|
on Business, Economic and Financial History |
|
Issue of 2020‒09‒14
thirty papers chosen by |
| By: | Jevtic, Aleksandar R. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a political economy perspective on gold standard adoption in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which joined the monetary system in midst of the Great Depression in June 1931. The analysis proceeds in three stages. First, the high relative costs faced by a peripheral country like Yugoslavia for maintaining a gold standard, stemming from a fluctuating balance-of-payments and lacking institutional structures, are analysed. Against this background, the economic and political reasons why policy elites nevertheless endeavoured to adopt the gold standard are examined by looking at debates in Yugoslavia's central bank, correspondence between governmental institutions and various economic newspapers. Subsequently, the paper analyses how the convictions of policymakers were formed by looking at pressures exerted by foreign lenders such as the Bank for International Settlements and the state of economic knowledge in the country, as well as the ideological and cultural convictions of policy-makers. The third part analyses interest group pressures in bringing about the the gold standard, revealing that Serbian economic elites played a crucial role for its adoption while policy makers from Croatian regions, as well as lower layers of the Yugoslavian society opposed the monetary system and the deflationary policies it required. |
| Keywords: | gold standard,exchange rate history,Balkan economic history |
| JEL: | N24 N20 F55 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:eabhps:2002&r=all |
| By: | Guillaume Blanc (Brown University) |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on a novel historical dataset crowdsourced from publicly available genealogies to study demographic change and development at the individual level in the distant past. I reconstruct fertility series, identify migration in and out of urban centers, and provide novel measures and stylized facts in a period without census and with millions of ordinary individuals observed in thirty countries. For each country, I carefully show that selection is limited in the data. Then, I document patterns of human mobility, fertility, and adult mortality in Early Modern Europe, through the Industrial Revolution and demographic transition. Finally, I present several findings at a disaggregated level suggesting that substantial and rapid changes in preferences took hold with the Age of Enlightenment and played an important role in the transition from stagnation to growth. In particular, I estimate the onset of the decline in fertility in France in the 1760s, a hundred years before the rest of Europe and earlier than previously thought, and I find a weaker intergenerational persistence of fertility behavior in Europe as early as in the late eighteenth century. |
| Keywords: | demographic,development,migration,health |
| Date: | 2020–08–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02922398&r=all |
| By: | Roberto Bonfatti; Björn Brey |
| Abstract: | Colonial trade encouraged the colonies to specialise in primary products. Did this prevent in-dustrialisation in the colonies? And did lack of industrialisation, in turn, help to keep the colonies under control? To answer these questions, we examine the impact of the temporary collapse in trade between Britain and India due to World War I, on industrialisation and anti-imperial feelings in India. Exploiting cross-district variation in exposure to the trade shock stemming from initial differences in industrial specialisation, we find that districts more exposed to the trade shock experienced substantially faster industrial growth in 1911-21, placing them on a higher level of industrialisation which has persisted up to today. Using the World War I trade shock as an instrument for industrialisation levels, we also find that more industrialised districts were more likely to express anti-imperial feelings in 1922, and to vote for the Indian National Congress in the landmark election of 1937. These results suggest that colonial trade may have played an important role in preventing colonial industrialisation, and in embedding foreign rule. |
| Keywords: | colonial trade, India, infant-industry argument, decolonisation |
| JEL: | F14 F54 O14 N65 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8461&r=all |
| By: | Angel De la Fuente |
| Abstract: | This note briefly describes the latest update of RegData, a database that collects the main economic and demographic aggregates of the Spanish regions over the last six decades. For the most part, the series begin in 1950 or 1955 and run until 2019. This note briefly describes the latest update of RegData, a database that collects the main economic and demographic aggregates of the Spanish regions over the last six decades. For the most part, the series begin in 1950 or 1955 and run until 2019. |
| Keywords: | jobs, empleos, regional population of Spain, población regional de España, income, renta, homogeneous series, series homogéneas, Spain, España, Regional Analysis Spain, Análisis Regional España, Working Papers, Documento de Trabajo |
