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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Gallagher, Mary (University of Michigan); Giles, John T. (World Bank); Park, Albert (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology); Wang, Meiyan (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents empirical evidence from household and firm survey data collected during 2009-2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law and its effects on China's workers. The government and local labor bureaus have made substantial efforts to enforce the provisions of the new law, which has likely contributed to reversing a trend toward increasing informalization of the urban labor market. Enforcement of the law, however, varies substantially across cities. The paper analyzes the determinants of worker satisfaction with the enforcement of the law, the propensity of workers to have a labor contract, workers' awareness of the content of the law, and their likelihood of initiating disputes. The paper finds that all of these factors are highly correlated with the level of education, especially for migrants. Although higher labor costs may have had a negative impact on manufacturing employment growth, this has not led to an overall increase in aggregate unemployment or prevented the rapid growth of real wages. Less progress has been made in increasing social insurance coverage, although signing a labor contract is more likely to be associated with participation in social insurance programs than in the past, particularly for migrant workers. |
| Keywords: | social insurance, informal sector, labor regulations, migration, gender, China |
| JEL: | J08 J16 J28 J41 J52 J53 O15 O17 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7555&r=tra |
| By: | Grigoriadis, Theocharis |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I test the effects of religious norms on the provision of public goods. My evidence is drawn from public goods experiments that I ran with regional bureaucrats in Tomsk and Novosibirsk, Russia. I introduce three treatments, which I define as degrees of Eastern Orthodox collectivist enforcement: 1. Solidarity, 2. Obedience, and 3. Universal discipline. I argue for the existence of an Eastern Orthodox hierarchy in the Russian bureaucracy that facilitates the delivery of public goods under conditions of universal discipline and the principal´s overfulfillment. Eastern Orthodox hierarchy is enforced through universal disciplinary monitoring, which induces collective punishment when the public good is not delivered. Contrary to conventional wisdom about freeriding in administrative institutions, higher ranks in Russian bureaucracies are associated with less freeriding. -- |
| Keywords: | public goods experiments,bureaucracy,enforcement,Russia,religion,incomplete information,hierarchy |
| JEL: | C91 C92 D72 D73 P21 P26 P32 P51 Z12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201314&r=tra |
| By: | Grigoriadis, Theocharis; Torgler, Benno |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the effects of religious identity - defined both as personal identification with a religious tradition and institutional ideas on the provision of public goods - on attitudes toward central government. We explore whether citizens belonging to collectivist rather than individualist religious denominations are more likely to evaluate their central government positively. Moreover, we explore whether adherence to collectivist norms of economic and political organization leads to a positive evaluation of central government. Surveys were conducted in Russia and Israel as these countries provide a mosaic of three major world religions - Judaism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam. The information gathered also allows us to study whether attitudes towards religious institutions such as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, and the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Israel are able to predict positive attitudes toward centralized forms of governance. We find strong support for the proposition that collectivist norms and an institutional religious identity enhance positive attitudes towards central government. -- |
| Keywords: | Religious identity,public goods,collectivism,individualism,local government,centralization,Russia,Israel |
| JEL: | P16 P17 P21 P35 P51 P52 Z12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201313&r=tra |
| By: | Long, Wenjin (University of Nottingham); Appleton, Simon (University of Nottingham); Song, Lina (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | In nationally representative household data from the 2008 wave of the Rural to Urban Migration in China survey, nearly two thirds of rural-urban migrants found their employment through family members, relatives, friends or acquaintances. This paper investigates why the use of social network to find jobs is so prevalent among rural-urban migrants in China, and whether migrants face a wage penalty as a result of adopting this job search method. We find evidence of positive selection effects of the use of networks on wages. Users of networks tend to be older, to have migrated longer ago and to be less educated. In addition, married workers and those from villages with more out-migrant are more likely to use networks, while those without local residential registration status are less likely. Controlling for selectivity, we find a large negative impact of network use on wages. Using job contacts brings open access to urban employment, but at the cost of markedly lower wages. |
| Keywords: | social network, job contact, wage, rural-urban migrants, switching regression, China |
| JEL: | J24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7577&r=tra |
