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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Liyanage Devangi H. Perera; Grace H.Y. Lee |
| Abstract: | While economic growth has been cited as one of the main factors behind the reduction in absolute poverty, the persisting problem of poverty in developing countries has raised doubts about the efficacy of economic growth in its reduction. Recent evidence revealed that growth in Asia has been accompanied by an increase in relative poverty, or income inequality. High income inequality can slow the rate of poverty reduction, and create social unrest and anxiety. The quality of institutions may also influence the extent to which economic growth reduces poverty. This study examines the effects of economic growth and institutional quality on poverty and income inequality in nine developing countries of Asia for the period 1985-2009. The System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation method is employed to estimate the equations. While economic growth does not appear to have an effect on income inequality, the results confirm that such growth leads to poverty reduction. Although improvements in government stability and law and order are found to reduce poverty, improvements in the level of corruption, democratic accountability, and bureaucratic quality appear to increase poverty levels. Similarly, the results also show that improvements in corruption, democratic accountability, and bureaucratic quality are associated with a worsening of the income distribution. This study recommends that measures taken to improve the level of institutional quality in developing countries of East and South Asia should address the problems of poverty and income distribution, while adopting policies to support informal sector workers who may be affected by institutional reform. |
| Keywords: | income inequality, poverty, growth, institution quality |
| JEL: | D3 I3 O1 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-37&r=cwa |
| By: | Renuka Sane (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Susan Thomas (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | In December 2010, the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh passed a law that severely restricted the operations of micro-finance institutions and brought the micro-finance industry to an abrupt halt. We measure the impact of micro-credit withdrawal in this unique natural experiment and find that average household expenditure dropped by 19 percent relative to a control group after the ban. The largest decrease was observed in expenditure on food. There is some evidence of higher volatility in consumption after the ban. All households were affected and not just the borrower households, which may suggest general equilibrium effects. |
| Keywords: | Consumption smoothing, credit, household finance, micro-finance ban, natural experiment |
| JEL: | D14 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2013-013&r=cwa |
| By: | T. V. Ramana; M. Satyanarayana; V.V. Ratnaji Rao Chowdary |
| Abstract: | Career planning and development of the students depends on their physical/mental, family, school, relationship and social factors. Pessimistic sense of these factors lead to stress in various forms like emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral reaction to any perceived demands or threats. Keeping this in mind, the present study is tried to find out the stress factors and to give suitable suggestions. It is observed that the students are facing stress at the campus regarding study hours, examinations, campus environment, relationship with others, home sick, monetary, body and mind related feelings etc. tress factors are examined with X2 test and likert’ scaling method. It is found that students who have Counseling from their teachers and the parents are felt relief from the stress. Various methods are suggested to avoid the stress. It can be said that the persons who having self control, self esteem and Yoga can avoid stress. Key words: Stress Management, Career Planning and Development, Counseling, Self Control, Yoga/Meditation |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2013-6-10&r=cwa |
| By: | Kossov, Vladimir; Kossova, Elena |
| Abstract: | The gasoline price transform into the social phenomenon by its role in economy. For the state, it is a source of budget revenue through indirect taxes, which in majority of countries make up most of the price. The upper bound of a gasoline price is limited by risk of mass protests. For the citizens a gasoline price affects the cost of living. The lower bound of this price is limited to possibility of the authorities to subsidize it. Balances of interests of the authorities and citizens are estimated for the gasoline prices deviating from the normal. Normal gasoline prices are offered as standard, with respect to which of the actual prices can distinguish high and low. We propose an econometric model for the estimation of the normal price. The analysis of the results of estimation is presented for 97 countries and the data for 2000, 2004 and 2006. Showing the problems emerging in Russia |
| Keywords: | gasoline price; normal price; budget revenue; oil rent; benefits and loses; mass protests |
| JEL: | C2 C23 D4 D49 E31 H2 H21 |
| Date: | 2013–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48720&r=cwa |
