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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Jaan Masso; Raul Eamets; Pille Mõtsmees |
| Abstract: | The existing literature on return migration has resulted in several studies analysing the impact of foreign work experience on the returnees’ earnings or their decision to become self-employed; however, in this paper we analyse the less studied effect on occupational mobility – how the job in the home country after returning compares to the job held before migration. The effect of temporary migration on occupational mobility is analysed using unique data from an Estonian online job search portal covering approximately 10–15% of the total workforce, including thousands of employees with temporary migration experience. The focus on data from a Central and Eastern European country is motivated given that the opening of labour markets in old EU countries to the workforce of the new member states has led to massive East-West migration. We did not find any positive effect of temporary migration on upward occupational mobility and in some groups, such as females, the effect was negative. These results could be related to the typically short-term nature of migration and occupational downshifting abroad as well as the functioning of the home country labour market. |
| Keywords: | occupational mobility, temporary migration, Central- and Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | F22 J62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:92&r=tra |
| By: | Giles, John; Wang, Dewen; Park, Albert |
| Abstract: | This paper first reviews the history of social insurance policy and coverage in urban China, documenting the evolution in the coverage of pensions and medical and unemployment insurance for both local residents and migrants, and highlighting obstacles to expanding coverage. The paper then uses two waves of the China Urban Labor Survey, conducted in 2005 and 2010, to examine the correlates of social insurance participation before and after implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law. A higher labor tax wedge is associated with a lower probability that local employed residents participate in social insurance programs, but is not associated with participation of wage-earning migrants, who are more likely to be dissuaded by fragmentation of the social insurance system. The existing gender gap in social insurance coverage is explained by differences in coverage across industrial sectors and firm ownership classes in which men and women work. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics&Finance,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Social Protections&Assistance,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Wages, Compensation&Benefits |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6497&r=tra |
| By: | Xi Zhu; John Whalley; Xiliang Zhao |
| Abstract: | We argue that the demographic changes caused by the one child policy (OCP) may not harm China's long-term growth. This attributes to the higher human capital induced by the intergenerational transfer arrangement under China’s poor-functioning formal social security system. Parents raise their children and depend on them for support when they reach an advanced age. The decrease in the number of children prompted by the OCP resulted in parents investing more in their children’s educations to ensure retirement consumption. In addition, decreased childcare costs strengthen educational investment through an income effect. Using a calibrated model, a benchmark with the OCP is compared to three counterfactual experiments without the OCP. The output under the OCP is expected to be about 4 percent higher than it would be without the OCP in 2025 under moderate estimates. The output gain comes from a greatly increased educational investment driven by fewer children (11.4 years of schooling rather than 8.1). Our model sheds new light on the prospects of China's long-term growth by emphasizing the OCP's growth enhancing role through human capital formation under the intergenerational transfer arrangement. |
| JEL: | J13 O11 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19160&r=tra |
| By: | Vu, Tam Bang; Noy, Ilan |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of natural disasters on income and investment in China. Using detailed macroeconomic province-level data and their history of disaster exposure over the past two decades, and after accounting for two-way causality using a three-stage least-squares estimation procedure, we describe the relationship between disaster mortality and morbidity, disasters’ economic damages, government investment and regional economic activity and infrastructure development. The Chinese government’s aggressive investment in post-disaster reconstruction is discussed, and the implications of this investment for post-disaster private sector economic activity are analyzed empirically. We further investigate the differential effects of natural disasters on economic activity in the different provinces. |
| Keywords: | China, Natural disasters, Environment, Investment, Recovery, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:2812&r=tra |
| By: | Guillem ACHERMANN (Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation. ULCO) |
| Abstract: | Le système territorial russe hérite d’une grande partie du système territorial de l’URSS. Les Soviétiques ont organisé l’espace selon une logique de planification étatique verticale. La transition économique des années 1990 a permis au marché de rationaliser le système productif russe. Le processus d’innovation soviétique s’en retrouve ainsi grandement touché. La Russie dispose de ressources naturelles abondantes et d’un parc industriel important. Restructurer le système territorial d’innovation devient un enjeu pour l’ensemble des acteurs du processus d’innovation. The Russian territorial system inherits the greatest part of the Soviet territorial system. The Soviets have organized the space according to the vertical state planning. The economic transition in the 1990s allowed the market to rationalize the Russian productive system. The Soviet innovation process is deeply affected. Russia has abundant natural resources and an important industrial park. Rebuild the territorial innovation system is a challenge for all the actors of the innovation process. |
