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on Central and Western Asia |
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Issue of 2011‒04‒30
thirteen papers chosen by Bibhu Prasad Nayak Institute for Social and Economic Change |
| By: | Elasrag, hussein |
| Abstract: | Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing segments of global financial industry. In some countries, it has become systemically important and, in many others, it is too big to be ignored.Islamic finance is based on shariah, an Arabic term that often is translated to “Islamic law.”Shariah provides guidelines for aspects of Muslim life, including religion, politics, economics,banking, business, and law.The basic sources of Shari’ah are the Qur’an and the Sunna, which are followed by the consensus of the jurists and interpreters of Islamic law. The central feature of the Islamic finance system is the prohibition in the Qur’an of the payment and receipt of interest (or riba). Islamic finance is a rapidly growing industry. While it represents a small proportion of the global finance market (estimated at 1%-5% of global share), the Islamic finance industry has experienced double-digit rates of growth annually in recent years (estimated at 10%- 20% annual growth). Industry experts estimate that assets held under Islamic finance management doubled between 2007 and 2010 to reach around $1 trillion. This paper tries to note the main Principal of Islamic finance. In addition to discuss the Improvement can be made in several areas to promote and enhance the providing Islamic financial services. |
| Keywords: | ISLAMIC FINANCE;ISLAMIC ECONOMICS;Shari'ah law; Islamic Bonds;ISLAMIC BANKING; |
| JEL: | G2 O16 G21 |
| Date: | 2011–04–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30197&r=cwa |
| By: | François Facchini (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I) |
| Abstract: | This article explains the level of economic freedom in Muslim countries through the theory of institutional path dependency. Islamic countries are generally not free and they have a poor record regarding property rights. To explain these realities we use the institutional history of Muslim countries. We define three steps : the Arab and Ottoman Empires when Islamic law was of great importance, European colonisation, and the contemporary era with its movement towards a revival of Islam. Islamic law is not liberal. This explains why, in general, Muslin countries are generally not free. Colonisation radically changed institutional life in the twentieth century. British colonisation proved to be better than did French or Soviet colonisation. This explains why the Persian Gulf countries are freer. The collapse of the Soviet model explains the speed of liberalisation in former socialist countries (such as Albania, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan). Nevertheless, the twentieth century was not just the century of Westernisation. It was also the century of the revival of Islam. The article concludes that the history of the twentieth century does not explain the way in which Muslim countries are attracted by the ideal of the Muslim city. The revival of Islamic intellectual innovations and the evolution of Muslim opinion sustain this thesis. Therefore, there is a dependency on the past and on an imagined future. Islam acts, like yesterday, on the world of institutional possibilities. |
| Keywords: | Economic freedom, colonisation, institutional imaginary, Islam, property rights. |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00587694&r=cwa |
| By: | Torshizian, Eilya; Mehrara, Mohsen |
| Abstract: | Increasing happiness of population as the ultimate goal has engaged economist’s interest in identifying, measuring and theorizing based on the amount of influence of effective components on happiness. What makes this paper remarkable in contrast to similar studies is its Islamic ideological structure of society and being a free economic zone. Method used to estimating happiness is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with latent variables. Results do not confirm presence of the Easterlin paradox in this society and moreover the religious variables are not significant. |
| Keywords: | Behavioral Economics; Economics of Happiness; Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with latent variables; Subjective Well-Being |
| JEL: | Z10 C30 D60 |
| Date: | 2011–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30085&r=cwa |
| By: | Breisinger, Clemens; Engelke, Wilfried; Ecker, Olivier |
| Abstract: | Petroleum subsidy reform is increasingly seen as an opportunity for consolidating public finances and fostering sustainable economic development. Yemen, as the country with the lowest per capita income in the group of countries with a high level of energy subsidies, started to reduce subsidies in 2010 and is discussing further options for reform. The results of this paper support a comprehensive petroleum subsidy reform in Yemen. Economic growth is projected to accelerate between 0.1 and 0.8 percentage points annually as a result of reform. Yet, the design of the reform is critically important, especially for the poor. Outcomes of alternative reform scenarios range from an increase in poverty of 2 to 6 percentage points. A promising strategy combines subsidy reduction with direct transfers of 13,800 to 19,700 Yemeni rials annually to the poorest 30 percent of households and enhanced public investments. Investments should focus on the utilities, transport, trade, and construction sectors to integrate economic spaces and create the platform for a restructuring of agricultural, industrial, and service value chains, which should encourage private sector led and job creating growth in the medium term. |
| Keywords: | Development strategies, Growth, petroleum subsidy, Poverty, Reform, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1071&r=cwa |
| By: | Schwalje, Wes |
