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on Central and Western Asia |
|
Issue of 2011‒07‒27
eight papers chosen by Bibhu Prasad Nayak Institute for Social and Economic Change |
| By: | Mercan, Murat A. |
| Abstract: | The degree of assortative mating shows the degree of similarity within couples. Many papers try to calculate earnings correlations between husbands and wives. This paper tries to calculate the earnings correlations for Turkey and consider the effect of the sample selection. Our results show that there is a weak positive assortative mating in Turkey, and the bias from the selection is small. In addition, we look at the assortative mating coefficients in different regions in Turkey. Akdeniz region has the biggest correlation coefficient. Karadeniz has the lowest coefficient which is almost zero. |
| Keywords: | assortative mating; marriage; earnings |
| JEL: | J12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32261&r=cwa |
| By: | Kröger, Antje; Meier, Kristina |
| Abstract: | The financial crisis in 2008/2009 had a presumably substantial influence on the everyday social and economic life of many Tajik people, including their behavior in the labor market. In our paper, we aim to study the impact of the economic crisis on individual labor market decisions. This is the first study investigating the impact of the financial crisis in a transition country using a unique panel data set from Tajikistan. We find that the global financial crisis had a strong impact on employment and migration patterns in Tajikistan. Our results show that regular wage employment and self-employment with hired labor decreased while piece-based wage employment and unpaid family work increased during the crisis. Further, households are more likely to send a family member abroad suggesting that the dependency on sending migrants abroad grows in times of economic turmoil. In combination with increased migration risk our results show that the Tajik labor market has largely been affected by the global financial crisis. -- |
| Keywords: | financial crisis,wage employment,migration,Tajikistan |
| JEL: | C23 J24 J16 O10 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec11:50&r=cwa |
| By: | Bhattacharyya, Sambit; Hodler, Roland |
| Abstract: | We theoretically and empirically examine the relationship between natural resource revenues and financial development. In the theoretical part, we present a politico-economic model in which contract enforcement is low and decreasing in resource revenues when political institutions are poor, but high otherwise. As poor contract enforcement leads to low financial development, the model predicts that resource revenues hinder financial development in countries with poor political institutions, but not in countries with comparatively better political institutions. We test our theoretical predictions systematically using panel data covering the period 1970 to 2005 and 133 countries. Our estimates confirm our theoretical predictions. Our main results hold when we control country fixed effects, time varying common shocks, income and various additional covariates. They are also robust to alternative estimation techniques, various alternative measures of financial development and political institutions, as well as across different samples and data frequencies. We present further evidence using panel data covering the period 1870 to 1940 and 31 countries. -- |
| Keywords: | Natural resources,political institutions,financial development |
| JEL: | D7 O1 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec11:11&r=cwa |
| By: | Nowak-Lehmann D., Felicitas; Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada; Cardozo, Adriana; Herzer, Dierk |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the gravity model of trade to investigate the link between foreign aid and exports in recipient countries. Most of the theoretical work emphasizes the negative impact of aid on recipient countries' exports primarily due to exchange rate appreciation, disregarding possible positive effects of aid in overcoming supply bottlenecks and promoting bilateral trade relations. Our empirical findings -all based on endogeneity-proof techniques (such as Dynamic OLS or more refined techniques) - depend very strongly on whether bilateral trade relations and autocorrelation of the disturbances are controlled for. When not controlling for these phenomena, the impact of aid is quite substantial (especially in Asia, Latin America & Caribbean) but when sound estimation techniques are applied the net impact of aid on recipient countries' exports becomes insignificant in the full 130-country sample and the subsamples: Sub-Saharan Africa & MENA, Asia and Latin America & the Caribbean. However, this rather disappointing finding is in line with the small macroeconomic impact of aid found in earlier studies. -- |
| Keywords: | International trade,foreign aid,recipient exports,bilateral trade relations |
| JEL: | F10 F35 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec11:61&r=cwa |
