|
on Transition Economics |
| By: | Lv, Bingyang; Liu, Yongzheng; Li, Yan; Ding, Siying |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how fiscal incentives offered to local governments in China affect investment rates in their jurisdictions. Theoretically, we build a simple fiscal competition model to establish the linkage between local fiscal incentives and expenditure policy and consequently, capital movement. The key prediction of the model, borne out by data from Chinese provinces spanning 2004–2013, is that an increase in the local corporate income tax-sharing ratio, which proxies fiscal incentives offered to local governments, motivates local governments to compete for capital investment through increased public expenditures. Our results contribute to the fiscal federalism literature by showing that local fiscal incentives significantly shape policy choices and local economic performance. In addition, by exploring fiscal incentives offered to local governments, we offer a novel explanation for the unusually high investment rate in China that has been sustained over a prolonged period of time. |
| JEL: | H72 H77 O16 R53 |
| Date: | 2018–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofitp:2018_020&r=tra |
| By: | Korkeamäki, Timo; Virk, Nader; Wang, Haizhi; Wang, Peng |
| Abstract: | We analyze preferences of foreign institutional investors in the Chinese stock market in a sample that covers 2003 to 2014. We find foreign investors changed their investment behavior during the sample period from generic patterns found in much of the world to China-specific patterns. The results suggest that foreign institutions learned to adjust their investment behavior to account for unique features of the Chinese market. |
| JEL: | G11 G15 |
| Date: | 2018–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofitp:2018_019&r=tra |
| By: | Zuzana FUNGACOVA (Bank of Finland); Paul-Olivier KLEIN (University of Aberdeen Business School); Laurent WEILL (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | Considering the evidence that China’s five largest state-owned banks (the Big Five) suffer from low cost efficiency, this paper decomposes overall efficiency of Chinese banks into persistent efficiency and transient efficiency components. Low persistent efficiency reflects structural problems, while low transient efficiency is associated with short-term problems. Using the model of Kumbhakar, Lien and Hardaker (2014) based on the stochastic frontier approach, we measure persistent efficiency and transient efficiency for a large sample of 166 Chinese banks over the period 2008–2015. In line with existing evidence, we find a lower average cost efficiency of the Big Five banks compared to other Chinese banks. It is almost entirely due to low persistent cost efficiency. The Big Five banks transient efficiency is similar to other Chinese banks. Our findings support the view that major structural reforms are needed to enhance the efficiency of China’s Big Five banks. |
| Keywords: | banks, efficiency, China. Classification-JEL C23, D24, G21. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2018-07&r=tra |
| By: | Carolina Perpina Castillo (European Commission – JRC); Boyan Kavalov (European Commission – JRC); Vasco Diogo (Wageningen Economic Research); Chris Jacobs-Crisioni (European Commission – JRC); Filipe Batista e Silva (European Commission – JRC); Carlo Lavalle (European Commission – JRC) |
| Abstract: | In the period 2015-2030 about 11% (more than 20 million ha) of agricultural land in the EU are under high potential risk of abandonment due to factors, related to biophysical land suitability, farm structure and agricultural viability, population and regional specifics. The risk for around 800 thousand ha (0.4%), located in Southern and Eastern Romania, Southwestern France, Southern and central Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Poland, Latvia and Estonia, is particularly severe. Economic factor and market instruments (including the EU Common Agricultural Policy) could largely mitigate those potential risks in a number, mostly Eastern countries and regions – Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Cyprus. The incremental abandonment within 2015-2030 is nevertheless projected to reach 4.2 million ha net (about 280 thousand ha per year on average) of agricultural land, bringing the total abandoned land to 5.6 million ha by 2030, the equivalent of 3% of total agricultural land. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land, LUISA territorial modelling platform, Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc113718&r=tra |
| By: | Yu, X.; Zhang, X.; You, L. |
| Abstract: | Manipulation of food production data could lead to catastrophic social and economic consequences. The accuracy of official agricultural statistics has long been questioned in China. As a natural experiment, this paper studies the linkage between agricultural production data manipulation and the Granary Country Subsidy Policy (GCSP). Chinese government gave subsidies to the counties with annual grain production more than 200 thousand tons to encourage these local governments to give priority on grain production from 2005. In order to obtain the subsidies, the prospective counties with food production slightly below the threshold may have incentives to over-report their grain production. Based on the McCrary (2008) s density test, our empirical results confirm that the GCSP results in over-reporting of grain production in those countries. Furthermore, data manipulations are more likely to happen in major-grain-production, low-income and mid-western counties. The policy implication would be that the fiscal distribution rules of a central government should avoid data manipulation incentives in local governments, particularly should cut the linkage to the data which are self-reported by the local governments. Acknowledgement : Thanks |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277298&r=tra |