| By: | Ahmet Benlialper (Department of Economics, METU); Hasan Cömert (Department of Economics, METU) |
| Abstract: | Especially, after the 2000s, many developing countries let exchange rates float and began implementing inflation targeting regimes based on mainly manipulation of expectations and aggregate demand. However, most developing countries implementing inflation targeting regimes experienced considerable appreciation trends in their currencies. Might have exchange rates been utilized as implicit tools even under inflation targeting regimes in developing countries? To answer this question and investigate the determinants of inflation under an inflation targeting regime, as a case study, this paper analyzes the Turkish experience with the inflation targeting regime between 2002 and 2008. There are two main findings of this paper. First, the evidence from a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model suggests that the main determinants of inflation in Turkey during this period are supply side factors such as international commodity prices and the variation in exchange rate rather than demand side factors. Since the Turkish lira (TL) was considerably over-appreciated during this period, it is apparent that the Turkish Central Bank benefited from the appreciation of the TL in its fight against inflation during this period. Second, our findings suggest that the appreciation of the TL is related to the deliberate asymmetric policy stance of the Bank with respect to the exchange rate. Both the econometric analysis from a VAR model and descriptive statistics indicate that appreciation of the Turkish lira was tolerated during the period under investigation whereas depreciation was responded aggressively by the Bank. We call this policy stance under the inflation targeting regimes as “implicit asymmetric exchange rate peg”. The Turkish experience indicates that, as opposed to rhetoric of central banks in developing countries, inflation targeting developing countries may have an asymeyric stance toward exchange rates and favour appreciation of their currencies to hit their inflation targets. In this sense, IT seems to contribute to the ignorance of dangers regarding to over-appreciation of currencies in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Inflation Targeting, Central Banking, Developing Countries, Exchange Rates |
| JEL: | E52 E58 E31 F31 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:1308&r=cwa |
| By: | Jozef Barunik; Evzen Kocenda; Lukas Vacha |
| Abstract: | We analyze the dynamics of the prices of gold, oil, and stocks over 26 years (1987-2012) using both intra-day and daily data and employing a variety of methodologies including a novel time-frequency approach. We account for structural breaks and show radical change in correlations between assets after the 2007-2008 crisis in terms of time-frequency behavior. No strong evidence for a specific asset leading any other one emerges and the assets under research do not share the long-term equilibrium relationship. Strong implication is that after the structural change gold, oil, and stocks cannot be used together for risk diversification. |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1308.0210&r=cwa |
| By: | Kalpana Satija; Mohan Patel; Keya Patel |
| Abstract: | This paper examines Taluka disparities in education in Kheda district in Gujarat. We examined total 10 Talukas educational disparities in the district. In comparison to other Talukas Balasinor and Mahudha is better performer in primary educational level, while other districts are presenting their factor score at the variable level is little bit differ and interrelated each other. The study analyzed Pearson correlation, residual correlation matrix, coefficient, Eigen Factors, Factor score, of all variable by multiple factor analysis. The paper concludes that all primary educational variables are positively correlated and presenting enhanced volume of factor score (Weight) of each other. Key words: Primary Educational Indicators, Econometric analysis, multiple factor analysis. |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2013-6-6&r=cwa |
| By: | Rehman Sobhan |
| Abstract: | The issue of introducing innovation in financing came into discussion at Monterrey in response to the recurring failure of most developed countries to live up to their commitment to enhance flows of official development assistance (ODA) to the developing countries in order to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper argues that attempts to identify such innovative sources have been neither innovative nor effective in meeting the needs of the developing countries. The paper indicates that in most countries in Asia domestic savings, foreign direct investment (FDI) and migrant remittances have, in recent years, overtaken ODA as the principal source of development finance. Any search for both innovation and additionality in development finance should accordingly focus on making more effective use of Asia’s growing external capital surpluses and inflows of migrant remittances in enhancing the region’s development capacity. |
| Keywords: | Innovative development finance, ODA, Monterrey Consensus, FDI, remittances |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdb:opaper:102&r=cwa |
| By: | Bharti Rathore |
