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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Yap, Josef T. |
| Abstract: | Human capital development is important for economic growth. The main channel by which human capital can be enhanced is education, which is characterized by the issues of availability, access, and quality. Domestic reforms can be complemented by regional cooperation in education. The main mechanisms for regional cooperation are: People Exchange, Transnational Education, Information Exchange, Regulatory Reform, and Development Partnerships. The main argument in this paper is that the relevant mechanism for a particular economy--including what should be prioritized--depends on its position in the development ladder and history with regard to education attainment. The experience of Malaysia and the Philippines with regard to these mechanisms and education in general are compared with the expectation that other developing countries can draw lessons from this comparison. Malaysia`s high economic growth in the past three decades has enabled it to implement an effective program in transnational education while the Philippines has failed to exploit its competency in the English language largely due to its poor record with regard to infrastructure development. What would be useful for the Philippines is to harness regional cooperation in order to effect regulatory reform. In particular, accreditation of colleges and universities in the Philippines is still voluntary while Malaysia has opened its universities to international standards. A long-run goal would be a regional agreement on education standards somewhat akin to a Free Trade Agreement. Meanwhile, developing countries can benefit from existing institutions like the ASEAN Universities Network and the ASEAN Quality Assurance Network in order to improve the quality of their education systems. |
| Keywords: | education, human capital, regional cooperation, regulatory reform, transnational education, accreditation |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2012-15&r=cwa |
| By: | Ahmad, Mahyudin; Hall, Stephen G. |
| Abstract: | Utilizing neoclassical growth framework augmented with institutional controls and latest estimation technique in panel data analysis, this study identifies the crucial institutional qualities in East Asian and other developing countries and uncovers the channel of their effects toward economic growth. Furthermore, it extends the empirical evidence on the institutional importance toward economic growth in the developing countries particularly the East Asian countries which, apart from Rodrik (1997) and Campos and Nugent (1999), have somehow been left out from the empirical investigation. |
| Keywords: | Institutions; economic growth; Asian Financial Crisis; dynamic panel analysis; generalized methods of moments |
| JEL: | O43 E13 |
| Date: | 2012–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42158&r=cwa |
| By: | Llanto, Gilberto M. |
| Abstract: | <p>Recent literature indicates the significant role played by rural infrastructure in improving agricultural productivity in developing economies. While the availability and quality of rural infrastructure are never substitutes to efficient macroeconomic and agriculture-specific policies and the effective implementation of such policies, inadequate infrastructure can be a significant constraint to growth and productivity. Rural infrastructure, like other public investments, raises agricultural productivity, which in turn induces growth in the rural areas, bringing about higher agricultural wages and improved opportunities for nonfarm labor. The rise in agricultural productivity, which reduces food prices, benefits both urban and rural inhabitants who are net food buyers. Thus, aside from its growth benefits, agricultural productivity has significant poverty-reduction effects.</p><p>The paper`s overall empirical results indicate a significant link between rural infrastructure and agricultural productivity. Electricity and roads are significant determinants of agricultural productivity. This is consistent with a related finding on the constraints imposed on growth by inadequate infrastructure. Rural roads provide the important connectivity with growing markets adjacent to rural areas; they also lessen input costs and transaction costs of rural producers and consumers. Access to electricity creates various income-earning opportunities for rural households.</p> |
| Keywords: | agricultural productivity, poverty reduction, rural infrastructure, transaction costs, connectivity, regional convergence |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2012-12&r=cwa |
| By: | Erdogdu, Erkan |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1980s, electricity industry reforms have been initiated in more than half of the countries in the world. Among the primary targets of these reform schemes, there has been an increase in efficiency of the sector; and it is implicitly assumed that government support to energy technology R&D will progress in line with the reform process as the former is required to sustain improved efficiency in the middle and long run. The paper reviews the relation between reform process in electricity markets and government support to energy R&D. Using panel data from 27 countries covering the period from 1974 to 2008, this study aims at finding out to what extent the expected correlation between reform process and government support to energy R&D has in practice been materialized so far. The findings suggest that, contrary to expectations, the progress toward electricity market reform is associated with reduced government support to a variety of energy R&D activities, which threatens sustainable efficiency improvements in the power industry. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Regulation and Liberalization; Research and Development; Government Policy; Electricity Industry; Panel Data Modeling |
