|
on South East Asia |
| By: | Mukherjee, Anit; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | The dynamic rural nonfarm sector in China has been a major contributor to the country's remarkable growth, while in India the growth in output and employment in this sector has been rather stagnant. The paper argues that the observed patterns in the rural nonfarm development are the results of institutional differences between the two countries, especially in their political systems, ownership structure, and credit institutions. A review of the strengths and weaknesses of the rural nonfarm economy in China and India highlights the potentials and challenges of growth in the sector. |
| Keywords: | Industrial policy ,Policy research ,Non-farm development , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:24&r=sea |
| By: | Fan, Shenggen; Chan-Kang, Connie; Mukherjee, Anit |
| Abstract: | "Like many developing countries, China and India followed development strategies biased in favor of the urban sector over the last several decades. These development schemes have led to overall efficiency losses due to misallocation of resources among rural and urban sectors. It also led to large income gaps between rural and urban areas. The urban bias was greater in China than in India. Indeed, official data show that both the income gap and the difference in poverty rates between rural and urban areas are much larger in China than in India. Both countries have corrected the rural-urban divide to some extent as part of reform processes. But the bias still exists. Other studies also support the idea presented here that correcting this imbalance will not only contribute to higher rural growth, but also secure future urban growth (Fan and Chan-Kang 2005). More important, correcting the urban bias will lead to larger reductions in poverty as well as more balanced growth across sectors and regions. Correcting a government's bias towards investment in urban areas is one of the most important policies to pursue." from Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Rural-urban linkages ,Poverty , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:196&r=sea |
| By: | Gulati, Ashok; Fan, Shenggen; Dalafi, Sara |
| Abstract: | "China's and India's rapid rise in the global arena has not only captured the attention of the world but has also set into motion a rethinking of the very paradigm of economic development....Today, China and India together account for 40 percent of the world's population. Both have implemented a series of economic reforms in the past two and half decades: China initiated this process at the end of the 1970s, while India began in the early 1990s. These reforms have led to rapid economic growth, with a growth rate of 8–9 percent per annum in China and 6–7 percent per annum in India. Despite similar trends in the reforms, the two countries have taken different reform paths; China started off with reforms in the agriculture sector and in rural areas, while India started by liberalizing and reforming the manufacturing sector. These differences have led to different growth rates and, more importantly, different rates of poverty reduction. They also have fundamentally different implications for growth and poverty reduction in the future. What can we learn from the process of economic reform in these two countries?... A number of studies looking into key aspects of reform and their relationship to outcomes, presented at two international workshops held in New Delhi and Beijing, try to offer some answers to these questions. These papers are currently being prepared by IFPRI for publication, and this discussion paper is a synopsis presented as a forerunner to the book. " from Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Poverty alleviation China ,Poverty alleviation Egypt ,Economic reform , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:mtiddp:87&r=sea |
| By: | Umed Temurshoev |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how free international trade affects the environment in the developed and less developed worlds. Using input-output techniques, tests of the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and the factor endowment hypothesis (FEH) for the US and China were empirically carried out. We found that China gains and the US lose in terms of CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions from increased trade, and the US is not exporting capital intensive goods. Thus both the PHH and the FEH are rejected, which implies that explaining the trade of pollutants remains an unresolved puzzle. |
| Keywords: | International trade, Environment, Pollution haven, Factor endowment, Inputoutput analysis. |
| JEL: | F18 Q32 D57 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp292&r=sea |
| By: | Takashi Obinata (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo); Kazuyuki Suda (Waseda University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between value relevance of the multi-step income statement and managerial opportunistic behavior. In Japan, net income is disclosed by three steps, i.e., 1) operating profits from core operating activity, 2) ordinary income, measured by adding gains and losses from non-core operating and financing activities to operating profits, and 3) net income that is bottom line performance in the income statement. While Japanese firms achieve income smoothing, loss avoidance and big bath, the managerial opportunistic behavior is simply identified by the observation of multi performance measures. We find that the firms doing income smoothing, loss avoidance and big bath, which are identified by the multi-step income statement, have the different value relevance of earnings from other firms. In many cases, earnings management decreases the value relevance of earnings. The results suggest that the multi-step income statement enables investors to detect earnings management without apparent difficulty and that earnings become more useful when investors use the information contained in it. |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2006cf403&r=sea |
