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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | Yang, Yong-Zhong; Huang, Shu-Yi; Lin, Ming-Hua |
| Abstract: | This paper has built a three-stage assumption of creative industrial park on the base of evolutionary economics, which are the gather of units, the construction of interface and the development of network. The gather of units is a reflection of resource search, the construction of interface is a need of identity, and the development of network is a result of multi-dimensional expansion.In the three-stage evolution, the creative industrial park increases constantly their evolution level from the simple geographic gathered to the division and cooperation of labor, until the formation of novel systems. Then this paper analyzes the 798 creative industrial park using the three-stage assumption. This paper finds the main problem of 798’s self-destructing after the low level development of the third stage is the exclusion of the commercial prosperity to the art production. Accordingly,the paper puts forword four modes of promoting the integration between art and commerce. At last, this paper argues the different characteristics of the creative industrial park from other industrial parks. On the angle of formation path, the essence of creative industries is integration of culture and economy, technology. On the angle of evolution mechanism, it reflects novel characteristic of unit, identity characteristic of interface, and co-creation characteristic of network. |
| Keywords: | creative industrial park; formation path; evolution mechanism; integration of culture;economy;and technology |
| JEL: | B52 L8 |
| Date: | 2011–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34356&r=hme |
| By: | Flávio Ferreria de Miranda |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2009:015&r=hme |
| By: | Marianne Bertrand; Jessica Pan |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the importance of the home and school environments in explaining the gender gap in disruptive behavior. We document large differences in the gender gap across key features of the home environment – boys do especially poorly in broken families. In contrast, we find little impact of the early school environment on non-cognitive gaps. Differences in endowments explain a small part of boys’ non-cognitive deficit in single-mother families. More importantly, non-cognitive returns to parental inputs differ markedly by gender. Broken families are associated with worse parental inputs and boys’ non-cognitive development, unlike girls’, appears extremely responsive to such inputs. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17541&r=hme |
| By: | Masaru Ichihashi; Shinji Kaneko (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to analyze the impact of changes in resource prices on intra-region goods supply and on extra-region changes in prices, as well as possible impacts on the demand side, using China and Beijing as examples for analysis. Results of the analysis with Input-Output model and CGE model demonstrate that changes in the price of water supply do not have as significant an impact as is the case with energy goods such as electrical power or oil and mining. Also, another result with International IO model shows that an increase in the price of water resources in China would first induce changes in the prices of some domestic goods (education and research, chemical fertilizers, etc.); the effect on other countries would be relatively large in countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea, and in the industries of flour milling, heavy electrical equipment, knitting, non-ferrous metals, and apparel. However, all of these impacts would be minimal. |
| Keywords: | water resources; energy price rising effect; International Input-Output; CGE model. |
| JEL: | F18 O13 Q56 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hir:wpaper:1-5&r=hme |
| By: | Baddeley, M. |
| Abstract: | Evidence of climate change is largely undisputed but moderating the impacts not only of climate change but also of resource depletion is a complex, multi-faceted problem. Technical solutions will have a large role to play but engineering behaviour change within households and firms is essential to harnessing the potential for energy efficient consumption, production and investment. To inform debates about behavior change, this paper explores some insights from behavioural economics including analyses of bounded rationality, cognitive bias / heuristics, temporal discounting, social in uences, well-being and emotions. |
| JEL: | Q5 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1162&r=hme |
| By: | Wehinger, Frank |
