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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Marimuthu, Sivakumar; A, Sarvalingam |
| Abstract: | When ever the Planning Commission of India releases the poverty data, that data is being criticised by experts and economists. The main criticism is underestimation of poverty especially in rural India by the Planning Commission. This paper focuses on that criticism and compares the Indian Planning Commission’s 2004-05 rural poverty data with the India’s 2400 kcal poverty norms, World Bank’s US $1.08 poverty concept and Asian Development Bank’s US $1.35 poverty concept. |
| Keywords: | Poverty; Rural India; Underestimation; Poverty Line; Dollar-a-day Poverty Concept; Asian Poverty Line |
| JEL: | D63 R0 I3 I32 |
| Date: | 2010–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21748&r=cwa |
| By: | Sahu, Santosh; Narayanan, K |
| Abstract: | Increasing energy consumption has been one of the major issues in the environmental and industrial economics in the context of global climate change. Recent literature has dealt with several methodological and application issues related to the technique of decomposing changes in industrial energy consumption. In this paper, we examine these issues in the context of another commonly adopted approach to decomposition of aggregate changes in energy intensity of Indian manufacturing industries. The industrial sector accounts for about 37 percent of the total final energy consumption in India. Of this the manufacturing sector consumes about 66 percent (2004-05). The manufacturing sector is one of the energy intensive industries among other industries in India. The scope of the study includes an empirical analysis of General Parametric Divisia Method. This paper follows the energy intensity approach rather the energy consumption approach. This method involves decomposition of the aggregate energy intensity index measured in terms of energy consumption per unit of output. The analysis also includes a comparison of the time series analysis versus the period-wise decomposition. The factors considered are changes in production structure and sectoral energy intensities. The results of the analysis confirm that the changes in sectoral energy intensity play a greater role in the variation in the total energy intensity of Indian Manufacturing compared to the changes in the production structure of the Industries. |
| Keywords: | Decomposition Methodology; Energy Intensity; Manufacturing Industries; India |
| JEL: | B23 Q4 |
| Date: | 2010–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21719&r=cwa |
| By: | Sahu, Santosh; Narayanan, K |
| Abstract: | The demand for energy, particularly for commercial energy, has been growing rapidly with the growth of the economy, changes in the demographic structure, rising urbanization, socio-economic development, and the desire for attaining and sustaining self-reliance in some sectors of the economy. In this context the energy intensity is one of the key factors, which affect the projections of future energy demand for any economy. Energy intensity in Indian industry is among the highest in the world. According to the GoI statistics, the manufacturing sector is the largest consumer of commercial energy in India. Energy consumption per unit of production in the manufacturing of steel, aluminum, cement, paper, textile, etc. is much higher in India, even in comparison with some developing countries. In this study we attempt to analyze energy intensity at firm level and define energy intensity as the ratio of energy consumption to sales turnover. The purpose of this study is to understand the factors that determine industrial energy intensity in Indian manufacturing. The results of the econometric analysis, based on firm level data drawn from the PROWESS data base of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy during recent years, identify the sources of variation in energy intensity. Also, we found a non-linear ‘U’ shaped relationship between energy intensity and firm size, implying that both very large and very small firms tend to be more energy intensive. The analysis also highlights that ownership type is an important determinant of energy intensity. We found that foreign owned firms exhibit a higher level of technical efficiency and therefore are less energy intensive. The technology import activities are important contributors to the decline in firm- level energy intensity. The paper also identifies that there is a sizable difference between energy intensive firm and less energy intensive firms. In addition the results shows that younger firms are more energy efficient as compared to the older firms and an inverse U’ shaped relationship is found between the energy intensity and the age of the firm. |
| Keywords: | Energy Intensity; Commercial Energy Consumption; Indian Manufacturing Industries |
| JEL: | B23 Q4 |
| Date: | 2010–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21646&r=cwa |
| By: | Siddiqi, Hammad |
| Abstract: | A unique instrument has been associated with emerging markets of India and Pakistan. We show that the instrument can be considered a market response to the information gaps in these markets. The instrument may credibly transmit information and may eliminate information gaps. Hence, the birth of the instrument is, perhaps, an example of a creative market response to information problems. |
| Keywords: | Information Asymmetry; Information Transmission; Emerging Markets; Perfect Bayesian Equilibria; Badla Finance |
