|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Strutt, Anna |
| Abstract: | Rapid trade-led economic growth in emerging Asia has been shifting the global economic and industrial centres of gravity away from the north Atlantic, raising the importance of Asia in world trade but also altering the commodity composition of trade by Asia and other regions. What began with Japan in the 1950s and Korea and Taiwan from the late 1960s has spread to the much more populous ASEAN region, China and India. This paper examines how that growth and associated structural changes are altering agricultural markets in particular and thereby food security. It does so retrospectively and by projecting a model of the world economy which compares alternative growth strategies, trade policy scenarios and savings behaviours to 2030. Projected impacts on sectoral shares of GDP, ‘openness’ to trade and the composition and direction of trade are drawn out, followed by effects of the boom in non-farm sectors on agricultural self-sufficiency and real food consumption per capita in Asia and elsewhere. The paper concludes by drawing implications for policies that can address more efficiently Asia’s concerns about food security and rural-urban income disparity than the trade policy measures used by earlier-industrializing Northeast Asia. |
| Keywords: | Asian economic growth and structural change; booming sector economics; food security; global economy-wide model projections; South-South trade |
| JEL: | D58 F13 F15 Q17 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8950&r=cwa |
| By: | Frankel, Jeffrey A. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | The large economies have each, in sequence, offered "models" that once seemed attractive to others but that eventually gave way to disillusionment. Small countries may have some answers. They are often better able to experiment with innovative policies and institutions and some of the results are worthy of emulation. This article gives an array of examples. Some of them come from small advanced countries: New Zealand's Inflation Targeting, Estonia's flat tax, Switzerland's debt brake, Ireland's FDI policy, Canada's banking structure, Sweden's Nordic model, and the Netherlands' labor market reforms. Some examples come from countries that were considered "developing" 40 years ago, but have since industrialized. Korea stands for education; among Singapore's innovative polices were forced saving and traffic congestion pricing; Costa Rica and Mauritius outperformed their respective regions by, among other policies, foreswearing standing armies; and Mexico experimented successfully with the original Conditional Cash Transfers. A final set of examples come from countries that export mineral and agricultural commodities, historically vulnerable to the "resource curse," but that have learned how to avoid the pitfalls: Chile's structural budget rules, Mexico's oil option hedging, and Botswana's "Pula Fund." |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-013&r=cwa |
| By: | Frankel, Jeffrey A. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Countries with oil, mineral or other natural resource wealth, on average, have failed to show better economic performance than those without, often because of undesirable side effects. This is the phenomenon known as the Natural Resource Curse. This paper reviews the literature, classified according to six channels of causation that have been proposed. The possible channels are: (i) long-term trends in world prices, (ii) price volatility, (iii) permanent crowding out of manufacturing, (iv) autocratic/oligarchic institutions, (v) anarchic institutions, and (vi) cyclical Dutch Disease. With the exception of the first channel--the long-term trend in commodity prices does not appear to be downward--each of the other channels is an important part of the phenomenon. Skeptics have questioned the Natural Resource Curse, pointing to examples of commodity-exporting countries that have done well and arguing that resource exports and booms are not exogenous. The relevant policy question for a country with natural resources is how to make the best of them. |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-014&r=cwa |
| By: | Yilmaz Akyüz (The South Centre) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that the unprecedented acceleration of growth in the developing world in the new millennium in comparison with advanced economies is due not so much to improvements in underlying fundamentals as to exceptionally favourable global economic conditions, shaped mainly by unsustainable policies in advanced economies. The only developing economy which has had a major impact on global conditions, notably on commodity prices, is China. However, growth in China has been driven first by a rapid expansion of exports to advanced economies and more recently, after the global crisis, by an investment boom, neither of which is replicable or sustainable over the longer term. To maintain a rapid growth, export-led Asian economies need to reduce their dependence on foreign markets. For Latin American and African commodity exporters, gaining greater autonomy and achieving rapid and stable growth depend on their success in reducing reliance on capital flows and commodity earnings – the two key determinants of their growth which are largely beyond national control. |
| Keywords: | global growth, decoupling, developing and emerging economies, advanced economies |
| JEL: | F43 N10 O57 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2012/3&r=cwa |
