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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Qing-Yun Jiang |
| Abstract: | The judiciary in developing countries is troubled with various problems. Specifically, court delays, backlogs and uncertainty associated with unexpected outcomes have diminished the quality of justice and leads to loss of confidence of the general public in judiciary. Court delay is always coupled with impartiality, corruption and low quality of judgment, etc. The reform program needs to address the major causes of the deterioration in the quality of court services and address the root political, economic causes of an inefficient and inequitable judiciary and not simply deal with its symptoms. Like many other judiciaries in developing countries, court delay is also a problem facing the jurisdiction in Chinese courts, especially in appeal and retrial procedure. Based on empirical study, this paper will also illustrate the major causes of court delay as well as difficulties of law enforcement in Chinese jurisdiction. In particular, some special references are made to the retrial procedure and the roll of the Trial Committee in the course of jurisdiction, as well as accessibility to the courts. |
| Keywords: | jurisdiction, duration of the court, retrial, the Trial Committee, enforcement of judgments, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:dewple:2004-1-1114&r=tra |
| By: | Fan, Shenggen; Chan-Kang, Connie |
| Abstract: | "Since 1985, the Chinese government has given high priority to building roads, particularly high-quality roads that connect industrial centers. This report evaluates the contribution roads have made to poverty reduction and economic growth in China over the last two decades. It disaggregates road infrastructure into different classes to account for differences in their quality, and then estimates the impact of road investments on overall economic growth, agricultural growth, urban growth, urban poverty reduction, and rural poverty reduction. The report makes the case for a greater focus on low-quality and rural roads in future infrastructure investment strategies in China. It does so by showing how investing in low-quality and rural roads will generate larger marginal returns, raise more people out of poverty per yuan invested, and reduce regional development disparity more sharply than investing in high-quality roads. The study's findings will have considerable implications for China's infrastructure policy." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Human capital , |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resrep:138&r=tra |
| By: | Marius Brülhart; Pamina Koenig |
| Abstract: | We analyze the internal spatial wage and employment structures of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, using regional data for 1996-2000. A new economic geography model predicts wage gradients and specialization patterns that are smoothly related to regions' relative market access. As an alternative, we formulate a "Comecon hypothesis", according to which wages and sectoral location are not systematically related to market access except for discrete concentrations in capital regions. Our estimations confirm the ongoing relevance of the Comecon hypothesis: compared to pre-2004 EU members, Central European countries' average wages and service employment were still discretely higher in capital regions. Our results point towards an increase in relative wages and employment shares of Central Europe's provincial regions, favoring particularly those that are proximate to the large markets of incumbent EU members. |
| Keywords: | regional wages; industry location; transition economies; Central Europe; new economic geography |
| JEL: | P25 R12 |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:05.01&r=tra |
| By: | Urmas Varblane; Priit Vahter |
| Abstract: | The paper is analysing the process of economic convergence of transition countries during the period 1995–2004. Within the analysed period unconditional ß-convergence across the transition economies existed. We could also discover the reduction of dispersion of income levels between accession countries (sigma-convergence). Comparative analyses of the new EU member states (NMS) economic convergence with the previous entrants into EU (Ireland, Greece, Spain, and Portugal) revealed that NMS have been much more successful in their convergence process before joining EU. Analyses of the macroeconomic, human capital, infrastructure indicators of the current accession countries compared with the previous cohesion countries indicated that the new members have been much better prepared to the enlargement. This allows drawing conclusion that the NMS face an opportunity to obtain much more rapid convergence process than expected by previous analyses, which have seriously undervalued the positive role of the pre-accession harmonisation process of NMS with the implementation of the major economic reforms in order to guarantee macroeconomic stability. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:37&r=tra |
