|
on South East Asia |
| By: | Etsuro Shioji |
| Abstract: | China has recently announced its intention to fundamentally reform its currency regime in the future. This paper studies how the country's choice of its exchange rate regime interacts with the rest of East Asia's choice. For that purpose, I build a four country new open economy macroeconomic model that consists of East Asia, China, Japan and the US. It is assumed that both East Asia and China peg their respective currencies to certain weighted averages of the Japanese yen and the US dollar. Each side takes the other's choice as given and chooses its own basket weight. The game is characterized by strategic complementarity. It is shown that the currency in which the traded goods prices are quoted plays an important role. The paper considers two alternative cases, the standard producer currency pricing (PCP) case and the vehicle currency pricing (VCP) case in which all the prices of traded goods are preset in the units of US dollars. In the PCP case, trade volume is the important determinant of the equilibrium basket weights, and the balances of trade are inconsequential. However, in the VCP case, trade balances between the four economies are shown to play an important role. Under VCP, and starting from realistic initial trade balances, the equilibrium basket weights far exceed what are implied by Japan's presence in international trade. |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:06024&r=sea |
| By: | Zekeriya Eser; Joe Peek |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d05-157&r=sea |
| By: | Yukihiko Kiyokawa; Jian Wang |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d05-150&r=sea |
| By: | Jacinto F. Fabiosa (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD); Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI)) |
| Abstract: | With sustained income growth and fast urbanization, Indonesia will see a major shift in the growth of grain consumption from rice to wheat products. New demand estimates from consumption survey data give a relatively high income elasticity of demand for wheat-based products, in the range of 0.44 to 0.84, with 26% to 34% of this response coming from the impact of income on the probability of consumption for non-consuming households and the remaining impact coming from the response on the level of consumption for households currently consuming wheat products. Urban location of households also contributes an increase of 0.11% to 0.13% to consumption. In contrast, elasticities in rice show a negative impact of income and urbanization on the probability of consumption and a positive but small impact on the unconditional mean. A partial liberalization scenario shows the domestic wheat flour price declining by 13.66%, inducing consumption to increase by 7.06%, which translates into 7.04% growth in imports. This exerts an upward pressure on the world price, increasing it by 0.23%. A faster income growth scenario shows higher consumption (2.60%), imports (2.59%), and prices (0.09%). Countries with a proximity advantage such as Australia, China, and India will benefit from the growth in this market. But, with dependable supply, product quality assurance, and credit availability, North American suppliers may still remain in this market. |
| Keywords: | double-hurdle demand, trade, Westernization of diet. |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:06-wp422&r=sea |
| By: | Masuyo Takahashi |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d05-153&r=sea |
| By: | Xiaoqiang Cheng; Hans Degryse |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that banking development spurs growth, even in a country with a high growth rate such as China. Employing data of 27 Chinese provinces over the period 1995-2003, we study whether the financial development of two different types of institutions – banks and non-bank financial institutions – have a (significantly different) impact on local economic growth. Our findings show that banks outperform non-bank financial institutions. Only banking development exerts a statistically and economically significant positive impact on local economic growth. This effect becomes more pronounced when the financial sector is less concentrated. |
| Keywords: | growth, financial development, Chinese provinces, banks |
| JEL: | E44 G21 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:17106&r=sea |
| By: | Rui Takahashi |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d05-151&r=sea |
| By: | Masami Imai (Economics and East Asian Studies, Wesleyan University) |
| Abstract: | On April 1, 2002, the Japanese government lifted a blanket guarantee of all deposits and began limiting the coverage of time deposits. This paper uses this deposit insurance reform as a natural experiment to investigate the relationship between deposit insurance coverage and market discipline. I find that the reform raised the sensitivity of interest rates on deposits, and that of deposit quantity to default risk. In addition, the interest rate differentials between partially insured large time deposits and fully insured ordinary deposits increased for risky banks. These results suggest that the deposit insurance reform enhanced market discipline in Japan. I also find that too-big-to-fail (TBTF) policy became a more important determinant of interest rates and deposit allocation after the reform, thereby partially offsetting the positive effects of the deposit insurance reform on overall market discipline. |