| Abstract: | This research report gives an overview of the academic literature on illegal markets. Compared to legal markets, the sociology of markets has largely neglected illegal markets and the report therefore encourages their investigation. Results are presented from studies in criminology, sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, and other disciplines and a typology of illegal markets is developed. The literature review is used as a basis to summarize, from an economic sociological perspective, the characteristics of illegal markets with regard to market structure, organization, and processes. The report suggests areas of future research whose results would add to the general understanding of markets. -- Anders als legale Märkte sind illegale Märkte in der marktsoziologischen Forschung bislang kaum beachtet worden. Hier knüpft das Working Paper an: Es gibt einen Überblick über die wissenschaftliche Literatur zu illegalen Märkten mit dem Ziel, ihre Erforschung voranzutreiben. Auf der Basis einer eigenen Klassifikation werden die Ergebnisse kriminologischer, soziologischer, politikwissenschaftlicher, anthropologischer, wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher und weiterer Studien zu einzelnen illegalen Märkten vorgestellt. Davon ausgehend werden ihre strukturellen, organisatorischen und prozessualen Merkmale aus einer wirtschaftssoziologischen Perspektive zusammengefasst. Der Bericht schlägt Themenbereiche für eine zukünftige Erforschung illegaler Märkte vor, deren Ergebnisse auch zum allgemeinen Verständnis von Märkten beitragen sollen. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgw:116&r=hme |
| By: | Ahmad, Usman |
| Abstract: | Microfinance collectively refers to the supply of loans, savings accounts, and other basic financial services like insurance, to the poor. About one billion people globally live in households with per capita incomes of one dollar per day (Morduch J. 1999). Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) are special financial institutions. They have both a social nature and a for-profit nature. Their performance has been traditionally measured by means of financial ratios. The objective of the study has been to estimate the efficiency of microfinance institutions in Pakistan. Non parametric Data Envelopment analysis has been used to analyze the efficiency of these institutions by using data for the year 2003 and 2007 respectively. Both input oriented and output oriented methods have been considered under the assumption of constant return to scale technologies and microfinance should provide services on sustainable basis. A microfinance institution is said to be financially sustainable if it without the use of subsidies, grants, or other concessional resources, it can profitably provide finance to micro enterprises on an acceptable scale. |
| Keywords: | DEA; Efficiency; Microfinance; Pakistan |
| JEL: | D53 E58 |
| Date: | 2011–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34215&r=hme |
| By: | Lalanne, Marie; Seabright, Paul |
| JEL: | A14 J16 J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ide:wpaper:25165&r=hme |
| By: | Olivier Bargain (Aix-Marseille Université and IZA); Olivier Donni (Université de Cergy-Pontoise); Prudence Kwenda (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Poverty measures in developing countries often ignore the distribution of resources within families and the gains from joint consumption. In this paper, we extend the collective model of household consumption to recover mother's, father's and children's shares together with economies of scale, using the observation of adult-specific goods and an extended version of the Rothbarth method. The application on data from Côte d'Ivoire shows that children command a reasonable fraction of household resources, though not enough to avoid a very large extent of child poverty compared to what is found in traditional measures based on per capita expenditure. We find no significant evidence of discrimination against girls, and educated mothers have more command over household resources. Baseline results on children's shares are robust to using alternative identifying assumptions, which consolidates a general approach grounded on a flexible version of the Rothbarth method. Individual measures of poverty show that parents are highly compensated by the scale economies due to joint consumption. |
| Keywords: | Collective Model, Consumer Demand, Engel Curves, Rothbarth Method, Cost of Children, Bargaining Power, Sharing rule, Scale Economies, Equivalence Scales, Indifference Scales |
| JEL: | D11 D12 D31 I31 J12 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2011-031&r=hme |
| By: | François Facchini (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I) |