| By: | Sun, Jiawei; Ma, Chao; Song, Ze; Gu, Hai |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the urban-rural inequality of opportunity in health care in China based on the theory of equality of opportunity of Roemer (1998). Following the compensation principle proposed by Fleurbaey and Schokkaert (2011), this paper establishes a decomposition strategy of the fairness gap, which we use for the measurement of the inequality of opportunity in the urban-rural health care use. Empirical analysis using the CHNS data shows that the ratios of the fairness gap to the directly observed average urban-rural difference in health care are 1.167 during 1997-2000 and 1.744 during 2004-2006, indicating that the average urban-rural difference observed directly from original statistical data may underestimate the degree of the essential inequity. Meanwhile, the increasing fairness gap and the decomposition results imply that generally leveling the urban-rural reimbursement ratios is probably not sufficient, and pro-disadvantage policies should be put in place in order to mitigate or even eliminate the inequality of opportunity in health care use between urban and rural residents. The results are also illuminating for the experiments and establishment of the urban-rural integrated medical insurance system (URIMIS) in China. The pro-disadvantage policies will be more appreciated and effective in the promotion of the equality of opportunity in health care, within the background of urban-rural dualistic social structure and widening urban-rural income gap. This suggestion is supported by data from the URIMIS pilot regions in Jiangsu province. The results show that the fairness gap can be narrowed significantly via pro-disadvantage policies. |
| Keywords: | equality of opportunity; health care; fairness gap; urban-rural integrated medical insurance system |
| JEL: | D12 D63 I18 |
| Date: | 2013–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:49389&r=tra |
| By: | Fu, Junying; Frietsch, Rainer; Tagscherer, Ulrike |
| Abstract: | It is well known that the number of China's publications has increased at a remarkable rate over the last three decades. However, many related issues still remain unknown, like the scientific impact of those papers, the journals in which Chinese scientists publish their papers, and the relationship between the trend of China's publication activity and its S&T policy as well as other related governance issues. By using bibliometric methods, this paper finds that China's citation number which ranks fourth worldwide does not run parallel to the publication number that ranks second in the SCIE data-base, implying its publications haven't had the impact that was expected. Its citation rate ranks 78th though it has increased steadily. China's publications are mostly published in the lower impact journals but they attract more citations than the journals' expected values. China's S&T related inputs, including funding and personnel, have ex-hibited remarkable increasing trends during the four stages of S&T policies since 1977. Besides S&T investments, utilitarian practice nationwide may partly be responsible for the tremendous increase of SCI papers, especially when the performance-based evaluation system is mostly employed. It is essential to create a flexible environment and promote a scientific spirit combined with developing broader and more plural forms of the S&T assessment system, which would make developing an innovation country more realistic for China. -- |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:35&r=tra |
| By: | Xing, Chunbing (Beijing Normal University); Zhang, Junfu (Clark University) |
| Abstract: | China has long aimed to restrict population growth in large cities but encourages growth in small and medium-sized cities. At the same time, various government policies favor large cities. We conjecture that larger cities in China have more urban amenities and a better quality of life. We thus predict that a typical rural-urban migrant is willing to give up some income in order to live in a larger city. We present a simple model in which rural-urban migrants choose destination cities to maximize utilities from consumption and urban amenities. Drawing data from a large-scale population survey conducted in 2005, we first estimate each migrant's expected earnings in each possible destination city using a semi-parametric method to correct for potential selection bias. We then estimate the typical migrant's preference for city population size, instrumenting population size with its lagged values to control for potential omitted-variables bias. From these estimation results, we calculate the typical migrant's willingness to pay to live in larger cities. Our results show that indeed rural-urban migrants strongly prefer cities with larger populations. We explore possible explanations for this preference and discuss the implications of these findings. |
| Keywords: | city size, urban amenities, rural-urban migration, hukou system, China |
| JEL: | O15 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7562&r=tra |
| By: | Guiying (Laura) Wu (Division of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637332.) |
| Abstract: | Investment frictions reduce, delay or protract investment expenditure that is necessary for ?rms to capture growth opportunities. Using a capital adjust- ment costs framework, this paper estimates the gap between China?s actual and frictionless aggregate output. It applies the method of simulated moments to a fully structural investment model on a panel of Chinese ?rms; and takes into ac- count potential unobserved heterogeneities and measurement errors in the data. The estimated capital adjustment costs are substantial and vary across ?rms of di¤erent sizes, and across regions with di¤erent investment environments. If Chinese ?rms had faced a lower level of adjustment costs such as in the U.S., China?s aggregate output would be 25% higher. |
