|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Nil Demet Güngör (Atilim University); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)) |
| Abstract: | The study estimates an empirical model of return intentions using a dataset compiled from an internet survey of Turkish professionals residing abroad. In the migration literature, wage differentials are often cited as an important factor explaining skilled migration. The findings of our study suggest, however, that non-pecuniary factors, such as the importance of family and social considerations, are also influential in the return or non-return decision of the highly educated. In addition, economic instability in Turkey, prior intensions to stay abroad and work experience in Turkey also increase non-return. Female respondents also appear less likely to return indicating a more selective migration process for females. |
| Keywords: | skilled migration, brain drain, return intentions, Turkey |
| JEL: | F20 F22 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2010/4&r=cwa |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Department of Economics, METU); H. Mehmet Tasci (Department of Econometrics, Bal?kesir 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: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:0903&r=cwa |
| By: | Demirbas, Dilek (Newcastle Business School); Patnaik, Ila (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Shah, Ajay (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) |
| Abstract: | FDI by firms in developing countries is a recent phenomenon and demands a study of relationship between firm productivity and different modes of globalisation activities. This paper attempts to understand this relationship through ordered probit models, examining two key hypotheses using firm level panel data from India. First, we test whether there are characteristic differences between domestic firms, exporting firms and firms engaging with FDI. Second, we test if FDI is an integral part of the evolution of firms in developing countries. Our results suggest that there are strong differences between domestic firms, exporting firms, and firms that invest abroad, especially in their knowledge investment, indicating the presence of a ladder of quality in graduating to globalisation. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:10/65&r=cwa |
| By: | Nuri Yildirim (Yildiz Technical University); Huseyin Tastan (Yildiz Technical University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the interactions and feedbacks between three categories of net capital flows and growth in the Turkish economy for the 1992:01-2009:01 period using frequency domain techniques. Our main spectral analysis tool is a new version of the causality test of Geweke (1982) and Hosoya (1991) in the frequency domain developed by Breitung and Candelon (2006). Besides, we make use of other tools of spectrum analysis such as cospectrum, squared coherence, phase and gain spectrums to decompose total covariance between capital flows and growth across main frequency bands and capture lead/lag interactions between them. Some of our empirical findings are as follows: Variance decompositions over frequency bands reveal that variations in individual capital flow categories are concentrated over high (seasonal) frequencies. We found no feedback from short-term and long-term ‘other’ investments to growth in these frequencies. However, there are highly significant feedbacks from growth to short-term and long-term capital inflows over business cycle and seasonal frequencies. Spectral variance decompositions reveal that, in general, percentage of variation in capital flows due to economic growth is much higher than the percentage of variation in growth due to capital flows. |
| Keywords: | Capital flows, causality in frequency domain, Geweke’s measure of feedback, Turkey |
| JEL: | C32 F21 F32 F43 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2009/2&r=cwa |
| By: | Akis , Yasemin (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Kalaylioglu, Mahir (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS) |
| Abstract: | Since 1970s when multiculturalism was accepted as the official integration policy, Sweden encourages immigrants to organize themselves along ethnic lines and ethnic migrant organizations are considered as one of the channels for immigrants’ social and political participation to the Swedish society. Today Turks are among those immigration groups in Sweden with the widest network of association, with regard to quantitative indicators such as the number of associations and members. This study aims to explore the general characteristics of the Turkish migrant associations in Stockholm and associational differentiation process which continues since the beginning of 1990s. Through these two main lines, we also aim to find out to what extent national and local Turkish associations function as the channels of political and social participation for Turkish migrants. The results of the study reveal that national federations (including also that of women and youth) are close to act as a spokesman or a pressure group for their constituency, however, local associations do not assume a particular role in the social and political participation of Turkish migrants. Yet, as a whole, they face serious problems such as financial difficulties and the absence of active members. Moreover, it is also emphasized in the study that, in explaining these problems and the decline of associational activities among migrants, special attention is also to be given to the Swedish state, which has always assumed an active role in the development of migrant associations in Sweden through certain mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | migrant associations; Turkish migrants; socio-political participation; organizational differentiation; Sweden |
