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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Gorodnichenko, Yuriy (University of California, Berkeley); Sabirianova Peter, Klara (Georgia State University); Stolyarov, Dmitriy (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | We construct key household and individual economic variables using a panel micro data set from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) for 1994-2005. We analyze cross-sectional income and consumption inequality and find that inequality decreased during the 2000-2005 economic recovery. The decrease appears to be driven by falling volatility of transitory income shocks. The response of consumption to permanent and transitory income shocks becomes weaker later in the sample, consistent with greater self-insurance against permanent shocks and greater smoothing of transitory shocks. Comparisons of RLMS data with official macroeconomic statistics reveal that national accounts may underestimate the extent of unofficial economic activity, and that the official consumer price index may overstate inflation and be prone to quality bias. |
| Keywords: | inequality, income, consumption, transition, Russia |
| JEL: | E20 J30 I30 O15 P20 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4233&r=tra |
| By: | Rozelle, Scott; Swinnen, Johan |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the political and institutional factors which are behind the dramatic changes in distortions to agricultural incentives in the transition countries in East Asia (China and Vietnam), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, etc), the rest of the former Soviet Union, and in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper explains why these changes have occurred and why there are large differences among transition countries in the extent and the nature of the remaining distortions. |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Political economy, agricultural distortions, transition economies, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, N50, O13, O21, P22, P26, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:50298&r=tra |
| By: | Stavarek, Daniel; Dohnal, Marek |
| Abstract: | This paper applies the Girton-Roper model of exchange market pressure (EMP) on four Central European economies (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) over the period 1995-2008. The results suggest that there is a strong negative relation between domestic credit and EMP in all countries. We also found evidence of positive effect of domestic income on EMP in most of the countries. The paper reveals that EMP in the Czech Republic and Hungary was mostly absorbed by changes of exchange rate while changes in reserves absorbed EMP in Slovakia. The levels of EMP estimated do not pose a significant threat for fulfilment of the exchange rate stability convergence criterion. |
| Keywords: | exchange market pressure; Girton-Roper model; euro-candidate countries |
| JEL: | C32 F31 F36 |
| Date: | 2009–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15744&r=tra |
| By: | Bezemer, Dirk J |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to explore the link between credit and output in the context of a developed transition economy. Salient credit market features of these economies are (i) credit market imperfections leading to constraints on growth and (ii) the rapidly growing importance during transition of their financial sectors (the insurance, pension funds and real estate sectors). We develop a framework of credit and output including separate measures for credit to the real sector and financial sectors and for credit constraints, taking account of the role of trade credit. In our empirical work we focus on the Czech Republic because of the level of its financial development and data quality. In VAR and ARIMA analyses we find that our disaggregated measures for credit flows are better predictors of nominal growth than traditional, aggregate measures. |
| Keywords: | Credit; growth; transition; central Europe; Czech Republic |
| JEL: | E44 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15896&r=tra |
| By: | Dimitris Papadimitriou & Eli Gateva |
| Abstract: | The accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union (EU) in 2007 offers significant theoretical and empirical insights into the way in which the EU has deployed and realised its enlargement strategy/strategies over the past 15 years. Borrowing from the literature on enlargement-led Europeanisation and EU conditionality, this article discusses how the EU has sought to influence domestic reform in the two countries through a mix of threats and rewards. What emerges from Bulgaria’s and Romania’s trajectory towards EU membership is the evolutionary and contested nature of EU conditionality as well as the considerable EU discretion in the manner of its implementation. In that sense Bulgaria and Romania, as ‘outliers’ of the 2004-7 EU enlargement, offer us critical tests of the enlargement-led Europeanisation thesis. Thus, their study provides useful conceptual insights into the transformative power of the EU in Eastern Europe and highlights important policy legacies affecting the current EU enlargement strategy in the Western Balkans and Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Europeanisation, European Union, conditionality, Bulgaria, Romania. |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:25&r=tra |
| By: | Hengyun Ma (University of Canterbury); Les Oxley (University of Canterbury); John Gibson (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research and The University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Many are interested in China’s energy situation, however, numerous energy related issues in China still remain unanswered. For example, what are the potential forces driving energy demand and supply? Previous reviews focused only on fossil fuel based energy and ignored other important elements including renewable and ‘clean’ energy sources. The work presented here is intended to fill this gap by bringing the research on fossil-based and renewable energy economic studies together and identifying the potential drivers behind both energy demand and supply to provide a complete picture of China’s energy situation in the new millennium. This will be of interest to anyone concerned with the development of China’s economy in general, and in particular with its energy economy. |