| Abstract: | Television is a very popular and powerful medium. Being an audio visual medium it can move its audience to tears and to action. Use of soothing melodious music and attractive pictures make this medium very powerful but the sad reality is that some of the programmes are full of violence and sex and poison the soft, impressionable minds of teenagers. Besides that too much T.V. watching makes the youngsters lazy and inactive. Lack of physical activity gives birth to so many couch potatoes which makes us think whether television is a boon or bane. If T.V. programmes are to be used for educational purposes they should be planned in such a way that they support learning. If children watch good educational programs on TV, they can learn many new things very easily. They can learn about places they have never been to and animals they have never seen and they could learn about new scientific discoveries. Television can also stimulate thinking and make the people broad minded. TV can be a medium for education but it is important to choose the right TV programmes according to the age of the child. This way he/she can learn useful things. The right programmes can help him/her develop his/her imagination. Teachers imparting knowledge are best judge of the utility of television so the researcher has taken the views of the teachers about effect of television on students’ learning. Key words: Television, learning, role of television |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2013-6-7&r=cwa |
| By: | Author-Name: Jakob B Madsen; James B. Ang |
| Abstract: | The spectacular growth rates in the Asian miracle economies (AMEs) are often attributed to factor accumulation whilst ignoring the forces that have been responsible for it. Using data for six AMEs over the period from 1953 to 2009, this paper extends the conventional growth accounting exercise by allowing for the population growth drag and endogeneity of capital deepening, savings, labor force participation and schooling. It is shown that growth has been predominantly a result of the demographic transition and productivity growth, where the latter has been driven by R&D, knowledge spillovers through imports and R&D absorptive capacity. |
| Keywords: | Asian growth miracle; endogenous factor accumulation. |
| JEL: | O30 O40 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-23&r=cwa |
| By: | Rodolfo E. Manuelli; Ananth Seshadri |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence suggests that there is a long lag between the time a new technology is introduced and the time at which it is widely adopted. The conventional wisdom is that this fact is inconsistent with the predictions of the frictionless neoclassical model. In this paper we study the specific case of the diffusion of the tractor in American agriculture between 1910 and 1960. There are three important driving forces: changes in quality, wage rates and prices of substitutes such as horses and mules. We demonstrate that once these exogenous forces are taken into account, the standard neoclassical model can account for ”slow” pattern of adoption of tractors that took more than 50 years. |
| Keywords: | Technology - Economic aspects |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2013-022&r=cwa |
| By: | Uschi Backes-Gellner (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Stephan Veen (Disney Research Zurich) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how age diversity within a companyÕs workforce affects company productivity. It introduces a theoretical framework that helps to integrate results from a broad disciplinary spectrum of ageing and diversity research to derive empirically testable hypotheses on the effects of age diversity on company productivity. It argues that first the balance between costs and benefits of diversity determines the effect of age diversity on company productivity and that second the type of task performed acts as a moderator. To test these hypotheses, it uses a large-scale employer-employee panel data set (the LIAB.) Results show that increasing age diversity has a positive effect on company productivity if and only if a company engages in creative rather than routine tasks. |
| Keywords: | Age Diversity, Company Performance, Productivity in Innovative Industries, Aging Societies |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0093&r=cwa |
| By: | Michael McAleer; Chia-Lin Chang; Ju-Ting Tang (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | With the advent of globalization, economic and financial interactions among countries have become widespread. Given technological advancements, the factors of production can no longer be considered to be just labor and capital. In the pursuit of economic growth, every country has sensibly invested in international cooperation, learning, innovation, technology diffusion and knowledge. In this paper, we use a panel data set of 40 countries from 1981 to 2008 and a negative binomial model, using a novel set of cross-border patents and joint patents as proxy variables for technology diffusion, in order to investigate such diffusion. The empirical results suggest that, if it is desired to shift from foreign to domestic technology, it is necessary to increase expenditure on R&D for business enterprises and higher education, exports and technology. If the focus is on increasing bilateral technology diffusion, it is necessary to increase expenditure on R&D for higher education and technology. |
