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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Simone Tagliapietra (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)) |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades energy has emerged as an increasingly important component of the overall EU-Turkey relations. In particular, the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) and its flagship project, Nabucco, soon became the pivotal element of the EU-Turkey energy relations. After years of strong cooperation, the failure of Nabucco and the emergence of TANAP have ultimately outlined a divergence in the way the EU and Turkey perceive not only the SGC but also their energy relations. This divergence represents a serious risk for the strategic interests of both the EU and Turkey, and for this reason there is a need to rethink the EU-Turkey energy relations. This need is now particularly urgent, as the market and political environment on which Nabucco was conceptualized is rapidly changing, potentially opening up new opportunities of energy cooperation for the EU and Turkey. On the supply side, new major gas reserves have been discovered in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and in offshore Israel, while on the demand side the unprecedented political standoff between the Western world and Russia resulted by the 2014 Ukraine crisis might reinvigorate the EU’s quest to diversify its gas supply portfolio. These developments can potentially converge to reshape the EU-Turkey energy relations. In fact, in this scenario the SGC could eventually gain a new momentum, with the gas reserves of the KRI and Israel as primary target. However, after the failure of Nabucco the unconditional support of Turkey should not be taken for granted by the EU, as the country might prefer to secure its own energy supply on a bilateral basis with gas producing countries. In order to avoid the risk of a further fragmentation of the SGC, a new “EU-Turkey Natural Gas Initiative” -such as the one proposed in this paper- seems to be urgently needed, for the benefit of both the EU and Turkey. |
| Keywords: | EU-Turkey Energy Relations, EU Energy Security, Southern Gas Corridor |
| JEL: | Q40 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.75&r=cwa |
| By: | Ilhom Abdulloev (Open Societies Institute, Dushanbe); Ira N. Gang; Myeong-Su Yun |
| Abstract: | Women who want to work often face many more hurdles than men. This is true in Tajikistan where there is a large gender gap in labour force participation. We highlight the role of two factors – international migration and education – on the labour force participation decision and its gender gap. Using probit and decomposition analysis, our investigation shows that education and migration have a significant association with the gender gap in labour force participation in Tajikistan. International emigration from Tajikistan, in which approximately 93.5% of the participants are men, reduces labour force participation by men domestically; increased female education, especially at the university and vocational level, increases female participation. Both women acquiring greater access to education and men increasing their migration abroad contribute to reducing the gender gap. |
| Keywords: | migration, education, gender gap, labour force participation, Tajikistan |
| JEL: | J01 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:342&r=cwa |
| By: | Erdal Ozmen (Department of Economics, METU) |
| Abstract: | Bu calismada, Turkiye’nin dis ticaret dinamikleri inclenmekte ve ozellikle imalat sanayi (IS) sektorleri icin reel doviz kuru degismesinin dis ticarete etkisi arastirilmaktadir. Bu amacla, ihracat, ithalat ve uretimin belirleyicilerinin teknoloji yogunlugu, urun yetkinligi, ithalat bagimliligi, ihracat yonelimi, kuresel deger zincirlere eklemlenme derecesi, borc dolarizasyonu gibi sektore ozgun degiskenlere de bagli olup olmadigi ampirik olarak incelenmektedir. Calisma sonuclarina gore, Turkiye dis ticaret aciklari, temelde orta-yuksek ve yuksek teknoloji yogunlugu olan urun ithalatindan kaynaklanmaktadir. Sonuclara gore, 1990’li yillarla karsilastirildiginda, 2000’li yillarda ozellikle orta-yuksek ve yuksek teknoloji urunlerinde, IS sektorlerinin kuresel katma deger zincirlerine eklemlenme derecesi yuksek oranda artmistir. Bu eklemlenme, agirlikli olarak sektorlerin geri eklemlenme derecelerinde sicramali bir artis olarak gerceklesmis ve ihracatta yurtici katma deger oraninin yuksek oranda dusmesiyle eklemlenmenin net kaybi daha da artmistir. Esneklik kotumserligi yazini ile tutarli olarak, hem GEGS hem de IS sektorleri ihracat ve ithalatinin reel doviz kuru esnekliginin mutlak degeri goreli olarak dusuk bulunmustur. Ihracat ve ithalat, sirasiyla, agirlikli olarak yurtdisi (OECD) ve yurtici reel gelir tarafindan belirlenmektedir ve esneklikler cok yuksek duzeydedir. Orta-yuksek ve yuksek teknoloji yogunlugu urunlerinin yurtdisi reel kosullara olan duyarliliginin, digerlerine gore, cok daha yuksek oldugu bulunmustur. Urun yetkinligi temelindeki sonuclar da bu onermeyi desteklemektedir. 2001 yili sonrasinda, ihracatin yurtdisi talep esneklikleri tum teknoloji yogunlugu ve urun yetkinligi sektorlerinde sicramali olarak artmistir. Reel doviz kurunun dis ticaret etkisi sektorlerin teknoloji yogunlugu, urun yetkinligi, ithal girdi bagimliligi veya ihracat yonelim derecelerine gore degismektedir. Borc dolarizasyonu ile dis ticaretin reel kur esnekliklerinin ve IS uretiminde olumsuz bilanco riskinin arttigi bulunmustur. Sonuclara gore, IS sektorleri uretimi sadece yurtdisi reel kosullar tarafindan degil kuresel finansal kosullar tarafindan da belirlenmektedir. Reel doviz kurunun uretime etkisi sektorun dis ticaret yapisindan bagimsiz degildir. Tum bu sonuclar, surdurulebiilir yuksek buyume orani ve dusuk dis ticaret acigi icin, reel doviz kuru politikalari yerine, orta-yuksek ve yuksek teknoloji urunleri sektorlerinde kuresel deger zincirlerine ileri eklemlenme derecesini artirmaya yonelik stratejik sanayi politikalarinin tercih edilebilir oldugunu gostermektedir. |
| Keywords: | borc dolarizasyonu, cari islemler aciklari, dis ticaret aciklari, esneklik kotumserligi, ihracat, imalat sanayi, ithalat, kuresel deger zincirleri, reel doviz kuru, sanayi uretimi, teknoloji yogunlugu, Turkiye, urun yetkinligi, yurtici katma deger. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:1412&r=cwa |
| By: | Mazyaki, Ali; Davodi, Pedram |
| Abstract: | After Hamilton (2001) and Costa (2001) many empirical and analytical studies (Gong and Meng (2007), Barrett and Brzozowski (2008), …) have manipulated and extended Engel's law to estimate CPI bias and regional price differences. However, there is not yet any study on Iran in which the biases in spatial prices or price indices are discriminated. In this study we suggest that bidimensional social welfare perspectives may contribute very well to policy implications intending to protect Iranian households. To do so, first, we use Hamilton's approach to estimate a Spatial Price Index (SPI) helping us to have a better household welfare criterion. Second, using a developed version of Gini bidimensional decomposition, we find the contribution of rural and urban areas to inequality. Our decomposition method is an improved version of Mussard (2004) bidimensional decomposition method. Our results indicate that while Iranian authorities repeatedly have claimed that income inequalities have improved after the targeted cutting of subsidies in 2011, the above improvement is due to a bias in regional price indices. |
| Keywords: | decomposition, welfare, distribution, Iran |
| JEL: | D12 D31 D33 D63 E25 E31 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59552&r=cwa |