| Abstract: | L'étude de la relation paysage - marché n'est pas aisée car elle met en perspective deux réalités difficiles à appréhender : le marché et le paysage. L'introduction du présent ouvrage a exposé une revue des approches et des définitions du paysage. Pour ce chapitre la définition retenue du paysage est assez proche de celle proposée par la convention européenne des paysages : un paysage est une portion de territoire vue par un observateur (Neuray 1982, p.23, Facchini, 1993). L'économie de marché désigne une réalité concrète et des pratiques sociales. Elle se définit pour Marx et les classiques comme capitaliste ou salariale (Frydman, 1992). Elle se définit pour l'école néoclassique de l'équilibre comme le lieu de la détermination des rapports d'échange. Elle est pour les économistes de l'école autrichienne " le système social de division du travail, avec propriété privée des moyens de production. Chacun agit pour son propre compte ; mais les actions de chacun visent à satisfaire les besoins d'autrui tout autant que la satisfaction des siens " (Mises, 1985, p.272). D'un point de vue éthique l'économie de marché renvoie à un ordre économique où le droit de propriété n'est pas remis en cause et la main d'œuvre libre (non forcée) (Stark 2007, p.93). Elle est parfois assimilée à la loi de la jungle ou à la paupérisation des classes laborieuses et fait l'objet de nombreux discours spéculatifs. Sa définition varie ainsi en fonction du point de vue que l'on adopte, autrement dit, du référent que l'économiste choisit pour l'étudier. Chaque définition du marché conduit à une analyse particulière du paysage comme territoire et comme regard sur le territoire. Les théories critiques du capitalisme comme le marxisme, le socialisme utopique, le conservatisme de droite et l'ensemble des mouvements sociaux démocrates vont développer le thème de la destruction des paysages par les excès du libéralisme. Ces approches sont portées par le discours de l'ensemble des chercheurs anti-capitalistes et par l'idéologie protectionniste ou conservatrice d'un certain nombre d'écrivains et d'artistes. Elle développe une théorie socio-économique des préférences en matière de paysage et pense le paysage actuel comme le résultat du capitalisme ou des lois du marché. Comme territoire, le paysage est le reflet du capitalisme ou des lois de l'offre et de la demande. Comme regard sur le territoire, il est la conséquence des habitus et/ou des capitaux sociaux et personnels des individus. Les théories favorables à la propriété privée et à l'économie de libre marché vont développer des théories alternatives aux théories anti-capitalistes. Le paysage reflète toujours l'ordre économique, mais désormais l'ordre de la propriété privée est perçu comme à l'origine du développement économique et de la généralisation de la demande de paysage. La propriété privée crée les conditions pour que les individus accèdent au paysage en favorisant la hausse des revenus. Elle invente aussi des paysages d'un type particulier. Le paysage comme territoire devient le reflet de la généralisation de la propriété privée. Dans cette perspective, les représentations du paysage ne sont pas seulement déterminées par les conditions économiques et sociales. Elles trouvent aussi leur origine dans les expériences et les valeurs individuelles. Ces valeurs peuvent être adoptées par imitation, mais aussi être le résultat d'innovations esthétiques ou spirituelles. L'homme n'est plus passif. Il est créateur de concepts, de valeurs morales et de paysages. A l'origine d'une représentation sociale il y une représentation individuelle partagée. On retrouve alors les lois de l'innovation et de l'imitation d'un sociologue comme Gabriel Tarde. Les goûts ne sont plus déterminés par les conditions sociales mais par les rencontres, les expériences, le hasard, le désir de nouveauté, l'insatisfaction des individus vis-à-vis de leur monde des possibles. Le paysage trouve plus son origine dans l'imaginaire que dans les conditions socio-économiques des acteurs. Ce chapitre s'organise donc autour de deux sections. La première expose une théorie critique du marché et du paysage qu'il produit et donne à percevoir. Elle montre comment la vision critique du marché conduit à désirer et à valoriser les espaces non appropriés, gratuits. La deuxième section présente a contrario la dynamique d'intégration du paysage dans le calcul économique des acteurs et montre comment les individus valorisent les espaces clos, accessibles à ceux qui ont engagé des ressources pour les consommer. Au paysage pour tous s'oppose ainsi le paysage pour les seuls clients. |
| Keywords: | paysage, marché, propriété |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00637001&r=hme |
| By: | Gruševaja, Marina |
| Abstract: | Systemic economic transition is a process of determined radical institutional change, a process of building new institutions required by a market economy. Nowadays, the experience of transition countries with the implementation of new institutions could be reviewed as a method of economic development that despite similar singular steps has different effects on the domestic economic performance. The process of institutional change towards a market economy is determined by political will, thus the government plays an important role in carrying out the economic reforms. Among the variety of outcomes and effects the attention is drawn especially to economic growth that diverges significantly in different post-transition countries. The paper attempts to shed light upon the problem on the basis of institutional economics, of economics of innovation and partially of political economy of growth using an evolutionary, process-oriented perspective. In this context the issue central to the promotion of economic growth is the successful implementation of new institutions through governmental activities. The paper shows that under the conditions of bounded rationality and radical uncertainty economic growth is determined, inter alia, by the capacity for governmental learning. Keywords: institutional change, governmental learning, economic growth -- |