| By: | Dorota Pasi?ska (Instytut Ekonomiki Rolnictwa i Gospodarki ?ywno?ciowej -Pa?stwowy Instytut Badawczy (Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute)) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the article is to present changes in the Polish goose meat market in the years 2012-2017 in the context of changes in the global goose meat market. Poland is one of the largest producers and exporters of goose meat in the world. In the analysed period, the production and sale of goose meat in Poland was of seasonal change, which, most probably in the case of availability of goose meat in retail trade will change, since buyers? preferences are changing and the demand for niche types of poultry meat is growing. At the turn of 2016/2017, Poland was affected by avian influenza which had a negative impact on the production of and trade in goose meat. In 2013, Poland was the fifth largest global producer of goose meat. The structure of the global export of goose meat and offal (total) is very concentrated. In the analysed period, its largest global exporter was Hungary with the share ranging from 34% to 47% while Poland was ranked second with the share ranging from 31% to 37%. |
| Keywords: | goose market, international trade, goose production, Poland, world |
| JEL: | Q11 Q17 Q13 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:8110378&r=tra |
| By: | Jena ?varcová (Tomas Bata University in Zlín); Lucie Povolná (Tomas Bata University in Zlín) |
| Abstract: | GDP growth is one of the most closely watched macroeconomic aggregates. To predict its growth, it is very important to know the importance and development of individual structural components - this article has been focused on the Czech industry NACE C and its role for GDP growth in the Czech Republic. The research was mainly focused on the impact of research and development, as the revised methodology of the national accounts system in the Czech Republic has been pursuing this factor differently since 2014. For better outlook, the development has also been compared with the Visegrad countries, where the Czech Republic is a member. The years 2005 to 2016 were selected for the period under review, when the effects of the economic crisis were reflected. The end of the survey period has shown a boom in economic growth, so research has covered all the important phases of the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | GDP growth, ESA 2010, Visegrad countries, Research and Development, NACE C Manufacturing |
| JEL: | E30 F43 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7309926&r=tra |
| By: | Cheng Hong (Dean of the Institute of Quality Development Strategy， Wuhan University; Director of China Employer-Employee Survey (CEES) Management Board and Director of the Macro-Quality Management Collaborative Innovation Center in Hubei Province); Albert Park (Chair Professor, the Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Director, Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Albert Park, the Director of HKUST IEMS, Chair Professor of the Division of Social Science, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, ask how Chinese Manufacturing Firms survive under the rising labor wages. Dramatic increase in real manufacturing wages in China combined with slowing external demand, is putting great pressure on Chinese manufacturing firms. The tight labor market in China led to a high worker turnover rate of 26% in Guangdong from 2015 to 2016, with rates higher for younger workers below age 28 (37%) and migrant workers (30%). Upgrading requires making new capital investments such as in automated equipment or robots, often with government support. To support adjustment to rising labor costs, it is important for China to allow for open market competition and create a level playing field. |
| Keywords: | wage, manufacturing, china, labor market |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:briefs:201821&r=tra |
| By: | Bakucs, Z.; Ferto, I. |
| Abstract: | The enlargement of the European Union (EU) led to an increase in regional development differences, challenging the EU structural policy. Whilst there are a wealth of papers discussing international and across EU development convergence, the issue seems under-researched at national level, especially when smaller territorial units are considered. This paper aims to partially fill this gap, by using low aggregation (Local Administrative Unit 1, LAU1) territorial data between 2002 and 2013 - a period that comprises Hungary s EU accession and also the years of the recent global financial crisis. We employ a novel approach to circumvent the lack of income, productivity or competitiveness data at LAU1 level by deriving two Regional Development Indices (RDI) resting on the estimation of an internal migration functions. Once the RDIs are estimated, we proceed to a test sigma, beta and unit root convergence. Further, we assess the probabilities of LAU1 region specific RDIs of changing their positions within distributional quartiles. Results regional divergence and low mobility of regions with rather bleak consequences for Hungarian and indeed European cohesion aims. Acknowledgement : Zoltan Bakucs greatfully acknowledges support from National Research, Development and Innovation Office (OTKA Project no. K 120080, "Impact of Rural Development Policy in Hungary. A Complex View"). |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277230&r=tra |