| Abstract: | This article traces the evolution of knowledge-based economic development in the Arab World. In pursuing this objective, many countries in the region have made large state-driven human capital investments with the goals of job creation, economic integration, economic diversification, environmental sustainability, and social development. An assessment of the effectiveness of Arab investments in human capital shows marginal progress towards knowledge-based development over the last decade. A disconnect between the skills developed in Arab skills formation systems and those required by private sector employers relegates Arab businesses to contesting lower-skilled, non-knowledge intensive industries which has stalled knowledge-based development in the region. |
| Keywords: | Arab World; Middle East; skills formation; knowledge economy; competitiveness; skills development policy; economic development |
| JEL: | J40 J41 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30305&r=cwa |
| By: | Gilles DUFRENOT; Adelya OSPANOVA; Alain SAND-ZANTMAN |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a small macro-econometric model of Kazakhstan to study the impact of various economic policies. It uses a new approach to test the existence of a level relationship between a dependent variable and a set of regressors, when the characteristics of the regressors’ non-stationarity are not known with certainty. The simulations provide insights into the role of a tight monetary policy, higher foreign direct investment, and rises in nominal wages and in crude oil prices. The results obtained are in line with economic observations and give some support to the policies chosen as priority targets by the Kazakh authorities for the forthcoming years. |
| Keywords: | Simulation, Forecasting, Transition, Stabilization, Central Asian |
| JEL: | E17 F47 O53 P39 |
| Date: | 2010–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2010-1001&r=cwa |
| By: | Apostolides, Alexander |
| Abstract: | This article presents the major results of the first attempt to create historical national accounts for Cyprus and Malta. It constructs the first detailed estimates of output at aggregate and sector levels, enabling the analysis of economic growth and tracing structural change. The islands’ performance is evaluated within the context of wider economic change in Europe’s South Eastern periphery, suggesting that their economic growth was slow in comparison, despite both Cyprus and Malta being far less exposed to the political upheavals of the First World War. However, the ultimate reasons for their comparatively weak growth performance differed: Cyprus experienced a prolonged agricultural crisis, but participated in the post-depression recovery through the rapid expansion of the copper mining industry. Malta’s growth was slower than Cyprus due to the combination of declining British military expenditure and accelerated demographic growth. These differences notwithstanding, the islands were ultimately affected by common problems. Their small overall size had a negative effect on their performance as global protectionism increased and restricted export opportunities. An important negative determinant for growth during the interwar period was their size, which in combination with the islands’ status as British colonies, made autarkic policies prohibitive. |
| Keywords: | Economic History; Colonial Development; GDP estimation; Sectoral Disaggregation ; Small Economies |
| JEL: | O47 C82 N14 |
| Date: | 2011–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30276&r=cwa |
| By: | Haveman, Heather A.; Habinek, Jacob; Goodman, Leo A. |
| Abstract: | We trace the social positions of the men and women who found new enterprises from the earliest years of one industry’s history to a time when the industry was well established. Sociological theory suggests two opposing hypotheses. First, pioneering entrepreneurs are socially prominent individuals from fields adjacent to the new industry and later entrepreneurs are from an increasingly broad swath of society. Second, the earliest entrepreneurs come from the social periphery while later entrepreneurs include more industry insiders and members of the social elite. To test these hypotheses, we study the magazine industry in America over the first 120 years of its history, from 1741 to 1860. We find that magazine publishing was originally restricted to industry insiders, elite professionals, and the highly educated, but by the time the industry became well established, most founders came from outside publishing and more were of middling stature – mostly small-town doctors and clergy without college degrees. We also find that magazines founded by industry insiders remained concentrated in the three biggest cities, while magazines founded by outsiders became geographically dispersed. Finally, we find that entrepreneurship evolved from the pursuit of a lone individual to a more organizationally-sponsored activity; this reflects the modernization of America during this time period. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of grounding studies of entrepreneurship in historical context. Our analysis of this “old†new media industry also offers hints about how the “new†new media industries are likely to evolve. |
| Keywords: | Organizational Behavior and Theory |
| Date: | 2011–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:indrel:1952031&r=cwa |
| By: | Zenthöfer, A.F. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago which have a very similar climate, history, institutional framework, ethnic composition, size, etc., but are different in the natural resources they possess. Trinidad and Tobago has achieved a higher per capita GDP based on its petrodollars, but Mauritius has achieved a more robust and stable growth path and a diversified economy based on an export-oriented economic strategy. Trinidad and Tobago is highly dependent on the world market prices for oil and gas and engages in a smaller variety of economic activities, giving it a worse perspective for its future economic development. It appears that this curse is mainly working through Dutch disease effects. |