| Keywords: | China China; Energy; Fossil fuels; Renewable Energy |
| JEL: | D24 O33 Q41 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:09_04&r=tra |
| By: | Curak, Marijana (University of Split); Poposki, Klime (University St. Kliment Ohridski); Ecim, Tanja (University of Split) |
| Abstract: | In an endogenous growth framework, well developed and efficient financial system can promote economic growth. A number of empirical studies confirmed this hypothesis. Since the financial systems of transition countries are dominated by banks, in this paper we analyze the importance of banking industry for economic growth using methods of panel data analysis for 15 Central and Eastern European countries in the period from 1992 to 2006. Using variables that measure both quantitative and qualitative aspects of financial intermediation, our findings support the view that the effectiveness of banking industry is more important than its size per se for the economic growth in the Central and Eastern European countries. |
| Keywords: | banking; financial intermediation; endogenous growth; panel; Central and Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | C23 G21 O11 O16 |
| Date: | 2009–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sphedp:2009_032&r=tra |
| By: | Shang-Jin Wei; Xiaobo Zhang |
| Abstract: | While the high savings rate in China has global impact, existing explanations are incomplete. This paper proposes a competitive saving motive as a new explanation: as the country experiences a rising sex ratio imbalance, the increased competition in the marriage market has induced the Chinese, especially parents with a son, to postpone consumption in favor of wealth accumulation. The pressure on savings spills over to other households through higher costs of house purchases. Both cross-regional and household-level evidence supports this hypothesis. This factor can potentially account for about half of the actual increase in the household savings rate during 1990-2007. |
| JEL: | D1 F3 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15093&r=tra |
| By: | Ronald Jean Degen (International School of Management Paris) |
| Abstract: | Given the scale of the Chinese market, international luxury brand to continue or become successful must win in China to continue wining in the rest of the world. Chinese yuppies are driving the demand, buying everything from expensive watches to imported cars. Those that are able to gain and maintain a preferential share of these Chinese affluent consumers will be able to sustain their global image and compete in equal terms with the future emerging Chinese luxury brands. The reason Chinese affluent men and women buy Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags are not simply because of the Swiss craftsmanship or French design. Their motivation to buy these luxury brands has its roots in the more complex Confucian values and demand for social recognition, and the growing influence of Western values. For this reason it is important to understand the roots and changes of the culture and values that determine the buying behavior of the modern Chine affluent consumer. |
| Keywords: | Luxury brands in China; China affluent consumer; Chinese yuppies; The Me generation; The young emperor generation |
| JEL: | M0 M1 |
| Date: | 2009–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pil:wpaper:31&r=tra |
| By: | Rovelli, Riccardo (University of Bologna); Zaiceva, Anzelika (IZA and University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | The transition process has had different distributional impacts across different interest groups and countries. These have led to differences in the support for transition. In this paper, we study support attitudes for both the economic and political transition using data from the New Barometer Surveys for 14 transition economies from 1991 to 2004. We document that the overall support is low and heterogeneous across countries and individuals. Support attitudes are lower among the old, less skilled, unemployed, poor, and those living in the CIS countries. There seems to be an increasing trend in the support for the economic transition in most countries. Our findings are robust to changes in the definition and measurement of the dependent variable. We also find evidence that transition-related hardship, opinions on the speed of reforms, political preferences and preferences towards redistribution, ideology and social capital matter. Finally, we show that individual preferences for secure jobs, the role of state and trust in politicians as well as better institutions, in particular, the quality of governance, seem to contribute mostly to explaining the lower levels of the support in the CIS countries. |
| Keywords: | political economy, transition, subjective attitudes |
| JEL: | O57 A13 P26 P36 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4224&r=tra |
| By: | Jan Hanousek; Evzen Kocenda |