| By: | Lu, M. |
| Abstract: | Evidence from developed countries shows that there is a significant gender gap in STEM occupations. Girls may begin to underperform in math early as primary school. One possible explanation is the negative stereotype threat towards girls. However, this has been understudied in rural China. In this paper, we describe the math performance gender gap in rural China, compare the gender gap between rural and urban China, and finally compare the Chinese situation with other countries. We further examine possible explanations for the gender gap from comparative perspectives. Using first hand datasets of 3,789 primary students and 12,702 junior high students in China, combing with OECD 2012 PISA survey data, we find that in both rural and urban China, boys outperform girls in math. As students grow older, the gap widens, which is larger than in many other countries. We further find that both the gender gaps in math self-concept and math anxiety and discriminatory family investment towards girls are not sufficient to explain the wide math performance gaps. Our study suggests the inequality of education in rural China still merits concern and calls for further work to explain the observed gender gap in math performance. Acknowledgement : The authors would like to acknowledge the funding of the 111 project (B16031), the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and the Ford Foundation. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277189&r=tra |
| By: | Le, Nga (UNU-MERIT); Groot, Wim (UNU-MERIT and CAPHRI, Maastricht University,); Tomini, Sonila (UNU-MERIT); Tomini, Florian (Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL Medical School) |
| Abstract: | Health insurance can have important effects on self-employment and self- employment transitions. However, there is a literature gap on the relationship between health insurance and self-employment in low and middle income countries, especially in the context of the rapid expansion of health insurance in these countries. This paper examines this relationship in Vietnam with a focus on the comparison between the voluntary scheme for the informal sector (mostly self-employed workers) and the compulsory insurance for the formal sector (mostly wage workers). We employ a Multinomial Logit Model on a panel from the Vietnamese Household Living Standards Surveys 2010-2014 to investigate the association between health insurance and self-employment entry and exit over time. We show that those with compulsory health insurance in Vietnam, the formal workers, do not have the incentive to start a business compared to those having voluntary insurance. This effect holds true over time in 2012 and 2014. The effect is partly explained by the better enforcement of the compulsory health insurance scheme in Vietnam, making staying out of self-employment (often informal self-employment) a preferred choice. Regarding the effect of health insurance on self- employment exit, we do not find any conclusive evidence on this matter. The rigidity of the economy is highlighted, suggesting important policy implications in the areas of health and labour policies in Vietnam. |
| Keywords: | health insurance, self-employment, Vietnam, self-employment entry, self-employment exit |
| JEL: | I13 J22 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2018039&r=tra |
| By: | Haiyue Yu; Jin Cao; Shulong Kang |
| Abstract: | China has set to increase the minimum retirement age, to ease the pressure from pension expenditure and the falling labor supply caused by the aging population. However, policy debates have so far neglected the crucial fact that families in China largely rely on retired grandparents for childcare. Using novel and high-quality survey data, we demonstrate that intra-family downward labor transfer towards childcare significantly increases young females’ labor force participation rate and their labor income, and such effects do not exist for males. Furthermore, we show that the positive effects from grandparental childcare are higher for better-educated, urban females with younger children. This paper thus reveals a large, hidden cost in the new retirement policy — the reduced feasibility of grandparental support, due to postponed retirements, may crowd out productive labor of young females, — and rationalizes a series of social protection policies to accompany the phase-in of the new retirement scheme. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational labor division, grandparental childcare, female employment, human capital accumulation, minimum retirement age |
| JEL: | C24 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7293&r=tra |
| By: | Simona Malovana |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the pro-cyclicality of risk weights with respect to the business, credit and financial cycles using data for the Czech Republic. The empirical results indicate that risk weights behave pro-cyclically under the IRB approach and acyclically under the STA approach. The pro-cyclical behaviour of IRB risk weights for credit exposures is caused primarily by the procyclicality of risk weights for retail credit exposures, the strongest effects being in the highest and lowest quantiles of risk weights. The risk weights for retail exposures behave pro-cyclically not only with regard to the business cycle, but also with respect to the financial cycle and house price growth. |
