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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | The paper provides an overview and a comparison of land markets covering the three candidate countries for European Union membership: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. We analyse and compare agricultural land structures and factors driving land markets. The analyses are based on the available cross-section and time-series evidence on agricultural land structures and land productivity (yields). The land productivity measured by production per hectare of agricultural land varies between the three countries. Agricultural land structures are the result of historical evolution in land markets and land-leasing developments with additional different institutional environments and agrarian and land reforms. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:96&r=cwa |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses agricultural and rural capital factor markets in the three European Union candidate countries: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. Aggregate capital market indicators and their dynamics, and factors driving agricultural and rural capital markets are analysed and compared in these countries. In general, agricultural and rural capital markets show similarities with general capital market developments, but agricultural and rural capital markets are facing specific credit constraints related to agricultural assets and rural fixed asset specificities, which constrain their mortgages and collateral use. Credit market imperfections have limited access to the investment credits necessary for the restructuring of small-scale individual farms. Government transfers are used to differing extents in the candidate countries, but generally tend to increase over time. Remittances and donor funds have also played an important role in agricultural and rural economy investments. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:108&r=cwa |
| By: | Harinder Kohli (Centennial Group International and the Emerging Markets Forum); Ashok Sharma (Asian Development Bank); Anil Sood (Centennial Group International and the Emerging Markets Forum); Haruhiko Kuroda (Asian Development Bank) |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emf:otherw:asia2050overview&r=cwa |
| By: | Anita Prakash (Anita Prakash Policy Relations Director, ERIA.); Ikumo Isono (Ikumo Isono Economist, ERIA) |
| Abstract: | Established in 1967, ASEAN has travelled a long way from a group of five nations to a thriving and leading group of ten countries. Based on the progress in the implementation of the blueprints for building the ASEAN community by 2015, there is an enhanced role for the ASEAN in dealing with regional and global challenges. It is emerging as a services hub in the region and is the chosen destination for investments. At the end of Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN, which had set the theme ‘ASEAN in a global community of nations’, it is imperative to take a stock of the readiness of the region if it is well on its way to step into a truly global role in the near future, especially by its goal of becoming one community by 2015. With its strategic location, abundant natural resources, quality human resources and growing economies, ASEAN has engaged economically, by way of trade and investments, with all the large economies of the world. It has also gained strategic weight and drawn the attention of global players, both economically and politically. Its global engagement is best exemplified by the fact that 55 countries across the globe have appointed their envoys to the regional grouping and this number is growing. Sitting in the midst of giant economies like Japan, China and India, and with active economic relations with USA and the EU, ASEAN is now seeking its due share in the global economy and politics. This Policy Brief looks into the current global profile of ASEAN and brings out policy recommendations that would help ASEAN in finding its appropriate role in the global politics and economy. |
| Date: | 2012–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:pb-2012-01&r=cwa |
| By: | Yu SHENG (Yu SHENG Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia); Xunpeng SHI (Xunpeng SHI Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Jakarta, Indonesia) |
| Abstract: | Energy Market Integration (EMI) has been pursued by East Asian countries in recent years, but how it could play a role in facilitating economic growth of countries in the region remains to be an empirical question. This paper uses the economic convergence analysis (including both the σ-convergence and β-convergence approaches) to examine the impact of EMI - measured by two newly constructed indexes (namely, the energy trade index and the energy market competition index) - at the country level, on dynamic economic growth path across countries, with a special interest to inform policy makings related to promoting EMI among East Asian countries. The result shows that a more integrated energy market may significantly reduce income disparity across countries and thus help poor countries to catch up with rich countries in economic development. Moreover, a comparison among the three regions including EU, NAFTA and EAS shows that EAS countries are more likely to achieve economic convergence along with the construction of EMI process. An important policy implication is that less developed countries in the EAS region can increase benefits from actively participating into the EMI process. |