| Abstract: | We characterize the price discovery in three emerging EU stock markets—the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland—by employing high-frequency five-minute intraday data on stock market index returns and four classes of EU and U.S. macroeconomic announcements during 2004–2007. We account for the difference of each announcement from its market expectation and we jointly model the volatility of the returns accounting for intra-day movements and day-of-the-week effects. Our findings show that real-time interactions on the new EU markets are strongly determined by matured stock markets as well as the macroeconomic news originating thereby. Monetary news has virtually no impact on stock returns while U.S. prices affect all three markets. The real economy announcements have varying effects but the news on the EU current account affects all three markets in a uniform manner. Only some EU economic climate and confidence announcements affect stock returns. In general, differences in results across markets are driven by differences in key market participants. Volatility of the returns is accounted for at the beginning and end of the trading session and it declines dramatically during the rest of the day. All three markets also show a decrease in volatility by the middle of the business week. Our findings yield insights into the process of stock market integration in the EU as well as portfolio allocation on the new EU markets. |
| Keywords: | Price discovery, stock markets, intra-day data, macroeconomic news, European Union, volatility, excess impact of news. |
| JEL: | C52 F36 G15 P59 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp382&r=tra |
| By: | Chen, Yuanyuan (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics); Feng, Shuaizhang (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | Using nationally representative data in China, we find substantial positive partial correlations of both parents' education with one's wage. In addition, returns to father's education are higher in more monopsonistic and less meritocratic labor markets, including non-coastal regions, the state-owned sector, and the early periods of the reform era. The opposite is, however, true with respect to mother's education. Overall, the empirical evidence is consistent with the story that father's education mainly indicates family connections useful for locating a better-paying first job, while mother's education primarily captures unmeasured ability. |
| Keywords: | parental education, wages, family connections, unmeasured ability |
| JEL: | J30 J62 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4218&r=tra |
| By: | Ari Van Assche; Alyson C. Ma |
| Abstract: | In this discussion report, we dispel the widely held misconception that China’s economy is excessively export-dependent and therefore particularly vulnerable to a drop in export demand. In the past two decades, China’s dramatic exports rise has largely been driven by the fact that many foreign firms have offshored a slice of their value chain – labor-intensive final assembly – to China for export purposes. Many of these assembly plants heavily rely on imported inputs from East Asian economies to produce their export products. Because of this feature, China passes on a large portion of its negative export demand shocks to the East Asian economies by reducing demand for their imported inputs. Using recent trade data, we provide evidence of this business cycle pass-through during the current economic crisis. <P> |
| Date: | 2009–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirtra:2009dt-01&r=tra |
| By: | Hengyun Ma (University of Canterbury); Les Oxley (University of Canterbury); John Gibson (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research and The University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates energy market integration in China by employing univariate, and panel-based unit root tests and Granger causality tests applied to a new energy price data set. We identify price series that converge either to absolute or relative price parity. In addition we estimate the rates (speed) at which relative prices converge to their long-run values, and the direction of causality. The results show that gasoline and diesel markets are very well integrated as a whole; and that once some geographically isolated regions are excluded, we can regard the coal market as integrated; however, the electricity market is not well integrated. The estimated intercept terms are all very small and close to zero, such that most of the relative price series can be regarded as convergent to absolute price parity. The convergence rates vary little and are relatively short when compared internationally. A rich set of causal relationships are established many showing bi-directional causality between regional centres. |
| Keywords: | China; Energy; Market integration; Price convergence; Time series tests |
| JEL: | D24 O33 Q41 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:09_03&r=tra |
| By: | Gavin C. Reid; Zhibin Xu |
| Abstract: | This paper has three contributions. First, it shows how field work within small firms in PR Chinese has provided new evidence which enables us to measure and calibrate Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), as ‘spirit’, and Intangible Assets (IA), as ‘material’, for use in models of small firm growth. Second, it uses inter-item correlation analysis and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to provide new measures of EO and IA, in index and in vector form, for use in econometric models of firm growth. Third, it estimates two new econometric models of small firm employment growth in PR China, under the null hypothesis of Gibrat’s Law, using our two new index-based and vector-based measures of EO and IA. Estimation is by OLS with adjustment for heteroscedasticity, and for sample selectivity. Broadly, it finds that EO attributes have had little significant impact on small firm growth, and indeed innovativeness and pro-activity paradoxically may even dampen growth. However, IA attributes have had a positive and significant impact on growth, with networking, and technological knowledge being of prime importance, and intellectual property and human capital being of lesser but still significant importance. In the light of these results, Gibrat’s Law is generalized, and Jovanovic’s learning theory is extended, to emphasise the importance of IA to growth. These findings cast new empirical light on the oft-quoted national slogan in PR China of “spirit and material”. So far as small firms are concerned, this paper suggests that their contribution to PR China’s remarkable economic growth is not so much attributable to the ‘spirit’ of enterprise (as suggested by propaganda) as, more prosaically, to the pursuit of the ‘material’. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurial orientation; intangible assets; small business growth; PR China |