| Keywords: | Housing market, internal ratings-based approach, procyclicality, quantile regression, risk weights |
| JEL: | C22 E32 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnb:wpaper:2018/12&r=tra |
| By: | Pu, M.; Zheng, F. |
| Abstract: | A stochastic simulation model, with adaptive expectation and multiplicative production shocks, is advocated to investigate the impacts of public grain buffer stocks in China. The effects of alternative public buffer stocks, with three price bands and nine storage capacity levels, are investigated from the perspectives of producer support, market stabilization, food security and social costs. The simulation results show that a narrow price band can improve policy performances and the storage capacity has marginal diminishing effects on above policy performances. For a given width of the price band, the symmetric price band could achieve policy goals at a relatively low cost. In practice, the Chinese government can lower floor price and restrict storage capacity in order to improve Minimum Price Procurement policies of rice and wheat. Acknowledgement : I would like to thank Yu Cheng from Development Research Center of the State Council of China, Xiaohua Yu from Georg-August-University of G ttingen, Chen Zhen for University of Georgia for comments on an earlier draft. This study is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; under Grant [number 71673289]; Doctoral thesis scholarship of China Institute of Rural Studies, Tsinghua University [number 201525]. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277510&r=tra |
| By: | Arkadiusz Zalewski (Institute of Agriculture and Food Economics-NRI) |
| Abstract: | The use of mechanization services makes it possible to reduce investment expenditures on the purchase of agricultural machinery, more efficient implementation of field works and enables the use of the most modern technical solutions. The research was aimed at identifying trends on the market of mechanization services for agriculture in Poland in 2005-2017. The dynamics of the value of purchased mechanization services and the share of services in total expenditures incurred on agricultural production were analyzed. It was found that in 2005-2017 there was a slight decrease in demand for mechanization services in Polish agriculture. In the discussed period, the value of mechanization services in current prices increased by 36.9% to EUR 505 million. However, the increase in the value of services was primarily related to higher prices. For comparison, the value of services expressed in constant prices (from 2010) decreased by 7.0% to 453 million euros in the analyzed period. The decrease in demand for mechanization services is also confirmed by data on the share of the value of services in total outlays on agricultural production. The share of mechanization services in intermediate consumption decreased by 0.5 percentage point to 3.6%. The declining demand for mechanization services, especially in recent years, is probably a consequence of earlier investments related to the modernization of agricultural equipment supported by financial resources of the European Union and the related certain saturation of farms with modern and more efficient agricultural equipment.The ratio determining the share of mechanization services in intermediate consumption in Poland was among the lowest in comparison with the majority of European Union countries. For comparison, on average in EU countries in 2017 it amounted to 7.4%, for example in the Netherlands it was 13.6%, in Italy 12.0%, in France 9.9%, in Hungary 9.1%, in Denmark 7.6%, and in Germany 6.4%. Lower than in Poland share of agricultural services in intermediate consumption was recorded, among others, in Romania, Slovenia and Lithuania (below 3%). A small share of agricultural services in intermediate consumption in Poland can be associated with the fact that Polish farmers are usually difficult to persuade to alternative forms of agricultural machinery use, such as neighborly assistance services, specialized services or team-operated machinery, which may partly result from the past history. |
| Keywords: | agricultural services, mechanization services, services market |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7310319&r=tra |
| By: | Klára ?ermáková (University of Economics, Prague); Bo?ena Kade?ábková (University of Economics, Prague) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with financial crisis and bubbles on financial markets. Authors first compare theoretical approaches to the crisis, then identify common characteristics of past financial crisis and the recent crises, then analyze price bubbles as a possible source of the crisis, ways of their estimation and possible responses of economic policies. The analytical part is focused on the case of the Czech Republic, as the paper finds some specific features in the bubble performance in the Czech Republic, as the Czech economy was characterized by the low cost of labour and very low price of properties, a heritage of the transformation era. |
| Keywords: | financial crises, speculative bubbles, specifics features in the Czech economy |
| JEL: | E32 G01 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:7109710&r=tra |
| By: | Zhang, Y.; Liu, W.; Cai, J. |