| Date: | 2011–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2011-05&r=cwa |
| By: | James D. Hamilton |
| Abstract: | This paper explores details behind the phenomenal increase in global crude oil production over the last century and a half and the implications if that trend should be reversed. I document that a key feature of the growth in production has been exploitation of new geographic areas rather than application of better technology to existing sources, and suggest that the end of that era could come soon. The economic dislocations that historically followed temporary oil supply disruptions are reviewed, and the possible implications of that experience for what the transition era could look like are explored. |
| JEL: | O40 Q30 Q41 Q43 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17759&r=cwa |
| By: | Resat Ceylan (Pamukkale University, Department of Economics); Funda Telatar (Hacettepe University, Department of Economics); Erdinc Telatar (Hacettepe University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this letter is to re-examine the convergence hypothesis for 21 OECD countries during the period of 1950-2008. Our nonlinear unit root procedures are able to reject the existence of a unit root in both the de-meaned output and the output gap series from USA series for 21 OECD countries, wheraes the linear ADF test fails to do so, providing some supportive evidence of nonlinear convergence in the outputs. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hac:hacwop:20121&r=cwa |
| By: | Lei Zhu (Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences); ZhongXiang Zhang (Research Program, East-West Center); Ying Fan (Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies real options theory to establish an overseas oil investment evaluation model that is based on Monte Carlo simulation and is solved by the Least Squares Monte-Carlo method. To better reflect the reality of overseas oil investment, our model has incorporated not only the uncertainties of oil price and investment cost but also the uncertainties of exchange rate and investment environment. These unique features have enabled our model to be best equipped to evaluate the value of oil overseas investment projects of three oil field sizes (large, medium, small) and under different resource tax systems (royalty tax and production sharing contracts). In our empirical setting, we have selected China as an investor country and Indonesia as an investee country as a case study. Our results show that the investment risks and project values of small sized oil fields are more sensitive to changes in the uncertainty factors than the large and medium sized oil fields. Furthermore, among the uncertainty factors considered in the model, the investment risk of overseas oil investment may be underestimated if no consideration is given of the impacts of exchange rate and investment environment. Finally, as there is an important trade-off between oil resource investee country and overseas oil investor, in medium and small sized oil investment negotiation the oil company should try to increase the cost oil limit in production sharing contract and avoid the term of a windfall profits tax to reduce the investment risk of overseas oil fields. |
| Keywords: | Overseas Oil Investment, Project Value, Real Options, Least Squares Monte-Carlo |
| JEL: | Q41 Q43 Q48 G31 O13 O22 C63 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.83&r=cwa |
| By: | Charles F. Mason (H.A. True Chair in Petroleum and Natural Gas Economics, Department of Economics & Finance, University of Wyoming) |
| Abstract: | Persistent and significant privately-held stockpiles of crude oil have long been an important empirical regularity in the United States. Such stockpiles would not rationally be held in a traditional Hotelling-style model. How then can the existence of these inventories be explained? In the presence of sufficiently stochastic prices, oil extracting firms have an incentive to hold inventories to smooth production over time. An alternative explanation is related to a speculative motive - firms hold stockpiles intending to cash in on periods of particularly high prices. I argue that empirical evidence supports the former but not the latter explanation. |
| Keywords: | Petroleum Economics, Stochastic Dynamic Optimization |
| JEL: | Q2 D8 L15 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.100&r=cwa |
| By: | Ken Itakura (Ken Itakura Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Nagoya City University) |
| Abstract: | In the aftermath of the devastating nuclear fallout in Japan, there has been a harsh debate surrounding the role of nuclear energy in electricity generation. A changing role will have economic consequences on production, consumption, and international trade. To quantity these effects, we implemented simulations with a global CGE model and database. The simulation results show that reductions in the use of nuclear for electric power generation may have profound negative impacts on the Japanese economy. A nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant changed the future direction of Japanese energy policy as well as Asian energy policy. These policies are integrated via technological, financial, and nuclear energy knowledge sharing activities within the region. The main objective of this policy brief is to shed some light on the following question: what would be the economic consequences of altering the source of power generation from nuclear to fossil fuels? This Japanese case study offers policy implications for both Japan and the region as a whole. |