| JEL: | E01 R1 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:2011&r=all |
| By: | Philipp Ager; James J. Feigenbaum; Casper Worm Hansen; Hui Ren Tan |
| Abstract: | Fears of immigrants as a threat to public health have a long and sordid history. At the turn of the 20th century, when millions of immigrants crowded into dense American cities, contemporaries blamed the high urban mortality penalty on the newest arrivals. Nativist sentiments eventually led to the implementation of restrictive quota acts in the 1920s, substantially curtailing immigration. We capture the "missing immigrants" induced by the quotas to estimate the effect of immigration on mortality. We find that cities with more missing immigrants experienced sharp declines in deaths from infectious diseases from the mid-1920s until the late 1930s. The blame for these negative mortality effects lies not with the immigrants, but on the living conditions they endured. We show that mortality declines were largest in cities where immigrants resided in the most crowded and squalid conditions and where public health resources were stretched the thinnest. Though immigrants did die from infectious diseases at higher rates than the US-born, the mortality decline we find is primarily driven by crowding not changes in population composition or contagion, as we show mortality improvements for both US- and foreign-born populations in more quota-affected cities. |
| JEL: | I14 J15 N32 N92 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27480&r=all |
| By: | Cassan, Guilhem (University of Namur); Iyer, Lakshmi (University of Notre Dame); Mirza, Rinchan Ali (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | We examine how political participation and political competition are shaped by two class-based extensions of the franchise in 20th-century India. Creating a new dataset of district level political outcomes between 1921 and 1957, we find that the partial franchise extension of 1935 resulted in significantly lower incumbency advantage, while the institution of universal adult suffrage in 1950 resulted in increased candidacy. Both these franchise extensions resulted in decreased voter turnout rates, suggesting that newly enfranchised voters are less engaged in the political process. |
| Keywords: | democratization, colonial rule, India, franchise extension, political participation, political competition |
| JEL: | D72 N45 P16 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13476&r=all |
| By: | Claude Diebolt (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UL - Université de Lorraine - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Roger Fouquet (Monsanto Company); Ralph Hippe (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UL - Université de Lorraine - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | Human capital has been seen to be a key factor for current and future economic growth. In a broader sense, it appears that we are moving towards a knowledge economy driven by human capital, technological progress and digitalization. However, although this evolution may be a new trend, similar developments have occurred in history before. In line with this reasoning, the scholarly feld of cliometrics has received ever more attention during the last years. In consequence, this paper presents the foundations of cliometrics, and provides insights into the basic conceptual framework and evolution of human capital during the last centuries. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital,Cliometrics,ICT,Economic Development,Economic Development JEL codes: I21,N90,O18 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02920429&r=all |
| By: | Aurelia Sabiescu (University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania,) |
| Abstract: | Within his own cultural era, Ernesto de Martino stands out as an illustrious ethnologist, by virtue of his capacity to emphasize and express inherent qualities possessed. As a history researcher regarding humankind's fathom origins from the farthest lands, de Martino was also an interpreter of the contemporary society, portrayed by suffering. The laborious commitment Ernesto De Martino shows throughout his literary activity during the '50s has an extremely vital role in anthropology and ethnology, not just due to the historic, background of his work, but above all, it exhibits his originality in the approach towards complex topics, flourished within the analysis of the philosophic mould and directed towards the socio-cultural reality of poorly developed areas in the post-World War II Italy. The basis of the Demartinian research broadens the approaches of the Italian folklore and the cultural phenomena − the mourning rituals in Lucania, the choral dancing therapy of tarantism in Puglia − and, moreover, it develops an interest towards Romanian folklore, represented by its mourning and funeral ceremonies. |
| Keywords: | tarantism, ritual, shamanism, myth, folklore |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:spaper:035as&r=all |
| By: | Sotiris K. Papaioannou |