| Abstract: | There is a paradox in rural land transfer in China: it is taken for granted that the preference is for long-term tenancy, which may result in long-term investment and more thorough conservation practices; but in reality, short-term tenancy that is, usually one year or less dominates. By building a theory model and undertaking binary logistic analysis of survey data, we discover two fundamental reasons for the dominance of short-term tenancies that help explain this paradox: (1) owing to unstable land ownership, the high relative income per capita between non-agricultural and agricultural sectors and the close relationship between lessors and lessees, the transaction costs of leasing land are rather high, meaning that long-term leases are a better choice for lessors while short-term leases favor lessees; (2) these same three factors mean that the Chinese land lease market is a buyer's market that is, one in which the lessee has the upper hand so it is the preference of the lessee that determines the nature of the market as a whole. Acknowledgement : This research is supported by Institue of Agricultural Economy and Development, Chiese Academy of Agricultural Sciences through Innovation project. We also thank Professor Zhong Tang for his valueble comments for this paper. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277173&r=tra |
| By: | Ma, W.; Grafton, Q.; Renwick, A. |
| Abstract: | The diffusion of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs) has important implications for rural economic development. While previous studies have investigated the potential contributions of mobile ICTs to agricultural production and poverty reduction, wider incomes effects of the use of updated ICTs such as smartphones have hardly been analyzed. To bridge this knowledge gap, we analyze the determinants and income effects of smartphone use, using an endogenous switching regression model and building on a household-level survey data from rural China. Our findings indicate that gender, farmers education, farm size, and off-farm work participation are main drivers of smartphone use, and smartphone use increases farm income, off-farm income and household income significantly. Further, we find that the income effects of smartphone use are heterogeneous between the male who use smartphones and work off farm and their female counterparts. Acknowledgement : The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from Lincoln University within the seed fund project (INT5056). |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/ Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277310&r=tra |
| By: | Marek Zieli?ski (Institute of Agriculture and Food Economics-NRI) |
| Abstract: | According to the existing findings of the European Commission (EC), one of the priorities of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020 will be to further strengthen the role of the agricultural sector in providing public goods and ecosystem services by preserving and creating in rural areas of landscape features conducive to the conservation of biodiversity. In terms of the environmental concern, such approach by the EC should therefore be considered particularly necessary. However, the challenge of the CAP after 2020 will be to manage the process of promoting the natural value of rural areas in a way to minimise the potential negative effects for the competitiveness of farms. Poland has a strong potential of areas conducive to the conservation biodiversity conservation. This is indicated by the index of natural and tourist value (INTV) defined by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation National Research Institute (ISSPC-NRI) for municipalities in Poland. This index is an average share of the total area of permanent grassland, forests, waters, as well as wetlands in the total area surrounded by all arable land of a given municipality with a radius of 2 km. The average INTV for municipalities in Poland is 35.6% out of 100% which can be achieved. It should be added that the area of municipalities with the INTV ?35.6% accounts for 57.7% of the Polish area and in these municipalities there are 67.5% of permanent grassland, 75.9% of forests and 70.1% of waters in Poland.Taking into account the EC?s findings on a need to strengthen, in the EU financial perspective after 2020, the role of the agricultural sector in the conservation of biodiversity and the significant share of areas conducive to the conservation of biodiversity in Poland, it is therefore reasonable to determine, inter alia, the impact of these areas on the efficiency of farms functioning therein and then to compare them with the efficiency of farms in other areas. Analysis covered 8,494 farms keeping accounting for the Polish FADN in 2015. Those farms have been then divided into two groups. The first one was made of 3,937 (46.4%) farms that conducted the agricultural production in municipalities with the INTV of ? 35.6%, referred to in the paper as farms from municipalities with the high natural value. In turn, the second group is composed of 4,557 (53.6%) of other farms. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, CAP after 2020, Farm Accourancy Data Network in Poland |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7310318&r=tra |