| JEL: | O38 L51 Q48 O13 O32 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42148&r=cwa |
| By: | Divarci A.; Boone Ch.; Van Witteloostuijn A. |
| Abstract: | Neo-institutionalist perspectives of globalization envision the homogenization of the world through global cultural, economic and political dynamics, while glocalization theory highlights how local cultures may adapt or resist global forces. Based on these theories, we analyze when, where, and why local hybrid organizational forms do emerge as a reaction to globalization. We suggest that the impact of globalization on the emergence and expansion of hybrid organizational forms, which reflect local adaptations of global forms, depend on three types of moderators: the experience of the local community with alternative organizational forms, the motivation of the local community to adapt, and, finally, the fit between global and local ideas, values and practices. We test our hypotheses with data of the high school education system in Turkey from 1990 to 2007, a period in which Turkey experienced a growing impact of globalization. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2012022&r=cwa |
| By: | John Micklewright (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London. 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK.) |
| Abstract: | What are the impacts on household incomes of the major economic downturn that occurred in almost all OECD countries starting in late 2007? This paper is a condensed version of a public lecture given at the University of Melbourne in honour of R. I. Downing. It draws on a study of 21 rich countries using data from national accounts, household surveys, and other sources. The headline findings are that for most countries, there was little change in household income distributions in the two years following the downturn (2007–9), but in the subsequent five to ten years, much greater change is likely, as a result of governments' fiscal consolidation and the slow pace of economic recovery. The social safety nets developed since the Great Depression therefore played an important cushioning role in the short term. |
| Keywords: | Great Recession, income distribution, living standards, households. |
| JEL: | D31 E24 E62 H50 H60 I32 |
| Date: | 2012–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1207&r=cwa |
| By: | Atif, Syed Muhammad; Endres, James; Macdonald, James |
| Abstract: | Broadband infrastructure facilitates the generation and distribution of decentralised information and ideas in a knowledge economy comprising of markets that rely on information as an input. This paper analyses the effect of broadband penetration on output per capita by estimating a static fixed effects model and a basic linear dynamic model using an annual panel of 31 OECD countries over a period from 1998 to 2010. The results suggest that broadband penetration has had a positive impact on economic growth, and a 10 percent increase in the growth of broadband penetration will raise economic growth per employee by approximately 0.035 percentage points. The conclusion adds further weight to calls for Governments to adopt policies that accelerate broadband penetration and promote investment in broadband infrastructure. -- |
| Keywords: | Endogenous Growth,Broadband,OECD |
| JEL: | O11 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:65419&r=cwa |
| By: | Nicola Banks |
| Abstract: | Abstract Bustees are places where physical, social, economic and political vulnerabilities collide, creating a multi-layered blanket of vulnerability for their residents. Although income is central to day-to-day survival in an urban environment in which cash income is needed to meet a household’s basic needs, work options are limited to low-paid and irregular work, primarily dependent on physical labour. This forces households to rely upon loans and labour mobilisation strategies to get by. Unsanitary, poorly serviced, and densely populated environments – frequently situated in environmentally hazardous areas – mean ill health is both endemic and chronic, playing a routine and devastating role in the lives of the urban poor. The repercussions of resource scarcity at the household level are compounded by the social and political exclusion of the poor from urban governance structures and processes. Amidst a lack of formal institutional support, and in the absence of formal rights and entitlements, the process of facilitating and maintaining patron–client relationships is a central coping strategy for the urban poor. It is a means of trying to manage uncertainty and improve their access to resources. For the majority, however, these strategies are limited to helping households to cope, rather than advancing their interests. Informal systems of governance at the bustee level reproduce and exacerbate existing inequalities, with access to power, information, resources, employment and other lucrative income-generating opportunities limited to a close circle of wellconnected bustee households. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:17812&r=cwa |
| By: | Masood, Sarwar; Muhammad, Waqas; Amir , Aslam |