| Keywords: | Deposit Insurance, Market Discipline, Japanese Banks |
| JEL: | G2 G28 O53 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2006-007&r=sea |
| By: | Masami Imai (Economics and East Asian Studies, Wesleyan University) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a unique data set on the spreads of subordinated debts issued by Japanese banks to investigate the presence of market monitoring. The results show that subordinated debt investors punished risky banks by requiring higher interest rates. Moreover, I find that the sensitivity of spreads to bank risk increased dramatically after the Japanese government allowed a large city bank, Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, and passed Financial Reform Act and the Rapid Revitalization Act in the late 1990s. |
| Keywords: | Market Discipline, Subordinated Debts, Japanese Bank |
| JEL: | G21 G28 O53 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2006-008&r=sea |
| By: | Heshmati, Almas (Ratio); Yang, Wanshan |
| Abstract: | The view about systematic irrationality of investors and managers in investment with reference to information and communication technology (ICT) with no effects on productivity growth is called productivity paradox. Research suggests that ICT return in developed nations is significant and positive, but not in developing countries. This paper challenges the above conclusion by examining the contribution of ICT to the Chinese economic growth. We investigate the relationship between TFP growth and ICT capital and provide estimation of the returns to ICT investment. The contribution of ICT to economic growth has not been studied earlier for the developing countries like China. The empirical results suggest that China has reaped the benefits of ICT investment. The policy implications for the Chinese ICT investment and development are also discussed. The results add to our understanding of how ICT affects growth in the context of economic development. |
| Keywords: | Productivity paradox; ICT; economic development; TFP growth; China |
| JEL: | D24 E22 O47 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0091&r=sea |
| By: | Peter K. Schott |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relative "sophistication" of China's exports to the United States along two dimensions. First, I compare China's export bundle to those of the relatively skill- and capital-abundant members of the OECD as well as to similarly endowed U.S. trading partners. Second, I examine prices within product categories to determine if China's varieties command a premium relative to its level of development. |
| JEL: | F1 F2 F4 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12173&r=sea |
| By: | Kuan-Pin Lin; Zhi-He Long; Mei Wu |
| Abstract: | Using techniques of spatial econometrics, this paper investigates ƒÐ-convergence of provincial real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in China. The empirical evidence concludes that spatial dependence across regions is strong enough to distort the traditional measure of ƒÐ-convergence. This study focuses on the variation of per capita GDP that is dependent on the development processes of neighboring provinces and cities. This refinement of the conditional ƒÐ-convergence model specification allows for analysis of spatial dependence in the mean and variance. The corrected measure of ƒÐ-convergence in China indicates a lower level of dispersion in the economic development process. This implies a smaller divergence in real per capita GDP, although convergence across regions is still a challenging goal to achieve in the 2000s. </span></td></tr> |
| Keywords: | ƒÐ-Convergence, Moran's index, spatial dependence, spatial lag |
| JEL: | C23 O18 O53 R11 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d05-155&r=sea |
| By: | Masaki Nakabayashi (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | We have seen many cases where the factory system emerges and realizes higher productivity in the process of industrialization. However, also seen in history is that other types of production organization have kept expanding and have reached at some high performance. For instance, the putting-out system rather than the factory system has sometimes been chosen in the fabric industry, where the flexibility of production and the variety of products are especially important to respond to the fashion. This type of production organization has prospered even during the industrialization since the 19th century, supported by the development of some modern technologies such as synthetic dyes. This study inquires a case of the silk fabric industry in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. In Kiryu, the traditional silk textile industry developed in the Tokugawa era, and the industry even grew more under the putting-out system during the industrialization in Japan since the late 19th century, because the putting-out system with synthetic dying was the optimal combination to realize the variety of products required in the mass consumption in the industrial society. |