| By: | Pa?ko Burna? (University of Split, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Recent global economic crisis and the concerns about sustainability of public finances have resulted in stronger implementation of fiscal consolidation measures. The literature does not offer a consensus on the impact of these measures. Empirical research offers a rationale for both contractionary and expansionary effect of fiscal consolidation on economic activity. Studies that examine the macroeconomic and fiscal effects of consolidation in developed countries are not frequent either have a long history, while the same effects in the post-transition countries are un-investigated. This paper tries to shed some light on this relationship. Additional contribution of this paper relates to the usage of the narrative approach introduced by Romer and Romer (2010). The research results do not support the expansionary fiscal consolidation hypothesis. Therefore, analysis suggests that fiscal consolidation in the Republic of Croatia and other post-transition countries was not successful in achieving macroeconomic goals such as economic growth.* This paper was supported by Croatian Scientific Foundation under the project ?Public Finance Sustainability on the Path to the Monetary Union? (IP-2016-06-4609). |
| Keywords: | fiscal consolidation, economic growth, narrative approach, Croatia, post-transition countries |
| JEL: | E62 H62 H69 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7310307&r=tra |
| By: | Le, Nga (UNU-MERIT); Groot, Wim (UNU-MERIT and CAPHRI, Maastricht University,); Tomini, Sonila (UNU-MERIT); Tomini, Florian (Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL Medical School) |
| Abstract: | Even though health insurance is expanding rapidly in Vietnam, its coverage is not effective. There remain inefficiencies in the healthcare system with quality concerns, especially at primary care and in remote areas. However, very little is known about how health insurance is valued by people and whether health insurance coverage can translate into quality healthcare. This paper investigates the relationship between health insurance and patient satisfaction with medical care in the poorest regions of Vietnam. We use multi-level models for ordinal responses on a cross-sectional dataset of the poorest regions of Vietnam in 2012. We find that it is not health insurance coverage per se but the financial coverage that matters to improve patient satisfaction with medical care. Patient satisfaction depends on the breadth and depth of insurance coverage (i.e. services and medicines covered, co-payment rate for each service) and the ability to use health insurance to reduce medical costs via the co-payment mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Health insurance, patient satisfaction, Vietnam |
| JEL: | I13 |
| Date: | 2018–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2018040&r=tra |
| By: | Liu, C. |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have found that returns to education in off-farm wage employment in rural China are lower than estimates for other developing economies. This paper seek to understand why and to provide what we believe are more accurate estimates of the returns. The returns to education in rural China may have been systematically underestimated due to mismeasurements in wage rate and/or experiences. Using a nearly nationally representative dataset of female workers in rural China, with detailed information on hours worked and earnings (to calculate daily wage rate), and employment history (to more appropriately measure experiences), might help provide better estimates of returns to education. We find that estimates of returns to education, when employment interruptions are considered, are 3-4% higher than those without being considered. Moreover, we also find that mismeasurement in wage rate by not considering the hours worked cause even more serious underestimate of returns to education (by 25-43%). The paper demonstrates that, although some of the differences between our estimates and previous ones can be attributed to increasing returns since the 2000s, a larger portion of the differences are due to the nature of the data and the methodological approaches used by other authors. Acknowledgement : The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 71473240 and 71333012). |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276941&r=tra |
| By: | Jin, S.; Waibel, H.; Min, S.; Huang, J. |
| Abstract: | This paper explores diversification for land and labor by smallholder farmers in Southwest China in response to the rubber price declines. Panel data of some 600 smallholder rubber farmers in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China in 2012 and 2014 is employed. Livelihood diversification is expressed by calculating Shannon for land and labor. We developed Tobit panel models to identify the determinants of diversification, and OLS and Quantile regression models to analyze the correlation between diversification and income. We find that (i) household incomes are more diverse after the decline of rubber prices; (ii) diversification contributes to smoothing household income; (iii) households with higher incomes are more likely to diversify their portfolios of crop and employment; (iv) diversification contributes to decrease of income inequality. We conclude that a more diversification in labor is more effective in mitigating negative effects of shocks from rubber price decline. Land diversification is likely to be a more effective ex-ante shock alleviation strategy. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277431&r=tra |
| By: | Reinhard Neck (Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt); Klaus Weyerstrass (Institute for Advanced Studies) |
| Abstract: | In 2009, Serbia applied officially for EU membership; in 2014, membership negotiations started. After joining the EU, Serbia will have to adopt the euro as legal tender as soon as it fulfils the relevant Maastricht criteria. By means of simulations with a macroeconometric model of the Serbian economy, we examine likely macroeconomic effects from Serbia?s membership of the EU and the Euro Area. We show that EU accession and the introduction of the euro bring about higher real GDP, more employment, and more sustainable public finances. The benefits of joining the Euro Area are mainly due to increases in productivity. |
