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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Xiaogang Wu (Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); Zhuoni Zhang (Department of Applied Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | Prof. Xiaogang Wu, an HKUST Faculty Associate and Professor of Social Science at HKUST, investigates the earnings disadvantages faced by rural Chinese migrants in urban cities as compared to their local urban counterparts, and uses empirical evidence to conclude that such disadvantages are largely attributable to occupational segregation based on workers' hukou (residency) status. Prof. Wu's findings carry important implications for hukou-related reform policies aimed at better assimilating rural migrants into urban Chinese cities. These findings are particularly important now, as both the Chinese central government as well as local urban governments throughout the country scramble to fix the socioeconomic difficulties faced by the ever-growing influx of rural migrants to urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Hukou, China, Chinese employment, Chinese rural migrants, Chinese residency status, Chinese socioeconomics, Hukou reform |
| JEL: | E24 J31 J41 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:briefs:201506&r=tra |
| By: | Christina Jenq (Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Dr. Christina Jenq, a post-doctoral researcher with HKUST IEMS, inspects the role of 1990's era reforms to urban Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on the widening gender imbalance in urban employment, with males accounting for a significantly larger share of urban employment than females. Based on rigorous econometric analysis, Dr. Jenq postulates that 30-50% of the gender imbalance amongst the urban employed can be assigned to gender-asymmetric industry-level privatization, with the remaining 50-70% attributable to gender differences in labor supply, both on a qualitative and qualitative level. Dr. Jenq cautions against quota-based employment policies aimed at reducing the employment gender gap (as there was scant evidence of gender discrimination found in her analysis), and instead recommends increases in both skill training programs as well as childcare and education benefits to allow more urban women the opportunity to enter the labor force. |
| Keywords: | Chinese state-owned enterprises, Chinese SOEs, Chinese privatization, privatization, SOE reform, gender imbalance, employment gender gap, ownership-specific human capital, China |
| JEL: | J24 E24 J41 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:briefs:201508&r=tra |
| By: | Libman , Alexander (BOFIT); Vollan , Björn (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | Anti-Western conspiracies are frequently used by Governments to strengthen their power. We investigate the impact of conspiracy thinking on expectations of collusion among individuals in Russia and China. For this purpose, we conduct a novel laboratory experiment to measure expectations of collusion and several survey items related to conspiracy thinking. Our survey results indicate that anti-Western conspiracy thinking is widespread in both countries and correlates with distrust. We find a significant effect of anti-Western conspiracy thinking in China: Anti-Western conspiracy thinking correlates with lower expectations of collusion. We explain this result by stronger ingroup feeling emanating from the anti-Western sentiment. Our paper provides a first step in analyzing the economic implications of conspiracy thinking for society. |
| Keywords: | conspiracy thinking; Russia; China; trust; collusion experiments |
| JEL: | C91 D83 O17 |
| Date: | 2015–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2015_014&r=tra |
| By: | Kellee Tsai (Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Division of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | The Xi-Li administration faces the dual challenge of managing state capitalism and shadow banking as China enters a phase of more moderate economic growth. During China's first three decades of reform, private sector development occurred in parallel with prioritization of state-owned enterprises in strategic industries, and growth surged. This pattern of state capitalism rested on an unarticulated bifurcated financing arrangement whereby the formal banking system primarily served public enterprises, while private businesses relied primarily on informal finance. However, China's response to global financial crisis disrupted the preceding equilibrium of financial dualism under state capitalism. Unprecedented expansion of bank lending after 2008 created opportunities for a host of state economic actors- including SOEs, state banks, and local governments—to expand their participation in offbalance sheet activities. |
| Keywords: | China, state capitalism, informal finance, shadow banking, financial development |
