2005. The exception to this broad pattern is the growing importance of new private firms in the services sector. Rates of return also have remained stable over time and show low dispersion across sectors and across ownership groups within sectors. |
| JEL: | F4 O12 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15448&r=cwa |
| By: | Larru, Jose Maria |
| Abstract: | Although the literature on aid effectiveness is vast, most of it is based on cross-country studies and does not address the Mediterranean countries as a especial group. To fill this gap, this paper describes the main structural characteristics of overseas development assistance (ODA). ODA is analyzed by country, by donor, and by sector for 1960-2007 in ten Mediterranean countries. Different patterns among recipient countries are found, but a proliferation and concentration of donors is confirmed. A positive correlation between shocks in GDP and ODA is found when the whole sample of countries is analyzed, but when the Mediterranean economies are individually considered, the pro-cyclicality of the ODA is not confirmed, except in the case of Lebanon. FDI, remittances and ODA flows are compared. The three variables are positively correlated. ODA and remittances are indeed less volatile than FDI flows. But, whereas remittances are stable and strategic to Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, ODA flows to Syria and the Palestinian territories are higher than remittances in volume, but more volatile. Egypt and Turkey are the main destinations of FDI to the region. Finally, it is shown that ODA does not offset the shocks of FDI or remittances. |
| Keywords: | aid; FDI; pro-cyclicality; remittances; volatility |
| JEL: | F35 O57 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:17850&r=cwa |
| By: | Ahmed Mohamed Badreldin (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo); Christian Kalhoefer (Faculty of Business Administration, British University in Egypt) |
| Abstract: | Recent economic reforms in Egypt have significantly improved its macroeconomic indicators and financial sector. Banks have witnessed significant merger and acquisition activity as a result of these reforms in attempts to privatize and strengthen the banking sector. This study measures the performance of Egyptian banks that have undergone mergers or acquisitions during the period 2002-2007. This is done by calculating their return on equity using the Basic ROE Scheme in order to determine the degree of success of banking reforms in strengthening and consolidating the Egyptian banking sector. Our findings indicate that not all banks that have undergone deals of mergers or acquisitions have shown significant improvements in performance and return on equity when compared to their performance before the deals. Furthermore, extensive analysis was performed yielding the same results. It was concluded that mergers and acquisitions have not had a clear effect on the profitability of banks in the Egyptian banking sector. They were only found to have minor positive effects on the credit risk position. These findings do not support the current process of financial consolidation and banking reforms observed in Egypt, and provide weak evidence to support their constructive role in improved bank profitability and economic restructure. |
| Keywords: | Mergers and Acquisitions, Egypt, Banks, ROE, Performance Measurement, Reforms, ROA |
| JEL: | G21 G34 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:guc:wpaper:18&r=cwa |
| By: | Bragoli, D; Ganugi, P; Ianulardo, Giancarlo |
| Abstract: | The damage and the recurrence of financial crises have increased the concern of investors and policymakers on one hand and the interest of macroeconomists on the other. This paper presents an original non parametric methodology, whose aim is to give a very intuitive and rigorous method for variable selection in order to analyze financial crises. The transvariation analysis compares the distributions of two different groups of countries (sound and distressed) with respect to a single macroeconomic variable and selects the indicators on the basis of a low transvariation probability index. The current account deficit to GDP ratio, differently from other studies on financial crises, seems to be a suitable variable in discriminating distressed countries from sound ones, and the case of Argentina and Turkey confirms this finding. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:15963&r=cwa |
| By: | Siddhartha K. Rastogi;Satish Y. Deodhar |
| Abstract: | In April 2008, BCCI initiated Indian Premier League, a cricket tournament of Twenty-Twenty overs to be played among eight domestic teams. Team owners bid for the services of cricketers for a total of US$ 42 million. Not much is known about how the valuation of cricketers might have occurred. Given the data on final bid prices, cricketing attributes of players, and other relevant information, we try to understand which attributes seem to be important and what could be their relative valuations. We employ the bid and offer curve concept of hedonic price analysis and econometrically establish a relation between the IPL-2008 final bid prices and the player attributes. Number of half centuries, number of wickets taken, and number of stumpings in all four forms of the game, batting average in the twenty-twenty form of the game, batting strike rate in one-day international (ODI), age, nationality, iconic status, and non-cricketing fame seem to be the critical attributes in the valuation of players. With the auction of incumbent and new players for the IPL-2009 underway till February 2009, we hope that the analysis of this kind would facilitate better understanding of player price formation and underscore the predictive value of such data driven analysis. |
| Date: | 2009–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2009-01-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Naguib Shokralla, Rania |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at investigating the difference between the Egyptian and Argentinean approach to privatisation and FDI and how their different policies, institutions and regulations affected the progress of their respective privatisation programmes and FDI participation. The analysis indicates that, in Egypt, the legal framework of privatisation did not explicitly incorporate FDI participation. FDI regulations were developed separately from privatisation regulations. As a result, a foreign investor in Egypt is faced with multiple laws and multiple regulating agencies for FDI. Unlike in Argentina, the legal framework of privatisation explicitly incorporated the participation of FDI, and FDI regulations were totally liberalised. This explains why FDI participation in Argentine privatisation during 1989 – 2000 accounted for 63% of privatisation proceeds, while, in Egypt, FDI participation accounted for only 24% of privatisation proceeds during 1993 – 2000. |