| JEL: | B52 D80 O43 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iamo11:2&r=hme |
| By: | Dissanayake, Kumudinei |
| Abstract: | Sri Lanka as a developing economy that achieved gender equity in education and a higher literacy rate (both adult and youth) in the South Asian region still records a low labor force participation and high unemployment rate of females when compared to their male counterparts. With the suggestion of existing literature on the non-conventional models of careers those adopted by young and female populations at the working age, this paper discusses the role of work organizations in absorbing more females (and even minority groups) into the workforce. It mainly focuses on the need of designing appropriate human resource strategies and reforming the existing organizational structures in order for contributing to the national development in the post-war Sri Lanka economy. |
| Keywords: | Sri Lanka, Female labor, Labor market, Labor policy, Work force, Female, Educated, Work organization, Role, Non-conventional models of career |
| JEL: | J21 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper307&r=hme |
| By: | OSMAR TOMAZ DE SOUZA; Izete Pengo Bagolin; Flávio Comim; Sabino Silva Porto Junior |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2009:175&r=hme |
| By: | Tomas Nielsen Rotta; Leda Paulani |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2009:007&r=hme |
| By: | Mader, Philip |
| Abstract: | This paper critically assesses microfinance's expansion into the provision of public goods. It focuses on the problem of public goods and collective action and refers to the specific example of water and sanitation. The microfinancing of water and sanitation is a private business model which requires households to recognise, internalise and capitalise the benefits from improved water and sanitation. This requirement is not assured. Water and sanitation, being closely linked to underlying common-pool resources, are public goods which depend on collective governance solutions. They also have shifting public/private characteristics and are merit goods which depend on networks to enable provision to take place. Two cases, from Vietnam and India, are presented and evaluated. Despite their dissimilar settings and institutional designs, evidence is found that both projects encountered similar and comparable problems at the collective level which individual microfinance loans could not address. The paper concludes that trying to make the poor pay for public goods runs into four pitfalls: politics, public capacity, values and equity. -- Das Papier untersucht die Auswirkungen von Mikrofinanzierung auf öffentliche Güter und kollektives Handeln am Beispiel der Errichtung von Wasser- und Sanitäranlagen in Ländern der Dritten Welt. Das zugrunde liegende private Geschäftsmodell geht davon aus, dass Haushalte mittels Mikrokredite die Vorteile verbesserter Wasser- und Sanitäreinrichtungen erkennen und sich auch finanziell zunutze machen können - diese Voraussetzung ist allerdings nicht gegeben. Zudem sind Wasser- und Sanitärversorgung meritorische Güter, für deren Bereitstellung Netzwerke erforderlich sind. Sie erfordern eine kollektive Verwaltung, weil sie sowohl öffentliche als auch private Merkmale aufweisen und mit Gemeinschaftsgütern eng verknüpft sind. Ausgangslage und institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen der beiden untersuchten Fallbeispiele in Vietnam und Indien sind unterschiedlich. Trotzdem geben die Ergebnisse der Studie Hinweise auf vergleichbare Probleme auf der kollektiven Ebene, die nicht über Mikrofinanzierung lösbar sind. Es zeigt sich, dass der Versuch, die Armen zur Finanzierung öffentlicher Güter zu bringen, an mehreren Hindernissen scheitert: an der lokalen Politik, einem unzureichend entwickelten öffentlichen Sektor, unterschiedlichen Wertvorstellungen und mangelnder Verteilungsgerechtigkeit. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:1114&r=hme |
| By: | Francesca Castellani; Gwenn Parent |