| JEL: | G23 G21 O17 P16 P26 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201525&r=tra |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents the results of a medium-size survey of executives of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations on relationship with the parents and sister-subsidiaries. Manufacturing subsidiaries are completely dependent on parents in financing development projects. At the same time, when the subsidiary receives substantial financing for development projects from the parent, it also gets from the parent intensive support in all stages of implementation of such projects. Intensity of cooperation with sister-subsidiaries strongly coincides with the intensity of support by the parent. However, high intensity of cooperation with sister-subsidiaries was observed only for subsidiaries established before 2009. Several practical implications for new entrants into ownership of Russian industrial assets are presented. |
| Keywords: | manufacturing, multinational corporations, subsidiaries, Russia |
| JEL: | F23 L60 M11 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:37man2015&r=tra |
| By: | Pavel V. Derkachev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article considers the uneven positions of school teachers in different regions of the Russian Federation. There exist numerous research works on the relation of school teachers’ salaries to the characteristics of regional educational systems and regional economies. A range of indicators is used to calculate school teachers’ salaries. It is necessary to consider the ratio of the teachers’ salary to the average salary in the region, the latter serving as a target indicator in government programs, in combination with other indicators, such as the ratio of the salary to the price of a fixed set of goods and services and the ratio of the teachers’ salary fund to total regional government expenditures. Research based on cluster data analysis statistical methods allowed the author to distinguish four types of regions. We used official data provided by Russian Federal State Statistics Service and the Russian Federal Treasury. The recommendations developed for each cluster of regions seek to improve the efficiency of the steps aimed at the implementation of the educational policy tasks through differentiating the support measures by the federal government. |
| Keywords: | Economics of education, labor market, salary, schools teachers’ status, general education, regional educational policy. |
| JEL: | H52 H73 I22 J31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:28/pa/2015&r=tra |
| By: | Roman Klimko (University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of National Economy, Department of Social Development and Labour) |
| Abstract: | In 2004 the European Union expanded to include ten new members, including all Visegrad countries. It can be concluded that growth potential of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia was obvious. However, the global economic crisis hit the labour markets of V4 countries significantly, but differently. The paper aiming at identifying labour market developments in V4 countries and examines the impact of the economic development on them. The paper emphasizes the development of the selected specific unemployment rates. It deals with an issue how to get employment development back on track. Therefore, the last section reviews the green economy as one of the key sectors with great employment potential. |
| Keywords: | Visegrad countries, labour market, unemployment rate, green jobs |
| JEL: | J01 J08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003825&r=tra |
| By: | Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Yang, Xiuna (Beijing Normal University) |
| Abstract: | This study uses China's Inter-Census Survey 2005 to analyse the extent migration behaviour among 14 large ethnic minority groups and the Han majority. Results show that the probability to migrate to all types of destinations varies by province of origin, decreases by age, and in most cases, by expected income at the origin. Furthermore the probability to migrate is found to typically increase by length of education and decrease for females by the number of children. In most cases investigated, a minority ethnicity reduces migration probabilities for people registered in rural China. This is particularly the case for persons belonging to the Uyghur and Tibetan ethnic groups, but also for the Mongolian, Bai, Yao and Tujia groups. In contrast, Korean and Hui have a higher probability of migration than the majority. For people with an urban hukou there are fewer examples that minority ethnicity affects probability to migrate. |
| Keywords: | China, ethnic minorities, Uighur, Tibetan, Korean, Hui |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J7 P23 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9018&r=tra |
| By: | Kellee Tsai (Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Division of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent the backbone of China's economy, yet they lack access to bank credit. SMEs thus rely on a wide range of alternative sources, including informal finance, online peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, registered non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), and underground financiers. This paper distinguishes among different types of 'shadow banking' to clarify popular misconceptions about the nature of risks associated with informal financial intermediation in China. The evolution of SME finance in other contexts suggests that regulated and well-managed NBFCs provide an enduring foundation for commercialised financial intermediation even in advanced industrialised economies. |