| By: | Gary Clyde Hufbauer (Peterson Institute for International Economics); Jeffrey J. Schott (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | The Doha Round is not the first multilateral negotiation to collapse under the weight of substantive disputes and tactical blunders, but revival this time requires a greater miracle than in the darkest days of the Tokyo or Uruguay Rounds. After near-death moments, those talks concluded with a big red bow tied around a comprehensive package. Ministers went home comforted that the next big negotiation would commence well after they left office. This time is different. There will be no red bow unless the Doha package is firmly joined to an immediate follow up round of talks—conducted under entirely different rules—both on old subjects that were badly neglected in the round and urgent new subjects that have surfaced since the round was launched in 2001. Hufbauer and Schott propose a "grand bargain" that couples a significant harvest from the Doha agenda with the future negotiation of plurilateral agreements among WTO members willing to take rewarding, yet challenging, steps forward. The harvest should start—but not stop—with agreements that create minimal commercial pain for any member but deliver widespread gains: trade facilitation, duty-free, quota-free treatment of imports from least developed countries, phaseout of agricultural subsidies, discipline of farm export controls, and reforms to dispute settlement. The harvest should then move to harder parts of the Doha Round—agreements that deliver significant benefits to some members but cause noticeable pain in others. The other side of the grand bargain is approval from the WTO membership for like-minded countries to negotiate deals between themselves. Five topics should be served up for plurilateral talks, as part of a grand bargain commencing in 2013: services liberalization, currency undervaluation, climate and energy, zero-for-zero tariffs coupled with disciplines on nontariff barriers, and state-owned enterprises. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:pbrief:pb12-11&r=cwa |
| By: | Weshah Razzak; Elmostafa Bentour |
| Abstract: | In addition to the wide believed positive effects on growth, employment and wages, FDIs are often perceived as sources of funds for development. Developing countries, especially low income and emerging economies, welcome FDIs because of their favorable budgetary implications. All that resulted in increasing global FDIs. We discuss some specification and estimation problems that might affect the estimation of the rate of returns on FDI, and provide new figures for a number of FDI-receiving Arab countries. We compare the results to those of some Asian countries, and discuss the policy implications. There is evidence that Arab countries have, relatively, benefited from their efforts to open their economies, to reform their institutions and to attract FDIs. |
| Keywords: | Rate of return on FDI, estimation and specification problems, panel data |
| JEL: | C13 C14 C21 C23 C26 O24 |
| Date: | 2012–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2012_07&r=cwa |
| By: | Berkowitz, Daniel (BOFIT); Hoekstra, Mark (BOFIT); Schoors, Koen (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of banking on economic growth in modern Russia. To overcome simultaneity and selection, we exploit regional banking variation induced by the creation of “specialized banks” (spetsbanks) in the last years of the Soviet Union (1988-1991). Consistent with the qualitative work of Joel Hellman [1993] and Juliet Johnson [2000], we show that these reforms generated an ideal natural experiment in that the concentration of spetsbanks is jointly uncorrelated with 15 predictors of future growth, including pre-banking income, education, anti-market sentiment, institutional quality, and government interference in the economy. Results indicate that while the presence of one additional spetsbank per million inhabitants increased total within-state lending to private firms and individuals by 14 to 26 percent in the early 2000s, it had no effect on investment or per capita income. In contrast, we find that spetsbanks increased employment. Additional results indicate that spetsbanks increased growth in regions in which they were less connected to government and were generally more similar to non-spetsbanks, as well as in regions that were better at protecting property rights. Our results thus strongly suggest that bank origins, political connections, and property rights are important determinants of effective finance. |
| Keywords: | finance; growth; banking; Russia |
| JEL: | F30 G20 O40 P30 |
| Date: | 2012–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2012_010&r=cwa |
| By: | Hasan, Iftekhar (BOFIT); Xie, Ru (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | China employs a unique foreign bank entry model. Instead of allowing full foreign control of domestic banks, foreign investors are only permitted to be involved in the local banks as minority shareholders. At the same time, foreign strategic investors are expected to commit to bank corporate governance improvement and new technology support. In this context, the paper examines the effect of foreign strategic investors on Chinese bank performance. Based on a unique data set of bank ownership, performance, corporate governance and stock returns from 2003 to 2007, our regression and event study analysis results suggest that active involvement of foreign strategic investors in bank management have improved the corporate governance model of Chinese banks from a control based model to a market oriented model, and accordingly have promoted bank performance. |
| Keywords: | China; foreign market entry; corporate governance |
| JEL: | F23 G21 G28 G34 |
| Date: | 2012–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2012_008&r=cwa |
| By: | G. F. Gori; L. Lambertini |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of free trade on welfare in a two-country world modelled as an international Hotelling duopoly with quadratic transport costs and asymmetric countries, where a negative environmental externality is associated with the consumption of the good produced in the smaller country. Countries’ relative sizes as well as the intensity of negative environmental externality affect potential welfare gains of trade liberalisation. In line with Lambertini (1997a) we show that, as long as no trade policy is undertaken by the government of the larger country, trade liberalisation is not feasible since the latter always loses from opening to trade. A subsidy policy in favour of the firm producing the clean good is, on the contrary, shown to give both countries the right incentives to liberalize trade. Allowing for redistributive transfers between countries further extends the parametric range for which trade liberalisation is feasible under the subsidy scheme. The alternative situation, in which the green firm is based in the larger country, is also briefly sketched to find that free trade does give rise to a global welfare increment with no need of accompanying trade policies. |