| Keywords: | Investment, Capital Adjustment Costs, Method of Simulated Moments |
| JEL: | E22 D92 C15 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1307&r=tra |
| By: | Wojciech Grabowski; Teoman Pamukcu; Krzysztof Szczygielski; Sinan Tandogan |
| Abstract: | The aim of the project is to analyze government support for innovation in a comparative perspective by first examining the main existing instruments of financial support for innovation in Turkey and Poland, and secondly to assess their effectiveness by applying recent econometric techniques to firm-level data for both countries obtained from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Comparing Turkey to Poland is both meaningful and promising from a policy-analysis point of view. Both countries are comparable in terms of levels of economic development and technological capabilities, i.e. the ability of their economies to create knowledge and exploit it commercially. Both have undergone deep market-oriented reforms in the last decades – Turkey since 1980, Poland since 1989 – resulting in a significant catching-up of their economies. However, as the possibilities for further growth based on structural change and eliminating obstacles to business are shrinking, the problem of building a knowledge-based economy comes to the fore. In Turkey, one can observe the growing popularity and the generous practices of public incentives in industrial R&D and innovation, in addition to the recent trends in public policies to support technological entrepreneurship and the commercialization of research output. Since 2004, significant changes and improvements have taken place in Turkey concerning science and technology policy schemes that have actually influenced the national innovation system in a number of ways. These include: an important increase in public support provided to private R&D, the diversification of direct support programmes for private R&D and innovation (which was tailored to the needs of potential innovators), a widening of the scope of existing fiscal incentives for private R&D activities and the implementation of new ones, the implementation of new call-based grant programmes targeted at technology areas and industries based on national priorities. Considering the large resource allocation for the government involvement, there is a growing and urgent need for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of R&D and innovation policies in Turkey. In Poland, the science, technology and innovation (STI) policies were seen as less important than other reforms (financial system, privatization, pensions etc.) during the economic transition. The STI policies have lacked funding, co-ordination and vision. The institutional Architecture has evolved with a lack of continuity and a short institutional memory. A major breakthrough occurred after 2004 when considerable funds for innovation were provided via EU structural funds. The three principle areas of support were the creation of technologies, technology absorption and indirect support. However, with respect to public programmes targeting firms, technology absorption has dominated all other instruments. Consequently, it is legitimate to ask whether the EU funds are being spent in the best possible way, and in particular, whether they contribute to the enhanced innovation performance of economy. To assess the efficiency of public support, the same econometric methodology is applied to the Turkish and Polish 2008 and 2010 editions of the Community Innovation Survey for manufacturing firms. Two models are estimated: one following the now classical CDM model and assessing the role of innovation spending, but assuming government support to be exogenous, and another controlling for the endogeneity of support but assuming a simplified version of the innovation performance equation. Depending on data availability, extensions of the analysis for both countries are offered: for Turkey the estimation of a full-fledged CDM model and for Poland the analysis of panel data for 2006-2010 and an assessment of the Efficiency of specific kinds of public support. The evidence indicates that government support contributes to higher innovation spending by firms and this in turn improves their chances to introduce product innovations. The positive impact remains valid even when a possibly non-random selection of firms for government support programmes is controlled for. The extended analysis of Turkey has proved that there is a positive relationship between innovation and firm productivity. On the other hand, substantial differences between various kinds of public aid were identified. In particular, support from local government proved inefficient or less efficient than the support from central government or the European Union. Moreover, in Poland, grants for investment in new machinery and equipment and human resources upgrading proved to contribute significantly less to innovation performance than support for R&D activities in firms. In terms of policy recommendations, this report supports an increase in the volume of innovation support and in the number of instruments used in Turkey. However, a more specific analysis is needed to explain the inefficiency of support from local government. The recommendation for Poland is to redesign the innovation support schemes for firms so as to put more focus on R&D activities and the development of truly new products and technologies |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Manufacturing Firms, Government Support, EU Structural Policy, Poland, Turkey |