| JEL: | Y80 Z19 |
| Date: | 2010–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2010_005&r=cwa |
| By: | Ferreira, Francisco H. G.; Gignoux, Jeremie; Aran, Meltem |
| Abstract: | The measurement of inequality of opportunity has hitherto not been attempted in a number of countries because of data limitations. This paper proposes two alternative approaches to circumventing the missing data problems in countries where a demographic and health survey and an ancillary household expenditure survey are available. One method relies only on the demographic and health survey, and constructs a wealth index as a measure of economic advantage. The alternative method imputes consumption from the ancillary survey into the demographic and health survey. In both cases, the between-type share of overall inequality is computed as a lower bound estimator of inequality of opportunity. Parametric and non-parametric estimates are calculated for both methods, and the parametric approach is shown to yield preferable lower-bound measures. In an application to the sample of ever-married women aged 30-49 in Turkey, inequality of opportunity accounts for at least 26 percent (31 percent) of overall inequality in imputed consumption (the wealth index). |
| Keywords: | Inequality,Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Rural Poverty Reduction,Equity and Development |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5204&r=cwa |
| By: | Bedri Kamil Onur Tas |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tob:wpaper:0907&r=cwa |
| By: | Hasan, Zubair |
| Abstract: | This paper raises the issue of an initial structure-objective mismatch in the launching of Islamic finance. The abolition of interest and promotion of growth with equity were goals of the conceived system. These goals expressed a long run vision to improve the condition of the Muslim communities across the world. However, the organizational form adopted for Islamic finance was of the existing commercial banks which provided essentially short-term loans on interest to trade industry and commerce. The choice thus involved an intrinsic mismatch between the structure and objectives of Islamic finance. The mismatch did carry some advantages, but on a more important side it exposed Islamic finance to commitments and influences which could not mostly align well with the goals the pioneers had in mind. Note that in focus here is not the reversal of the mismatch but its consequences that have forced the nascent Islamic system to convergence and competition with the mature conventional finance the West dominates. It is not the ground realities that are being adapted to Shari’ah norms; it is the norms that are being stretched to limit for meeting the demands of the conventional system. Ordinary Muslims who hoped to benefit from Islamic financing remain unattended. Thus, what Islamic finance can or cannot change will depend on where its ongoing integration with the conventional system leads it to. Currently, most merits claimed for the Islamic system defy evidence. The basic reforms financial systems require in the face of current crisis are the control of credit, leverage lure, and speculation. Islamic finance is in principle better equipped to achieve these ends. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Islamic finance; convergence; Shari’ah compliance; credit creation; leverage; derivatives; financial crisis |
| JEL: | E51 E42 E50 E44 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21726&r=cwa |
| By: | Christophe J. Godlewski (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Rima Turk-Ariss (Lebanese American University); Laurent Weill (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | The last decade has witnessed rapid expansion of Islamic financial instruments, notably with the proliferation of Islamic investment certificates called Sukuk. Sukuk generally represent the Islamic financial instrument equivalent to conventional bonds. We evaluate the economic differences between these financing techniques and appraise the implications on the future expansion of Sukuk. We use a market-based approach to investigate whether investors react differently to the announcements of issues of Sukuk and conventional bonds. We find that the stock market is neutral to the announcement of conventional bonds, but we observe a significant negative stock market reaction to the announcement of Sukuk. We explain this different stock market reaction using the adverse selection mechanism, which favors Sukuk issuance by lower-quality debtor companies. Unlike arguments presented in prior literature, our results support the view that differences exist between Sukuk and conventional bonds because the market is able to distinguish among these securities. |
| Keywords: | Financial instruments, Islamic finance, sukuk, event studies. |
| JEL: | G14 P51 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2010-05&r=cwa |
| By: | Feyen, Erik |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the finances of Egypt's listed firms and the performance of the Egyptian stock exchange during the period 2003-07/08. Egyptian companies can be clearly divided into a top tier and a second tier. Egypt's top tier of listed firms tends to finance themselves mainly from operating cash flows, trade credits, and other short-term borrowing. This raises questions as to whether recent performance could have been even better had these firms done more in the way of long-term financing and long-term investment. This issue is even starker for a large second tier of much smaller firms. Regarding the stock market, the analysis finds that the Egyptian Exchange has experienced extraordinary market capitalization growth fueled by strong price increases. Market activity has been increasing as well, but reached expected levels only recently. Despite strong improvement, however, many companies remain illiquid. In its ability to raise capital, Egypt seems to do well, but privatizations and relatively low gross fixed capital formation might distort this picture. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Access to Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5213&r=cwa |
