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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Reardon, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Myanmar faces a set of well-known challenges and problems, both in the overall economy and in rural areas in general and in agriculture. But Myanmar is also in one of the most blessed situations on the planet to expect rapid growth and poverty alleviation: it is next to (literally surrounded by) the fastest growing and largest food markets in the entire world, in China, India, Southeast Asia, and eventually Bangladesh, to name a few; the trade opportunities these represent are with only few historical parallels. Myanmar is in the best position to fuel rural development from regional trade, on the planet. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:162437&r=cwa |
| By: | Shinozaki, Shigehiro (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | Asia’s bank-centered financial systems require the reduced supply-demand gap in lending as a core policy pillar to improve small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) access to finance. Meanwhile, the diversification of financing modalities beyond conventional bank lending is another key policy pillar to better serve various financing needs of SMEs and expand their financial accessibility. The rapid growth of emerging Asia is generating SMEs’ long-term funding needs and requires robust capital markets as an alternative channel for providing their growth capital. The G20 Leaders also addressed the importance of promoting long-term financing for SMEs in the context of investment. The development of capital markets that SMEs can tap is one of the policy challenges under the pillar of diversified financing modalities, which requires more sophisticated and innovative institutional arrangements in order to respond effectively to their real needs. This paper explores the potential of capital market financing for SMEs in emerging Asia, reviewing the challenges of existing SME capital markets and assessing demands on SMEs, regulators, policy makers, market organizes, securities firms, and investors for developing an SME market, based on the findings from intensive surveys. Given the responses to the national growth strategies and the cross-cutting issues of global policy agendas such as climate change, energy efficiency, and green finance, the potential for developing the exercise equity market and the social capital market in Asia is also explored in this paper. |
| Keywords: | Financial inclusion; innovative financing; long-term financing; SME capital markets; SME finance |
| JEL: | F36 G28 G29 |
| Date: | 2014–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbrei:0121&r=cwa |
| By: | Liudmila Zasimova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Maria Sheluntcova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Rising life expectancy and an aging population highlight the need for appropriate government policies to transform of the role of the elderly from a dependent part of the population to an economically active one. This paper aims to measure active aging of the elderly in Russia. We review definitions of active aging and base our research on the concept of the World Health Organization. Active aging is characterized by three components: health, participation, and security. We select indicators for these components and aggregate them into three sub-indexes which become the outcome index of active aging. As a result, the sample is divided into two groups of elderly people in Russia, “actively aging” and “inactively aging”. The empirical research is based on the Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE). Our findings show that 70% of the elderly population are at the intersection of “health” and “participation in social activities”; 61,2% between “health” and “security”; 73,5% between “security” and “participation in social activities”. Overall, 58,5% of Russian senior citizens meet all three criteria of active aging, thus creating a great challenge for policy response |
| Keywords: | active aging, public policy, the elderly, health, participation, security, Russia |
| JEL: | J14 J18 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:11/pa/2014&r=cwa |
| By: | Heijke J.A.M.; Ioakimidis M. (ROA) |
| Abstract: | This study investigated whether earnings inequality is associated with social capital as measured by active membership in organizations and interpersonal trust. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis showed that greater earnings inequality was associated with lower values on both measures of social capital in 14 European countries. While causality in either direction cannot be inferred from this result, it does suggest the possibility that earnings inequality negatively affects social capital. To test this idea further, we also tentatively examined whether other societal indicators related to earnings inequality are associated with social capital. These alternative indicatorsthe countrys percentage of urban residents, percentage of residents with tertiary education, and government spending as a percentage of GDPdid not show stronger relationships with social capital than did earnings inequality. Further analysis of the data by excluding specific groups of countries indicated little association between earnings inequality and measures of social capital. These results suggested that country-specific economic or cultural values play a large role in how earnings inequality and social capital are related. |