| Date: | 2011–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:pb-2011-04&r=cwa |
| By: | Brutscher, P-B. |
| Abstract: | An increasing number of households in Northern Ireland has started to collect oil stamps in recent years - i.e. small pieces of paper which can be purchased at specified outlets, collected on an oil stamps savings card, and used to pay in full or part for one's oil bill. In this paper, we explore why this is. After ruling out high costs associated with more conventional savings vehicles (such as bank accounts) and the notion that oil stamps serve some purpose other than saving for heating oil as possible explanations, we test two main hypotheses: i) oil stamps as 'self-control' mechanism and ii) oil stamps as 'other-control' mechanism. While we find little evidence for the first hypothesis, we do find evidence for the second one. More specifically, we find that collecting oil stamps is strongly correlated with differences in views among household members with regard to how much priority to give to saving for heating oil. To rule out 'salience effects' as an alternative explanation, we test whether oil stamps increase households' savings performance. We find that they do. |
| Date: | 2012–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1203&r=cwa |
| By: | Joseph E. Aldy (Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Nonresident Fellow, Resources for the Future; and Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research); Robert N. Stavins (Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; University Fellow, Resources for the Future; and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Because of the global commons nature of climate change, international cooperation among nations will likely be necessary for meaningful action at the global level. At the same time, it will inevitably be up to the actions of sovereign nations to put in place policies that bring about meaningful reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Due to the ubiquity and diversity of emissions of greenhouse gases in most economies, as well as the variation in abatement costs among individual sources, conventional environmental policy approaches, such as uniform technology and performance standards, are unlikely to be sufficient to the task. Therefore, attention has increasingly turned to market-based instruments in the form of carbon-pricing mechanisms. We examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the major options for carbon pricing: carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reductions. |
| Keywords: | : Global Climate Change, Market-Based Instruments, Carbon Pricing, Carbon Taxes, Cap-and-Trade, Emission Reduction Credits, Energy Subsidies, Clean Energy Standards |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 Q40 Q48 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.82&r=cwa |
| By: | Jimenez Porras, G. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:tilbur:urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-5014444&r=cwa |
| By: | Mauricio Cárdenas; Santiago Ramírez; Didem Tuzemen |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that higher commodity dependence reduces the government's incentive to invest in fiscal capacity. After developing a model that makes this prediction, evidence is provided supporting the view that countries more dependent on commodities (whose rents can be easily appropriated by the government, such as oil) have weaker fiscal capacity. Also, fiscal capacity is found to improve less over time in commodity dependent countries relative to countries where commodity exports play a less relevant role. These empirical results are obtained in a panel dataset with estimators that address endogeneity issues. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:rwp11-08&r=cwa |
| By: | Benno Torgler (The School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, research fellows of CREMA – Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts, Switzerland and associated with CESifo) |
| Abstract: | The paper reports on work values in Europe. At the country level we find that job satisfaction is related to lower working hours, higher well-being, and a higher GDP per capita. Moving to the micro level, we turn our attention from job satisfaction to analyse empirically work centrality and work value dimensions (without exploring empirically job satisfaction) related to intrinsic and extrinsic values, power and social elements. The results indicate substantial differences between Eastern and Western Europe. Socio-demographic factors, education, income, religiosity and religious denomination are significant influences. We find additional differences between Eastern and Western Europe regarding work-leisure and work-family centrality that could be driven by institutional conditions. Furthermore, hierarchical cluster analyses report further levels of dissimilarity among European countries. |
| Keywords: | Work Values, Job Satisfaction, Work-Leisure Relationship, Work-Family Centrality, Eastern Europe, Western Europe |
| JEL: | P20 D10 J28 J17 J22 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.94&r=cwa |