| Abstract: | This paper joins the debate on the size of the middle class in Latin America, analysing its structure and characteristics. The paper investigates inter-class mobility potential and its evolution over time in the case of selected countries. As a result of the estimations, we find that Latin American countries have smaller middle classes than OECD countries. Moreover, this comparison shows that, while middle-class upward mobility potential is not very different, middle class resilience is higher in OECD countries. This suggests that particular attention should be paid to mitigating the impact of economic reversal on middle-class families, as they are more vulnerable to falling into poverty. This analysis provides a tool to identify the features of the middle class that need to be promoted by policy makers to foster middle-class resilience and enhance its stabilising role in society.<BR>Ce papier rejoint le débat sur la taille de la classe moyenne en Amérique Latine, en étudiant sa structure et ses caractéristiques, ainsi que le potentiel de mobilité et son évolution dans le temps dans un groupe de pays de la région. L’analyse démontre que la classe moyenne dans les pays d’Amérique Latine est plus petite que celle des pays de l’OCDE. Néanmoins le potentiel de mobilité à la hausse de la classe moyenne ne montre pas de différences importantes. Malgré cela, elle exhibe un risque plus élevé de retomber dans la pauvreté, dévoilant l’importance d’une politique publique en faveur de la classe moyenne. |
| Keywords: | Latin America, resilience, middle class, social mobility, inequality, vulnerability, Amérique latine, résilience, classe moyenne, mobilité sociale, inégalité, vulnérabilité |
| JEL: | I32 O10 O12 |
| Date: | 2011–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:devaaa:305-en&r=hme |
| By: | Torben Kuhlenkasper (Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI)); Max Friedrich Steinhardt (Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) Hamburg, Germany & Centro Studi Luca d‘Agliano, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes use of data from the German socio-economic panel to gain new insights into the determinants of unemployment duration in Germany. Due to substantial differences with respect to labour market outcomes we follow a stratified approach with respect to gender and ethnicity. To analyze unemployment duration comprehensively, dynamic duration time models are used in which covariate e.ects are allowed to vary smoothly with unemployment duration and others enter the model in an a-priori unspecified functional form. We control for unobserved heterogeneity by following a modern frailty approach. As fitting routine we employ penalized spline smoothing effects using available software in R. We demonstrate with state-of-the-art regression models how effects of covariables change, either over duration time or within their domain and reveal substantial differences across gender and ethnicities for the German labour market. Among others we find large effects of family characteristics for women and a minor importance of formal qualifications for immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, Duration Time Models, Dynamic Effets, Penalized Splines, German Socio-Economic Panel, Ethnic Labour Market Segmentation |
| JEL: | C14 C23 C41 F22 J16 J64 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2011018&r=hme |
| By: | Bunn, Philip (Bank of England); Ellis, Colin (BVCA and University of Birmingham) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the behaviour of individual consumer prices in the United Kingdom, and uncovers a number of stylised facts about pricing behaviour. First, on average 19% of prices change each month, although this falls to 15% if sales are excluded. Second, the probability of price changes is not constant over time. Third, goods prices change more frequently than services prices. Fourth, the distribution of price changes is wide, although a significant number of changes are relatively small and close to zero. Fifth, prices that change more frequently tend to do so by less. We find that conventional pricing theories struggle to match these results, particularly the marked heterogeneity, which argues against the use of ‘representative agent’ models. |
| Keywords: | Consumer prices; price-setting behaviour. |
| JEL: | D40 E31 |
| Date: | 2011–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:0438&r=hme |
| By: | Branstetter, Lee G.; Chatterjee, Chirantan; Higgins, Matthew |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibm:ibmecp:wpe_240&r=hme |
| By: | Rosetta Lombardo; Marianna Falcone (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Crime is a complex phenomenon which needs to be investigated at appropriate disaggregate temporal and territorial levels of analysis. The specic issue addressed in this paper concerns the possibility of classifying Italian provinces in groups by using a new methodology that combines cluster analysis with panel time series data regarding a wide range of crime indicators, economic performance indicators and other socio-demographic variables. Our main contribution is to show that crime is not inextricably linked to geographic location as is usually believed. From this point of view, the position of the Italian Mezzogiorno has two facets; one is found in those relatively not affluent provinces which are resistant to random street and organized crime while the other facet is encountered in those provinces which are caught in a vicious circle where increasing criminal activity and weak economic performance feed on each other to undermine the security of the population. The pattern for the Center-North of Italy is much more varied and composed of a series of four clusters. In particular, there is a relatively large cluster of provinces which should be considered at risk because of an increasing value added per capita, high rates of population replacement and female employment; all conditions that might attract and encourage criminal activity. |