| JEL: | L21 L26 L53 M21 |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:san:crieff:0907&r=tra |
| By: | Maurer-Fazio, Margaret (Bates College); Connelly, Rachel (Bowdoin College); Lan, Chen (affiliation not available); Tang, Lixin (Bates College) |
| Abstract: | We employ data from the three most recent Chinese population censuses to consider married, urban women's labor force participation decisions in the context of their families and their residential locations. We are particularly interested in how the presence in the household of preschool and school-age children and/or the elderly and disabled affects women's likelihood of engaging in work outside the home. We find that the presence of older people in the household (any parent or parent-in-law and any person aged 75 or older) significantly increases prime-age urban women's likelihood of participating in market work and that presence of pre-school age children significantly decreases it. The negative effect on women's labor force participation of having young children in the household (compared to no children in the household) is substantially larger in magnitude for married, migrant women than for married, non-migrant urban residents. This appears to be explained, in part, by the practice of married, female migrants leaving their children in the care of relatives in rural areas in order to facilitate their employment. |
| Keywords: | labor force participation, China, childcare, eldercare, migrants, population census, urban women |
| JEL: | J11 J12 J13 J16 J22 O15 P23 R23 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4204&r=tra |
| By: | Yang Ni (Queen's School of Business, Queen's University); Shasha Guo (BP Canada); David E. Giles (Department of Economics, University of Victoria) |
| Abstract: | We model the durations between firms’ “Initial Public Offerings” (IPOs) and their subsequent “Seasoned Equity Offerings” (SEOs) in China during the period from 1 January 2001 to 1 July 2006. Duration analysis is applied by using the nonparametric Kaplan-Meier estimator of the hazard function, and parametric accelerated failure time models with time-varying covariates. The results of this analysis have important implications for the capital structure in emerging markets. Our evidence on financing decisions in China contradicts the predictions of both the trade-off theory and the pecking order theory. Firms do not issue equity after debt financing to offset the deviation from the target leverage ratio. Profitability is negatively related to debt ratios. Limited access to the corporate bond market and the privilege of the low effective tax rate that local governments give to firms have increased the cost of debt and decreased the benefit of debt, and make firms in China under-utilize the tax shield of debt. The most surprising finding is that profitability is positively related to the conditional probability of equity financing. Firms may intentionally manipulate the earnings to minimize the adverse section costs associated with equity financing and to meet the earnings requirement of China Securities Regulatory Commission set for SEO qualifications. Market timing is an important consideration when firms in China undertake equity financing. |
| Keywords: | Duration analysis, conditional hazard probability, capital structure, initial public offering, seasoned equity offering, China |
| JEL: | C16 C41 G32 |
| Date: | 2009–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vic:vicewp:0905&r=tra |
| By: | Chi, Wei; Qian, Xiaoye |
| Abstract: | This study examines one of the channels through which education may contribute to economic growth, specifically, innovation. Endogenous growth theory has long suggested that human capital lead to greater innovation and, through technology innovation and diffusion, contribute to economic growth. However, there is little evidence on the role of human capital in innovation. Using the Chinese provincial data from 1997 to 2006, we show that workers’ tertiary education is significantly and positively related to provincial innovative activities measured by invention patent applications per capita. This result does not vary when spatial dependence is allowed in the estimation. Thus, we find strong and robust evidence for the prediction of endogenous growth theory regarding the effect of human capital on innovation. However, we do not find the consistently significant effect of innovation on growth. This finding may, however, relate to the growth pattern in China. |
| Keywords: | Education; Human Capital; Innovation; Paten; Economic Growth; Spatial Analysis |
| JEL: | O1 O3 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15779&r=tra |
| By: | Sunnee Billingsley (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This research offers fresh evidence 1) on the contribution of social mobility to health differentials by proposing a new link between downward mobility and health: downward mobility itself may have an immediate impact on health, above and beyond selection, origin or destination effects, and 2) on causes behind the mortality crisis in Russia by testing an innovative operationalization of the negative impact of economic crisis and transition. Specifically, downward mobility as well as unemployment are assessed in this study as possible contributors to increased risk of death from 1994-2005 in Russia. Using RLMS data and Cox proportional hazard models, the results demonstrate that men were at greater risk of mortality when they experienced downward mobility, relative to men who did not. Women’s mortality did not appear to be linked to downward mobility. Both men’s and women’s risk of death substantially increased when experiencing unemployment, relative to low-mid grade workers and relative to non-participation in the labor market. Whereas the impact of downward mobility appears immediate and short-term, the impact of unemployment was longer term and not limited to the year in which unemployment occurred for men. All findings were robust to adjustment of other potentially important factors such as alcohol consumption and health status that preceded downward mobility or unemployment. This robustness suggests that selection effect alone may not be a sufficient explanation for a high risk of death. |