| Keywords: | Serbia; EU; Euro Area; open economy macroeconomics; econometric model |
| JEL: | E17 O52 E52 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:8110367&r=tra |
| By: | Jacek Jaworski (WSB University in Gda?sk); Leszek Czerwonka (University of Gda?sk, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of the paper is to diagnose the impact of the capital structure of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on their profitability. The ratios used in the profitability measurement are Return on Sales (ROS), Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). The capital structure is characterised by the total debt ratio (DR) and long-term debt ratio (LDR). The method of the empirical study is panel analysis of data from financial statements of 372 companies listed in Warsaw in the years 1998 - 2016. As control variables, the size of the company and the rate of its growth were assumed.The results of the study indicate that the impact of the total debt share in the capital structure on profitability is negative. On the other hand, the dependence between profitability and long-term debt is positive. In addition, it has been found out that a greater size of a company results in higher profitability. A similar relationship is observed for the company growth rate.The limitations of the research are: a time-limited and number-limited research sample and lack of consideration in the study of external conditions (e.g. the general economic situation, the industry, internationalisation etc.). |
| Keywords: | profitability, return on sales, return on assets, return on equity, leverage, sources of finance, capital structure |
| JEL: | G32 C23 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:7109137&r=tra |
| By: | Li Wang; Lukas Menkhoff; Michael Schröder; Xian Xu |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that politicians’ pressure to climb the career ladder increases bank risk exposure in their region. Chinese local politicians are set growth targets in their region that are relative to each other. Growth is stimulated by debt-financed programs which are mainly financed via bank loans. The stronger the performance pressure the riskier the respective local bank exposure becomes. This effect holds for local banks which are under some control of local politicians, it has increased with the release of stimulus packages requiring local co-financing and it is stronger if politicians hold chairmen positions in bank boards. |
| Keywords: | Bank lending, bank risk exposure, local politicians, promotion pressure |
| JEL: | G21 G23 H74 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1771&r=tra |
| By: | Speelman, S.; Hai, A. Ton Nu |
| Abstract: | Marine cage lobster in Vietnam has been known as a high return industry. But in recent years, it has also been facing with negative feedback on productivity due to overuse of nutrient content inputs. Local lobster farmers seemed to internalize this negative feedback by paying more efforts on cleaning cage and more cost on antibiotics and chemical without knowing if it is a positive or negative economic-environmental trade-off. In order to identify the relationship between the cost and environmental efficiency, this paper used Data Envelopment Analysis and Material Balance Principle with a dataset of 353 marine cage lobster farms in Vietnam. The findings show that improvements in efficiency of current input used would result in both lower production costs and better environmental performance. There is a positive trade-off in most lobster farms for being environmentally efficient and cost efficient from the current production. If lobster farms used appropriate input mix given input price information to be more cost efficient, it would benefit to environment. Moreover, producing friendlier with the marine environment also reduce production cost. However, there is a negative trade-off for the movement from being cost efficient to environmentally efficient position for all three groups. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277460&r=tra |
| By: | Christophe GODLEWSKI (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Dorota SKALA (WNEiZ, University of Szczecin); Laurent WEILL (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the lending cyclicality of Polish cooperative banks. Cooperative banks have an important role in the financing of the local economy and as such can contribute to amplify or moderate business cycles through their lending behavior. We use a rich dataset of 367 Polish cooperative banks over the period 2007-2013. We find that cooperative banks have a countercyclical lending behavior on the country level, with loan growth negatively linked to national business cycles. We observe that greater bank size contributes to reduce the countercyclical lending behaviour. The lending behavior of cooperative banks is also sensitive to local economic conditions, with some evidence for procyclicality versus the regional economy. Finally, we point out differences in cyclicality of lending across types of borrowers. Loans to non-financial clients and to banks are countercyclical, while we find procyclicality for loans to local government and public entities. These findings support the view that the cooperative banking sector should be preserved to mitigate bank lending procyclicality, usually observed in commercial banks. |