| Keywords: | multitask Governance of trades, Putting-out system, Industrial district, Japanese textile industry, Repeated game. |
| JEL: | L67 L14 N95 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:0610&r=sea |
| By: | Oscar Bernal (DULBEA, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels) |
| Abstract: | In the United States, Japan and the Euro Zone, FX interventions are institutionally decided by specific political authorities and implemented by central banks on their behalf. Bearing in mind that these specific political authorities and central banks might not necessarily pursue the same exchange rates objectives, the model proposed in this paper takes account explicitly of this institutional organisation to examine its effects on FX intervention activity. The empirical relevance of our theoretical model is assessed by developing a friction model on the Japanese experience between 1991 and 2004 which reveals how the magnitude of that country’s FX interventions is the outcome of the Japanese Ministry of Finance’s trade-off between attaining its own exchange rate target and one of the Bank of Japan’s. |
| Keywords: | Central banks; Foreign exchange interventions; Interactions; Friction models. |
| JEL: | E58 E61 F31 G15 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dul:wpaper:06-03rs&r=sea |
| By: | Chan, Kalok (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen en Econometrie (Free University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics Sciences, Business Administration and Economitrics); Menkveld, Albert J,; Yang, Zhishu |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the perfect market segmentation setting in China's stock market to examine whether foreign investors are at informational disadvantage relative to domestic investors. We analyze the price discovery roles of the A- (domestic investors) and B-share (foreign investors) markets in China using a new database of transactions data. Before Feb 19, 2001, the A-share market leads the B-share market in price discovery - the signed volume and quote revision of the A-share market have strong predictive ability for B-share quote returns, but not vice versa. After Feb 19, 2001, because some domestic investors are allowed to invest on the B-share market, we also find evidence for a reverse causality from the B-share to the A-share market. Nevertheless, the Hasbrouck (1995) information share analysis reveals that A-shares continue to dominate price discovery. |
| Keywords: | Market microstructure; Informational role; Segmented markets; Chinese stock markets |
| JEL: | F21 D82 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2006-4&r=sea |
| By: | Tetsuji Okazaki (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the mechanisms by which the industrial organization of the Japanese cotton spinning industry changed over time, focusing on the rise and fall of the firms that integrated spinning and weaving processes. The basic idea is to decompose the change in the proportion of integrated firms into factors representing "selection" and "imitation" in an evolutionary sense. It was found that the factor which made the largest contribution differed between the growing phase and the declining phase of integrated firms. In the growing phase, imitation, namely the change in the attribute of the incumbent firms, was the major factor in the proportion change. On the other hand, in the declining phase, selection, in particular, birth rate, was the major factor, not only in the case where the proportion is measured in terms of firm number but also in terms of production. |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2006cf416&r=sea |
| By: | Shi, Anqing |
| Abstract: | There is a concern that the growth of towns in China has been stalled recently and with it, the creation of nonfarm jobs in rural industries. The author uses the 2000 census tabulations to look at this issue by examining in-migration in towns in three provinces in China-Zhejiang, Henan, and Sichuan-their educational attainment, original place, and occupational composition. In addition to the diversified patterns of town in-migrants revealed in the three provinces, the author finds that town in-migrants generally possess a higher level of educational attainment than the local population in towns, especially in the less developed western and central regions. This inf low of human capital could foster development in towns. There is also evidence that as economic opportunity increases in towns, such as in richer coastal province of Zhejiang, better educated people in rural areas are likely to shift their jobs from the farm to the nonfarm sector in towns nearby, instead of leaving the countryside to migrate to other provinces. This could reduce migration pressure on big cities. Finally, the labor market in towns in the less developed west and central regions is more flexible in accommodating in-migrants, whereas in the developed province of Zhejiang the labor market is segregated between migrants and the local population. |
| Keywords: | Anthropology,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Labor Markets,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,Human Migrations & Resettlements |