| Keywords: | Russia, health, mortality |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-015&r=tra |
| By: | Jan Fidrmuc; Ariane Tichit |
| Abstract: | We argue that econometric analyses of growth in post-communist countries are vulnerable to structural breaks across time and/or countries. We demonstrate this by identifying structural breaks in growth for 25 countries and over 18 years. The method we use allows identification of structural breaks at a-priori unknown points in space or time. The only prior assumption is that breaks occur in relation to progress in implementing market-oriented reforms. We find robust evidence that the pattern of growth in transition has changed at least three times, yelding four different models of growth associated with different stages of reform. The speed with which individual countries progress through these stages differs considerably. |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edb:cedidp:09-02&r=tra |
| By: | Nataliia Levchuk (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Ukraine has experienced a long-term decline in life expectancy since the late 1960s. While spectacular improvement in longevity has been observed in Western countries, the trend in Ukraine has been accompanied by increasing or stagnating mortality. Although many studies indicate that alcohol is one of the leading contributors to low life expectancy in Eastern Europe, little is known about its impact on premature mortality in Ukraine. The aim of this study is to estimate alcohol-attributable deaths at working ages (20-64) in Ukraine. We investigate the contribution of alcohol to adult mortality between 1980 and 2007 using a new method for estimating alcohol-attributable fractions by causes of death. We also assess the public health burden of alcohol in terms of length of life losses. We find that in 2007 alcohol-related deaths constituted 40% and 22% of all deaths among adult men and women, respectively. The results also indicate that alcohol-related deaths at working ages account for approximately one-third of the male and one-fifth of the female life expectancy difference between Ukraine and western countries. Alcohol is an important public health threat in Ukraine and should be addressed by relevant measures. |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-017&r=tra |
| By: | Kahanec, Martin (IZA); Zaiceva, Anzelika (IZA and University of Bologna); Zimmermann, Klaus F. (IZA, DIW Berlin and Bonn University) |
| Abstract: | The Eastern enlargement of the EU was an institutional impetus to the migration potential in Europe. While the overall numbers of migrants from the new member states in the EU15 increased between 2003 and 2007, this increase was distributed unevenly among countries. The proportion of these migrants in the EU15 remains smaller than that of non-EU27 migrants. The transitory arrangements may have diverted some migrants from the EU8 mainly to Ireland and the UK. Migrants from the EU2 continued to go predominantly to Italy and Spain. To date, there is no evidence that these primarily economic migrants would displace native workers or lower their wages (and even if crowding out happened in certain sectors or occupation, aggregate data suggest that such natives found well-paid jobs elsewhere), or that they would be more dependent on welfare than the natives. The drain of mainly young and skilled people could pose some additional demographic challenges on the source countries. However, the anticipated brain circulation may in fact help to solve their demographic and economic problems. While the ongoing economic crisis may change the momentum of several migration trajectories, free migration should in fact alleviate many consequences of the crisis and generally improve the allocative efficiency of EU labor markets. |
| Keywords: | free movement of workers, EU Eastern enlargement, effects of migration, migration |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4230&r=tra |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Swinnen, Johan |
| Keywords: | Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:wbadwp:48624&r=tra |
| By: | Popescu, Nicolae Iulian (CNSAS) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between education and employment, and school-to-work transitions has been the subject of substantial research over the last decade and has formed a large part of the European Union preocupations, but also for the Romanian authorities. High unemployment rates for youths have caused concern especially for our last nineteen years, leading researchers and policy-makers to focus more than ever first on the schoolto- work transition stage of young peoples lives, but also for the others categories, especially on the actual crisis. This research highlights the main role of the universities in the process. The dynamics of this brief study line focuses on the keys of adjusting the university education process to the real labour market functions and needs, and in particular on the role of increasing the number and the quality of skills as a simultaneous result of the university education level in this equation. The emphasis is on the analysis of, on the one hand, the structure of problems, and on the other hand, on solutions that can be tookover in order to positive influence the current and future of supply and demand, to meet the requires of the actual various Romanian labour market segments towards the knoledge-based society and economy. |
| Keywords: | economic crisis; education; skills; labor; knowledge-based economy; partnership between universities and private environment |
| JEL: | F23 |
