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on South East Asia |
| By: | Hamid, Zuraini; Masih, Mansur |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper to study the causality between inflation and rubber price in Malaysia. This study is the first attempt to investigate the causality by applying Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) model which has taken care of a major limitation of the conventional co-integrating tests which suffer from pre-test biases between the variables. Error Correction Model (ECM) using ARDL approach, Variance Decompositions (VDC) technique and Impulse Response Functions (IRF) are also applied to test the exogeneity and endogeneity of the variables and reaction of these variables when a shock is imposed on them. The data used in this study are monthly data from Datastream comprising of inflation rate (CPI as the proxy), Malaysian rubber price: SMR20 and SMR10, Thailand rubber price, US synthetic rubber price and exchange rate. From the study, it is noted that inflation leads the Malaysian rubber price, Thailand rubber price, synthetic rubber price and exchange rate, respectively. This has an important policy implication for the national policy makers and rubber regulators in developing rubber industry in Malaysia. |
| Keywords: | Rubber, Inflation, Synthetic, ARDL, ECM, VDC, Malaysia |
| JEL: | C58 G15 |
| Date: | 2017–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95564&r=all |
| By: | Ueki, Yasushi; Tsuji, Masatsugu |
| Abstract: | Information and communication technologies (ICTs) generate externalities. A firm adopted an ICT will encourage its partner firms to adopt the compatible ICT to benefit fully from its own ICT investment. Thus, the firm and its partner firms who are collaborative and willing to adopt ICTs are like to transform their collaborations into digital based. Because small group activities for continuous improvement will develop organizational routines for information sharing within and between firms, firms promoting such activities are like to adopt ICTs. This study examines these hypotheses by using a survey data collected in Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam in 2017. Results of two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimations present (1) significant relationships of customer's ICT investments and quality control circle with own ICT investment decision or planning and (2) significant relationships of the adoption of ICTs with data sharing within and between firms and effective data use. The findings suggest that (1) benefits from ICTs can be diffused along production networks even if firms reactively adopt ICTs and (2) policies for promoting ICT adoption, in tandem with quality management will improve the operation of entire production networks. |
| Keywords: | Information and communication technology (ICT),management information system (MIS),network effect,two-stage least squared,Southeast Asia |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsm19:201732&r=all |
| By: | Angella Faith LAPUKENI; SATO Kiyotaka |
| Abstract: | This is the first study that presents detailed information on the Chinese renminbi (RMB) invoiced trade between Malawi and Asian countries. By processing the unpublished customs level data on Malawi's imports at the HS8-digit level, we show that the RMB is rarely used in Malawi's imports from China, while more than 20% of Malawi's imports from Japan are invoiced in the yen. This evidence suggests that the internationalization of the RMB lags far behind yen internationalization. The U.S. dollar and, to a lesser extent, the South African Rand are used as a vehicle currency in Malawi's imports from Asian countries. By estimating a panel logit model, we demonstrate that product differentiation and market share of imported products have positive influences on yen invoiced imports from Japan, while bilateral nominal exchange rate volatility has negative effects on exporter currency invoicing in imports from Asian countries. Thus, we may say that stable exchange rates will be able to promote the exporter's currency invoicing instead of vehicle currency invoicing in Malawi's imports from Asian countries. |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:19060&r=all |
| By: | Seng, Kimty |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the effects of financial inclusion on poverty in terms of household income per capita in Cambodia, with data from the FinScope Survey carried out in 2015. The analysis describes the effects via financial literacy, accounting for endogenous selection bias resulting from unobserved confounders and for structural differences between users and non-users of financial services in terms of income functions. The findings suggest that the use of financial services is very likely to make a great contribution to reducing household budget deficit and poverty if the users, female in particular, have at least basic financial knowledge. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, financial inclusion, financial literacy, endogenous, Cambodia |
| JEL: | O1 O12 |
| Date: | 2019–08–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95726&r=all |
| By: | Rudolf, Katrin |
| Keywords: | Resource/ Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291230&r=all |
| By: | Aghion, Philippe; Guriev, Sergei; Jo, Kangchul |
