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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Marco Cipriani; Linda S. Goldberg; Gabriele La Spada |
| Abstract: | Financial sanctions, alongside economic sanctions, are components of the toolkit used by governments as part of international diplomacy. The use of sanctions, especially financial, has increased over the last seventy years. Financial sanctions have been particularly important whenever the goals of the sanctioning countries were related to democracy and human rights. Financial sanctions restrict entities—countries, businesses, or even individuals—from purchasing or selling financial assets, or from accessing custodial or other financial services. They can be imposed on a sanctioned entity’s ability to access the infrastructures that are in place to execute international payments, irrespective of whether such payments underpin financial or real activity. This article explains how financial sanctions can be designed to limit access to the international payments system and, in particular, the SWIFT network, and provides some recent examples. |
| Keywords: | sanctions; Financial sanctions; cross-border payments; SWIFT; Russia-Ukraine war |
| JEL: | F3 F51 G15 G2 |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:95525&r=tra |
| By: | Prema-chandra Athukorala; Hal Hill |
| Abstract: | This paper examines trade and commercial policy in Kyrgyzstan in the context of that country’s distinctive historical and geographical characteristics, drawing on the World Trade Organisation’s latest Trade Policy Review. A former Soviet republic, it is a geographically isolated, effectively a ‘double-landlocked’, transition economy. The country was an early liberalizer, both economically and politically, among the former Soviet republics, and it is now a broadly open economy. After a catastrophic economic decline in the immediate transition era it also achieved macroeconomic stabilization relatively quickly. However the growth dividend from these major policy reforms has been modest, and the country has become one of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world. While its geographical handicaps are immutable, we argue that key explanations for the slow economic growth are the limited ‘behind-the-border’ reforms, the dualistic economic structure, and misdirected fiscal allocations. We also draw out some of the broader implications for trade policy reform in other transition economies. |
| Keywords: | Kyrgyzstan, landlocked, transition economy, behind-the-border reform |
| JEL: | F13 O53 P27 P33 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2023-02&r=tra |
| By: | Lei, Lei; Wu, Fengyu; Xia, Yiming |
| Abstract: | In many societies, parents prefer sons over daughters, but the well-being effects of child gender, especially in later life, are less studied. Using the latest two waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this paper evaluates the impacts of having daughters on older parents' subjective well-being (SWB) in China, which has a rapidly aging population and the traditional preference for sons. Studying the cohort of parents whose child gender is as good as random, we find that having more daughters promotes older parents' SWB, especially overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with health, and satisfaction with children. Our results suggest that the increase in SWB is achieved through better health, more financial support from daughters, more spending on leisure and a lower probability of working. The positive SWB effects of daughters are found to be more salient among more vulnerable groups, including those who are older, less educated, and with fewer children. |
| Keywords: | Subjective Well-being, Child Gender, Older Parents, China, Life Satisfaction, Domain Satisfaction |
| JEL: | I31 J14 J16 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1229&r=tra |
| By: | Jin Cao; Valeriya Dinger; Tomás Gómez; Zuzana Gric; Martin Hondula; Alejandro Jara; Ragnar Juelsrud; Karolis Liaudinskas; Simona Malovaná; Yaz Terajima |
| Abstract: | We explore the impact of low and negative monetary policy rates in core world economies on bank lending in four small open economies – Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic and Norway – using confidential bank-level data. Our results show that the impact on lending in these small open economies depends on the interest rate level in the core. When interest rates are high, monetary policy cuts in core economies can reduce credit supply in small open economies. In contrast, when interest rates in core economies are low, further expansionary monetary policy increases lending in small open economies, consistent with an international bank lending channel. These results have important policy implications, suggesting that central banks in small open economies should watch for the impact of potential regime switches in core economies’ monetary policy when rates shift to and from the very low end of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | Low and negative interest rate environment (LNIRE), Cross-border monetary policy spillover, International bank lending channel, Portfolio channel |
| JEL: | E43 E52 E58 F34 F42 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2021–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bno:worpap:2021_12&r=tra |
| By: | Konstantīns Beņkovskis (Latvijas Banka); Oļegs Matvejevs (Latvijas Banka) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the new version of Latvian CGE model, which is now an integral part of the joint CGE-EUROMOD modelling system. Special attention is devoted to the labour market and consumption blocks of CGE that are substantially improved compared with the previous version. We briefly describe the motivation to link Latvian CGE with Latvian EUROMOD and provide major technical details. We also provide an example of the policy simulation by the joint CGE-EUROMOD system, demonstrating how the introduction of the progressive personal income tax rate affected the Latvian economy at macro, industry and micro level. |
| Keywords: | CGE model, Latvia, labour market, consumption, EUROMOD |
| JEL: | D58 C68 H2 H6 D9 |
| Date: | 2023–01–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:wpaper:202302&r=tra |
| By: | Seonmin Will Heo; Koichiro Ito; Rao Kotamarthi |
| Abstract: | We study the international spillover effects of air pollution by developing a framework that integrates recent advances in atmospheric science into econometric estimation with microdata on mortality and health. Combining transboundary particle trajectory data with the universe of individual-level mortality and emergency room visit data in South Korea, we find that transboundary air pollution from China significantly increases mortality and morbidity in South Korea. Using these estimates, we show that a recent Chinese environmental policy “war on pollution” generated a substantial international spillover benefit. Finally, we examine China’s strategic pollution reductions and provide their implications for the potential Coasian bargaining. |
| JEL: | Q53 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30830&r=tra |
| By: | Jin Cao; Chao Cui; Valeriya Dinger; Martin B. Holm; Shulong Kang |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a novel method to estimate the depreciation rate of durable goods using a combination of identified marginal and average spending shares. We apply our method to Chinese spending responses to disposable income changes induced by monetary policy in 2008-2009. The marginal spending response is 0.40. Durable goods make up about 45% of this marginal spending response. By combining this marginal spending share on durables with an average spending share of 14%, we estimate the annual depreciation rate of durables in China to be 0.16. |
| Keywords: | Consumption, Durables, Monetary Policy |
| JEL: | E21 E52 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bno:worpap:2022_1&r=tra |
| By: | Claudia Kettner; Eva Wretschitsch (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | In the "Fit for 55" package of July 2021, the European Commission proposed inter alia a revision of the energy taxation directive with the intent of increasing tax rates for fossil fuels that should contribute to achieving the EU's emission reduction targets for 2030. Since then, climate policy challenges in the EU have been amplified by sharp increases in electricity and gas prices mainly as a result of the war in Ukraine. Energy price spikes have led to the implementation of numerous compensation measures for households and firms in EU member countries. In this article, we provide an overview of the discussion on energy taxation in the EU and analyse compensation measures implemented during the energy crisis. We find that energy cost related compensation measures counter climate policy efforts. A stronger focus on vulnerable groups would have reduced the overall costs of measures and entailed stronger energy efficiency incentives. |
| Keywords: | EU, Energy taxation, Energy cost subsidies, Energy crisis |
| Date: | 2023–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2023:i:656&r=tra |