| Date: | 2006–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3890&r=sea |
| By: | Shalizi, Zmarak |
| Abstract: | China has experienced a wide-scale and rapid transformation from an agricultural based economy to the manufacturing workshop of the world. The associated relocatio n of the population from relatively low density rural areas to very high density urban areas is having a significant impact on the quantity and quality of water available as inputs into the production and consumption process, as well as the ability of the water system to absorb and neutralize the waste byproducts deposited into it. Water shortages are most severe in the north of the country, where surface water diversion is excessive and groundwater is being depleted. In addition, the quality of water is deteriorating because of pollution, thereby aggravating existing water shortages. The biggest challenge ahead will be for national and local governments to craft policies and rules within China ' s complex cultural and legal administrative system that provide incentives for users to increase efficiency of water use, and for polluters to clean up the water they use and return clean water to stream flows. Using a standard public economics framework, water requirements for public goods-such as ecosystem needs-should be set aside first, before allocating property rights in water (to enable water markets to function and generate efficient allocation signals). Even then, water markets will have to be regulated to ensure public goods, such as public health, are not compromised. Until water markets are implemented, staying the course on increasing water and wastewater prices administratively and encouraging water conservation are necessary to reduce the wasting of current scarce water resources, as well as the new water supplies to be provided in the future. |
| Keywords: | Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Water Use |
| Date: | 2006–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3895&r=sea |
| By: | Kim, Hyesung (Seoul National University); Heshmati, Almas (Ratio); Aoun, Dany |
| Abstract: | firms is developed in this paper and results compared with the classical static model. This paper specifies and estimates the unobservable optimal capital structure using a wide range of observable determinants. Uunbalanced panel data of Korean listed firms for the period 1985 to 2002 is used in this study. In addition to identification and estimation of the effects of the determinants of capital structure and capital structure optimality, some Korea-specific features such as the structural break before and after the financial crisis, as well as affiliation to a chaebol business groups, are taken into account to verify whether the optimal capital structure was affected by the financial crisis or whether belonging to a chaebol has any effect, and if so, to what extent. |
| Keywords: | Capital structure; debt; firm; panel data; adjustment; Korea |
| JEL: | C33 D21 G32 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0093&r=sea |
| By: | Hirofumi Uchida; Gregory F. Udell; Nobuyoshi Yamori |
| Abstract: | Using data from a unique survey in Japan, we investigate the relevance of different lending technologies which are utilized in lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises. We characterize loans from a technology point of view, and ask (i) to what extent different lending technologies are used, (ii) how complementary the technologies are, and (iii) what determines the choice of each technology. We find that although the financial statement lending technology is most commonly used, multiple lending technologies are usually used at the same time. This suggests the existence of complementarity among lending technologies. We also find that individual technologies have their distinct characteristics as well, and, among other findings, smaller banks and banks with a rich accumulation of soft information tend to lend using the relationship lending technology. |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:06025&r=sea |
| By: | Chan, Kalok (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen en Econometrie (Free University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics Sciences, Business Administration and Economitrics); Menkveld, Albert J.; Yang, Zhishu |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of information asymmetry on equity prices in the local A- and foreign Bshare market in China. We construct measures of information asymmetry based on market microstructure models, and find that they explain a significant portion of cross-sectional variation in B-share discounts, even after controlling for other factors. On a univariate basis, the price impact measure and the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread in the A- and B-share markets explains 44% and 46% of the variation in B-share discounts. On a multivariate basis, both measures are far more statistically significant than any of the control variables. We also examine the behavior of B-share discounts after the B-share market was partially opened up to domestic investors after March 2001. Not only do we observe that B-share discounts decline from an average of 72% to 43%, but we also find that the differences in the adverse selection components across the markets shrink. |
