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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Ali Enami (Tulane University and CEQ Institute.) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces two new Commitment to Equity (CEQ) indexes to assess the effectiveness of taxes and transfers in reducing inequality and poverty: the Impact and Spending Effectiveness indicators. The Spending Effectiveness indicator has an additional interpretation as a measure of efficiency. These effectiveness indicators are used in this paper to rank taxes and transfers in Iran. In addition, I estimate the Fiscal Impoverishment and Fiscal Gains to the Poor Effectiveness indicators, which have also been developed by the CEQ Institute. The results show that in this case study, taxes and transfers are similarly effective in achieving their inequality-reducing potential. The income tax is the most effective intervention on the revenue side, achieving 40 percent of its inequality-reducing potential. On the spending side, social assistance transfers are the most effective, achieving 45 percent of their potential. Taxes are especially effective in raising revenue without causing poverty to rise, indicating that the poor are largely spared from taxation. In contrast, transfers are not very effective because the majority of them are not targeted to the poor: the most effective transfers achieve 21 percent of their poverty reduction potential. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, poverty, fiscal incidence, marginal contribution, effectiveness indicator, policy simulation, Iran |
| JEL: | D31 H22 I38 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tul:ceqwps:1358&r=cwa |
| By: | Tagliapietra, Simone |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how Turkey’s politics and economy are affected by changes in global energy. To define which are the most relevant developments, the paper opens with an overview of the country's economic landscape. This analysis illustrates that energy, being the key driver behind its large current account deficit, represents a major point of vulnerability for the country. On this basis, the paper illustrates Turkey's energy matrix, an analysis that outlines the rising role of gas in the country's energy sector, both under the internal (i.e. growing share of the mix) and external (i.e. the country's potential role as regional gas hub) points of view. Finally, these issues are discussed with the aim of assessing the prospects for Turkey to turn gas into a geopolitical and economic asset for the country. |
| Keywords: | Turkey, Energy Security, Gas, TANAP, TAP, TurkStream, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q40, Q42, Q48, |
| Date: | 2016–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemes:251812&r=cwa |
| By: | Dong Dong Zhang |
| Abstract: | In a speech delivered at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 7 September 2013, President Xi invited central Asian countries to work ‘innovatively’ with China to build a ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ (SREB, or the Belt) for close economic ties, cooperation and joint development to benefit people across the land of Eurasia. In his speech at the Indonesian Parliament on 3 October 2013, President Xi invited ASEAN countries to work with China to build a ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ (MSR, or the Road) for achieving joint development and co-prosperity. These two proposals, put together, were the original ‘One Belt, One Road initiative’. |
| JEL: | F10 F20 F50 |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:wpaper:25995&r=cwa |
| By: | Kenneth Fortson; Joanne Lee; Madeline Young |
| Keywords: | Irrigation Infrastructure Activity, Armenia |
| JEL: | F Z |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:f792daac2bee4b68845201fffc25225e&r=cwa |