| Abstract: | This study explores the relationship between political instability and growth within the perspective of GreeceÕs modern history. The narrative approach is used to identify major events of political unrest which took place in the period from 1833 onwards. Econometric estimates show that political instability exerts an adverse effect on economic growth. Likewise, poor economic performance increases the likelihood of political risk. Their relationship is not uniform across time but strengthens only after the second half of the 20th century. The impact of political instability is conditional on the stage of economic development with the most harmful effect observed in the phase of rapid industrialization. When distinguishing between permanent and temporary effects of political instability, a strongly negative effect is observed on the growth rate of potential output and a weakly negative impact on the cyclical component of GDP. Political instability is unfavorably affected by the growth rate of potential output. |
| Keywords: | Political instability, economic growth, Greece |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:151&r=all |
| By: | María Fernanda Justiniano; María Elina Tejerina |
| Keywords: | Historia económica; Argentina; independencia; Salta; historiografía; Latinoamérica. Keywords: economic history; Argentina; independence; Salta; writing history; Latin America. |
| JEL: | B0 B2 B5 N0 |
| Date: | 2020–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:018313&r=all |
| By: | Michael D. Bordo; Joseph G. Haubrich |
| Abstract: | Does the yield curve's ability to predict future output and recessions differ when interest rates are low, as in the current global environment? In this paper we build on recent econometric work by Shi, Phillips and Hurn that detects changes in the causal impact of the yield curve and relate that to the level of interest rates. We explore the issue using historical data going back to the 19th century for the US and more recent data for the UK, Germany, and Japan. This paper is similar in spirit to Ramey and Zubairy (2018) who look at the government spending multiplier in times of low interest rates. |
| JEL: | E32 G01 N10 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27691&r=all |
| By: | Claude Diebolt (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UL - Université de Lorraine - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Charlotte Le Chapelain (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UL - Université de Lorraine - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Depuis la « Révolution du capital humain », initiée à la fin des années 1950, l'analyse économique reconnaît le capital humain comme un facteur important de développement et de croissance économique. La contribution du capital humain au processus de croissance demeure toutefois, paradoxalement peut être, sujette à de nombreuses incertitudes. Sa compréhension précise se heurte, presque systématiquement, à la difficulté d'évaluer de manière pertinente les dotations en capital humain. Cette difficulté constitue d'ailleurs la pierre d'achoppement du programme du capital humain depuis son origine. De nos jours, cette difficulté donne lieu à une critique sévère de son programme de recherche, si ce n'est à sa remise en question. |
| Keywords: | Histoire,Economie,Cliométrie,Capital humain |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02920362&r=all |
| By: | Howard Bodenhorn |
| Abstract: | Mandated shutdowns of nonessential businesses during the COVID-19 crisis brought into sharp relief the tradeoff between public health and a healthy economy. This paper documents the short-run effects of shutdowns during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which provides a useful counterpoint to choices made in 2020. The 1918 closures were shorter and less sweeping, in part because the US was at war and the Wilson administration was unwilling to let public safety jeopardize the war’s prosecution. The result was widespread sickness, which pushed some businesses to shutdown voluntarily; others operated shorthanded. Using hand-coded, high-frequency data (mostly weekly) this study reports three principal results. First, retail sales declined during the three waves of the pandemic; manufacturing activity slowed, but by less than retail. Second, worker absenteeism due to either sickness or fear of contracting the flu reduced output in several key sectors and industries that were not ordered closed by as much as 10 to 20% in weeks of high excess mortality. Output declines were the result of labor-supply rather than demand shocks. And, third, mandated closures are not associated with increases in the number or aggregate dollar value of business failures, but the number and aggregate dollar value of business failures increased modestly in weeks of high excess mortality. The results highlight that the tradeoff between mandated closures and economic activity is not the only relevant tradeoff facing public health authorities. Economic activity also declines, sometimes sharply, during periods of unusually high influenza-related illness and excess mortality even absent mandated business closures. |
| JEL: | N11 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27495&r=all |
| By: | Kenneth D. Garbade; Frank M. Keane |