| Keywords: | Law-breaking behavior, Local economic development, Socio-economic factors, Cluster analysis, Time-series-cross-section data |
| JEL: | C32 E27 D73 K42 O1 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201112&r=hme |
| By: | Florin Paun (Laboratoire de recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation - Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale) |
| Abstract: | L'analyse de l'évolution des modèles d'innovation, d'une perception comme processus linéaire (" le concept " chez Schumpeter, " le R&D chez Abernathy, Utterback, ou " la co-innovation " chez Shapiro), comme processus intégré et systémique (" coordination procès " chez Hardy, Jansiti, Chen, " management innovant" chez Tucker) vers une perception globale du total innovation management (les trois totalités de XU), permet de comprendre aussi l'évolution des pratiques et des acteurs de l'innovation. Ces travaux de recherche identifient l'importance de nouveaux outils pour favoriser le transfère de technologie. L'auteur introduit, grâce à ses recherches économiques sur les acteurs et les processus d'innovation ressourcés dans son expérience de travail avec les PME innovantes en France, le concept de "Demand Readiness Level " (DRL), une échelle complémentaire au TRL (Technology Readiness Level) qui sera capable d'identifier le dégrée de maturité de l'expression d'une demande d'innovation par un acteur du marché, y inclut les marchés de l'éco-innovation. Le cas des PME sera analysé en particulier avec l'identification des " asymétries des acteurs du processus d'innovation " (Paun, 2009) : asymétries de risque financier, asymétries culturelles, technologiques qui devront être gérées (réduites ou compensées) pour favoriser la création de valeur à travers l'innovation. |
| Keywords: | Transfer de technologie, asymétries, innovation, éco-innovation, PME |
| Date: | 2011–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00628978&r=hme |
| By: | Rosanna Nisticò; Antonella Rita Ferrara (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Questo articolo studia la convergenza tra le regioni italiane considerando due indicatori compositi di progresso socio-economico che tengono conto della natura multidimensionale del benessere. Un primo indicatore composito viene costruito incorporando, oltre al reddito disponibile delle famiglie, altri due sotto-indicatori riguardanti gli aspetti della salute e dell’istruzione; il secondo indicatore composito viene ottenuto considerando, in aggiunta ai primi, altri tre sotto-indicatori che riguardano, rispettivamente, la qualità socio-istituzionale, le pari opportunità intergenerazionali e tra sessi sul mercato del lavoro, e la competitività regionale. La banca dati delle singole variabili o indici, complessivamente 17, che compongono i sei sotto-indicatori copre il periodo che va dal 1998 al 2008. Viene dunque valutata sia la convergenza sigma che la convergenza gamma, quest’ultima attraverso la costruzione dell’indice di Kendall. In coerenza con altri studi condotti per altri Paesi europei e che utilizzano indicatori compositi di reddito e di qualità della vita, i risultati mostrano l’esistenza di un processo di sigma convergenza tra le regioni in termini di benessere, anche se risultano assenti manifestazioni significative di mobilità intradistributiva: in altri termini, le differenze tra le regioni tendono a ridursi, ma la graduatoria in senso ordinale delle stesse non subisce variazioni di rilievo. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201113&r=hme |
| By: | Carroll, David (Macquarie University, Sydney); Tani, Massimiliano (Macquarie University, Sydney) |