| Abstract: | We study firm dynamics in Korea before and after the 1997-98 Asian crisis and pro-competitive reforms that reduced the dominance of chaebols. We find that in industries that were dominated by chaebols before the crisis, labor productivity and TFP of non-chaebol firms increased markedly after the reforms (relative to other industries). Furthermore, entry of non-chaebol firms increased significantly in all industries after the reform. Finally, after the crisis, the non-chaebol firms also significantly increased their patenting activity (relative to non-chaebol firms). These results are in line with a neo-Schumpeterian view of transition from a growth model based on investment in existing technologies to an innovation-based model. |
| Keywords: | Asian crisis; chaebols; Schumpeterian Growth |
| JEL: | L25 O43 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13825&r=all |
| By: | Bazzi, Samuel; Blair, Robert; Blattman, Christopher; Dube, Oeindrila; Gudgeon, Matthew; Peck, Richard |
| Abstract: | Policymakers can take actions to prevent local conflict before it begins, if such violence can be accurately predicted. We examine the two countries with the richest available sub-national data: Colombia and Indonesia. We assemble two decades of finegrained violence data by type, alongside hundreds of annual risk factors. We predict violence one year ahead with a range of machine learning techniques. Models reliably identify persistent, high-violence hot spots. Violence is not simply autoregressive, as detailed histories of disaggregated violence perform best. Rich socio-economic data also substitute well for these histories. Even with such unusually rich data, however, the models poorly predict new outbreaks or escalations of violence. "Best case" scenarios with panel data fall short of workable early-warning systems. |
| Keywords: | Civil War; Colombia; conflict; Forecasting; Indonesia; Machine Learning; prediction |
| JEL: | C52 C53 D74 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13829&r=all |
| By: | Lemeilleur, Sylvaine; Allaire, Gilles |
| Abstract: | Using the definition developed by Hess and Ostrom (2007), we consider the content of organic farming labels as a system of intellectual common-pool resources. Access to this resource is threatened by phenomena of enclosure and commodification. Third party certification, which is controlled by private competitive operators, is becoming the unique channel to gain legal access to public labels in many countries. However, the high cost of this certification may exclude a large part of the community at the origin of the resource – especially small diversified farmers. It also threatens resource renewal. In this article, we describe an alternative mechanism called participatory guarantee systems (PGS). Participatory certification is based on peer-review assessment (involving producers from the community), additional control mechanisms are also mobilized according to the context, in order to measure compliance with the standard’s specifications. PGS encourage producers to share knowledge, support ongoing learning processes and, thus, resource renewal. Drawing on design principles from Ostrom’s approach, we analyse ten PGS initiatives in the world – Nature et Progrès (France), Ecovida (Brazil), Certified Naturally Grown (United States), Organic Farm New Zealand, the Asociacion Nacional de Productores/as Ecologicos (Peru), Vietnam PGS, PGS India, Ngong Organic Farmer Association (Kenya), Good Market Organic PGS (Sri Lanka) and BioSPG du Conseil National de l'agriculture Biologique (Burkina Faso) – and discuss their robustness and sustainability. We demonstrate their relatively robustness in terms of self-organization and suggest that their current development in many countries contribute to a re-appropriation of the commons. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:inramo:292325&r=all |
| By: | Brucal, Arlan; Javorcik, Beata; Love, Inessa |
| Abstract: | The link between foreign ownership and environmental performance remains a controversial issue. This paper contributes to our understanding of this subject by analyzing the impact of foreign acquisitions on plant-level energy intensity. The analysis applies a difference-in-differences approach combined with propensity score matching to the data from the Indonesian Manufacturing Census for the period 1983-2001 (or 1983-2008 in robustness checks). It covers 210 acquisition cases where an acquired plant is observed two years before and at least three years after an ownership change and for which a carefully selected control plant exists. The results suggest that while foreign ownership increases the overall energy usage due to expansion of output, it decreases the plant's energy intensity. Specifically, acquired plants reduce energy intensity by about 30% two years after acquisition, relative to the control plants. In contrast, foreign divestments tend to increase energy intensity. At the aggregate level, entry of foreign-owned plants is associated with industry-wide reduction in energy intensity. |
| Keywords: | energy intensity; FDI; Foreign acquisition; foreign divestment; Indonesia |
| JEL: | F21 Q56 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13810&r=all |
| By: | Lemeilleur, S.; Allaire, G. |