| By: | Wittmer, Heidi; Birner, Regina |
| Abstract: | "The present paper analyzes the role of discourse in conflicts concerning nature conservation in tropical countries. We focus on the contested question as to whether and to which extent local communities should be allowed to live and use resources inside protected areas. Applying the concepts of belief-systems, story-lines and discourse coalitions, we analyze two empirical case studies dealing with this conflict: The first case study is concerned with a policy process at the national level that aimed at passing a community forestry law in Thailand to make the establishment of community forests in protected areas possible. The second case study deals with the proposed resettlement of a village from the Lore Lindu National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia. In both cases, three discourses could be observed: a conservationist discourse, an eco-populist discourse, and a developmentalist discourse. The case studies show that the conservationists and the developmentalists were able to form a discourse coalition, which was challenged by the proponents of the eco-populist discourse. The analysis also demonstrates that establishing story-lines in the discourse can lead to the neglect of facts and problems that do not fit in either discourse. The paper draws attention to the role of science in the different discourses and concludes that scientists should become more aware of the role they play in the different discourses." Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | south east asia ,East and Southeast Asia ,Protected areas , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:37&r=sea |
| By: | Tsuyoshi Nakamura (Faculty of Economics, Tokyo Keizai University); Kazuo Ueda (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | Using a panel of 30 Japanese chemical and pharmaceutical companies for the period of 1985 to 1998, we estimate the effects of university-industry research collaboration (UIC) on participating firms' research output. We find, as in other studies in the field, that UIC leads to more research output, in terms of the number of patents obtained. In contrast to the results for the U.S., however, we find no evidence that UIC significantly affects quality adjusted patents, that is, citation weighted patent counts. By looking finely at what part of the quality ladder of patents UIC stimulates, we find that UIC increases only those patents with a small number of citations, thus failing to affect the "average" quality of patents. Discussions of possible reasons for this finding are also offered. |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2006cf404&r=sea |
| By: | Gunseli Berik |
| Abstract: | This brief gendered history of Taiwan’s and Korea’s labor markets indicates a recent reversal in the persistent gender wage gaps that were long sustained by state policies that created and reproduced surplus labor conditions. The relative decline of manufacturing employment since the mid/late 1980s was accompanied by a generalized improvement in women’s relative wages. However, gender wage inequality and women’s low wages continue to be important policy variables, given the concentration of women in lower-paying and less secure occupations and sectors, Korea’s more limited and stalled progress toward gender wage equality, recent signs of downward harmonization of wages in Taiwan’s largest sectors, and ongoing employment discrimination against women. Policies must tackle employment discrimination, improve women’s labor market skills, support women’s caring work in the home to ensure their equitable pursuit of employment, and create gender equitable old-age security systems. |
| Keywords: | gender wage inequality, discrimination, economic development, Korea, Taiwan |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uta:papers:2006_03&r=sea |
| By: | Pyakuryal, Bishwambher; Thapa, Y. B.; Roy, Devesh |
| Abstract: | "Among South Asian countries, Nepal has liberalized most extensively during the 1980s and 1990s on both fronts, domestic and external. Nepal is a least developed country with a gross national product of US $235 per capita in 2001 and second lowest per capita wealth in the world. In South Asia, Nepal has the lowest per capita income, highest dependence of population on agriculture and second highest poverty rate. At the same time, on an average, Nepal has the lowest tariffs in South Asia and has taken several steps to downsize its public distribution system and remove a host of agricultural subsidies. This twin scenario where the lowest per capita income country is perhaps also the most liberalized makes for an interesting case for policy analysis. This paper reviews the outcomes from the liberalization policies followed by Nepal relating to food security." from Authors' Abstract |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:mtiddp:88&r=sea |
| By: | James Crotty; Kang-Kook Lee |