| Abstract: | Recent research into the Australian labour market has reported that a substantial proportion of the tertiary-educated labour force is under-utilised relative to their level of education, echoing findings from an expanding international literature. This paper uses recent panel data from the 2010 Beyond Graduation Survey to analyse the incidence of labour force under-utilisation amongst recent Australian graduates and its effect on their wages, with an under-utilised graduate defined as a one who is in a job for which a sub-degree qualification would suffice. We find that 26% of graduates were under-utilised immediately after course completion and 15% were under-utilised three years later, although this varied considerably between subgroups. Recent graduates were much more likely to remain under-utilised than become under-utilised later in their careers. Being under-utilised appears to affect the earnings of different graduate age groups in different ways. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, we find that younger graduates tend to earn the same mean wages regardless of whether or not they are under-utilised, while older under-utilised bachelor degree graduates are at a significant wage disadvantage relative to their peers. This is suggestive of a graduate skills surplus and, by extension, inefficient public and individual investment in human capital. |
| Keywords: | graduate labour market, human capital, panel data |
| JEL: | I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6047&r=hme |
| By: | Inoue, Takeshi; Hamori, Shigeyuki |
| Abstract: | This article is distinct in its application of the logit transformation to the poverty ratio for the purpose of empirically examining whether the financial sector helps improve standards of living for low-income people. We propose the term financial permeation to describe how financial networks expand to spread money among the poor. We measure financial permeation by three indicators related to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and then examine its effect on poverty reduction at the macro level using panel data for 90 developing countries from 1995 to 2008. We find that financial permeation has a statistically significant and robust effect on decreasing the poverty ratio. |
| Keywords: | Developing countries, Microfinance, Poverty, Poverty reduction, Financial permeation, Microfinance, Panel Data |
| JEL: | G21 O16 O50 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper299&r=hme |
| By: | Henrik Hansen (Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); John Rand (Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Using firm level data from eight Sub-Saharan Africa countries we examine credit constraint differentials between male and female manufacturing entrepreneurs. Enterprises owned by female entrepreneurs are less likely to be credit constrained compared to their male counterparts. The magnitude of this credit constraint gap varies with constraint and ownership definitions but the direction of the gap does not. Using a generalized Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, we investigate if the gap is due to differences in observable characteristics or to unexplained variations in the returns to these characteristics. We find the gap to be associated with the unexplained component. We argue that the finding is mainly due to female gender favoritism in loans to micro and small firms because (i) the gap is reversed for medium size enterprises and, (ii) we find no sign of superior female entrepreneurial performance in terms of capacity utilization, labor productivity or firm size growth. |
| Keywords: | Credit, Entrepreneurship, Gender, Private Sector, SMEs |
| JEL: | G21 J16 L25 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2011_14&r=hme |
| By: | Martino, Gaetano; Polinori, Paolo |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to study individual contributions to income inequality. The role of individual positions in the analysis of inequality is considered at various levels. The utility of inequality analysis in analysing the variation across a given income distribution is also recognised. The paper elaborates on this perspective and proposes a definition of individual contributions to inequality within a given income distribution. The concept of such an individual contribution is proposed, and its properties are discussed. The paper presents and tests the hypothesis that given the concept of individual contributions, patterns of influence associated with the determinants of inequality can be identified across a given income distribution. An empirical method of investigation and testing is proposed based on the Survey on Household Income and Wealth carried out by the Bank of Italy. The results support the hypothesis and show that the patterns identified are useful in the analysis of inequality. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; person-by-person perspective; quantile regression |
| JEL: | D31 D33 C21 |
| Date: | 2010–12–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34365&r=hme |
| By: | R. Andergassen |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of board of director collusion on managerial incentives and firm values. Recent academic research hints at the social network of board of directors as an important conduit for coordinating corporate governance policies, such as managerial pay, and curbing competition. We study a model where managers can exert unobservable cost-cutting effort and investigate the consequences of and the incentives for coordinating managerial pay among corporate boards. |
| JEL: | L1 J33 O31 M52 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp795&r=hme |