| Keywords: | Information asymmetry; Asset prices; Microstructure; Market segmentation; Spread decomposition; PIN; China |
| JEL: | G1 G15 G14 G12 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:vuarem:2006-5&r=sea |
| By: | Oh, Inha; Heshmati, Almas (Ratio); Baek, Chulwoo; Lee, Jeong-Dong |
| Abstract: | The Korean economy severely suffered from the Asian financial crisis, and is well known for rapid recovery in the years following. However, the recovery was mainly due to successful restructuring by a limited number of large-sized enterprises (LSEs). The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are still suffering from the depression. The crisis and subsequent unequal size related recovery patterns have aggravated the pre-crisis gap between LSEs and SMEs. In this paper, the total factor productivity (TFP) of the South Korean manufacturing industry is calculated, at the firm level, and comparative analysis is performed by size classes. The sources of the TFP growth are decomposed into various effects related to entry, exit, and survival of firms. Additional survival analyses are used to investigate internal and external determinant variables for the survival of LSEs and SMEs. The results indicate that the exit of SMEs with higher productivity rates represented a major problem in Korean manufacturing, particularly in the post-crisis period. Non-selective government support for SMEs appears to have caused disorder in the SME sector. |
| Keywords: | Firm dynamics; TFP; survival analysis; SME; Korean manufacturing |
| JEL: | C33 C41 D24 L60 O30 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0094&r=sea |
| By: | Hsiao Chink Tang |
| Abstract: | This study empirically examines whether a group of 12 Asian countries is suitable to form an Asian Monetary Union (AMU). The criteria of suitability are based on the Optimum Currency Area (OCA) literature whereby countries experiencing symmetrical shocks, have smaller size of shock and faster speed of adjustment are considered as potentially good partners in a monetary union. The Blanchard and Quah (BQ) structural vector autoregression (SVAR) methodology is used to identify the demand and supply shocks. The overall finding provides no support for the formation of a full-fledged AMU. Instead, what appears more feasible initially is the formation of smaller sub-groupings within the region. |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:camaaa:2006-13&r=sea |
| By: | Gauti B. Eggertsson |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the effectiveness of fiscal policy at zero nominal interest rates. I analyze a stochastic general equilibrium model with sticky prices and rational expectations and assume that the government cannot commit to future policy. Real government spending increases demand by increasing public consumption. Deficit spending increases demand by generating inflation expectations. I derive fiscal spending multipliers that calculate how much output increases for each dollar of government spending (real or deficit). Under monetary and fiscal policy coordination, the real spending multiplier is 3.4 and the deficit spending multiplier is 3.8. However, when there is no policy coordination, that is, when the central bank is "goal independent," the real spending multiplier is unchanged but the deficit spending multiplier is zero. Coordination failure may explain why fiscal policy in Japan has been relatively less effective in recent years than during the Great Depression. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy ; Government spending policy ; Deficit financing ; Monetary policy |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:241&r=sea |
| By: | Suzanna Chan (University of Ulster) |
| Abstract: | For members of ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland, place making can mean negotiating challenges posed by tensions between the two majority communities of Catholic, nationalist, republican and Protestant, unionist, loyalist; tensions which are reflected in contests over place identity. In Belfast, the Chinese Welfare Association (CWA) has undertaken two building projects to service the needs of the Chinese community and to promote diversity, engaging in close consultation with local communities. Hong Ling Gardens Chinese Sheltered Housing Scheme provides culturally sensitive sheltered accommodation for Chinese elders. The second building will provide a Chinese Community and Resource Centre, and construction is planned to commence in December 2006. This paper highlights how the CWA has met challenges posed by territoriality, and anxieties in relation to perceived changes in politico-cultural place identities, within the complexities of Northern Ireland. It uses semi-structured interviews, cultural and social theory, consultation of meeting reports, and empirical observation. |
| Keywords: | Northern Ireland, Diversity, Chinese Community, Place Identity, Racism |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2006.55&r=sea |
| By: | Oh, Inha; Lee, Jeong-Dong (Seoul National University); Hwang, Seogwon; Heshmati, Almas (Ratio) |