| Keywords: | Privatisation; FDI; Egypt; Argentina; regulations |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:15959&r=cwa |
| By: | Shahnawaz Mohammad Rafi |
| Abstract: | BRAC health programme (BHP) initiated a pilot maternal, neonatal and child health project (MNCH) in Nilphamari in 2006 to improve the health status of women of reproductive age including neonates and children, through instituting necessary systems and measures. Before launching the programme, a baseline survey was done to help design intervention and future impact evaluation of the project. Subsequently, a follow-up survey was done during middle of 2007 to assess the changes, if any, taking place as a result of the MNCH intervention over the period 2006-‘07. This report presents key findings from this comparison of baseline and follow-up survey. [BRAC-RED WP No. 5]. |
| Keywords: | Post-natal care, Reproductive history, abortion, women, Socio-demographic profile, Community Health Worker, bangladesh, death, children, neo-natal, care, Delivery, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2244&r=cwa |
| By: | Suleiman Abu-Bader (Ben-Gurion University and Center for Research and Regional Development of the Negev); Daniel Gottlieb (Research and Planning Administration, National Insurance Institute and Ben-Gurion University) |
| Abstract: | The socio-economic situation of the Arab-Bedouin population in the Negev is examined in light of the general Israeli Arab population. Based on the Galilee Society's social survey for 2004 Israeli Arab poverty incidence was found to be 52% with nearly two thirds in persistent poverty. Among Bedouins in villages unrecognized by the Israeli government it was nearly 80% with poverty severity about 7 times higher than that of the mainstream Jewish population in Israel, i.e. excluding the – predominantly poor – Jewish ultra-orthodox society. Poverty was calculated according to various definitions. Similarly to international evidence, we found that education, age, family size, employment and occupation of the household head and the number of income earners in the family are important determinants of the probability to be poor. Arab women's student enrollment rates over different generations improved considerably, reducing the education-gap compared to Arab men. Bedouin households, especially in non-recognized villages, were found to have much less access to infrastructure compared to other Arabs, thus forming a significant barrier to women’s participation in the labor force. This also had an adverse indirect effect toward the completion of schooling, thus keeping mothers’ fertility relatively high and reducing education's potentially diminishing effect on poverty. A considerable mismatch between skills and employment was found among Arab academics, thus hinting at discrimination and segregation in their labor market. Considering the various mentioned transmission mechanisms it seems that government intervention in infrastructure may yield a high social return and help interrupt the vicious circle of poverty. |
| Keywords: | Bedouin, Ethnic groups, Israel, poverty, basic needs, relative poverty, food-energy-intake, infrastructure, fertility, education, school-dropout, employment. |
| JEL: | H54 I21 I32 J13 O12 O15 O18 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2009-137&r=cwa |
| By: | Heiko Hesse; Tigran Poghosyan |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between oil price shocks and bank profitability. Using data on 145 banks in 11 oil-exporting MENA countries for 1994-2008, we test hypotheses of direct and indirect effects of oil price shocks on bank profitability. Our results indicate that oil price shocks have indirect effect on bank profitability, channeled through country-specific macroeconomic and institutional variables, while the direct effect is insignificant. Investment banks appear to be the most affected ones compared to Islamic and commercial banks. Our findings highlight systemic implications of oil price shocks on bank performance and underscore their importance for macroprudential regulation purposes in MENA countries. |
| Keywords: | Banks , Commodity price fluctuations , External shocks , Middle East , North Africa , Oil exporting countries , Oil exports , Oil prices , Oil sector , Profit margins , Profits , |
| Date: | 2009–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:09/220&r=cwa |
| By: | Hardiansyah, Suteja |
| Abstract: | In the contemporary era, issues that emerged in ethics is not just simply a matter of quality of one's behavior toward other people directly, but also new issues like bioethics, nuclear, technology in general, environmental crisis, etc. This paper is to discuss new issues that emerge in contemporary debates in ethics and see how the new Islamic Theology (Kalam al-Jadid) highlighted it. The conclusion of this paper is the New Islamic Theology can not embrace the new problems that emerged in ethics and also failed to adapt the complexity system in ethics. This happens due to evolutionary ethics does not happen in ethics dimension of the theology. |
| Keywords: | cultural evolution; evolutionary ethics; New Islamic Theology (al-Kalam al-Jadid); complexity; emergence; meme; complex adaptive systems |
| JEL: | Z12 Z00 Z13 Y80 |
| Date: | 2009–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18049&r=cwa |
| By: | Johansson-Stenman, Olof (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Mahmud, Minhaj (Queen’s University Belfast); Martinsson, Peter (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Using a random sample of individuals in rural Bangladesh, this paper investigates people’s preferences regarding relative values of lives when it comes to different ages of the individuals being saved. By assuming that an individual has preferences concerning different states of the world, and that these preferences can be described by an individual social welfare function, the individuals’ preferences for life-saving programs are elicited using a pair-wise choice experiment between different life-saving programs. In the analyses, we calculate the social marginal rates of substitution between saved lives of people of different ages. We also test whether people have preferences for saving more life-years rather than only saving lives. In particular, we test and compare the two hypotheses that only lives matter and that only life-years matter. The results indicate that the value of a saved life decreases rapidly with age and that people have strong preferences for saving life-years rather than lives per se. Overall, the results clearly show the importance of the number of life-years saved in the valuation of life.<p> |
| Keywords: | social preferences; life-saving programs; choice experiment; relative value of life |
| JEL: | D63 I18 J17 |
| Date: | 2009–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0389&r=cwa |