| By: | Ana Rute Cardoso (IZA, Bonn and University of Minho, Portugal); Shoshana Neuman (Department of Economics Bar-Ilan University); Adrian Ziderman (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique eight-year data set, merging population census and national insurance data, the paper examines and compares patterns of wage mobility in Israel. First, the public and the private sectors are compared. Second, within each of these sectors, a distinction is made between sub-sector groupings that exhibit a high level of concentration and those that are more diffuse and unregulated. Based on alternative measures of wage mobility, the central finding of the paper is that the extent of wage mobility in a given economic sector is negatively related to the degree of concentration in that sector. |
| Keywords: | wage mobility, concentration, economic sectors, Israel |
| JEL: | J3 J6 L5 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2009-20&r=cwa |
| By: | Khalidi, Raja J.; Taghdisi-Rad, Sahar |
| Abstract: | - There is no Israeli economic policy towards the Palestinian people or the occupied territory; rather there is a policy to maintain occupation and administration of the Palestinian territory by whatever means available, including economic strategies; - Israeli strategies deployed since 1967 have included economic inducements to improve the quality of life, devolution, and other schemes focused on promoting individual welfare but not preventing communal poverty; - The Oslo Accords and the Paris Protocol on Economic Relations (PER) of 1994 formalized the de facto customs union in operation under occupation and locked in the adverse path of dependence of the Palestinian economy upon Israel; - Palestinian Authority institutions have been unable to establish sovereign or even autonomous institutions capable of expanding the space for economic policymaking and for economic polices promoting long-term development; - The effects of Israel’s dual strategy of skewed economic integration coupled with physical separation has led, over forty years, to divergence in per capita incomes between Israel and the territory, rather than the convergence promised by economic theory and the premises of the customs union; - Instead of continuing to repeatedly reform the facades of interim self-government, all efforts should aim to form the sovereign institutions for statehood; - New Israeli overtures under the heading of “economic peace” risk not only diverting attention from political processes, but also hark back to an era of Israeli domination of the Palestinian economy, which demonstrably failed; - Though the PER may have outlived its design and usefulness, it can only be superseded if a fundamentally different framework is envisaged, rooted in ensuring Palestinian sovereignty, statehood and economic viability; - A Palestinian economic strategy for sovereignty and peace would entail seeking recognition of the Palestinian economy as a separate customs territory, and would become the reference point for formulation of economic policy, institution-building, decision-making, and international economic relations; - Such a status would offer a platform for building a viable, vibrant and secure national economy for the envisioned State of Palestine, governed by a framework which adheres, among other principles, to the multilateral rules and disciplines embodied in the World Trade Organization; - Only through a Palestinian economic policy framework that is predicated on the separate, internationally recognized status of the economy of the occupied territory, which in turn helps to create the conditions to end occupation, can a viable Palestinian economy and a sovereign State emerge to deliver the promise of peace. |
| Keywords: | Palestinian economy; occupied Palestinian territories |
| JEL: | O53 O2 P16 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21808&r=cwa |
| By: | Roopam Singh |
| Abstract: | This study attempts to provide an analysis of the gender concerns of the proposed EU India FTA in the field of agriculture and suggest policy changes both in the FTA text as well as in domestic policy. [Paper III]. |
| Keywords: | Indian, women, domestic policy, gender, agriculture, EU, FTA, European Union, tariffs, non-tariff, vulnerable, commodity trade, low wages, productive resources, food sector, liberalization |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2464&r=cwa |
| By: | Deepak Mohanty |
| Abstract: | How does the Reserve Bank of India implement monetary policy? The objectives and framework of monetary policy, as they have evolved, the operational aspects of monetary policy have been discussed. The processes of monetary policy formulation and communication have also been depicted. [Speech delivered at the Bankers Club, Bhubaneswar]. |
| Keywords: | financial, GDP growth, reserve bank, India, monetary policy, communication, formulation, stability, economy, India, inflation rate, exchange, demand function, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2465&r=cwa |
| By: | Himaz, Rozana |
| Abstract: | This report contains initial findings of the Young Lives survey (round 2)using quantitative methods, for Andhra Pradesh India. The survey was carried out in 2006/7 and has a sample of 3000 children spread across 2 cohorts. Young Lives is an international longitudinal study funded mainly by the DFID (UK), aiming to understand the causes and consequences of childhood poverty. |
