|
on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | The report takes stock of the latest developments in the overall economic and social conditions in EECCA countries, market signals and environmental governance arrangements that may facilitate the shift towards green growth, and discusses possible barriers and measures to overcome them. At the same time, the report delineates the possible elements of a more coherent and effective reform agenda. In such a way the report aims to serve as background and a starting point for follow up development of green growth policies in EECCA. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envddd:2012/2-en&r=cwa |
| By: | Howes, Stephen (Asian Development Bank Institute); Wyrwoll, Paul (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Developing Asia is the driver of today’s emissions intensive global economy. As the principle source of future emissions, the region is critical to the task of global climate change mitigation. Reflecting this global reality and a range of related domestic issues, the governments of the People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam have embarked upon an ambitious policy agenda. This report reviews the present and future policy settings for climate change mitigation and green growth in Asia’s major emerging economies. |
| Keywords: | global climate change; developing asia; green growth; asia emerging economies |
| JEL: | O10 O44 Q40 Q42 Q53 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2012–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0369&r=cwa |
| By: | Ciaian, Pavel; Kancs, d'Artis; Rajcaniova, Miroslava |
| Keywords: | Near-VAR, Energy, Bioenergy, Land use, Crude oil, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, C14, C22, C51, D58, Q11, Q13, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126379&r=cwa |
| By: | Bekchanov, Maksud; Bhaduri, Anik; Lenzen, Manfred; Lamers, John P.A. |
| Abstract: | Increases in water demand due to population growth, industrial development and urbanization necessitate economically efficient use of water resources worldwide. This is particularly true in the dryland zones of the world relying on irrigated agriculture for economic development such as in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Due to ill-managed water resources and the dominance of high water intensive crops, water use efficiency in the region is very low. This challenges Uzbekistan to modernize its agricultural sectors and develop its industrial sectors guided by the principles of a "green economy", which are the basis for sustainable growth. Therefore, this study aims to prioritize economic sectors according to their sustainable growth potential. To this end, we employ a national inputoutput model to estimate economic backward and forward linkage measures and virtual water contents across the sectors. Our results indicate that developing agro-processing industries and the livestock sector rather than relying on the production of raw agricultural commodities such as cotton, wheat, and rice provides more sustainable economic development in Uzbekistan. However, to exploit these comparative advantages, the necessary market infrastructure and institutions as well as an increased control over wastewaters would need to be implemented. |
| Keywords: | water productivity, input-output model, virtual water content, backward linkage index, forward linkage index, Aral Sea Basin, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:126872&r=cwa |
| By: | ZhongXiang Zhang (Center for Energy Economics and Strategy Studies, Fudan University, China Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, Research Program, East-West Center) |
| Abstract: | China’s global quest for resources, in particular oil and natural gas, has received unprecedented worldwide attention and scrutiny. This is partly because of China’s own high-profile, active energy diplomacy, its national oil companies’ acquisitions in the key exporting regions of oil and natural gas and some debatable issues about the management and operation of these companies. But why the stakes are raised unnecessarily high is mainly because of the growing politicization of Chinese energy security as a result of misconceptions and misunderstandings of China’s quest for energy security both inside and outside China. This paper aims to de-politicize the debate on China’s global quest for energy resources and to put discussions on that issue into perspective. To that end, the paper first categorizes the main features of China’s energy mix and discusses why energy security in China equates to a large extent to oil security. The paper then pays special attention to misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding the hypothesized U.S.-led oil blockade against China; the Chinese policy banks and their oil and natural gas-based loans; and the role of Chinese investments in oil and gas fields overseas in discussions on China’s global quest for energy resources. Finally, the paper ends with some concluding remarks on a more constructive way forward. |
| Keywords: | Energy Security, Global Quest for Resources, U.S.-Led Oil Blockade Against China, Loan-for-Oil and -Gas Deals, Equity Oil Production, Chinese Policy Banks, Going-Out Policies, National Oil Companies |
| JEL: | O13 O53 Q34 Q41 Q43 Q48 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2012.48&r=cwa |
| By: | Coulibaly, Souleymane |