| Keywords: | Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification; |
| JEL: | J31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umarot:2013003&r=cwa |
| By: | Sebastian Eckardt (World Bank); Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (International Center for Public Policy. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University); Andrey Timofeev (International Center for Public Policy. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Belarus is the last command economy left standing in Europe. Because it still has an option of a gradual transition ("Chinese style'"), the study of Belarus’ case can present insights on the counterfactual to the "shock therapy" approach undertaken by the rest of the Central and Eastern European countries. However, the viability of the existing system hinges on its ability to weather short-term external economic shocks and to adjust to a significant list of medium term structural challenges. Now that more than half of Belarus’ consolidated public expenditures, excluding social security, takes place at the subnational levels of government, its ability to adjust largely hinges on the incentives that the system of intergovernmental relations presents to subnational officials. Belarus' experience with the recent recurrent macro-economic turmoil suggests that the incentives embedded in the system of intergovernmental fiscal transfers might hinder its ability to undergo fiscal adjustment and consolidation. Thus, since 2008, Belarus underwent one of the largest contractions in the size of government in the region, with public expenditures contracting by 12.9 percentage points of GDP and finally dropping to 37 percent of GDP at the end of 2011 (Figure 1). |
| Date: | 2014–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1401&r=cwa |
| By: | Prashant Loyalka (Stanford University.); Andrey Zakharov (National Research University Higher School of Economics. International Laboratory for Educational Policy Research. Deputy Head.) |
| Abstract: | High school students, across the world, prepare for college by participating in shadow education. Despite substantial investments in shadow education, however, little is known about whether it helps students prepare for college. The goal of our study is to provide rigorous evidence about the causal impacts of participating in shadow education on college preparation. We analyze unique data from Russia using a cross-subject student fixed effects model. We find that participating in shadow education positively impacts high-achieving students but not low-achieving students. Participating in shadow education further does not lead students to substitute time away from other out-of-school studies. Instead, the results suggest that low-achieving students participate in low-quality shadow education, which, in turn, contributes to inequality in college access |
| Keywords: | shadow education, private tutoring, college access, inequality, causal methods |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:15edu2014&r=cwa |
| By: | Richter, Kaspar; Witkowski, Bartosz |
| Abstract: | In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the link from growth to jobs was tenuous in the first decade of the transition, giving rise to the notion of jobless growth. Yet, European countries suffered large job losses during the recent recession, suggesting that jobs and growth are closely entwined. This study takes a new look at this issue. It provides a cross-country analysis of the employment intensity of growth over the last decade and a half in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which includes the 11 Central and Eastern European countries that joined the EU since 2004, the countries of former Yugoslavia, the Countries of Independent States and Turkey. The authors compare these findings with other regions in the world. The paper shows that the responsiveness of employment to output increased in the second decade of the transition. It also finds that in some instances employment growth increases with reforms of labor and product markets, stronger macroeconomic policy frameworks, better governance, and more economic integration and diversification. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Markets and Market Access,Achieving Shared Growth |
| Date: | 2014–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6759&r=cwa |
| By: | Horbach, Jens |
| Abstract: | The theoretical and empirical innovation literature stresses the importance of regional fac-tors and locational conditions for location choice of firms and their innovation success. Innovation activities are not equally distributed in space because agglomeration effects and specific regional infrastructures may promote innovation success. Concerning environmentally oriented innovations, the so-called eco-innovations, there is a widespread empirical literature analyzing their determinants but - because of the lack of adequate data - the inclusion of regional and locational factors has been neglected. This paper tries to close this gap by using the establishment panel of the German Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg combined with data at the regional level. To explore specific regional determinants of eco-innovations compared to other innovations including variables at the firm and the regional level, a two-level mixed effects logistic regression has been applied. Our econometric results show that external knowledge sources such as the regional proximity to research centers and universities are more important for eco-innovations compared to other innovations. Eco-innovations seem to be a chance for under-developed, disadvantaged regions because especially regions characterized by a high unemployment rate are more likely to adopt eco-innovations. Furthermore, eco-innovations need more effort concerning R&D inputs, further education measures within a firm and the qualifi-cation of the personnel. -- |