| Keywords: | childhood poverty; India; young lives; longitudinal |
| JEL: | I39 O53 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21900&r=cwa |
| By: | Deepankar Basu (University of Massachusetts Amherst) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically tests for two competing explanations of the increasing sex ratio at birth (SRB) in India: hepatitis B and human intervention. Estimating a male- preferring stopping rule with data from three rounds of the National Family Health Survey in India (1992, 1998 and 2005), I find that the probability of a male birth varies significantly across birth parities. Using a novel proxy for hepatitis B in India - tribal status - I also find that hepatitis B has no impact on the probability of male birth. I conclude that human intervention explains the increasing SRB in India. JEL Categories: J1, J7. |
| Keywords: | son preference, sex selective abortion. |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ums:papers:2009-06&r=cwa |
| By: | Alessandrini, Michele (Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata); Fattouh, Bassam (University of London); Ferrarini, Benno (Asian Development Bank); Scaramozzino, Pasquale (Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata,) |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1990s, India has embarked on economic reforms that have progressively opened up the country to international trade. This paper analyzes the effects of reform on India’s trading structure from 1990 to 2006. It computes comparative advantage indicators on the basis of disaggregated trade flow data, and assesses the effects of trade liberalization on the evolution of India’s pattern of trade specialization. From dynamic panel regression analysis, evidence is found that those industries where import tariffs have been reduced the most have experienced the highest increase in specialization. Moreover, the analysis shows that trade liberalization has helped India improve its comparative advantage in industries with medium- to high-technology content, as well as in some of the industries enjoying the most robust growth in global demand. |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0177&r=cwa |
| By: | Patnaik, Unmesh; Narayanan, K |
| Abstract: | Disaster risk is a major concern in a developing country like India as people living in disaster prone regions of the country are subject to variety of risks concerning their livelihoods. Preliminary assessments reveal that the severity and intensity of floods in various parts of India might increase due to climate change. This paper attempts to understand the various risks faced by households living in disaster prone regions of rural India and specifically examine the effectiveness of coping mechanisms adopted by households living in these areas to hedge against the risks. The study area (districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India) is highly susceptible to floods with a major flood occurring every ten years and smaller ones happening every one-two years. The data is drawn from primary household surveys undertaken in the study area for flood affected households. The analysis is carried out using a risk sharing and self insurance framework and econometric modeling is carried out using binary outcomes and multivariate probit estimation through GHK (Geweke- Hajivassiliou- Keane) estimator. Based on the empirical analysis, and subject to the assumptions and the usual limitations of data used, the findings of the study suggest that: (i) overall the impacts of disasters on the consumption level of the household exhibit an inverse relationship, (ii) consumption smoothening behaviour is not exhibited by the households and (iii) household specific characteristics along with the geographical location of the households have no significant role to play with respect to the changes in consumption in the flood prone districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability; Coping; Disasters; Flood; Household Behaviour |
| JEL: | C12 C81 D1 Q54 C2 C01 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21992&r=cwa |
| By: | Shah, Ajay (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Patnaik, Ila (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:10/67&r=cwa |
| By: | Rama Pal (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research; Institute of Economic Growth) |
| Abstract: | The present paper attempts to modify definition of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure by characterising it based on consumption of necessities. In literature, catastrophic expenditure is defined as that level of OOP health expenditure which exceeds some fixed proportion of household income or household's capacity to pay. In the present paper, catastrophic health expenditure is defined as one which reduces the non-health expenditure to a level where household is unable to maintain consumption of necessities. Based on this definition of catastrophic health expenditure, the paper examines determinants of catastrophic OOP health expenditure in India. Findings suggest that it is important to carefully revise the concept of catastrophic health care spending and the method developed in this paper can be considered as one of the possible alternatives. We find that education is one of the important policy instruments that can be used to reduce incidence of catastrophic spending in India. The findings also suggest that even after efforts to reduce differences among various social classes in India, socially deprived classes are still vulnerable as they are more likely to experience financial catastrophe due to illness. |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic health expenditure; Consumption of Necessities |