| Abstract: | The future development of the Tajik economy will be shaped by its comparative advantage on world markets. Exploiting comparative advantage enables an economy to reap gains from trade. Tajikistan's most important comparative advantage is its hydropower potential, which is far larger than the economy's domestic requirements. Yet, high capital costs of building hydropower plants and the unstable geopolitical situation in the transit region to reach South Asian export markets are constraining the realization of this potential. In the short term, the sector, which provides the greatest opportunity for Tajikistan to diversify its exports, appears to be agro-industry and, to a lesser extent, clothing. For both sectors, the main export market is likely to be the regional market. Tajikistan also has a comparative advantage in labor exports, which it has successfully exploited since the mid-2000s. To harness the full potential for labor exports will require improving the skills base of migrant workers and, in particular, their command of the Russian language. In the medium term, the paper argues that an export diversification strategy should tap the agglomeration economies generated by cities. More specifically, establishing Tajikistan's two leading cities, Dushanbe and Khujand, and their surroundings as enclave economies, linked to each other and to major regional markets through improved transport infrastructure so as to minimize production and transportation costs. The two enclave economies should provide the supporting services (finance, logistics, transport and storage) for private sector businesses. In the long term, regional cooperation on trade and transport facilitation could be pursued to reduce transport costs to attractive regional markets such as China, India, Russia and Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform |
| Date: | 2012–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6125&r=cwa |
| By: | Alexey Vedev (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Andrey Kosarev (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Keywords: | : business climate, economic growth, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0014&r=cwa |
| By: | Laurent Weill (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | The Arab Spring is expected to enhance the weak quality of institutions in MENA countries. We show in this paper how these changes can contribute to favor the expansion of Islamic finance by analyzing the role of quality of institutions on cost efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks. We measure cost efficiency of banks on a wide dataset of banks from 17 countries in which Islamic and conventional banks coexist. We find that Islamic banks have lower cost efficiency than conventional banks, which can hamper their expansion, as greater costs are associated with higher prices. However better quality of institutions reduces the gap in efficiency between Islamic and conventional banks. Moreover we find that, if Arab countries can increase the quality of institutions, Islamic banks will not suffer from a disadvantage in efficiency relative to conventional banks. Thus, our main conclusion is that the Arab Spring can favor the development of Islamic finance by improving the quality of institutions. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2012-08&r=cwa |
| By: | Qazi, Ahmer Qasim; Ahmed, Khalid; Mudassar, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | The study concentrates on the relationship between disaggregate energy consumption and industrial output in Pakistan by utilizing the Johansen Method of Cointegration. The results confirm the positive effect of disaggregate energy consumption on industrial output. Furthermore, bidirectional causality is identified in the case of oil consumption, whereas unidirectional causality running from electricity consumption to industrial output is observed. Moreover, unidirectional causality has been noticed from industrial output to coal consumption although there is no causality between gas consumption and industrial output. It is obvious that conservative energy policies could be harmful to the industrial production; therefore, the government has to develop innovative energy policies in order to meet the demand for energy. Additionally, the government has to pay serious attention to alternative energy sources such as solar and wind in order to boost the clean industrial growth. -- |
| Keywords: | disaggregate energy consumption,industrial output,Johansen cointegration test |
| JEL: | C32 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201229&r=cwa |
| By: | Lorenzo Forni (International Monetary Fund); Andrea Gerali (Bank of Italy); Alessandro Notarpietro; Massimiliano Pisani (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We assess the impact of oil shocks on euro-area macroeconomic variables by estimating a new-Keynesian small open economy model with Bayesian methods. Oil price is determined according to supply and demand conditions in the world oil market. We find that the impact of an increase in the price of oil depends upon the underlying sources of variation: when the driver of higher oil prices is an increase in the rest of the world's aggregate demand, both euro-area GDP and CPI inflation increase, whereas negative oil supply shocks and positive worldwide oil-specific demand shocks have stagflationary effects on the euro-area economy. Moreover, the increase in oil prices during the 2004-2008 period did not induce stagflationary effects on the euro-area economy because it was associated with positive aggregate demand shocks in the rest of the world. Similarly, a drop in world aggregate demand helps to explain the recent (2008) simultaneous drop in oil prices, euro-area GDP and inflation - particularly its fuel component. |
| Keywords: | oil shocks, DSGE modelling, open-economy macroeconomics, Bayesian inference, euro area |
| JEL: | C11 C51 E32 F41 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_873_12&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, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, H40, C93, D01, Z12, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126795&r=cwa |
| By: | Rosa, Franco; Vasciaveo, Michela |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyze the interactions among the prices of some agricultural commodities in Italy and United States by using the time series analysis method. After a general overview of the world and European agri-markets, the agricultural commodity and oil prices are investigated in order to analyze the cross-market interactions and test the hypothesis that the increased volatility in agricultural prices is caused by the exogenous crude oil prices. For the analysis the data about the commodity spot price series of wheat, corn, soybeans in US and Italy and crude oil price are collected. The results suggest: i) the presence of causal nexus with an exogenous influence of the oil price on the agricultural commodities for the US markets; ii) the evidence of cointegration between US and Italian commodities supporting the unique price condition; iii) no clear evidence of causality between oil and Italian agri-commodities, suggesting that the oil volatility is transmitted directly to the US market and indirectly to the Italian one. |