| By: | Stefania P.S. Rossi (Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cagliari); Markus Schwaiger (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Financial Markets Analysis and Surveillance Division); Gerhard Winkler (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Credit Division) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes cost and profit efficiency level and the managerial behavior of banks in nine Central and Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), providing cross-country and time series evidence on the period 1995-2002. A stochastic frontier analysis based on a Fourier flexible form indicates a generally low level of cost efficiency and an even lower level of profit efficiency. However, we also find significant differences among countries and some evidence of an increasing tendency over time in profit efficiency and, to an even stronger extent, in cost efficiency. Cost and profit efficiency scores are negatively correlated both on a country wide as well as on a bank by bank basis. Furthermore, instead of just looking at the determinants of cost and profit efficiency (e.g. asset quality, problem loans and risk), we test several hypotheses of managerial behavior using the Granger causality approach based on the intertemporal relation between bank efficiency, capitalization and problem loans, as proposed by Berger and DeYoung (1997). Even though a static analysis shows a negative correlation between problem loan and efficiency, we find no evidence of bad management hypothesis. Results provide evidence for the bad luck hypothesis suggesting the exogeneity of bad loans triggering inefficiency. |
| Keywords: | Cost and profit efficiency; CEECs; Stochastic frontier analysis; Managerial behavior |
| JEL: | G21 G28 C14 D21 |
| Date: | 2005–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:onb:oenbwp:96&r=tra |
| By: | Mohamed Ben Abdallah (TEAM); Iuliana Matei (TEAM) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test empirically the impact of the contagion effect on the credibility of the exchange rate during the international financial crises between 1997 and 2001 for five CEECs : Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. We find that : (1) the contagion effect is an important factor in order to determine the exchange rate ; (ii) the linkages between anticipations of devaluation and the economic fundamentals depends on the currency considered. The low number of the independent variables shows the difficulties to measure the determinants of the operators behaviour. The increase of the volatility expectations seems to be justified by a sudden return of the markets because of the contagion effect. Our results emphasize also that the Russian crisis had more impact on the economies of these countries, fact that confirms the regional character of the crisis. |
| Keywords: | Contagion, exchange rate credibility, CEECs. |
| JEL: | F30 F40 G10 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:wpsorb:bla05044&r=tra |
| By: | Ekin Birol (Homerton College, University of Cambridge, UK); Andreas Kontoleon (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK); Melinda Smale (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, USA and International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Hungarian home gardens are small farms that are repositories of agrobiodiversity and provide food security during economic transition. We use a choice experiment to test the hypothesis that farmer demand for home gardens will decrease as markets develop with European Union accession. Data represent 22 communities with varying levels of market and social infrastructure. We find that farmers located in more economically developed communities choose to be less dependent on small farms for food and prefer lower levels of agrobiodiversity. Findings indicate that the survival of small farms is jeopardized by economic change, but point to some conservation policy options. |
| Keywords: | food security, agrobiodiversity, home gardens, choice experiment, multi-functional agriculture |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lnd:wpaper:122005&r=tra |
| By: | Sadek Boussena (LEPII - Laboratoire d'Economie de la Production et de l'Intégration Internationale - http://www.upmf-grenoble.fr/lepii/ - CNRS : FRE2664 - Université Pierre Mendès-France - Grenoble II); Catherine Locatelli (LEPII - Laboratoire d'Economie de la Production et de l'Intégration Internationale - http://www.upmf-grenoble.fr/lepii/ - CNRS : FRE2664 - Université Pierre Mendès-France - Grenoble II) |
| Abstract: | Dans le nouveau contexte pétrolier mondial, la Russie tente de définir une stratégie pétrolière plus cohérente et plus équilibrée que celle qui a prévalu dans les années quatre-vingt-dix. Les échecs de la privatisation l'ont conduit à réévaluer en profondeur sa politique pétrolière. Aujourd'hui, deux modèles polaires s'affrontent : un modèle « type OPEP » et un modèle « type norvégien ». Le choix entre ces deux options détermine la position de la Russie vis-à-vis de la politique des prix de l'OPEP. |
| Keywords: | politique pétrolière;Russie |
| Date: | 2005–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00003970_v1&r=tra |