| JEL: | I12 I19 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2010-001&r=cwa |
| By: | David I Stern (Arndt-Corden Division of Economics, Crawford School of Economics and Government, the Australian National University); Frank Jotzo (ANU Climate Change Institute, Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | the negotiating process for a post-Kyoto climate policy regime. China and India’s commitments are framed as reductions in the emissions intensity of the economy by 40-45% and 20-25% respectively between 2005 and 2020. How feasible are the proposed reductions in emissions intensity for China and India, and how do they compare with the targeted reductions in the US and the EU? In this paper, we use a stochastic frontier model of energy intensity to decompose energy intensity into input and output mix, climate, and a residual technology variable. We use the model to produce emissions projections for China and India under a number of scenarios regarding the pace of technological change and changes in the share of non-fossil energy. We find that China is likely to need to adopt ambitious carbon mitigation policies in order to achieve its stated target, and that its targeted reductions in emissions intensity are on par with those implicit in the US and EU targets. India’s target is less ambitious, and might be met with only limited or even no dedicated mitigation policies. |
| Keywords: | carbon emissions, climate change, developing countries, projections |
| JEL: | O13 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:eenhrr:1051&r=cwa |
| By: | Athreye, Suma (UNU-MERIT, and Brunel University) |
| Abstract: | It is commonly believed that the business environment in developing countries does not allow productive technology-based entrepreneurship to flourish. In this paper, we draw on the experience of Indian software firms where entrepreneurial growth has belied these predictions. This paper argues that the business models chosen by Indian firms were those that best aligned the country's abundant labour resources and advantages to global demand. Many potentially higher value added opportunities struggled to attain success, but the qualitative value of experimental failures and the capability gaps they exposed was invaluable for collective managerial learning in the industry. Second, the paper also shows that the presence of growth opportunities and the success of firms stimulated institutional evolution to promote entrepreneurial growth. Last we show that the distinctive aggregate contribution of entrepreneurial firms was that they outperformed business houses and multinational subsidiaries in their more productive use of available capital resources whilst achieving similar levels of growth in output and employment. This paper draws upon an earlier shorter paper co-authored with Mike Hobday and titled 'Overcoming Development Adversity: How Entrepreneurs Led Software Development in India'. |
| Keywords: | technology entrepreneurship, institutions and economic development, Indian software, intellectual property rights |
| JEL: | L26 L86 O10 O34 I28 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2010008&r=cwa |
| By: | B. Deolalikar, Anil (University of California, Riverside); Hasan, Rana (Asian Development Bank); Somanathan, Rohini (Delhi School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We use village level data from the 1991 and 2001 Indian Censuses to examine how the availability of health facilities and safe drinking water at the village level affect juvenile sex ratios. In addition to controlling for village fixed effects in our estimating equation of the juvenile sex ratio, we also allow villages to be heterogeneous in terms of how their juvenile sex ratios respond to the availability of health facilities and safe drinking water. A key result we obtain is that although the presence of public health facilities does not exert a positive, significant effect on juvenile sex ratios on average, they do so in villages where the problem of discrimination against girls is most acute, i.e., in villages at the 0.10 and 0.25 quantiles of the conditional juvenile sex ratio distribution. Thus public policy can be an effective tool in improving gender balance in cases where it is most needed. |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0167&r=cwa |
| By: | Subhasish Dey |
| Abstract: | The world’s biggest Employment Guarantee Programme, India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been in operation in rural India since February 2006. In principle, the scheme is a self-targeted programme designed to provide 100 days of employment to rural households and to serve as a safety net. More broadly its aim is to reduce rural poverty through the creation of sustainable rural infrastructure which is expected to foster rural economic growth. This study looks at the performance of the NREGS from three perspectives - it examines the targeting aspect of the programme, the efficiency of the implementing PRI bodies and the impact of the program on various outcomes at household level. The study is based on primary data collected from 500 randomly selected households, 2249 individuals and 70 schemes located in 13 Gram Panchayats in Birbhum District of West Bengal, India. On the basis of this primary data, the study reveals that at least in Birbhum District the programme is far more likely to be accessed by poorer households (defined in terms of land holding, monthly per-capita income and other household related characteristics). At the same time there is a clear and substantial impact of left political inclination in terms of enabling access to a greater number of days of work under the scheme. In terms of the efficiency impact, the analysis reveals a clear violation of the formal clauses and the spirit of the NREG Act and thereby undermining the potential of the programme in terms of providing a safety net. In terms of the impact, the study finds no statistically significant impact on economic outcomes at household level but does find a statistically significant and substantial relation between reduction of stress related to joblessness and access to the NREGS. The estimates suggest that while the NREGS may not be creating any new employment, and may indeed be substituting for existing employment opportunities, the scheme is still considered valuable as it offers better working conditions. |
