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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2007‒07‒13
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Stephan Klasen (University of Goettingen); David Lawson (University of Manchester) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the link between population and per capita economic growth, and poverty, using the interesting case study of Uganda. Although Uganda has recently experienced excellent economic growth and poverty reduction, it currently has one of the highest population growth rates in the world which, due to the inherent demographic momentum, will persist for some time to come. By combining both a macro and microeconometric approach, using panel data, we are able to consider the impact of population growth on per capita economic growth and poverty. We find both theoretical considerations and strong empirical evidence suggest that the currently high population growth puts a considerable break on per capita growth prospects in Uganda. Moreover, it contributes significantly to low achievement in poverty reduction and is associated with households being persistently poor and moving into poverty. This is therefore likely to make substantial improvements in poverty reduction, and per capita growth, very difficult. |
| Keywords: | Population, poverty, Uganda, household size |
| JEL: | O15 I32 J13 |
| Date: | 2007–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:vwldps:133&r=ltv |
| By: | Thomas Baudin (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - [CNRS : UMR8174] - [Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I]) |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes an economic and cultural mechanism that can predict a fertility transition and its timing. The cultural structure of the population is endogenously determined by a cultural evolution mechanism. The fertility rates reduction in the long run is always the result of an interaction between the cultural and economic structures of the society. Permanent productivity schocks have to distort sufficiently the cultural structure of the population to make acceptable modern behaviours (in term of fertility) to the traditionalist parents. An increase in the average income level provoked by the technological progress will be necessary but not sufficient condition to undergo a fertility transition. Finally, a fertility transition can always appear in the economy whathever the initial cultural structure but that cultural structure determines the timing of the transition. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, transition, preferences transmission, cultural evolution, endogenous fertility. |
| Date: | 2007–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00159595_v1&r=ltv |
| By: | Debraj Ray (NYU - New York University - [New York University], IAE - Instituto de Analisis Economico - [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas]); Jean-Marie Baland (CRED - Centre de Recherche en Economie du Developpement - [University of Namur]); Olivier Dagnelie (CRED - Centre de Recherche en Economie du Developpement - [University of Namur]) |
| Abstract: | A group of agents voluntarily participates in a joint project, in which efforts are not perfectly substitutable. The output is divided according to some given vector of shares. A share vector is unimprovable if no other share vector yields a higher sum of payoffs. When the elasticity of substitution across efforts is two or lower, only the perfectly equal share vector is unimprovable, and all other vectors can be improved via Lorenz domination. For higher elasticities of substitution, perfect equality is no longer unimprovable. Our results throw light on the connections between inequality and collective action. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Collective Action, Substitutability |
| Date: | 2007–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00160753_v1&r=ltv |
| By: | Richard B. Freeman |
| Abstract: | The paper documents the large cross-country differences in labor institutions that make them a candidate explanatory factor for the divergent economic performance of countries and reviews what economists have learned about the effects of these institutions on economic outcomes. It identifies three ways in which institutions affect economic performance: by altering incentives, by facilitating efficient bargaining, and by increasing information, communication, and trust. The evidence shows that labor institutions reduce the dispersion of earnings and income inequality, which alters incentives, but finds equivocal effects on other aggregate outcomes, such as employment and unemployment. Given weaknesses in the cross-country data on which most studies focus, the paper argues for increased use of micro-data, simulations, and experiments to illuminate how labor institutions operate and affect outcomes. |
| JEL: | J01 |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13242&r=ltv |
| By: | Marika Karanassou (Queen Mary, University of London and IZA); Hector Sala (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and IZA); Dennis J. Snower (Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relation between US inflation and unemployment from the perspective of "frictional growth," a phenomenon arising from the interplay between growth and frictions. In particular, we examine the interaction between money growth (on the one hand) and various real and nominal frictions (on the other). In this context we show that monetary policy has not only persistent, but permanent real effects, giving rise to a long-run inflation-unemployment tradeoff. We evaluate this tradeoff empirically and assess the impact of productivity, money growth, budget deficit, and trade deficit on the US unemployment and inflation trajectories during the nineties. |
| Keywords: | Inflation dynamics, Unemployment dynamics, Phillips curve, Roaring nineties |
| JEL: | E24 E31 E51 E62 |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp604&r=ltv |
| By: | Leonardo Gasparini (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Javier Alejo (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Francisco Haimovich (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Sergio Olivieri (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata); Leopoldo Tornarolli (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the incidence of poverty among the elderly in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on household survey microdata from 20 countries. The situation of older people is characterized in terms of income, employment, education, health and access to services vis-à-vis the rest of the population. The paper identifies the role played by the current pension systems in Latin America, and assesses the efforts needed to achieve substantial improvements toward the reduction of old-age poverty. |
| Keywords: | elderly, ageing, poverty, Latin America, Caribbean |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0055&r=ltv |