| JEL: | O31 O38 H81 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:cnstan:0458&r=tra |
| By: | Jozef Barunik; Lukas Vacha |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature on international stock market comovements and contagion. The novelty of our approach lies in application of wavelet tools to high-frequency financial market data, which allows us to understand the relationship between stock markets in a time-frequency domain. While major part of economic time series analysis is done in time or frequency domain separately, wavelet analysis combines these two fundamental approaches. Wavelet techniques uncover interesting dynamics of correlations between the Central and Eastern European (CEE) stock markets and the German DAX at various investment horizons. The results indicate that connection of the CEE markets to the leading market of the region is significantly lower at higher frequencies in comparison to the lower frequencies. Contrary to previous literature, we document significantly lower contagion between the CEE markets and the German DAX after the crisis. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1309.0491&r=tra |
| By: | Karolina Goraus (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Joanna Tyrowicz (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; National Bank of Poland) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates quantitatively the context of gender discrimination in transition countries in terms of access to the labor market. Over economic transition female labor market participation has generally weakened. Notwithstanding, transition countries differ in institutional design, structural labor supply patterns, labor demand characteristics and the speed of transition processes. We propose to evaluate the contribution of these effects to the observed extent of gender discrimination. Using estimators of gender discrimination obtained from a panel of micro-datasets covering a possibly large set of transition countries, we seek determinants cross-country variation in gender discrimination in the labor market. Empirical evidence suggest that while countries with generally higher female labor force participation are characterized by less discrimination, ceteris paribus, this pattern does not hold for the transition countries. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, transition, non-parametric estimates |
| JEL: | C24 J22 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2013-19&r=tra |
| By: | Narazani, Edlira (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | In the last two decades, Albania went through a substantial reduction in infant mortality rates together with a widespread migration experience. In this paper we investigate whether migration has played any role in this decreasing trend of infant mortality in Albania by using the Albanian Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09 (ADHS). First we assess whether migration has affected fertility decisions, namely, number of children and child sex composition among women aged 15 to 49 who have ever been married, but find no statistically significant evidence for any impact even when migration is instrumented. Afterwards, migration impact on child health status is investigated and the estimations results show that migrant households have had lower rates of infant mortality than non-migrant househol ds but only once the endogeneity of migration is tackled with country-specific instrumental variables. |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201315&r=tra |
| By: | Borsi, Mihály Tamás; Metiu, Norbert |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates economic convergence in real income per capita between 27 European Union countries. We employ a non-linear latent factor framework to study transitional behavior among economies between 1970 and 2010. Our results offer important insights on the economic catch-up exhibited by the new EU members in light of the institutional changes and macroeconomic adjustment processes undertaken over the last 40 years. Our main findings suggest no overall real income per capita convergence in the EU, however, we identify subgroups that converge to different steady states using an iterative testing procedure. Regional linkages play a significant role in determining the formation of convergence clubs. The empirical evidence suggests a clear separation between the new and old EU member states in the long run. -- |
| Keywords: | Club convergence,Dynamic factor model,Economic integration,Growth,New member states |
| JEL: | C33 O47 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:282013&r=tra |
| By: | Ladislav Kristoufek; Jiri Skuhrovec |
| Abstract: | For the first time ever, we analyze a unique public procurement database, which includes information about a number of bidders for a contract, a final price, an identification of a winner and an identification of a contracting authority for each of more than 40,000 public procurements in the Czech Republic between 2006 and 2011, focusing on the distributional properties of the variables of interest. We uncover several scaling laws -- the exponential law for the number of bidders, and the power laws for the total revenues and total spendings of the participating companies, which even follows the Zipf's law for the 100 most spending institutions. We propose an analogy between extensive and non-extensive systems in physics and the public procurement market situations. Through an entropy maximization, such the analogy yields some interesting results and policy implications with respect to the Maxwell-Boltzmann and Pareto distributions in the analyzed quantities. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1309.0218&r=tra |