| Keywords: | NREGS, targeting, efficiency, impact, labour-substitution, Birbhum, West Bengal |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iss:wpaper:490&r=cwa |
| By: | Bala Subrahmanya, M. H. (Indian Institute of Science); Mathirajan, M. (Anna University); Krishnaswamy, K. N. (Indian Institute of Science) |
| Abstract: | This paper probes the drivers, dimensions, achievements, and outcomes of technological innovations carried out by SMEs in the auto components, electronics, and machine tool sectors of Bangalore in India. Further, it ascertains the growth rates of innovative SMEs vis-a-vis noninnovative SMEs in terms of sales turnover, employment, and investment. Thereafter, it probes the relationship between innovation and growth of SMEs by (i) estimating a correlation between innovation sales and sales growth, (ii) calculating innovation sales for high, medium, and low growth innovative SMEs and doing a one-way ANOVA, and (iii) ascertaining the influence of innovation sales, along with investment growth and employment growth on gross value-added growth by means of multiple regression analysis. The paper brings out substantial evidence to argue that innovations of SMEs contributed to their growth. |
| Keywords: | technological innovations, sales growth, auto components, electronics, machine tools, Bangalore |
| JEL: | L25 L26 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2010007&r=cwa |
| By: | Shiva Mishra |
| Abstract: | Delhi is believed to be dil of India. It features historic attractions tracing our evolution from the past to the present. The legacy includes architecture of every description, which never ceases to lure the travellers. Here the past coexists with the present. Still the Tourism Department, Delhi, is in search of tourists. It is tried to understand the functioning of the Tourism Department. The objective in this paper is to find out that how the Department works to attract tourists in Delhi. [CCS WP No. 0050]. |
| Keywords: | Delhi, Transportation, Plan Outlay, innovative package india, historic, attractions, legacy, architecture, tourism, department, tourists, department, travellers, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2459&r=cwa |
| By: | Guennif, Samir (CEPN - CNRS, UFR de Sciences Economiques); Ramani, Shyama (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and Ecole Polytechnique) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-twentieth century, the national objective of India and Brazil has been to develop industrial capabilities in essential sectors such as pharmaceuticals. At the outset, they shared some common features: a considerable period of lax intellectual property rights regimes, large internal market and a reasonably strong cadre of scientists and engineers. However, over fifty years, India has had much more success in building indigenous capabilities in pharmaceuticals than Brazil, at least to date. Why? In exploring the answer to this question, we show that in both countries the design of State policy played a crucial role and the endogenous responses in the national system of innovation consisted of two parts. On the one hand, most of the time, the predicted and desired outcome was partially realized and on the other hand, there were invariably, other unpredicted responses that emerged. The latter unexpected elements, which were specific to the two countries, pushed them along distinctive trajectories. |
| Keywords: | Pharmaceutical industry, India, Brazil, industrial capabilities, Catching up, Technology transfer |
| JEL: | O33 O38 O57 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2010019&r=cwa |
| By: | Farzana Afridi (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi; Institute of Economic Growth) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the effect of transition from monthly distribution of free food grains to the daily provision of free cooked meals to school children on enrollments and attendance in a rural area of India. School panel data allow a difference-in-differences estimation strategy to address possible endogeneity of program placement. The results suggest that program transition had a significant impact on improving the daily participation rates of children in lower grades. The average monthly attendance rate of girls in grade 1 was more than 12 percentage points higher while there was a positive but insignificant effect on grade 1 boys' attendance rate. The impact on enrollment levels was insignificant. |
| Keywords: | school meals, attendance, enrollment |
| JEL: | I21 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:isipdp:10-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Kaplinsky, Raphael; Farooki, Masuma |
| Abstract: | Rapid growth in many low-income economies was fuelled by the insertion of producers into global value chains feeding into high-income northern markets. This paper charts the evolution of financial and economic crisis in the global economy and argues that the likely outcome will be sustained growth in the two very large Asian Driver economies of China and India and stagnation in the historically dominant northern economies. Given the nature of demand in low-income southern economies, it is likely to be reflected in sustained demand for commodities, with other southern economy producers in global value chains being forced into lower levels of value added. Standards are likely to be of considerably reduced significance in value chains feeding into China and India. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Climate Change Economics,Labor Policies,Emerging Markets,Markets and Market Access |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5205&r=cwa |