| JEL: | F12 L13 H23 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp824&r=cwa |
| By: | Kaliappa Kalirajan; Kanhaiya Singh |
| Abstract: | In order to fight back poverty, the Central as well as States Governments in India have attempted a number of programs leading to income generation. Like in any developing country, poor governance with lack of proper focus in implementing the programs are the main sources contributing to low human capital development and thereby to rising number of people living below the poverty line in India. The poverty alleviation programs target the people living below poverty line or just above poverty line through self help group units. The empirical analysis presented in this study, which is based on the primary survey data, clearly indicates that the self help group movement in Uttarakhand State in North India is poorly targeted at the poor, though it is a general programme of raising income in the rural areas. Lack of initiatives by the concerned authorities of the self help group movement and the state government in encouraging the poor to work in groups for a common cause of reducing poverty is the basic problem identified in the state. Another critical factor is the limited availability of traditional economic activities to leverage the skill with more efficient methods and affordable credit. The policy conclusion of this study is that there is an urgent need to improve the self help group system by implementing an approach, which should aim at the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation rather than just providing one time employment generation. |
| Keywords: | self help group, self help group and banking, poverty, Uttarakhand State |
| JEL: | I31 I38 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-02&r=cwa |
| By: | Sophia Peters |
| Abstract: | With an eye toward the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Region, this case study provides a practical guide to fiscal instruments that can promote climate change agendas, focusing on lessons learned from country experiences implementing these mechanisms. As most countries have historically relied on regulatory instruments to meet environmental goals, there are few documented studies of green fiscal policies in developing countries. This case study aims to add to that literature. The paper is divided into the following sections. It first discusses the role of fiscal policy in national climate change programming. It then analyzes the fiscal mechanisms used to promote climate change agendas, drawing on developing country cases. It continues to discuss the challenges that the Latin American context poses for green fiscal policy. Finally, it concludes with lessons learned and recommendations from country experiences implementing these mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Environment & Natural Resources :: Climate Change, Economics :: Fiscal Policy, Economics :: Monetary Policy, Energy & Mining :: Renewable Energy, Lessons Learned, Green Fiscal Policy, carbon tax, tax policies, fuel taxes, feed-in tariffs, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:66458&r=cwa |
| By: | Thomas Nitschka |
| Abstract: | Cross-border asset and liability holdings allow countries to insulate their consumption streams from idiosyncratic output shocks, i.e. consumption risk sharing. By contrast, banks' international interconnectedness spread the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis to various economies with adverse macroeconomic consequences. This paper evaluates the partial impact of banks' cross-border links on the ability of their host countries to share consumption risk internationally. It shows that the impact of banks' links to the non-bank sector in the rest-of-the-world on consumption risk sharing is negligible while strong interbank links are associated with relatively little consumption risk sharing of banks' host countries. |
| Keywords: | banking sector, cross-border assets, consumption risk sharing, interconnectedness,systemic risk |
| JEL: | E2 F15 G15 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snb:snbwpa:2012-04&r=cwa |
| By: | L. Randall Wray |
| Abstract: | This paper integrates the various strands of an alternative, heterodox view on the origins of money and the development of the modern financial system in a manner that is consistent with the findings of historians and anthropologists. As is well known, the orthodox story of money's origins and evolution begins with the creation of a medium of exchange to reduce the costs of barter. To be sure, the history of money is "lost in the mists of time," as money's invention probably predates writing. Further, the history of money is contentious. And, finally, even orthodox economists would reject the Robinson Crusoe story and the evolution from a commodity money through to modern fiat money as historically accurate. Rather, the story told about the origins and evolution of money is designed to shed light on the "nature" of money. The orthodox story draws attention to money as a transactions-cost-minimizing medium of exchange. Heterodox economists reject the formalist methodology adopted by orthodox economists in favor of a substantivist methodology. In the formalist methodology, the economist begins with the "rational" economic agent facing scarce resources and unlimited wants. Since the formalist methodology abstracts from historical and institutional detail, it must be applicable to all human societies. Heterodoxy argues that economics has to do with a study of the institutionalized interactions among humans and between humans and nature. The economy is a component of culture; or, more specifically, of the material life process of society. As such, substantivist economics cannot abstract from the institutions that help to shape economic processes; and the substantivist