| Abstract: | In response to disorderly market conditions in mid-March 2020, the Federal Reserve began an asset purchase program designed to improve market functioning in the Treasury and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) markets. The 2020 purchases have no parallel, but there are several instances of large SOMA purchases undertaken to support Treasury market functions in earlier decades. This post recaps three such episodes, one in 1939 at the start of World War II, one in 1958 in connection with a poorly received Treasury financing, and a third in 1970, also in connection with a Treasury financing. The three episodes, together with the more recent intervention, demonstrate the Fed’s long-standing and continuing commitment to the maintenance of orderly market functioning in markets where it conducts monetary policy operations—formerly limited to the Treasury market, but now also including the agency MBS market. |
| Keywords: | market function purchases; market liquidity; COVID-19; pandemic |
| JEL: | G1 E5 |
| Date: | 2020–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:88617&r=all |
| By: | Andrew Atkeson; Magnus Irie |
| Abstract: | We use a simple random growth model to study the role of changing dynamics of family firms in shaping the evolution of top wealth shares in the United States over the course of the past century. Our model generates a time path for top wealth shares remarkably similar to those found by Saez and Zucman (2016) and Gomez (2019) when the volatility of idiosyncratic shocks to the value of family firms is similar to that found for public firms by Herskovic, Kelly, Lustig, and Van Nieuwerburgh (2016) over the past 100 years. We also show that consideration of family firms contributes not only to overall wealth inequality, but also to considerable upward and downward mobility of families within the distribution of wealth. We interpret our results as indicating that improving our understanding of the economics of the process by which families found new firms and then, eventually, diversify their wealth is central to improving our understanding of the distribution of great wealth and its evolution over time. |
| JEL: | E21 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27465&r=all |
| By: | Essiane, Patrick-Nelson Daniel |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to briefly review the main debates between the New Institutional Economics (NIE) and the Old Institutional Economics (OIE). While the NIE is considered in the literature as essentially orthodox, the OIE’s thesis are mainly heterodox. From a theoretical perspective, (i) the nature of institutions, (ii) the organization of firms and (iii) the link between institutional change and economic development are central in the debate. From an empirical perspective, the measures of institutional quality and the methods used to capture institutional changes and their impact on development are the key points of divergence between NEI and OIE. However, some authors are quite optimistic about a potential convergence of the two school of thoughts, which could potentially offers new perspectives on the understanding of institutional phenomenons in economics. |
| Keywords: | New Institutional Economics; Old Institutional Economics; Literature Review; Institutions; Institutional Change; Development; Debate |
| JEL: | B15 B25 B52 O43 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:102858&r=all |
| By: | Smith, Harry; Bennett, Robert J.; van Lieshout, Carry; Montebruno, Piero |
| Abstract: | This article uses the British Business Census of Entrepreneurs (BBCE) to examine the relationship between the household and entrepreneurship in England and Wales between 1851 and 1911. The BBCE allows three kinds of entrepreneurial households to be identified: those where an entrepreneur employs co-resident family members in their business, those where two or more household members are partners in the same firm, and households with two or more entrepreneurs resident who are running different firms. The article traces the number of these different households across the period and examines their sector and gender breakdowns as well as their geographical distribution. The article demonstrates that these different kinds of entrepreneurial households served different purposes; co-resident family businesses were used in marginal areas where other sources of labour and capital were scarce and the incidence of such firms decreased over this period. In contrast, household partnerships and co-entrepreneurial households were used to share risk or diversify; they were found throughout England and Wales at similar levels during this period. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; household; census; England and Wales; economic history |
| JEL: | D1 J1 L26 N83 |
| Date: | 2020–08–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:102647&r=all |
| By: | Radoli Lydia Ouma (Daystar University, Kenya,) |