| Keywords: | système territorial d'innovation, transition économique, Russie |
| JEL: | O3 P21 O52 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:riidoc:268&r=tra |
| By: | Long, Cheryl; Xu, Lihe; Yuan, Yan |
| Abstract: | Capital inputs are by and large ignored in the study of farmland rental in previous literature. With the micro-data of rural household finance survey in year 2009, this paper empirically tests whether credit market promotes the development of farmland rental market in rural China. Results show that loans from banks promote the development of farmland rental market. Furthermore, farmers are more likely to use trade credit to alleviate credit constraints in the process of agricultural production and as a result, trade credit promotes the agricultural land rentals. |
| Keywords: | Interlinkage, farmland rental, financing, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q15, O17, O12, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151290&r=tra |
| By: | Zhang, Heather Xiaoquan; Loubere, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Establishing an inclusive financial system with comprehensive and accessible services in rural areas is increasingly promoted as a crucial element for socio-economic development both in China and globally. Yet, in existing research on China's agricultural and rural development, relatively less attention has been paid to the ways in which changes in the provision of rural finance have impacted the livelihoods of individuals, families and communities from the perspectives of local people. This paper intends to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between rural finance and development by delineating a recent history of financial service extension to rural areas since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. We analyse, in particular, the accelerated pace of the expansion and diversification of such services together with a deeper penetration of the so-called 'microfinance industry' in rural China since the mid-2000s. We analyse the major actors and dynamics involved, the strengths and weaknesses in current scholarship, and suggest ways forward in order to deepen our understanding of the relationship between rural finance, development and the livelihoods in China and beyond. -- |
| Keywords: | rural financial services,financial extension and diversification,urban-rural integration,microcredit,livelihoods,China |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:udedao:942013&r=tra |
| By: | Mazurek, Jiří |
| Abstract: | The aim of the article is to examine beta and sigma convergence of fourteen Czech regions during 1995-2009. Using real GDP per capita panel data from the Czech Statistical Office it was found that Czech regions σ-diverged in the period and this divergence was accelerating in time regardless of whether the capital city Prague was included among regions or not. Also, statistically significant β-divergence was present during the same period. There are two main possible reasons for the divergence: inequalities in foreign and domestic investments as well as the accumulation of human and physical capital in the most attractive regions, while less competitive regions were left behind. Policy implications necessary to reverse the situation include government’s support of investments in poorer regions and also gaining more financial resources from European ESF and ERDF funds. |
| Keywords: | β-convergence Czech Republic; Czech regions; divergence; GDP per capita; σ-convergence |
| Date: | 2013–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47940&r=tra |
| By: | Nathan Porter; TengTeng Xu |
| Abstract: | Interest rates in China are composed of a mix of both market-determined interest rates (interbank rates and bond yields), and regulated interest rates (retail lending and deposit rates), reflecting China’s gradual process of interest rate liberalization. This paper investigates the main drivers of China’s interbank rates by developing a stylized theoretical model of China’s interbank market and estimating an EGARCH model for 7-day interbank repo rates. Our empirical findings suggest that movements in administered interest rates (part of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy toolkit) are important determinants of market-determined interbank rates, in both levels and volatility. The announcement effects of reserve requirement changes also influence interbank rates, as well as liquidity injections from open market operations in recent years. Our results indicate that the regulation of key retail interest rates influences the behaviour of marketdetermined interbank rates, which may have limited their independence as price signals. Further deposit rate liberalization should allow short-term interbank rates to play a more effective role as the primary indirect monetary policy tool. |
| Keywords: | Development economics; Econometric and statistical methods; Financial markets; Monetary policy framework; Transmission of monetary policy |
| JEL: | E43 E52 E58 C22 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:13-20&r=tra |
| By: | Wahl, Thomas I. |
| Abstract: | Chinese have been experiencing dramatic changes in their body weight in the last ten years. Food service sector is believed to have significant effect on the rise of obesity in China. This paper analyses Body Mass Index (BMI) and overweight issue of adults 18 years and above in urban China with respect to food eating locations and other socio-economic and demographic variables. The data are from household surveys in three representative Chinese cities: Xi’an, Shenyang, and Xiamen. OLS is used to estimate the relationship between continuous BMI and food eating outlets, and an ordered probit model is fit to the categorical BMI. Findings indicate that the number of meals eaten at cafeterias significantly increases the probability of being overweight and obese while decreasing the probability of staying underweight and normal. The probability that a person in Xi’an, Shenyang and Xiamen is underweight and normal decreases by 0.25 and 0.49 percentage point respectively if consuming one additional meal at a cafeteria. And one unit increase in the number of meals ate at a cafeteria increases the probability to become overweight and obese by 0.55 and 0.19 percentage point correspondingly. The number of meals consumed at full service restaurants and fast food outlets are found to be insignificant on the body weight of Chinese adults. Education, household income and employment status all have significant effects on body weight change, as well as smoking status and physical activity. |