| Keywords: | China, shadow banking, informal finance, financial development |
| JEL: | G23 G21 O17 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201524&r=tra |
| By: | Costa-Font, J.;; Kossarova, L.; |
| Abstract: | Processes of transition to democracy and country break up stand out as ideal experiments to estimate the impact of wide institutional reform on well-being. Changes in population heights are regarded as virtuous pointers of well-being improvements in psycho-social environments, which improve with democracy. We analyzed a unique dataset containing individual heights in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to measure the retrospective well-being effects of the two transitions to liberal democracy and capitalism after the split up of Czechoslovakia. An additional year spent under democracy increases height by 0.286cm for Slovaks and 0.148cm for Czechs. Results were robust to using an alternative dataset and suggest that although transition paths differ across the two countries, the absolute height gap between Slovaks and the Czechs did not change. Slovaks benefited more thanthe Czechs in the bottom and mid tercile. |
| Keywords: | height; democracy; transition; secession; Czechoslovakia; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition; height dimorphism; |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:15/04&r=tra |
| By: | Wilson, Ross (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This study uses heterogeneous panel Granger causality tests to investigate the causal relationships between quality of governance and economic growth at the provincial level in China during the reform era. I find a significant and positive effect of economic growth on subsequent quality of governance, largely driven by growth in the secondary sector, but no significant effect of quality of governance on economic growth. These findings suggest that improvements in formal governance have not been a key factor in China’s rapid growth, and support the proposition that governance reforms are often a consequence, rather than a cause, of economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Asia; China; Quality of Governance; Economic Growth |
| JEL: | O11 O17 O43 O53 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2015_014&r=tra |
| By: | X. Yu; G. Dosi; M. Grazzi; J. Lei |
| Abstract: | This article explores the dynamics of market selection by investigating of the relationships linking productivity, profitability, investment and growth, based on China's manufacturing firm-level dataset over the period 1998-2007. First, we find that productivity variations, rather than relative levels, are the dominant productivity-related determinant of firm growth, and account for 15%-20% of the variance in firms' growth rates. The direct relation between profitability and firm growth is much weaker as it contributes for less than 5% to explain the different patterns of firm growth. On the other hand, the profitability-growth relationship is mediated via investment. Firm's contemporaneous and lagged profitabilities display positive and significant effect on the probability to report an investment spike, and, in turn, investment activity is related to higher firm growth. |
| JEL: | D22 L10 L20 L60 O30 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1006&r=tra |
| By: | Joanna Nowakowska-Grunt (Technology University in Czestochowa); Judyta Kabus (Technology University in Czestochowa) |
| Abstract: | Special economic zones in Poland have been created in order to speed up the economic development of municipalities, cities and whole regions, use of post-industrial assets and infrastructure, as well as to create new workplaces. The zones attract Polish and foreign investors. The aim of the present paper is to discuss the Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) which also covers the areas of Malopolska and Opole provinces. Special attention was paid to Polish legal regulations governing the functioning of zones and to concessions for investors. The article finishes with description of the Czestochowa special economic zone and its benefits for the city. |
| Keywords: | economic zones, investors, economic benefits. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003797&r=tra |
| By: | C. Jude; M. I. Pop Solaghi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) as a determinant of employment by using a dynamic labor demand model applied for a panel of 20 Central and Eastern European Countries during the period 1995-2012. Our results indicate that FDI leads to a phenomenon of creative destruction. The introduction of labor saving techniques leads to an initial negative effect on employment, while the progressive vertical integration of foreign affiliates into the local economy eventually converges towards a positive long run effect. However, this phenomenon is only observed in EU countries. Our analysis thus gives partial support to the worries that FDI may displace jobs. Still, the relative importance of FDI as a determinant of employment is modest compared to economic restructuring and output growth. Finally, our results show evidence of a skill bias of production in foreign affiliates, as human capital favors a positive contribution of FDI to employment. |