| Abstract: | In December 1997 the IMF offered Korea loans to help alleviate its financial crisis. These loans were accompanied by what the IMF called “extreme structural conditionality.” Korea was required to replace its traditional East Asian economic system with a neoliberal model. We review economic performance in the neoliberal era. Growth has slowed, poverty and inequality have risen, and investment spending has stagnated, while foreign ownership of Korean firms and banks has skyrocketed. We argue that foreign investment has not helped Korea. For example, by leading a shift from corporate to consumer lending, foreign control of Korea’s financial markets has constrained capital accumulation and helped create an excessively indebted household sector, while making it harder for the government to adopt progressive economic policies. We conclude that the eight year experiment with radical neoliberal restructuring has turned out well for foreign capital and wealthy Koreans, but has been a failure for the majority of Korea’s people. |
| JEL: | O19 F34 F36 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uma:periwp:wp111&r=sea |
| By: | Daisuke Ishikawa; Yoshiro Tsutsui |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to elucidate whether the supply side played a crucial role in causing credit crunch in 1990s. To this end, we estimated the supply and demand functions using prefectural panel data from 1990 to 2001, and calculate the shift of those functions. The results reveal that until 1996, the supply function largely shifted toward right, indicating that the supply side was not the main cause. However, after 1996 the loan supply shifted leftwards as much as the loan demand, implying that the contraction of supply contributed to the decrease in the loans. |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:06012&r=sea |
| By: | Thanh, Hoang Xuan; Anh, Dang Nguyen; Tacoli, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | "With high population density and limited land availability, Vietnam's Red River Delta is undergoing a major transformation as its economic base moves away from subsistence farming towards intensive, high-value food production for export and local urban markets, and nonfarm employment. This paper describes the changing livelihoods of the residents of two villages that represent two different pathways to local economic development. One village relies primarily on agricultural intensification and diversification, although in combination with nonfarm activities. These nonfarm activities are either supplementary (such as handicraft production and seasonal migration) or related to farming, such as provision of agricultural services, transport and trade of agricultural produce. To a large extent, it is this nonfarm income that allows investment in agriculture at the household level. Residents of the second village, although nominally still owning rice farms, have effectively moved out of agriculture and engage almost exclusively in handicraft production. Despite these major differences, there are also important similarities between the two villages. First, much of their recent economic development is linked to access to markets — including proximity to local urban centers and to Hanoi (where demand from urban consumers and from exporting enterprises has increased substantially), a vastly improved road and transport system, and an excellent communications infrastructure. Second, each village has developed forward and backward linkages with their main production sector. Last but not least, local authorities have played an important role in supporting local economic development, providing infrastructure, training for handicraft production, and inputs for farmers. The long-term sustainability of economic growth and poverty reduction in the Red River Delta will largely depend on strengthening rural-urban linkages. This includes adopting regulations on land use that allow farmers to better respond to growing urban demand for high-value produce; incorporate more explicitly the needs of the handicraft micro-enterprises in existing and future policies and plans for rural industrialization; recognize and support the role of seasonal migration in rural local economic development; and address the changing planning and natural resource management needs of these urbanizing villages." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | south east asia ,East and Southeast Asia ,Microenterprises Vietnam ,Migration, Internal ,Rural-urban linkages ,Livelihoods , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:193&r=sea |
| By: | You, Liangzhi; Rosegrant, Mark W.; Fang, Cheng; Wood, Stanley |
| Abstract: | "Climate change continues to have major impact on crop productivity all over the world. While many researchers have evaluated the possible impact of global warming on crop yields using mainly indirect crop simulation models, there are relatively few direct assessments on the impact of observed climate change on past crop yield and growth. We use a 1979-2000 Chinese crop-specific panel dataset to investigate the climate impact on Chinese wheat yield growth. We find that a 1 percent increase in wheat growing season temperature reduces wheat yields by about 0.3 percent. This negative impact is less severe than those reported in other regions. Rising temperature over the past two decades accounts for a 2.4 percent decline in wheat yields in China while the majority of the wheat yield growth, 75 percent, comes from increased use of physical inputs. We emphasize the necessity of including such major influencing factors as physical inputs into the crop yield-climate function in order to have an accurate estimation of climate impact on crop yields." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Global warming ,Climate ,Wheat production , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:143&r=sea |