| Keywords: | BMI, Overweight and Obese, Food Eating Location, Dining Location, Socio-economics, China, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151267&r=tra |
| By: | Wang, Xinxin; Chen, Kevin; Huang, Zuhui |
| Abstract: | Demographic transition due to population aging is an emerging issue throughout the developing world, and especially in China, which has undergone demographic transition more rapidly than most industrial economies. This paper quantifies the economic and distributional effects in the context of demographic transition using the integrated recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with top-down behavioral micro-simulation. The results show that the population aging slow down China’s economy growth rate due to the exhausted of demographic dividend with high cost of labor force. The consequences from the poverty and inequality index indicate that population aging has a negative impact to the reduction of poverty while it is positive as refers to the equality during the process of demographic transition. The average age within a household has a noticeable contribution to total inequality. These findings suggest that measures for stimulating the second demographic dividend should be carried out to promote the economic growth as well as the reduction of poverty. The inequality within the same household groups while with different household age should be put more emphasize on. What’s more, the social pension system should be improved, especially in rural China |
| Keywords: | Demographic Transition, Economic Growth, Income Distribution, CGE model, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151276&r=tra |
| By: | Salant, Stephen W. (University of Michigan); Yu, Xueying (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | Over the past 60 years, forest tenure in China has oscillated unpredictably between private and common-property regimes. This policy-induced uncertainty has distorted land owners’ harvesting decisions and has lowered the value of China’s forest output. We provide an analytical framework for assessing these effects quantitatively and conclude that substantial losses in the net value of wood harvested over time have occurred. Understanding the consequences of this policy-induced uncertainty is particularly important since China is currently engaged in an ambitious plan to increase its domestic supply of timber. Contrary to the standard result in the literature that catastrophic risk—whether from natural disasters like forest fires or from government expropriation—necessarily leads to premature harvesting, we find that farmers may delay harvesting if sufficient compensation for loss is paid. |
| Keywords: | forest tenure risk, Faustmann model, optimal rotation period under uncertainty |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2013–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-08&r=tra |
| By: | Curtiss, Jarmila; Jelinek, Ladislav; Hruska, Martin; Medonos, Tomas; Vilhelm, Vaclav |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151273&r=tra |
| By: | Xiong, Xueping; Turvey, Calum G.; Li, Chongguang |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151275&r=tra |
| By: | Zhong, Yi; Awokuse, Titus O. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151297&r=tra |
| By: | Xie, Ruizhi; Awokuse, Titus O. |
| Abstract: | The economic benefits from improving health status are obvious, yet there remains a lack of agreement on how to quantify and compare the benefits and the accompanied costs. In our study, we extend Liu et al. (2008)’s study on the role of health status on income in China and examine whether their conclusions still hold under new specifications and in a broader time horizon. Our results show a larger impact of health status on income after replacing household income with individual income. We find this effect becomes even more pronounced in the 2000s. Moreover, our results show an inverted-U relationship between age and income, which is an improvement over Liu et al. (2008)’s work and is in line with other empirical studies. By admitting the endogeneity issue, we find the impact of health status becomes even larger after instrumenting health status. The results of GMM estimation, which allows for efficient estimation under heteroskedasticity of unknown form, are consistent the IV estimations. |
| Keywords: | Health, Income, China, CHNS, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy, I10, I12, J24, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:151137&r=tra |
| By: | Fyodorov, Mikhail; Kuzmin, Evgeny |
| Abstract: | The article is focused on problems of economic security of Russia from prospective of trade and production relations in the sector of food commodities that form the nation’s food provision. It also provides a method of identification whether the economic conditions are safe or dangerous tested on statistical data of 2007-2011 years and analyses the derived values of agriculture and economic security by the commodity groups. |
| Keywords: | food provision, agricultural sector, economic security, economic autarchy |
| JEL: | F52 Q02 Q10 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47895&r=tra |
| By: | Timm, Christian |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the change in the Georgian economic policy from neo-liberalism to state-managed capitalism that occurred between 2003 and 2012. Centering on the distributive effect of institutions, the analysis reveals the underlying dynamic of that policy change. The paper argues that the introduction of a radical liberal regulatory environment contributed significantly to the development of informal state interventions in the economy. However, the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 destroyed the increasingly undermined FDIoriented liberal development model and forced the government to alter its economic policy. By relying on established informal instruments of intervention and the development of an official economic development agenda, a specific form of state-managed capitalism evolved in Georgia in the period that followed. -- |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:pfhrps:201303&r=tra |