| Keywords: | FDI, employment, labor demand, transition countries, dynamic panel. |
| JEL: | F23 J23 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:553&r=tra |
| By: | Hana Horakova (Department of International Relations and European Studies, Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic); Aneta Oniszczuk-Jastrzabek (Faculty of Science, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine social change of a post-socialist Czech rural locality and community with regard to the large scale tourism development that has been taking place in this area since the late 1990s. The aim is to understand how the post-socialist transformation through tourism affected local community. Design – Tourism has become the primary economic endeavour which dominates community life and upon which the local area is dependent. The area serves as a prime example of a rapidly and extensively evolving, and largely exogenous tourism enterprise situated in a rural host community. The attempt is to present and explain the ways in which local rural people experience, create, interpret, and act upon transformation of the locality through tourism. Methodology - The paper is methodologically grounded in anthropological fieldwork conducted between 2008 and 2013. It is based on the data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Approach – The paper is focused on diverse identities, forms of agency and ambiguous interactions emerging within the rural community. It is argued that multiple views and representations of rurality are contingent on diverse memories of socialist past and post-socialist present. Findings – Data confirm the emergence of hybrid rural place filled up with changing spatial, social and power relations, and the processes of the internal ‘othering’ and marginalisation of the post-socialist rural place and people. Originality – The paper presents the outcomes of primary research that is both empirically-driven and conceptually embedded in the concepts of postsocialism, tourism as development, and social change. |
| Keywords: | rural development; rural change; tourism; post-socialism; Czech Republic; social capital |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section4-2&r=tra |
| By: | Bogus Zió (Politechnika Cz) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents results of a survey conducted in enterprises in Poland in 2012. 346 enterprises from Poland, including 143 micro, 104 small, 51 medium-sized and 48 large enterprises, participated in it. Enterprises providing services (over 2/3 of all the participants in the survey) dominated in the group of the enterprises surveyed. The other enterprises, representing 29.1% of the population surveyed, confirmed that the basic area of their economic activity belonged to the production sector. The enterprises surveyed varied in terms of the form of ownership, but the selected group of respondents was dominated by private enterprises, which accounted for over 91.9% of the overall number of the participants of the survey. The origin of capital in the enterprises surveyed was decidedly Polish (86%). 59.4% of the enterprises surveyed defined their economic and financial situation as good, 26.4% - as very good, and only 3.2% - as very bad. The survey results have shown that the value of an enterprise was mot often identified with the sum of the fixed assets and intangible assets, and more rarely (49.5% of all the companies surveyed) – with the sum of predicted future discounted cash flow (14.5%). 42.4% in total, including 66.7% of large and 27.8% of microenterprises, had a formalised strategy and systematically used it, but only in 8.6% of the enterprises surveyed all operations were subordinate to the strategy. Enterprises regarded customers and markets as the most important source of growth in the enterprise’s value. They also indicated satisfying customers as the type of current operations with the strongest impact on the growth in the enterprise’s value, while in the case of large companies, these were operations and processes creating value for the customer. The efficiency of functioning of organisational units was ranked lowest in this respect. In terms of investment directions, the development of fixed assets and increasing production capacity were ranked highest, whereas training courses and improving the staff’s competences were ranked lowest. Revenue from sale and processes implemented in an enterprise were the factors that had the strongest impact on an enterprise’s value, whereas the least important in this respect was capital cost. The factor that was regarded as the biggest threat to the value growth was competition, and in the case of large companies – macroenvironment and economic situation. |
| Keywords: | strategic management, value based management, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003636&r=tra |
| By: | Sonja Cindori (Faculty of law) |