problem is not the formal one of choice, but a problem concerning production and distribution. A powerful critique of the orthodox story regarding money can be developed using the findings of comparative anthropology, comparative history, and comparative economics. Given the embedded nature of economic phenomenon in prior societies, an understanding of what money is and what it does in capitalist societies is essential to this approach. This can then be contrasted with the functioning of precapitalist societies in order to allow identification of which types of precapitalist societies would use money and what money would be used for in these societies. This understanding is essential for informed speculation on the origins of money. The comparative approach used by heterodox economists begins with an understanding of the role money plays in capitalist economies, which shares essential features with analyses developed by a wide range of Institutionalist, Keynesian, Post Keynesian, and Marxist macroeconomists. This paper uses the understanding developed by comparative anthropology and comparative history of precapitalist societies in order to logically reconstruct the origins of money. |
| Keywords: | Origins of Money; Evolution of Financial System; Substantivist Methodology; Comparative History; Nature of Money |
| JEL: | B5 B25 B41 E11 E12 N01 N2 P1 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_717&r=cwa |
| By: | Jean Pisani-Ferry; Guntram B. Wolff |
| Abstract: | The Bank of England, the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) have responded to the crisis with exceptional initiatives resulting in a major increase in their balance sheets. After the ECBâ??s end-2011 launch of three-year bank refinancing (LTRO), there has been speculation that all three have de facto embarked on â??quantitative easingâ??. However, major differences remain: the Bank of England and Fed have mostly relied on large-scale purchases of government bonds, while the ECB has relied on lending to financial institutions with repurchase agreements of collateral (repos). The LTRO has successfully mitigated funding needs and reduced interbank stress, and has had a significant impact on sovereign bond yields in southern euro-area countries, and increased southern banksâ?? government debt holdings, while northern banks have reduced sovereign exposure. The LTRO has had only weak effects on funding for households and non-financial corporations; credit dynamics remain weak particularly in the southern euro area. Underlying structural problems relating to banks, the macroeconomic adjustment and the euro areaâ??s governance need to be addressed before financial stability and economic growth can return. Monetary policy cannot fundamentally address these problems and is made less effective by economic/institutional heterogeneity. This Policy Contribution is based on a briefing paper prepared for the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committeeâ??s Monetary Dialogue of 25 April 2012. In the video below, Jean Pisani-Ferry and Guntram Wolff discuss the findings of this policy contribution. <iframe width="400" height="288" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rtSRmyNCd8U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:721&r=cwa |
| By: | Erik Olbrei (Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University); Stephen Howes (Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | On 9 September 2007, Australian Ministers and the Indonesian President announced a $100 million Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP). This would involve protecting 70,000 hectares of peat forests, re-flooding 200,000 hectares of dried peatland, and planting 100 million trees in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Since then, the ambitions of KFCP have been quietly but drastically scaled back. The area expected to be re-flooded by the project is now just over 10 per cent of the original target. And little progress has been made on the ground. Four years on, blocking of the large canals required for re-flooding has yet to commence, and only 50,000 trees have been planted against the initial target of 100 million. What has happened to what was labelled at its launch as 'a very real and very practical contribution', one which would yield 'immediate and tangible results'? We analyze KFCP both as an aid 'announceable' and as a REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) demonstration project, and reach two main conclusions. First, KFCP illustrates the damage that an emphasis on announcing new projects and a lack of attention to reporting on project progress can cause aid. Not enough has been done to publicly reposition KFCP as a much smaller, demonstration project. Second, slow progress made in implementing KFCP (and other REDD projects), when juxtaposed against the continued rapid rate of land conversion in Indonesia, suggests that the current approach is not working. There is no easy solution. Reducing deforestation in Indonesia is a difficult task because the drivers of deforestation – which range from weak governance to a strong industry lobby and the attractive economics of palm oil – are strong and difficult to tackle. If it is worth continuing, then the focus on pilots and processes which has characterized Australia's engagement in Indonesia's forestry sector in recent years should be re-oriented towards a more ambitious engagement. This should be supported by a vigorous high-level policy dialogue and at least the realistic prospect of a large amount of public funds. |
| Keywords: | deforestation, Indonesia, Australian aid, climate change, REDD |
