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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Paulone, Sara (University of Siena); Ivlevs, Artjoms (University of the West of England, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | Despite the growth of alcohol consumption and international migration in many developing countries, the links between the two remain underexplored. We study the relationship between emigration of household members, receiving remittances (migrant monetary transfers), and alcohol consumption of migrant household members staying behind in Kyrgyzstan, a poor post-socialist country that has recently witnessed both large-scale emigration and a rise in alcohol-related health problems. Using a large longitudinal survey, we find that, among the ethnic majority (Kyrgyz), an increase in migrant remittances is associated with a higher likelihood and frequency of consuming alcohol, as well as an increase in the consumption of beer. Among ethnic Russians, the emigration of family members who do not send remittances back home is associated with an increased likelihood and frequency of alcohol consumption. We discuss possible mechanisms through which emigration and remittances may affect the alcohol consumption of those staying behind, including the relaxation of budget constraints and psychological distress. Overall, our findings suggest that the emigration of household members contribute to a greater alcohol consumption among those staying behind, and highlight the role of remittances and cultural background in understanding the nuances in this relationship. |
| Keywords: | emigration, alcoholism, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, monetary remittances, social remittances |
| JEL: | F22 F24 J61 I12 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12075&r=all |
| By: | Lili Di Puppo (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The paper contributes new perspectives to the study of post-communist reforms by highlighting the limits of the transition paradigm in the analysis of reform processes in the post-Soviet space. It examines Georgia’s police reform and argues that the more repressive aspects of the reform should not be viewed as “setbacks” on a transition path, but as integral to the goal of constructing a new Georgian state through the creation of symbolic divides between two different “Georgias”. This symbolic work of emphasising contrasts between different domains by casting light on and obscuring social phenomena is analysed through the lens of the “spectacle of policing” (Comaroffs 2004; Wacquant 2009). |
| Keywords: | police reform, transition paradigm, spectacle of policing, creation of boundaries, Georgia, (in)visibility of corruption |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:85/soc/2019&r=all |
| By: | Aksu, Ege (CUNY Graduate Center); Erzan, Refik (Bogazici University); Kirdar, Murat G. (Bogazici University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects of the arrival of 2.5 million Syrian migrants in Turkey by the end of 2015 on the labor market outcomes of natives, using a difference-in-differences IV methodology. We show that relaxing the common-trend assumption of this methodology - unlike recent papers in the same setting - makes a substantial difference in several key outcomes. Despite the massive size of the migrant influx, no adverse effects on the average wages of men or women or on total employment of men are observed. For women, however, total employment falls - which results mainly from the elimination of part-time jobs. While the migrant influx has adverse effects on competing native workers in the informal sector, it has favorable effects on complementary workers in the formal sector. We estimate about one-to-one replacement in employment for native men in the informal sector, whereas both wage employment and wages of men in the formal sector increase. Our findings, including those on the heterogeneity of effects by age and education, are consistent with the implications of the canonical migration model. In addition, increases in prices in the product market and in capital flow to the treatment regions contribute to the rise in labor demand in the formal sector. |
| Keywords: | labor force and employment, wages, immigrant workers, formal and informal sectors, Syrian refugees, Turkey, difference-in-differences, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J21 J31 J61 C26 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12050&r=all |
| By: | Baydalinova, Aynur; Sandybayeva, Balzhan; Stukach, Victor |
| Abstract: | Ensuring the financial security of the state is an important task for the country. This task becomes a priority before the danger of the financial crisis. This is especially true when the state is in the zone of financial crisis, because this situation a priori means a loss of financial security. |
| Keywords: | financial security, public debt, financial crisis, economic security, external debt, budget deficit, gross domestic product. |
| JEL: | G17 G2 G28 G3 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73873&r=all |
| By: | Muhammad Asali (International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University; IZA, Columbia University); Rusudan Gurashvili (National Bank of Georgia) |
| Abstract: | Using Integrated Household Survey data from Georgia, we measure the observable and discriminatory ethnic wage gap, among male and female workers, and the gender wage gap, among Georgians and non-Georgians. The gender wage discrimination is larger than the ethnic wage discrimination. In the second estimation stage, these wage discrimination estimates are used in a general-to-specific vector autoregression framework to test for the Granger causality between discrimination and growth. A general, negative, bidirectional Granger causality is found between these two variables: in the long-run, discrimination reduces economic growth, and economic growth lowers discrimination. Also, we find that higher unemployment rates are associated with increased ethnic wage discrimination—in line with the predictions of Becker’s theory of discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Labor market discrimination; Transition economies; Growth; Granger causality. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tbs:wpaper:19-002&r=all |