| Abstract: | This paper has estimated multidimensional poverty for four provinces of Pakistan using PSLM dataset for years 2005-06 by applying Alkire and Foster (2007) methodology. Nine dimensions were selected for this study: Housing, Electricity, Water, Asset, Sanitation, Education, Expenditure, Empowerment and Land. Results found that overall Balochistan shows the worst picture, followed by NWFP, Sindh and Punjab. In urban areas of different provinces Balochistan is more multidimensionally poor followed by NWFP, Sindh and Punjab. As far as the rural area is concerned Balochistan is multidimensionally poor followed by Sindh, NWFP and then Punjab. Result shows that the most pervasive level of poverty exists in rural areas of different provinces. The analysis of contribution of each dimension in multidimensional poverty at different cutoffs showed that the major contributors are, land, empowerment, housing, assets and sanitation. This study also presents an empirical evidence of significant lack of overlap in the identification by the monetary and multidimensional approach in case of Pakistan. |
| Keywords: | Pakistan; Multidimensional Poverty; Provincial Analysis |
| JEL: | P36 D6 I3 I32 |
| Date: | 2012–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42119&r=cwa |
| By: | Alwyn Young |
| Abstract: | Measures of real consumption based upon the ownership of durable goods, the quality of housing, the health and mortality of children, the education of youth and the allocation of female time in the household indicate that sub-Saharan living standards have, for the past two decades, been growing about 3.4 to 3.7 percent per annum, i.e. three and a half to four times the rate indicated in international data sets. |
| JEL: | O47 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18490&r=cwa |
| By: | Weber, Anja Michaela |
| Keywords: | Agri-Environmental Schemes, Transaction Costs, CAP, Hesse, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi12:137170&r=cwa |
| By: | Talaei, A.; Begg, K.; Jamasb, T. |
| Abstract: | The UK government has set the ambitious targets of 20 and 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and 2050 respectively. The transport sector accounts for 21% of total CO2 emissions in the UK and can, therefore, be important for achieving the emissions reduction targets. Within the transport sector, electric vehicles (EV) are considered as one of the important mitigation options. However the effect of EVs on emissions and the electricity sector is subject to debate. We use scenario analysis to investigate the emission reduction potential of EVs and their interaction with electricity sector. We show that managing the charging patterns could reduce adverse effects of EVs on the electricity sector while the number of EVs remains the factor affecting the mitigation potential. Our findings indicate that in the UK, by 2030, EVs could result in up to 32% emissions reduction compared to advanced internal combustion engines. We also found that the need for new electricity generation and distribution capacity to meet the conventional electricity demand and demand from EVs could be reduced by up to 12% from 70.6 to 61.8 GW if the EV’s electricity demand is managed. |
| Keywords: | Electric Vehicles, CO2 Emissions, Electricity Demand Management |
| Date: | 2012–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1246&r=cwa |
| By: | Rehan, Azam; Danish, Muhammad; Suleman, Akbar |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study was to substantiate the consumption-styles of adolescents as customer. The study was executed in Karachi, Pakistan by applying consumption style inventory scale. The data covered of 262 respondents who are young, urban and educated mostly students, which belong to the different universities in Karachi. The data was collected through structured and self administered questionnaire. To test objective Independent sample t test was used. The results show that young female consumers are ore perfectionists, brand and fashion consciousness, and recreational, impulsive and confused consumers than male. Similarly, female are more shopping influenced and reliance on media than young male consumers. This research provides understanding about adolescents’ decision making style of consumers in Karachi which would enable organizations to make more appropriate strategies to cater youth consumers market. |
| Keywords: | Consumption Style; Gender; Ind. Sample T-Test; Young Adults |
| JEL: | M3 |
| Date: | 2012–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42067&r=cwa |
| By: | Sergio Beraldo (Department of Theories and Methods of Social and Human Sciences, University of Napoli "Federico II", Italy); Raul Caruso (Institute of Economic Policy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy); Gilberto Turati (Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper tests the relationship between time preferences and crime rates as posited by Davis (1988), whose theoretical analysis suggests that individuals’ attitude towards the future significantly affect their propensity to commit crime. Our empirical analysis is based on a panel of Italian regions for the period 2002-2007. Various proxies for time preferences are considered: the consumer credit share out of the total amount of loans to households, the share of obese individuals out of the total population, and the rate of marriages out of the total population. In line with the theoretical prediction, our empirical analysis confirms that where people are more impatient and discount the future more heavily, property and violent crimes are higher. Results are robust to a number of alternative specifications including covariates drawn from the literature on the determinants of crime. |
| Keywords: | Time Preferences, Property Crime, Violent Crime, Italian Regions, Panel data |
| JEL: | D99 K42 Z13 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tur:wpapnw:013&r=cwa |
| By: | Islahi, Abdul Azim |
| Abstract: | This is a critical evaluation of the book entitled The Long Divergence:How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East by Timur Kuran. |
| Keywords: | Economic History of Middle East; Ottoman Economic History; Decadence of Muslim East; Islamic law |
| JEL: | N85 O1 P00 K00 P51 N80 B00 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42146&r=cwa |