| Abstract: | A product is called technically inefficient when it has higher price and/or lower quality than others. Technical inefficiency of product has been conceptualized since Lancaster (1966), and empirically measured by many researchers, for example, Fernandez-Castro and Smith (2002) and Lee et al. (2005) among others. If we know further the information about structure of utility function, allocative inefficiency can also be measured. Even though a product is technically efficient with highest quality together with lowest price, it could not be chosen in the market, if it cannot match the preference structure of consumers, i.e. it is allocatively inefficient. This study poses a conceptual and methodological framework to measure technical and allocative efficiency at the product level considering consumer’s choice, which comprises the overall efficiency. Empirically we combine Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and discrete choice model to measure the level of inefficiencies. The suggested framework is applied to the Korean automobile market. The relationship between the level of efficiency and market performance in terms of market share is discussed. |
| Keywords: | DEA; Product Efficiency; Consumers Utility; Automobile Market; Korea |
| JEL: | C14 C25 D13 D61 L92 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0095&r=sea |
| By: | Heshmati, Almas (Ratio); Kim, Yee-Kyoung (Seoul National University); Kim, Hyesung (Seoul National University) |
| Abstract: | This study empirically examines the relationship between knowledge capital and performance heterogeneity at the firm level. The model is based on a knowledge production function comprising of four interdependent equations linking innovativeness to innovation input, innovation output and productivity. The empirical part is based on Korean firm level innovation data. The model is estimated using advanced econometric methods. We investigate whether innovation is a significant and contributing determinant of performance heterogeneity among firms. In examining the relationship between innovation and productivity we correct for selectivity and simultaneity biases. The results show that there is a two-way causal relationship between knowledge capital and labor productivity. Firm-specific effects positively contribute to innovation output but they are negatively related to productivity. Industry heterogeneity does not affect innovation output or productivity. |
| Keywords: | Innovation Input; Innovation Output; Productivity; Korea |
| JEL: | C33 E22 L60 O32 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0090&r=sea |
| By: | Jha, Shreyasi; Mani, Muthukumara |
| Abstract: | Vietnam ' s integration with the international economy has increased significantly over the past decade, aided by substantial liberalization of trade, and appears set to increase further as trade-expanding measures take full effect. This dramatic shift in Vietnam ' s trading patterns has important implications for the environment and use of natural resources. This paper offers a systematic analysis of the trading and investment patterns to give a broader understanding of the environmental implications of greater openness of the economy during the past decade. The results suggest increasing manufacturing and export activity in water and toxic pollution-intensive sectors compared with the less pollution-intensive sectors. The story is, on the surface, consistent with the changing composition of Vietnamese production and exports away from traditional sectors and toward pollution-intensive manufacturing (especially leather and textiles). The paper also highlights the need to consider strengthening environmental policies while further trade liberalization is being contemplated through Vietnam ' s joining of the World Trade Organization. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics & Policies,Water a nd Industry,Economic Theory & Research,Free Trade,Green Issues |
| Date: | 2006–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3879&r=sea |
| By: | Kang, Jae-Won; Heshmati, Almas (Ratio); Choi, Gyong-Gyu (Gyong-Gyu Choia) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of provision of credit guarantee in Korea at the firm level. The data is assembled from two public funds providing credit guarantees covering the period 2000 to 2003. The sample firms consist of SMEs mainly. To measure the effects of credit guarantee, the relationship between credit guarantees, survival of firms, and their productive performance is analyzed. Since the data is collected as repeated cross sections and firms are not identified over time, the analysis is carried out by using a pseudo panel data approach. The pseudo panel data is created using time invariant firm characteristics. The result from regression analysis conducted indicates that the amounts of credit guarantee and the number of times a firm receives credit guarantees have effects on their survival and growth. The amounts of credit guarantee increase the growth of sales and productivity while frequency of credit guarantees decreases business failure. Size and age play a decisive role in survival of firms and their employment growth as well. Moreover, survival and performance of firms are different across periods, industries, and locations. |
| Keywords: | Credit guarantee; SMEs; Pseudo panel data; survival; performance |
| JEL: | C23 C41 G28 |