| Abstract: | Using the definition developed by Hess and Ostrom (2007), we consider the content of organic farming labels as a system of intellectual common-pool resources. Access to this resource is threatened by phenomena of enclosure and commodification. Third party certification, which is controlled by private competitive operators, is becoming the unique channel to gain legal access to public labels in many countries. However, the high cost of this certification may exclude a large part of the community at the origin of the resource – especially small diversified farmers. It also threatens resource renewal. In this article, we describe an alternative mechanism called participatory guarantee systems (PGS). Participatory certification is based on peer-review assessment (involving producers from the community), additional control mechanisms are also mobilized according to the context, in order to measure compliance with the standard’s specifications. PGS encourage producers to share knowledge, support ongoing learning processes and, thus, resource renewal. Drawing on design principles from Ostrom’s approach, we analyse ten PGS initiatives in the world – Nature et Progrès (France), Ecovida (Brazil), Certified Naturally Grown (United States), Organic Farm New Zealand, the Asociacion Nacional de Productores/as Ecologicos (Peru), Vietnam PGS, PGS India, Ngong Organic Farmer Association (Kenya), Good Market Organic PGS (Sri Lanka) and BioSPG du Conseil National de l'agriculture Biologique (Burkina Faso) – and discuss their robustness and sustainability. We demonstrate their relatively robustness in terms of self-organization and suggest that their current development in many countries contribute to a re-appropriation of the commons. ....French Abstract: En utilisant la définition développée par Hess et Ostrom (2007), nous considérons le contenu des labels d'agriculture biologique comme un système de ressources communes intellectuelles. L'accès à cette ressource est menacé par des phénomènes de privatisation et de marchandisation. La certification par tiers qui fait appel à des opérateurs privés indépendant est devenu le seul moyen d'accéder aux labels publics dans de nombreux pays. Cependant, le coût élevé de cette certification peut exclure une grande partie de la communauté à l'origine de la ressource - en particulier les petits agriculteurs diversifiés. Elle menace également le renouvellement de la ressource. Dans cet article, nous décrivons un mécanisme alternatif appelé système de garantie participative (SPG). La certification participative est d’abord basée sur une évaluation par les pairs (impliquant les producteurs de la communauté), des mécanismes de contrôle supplémentaires sont également mobilisés en fonction du contexte, afin de mesurer la conformité à la norme. Les SPG encouragent les producteurs à partager leurs connaissances, à appuyer les processus d'apprentissage continu et, par conséquent, à renouveler la ressource commune. En nous basant sur les principes de conception d'Ostrom, nous analysons dix initiatives de SPG dans le monde - Nature et Progrès (France), Ecovida (Brésil), Certified Naturally Grown (États-Unis), Organic Farm New Zealand, Asociacion Nacional de Productores/as Ecologicos (Pérou), Vietnam PGS, PGS India, Ngong Organic Farmer Association (Kenya), Good Market Organic PGS (Sri Lanka) et BioSPG du Conseil national de l'agriculture biologique (Burkina Faso). Nous démontrons leur relative robustesse en termes d'auto-organisation et suggérons que leur développement actuel dans de nombreux pays contribue à une réappropriation des communs. |
| Keywords: | ORGANIC FARMING; INTELLECTUAL COMMON-POOL RESOURCES; COMMUNITY-BASED CERTIFICATION; PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT; COMMONS; CASE STUDIES; AGRICULTURE BIOLOGIQUE; RESSOURCES COMMUNES INTELLECTUELLES; CERTIFICATION PARTICIPATIVE; COMMUNS; ETUDE DE CAS |
| JEL: | D02 O13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201902&r=all |
| By: | Kopp, Thomas; Sexton, Richard J. |
| Abstract: | Reducing buyer market power over agricultural suppliers is a key strategy to improve rural livelihoods in emerging economies. This paper focuses on implications of failure of a supply chain to coordinate vertically for farm incomes, with specific application to the Indonesian rubber industry. In the Jambi province production is mainly in the hands of smallholder farmers, who sell via spot transactions to a network of traders who in turn sell in spot exchanges to rubber processors. Processing is highly concentrated, and, whereas there are large numbers of rubber traders, evidence indicates that both traders and processors exercise oligopsony power, a classic problem of double marginalization. We estimate the extent of buyer market power in farmer-trader and trader-processor interactions and derive the welfare loss from double marginalization. We then explore the nature of this market failure and quantify the extent of welfare loss and redistribution away from farmers. We conclude by asking why the market has not addressed this failure through improved vertical coordination in the supply chain and discussing policy innovations to facilitate better coordination. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, International Development |
| Date: | 2019–08–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi19:292318&r=all |