| Abstract: | Value added tax was introduced in the fiscal system of the Republic of Croatia in 1998 as a flat rate system with a rate of 22 %. Shortly thereafter zero rate and reduced rate of 10% were introduced. Tax rates and their scope have been changing periodically until nowadays when rates are 5%, 13 % and 25% by which the Republic of Croatia takes a leading position regarding the amount of standard rate applicable in the Member States of the European Union.At the beginning of 2015 value added tax legislation is going to be harmonized with the EU legislation completely and will create a basis for a stable and plentiful form of sales taxation, with respect to the fact that Value added tax is the most plentiful taxation revenue of Government Budget of the Republic of Croatia.Latest reforms of the Value Added tax system in the Republic of Croatia concern changes in several areas: tax rate levels, threshold for compulsory registration in the Value added tax system, tax exemptions (by selecting functional principles for certain categories of exemptions), modalities of Value Added tax computation (according to collected or issued invoices) and new control methods of cash turnover. The greatest effect was expected in the area of its buoyancy and resilience during the financial crisis whether there was attempt to indirectly influence its regressive nature. Regardless of changes in the taxation system by the Value added tax, developments in economy and changes in social and economic sphere, Value added tax revenue in the last ten years has been in relatively narrow limits. However, its buoyancy, cheapness of collection and resilience during the financial crisis as advantages of this form of taxation cannot be considered separately but must be placed in the context of current economic conditions.According to the recent efforts of raising the standard rate of Value added tax there is a question of reaching the limits of Croatian tax capacity and real possibilities of setting its goals. Therefore, cheapness and efficiency of tax collection, the stability of tax policy and the balance between scope of tax base and provided exemptions should be an imperative of fiscal policy of the Republic of Croatia, which has to aim at the effectiveness of the implementation of legislation in relation to the tax system as a whole. |
| Keywords: | financial crisis, tax policy, value added tax, regression, rate, exemptions. |
| JEL: | K34 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003086&r=tra |
| By: | Claus Friedrich Laaser; Janno Reiljan; Klaus Schrader |
| Abstract: | Estonia is widely regarded as a paramount example for a successful transformation of a socialist economic system to a functioning market economy. Against the backdrop of this positive image which contrasts strongly with the crisis scenarios in Southern Europe the remaining problems of Estonia are often ignored. Estonia has hardly succeeded in catching-up economically with the richer countries of the euro area. In this paper the authors raise the question what the causes of the sluggish catching-up process are, and which opportunities Estonian economic policy has in order to close the wealth gap. It turns out that Estonia faces a serious productivity problem, particularly in the manufacturing sector producing tradable goods which is normally the driving engine behind economic and technological catching-up. The Estonian economy has failed to undergo the necessary structural change towards technologically more advanced employment structures and export patterns. Accordingly, Estonian economic policy needs to create a suitable business environment to support this kind of structural change |
| Keywords: | Estonia, catching-up, growth and structural change |
| JEL: | F14 O12 O52 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1998&r=tra |
| By: | Liviu-Adrian (Academy of Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses company’s capital structure using a sample of listed companies on a ten year period. It mainly tackles one of the most debated issues in corporate finance, the relationship between profitability and debt level of a company. Shareholder funds are considered at book value, while profitability is counted as profit on total assets. The study tries to answer the question of whether the structural changes in Romanian economy, regarding cost and availability of capital, have affected, or were affected by the profit making capacity of companies. After analyzing Romanian companies sample, the new objective was to compare it with a set of listed companies from emerging economies of Eastern Europe member states. By this it was intended to compare the results and see if there is any particularity for Romanian firms. Linear regression method is used through a panel data random effects model. Results confirmed past studies as negative relationship between leveraging and profitability was found. This finding is in line with pecking order theory of capital structure and contradicts trade-off and signal theory for Romanian listed companies. |
| Keywords: | capital structure, performances, trade-off theory, leverage, pecking order theory, Romania, panel data |
| JEL: | G32 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003806&r=tra |
| By: | Lilas Demmou; Martin Haluš; Gabriel Machlica; Fusako Menkyna |