| JEL: | D82 D00 G0 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21750&r=cwa |
| By: | Catherine Bros (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne and CSH - Delhi) |
| Abstract: | A vast recent literature has stressed social fragmentation's negative impact on the provision of public goods. It has been established theoretically that social fragmentation engenders discord and thereby undermines public goods provision. Empirical research has produced mixed results about this relationship. On the one hand it rarely holds for all the goods and on another hand it appears attenuated at the micro-level. Three points ought to be considered. First, the negative role attributed to social fragmentation rests upon the actuality of a relationship between social antagonisms and ethnic diversity. Yet, such an actuality is to be proved. Second, should such a relationship exist, polarization indices would be more appropriate than the traditional fractionalization index used so far in the literature. Third, theoretical works have set aside the possibility of ethnic patronage in accessing public goods. Nevertheless, it is a central issue as patronage is common in developing countries. In this event, a positive relationship could be found between social fragmentation and the presence of public goods. This article aims at showing that such a positive relationship does exist, at least in parts of India, as a consequence of caste patronage. It also shown that polarization is irrelevant as social antagonisms do not seem to be an obstacle to the provision of public goods. |
| Keywords: | Political economy, patronage, public goods, collective action, inequality, Olson, Caste, India. |
| JEL: | H4 O1 O2 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10026&r=cwa |
| By: | Das, Rituparna |
| Abstract: | This paper examined the following issues: 1. Is ‘violence against women’ a variable? What kind of variable is it? 2. Is it theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’? 3. If it is theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’, then is it feasible to estimate such a model and perform simulation exercises? Following are findings: 1. The decision to perpetrate ‘violence against women’ is a binary variable, which takes value unity (1) when the decision is ‘yes’ and zero (0) when the decision is ‘no’. 2. It is theoretically plausible to construct the models of estimating and forecasting the probability of occurrence of ‘violence against women’ facing a typical woman in a particular society on the basis of necessary information. 3. It is not feasible in practice to apply above models for the purposes of policy-formulation and policy-simulation in India because of absence of compilation or systematic compilation of the data on ‘violence against women’ and the variables determining ‘violence against women’. |
| Keywords: | Violence; Woman; Probability |
| JEL: | C25 |
| Date: | 2010–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21458&r=cwa |
| By: | Deininger, Klaus; Goyal, Aparajita |
| Abstract: | Despite strong beliefs that property titling and registration will enhance credit access, empirical evidence in support of such effects remains scant. The gradual roll-out of computerization of land registry systems across Andhra Pradesh's 387 sub-registry offices allows us to combine quarterly administrative data on credit disbursed by all commercial banks for an eleven-year period (1997-2007) aggregated to the sub-registry office level with the date of shifting registration from manual to digital. Computerization had no credit effect in rural areas but led to increased credit-supply in urban ones. A marked increase of registered urban mortgages due to computerization supports the robustness of the result. At the same time, estimated impacts from reduction of the stamp duty are much larger, suggesting that, without further changes in the property rights system, impacts of computerization will remain marginal. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,E-Business,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5244&r=cwa |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University); Tasci, H. Mehmet (Balikesir University) |
| Abstract: | There is little evidence on unemployment duration and its determinants in developing countries. This study is on the duration aspect of unemployment in a developing country, Turkey. We analyze the determinants of the probability of leaving unemployment for employment or the hazard rate. The effects of the personal and household characteristics and the local labor market conditions are examined. The analyses are carried out for men and women separately. The results indicate that the nature of unemployment in Turkey exhibits similarities to the unemployment in both the developed and the developing countries. |
| Keywords: | unemployment duration, hazard analysis, gender, Turkey |
| JEL: | J64 C41 J16 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4844&r=cwa |