| By: | Vegard Iversen (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi); Adriaan Kalwij (Utrecht University); Arjan Verschoor (University of East Anglia); Amaresh Dubey (Jawaharlal Nehru University) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique household panel data set for rural India covering the years 1993/1994 and 2004/2005 we test a key theoretical assertion of caste and its effects, namely that marginalised social groups fare worse in terms of income levels when resident in villages dominated by upper castes. We also test whether marginalised groups perform better or worse in villages where their own group is dominant. We proceed to explore the implications for income growth and for poverty incidence and persistence. After controlling for potential locational confounds, upper caste dominance confers a positive externality on other social groups. This externality is discounted by group specific `oppression' effects which range in size from zero to 16 percent of mean income and peak for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) households. Further, we identify positive and large own dominance (village `enclave') effects that account for as much as a quarter of mean income for SC households in the post reform years. These results are robust to how dominance is measured. We also identify pathways through which identity-based welfare disparities may be reduced; while such disparities are widening, their causes show signs of both persistence and change. Whereas education matters, land redistribution provides the key to eliminating the adverse effects of upper caste dominance. Even after factor endowment and other controls have been added, and with the notable exception of those in SC dominated villages, SCs not only perform worse than other groups but have fallen further behind during the post reform years. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:isipdp:10-01&r=cwa |
| By: | S. Chandrasekhar (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay (Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi) |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to understand temporal changes in poverty and well-being in Indian cities during the era of economic reforms. The evidence on improvements in well being is mixed. During this period, there was an increase in the number of urban poor. Using two nationally representative samples, we compare the joint distribution of monthly per capita expenditure (a private good) and access to drainage (a public good) in slums and non-slum areas of Indian cities to understand changes in well being. A comparison at two points in time, 1993 and 2002, suggests that the share of slum dwellers in urban poor has declined. However, we do not find evidence for improvement in the well-being of slum dwellers over time. We do find that non-slum urban dwellers are better off in 2002 compared to 1993 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:isipdp:09-07&r=cwa |
| By: | Karla Hoff; Mayuresh Kshetramade; Ernst Fehr |
| Abstract: | Well-functioning groups enforce social norms that restrain opportunism, but the social structure of a society may encourage or inhibit norm enforcement. Here we study how the exogenous assignment to different positions in an extreme social hierarchy – the caste system – affects individuals’ willingness to punish violations of a cooperation norm. Although we control for individual wealth, education, and political participation, low caste individuals exhibit a much lower willingness to punish norm violations that hurt members of their own caste, suggesting a cultural difference across caste status in the concern for members of one’s own community. The lower willingness to punish may inhibit the low caste’s ability to sustain collective action and so may contribute to its economic vulnerability. |
| Keywords: | Social norms, informal sanctions, third party punishment, endogenous social preferences, social exclusion, collective action, caste |
| JEL: | D02 D64 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:476&r=cwa |
| By: | Sim, Benson (Asian Development Bank); de Castro, Modesta (Asian Development Bank); Pascua, Melissa (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the histories of revisions of official annual real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates for six regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)—People’s Republic of China; India; Indonesia; Republic of Korea; Taipei,China; and Thailand—for the period 1990–2004 as computed from successive editions of ADB’s flagship annual statistical publication, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific. A number of revisions indicators for each economy are computed. The results show that first published estimates of annual real GDP growth rates in all the six economies are revised upward 3 years later and in the latest period. Most of the six economies also experienced positive revisions to estimates of annual real GDP growth rates in the first, second, third, and latest years after their initial release. Revisions to first published estimates of annual real GDP growth rates a year later tend to be mostly small, although there are some outliers. In all the six economies, the size of the mean absolute revisions to the first published estimates of annual real GDP growth rates is nontrivial. All the six economies also have rather low relative mean absolute revisions to initial estimates of annual real GDP growth rates published a year later, implying that the first published estimates are generally robust for the purpose of assessing the current performance of these economies. The mean squared revisions for most of the six economies tend to be rather low. This implies that there may not be much volatility in the revisions to initial estimates of annual real GDP growth rates in these economies. Mean revisions in the first, second, third, and latest years in Indonesia are statistically significant, while the People’s Republic of China and Taipei,China have mean revisions that are statistically significant for the latest period. |