| Abstract: | Regional inequality in Slovakia is among the highest in the OECD and is increasing. The main reason for regional disparity is the combination of low economic growth and job creation in the eastern and central part of the country and insufficient labour mobility to the west, in particular by low-skilled workers. As a result, jobs shortage and lack of technological capacities in the central and eastern regions persist alongside skills shortages in the Bratislava regions. Boosting convergence requires a multi-pronged approach involving innovation, labour market and educational policies. Completing the transport infrastructure network in Slovakia will be both important for removing expansion bottlenecks in the Bratislava region and reducing obstacles for job creation in the central and eastern regions.<P>Stimuler la croissance dans les régions les moins dynamiques en République Slovaque<BR>Les inégalités entre régions slovaques figurent parmi les plus fortes de la zone OCDE et s'accentuent. Ces disparités régionales s'expliquent principalement par la conjonction d'une croissance économique atone, de faibles créations d'emplois dans l'est et le centre du pays et d'une mobilité insuffisante de la main-d'oeuvre vers l'ouest, en particulier pour les travailleurs peu qualifiés. En conséquence, une pénurie d'emplois et un manque de capacités technologiques perdurent dans les régions du centre et de l'est, parallèlement à des pénuries de qualifications dans la région de Bratislava. Le renforcement de la convergence entre régions passe par une approche pluridimensionnelle, axée sur l'innovation, le marché du travail et les politiques d'éducation. Il importe de compléter le réseau d'infrastructures de transport en Slovaquie à la fois pour supprimer les goulets d'étranglement qui limitent l'expansion économique dans la région de Bratislava, et pour réduire les obstacles à la création d'emplois dans les régions du centre et de l'est. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, active labour market policies, innovation, education, Roma, transport infrastructure, EU funds, life-long learning, VET, employment services, regional inequality, infrastructures de transport, politiques actives du marché du travail, population Rome, fonds Européens, service public de l’emploi, enseignement et formation professionnelle, inégalité, formation, formation continue, chômage, éducation |
| JEL: | I2 I3 J21 J24 J31 J61 O3 R3 R4 |
| Date: | 2015–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1211-en&r=tra |
| By: | Vasić, Aleksandra |
| Abstract: | This Article analyzes harmonization of regulations adopted by the Republic of Serbia in the field of protecting geographical indications with the EU relevant regulations. Full harmonization with the acquis communautaire should create a possibility for Serbia to sell its products on the World Market and to protect these brands legally. Serbia is rich in natural, agricultural and food products produced in undeveloped rural areas. However, unlike European producers, producers in Serbia have not sufficiently recognized their economic interest to protect their products with geographical indications and are less likely to use this type of protection. Therefore, we believe that an adequate system of protection harmonized with European and International Standards represents a significant economic potential for developing rural areas and can provide competitiveness of Serbian products labeled with geographical indications both on European and International Market. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa145:200346&r=tra |
| By: | Sónia Araújo; Petr Maleček |
| Abstract: | The Czech labour market has undergone significant changes as a consequence of economic restructuring. This paper analyses these changes, highlighting both the impact of the recent economic crisis and some of the longer-run determinants of the Czech labour market. The higher share of tertiary education graduates has increased the supply of skills. Simultaneously, the development of services and the integration into global value chains have changed the composition of employment, away from construction and agriculture, and with significant shifts within the manufacturing sector. Although at an aggregate level the labour market performs well, a deeper analysis reveals several weaknesses. In particular, long-term and youth unemployment are persistent and especially affect the lower-skilled. Skill and occupational mismatches of vocational education graduates show that the education system fails to provide the qualifications required by the labour market. At the same time, regional differences in labour market performance have grown. Raising the low employment rate of women with young children would mitigate labour force ageing and prevent skill deterioration of a highly educated labour force. Over time, the labour market has been responding faster to output shocks and output growth consistent with constant unemployment has dropped significantly. Young people are more vulnerable to fluctuations in economic output than the rest of the labour force. The volume of labour market flows increased substantially during the recent years, both for short- and long-term unemployment.