| By: | McCann, Fergal; Dorsch, Michael; McGuirk, Eoin |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the relationship between democratic accountability in de- veloping countries and the policies they use to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). We isolate two policy areas that governments of developing countries use to attract FDI: the tax burden on firms and the regulatory standards within which they operate. Countries that maintain high business taxes can only attract FDI by offering a less regulated business environment, which may have associated po- litical costs. The extent to which democratic accountability constrains leaders in their tax/regulatory policy choices is our main line of analysis. The novelty of the paper is that it endogenously determines policy choices within a political economy framework that recognizes the trade-offs between attracting FDI and maintaining political control. Examination of firm-level survey data from foreign firms operating in eastern Europe and central Asian economies confirms our model's main conclusion: regulation is seen to be a relatively larger obstacle to doing business in countries with greater democratic accountability. -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec11:56&r=cwa |
| By: | Steiner, Susan; Esenaliev, Damir |
| Abstract: | In the light of violent clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 we investigate the association between economic welfare and ethnicity in this country. We intend to answer two questions. First, are Uzbek households better off than Kyrgyz households, as is often claimed in the media and also by some academics? Second, what are the correlates of household welfare in recent years, and how have these changed in comparison with the 1990s? We use data from two cross-sections of the Kyrgyz Integrated Household Survey (2003 and 2005) and run OLS regressions using three measures of welfare, i.e. per capita consumption, per capita income, and an asset index. We find some evidence for higher welfare of Uzbek headed households compared with their Kyrgyz counterparts, but mainly in rural areas. In the south of the country, where most Uzbeks live and where the violence took place, there appears to be no substantial difference in welfare. This is clearly in contrast to what was commonly propagated in the media and what most Kyrgyz tend to think. In terms of the other correlates of welfare, we find that household size, educational attainment of adults, and residence outside the capital and the neighbouring Chui oblast are most importantly connected with welfare. This coincides with findings from earlier studies using data from a decade earlier. -- |
| Keywords: | Household welfare,ethnicity,Kyrgyzstan |
| JEL: | D74 P36 D12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec11:75&r=cwa |
| By: | Viswanathan, K. Kuperan |
| Abstract: | This is a keynote address at the ASEAN-SEAFDEC conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security Towards 2020, Fish for the People 2020: Adaptation to a Changing Environment. It addresses theme one of the conference which is Enhancing Governance in Fisheries Management. With the deteriorating state of the fishery resources and the emerging fisheries-related issues during the past decade, there is an urgent need to address concerns on weak governance as the main underlying cause of overfishing. Many social scientists believe that improved governance with strong elements of self-governance, co-management, and community-based management are required for effective management of fisheries resources. |
| Keywords: | Fisheries Management; Governance; Co-management; Southeast Asia. |
| JEL: | Q0 Q01 Q22 |
| Date: | 2011–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32326&r=cwa |
| By: | Demetriou, Marlen; Papasolomou, Ioanna |
| Abstract: | Corporations have long realised the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), particularly the Cause Related Marketing (CRM) and many have adopted CRM as a marketing tool for achieving their marketing objectives by demonstrating a commitment to improve the quality of life in the communities in which they operate. However, CRM proves to be a more successful tool for increasing the brand recognition when corporations develop long term alliances with non-profit organisations. This research offers a longitudinal comparative analysis of companies using CSR and points towards the effect CRM, coupled with alliances with non-profit organisations, has on corporate image of Cypriot businesses. The research methodology focuses primarily on surveys in 2004, 2007 and 2009/10 and personal interviews with the marketing managers of two companies using CRM in Cyprus. This research indicates that the majority of consumers recognize CSR efforts in those corporations which have established long term alliances with non-profit organizations. |
| Keywords: | Cyprus; Branding; Corporate Image; Non- Profit Organizations; Cause Related Marketing (CRM); Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsu:apasro:316&r=cwa |