| By: | L. Cameron; A. Chaudhuri; N. Erkal; L. Gangadharan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines cultural differences in attitudes towards corruption by analysing individual-decision making in a corrupt experimental environment. Attitudes towards corruption play a critical role in the persistence of corruption. Our experiments differentiate between the incentives to engage in corrupt behaviour and the incentives to punish corrupt behaviour and allow us to explore whether, in environments characterized by lower levels of corruption, there is both a lower propensity to engage in corrupt behaviour and a higher propensity to punish corrupt behaviour. Based on experiments run in Australia (Melbourne), India (Delhi), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Singapore, we find that there is more variation in the propensities to punish corrupt behaviour than in the propensities to engage in corrupt behaviour across cultures. The results reveal that the subjects in India exhibit a higher tolerance towards corruption than the subjects in Australia while the subjects in Indonesia behave similarly to those in Australia. The subjects in Singapore have a higher propensity to engage in corruption than the subjects in Australia. We also vary our experimental design to examine the impact of a more effective punishment system and the effect of the perceived cost of bribery. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Experiments, Punishment, Cultural Analysis |
| JEL: | C91 D73 O17 K42 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:943&r=sea |
| By: | Andersson, Magnus (Stockholm School of Asian Studies); Engvall, Anders (European Institute of Japanese Studies); Kokko, Ari (European Institute of Japanese Studies) |
| Abstract: | Lao PDR has been relatively successful in raising incomes and reducing poverty since the early 1990s. However, the gains in terms of poverty reduction are unevenly distributed across regions and population groups. This paper uses a detailed household survey data set to examine the determinants of income and poverty in Lao PDR. The results suggest that household size, dependency ratios, education, and access to agricultural inputs are among the main determinants of per capita consumption. In addition, geography and ethnicity matter. A closer analysis of the role of ethnicity suggests that the higher poverty incidence among minority households is due to their limited access to productive resources rather than lower efficiency in resource use. The paper also proposes some elements for a poverty reduction strategy for Lao PDR. |
| Keywords: | Lao PDR; Laos; development; poverty; household; ethnic minorities |
| JEL: | D13 O12 O18 O53 |
| Date: | 2006–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:eijswp:0223&r=sea |
| By: | Mary Racelis; Angela Desiree M. Aguirre; Liane Pena-Alampay; Felisa U. Etemadi; Teresa Banaynal Fernandez; Rosemarie Matias Fernandez; Marita Castro Guevara; Jerome A. Serrano; Ching Li Ye; Eunice Anne M. Enriquez; Careza P. Reyes; Institute of Philippine Culture; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | The study analyses how the Philippines’ national Child Friendly Movement, which has engaged government, NGOs, civil society, children and UNICEF, has enhanced the capacity of local governments, communities and young people to fulfil the rights of the poorest children. The study uses participatory methodologies and reflects the viewpoint of children and the community. It reveals that in areas where the Child Friendly Cities strategy was adopted, greater attention is paid to the most excluded and vulnerable groups and interventions are developed on a wider spectrum of children’s rights. Beyond providing insights on concrete ways in which child rights are bring promoted at local level, it provides recommendations on how the fulfilment of child rights can be further enhanced by municipal governments. |
| Keywords: | 'Abandoned Children" 2;"Adjust;; Philippines; |
| JEL: | H79 I31 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:innins:innins06/25&r=sea |
| By: | Thanh Dinh Thi Huyen; Kleimeier Stefanie (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | As banking markets in developing countries are maturing, banks face competition not only from other domestic banks but also from sophisticated foreign banks. Combined with a dramatic growth of consumer credit and increased regulatory attention to risk management, the development of a well-functioning credit assessment framework is essential. As part of such a framework, we propose a credit scoring model for Vietnamese retail loans. First, we show how to identify those borrower characteristics that should be part of a credit scoring model. Second, we illustrate how such a model can be calibrated to achieve the strategic objectives of the bank. Finally, we assess the use of credit scoring models in the context of transactional versus relationship lending. |
| Keywords: | financial economics and financial management ; |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2006011&r=sea |
| By: | Mauro Migotto; Benjamin Davis (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization); Gero Carletto (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization); Kathleen Beegle |