<P>Le marché de travail Tchèque : documentation du changement structurel et des defis restants<BR>Le marché du travail tchèque a subi des changements importants dans un contexte de restructuration économique. Ce document analyse ces changements, et notamment l'impact de la crise économique récente ainsi que certains des déterminants à plus long terme du marché du travail tchèque. Le taux plus élevé de diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur a augmenté l'offre de compétences. Dans le même temps, le développement des services et l'intégration dans les chaînes de valeur mondiales ont changé la composition de l'emploi, avec une diminution de la part dans la construction et l'agriculture, et des changements importants dans le secteur manufacturier. Bien qu’au niveau agrégé la performance du marché du travail est bonne, une analyse plus fine révèle certaine faiblesses. En particulier, le chômage de long terme et celui des jeunes sont une caractéristique persistante, affectant surtout ceux ayant des compétences faibles. L'inadéquation des compétences et des occupations des diplômés de la formation professionnelle met en évidence une difficulté du système d'éducation à offrir les qualifications demandées par le marché du travail. En même temps, les différences régionales dans la performance du marché du travail se sont accentuées. Augmenter le faible taux d'emploi des femmes avec de jeunes enfants permettrait de contrecarrer le vieillissement de la main-d'oeuvre et de prévenir la détérioration des compétences d'une main-d'oeuvre hautement qualifiée. Au fil du temps, le marché du travail est devenu plus réactif aux chocs et la croissance de la production compatible avec un chômage constant a baissé de manière significative. Les jeunes sont plus vulnérables aux fluctuations de la production économique que le reste de la population active. Le volume des flux du marché du travail ont augmenté considérablement au cours des dernières années, tant pour le chômage de courte que de longue durée. |
| Keywords: | labour market dynamics, female labour market participation, vocational education and training, unemployment, Czech Republic, skills, labour market, youth unemployment, chômage des jeunes, chômage, enseignement et formation professionnelle, dynamique du marché du travail, participation au marché du travail des femmes, marché du travail, République tchèque, compétences |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J24 J31 J60 |
| Date: | 2015–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1213-en&r=tra |
| By: | Nguyen, Huy |
| Abstract: | This study examines economic performance and household behaviour in multiple crop farming in Vietnam by measuring scale and scope economies, technical efficiency, and elasticities of substitution between inputs. The farming system in Vietnam is being transformed by integration between a set of cash crops and main food cropping operations. This transformation into diversified farming systems, where smallholders have a production base in rice, can affect the economies of scope, technical efficiency, and performance of farms. By using the approach of the input distance function, evidence is found of both scale and scope economies. These findings have important economic performance implications. Substantial technical inefficiency exists in multiple crop farming, which implies that by eliminating technical inefficiency crop, outputs could, in principle, be expanded by 20 per cent. Enhancing education and further land reforms are the main technical efficiency shifters. Evidence is also found for complementary between family labour and other inputs, except hired labour. The findings show further that the more adverse the farm production conditions, the more efficiently resources are allocated. |
| Keywords: | crop diversification, input distance function, elasticity of substitution, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency, economies of scope, and economies of scale, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, O12, O13, O33, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc15:204224&r=tra |
| By: | Yao Amber Li (Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); Jenny Xu (Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); Carol Zhao Chen (Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents theory and evidence on firms' import responses to exchange rate fluctuations using disaggregated Chinese imports data. The paper develops a heterogeneous-firm trade model that predicts import responses at both extensive and intensive margins as well as the more profound adjustment under ordinary trade than processing trade. Next, the paper empirically investigates import responses to exchange rate fluctuations at extensive and intensive margins in both the short run and the long run, and confirms the model predictions. We also find variations among import responses under different exchange rate regimes, including fixed exchange rate, expected appreciation, and confirmed appreciation. |
| Keywords: | exchange rate, import, extensive margin, intensive margin, processing trade, exchange rate regimes, pass-through |
| JEL: | F14 F31 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201527&r=tra |