| Date: | 2009–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sphedp:2009_034&r=tra |
| By: | O'Higgins, Niall (University of Salerno) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a unique survey of Roma and non-Roma in South Eastern Europe to evaluate competing explanations for the poor performance of Roma in the labour market. The analysis seeks to identify the determinants of educational achievement, employment and wages for Roma and non-Roma. LIML methods are employed to control for endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias in the estimates. Nonlinear and linear decomposition techniques are applied in order to identify the extent of discrimination. The key results are that: the employment returns to education are lower for Roma than for non-Roma whilst the wage returns are broadly similar for the two groups; the similar wage gains translate into a smaller absolute wage gain for Roma than for non-Roma given their lower average wages; the marginal absolute gains from education for Roma are only a little over one-third of the marginal absolute gains to education for majority populations; and, there is evidence to support the idea that a substantial part of the differential in labour market outcomes is due to discrimination. Explanations of why Roma fare so badly tend to fall into one of two camps: 'low education' vs. 'discrimination'. The analysis suggests that both of these explanations have some basis in fact. Moreover, a direct implication of the lower absolute returns to education accruing to Roma is that their lower educational participation is, at least partially, due to rational economic calculus. Consequently, policy needs to address both low educational participation and labour market discrimination contemporaneously. |
| Keywords: | Roma, returns to education, discrimination, transition |
| JEL: | C35 J15 J24 P23 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4208&r=tra |
| By: | Craciunas, Diana (Universitatea Spiru Haret, Facultatea de Finante si Banci) |
| Abstract: | Analysis of the Romanian external trade policies in European integration context underlining the external trade policy of Romania which according with European Union policies after the joining to the European Union, the improvement and adaptation of external trade policy to the European standards through internal and external measures and the commercial effect of the extensions of the European Union over non member countries of Europe and on the European Union position in the international commerce. |
| Keywords: | external trade statistics; external trade policies; INTRASTAT; international commerce |
| JEL: | F23 |
| Date: | 2009–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sphedp:2009_048&r=tra |
| By: | Maria A. Shkolnikova (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Svetlana A. Shalnova (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Vladimir M. Shkolnikov (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Viktoria A. Metelskaya (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Alexander D. Deev (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Evgueni M. Andreev (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Dmitri A. Jdanov (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); James W. Vaupel (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | - |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-016&r=tra |
| By: | Mariapia Mendola (University of Milan Bicocca and LdA); Gero Carletto (the World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of male-dominated international migration in shaping labor market outcomes by gender in migrant-sending households in Albania. Using detailed information on family migration experience from the latest Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey, we find that male and female labor supplies respond differently to current and past migration episodes of household members. Controlling for the potential endogeneity of migration and for the income (remittances) effect, estimates show that having a migrant abroad decreases female paid labor supply while increasing unpaid work. On the other hand, women with past family migration experience are significantly more likely to engage in self-employment and less likely to supply unpaid work. The same relationships do not hold for men. These findings suggest that over time male-dominated Albanian migration may lead to women’s empowerment in the access to income-earning opportunities at origin. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Gender, Labor supply, Albania |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2009–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:272&r=tra |
| By: | Sabirianova Peter, Klara (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of global transition to simpler, flatter income tax systems on the size of the shadow economy. By offering a new estimation framework, the paper revives the traditional electricity consumption approach to measuring the shadow economy. It overcomes the limitations of previous literature by using a new functional form, better quality data, a larger sample of 170 countries, a longer time span of 25 years, a panel framework, and instrumental variables. Our analysis provides strong evidence of a positive relationship between income tax rates and the size of the shadow economy. The effects of structural progressivity and complexity of national tax schedules are also found to be positive and statistically significant. These positive effects are reinforced when tax changes are accompanied by improving government services and strengthening the legal system. The flat tax is estimated to reduce the shadow economy in the short run, but this effect diminishes and disappears in the long run. |
| Keywords: | shadow economy, tax evasion, personal income tax, corporate income tax, flat tax, structural progressivity, tax complexity, electricity approach, institutions |
| JEL: | D73 H1 J3 J4 O1 P2 |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4223&r=tra |