| Abstract: | April to June every year, Rwandans commemorate the 1994 genocide. Extensive oral historical narratives are brought to life. Under the Aegis Trust for the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity, stories are re-enacted and shared. Narratives of memories are seen as instruments to heal historical trauma. Rwanda has since moved from ravages of the genocide to political and economic stability. Although, Rwanda records a history of ethnic killings and near genocide from 1950s, it is the 1994 genocide that rocked its fabric of peace. Des Forges (2007) argues the genocide was not an outburst of uncontrolled rage of ethnic hatred, but a discontent to historical grievances and widening economic disparities between the Hutu elites and Rwandan poor. To suppress dissent, state and militia extremists planned and orchestrated the genocide. After the genocide, an International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was set up to try suspects. It was supplemented with Gacaca courts - a modified traditional conflict resolution system. In this paper, I aim to analyse oral history as a qualitative methodology. The narratives archived on video recount how Rwandans heal the genocide trauma through remembering. According to Moyer, 1993, oral history involves a systematic gathering of testimonies of people who have experienced a significant event. It is not based on non-factual information, rather on verifiable facts that can be analyzed and placed in accurate historical contexts. This paper will adapt an oral historical narrative analysis of video testimonies from the Aegis Trust. |
| Keywords: | oral history, narrative analysis, Rwandan genocide memories, trauma healing |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:spaper:009lr&r=all |
| By: | Giovanni Facchini; Brian G. Knight; Cecilia Testa |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the franchise and law enforcement practices using evidence from the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. We find that, following the VRA, black arrest rates fell in counties that were both covered by the legislation and had a large number of newly enfranchised black voters. We uncover no corresponding patterns for white arrest rates. The reduction in black arrest rates is driven by less serious offenses, for which police might have more enforcement discretion. Importantly, our results are driven by arrests carried out by sheriffs - who are always elected. While there are no corresponding changes for municipal police chiefs in aggregate, we do find similar patterns in covered counties with elected rather than appointed chiefs. We also show that our findings cannot be rationalized by alternative explanations, such as differences in collective bargaining, changes in the underlying propensity to commit crimes, responses to changes in policing practices, and changes in the suppression of civil right protests. Taken together, these results document that voting rights, when combined with elected, rather than appointed, chief law enforcement officers, can lead to improved treatment of minority groups by police. |
| JEL: | D7 J15 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27463&r=all |
| By: | Ioan-Gheorghe Rotaru (Timotheus Brethren Theological Institute of Bucharest, Romania) |
| Abstract: | It is worth noting how a secular perspective can be harmonized with what the Holy Scriptures present and especially how the text of the Scripture becomes relevant in a context in which we are talking about the development of the world's civilizations. If we were to make a bridge between secular man and religious man on the same subject we could have a common element, namely the analysis of human society, related to how it developed, related to the mechanisms of this development and its consequences, things that we meet them both in the same material of history with the differentiation of the fact that different causes could arise. In this study we tried to show that human explanations, regarding the development of the world's civilizations, are not always enough, because according to human logic certain events could not have taken place. From this perspective, looking at things, we consider it important to know the Scriptural perspective on events unfolding in world history, because the revelation of Scripture usually goes somewhere further, beyond what we see and what we have recorded as events in history, penetrating somewhere in the heart of the problems, helping us to have a much broader vision of the events of our world. |
| Keywords: | The Bible, the development of civilizations, political forces, religious forces, globalization |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:spaper:037ir&r=all |
| By: | José María Durán Medraño |
| Keywords: | arte; valor; sustancia del valor; renta diferencial; capital humano; propiedad intelectual. Keywords: art; value; substance of value; differential ground-rent; human capital; intellectual property. |
| JEL: | B51 D46 P16 Z11 |
| Date: | 2019–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:018303&r=all |
| By: | Brian Beach; Karen Clay; Martin H. Saavedra |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the global health and economic consequences of the 1918 influenza pandemic, with a particular focus on topics that have seen a renewed interest because of COVID-19. We begin by providing an overview of key contextual and epidemiological details as well as the data that are available to researchers. We then examine the effects on mortality, fertility, and the economy in the short and medium run. The role of nonpharmaceutical interventions in shaping those outcomes is discussed throughout. We then examine longer-lasting health consequences and their impact on human capital accumulation and socioeconomic status. Throughout the paper we highlight important areas for future work. |