| JEL: | F35 N55 Q23 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:devpol:1216&r=cwa |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Humayun; Shah, Mir Kalan; Tahir, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | Based on a second survey of villages and households one year after a pilot survey, we analyze the household-level recovery process from damage due to floods in Pakistan in 2010. With regard to initial recovery from flood damage, we find that households who had initially fewer assets and were hit by greater flood damage had more difficulty in recovering. After one year, the overall recovery had improved, but there remained substantial variation across households regarding the extent of recovery. Initially rich households were associated with faster recovery than other households at the time of the second survey, but the speed of recovery declined during the most recent year. The overall pattern appears to indicate that the village economy was turning towards the initial regime, where the income distribution was characterized by a large mass of households whose welfare and asset levels were around the income poverty line and a small middle class of households whose asset levels were sufficiently high to ensure a welfare level above the poverty line. |
| Keywords: | natural disaster, recovery, resilience, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O12 D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:27&r=cwa |
| By: | Peter Mulder (VU University Amsterdam); Henri L.F. de Groot (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes use of a new dataset to investigate energy intensity developments in the Netherlands over the period 1987-2005. The dataset allows for a comparison with 18 other OECD countries. A key feature of our analysis is that we combine a cross-country perspective with a high level of sectoral detail, covering 49 sectors. Particularly innovative is our evaluation of energy intensity developments in a wide range of Service sectors. We find that across sectors energy intensity levels in the Netherlands on average decreased only marginally, and increased in Services. This performance is in general worse than the OECD average, especially between 1987 and 1995. Changes in the sectoral composition of the economy play an important role in explaining aggregate trends. In the Manufacturing sector about half of the efficiency improvements were undone by a shift towards a more energy-intensive industry structure, while in the Service sector about one-third of the decrease in efficiency was undone by a shift towards a less energy-intensive sector structure. |
| Keywords: | Energy Intensity; Decomposition; Sectoral Analysis |
| JEL: | O13 O47 O5 Q43 |
| Date: | 2012–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20120049&r=cwa |
| By: | Filistrucchi, L.; Antonielli, M. (Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economics Center) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We analyse a newspaper market where two editors first choose the political position of their newspaper, then set cover prices and advertising tariffs. We build on the work of Gabszewicz, Laussel and Sonnac (2001, 2002), whose model of competition among newspaper publishers we take as the stage game of an infinitely repeated game, and investigate the incentives to collude and the properties of the collusive agreements in terms of welfare and pluralism. We analyse and compare two forms of collusion: in the first, publishers cooperatively select both prices and political position; in the second, publishers cooperatively select prices only. We show that collusion on prices reinforces the tendency towards a Pensée Unique discussed in Gabszewicz, Laussel and Sonnac (2001), while collusion on both prices and the political line would tend to mitigate it. Our findings question the rationale for Joint Operating Agreements among US newspapers, which allow publishers to cooperate in setting cover prices and advertising tariffs but not the editorial line. We also show that, whatever the form of collusion, incentives to collude first increase, then decrease as advertising revenues per reader increase. |
| Keywords: | collusion;newspapers;two-sided markets;indirect network effects;pluralism;spatial competition. |
| JEL: | L41 L82 D43 K21 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubtil:2012014&r=cwa |
| By: | Grignon, Michel (McMaster University); Owusu, Yaw (McMaster University); Sweetman, Arthur (McMaster University) |
| Abstract: | Health workforce shortages in developed countries are perceived to be central drivers of health professionals' international migration, one ramification being negative impacts on developing nations' healthcare delivery. After a descriptive international overview, selected economic issues are discussed for developed and developing countries. Health labour markets' unique characteristics imply great complexity in developed economies involving government intervention, licensure, regulation, and (quasi-)union activity. These features affect migrants' decisions, economic integration, and impacts on the receiving nations' health workforce and society. Developing countries sometimes educate citizens in expectation of emigration, while others pursue international treaties in attempts to manage migrant flows. |
| Keywords: | migration, health professionals, international medical graduates |
| JEL: | J61 I15 I18 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6517&r=cwa |
| By: | O'Reilly, Charles A., III (Stanford University); Main, Brian G. M. (University Edinburgh) |
| Abstract: | The central argument for increasing the number of women on corporate boards of directors has been the so-called "business case for diversity" which proposes that women and minorities add valuable new perspectives that result in enhanced corporate performance. Unfortunately, the empirical evidence for this claim is mixed, leading some researchers to suggest that women outsiders are appointed for symbolic rather than substantive reasons. Using a sample of more than 2,000 firms over the period 2001-2005, we examine the effects of women outside directors on firm performance and CEO compensation. We find no evidence that adding women outsiders to the board enhances corporate performance. We do find some evidence that male CEOs with higher levels of compensation are more likely to appoint women outsiders and that boards with more women outside members are more generous in paying the CEO. We interpret these results as consistent with the appointment of women outsiders for normative rather than profit-enhancing reasons. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:2098&r=cwa |