| By: | Ivlevs, Artjoms (University of the West of England, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | It has been shown that higher levels of subjective well-being lead to greater work productivity, better physical health and enhanced social skills. Because of these positive externalities, policymakers across the world should be interested in attracting and retaining happy and life-satisfied migrants. This paper studies the link between life satisfaction and one's intentions to move abroad. Using survey data from 35 European and Central Asian countries, I find a U-shaped association between life satisfaction and emigration intentions: it is the most and the least life-satisfied people who are the most likely to express intentions to emigrate. This result is found in countries with different levels of economic development and institutional quality. The instrumental variable results suggest that higher levels of life satisfaction have a positive effect on the probability of reporting intentions to migrate. The findings of this paper raise concerns about possible 'happiness drain' in migrant-sending countries. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being, life satisfaction, emigration, transition economies |
| JEL: | F22 O15 P2 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9017&r=tra |
| By: | Klimczuk, Andrzej; Klimczuk-Kochańska, Magdalena |
| Abstract: | Polish Abstract: W niniejszej publikacji zawarto wyniki przeprowadzonych badań przedsiębiorstw na terenie Podregionu białostocko-suwalskiego oraz eksperckie analizy na temat możliwości wykorzystania współpracy transgranicznej dla wzmocnienia konkurencyjności przedsiębiorstw i wzmocnienia procesów rozwojowych w regionach peryferyjnych. Przedstawienie wyników badań poprzedzono dokonaniem charakterystyki gospodarczej Podregionu białostocko-suwalskiego. English Abstract: This publication contains the results of the research of enterprises in subregion Bialystok-Suwalki and expert analysis on the possible use of cross-border cooperation to strengthen the competitiveness of companies and strengthen development processes in peripheral regions. Presentation of studies was preceded by the description of business contacts in subregion Bialystok-Suwalki. |
| Keywords: | cross-border cooperation, peripheral regions, regional development, regional policy |
| JEL: | F23 P48 R58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64239&r=tra |
| By: | Zuzana Mucka (Council for Budget Responsibility) |
| Abstract: | We study the interactions among fiscal policy, fiscal limits and sovereign risk premia. The fiscal limit, which measures the government’s ability to service its debt, arises endogenously from dynamic Laffer curves and is a random variable. A nonlinear relationship between sovereign risk premia and the level of government debt then emerges in equilibrium. The model is calibrated to Slovak data and we study the impact of various model parameters on the distribution of the fiscal limit. Fiscal limit distributions obtained via Markov–Chain–Monte–Carlo regime switching algorithm depend on the rate of growth of government transfers, the degree of countercyclicality of policy, and the distribution of the underlying economic conditions. We find that it is considerably more heavy–tailed compared with the one usually obtained in the literature for advanced economies, and is very sensitive to the size and rate of growth of transfers. The main policy message is that the Maastricht debt limit is not safe enough for Slovakia: although in the equilibrium the chance of country default is 10 percent when the debt is 60 percent of GDP, it increases dramatically to approximately 40 percent in bad times (when productivity falls by almost 8 percent). A well-designed fiscal policy involving a deceleration in the growth of transfers can reduce the chance of default significantly. |
| Keywords: | Simulation Methods and Modelling, Fiscal Policy, Government Expenditures, Debt Management and Sovereign Debt |
| JEL: | C15 C63 E62 H5 H63 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbe:wpaper:201502&r=tra |
| By: | Toth, Jozsef |
| Abstract: | Value creation is the result of the continuous innovation activity of the entrepreneur, which is carried out mainly in form of open innovation among the agri-food SMEs. However value creation is not the ultimate goal of the enterprises. They are more interested in increased appropriation of the created value. Although the value creation (innovation) is very well explored and cultivated area of research, there are some voids in the field of agriculture and food industry: the behavioural aspect of open innovation is very rare. The value capturing is even much less studied, therefor our research approach is largely explorative one. Data are drawn from a survey carried out in Hungary among the agri-food SMEs in 2014. We use Structural Equation Modelling as well as ordered probit and semi-non parametric ordered probit models for analysing the data. Our results show that there is positive relationship between the knowledge sharing with chain partners and the innovativeness. We could explore that size of the firm, absorptive capacity and openness to foreign trade ambiguously affects value capturing. However trust in chain partners, reciprocity in knowledge sharing with chain partners and willingness to cooperate with buyers positively influence the appropriation of the created value. |
| Keywords: | value creation, value capturing, agri-food SMEs, structural modelling, behavioural economics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc15:204229&r=tra |