| Keywords: | Resource Curse;Dutch Disease;Natural Experiment;Mauritius;Trinidad and Tobago. |
| JEL: | N56 N57 Q32 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2011028&r=cwa |
| By: | Seker, Murat |
| Abstract: | There have been significant improvements in traditional trade policies in the past few decades. However, these improvements can only be fully effective when they are complemented with a favorable investment climate. This study focuses on a particular aspect of investment climate, namely labor regulations, and shows how these regulations can be discouraging from exporting. Using firm level data from 26 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, the paper empirically shows that firms that cannot create new jobs due to stringent labor regulations are less likely to export. Firms that plan to export expand their sizes before they start to export. However the rigidities in labor markets make this adjustment process costly. Higher costs of employment decrease operating profits and lead to a higher productivity threshold level required for entering export markets. As a result, a smaller fraction of firms can afford to export. |
| Keywords: | Exporting; firm heterogeneity; labor regulations; developing countries; Eastern Europe and Central Asia region |
| JEL: | F16 F12 F14 J23 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:29907&r=cwa |
| By: | Andros Kourtellos (Department of Economics, University of Cyprus; The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA)); Ioanna Stylianou (Department of Economics, University of Cyprus); Chih Ming Tan (Department of Economics, Clark University; The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA)) |
| Abstract: | Recent work in the growth literature has provided various explanations for transition delays and the great divergence. This paper provides empirical support for one theory of transition delays: initial land inequality. Our analysis is designed to elucidate the channels via which land inequality can affect long-run economic performance. Using a new historical data set for land inequality (Frankema (2009)) we employ duration analysis to investigate whether higher levels of land inequality lead to longer delays in the extension of primary schooling. We then investigate whether such delays affect long-run economic performance via their effect on contemporaneous schooling. Our findings suggest that land inequality is a key determinant of delays in schooling, and that such delays have a significant negative impact on long-run output. |
| Keywords: | growth takeoffs; schooling; duration analysis; model uncertainty; institutions |
| JEL: | C59 O40 Z12 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:22_11&r=cwa |
| By: | Bodewig, Christian; Hirshleifer, Sarojini |
| Abstract: | This report presents available evidence on adult education and training in Europe and Central Asia (ECA), differentiating two separate types: continuing vocational education and training (CVET) for the employed, sought either by employers or individuals, and retraining and second chance education for the non?employed. This paper presents available evidence on the extent and patterns of lifelong learning in ECA. It argues that advancing adult education and training in ECA is important not only to meet the new skills demands but also to respond to a rapidly worsening demographic outlook across most of the region. While it is not equally important for all ECA countries, adult education and training should be high on the agenda of those ECA economies that are closest to the technological frontier and facing a demographic decline, such as the new European Union (EU) member States and Russia. The paper lays out a framework for government action to advance adult learning in ECA through a mix consisting of policy coordination between government and the enterprise sector, a sound regulatory regime and appropriate financial incentives. |
| Keywords: | Access&Equity in Basic Education,Education For All,Primary Education,Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education |
| Date: | 2011–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:61290&r=cwa |
| By: | Horbach, Jens; Rammer, Christian; Rennings, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Empirical analyses of the determinants of environmental innovations were rarely able to distinguish between different areas of environmental impacts. The paper tries to close this gap by employing a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey conducted in 2009. The main purpose of the paper is to test whether different types of eco-innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors. Besides a complex set of different supply, firm specific and demand factors, the literature on the determinants of environmental innovations accentuates the important role of regulation, cost savings and customer benefits. We find that current and expected government regulation is particularly important for pushing firms to reduce air (e.g. CO₂, SO₂ or NOₓ) as well as water or noise emissions, avoid hazardous substances and increase recyclability of products. Cost savings are an important motivation for reducing energy and material use, pointing to the role of energy and raw materials prices as well as taxation as drivers for eco-innovation. Customer requirements are another important source for eco-innovations, particularly with regard to products with improved environmental performance and process innovations that increase material efficiency, reduce energy consumption and waste and the use of dangerous substances. Firms confirm a high importance of expected future regulations for all environmental product innovations. -- |
| Keywords: | Environmental Innovation,Environmental Impacts,Discrete Choice Models,Regulation,Cost Savings,Demand Pull,Environmental Policy |
| JEL: | Q55 O33 O38 C25 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11027&r=cwa |