| Keywords: | cooperative banks, loan growth, cyclicality, local economy, business cycles. |
| JEL: | G21 R11 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2018-09&r=tra |
| By: | Oxana Posukhova (Southern Federal University); Ludmila Klimenko (Southern Federal University); Pavlina Baldovskaya (Southern Federal University); Oxana Nor-Arevyan (Southern Federal University) |
| Abstract: | In the conditions of educational and health institutions reforming and a series of economic crises, representatives of social-oriented helping professions move to the precarization zone. Based on the survey conducted in the spring of 2017 (2,054 school teachers and 870 physicians in state organizations in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Kazan), signs of precracious labor were identified: instability, the risk of job loss/changing, an increase in workload, not accompanied by higher wages, social and economic vulnerability. The empirical data shows that despite the satisfactory self-assessment of socially-oriented professionals' life, the level of precarious labor is higher for teachers from provincial cities and lower in the capital schools. In the field of health care, the extent of precarization is approximately the same in the different cities. Most teachers and doctors are concerned about the growth of workload without increasing wages and the risks of job loss. The majority of representatives of helping professions do not agree with the fact that the state effectively solves the social and economic problems of teaching. At the same time, interviewed teachers and doctors will take a rather passive attitude in case of violation of their labor rights. Nothing will be done by more than a half of all respondents. However, the excessive regulation of school teachers and physicians, on the one hand, and the continuing high demand for the work of schools and hospitals on the other, are associated with the risk of social tension increase in the Russian society. |
| Keywords: | labor precarization, helping professions, school teachers, physicians, instability, workload, vulnerability |
| JEL: | J28 J81 A13 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7310247&r=tra |
| By: | Bozena Kaderabkova (Czech Technical University, Prague); Emilie Jasova (University of Economics in Prague) |
| Abstract: | The objective of our analysis is to associate V4 Member States indicators with the selected institutional factors of the labour market. In addition, it aims at extending the Sekhon?s standard model for inflation with institutional factors. For the purposes of estimating the NAIRU in V4 countries, we intend to use the Kalman filter method with a higher than common smoothing coefficient. The model?s data will produce a specific period in which the institutional factors actually have a negative effect or positive effect onto the unemployment rate in individual countries. Finally, the analysis of the character and intensity of the impact of institutional factors onto the unemployment rate in individual V4 countries should indicate space for a wider application of institutional characters by economic policymakers. They should be warned about the threat of overusing the institutional factors having a negative effect onto the development of both structural and cyclical unemployment. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, NAIRU, institutional factors, labor market, V4 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:7109967&r=tra |
| By: | Morad Bali (CESICE - Centre d'études sur la sécurité internationale et les coopérations européennes - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes) |
| Abstract: | The Ukrainian crisis of November 2013 has led to the proclamation of independence of the Republic of Crimea in March 2014, and its attachment to Russia. This attachment, recognised by Russia and contested by a large number of Western countries, triggered an international crisis between the Russian Federation and the West (European Union, United States of America, et cetera). As a means of applying pressure on Russia, Western countries decided to launch a set of international sanctions. This paper's goal is to assess on sanctions effects on Russian and European economies. Thus, a country structural vector autoregressive (CSVAR) model is used in order to witness the impact of a sanction shock on considered economies. To our best knowledge, this paper is the first to use a CSVAR model to study the economic growth effects of anti-Russian sanctions on the considered economies. The economic conflict repercussions are revealed on the Euro Area (19 countries), on the six biggest trade partners of Russia as a lone entity, and finally on the six biggest trade partners of Russia separately. Results witness that the shock's effects are quite different whether a sum of GDP is used or not. In addition, results reveal that Russia is the most impacted by sanctions with a quarter-on-quarter GDP growth decrease of 3.25% after 3 quarters. Yet, European economies are also negatively impacted by sanctions, even if the impact is much weaker: -0.075% for Finland, -0.025% for France, -0.0125% for Germany, -0.012% for Italy, and -0.063% for Poland. As a consequence, we can say that the own coercive measures of European countries have a negative impact on their economies. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy,European economies,Economic sanctions,International crisis,Vector autoregressive models,Crise internationale,Economies européennes,Sanctions économiques,Economie russe,Crise ukrainienne |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01918521&r=tra |