| By: | Juan Carlos Hallak (Department of Economics, Universidad de San Andres) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model of international trade with two sources of firm heterogeneity: "productivity" and "caliber". Productivity is modeled as is standard in the literature. Caliber is the ability to produce quality using few fixed inputs. While there is no quality restriction to sell domestically, exporting requires the attainment of minimum quality levels. Compared to single-attribute models of firm heterogeneity emphasizing either productivity or the ability to produce quality, our model provides a more nuanced characterization of firms' export behavior. In particular, it explains the empirical fact that firm size is not monotonically related with export status; there are small firms that export while there are large firms that only operate in the domestic market. The model also delivers novel testable predictions. Conditional on size, exporters sell products of higher quality and at higher prices, they pay higher wages and use capital more intensively. We test these predictions using data on manufacturing establishments in India, the U.S., Chile, and Colombia. The empirical findings confirm the theoretical predictions. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, quality, exports, firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F10 F12 F14 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sad:wpaper:99&r=cwa |
| By: | Alasrag, Hussien |
| Abstract: | Due to their increasing importance to production growth and vital relation with various productive sectors in society, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have become one of the key instruments to face economic and social problems and achieve development objectives in most industrial and developing countries. Statistics show that SMEs represent 90% of total companies in the vast majority of economies worldwide and provide 40-80% of total job opportunities in addition to contributing largely to GDPs of many countries. For example, they constitute about 99% of the total private business, non-agricultural in Egypt, and contribute about 80% of the total added value produced by the private sector, with about two-thirds of the labor force and three-quarters of workers in special functions outside the agricultural sector. for Kuwait, this sector constitutes approximately 90% of the private workforce, including labor and imported an estimated 45% of the labor force, employment and national rates of less than 1%, in Lebanon, more than 95% of the total enterprises, contribute about 90% of the jobs. In the UAE , small and medium enterprises accounted about 94.3% of the economic projects in the country, and employs about 62% of the workforce and contributes around 75% of the GDP of the state. In addition, they account for 96% of the GDP in Yemen in 2005, and about 77%, 59%, 25% in Algeria, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, respectively, during the same year , while the contribution of these projects range between 25% -40% of the GDP of Egypt.This research aims to study enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium business enterprises in the Arab Countries under the knowledge economy in the light of the growing interest in it, through identification of the concept and importance of small business enterprises for the Arab States, the most important challenges facing development, and finally the research tries to propose a number of policy recommendations to develop and activate this important sector in the Arab countries under the knowledge economy. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness ; small and medium business enterprises ; the Arab Countries ; the knowledge economy |
| JEL: | L53 O31 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21742&r=cwa |
| By: | Hasan, Amer |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the effects of a gender-targeted conditional cash transfer program for girls in classes 6 to 8. It finds that the program is successful in increasing the enrollment of girls in classes 6 to 8 as intended. It also finds evidence to suggest that the program generated positive spillover effects on the enrollment of boys. This success does, however, appear to be poised to come at a cost. The student-teacher ratio in treated districts is also climbing. This suggests that in the absence of active steps to address these increasing student-teacher ratios, instructional quality is likely to suffer. The success of the program appears to be driven by enrollment increases in urban schools. This suggests the need for a reassessment of the targeting criteria in rural schools. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Education Reform and Management |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5257&r=cwa |
| By: | Hasan, Amer |
| Abstract: | Conditional cash transfers are being heralded as effective tools against the intergenerational transmission of poverty. There is substantial evidence on the positive effects of these transfers. Analysts are only now beginning to investigate the indirect effects these programs generate. This paper examines the effect of a gender-targeted conditional cash transfer program on the time allocation of mothers in rural program-eligible households. Using a fixed effects difference-in-differences estimator, the author finds that program eligibility is associated with an increase of 120 minutes of housework per typical school day by mothers of eligible children in the stipend district when compared with mothers of eligible children in the non-stipend district. There is a 100-minute reduction in the amount of time mothers report spending on children’s needs. The intent-to-treat effect of the program suggests no change in the amount of time spent on paid work or sleep. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Education For All,Anthropology,Adolescent Health,Youth and Governance |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5256&r=cwa |