| Abstract: | Food security is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon. As such, its measurement may entail and benefit from the combination of both “qualitative-subjective” and “quantitative-objective” indicators. Yet, the evidence on the external validity of subjective-type information is scarce, especially using representative household surveys. The aim of this paper is to compare information on self-perceived food consumption adequacy from the subjective modules of household surveys with standard quantitative indicators, namely calorie consumption, dietary diversity and anthropometry. Datasets from four countries are analyzed: Albania, Madagascar, Nepal and Indonesia. Simple descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, contingency tables and multivariate regression show that the “subjective” indicator is at best poorly correlated with standard quantitative indicators. The paper concludes that while subjective food adequacy indicators may provide insight on the vulnerability dimension of food insecurity, they are too blunt an indicator for food insecurity targeting. An effort towards developing improved subjective food security modules that are contextually sensitive should go hand in hand with research into how to improve household survey data for food security measurement along other dimensions of the phenomenon, particularly calorie consumption. |
| Keywords: | Food security, Qualitative indicators, Quantitative indicators, Household surveys, Subjective perceptions of food adequacy. |
| JEL: | I31 I32 O57 C19 C81 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0510&r=sea |
| By: | Cororaton, Caesar B.; Cockburn, John; Corong, Erwin |
| Abstract: | "The paper examines the possible impact of Doha agreement on Philippine poverty. Using a detailed CGE analysis, the agreement is observed to depress world demand for Philippine agricultural exports, and thus slightly increase poverty, especially among rural households. However, an ambitious full trade liberalization scenario, which involves free world trade and domestic liberalization, leads to increased industrial exports that favor urban households. These impacts are driven primarily by domestic trade liberalization, as free world trade favors the agricultural sector by increasing the cost of competing agricultural imports." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Doha agreement ,Computable general equilibrium (CGE) ,Free trade , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:mtiddp:86&r=sea |
| By: | Quisumbing, Agnes R.; McNiven, Scott |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the diversity of the experience of migrants to rural, peri–urban, and urban areas using a unique longitudinal data set from the Philippines. In 2003 and 2004, the Bukidnon Panel Study followed up with 448 families in rural Mindanao who were previously interviewed in 1984/85 by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture, Xavier University, and surveyed both a sample of their offspring living in the same area as well as a sample of those who had moved away to different locations. Parents (original respondents) and children who formed separate households in the same locality were interviewed in 2003; original respondents' offspring that migrated to different rural and urban areas were interviewed in 2004. Thus, migration patterns were examined using the full listing of children of the original respondents as well as a special survey of 257 of their migrant offspring who were tracked down in 2004. This migrant survey focused on differences in the migration experience of males and females who moved to other rural areas, poblaciones (the administrative seats of municipalities or towns), and urban areas. We follow this with an examination of the determinants of children's location, using the sample of all children. In addition to migration to rural, peri–urban, and urban destinations, we explicitly consider the case where the individual leaves his or her parental residence, but remains in the same village, as a locational choice." from Authors' Abstract |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:197&r=sea |
| By: | Rodgers, Charles; Hellegers, Petra J.G.J. |
| Abstract: | "The increasing demand for water and limited degree of cost recovery for irrigation water delivery are important challenges for policymakers in Indonesia. To meet the increasing demand for water, it is important to reduce water use in irrigated paddy cultivation, long the dominant consumptive user, and to divert water away from agriculture to domestic and industrial sectors. Reducing water use in irrigated agriculture can be achieved through various means, including rationing, improved user management, and water markets. The appropriate method depends on the situation specific to each basin. In the Brantas Basin in East Java, rationing is already practiced, but often leaves the non-licensed, (non-paying) irrigators with insufficient supplies. Moreover, very low irrigation service fee recovery rates hamper ongoing water sector reforms, which seek to strengthen the capacity of local institutions to co-manage water resources. In the Brantas Basin the average value of water in the production of important irrigated crops substantially exceeds estimated water supply costs and current ISF. However, increased water use fees would impose a substantial burden on farm economic welfare, while water savings would be relatively modest. Therefore, to conserve water and enhance the financial autonomy of irrigators alternative management systems are proposed, including ‘Integrated Crop and Resource Management' and a water brokerage mechanism." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Institutions ,Irrigation Economic aspects ,Prices ,Cost recovery ,Water Prices , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:141&r=sea |