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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Khan, Haider A. |
| Abstract: | The Asian Development Bank(ADB) was founded in the mid-sixties. In addition to the Asian countries, it also has members from among the wealthy countries in North America, Europe and Oceania. Over the years, ADB has grown in size and prestige among the regional development banks. As Khan (2004, 2007 and 2012) argues, within a hybrid workable global financial architecture, regional development banks like the ADB can play a constructive role. |
| Keywords: | corporate governance; regional financial architecture |
| JEL: | R11 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39440&r=cwa |
| By: | Heng, Pek Koon (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | The paper argues that United States (US) participation in the East Asia Summit (EAS)—regional integration architecture led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—was motivated by four changes in the regional economic landscape: (i) the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and emergence of the ASEAN+3 grouping; (ii) the rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the leading regional growth engine and an active player in regional integration arrangements; (iii) the failure of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) arrangement to foster trade liberalization in the region; and (iv) the inability of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Development Round to lower global trade barriers significantly. |
| Keywords: | east asia summit; eas; asean; asian financial crisis; wto; doha development round |
| JEL: | F13 F15 F18 F55 F59 |
| Date: | 2012–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0367&r=cwa |
| By: | Anderson, Kym (Asian Development Bank Institute); Strutt, Anna (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| 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 the Republic of Korea and Taipei,China from the late 1960s has spread to the much more populous ASEAN region, the People’s Republic of China, and India. This paper examines how that growth and associated structural changes are altering agricultural markets in particular and thereby food security. |
| Keywords: | asia; asean; agricultural markets; agriculture; food security; world trade |
| JEL: | D58 F13 F15 F17 Q17 |
| Date: | 2012–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0368&r=cwa |
| By: | Kym Anderson |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, development economists had a dim view of the contribution that farmers made to modern economic growth, compared with manufacturers. Hence agricultural exports and manufacturing imports were often taxed. This view changed over time though, as first economists and then policy makers came to understand the high cost of an anti-agricultural, import-substituting industrialization strategy. This paper outlines how this change came about and the resulting economic policy reforms that occurred in developing countries from the 1980s. It then considers the kinds of distortions that remain within agricultural markets, their cost to the global economy, and alternatives to these price-distorting measures. |
| Keywords: | agricultural development economics, import-substituting industrialization, farm and food price distortions |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2012-11&r=cwa |
| By: | Debaere, Peter |
| Abstract: | Freshwater scarcity is bound to be a major challenge of the 21st century. Drawing on newly available data, I investigate to what extent countries make efficient use of the very uneven water resources on a global scale. In particular, I find that countries that are relatively water abundant tend to export more water-intensive products. This evidence supports the hypothesis that water is a source of comparative advantage. My findings also indicate that water contributes significantly less to the pattern of exports than the traditional production factors such as labor and physical capital. In light of climate change, this suggests relatively moderate disruptions to trade on a global scale due to changing precipitation patterns. My results do not provide consistent evidence that there is a difference in the extent to which water determines the pattern of trade between water-scarce and water-abundant countries. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Advantage; International Trade; Water |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9030&r=cwa |
| By: | Jaime de Melo (University of Geneva and FERDI) |
| Abstract: | The paper surveys the state of knowledge about the trade-related environmental consequences of a country’s development strategy along three channels: (i) direct trade-environment linkages (overexploitation of natural resources and trade-related transport costs);(ii) ‘virtual trade’ in emissions resulting from production activities; (iii) the product mix attributes of a ‘green-growth’ strategy (environmentally preferable products and goods for environmental management). Main conclusions are the following. Trade exacerbates over-exploitation of natural resources in weak institutional environments, but there is little evidence that differences in environmental policies across countries have led to significant ‘pollution havens’. Trade policies to ‘level the playing field’ would be ineffective and result in destructive conflicts in the WTO. Lack of progress at the Doha round suggests the need to modify the current system of global policy making. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Goods, Natural Resources, Green Growth, Trade and Climate |
| JEL: | F18 Q56 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2012.47&r=cwa |
| By: | Carlos Pestana Barros (Technical University of Lisbon); Luis A. Gil-Alana (University of Navarra); James E. Payne (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the degree of persistence, potential breaks and outliers of oil production for OPEC member countries within a fractional integration modelling framework using monthly data from January 1973 to October 2008. The results indicate there is mean reverting persistence in oil production with breaks identified in ten out of the fourteen countries examined. Thus, shocks affecting the structure of OPEC oil production will have persistent effects in the long run for all countries, and in some cases the effects are expected to be permanent. |
| Date: | 2011–01–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:una:unccee:wp0111&r=cwa |
