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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Arun, Korhan; Yıldırım, Durmuş Çağrı |
| Abstract: | As innovative firms have considerable competitive advantage; more foreign direct investment (FDI) research has been related to the innovation. The primary aim of this study is to explore how intra-regional economies interact with host countries’ innovative performance, and how they are affected by FDI. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, located in the South Caucasus region, are selected as examples. Numbers of patent applications, R&D expenditure (% of GDP), and intellectual property payments are chosen as factors indicative of innovation. While this research tries to explore whether these three countries, connected by large trades, can act as a clustered group; Panel cointegration and Panel OLS models are used for analysis. The results show that FDI is an important variable affecting the level of innovation in the panel analysis. Nevertheless, individual relationships with FDI vary, and cointegration analysis shows heterogeneity. That is, foreign direct investment could play a central role in increasing the level of innovation for Azerbaijan and Georgia, but it is not an important determinant of Turkey's economic innovation level. Countries should realize that when their economies are becoming stronger, FDI is not a useful tool for escalating innovation, rather they should be in clusters that can leverage innovation. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Innovation, Panel Data Analysis, Panel OLS, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia |
| JEL: | F21 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80470&r=cwa |
| By: | Lyazzat Nugumanova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg); Miriam Frey |
| Abstract: | We provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of environmental governance and policy in Kazakhstan as the country is assumed to have a leading role in Central Asia in terms of green growth and sustainable development. The overview of the environmental and institutional framework in the country reveals that the significant steps towards an improvement of environmental governance have been undertaken. |
| Keywords: | shadow economy; environmental governance, environmental policy, institutions, Kazakhstan |
| JEL: | Q50 Q58 Q59 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:365&r=cwa |
| By: | Kobil Ruziev (University of the West of England, Bristol); Davron Rustamov (University of the West of England, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first study that carefully documents higher education reforms in Uzbekistan since the demise of the former Soviet Union. It analyses evolution of the sector with clear emphasis on government policy and its impact on changing the country's higher education landscape since independence. The study highlights complex interactions between the distinct pre- and post-independence contexts, policy legislation and its implementation on the one hand, and the demands of the new market-based economic system and the requirements of building and strengthening state institutions to support the transition process on the other hand. The paper will show why the country's peculiar 'strictly top-down' approach to reforms has not been successful on improving a number of key areas including access to higher education, and human as well as physical capacities of high education institutions which ultimately determine the quality of higher education provisioning. |
| Date: | 2016–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20161604&r=cwa |
| By: | Lyazzat Nugumanova (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies); Miriam Frey; Natalya Yemelina; Stanislav Yugay |
| Abstract: | We provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of environmental governance concerning air pollution, water problems and waste generation in Kazakhstan. The overview of the environmental and institutional framework in these fields reveals that major environmental problems exist in the country. Some steps have already been taken to ensure a proper management of air, waste and water. However, more coordinated cross-sectoral actions, both on the regional and the national level, need to be undertaken to ensure a productive cooperation between state institutions, business and the society. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, waste generation, water usage, environmental policy, institutions, Kazakhstan |
| JEL: | O13 O44 Q53 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:366&r=cwa |
| By: | Antonio Di Paolo (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University, ERF & IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the drivers of wage differences among college graduates who hold a degree in a different field of study. We focus on Turkey, an emerging country that is characterized by a sustained expansion of higher education. We estimate conditional wage gaps by field of study using OLS regressions. Average differentials are subsequently decomposed into the contribution of observable characteristics (endowment) and unobservable characteristics (returns). To shed light on distributional wage disparities by field of study, we provide estimates along the unconditional wage distribution by means of RIF-Regressions. Finally, we also decompose the contribution of explained and unexplained factors in accounting for wage gaps along the whole distribution. As such, this is the first work providing evidence on distributional wage differences by college major for a developing country. The results indicate the existence of important wage differences by field of study, which are partly accounted by differences in observable characteristics (especially occupation and, to a lesser extent, employment sector). These pay gaps are also heterogeneous over the unconditional distribution of wages, as is the share of wage differentials that can be attributed to differences in observable characteristics across workers with degrees in different fields of study. |
| Keywords: | Fields of Study, Wage Differentials, Decomposition, Unconditional Wage Distribution, Turkey. |
| JEL: | J31 J24 I23 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1712&r=cwa |
| By: | Nadine Levratto; Clarisse Nguedam Ntouko; Maarouf Ramadan |
| Abstract: | On the basis of a broad definition of firms’ internationalization, this paper provides an empirical analysis of this question using a two-stage model, which first estimates the determinants of international commitment and the factors explaining the different types of internationalization strategies. The empirical analysis relies on firms’ individual data covering three countries (Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) in 2013. We show that the probability of being internationalized and internationalization types depend on a combination of factors such as firms’ characteristics, access to finance and institutional framework. The determinants of internationalization as well as the number and types of internationalizations are heterogeneous depending firms' size and sectors in which they operate. |
| Keywords: | Firms' internationalization, Institutions, Business climate, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) |
| JEL: | D22 D23 O19 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2017-37&r=cwa |