| Date: | 2006–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0092&r=sea |
| By: | Glenn P. Jenkins (Department of Economics, Queen's University); Chun-Yan Kuo (John Deutsch Institute, Department of Economics, Queen’s University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, an integrated cash flow model is developed to examine the relative impact of tax incentives, financial subsidies, and macroeconomic variables on the profitability of industrial investments. It allows for various variables to interact with each other. An application of the model is carried out for Taiwan, which implemented a variety of fiscal incentives over the past forty years. The principal policy conclusion is that trade and macroeconomic policies are much more important than income tax incentives or subsidized finance policies in determining the success of industrialization process. The effects of any of the fiscal incentives are found generally much smaller than those of the trade policies or the fundamental trends in macroeconomic variables such as the movement of the real exchange rate and the real wage rate. |
| Keywords: | tax incentives, export promotion, industrialization, real exchange rate, trade policy, Taiwan |
| JEL: | H25 F13 O12 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1060&r=sea |
| By: | Alfons Palangkaraya (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Jongsay Yong (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | We study the link between plant turnover and productivity using Indonesian plant-level data for the period of 1990-95. First, we compare productivity differentials among incumbents, entrants, and exiting plants by constructing the Farrell technical efficiency index using data envelopment analysis. We test the significance of these differentials using Simar and Wilson (1998) bootstrap algorithm and Li’s (1996) nonparametric test of closeness between unknown distributions. We find that the incumbent plants are on average the most productive group in every year of the estimation period. Also, the new plants are relatively less productive than the exiting plants in the early years. However, they are more productive than the exiting plants in the later years. Second, and more importantly, we estimate the productivity change during the study period using the Malmquist productivity change index and decompose the change to see if the differences in measured productivity change among the three groups of plants come from differences in the efficiency change or the technical change. Since the existing literature rarely distinguishes between these two different components, little is known whether exiting plants are less productive because of their inability to catch up to the current frontier or to adopt a better technology. Similarly, not much known whether entrants’ ability to survive come from their being equipped with a ’better’ technology or being able to catch up to the current frontier. Our findings indicate that although new plants enter with relatively lower productivity levels, they exhibit the highest productivity change during the early years. In addition, we find entrants’ high productivity growth in the early period is due to a movement toward the frontier, while in the later period is due to an upward shift of the technology frontier. Exiting plants, on the other hand, exhibit the lowest productivity change during the early years when entrants experience high productivity change. |
| JEL: | D24 L63 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2006n08&r=sea |
| By: | Sara Vertommen (Catholic University Leuven); Albert Martens (Catholic University Leuven) |
| Abstract: | Several previous researches have confirmed the hypothesis of ethnostratification, which holds that the labour market is divided into different ethnic layers. While people of a European origin are over-represented in the top layers (the primary market), people with non-European roots and/or nationalities are more concentrated in bottom layers (the secondary market). Relative to the primary market, this secondary market is characterized by a higher chance of unemployment, lower wages, poorer working conditions and greater job insecurity. This paper deals with a very important condition of work: the wage. Does origin have an impact on the level of wage? We make a distinction between nine origin groups: Belgians, North en West Europeans, South Europeans (from Greece, Spain, Portugal), Italians, East Europeans, Moroccans, Turks, Sub Sahara Africans and Asians. The first part of this article briefly describes the database used for the analyses and presents a few general figures for the total Belgian population. In the second part we examine the impact of origin on wage levels. For each origin group we will give an overview of the average daily wages and the partition over the wage classes. For the “weaker” populations, gender and age are taken into account. Finally, by means of a regression analysis, we will examine the influence of origin while controlling a few other variables that may influence the wage level. |
| Keywords: | Origin, Wage Levels and Distributions, Ethnostratification, Valuable Database |
| JEL: | J31 J21 J71 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2006.61&r=sea |