| By: | Ashima Goyal (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Shruti Tripathi (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | In a period of great oil price volatility, the paper assesses the role of expected net demand compared to liquidity and leverage driven expansion in net long positions. We apply time series tests for mutual and across exchange causality, and lead-lag relationships, between crude oil spot and futures prices on two international and one Indian commodity exchange. We also search for short duration bubbles, and how they differ across exchanges. The results show expectations mediated through financial markets did not lead to persistent deviations from fundamentals. There is mutual Granger causality between spot and futures, and in the error correction model for mature exchanges, spot leads futures. Mature market exchanges lead in price discovery. Futures in these markets lead Indian (daily) futures-markets are integrated. But there is stronger evidence of short-term or collapsing bubbles in mature market futures compared to Indian, although mature markets have a higher share of hedging. Indian regulations such as position limits may have mitigated short duration bubbles. It follows leverage due to lax regulation may be responsible for excess volatility. Well-designed regulations can improve market functioning. |
| Keywords: | crude oil spot, futures; commodity exchanges; short duration bubbles; position limits |
| JEL: | G13 G15 G18 E44 C32 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2012-016&r=cwa |
| By: | Ghosh, Saibal |
| Abstract: | Using data on Indian banks for 1996-2007, the article examines the impact of foreign banks on the domestic banking sector. The analysis suggests that foreign bank penetration improves profitability and asset quality, although it dampens spreads. The results are robust to alternate measures of foreign bank presence. In addition, foreign banks appear to impact the maturity of credit portfolio of domestic banks. Finally, the results also support the fact that foreign banks typically charge lower interest rates as compared to domestic banks. |
| Keywords: | foreign banks; non-performing loans; credit allocation; interest rates; India |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39802&r=cwa |
| By: | Lambarraa, Fatima; Riener, Gerhard |
| Abstract: | Charitable giving is one of the major obligations Islam and a strong Muslim norm endorses giving to the needy, but discourages public displays of giving. This norm is puzzling in light of previous evidence, suggesting that making donations public often increases giving. We report the results two field experiments with 534 and 186 participants at Moroccan educational institutions (among them two religious schools) to assess the effects this moral prescription on actual giving levels in anonymous and public settings. Subjects who participated in a paid study were given the option to donate from their payment to a local orphanage, under treatments that varied the publicity of the donation and the salience of Islamic values. In the salient Islamic treatment, anonymity of donations significantly increased donation incidence from 59% to 77% percent as well as average donations for religious subjects from 8.90 to 13.00 Dh. This findings stand in stark contrast to most previous findings in the charitable giving literature and suggest to rethink fundraising strategies in Muslim populations. -- |
| Keywords: | Charitable giving,Islam,Social pressure,Priming,Religion,Norms,Field experiment |
| JEL: | H40 C93 D01 Z12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:59&r=cwa |
| By: | Hasan Tekguc (Mardin Artuklu Univeristy; Izmir University of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of gender on different job mobility patterns using an extensive household survey data from İzmir, third largest city in Turkey. The determinants of job-to-job and job-to-non-employment transitions are analyzed with the help of a multinomial logit estimation method. The results indicate that there is a distinction regarding the probability of job mobility patterns based on gender. It is more likely for women to be engaged in job-to-non-employment transition, whereas men tend to switch jobs more often. Although gender plays a significant role regarding job mobility patterns, traditionally imposed social constraints associated with childcare and household duties provide us with mixed results considering the behavior of women in the job market. On the other hand, having high-paid and secure jobs decreases the probability of both patterns of job mobility. |
| Keywords: | job-mobility, Turkey, gender |
| JEL: | J62 J16 J60 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrd:martwp:2012-01&r=cwa |
| By: | Jeanne Lafortune |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how a rise in a gender’s scarcity may impact educational investments using exogenous variation in the marriage market of second generation Americans in early 20th century. Theoretically, one may expect this to occur through two potential channels: a change in matching possibilities or in post-match bargaining. Empirically, I find that worse marriage market conditions spurs higher pre-marital investments: the effect for males is significant (0.2 years of education for one standard deviation in the sex ratio) while for females, it is only observed in highly endogamous groups. When faced with an exogenously larger number of males per females, males’ marriages appear to be less stable and more likely to involve natives and more educated spouses while women are less likely to work and, for those in high endogamous groups, marry more immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Pre-marital investments, Sex ratios, Marriage market |
| JEL: | J12 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:422&r=cwa |
| By: | Ritzen, Jo (IZA and Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Higher education is in the position to save Europe by rendering a substantial contribution to sustainable economic growth. For that purpose higher education must strengthen its innovative power in entrepreneurship education and by focusing research more on societal problems, while being better empowered and enabled by Governments. Universities must show leadership in resolving or channeling the major societal questions. More European competition between universities in education and research would be helpful. Universities can contribute to recreating hope and optimism through more innovation in the economy. |
| Keywords: | hope, attitudes, Europe, economic growth, higher education, labor market, innovation, competition |
| JEL: | D31 F55 I22 I23 I24 I25 I28 J24 O31 O47 O52 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp44&r=cwa |