| Keywords: | revisions analysis; GDP; first published estimates |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0184&r=cwa |
| By: | Hoff, Karla; Stiglitz, Joseph E. |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the role of ideas in economic change, combining economic and historical analysis with insights from psychology, sociology and anthropology. Belief systems shape the system of categories ("pre-confirmatory bias") and perceptions (confirmatory bias), and are themselves constrained by fundamental values. The authors illustrate the model using the historical construction of racial categories. Given the post-Reformation fundamental belief that all men had rights, colonial powers after the 15th century constructed ideologies that the colonized groups they exploited were naturally inferior, and gave these beliefs precedence over other aspects of belief systems. Historical work finds that doctrines of race came into their own in the colonies that became the United States after, not before, slavery; that out of the"scandal of empire"in India emerged a"race theory that cast Britons and Indians in a relationship of absolute difference"; and that arguments used by the settlers in Australia to justify their policies toward the Aborigines entailed in effect the expulsion of the Aborigines from the human race. Racial ideology shaped categories and perceptions in ways that the authors show can give rise to equilibrium fictions. In the framework of this paper, technology, contacts with the outside world, and changes in power and wealth matter not just directly but because they can lead to changes in ideology. |
| Keywords: | Cultural Policy,Race in Society,Educational Sciences,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Ethics&Belief Systems |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5219&r=cwa |
| By: | Ahamad, Mazbahul Golam; Khondker, Rezai Karim |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the food insecurity status and coping strategies among the households in the Northern Bangladesh. A three stage stratified random sampling followed by a structured questionnaire was employed to collect primary data from nine different primary sampling units. Locally adjusted reduced consumption coping strategy index is used to quantify the food security status, especially for mainland and flood affected riverbanks of the study areas. Nine explanatory variables are considered for an interval regression to assess the impacts of these predictors on changing reduced consumption coping strategy index score. Moreover, body mass index of household heads and dependency ratio of respective households are analyzed to compare strata-wise food insecurity. |
| Keywords: | Food Insecurity; Climate Risks; Consumption Coping Strategy Index; Interval Regression; Northern Bangladesh. |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21906&r=cwa |
| By: | Syed Abdul Hammid (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield); Jennifer Roberts (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield Author-Person=pro228); Paul Mosley (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of micro health insurance on poverty reduction in rural areas of Bangladesh. The research is based on household level primary data collected from the operating areas of the Grameen Bank during 2006. A number of outcome measures relating to poverty status are considered; these include household income, stability of household income via food sufficiency and ownership of non-land assets, and also the probability of being above or below the poverty line. The results show that micro health insurance has a positive association with all of these indicators, and this is statistically significant and quantitatively important for food sufficiency. |
| Keywords: | Microcredit, Micro Health Insurance, Poverty, Grameen Bank |
| JEL: | O12 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2010001&r=cwa |
| By: | Kotikula, Aphichoke; Narayan, Ambar; Zaman, Hassan |
| Abstract: | The poor in Bangladesh are more likely to belong to households with a larger number of dependents and lower education among household members, be engaged in daily wage labor, own little land, and be less likely to receive remittances. This poverty profile for 2005 is similar to the profile in the mid-1980s and hence at first glance it would appear that little has changed over time. A closer look at national household survey data suggests a more nuanced story. This paper uses the latest two rounds of the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey to decompose the micro-determinants of poverty reduction between 2000 and 2005, closely following a similar analysis using five earlier rounds of the Survey. The comparison of results shows that the spatial distribution of poverty seen in earlier decades has changed with time and the drivers of poverty reduction are different in several respects. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Access to Finance,Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping |
| Date: | 2010–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5199&r=cwa |