| Keywords: | International Technology Diffusion, Exports, Imports, Joint Patent, Cross-border Patent, R&D, Negative Binomial Panel Data |
| JEL: | F14 F21 O30 O57 |
| Date: | 2013–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:13/24&r=cwa |
| By: | Brian C. Cadena; Brian K. Kovak |
| Abstract: | This paper demonstrates that low-skilled Mexican-born immigrants' location choices in the U.S. respond strongly to changes in local labor demand, and that this geographic elasticity helps equalize spatial differences in labor market outcomes for low-skilled native workers, who are much less responsive. We leverage the wage rigidity that occurred during Great Recession to identify the severity of local downturns, and our results confirm the standard finding that high-skilled populations are quite geographically responsive to employment opportunities while low-skilled populations are much less so. However, low-skilled immigrants, primarily those from Mexico, respond even more strongly than high-skilled native-born workers. These results are robust to a wide variety of controls, a pre-recession falsification test, and two instrumental variables strategies. A novel empirical test reveals that natives living in cities with a substantial Mexican-born population are insulated from the effects of local labor demand shocks compared to those in cities with few Mexicans. The reallocation of the Mexican-born workforce among these cities reduced the incidence of local demand shocks on low-skilled natives' employment outcomes by more than 40 percent. |
| JEL: | F22 J21 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19272&r=cwa |
| By: | Sbia, Rashid; Shahbaz, Muhammad; Hamdi, Helmi |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment, clean energy, trade openness, carbon emissions and economic growth in case of UAE covering the period of 1975Q1-2011Q4. We have tested the unit properties of variables in the presence of structural breaks. The ARDL bounds testing approach is applied to examine the cointegration by accommodating structural breaks stemming in the series. The VECM Granger causality approach is also applied to investigate the causal relationship between the variables. Our empirical findings confirm the existence of cointegration between the series. We find that foreign direct investment, trade openness and carbon emissions decline energy demand. Economic growth and clean energy has positive impact on energy consumption. |
| Keywords: | Clean Energy, FDI, Emissions, Trade, Income |
| JEL: | E1 |
| Date: | 2013–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48675&r=cwa |
| By: | Cong Wang |
| Abstract: | Motivated by theoretical arguments that assert a positive impact of R&D on institutions, this paper aims to provide some empirical analysis on the relationship between these two variables. In particular this paper has found a significant direct effect of institutions on R&D intensity. Countries with better institutions qualities as captured by the World Banks’ Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) tend to attract more scientists and engineers into the research field and to spend more on R&D as well. This paper has also found evidence that the effect of institutions varies in different economies characterized by different levels of financial development and human capital accumulation, but stays relatively unchanged across countries with different levels of trade openness. |
| Keywords: | Institutions, innovative activity, economic growth |
| JEL: | F1 N7 O1 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2013-35&r=cwa |
| By: | Bertschek, Irene; Hogrefe, Jan; Rasel, Fabienne |
| Abstract: | Using a unique German firm-level data set, we provide empirical evidence for a productivity sorting along two dimensions: international activity and technology choice. We consider domestic and exporting firms and measure technology choice by firms' actual use of advanced information technology (IT). For manufacturing firms, the observed sorting pattern is consistent with recent theories of heterogeneous firms and technology choice: Only the relatively more productive ones among internationally active firms are also highly technology intensive. For service sector firms we find similar evidence, yet the results seem to depend on the trade cost of certain services. In general, recent theoretical advances regarding trade and technology adoption thus seem to better fit the manufacturing sector. -- |
| Keywords: | exports,productivity,sorting,information technology,firm-level data |
| JEL: | F14 F23 L23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13042&r=cwa |
| By: | Lawrence J. Christiano; Martin S. Eichenbaum; Mathias Trabandt |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate a general equilibrium model that accounts for key business cycle properties of macroeconomic aggregates, including labor market variables. In sharp contrast to leading New Keynesian models, wages are not subject to exogenous nominal rigidities. Instead we derive wage inertia from our specification of how firms and workers interact when negotiating wages. Our model outperforms the standard Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model both statistically and in terms of the plausibility of the estimated structural parameter values. Our model also outperforms an estimated sticky wage model. |
| JEL: | E2 E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19265&r=cwa |