| JEL: | I10 J10 J24 N0 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27673&r=all |
| By: | Nicolas Piluso (CERTOP - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès) |
| Abstract: | If we accept the thesis that the "Keynesian revolution" relies on the hypothesis of asymmetry of the wage relationship at the basis of Keynes' theory of unemployment, it seems useful to analyze the place of such a hypothesis in major branches of post-Keysian analysis. Asymmetry is important but implicit in the different post-Keysian models. the latter would be more intelligible if they insisted more on the asymmetrical nature of the salary relation. |
| Abstract: | En partant de la thèse selon laquelle la « révolution keynésienne » s'appuie sur l'hypothèse d'asymétrie du rapport salarial au fondement de la théorie du chômage de Keynes, il semble utile d'analyser la place d'une telle hypothèse dans les grandes branches de l'analyse postkeynésienne. L'asymétrie est importante mais implicite dans les différents modèles postkeynésiens. Ces derniers gagneraient en clarté en insistant davantage sur le caractère asymétrique du rapport salarial. |
| Keywords: | salary relation,Walras law,growth,unemployment,asymétrie,loi de Walras,rapport salarial,chômage,croissance,circuit |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02884058&r=all |
| By: | Roth, Felix; Jonung, Lars |
| Abstract: | Austria, Finland and Sweden became members of the EU in 1995. This paper examines how support for the euro and trust in the European Central Bank (ECB) have evolved in these three countries since their introduction at the turn of the century. Support for the euro in the two euroarea members Austria and Finland has remained high and relatively stable since the physical introduction of the new currency nearly 20 years ago, while the euro crisis significantly reduced support for the euro in Sweden. Since the start of the crisis, trust in the ECB was strongly influenced by the pronounced increase in unemployment in the euro area, demonstrating that the ECB was held accountable for macroeconomic developments. Our results indicate that citizens in the EU, both within and outside the euro area, judge the euro and the ECB based on the economic performance of the euro area. Thus, the best way to foster support for the euro and trust in the ECB is to pursue policies aimed at achieving low unemployment and high growth. |
| Keywords: | euro,trust,ECB,EU,monetary union,Austria,Finland,Sweden |
| JEL: | E42 E52 E58 F33 F45 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:uhhhdp:6&r=all |
| By: | Christian Dippel; Dustin Frye; Bryan Leonard |
| Abstract: | The importance of secure land rights for economic development is well-documented. Limits on the ability to transfer (i.e. sell or bequeath) these rights, however, have received much less attention from economists, despite the fact that such limits are common throughout the world. We investigate the long-run consequences of non-transferability using a natural experiment from the early 20th century, when millions of acres of reservation lands were allotted to individual Native American households, some as nontransferable trust land and some under fee-simple with full transfer rights. We compare land development and agricultural activity on neighboring plots with different transfer rights using fine-grained satellite imagery from 1974–2012. |
| JEL: | J15 N51 Q15 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27479&r=all |
| By: | Grigoryev, Leonid; Pavlyushina, Victoria; Muzychenko, Evgeniya; Kulaeva, Nesipli |
| Abstract: | This paper is devoted to the analysis of the main factors of economic growth stability of Georgia persistent during the last 30 years of the country’s development. Exceptional gravity of the crisis in the beginning of market transformation of Georgia in 1980—1990 as well as the success of market reforms is discussed. The article also highlights the consequences of the transitional period both for the citizens of the country and for the whole economy, in particular for human capital development under conditions of persistent socio-economic imbalances. In addition, this research analyzes recent changes in the structure and the drivers of economic growth and the dependence of Georgian economy on external financing (both investments and personal remittances). Even though there has been a noticeable macroeconomic stability in the post-Soviet period which manifests itself in stable GDP growth rates, social development of Georgia is still characterized by a number of problems such as low natural population growth, high levels of poverty and social inequality. |
| Keywords: | economic growth, Georgia, post-Soviet states, human capital |
| JEL: | O11 O15 P2 P21 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:102523&r=all |
| By: | Giselle Torres Pabon |
| Keywords: | Karl Marx; fuerza de trabajo; cuerpo; consumo; alimentos; comer; hambre. Keywords: Karl Marx; labor force; body; food consumption; eating; famine. |
| JEL: | P16 Z13 B14 I3 J2 |