| Keywords: | time series analysis, agricultural commodity prices, volatility, causality, market integration., Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126738&r=cwa |
| By: | Abedullah; Ali, Haseeb; Kouser, Shahzad |
| Abstract: | Past studies highlight harmful effects of using pesticides and untreated wastewater on farmers’ health in agriculture. However, none of the studies explore these sources to determine the magnitude of deleterious health effects simultaneously. Vegetable growers in peri-urban areas of developing countries are facing severe problems of acute symptoms, not only because of intensive use of hazardous pesticides but also due to irrigation with untreated wastewater. The objective of this article is to quantify pesticide and untreated wastewater induced health symptoms among vegetable growers. A sample of 830 vegetable growers was selected by stratified random sampling from three major vegetable growing districts of Pakistan’s Punjab. A two stage estimation technique was employed to estimate unbiased health effects of vegetable growers after controlling for the endogeneity of pesticide use. The results demonstrate that both untreated wastewater and pesticide quantities are responsible for acute symptoms but comparison of their coefficients indicates that one litre of pesticide quantity is causing 3 times more symptoms than one hour of untreated wastewater use. Therefore, in order to minimize these negative health effects, the policy makers in under developing countries need to focus more on the reduction of hazardous pesticide use than untreated wastewater. Although, untreated wastewater is also significantly responsible of acute symptoms and therefore, it should not be ignored. |
| Keywords: | Pesticide, Wastewater, Acute symptoms, Endogeneity, Two stage estimation technique, Pakistan, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, I12, Q53, Q15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126598&r=cwa |
| By: | Azmat, Hayat |
| Abstract: | Drug use is one of the pressing issues facing humanity since time immemorial. Ground reality exhibits that there are linear association of drug use with violence, corruption, incest and numerous other immoral activities. Towards drugs addiction the policy approach of economists are based on confusion. As usual on one hand economists encourage the prohibition of drug use, while on the other hand another influential group of economists apply the philosophy of market economy. They advocate that all inebriating materials should be legalized. In the economic case towards drug use, one cannot draw a clear line whether prohibition or legalization will be the best policy approach. Christianity which is considered as one of the universal religion encourages the use of drugs through the rite of Eucharist, Sacred Meal, and Holy Communion. In contrast Islam prohibits every type of inebriating materials including alcohol as extremely harmful, which is confirmed by the finding of recent scientific research. In Islamic societies on one hand there is a strict prohibition on the production of drugs, while on the other hand through moral education they discourage the use of drugs. |
| Keywords: | Culture; Economics and Drugs Addictions |
| JEL: | I12 A13 I18 |
| Date: | 2012–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39988&r=cwa |
| By: | Kirdar, Murat G.; Dayioglu, Meltem; Koc, Ismet |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effects of the extension of compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years in Turkey—which substantially increased the grade completion rates not only during the new compulsory years but also during the high school years—on the equality of educational outcomes among various subpopulations. While longer compulsory schooling decreases the educational gap for most subgroups—in particular, the gender gap in rural areas, the ethnic gap among men in both urban and rural areas, and the ethnic gap among women in urban areas; at the same time, it increases the gender gap in urban areas as well as the ethnic gap among women in rural areas. For instance, the gap in the 8th grade completion rate between ethnic Turkish and Kurdish women in rural areas increases from 22.5 to 44.6 percentage points for the 1989 birth-cohort. These findings suggest that the differences among subpopulations in the change in schooling costs (both monetary and psychic) during the new compulsory schooling years, in the costs of non-compliance with the policy, in labor force participation, and in the drop-out behavior in earlier grades are the key underlying factors. |
| Keywords: | Compulsory Schooling; Gender; Ethnicity; Parental Schooling; Regression Discontinuity |
| JEL: | I21 J15 I28 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39995&r=cwa |
| By: | Govindara, Gurrappa Naidu; Suryaprakash, Satrasala; Sivaramane, Nilakantan; Sundaramoorthy, Chandrasekaran; Murali, Palanichamy |
| Abstract: | Till 1990’s the dominant edible oil produced and consumed in India were rapeseed-mustard and groundnut. The technological, economic and policy changes thereafter induced dynamics in consumer demand for food, including edible oils. The markov chain analysis for rural and urban Tamil Nadu state revealed that there is perceptible shift in edible oil consumption from traditional groundnut oil to Other Edible Oils (OEO). The possible reason for these shifts are increased urbanization (changing lifestyles), increased awareness, availability of oils in packet form in varied quantities even in remote rural areas, change in relative prices of oils, and increased income levels of rural and urban households. The secondary data published by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) did not clearly disintegrate the OEO's, hence the primary data was employed to determine the current status of edible oil consumption. The results revealed that presently, the dominant edible oil consumed is sunflower oil in both the rural and urban regions of Tamil Nadu. The groundnut oil, which was traditionally consumed by households, has been replaced by sunflower oil, implying the need for appropriate changes in the production front. |
| Keywords: | dynamics, consumption, edible oils, households, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126318&r=cwa |