| JEL: | Q55 R11 C25 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79927&r=cwa |
| By: | Gottschalk, Sandra; Greene, Francis J.; Höwer, Daniel; Müller, Bettina |
| Abstract: | There remains considerable scholarly debate about the role that prior entrepreneurial experience plays in new venture survival. Drawing on entrepreneurial learning theories, we use panel data on 8,400 new ventures to investigate the impact of four different types of prior entrepreneurial experience (portfolio, serial, failure (bankruptcy/voluntary dissolution) and a mix of success (portfolio/serial) and failure (prior bankruptcy/dissolution) on venture survival outcomes. We find that previously failed entrepreneurs are less likely to survive and, in common with entrepreneurs with mixed prior experiences, are more likely to experience bankruptcy. We find that portfolio and serial experience is unrelated to survival or avoiding bankruptcy. Conclusions for entrepreneurship scholars, entrepreneurs and stakeholders are discussed. -- |
| Keywords: | venture survival,entrepreneurial experience,panel data |
| JEL: | L26 L25 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14009&r=cwa |
| By: | Anwar Shah (Director of the Centre for Public Economics, Chengdu/Wenjiang, China and advisor/consultant to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | During the past three decades, a large number of countries have introduced reforms to decentralize public decision making. Such reforms have proved controversial. Critics of these reforms argue that decentralized provision of infrastructure enhances vulnerability to corruption. Proponents of these reforms counter that corruption arises from lack of people empowerment and decentralization by bringing decision making closer to people shines sunlight on government operations and empowers people to hold government to account and thereby offers potential for combating corruption in the long run. They further state that decentralized provision of infrastructure holds a great promise in upgrading infrastructure to underserviced especially rural areas with local self-government. In theory such decentralization is also expected to improve integrity of such operations especially in the event of local financing. These debates, nevertheless, remain unsettled as empirical evidence on the impact of decentralization on infrastructure provision is scant or non-existent. Empirical work is hampered by a lack of reliable data on the incidence of corruption. This paper presents conceptual underpinnings of the impact of decentralized provision of infrastructure on the incidence of corruption and synthesizes scant available empirical evidence to make a case for further empirical research to document the real world experiences to update our current state of knowledge on this subject. Much work lies ahead to limit our wide zone of ignorance in this area. |
| Date: | 2014–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1418&r=cwa |
| By: | Burca Kizilirmak (Department of Economics, Ankara University); Emel Memis (Department of Economics, Ankara University); Sirin Saracoglu (Department of Economics, METU); Ebru Voyvoda (Department of Economics, METU) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to explore the employment effects of changes in manufacturing output resulting from changes in trade patterns over the period 1995-2006. For 30 countries (21 OECD and 9 non-OECD countries) we estimate the changes in embodied labor content due to trade using the factor-content analysis by breaking up the sources of these changes between the trade with the North, the South and China. We also decompose changes in employment into its components as changes within and across sectors. Our results present a net negative impact of trade on total employment in 30 countries over the period of analysis (despite employment gains in 17 countries). In all countries (except for Philippines and Republic of Korea) trade with China has a negative impact on total employment with a stronger negative effect on women’s employment. Employment losses in the South due to surge in imports from China are coupled with declining exports to the North as many countries in the North shift their imports to emerging economies in Asia. Decomposition results indicate that decline in the share of women’s employment is mainly due to shifts between sectors rather than within sector changes. Changes in women’s employment are still highly dependent on the movements in ‘traditional’ manufacturing sectors including food, textiles and wearing apparel. |
| Keywords: | North-South trade, decomposition analysis, factor content analysis, gender bias. |
| JEL: | F16 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:1401&r=cwa |