| Date: | 2020–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:018306&r=all |
| By: | Gulati, Ashok; Juneja, Ritika |
| Abstract: | Indian agriculture is dominated by smallholders. With an average holding size of just 1.08 hectares (ha) (in 2015-16), and 86 percent of holdings being of less than 2 ha in size, Indian agriculture transformed the country from functioning ‘ship-to-mouth’ during the mid-1960s to being a net exporter of agri-produce today. This would not have been possible without the onset of the Green Revolution post-1965, which resulted in increased foodgrain production and productivity. Among various inputs such as seeds, irrigation and fertilizers, the productivity of farms also depends greatly on the availability and judicious use of farm power by the farmers. Between the mid-20th century and 2013-14, India witnessed a tremendous shift away from traditional agriculture processes to mechanized processes. Today, 88 percent of the total farm power comes from tractors, diesel engine pump-sets, electric pump-sets and power tillers (2013-14). Additionally, India has emerged as the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world, followed by the USA and China. But how has farm mechanization, especially the use of tractors, evolved in India over time? What were the key drivers of the demand for tractors? And how efficiently are the tractors being used in terms of usage by number of hours/year? Given the high cost of tractors, it is also interesting to see how far they have penetrated the small and marginal holdings, i.e., the issues of inclusiveness, financial viability and sustainability. These are some of the key questions that are addressed in this study. Our analysis shows that farm mechanization in India, especially the use of tractors, has made commendable progress. With major policy changes, entry of private farm machinery manufacturing companies and foreign collaborations, farm power availability increased from 0.25 kilowatt per hectare (kW/ha) in 1951 to 2.02 kW/ha in 2017. Furthermore, the contribution of mechanized sources to farm power increased from some 3 percent in 1951 to 88 percent in 2013-14, replacing human and draught power. In addition, the production of tractors increased significantly from a meager 880 units in 1951 to about 900,000 units in 2019. This has transformed India from being a net importer of tractors through the 1960s and 1970s to being an exporter of tractors, exporting some 92,000 units in 2019. In terms of inclusiveness, although larger farms are more mechanized, the Input Census data (2011-12) reveals that even in the category of small and marginal holdings (less than 2 ha), an average of roughly 44 percent of farmers use farm machinery (e.g., tractors, diesel engine pump sets, electric pump sets and power tillers). This is a good achievement, but further improvements are always possible and major attempts in this direction are already underway with heavy policy support through Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs). However, the fact that farm machinery is expensive also raises concerns over whether it is financially viable and sustainable to own and use on smallholder farms. It is therefore important to look at unfolding innovations providing farm machinery services through ‘CHCs’ and ‘Uberization’ models. These innovations make farm machinery and equipments perfectly divisible as a service to all classes of farmers at the doorstep at affordable cost on a ‘pay per use’ basis. This seems to be the future of farm machinery usage in India, if it is developed as a sustainable business model with due support of policy and finance. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2020–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:305188&r=all |
| By: | Hart, Robert A. (University of Stirling) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares labour productivity during the Great Depression (GD) and the Great Recession (GR) in engineering, metal working and allied industries. Throughout, it distinguishes between output per worker and output per hour. From the peak-to-trough of the GD cycle, hourly labour productivity was countercyclical, remaining above its 1929 starting point. In the GR peak-to-trough period, hourly productivity was procyclical, falling below its 2007/08 starting point. While employment and average weekly hours reductions were much more pronounced in the GD compared to the GR, the GD recovery was both stronger and more sustained. The discussion of the different experiences in the two eras concentrates on employment and hours flexibility, the comparative lengths of weekly hours, the behaviour of real wages, and human capital aspects of labour inputs. |
| Keywords: | labour productivity, Great Depression, Great Recession |
| JEL: | E32 J23 J24 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13528&r=all |
| By: | Francis X. Diebold |
| Abstract: | I investigate Big Data, the phenomenon, the term, and the discipline, with emphasis on origins of the term, in industry and academics, in computer science and statistics/econometrics. Big Data the phenomenon continues unabated, Big Data the term is now firmly entrenched, and Big Data the discipline is emerging. |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2008.05835&r=all |