| By: | Hubert De La Bruslerie (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX); Florent Pratlong (PRISM-Sorbonne - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I : EA) |
| Abstract: | Cet article procède à une synthèse de la littérature sur la question de la valeur psychologique du temps. Il discute des différents déterminants du taux d'actualisation et la possibilité d'avoir une fonction d'escompte de type hyperbolique. L'approche historique permet de retracer les origines du concept de valeur psychologique du temps. Ce concept est ensuite rediscuter dans le cadre de la théorie des perspectives, en considérant que l'utilité ressentie de l'agent vient modifier la structure de leur valeur psychologique du temps. L'analyse des résultats empiriques et des méthodologies d'identification permet de mettre en évidence que motifs individuels et psychologiques conditionnent le caractère intertemporel des choix. |
| Keywords: | Taux d'actualisation; choix intertemporel; actualisation hyperbolique; préférence pour le présent |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00636357&r=hme |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Hidayat Ullah |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the repayment behavior of microfinance borrowers in Pakistan using a unique dataset of about 45,000 installments/repayments covering 2,945 microfinance borrower households over the period 1998-2007. In early 2005, the microfinance institution for these borrowers adopted a new system with strict enforcement of punishment against repayment delays/defaults. This reform led to a healthy situation with almost zero default rates, overcoming the previous problem of frequent defaults. We hypothesize that strategic default under the joint liability mechanism-if one group member is hit by a negative shock and faces difficulty in repayment, the other members who are able to repay may decide to default as well, instead of helping the unlucky member-was encouraged by weak enforcement of dynamic incentives and responsible for the pre-reform failure. As evidence for this interpretation, we show that a borrower’s delay in installment repayment was correlated with other group members’ repayment delays, beyond the level explained by possible correlation of project failures due to locally covariate shocks during the pre-reform period. The post-reform period is divided into two sub-periods by an earthquake in October 2005. Analysis of repayment behavior in the post-reform period yields the results that suggest that (1) the relative success under the new system was because of the suppression of strategic behavior among group members, thereby allowing joint liability schemes to function as individual lending schemes de facto and (2) the earthquake only marginally affected the new system in terms of repayment delays. |
| Keywords: | group lending, joint liability, contingent renewal, strategic default, covariate shocks |
| JEL: | O16 G29 D82 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:10&r=hme |
| By: | Zhiyong Yao (Department of Industrial Economics, School of Management, Fudan University); Wen Zhou (School of Business, The University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | We study merger waves in vertically related industries where firms can engage in both vertical and horizontal mergers. Even though any individual merger would have been profitable, firms may refrain from merging for fear of negative impacts from other mergers. When they do merge, however, they always merge in waves, which is either vertical or horizontal depending on the relative intensity of double markup and horizontal competitions in the two industries. Finally, merger waves may happen with or without any fundamental change in the underlying economic conditions. |
| Keywords: | merger wave, horizontal mergers, vertical mergers, stable market structure |
| JEL: | L13 L42 D43 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1134&r=hme |
| By: | CARLOS ANTONIO LUQUE (FEA-USP); EDUARDO AMARAL HADDAD (FEA-USP); GILBERTO TADEU LIMA (FEA-USP); SÉRGIO NARUHIKO SAKURAI (USP/FEA-RP); SILVIO M. A. COSTA (FEA-USP) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2010:117&r=hme |
| By: | ANGELA GANEM (UFRJ/IE) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2010:158&r=hme |
| By: | Yang , Yong-Zhong; Lin, Ming-Hua |
| Abstract: | Based on the angle of institution, this paper takes internal institutions and external institutions as the analysis framework. When study the case of the street lamps supply in Majia Village, the paper finds internal institutions will have an important impact on the multi-protagonists supply mode option of rural public goods. As a result, external institutions has certain mandatory, but if lack of internal institutions support, it can’t be put in practice effectively. On this basis, the paper, at the level of regional economic development, further analyzes the desirability that current multi-protagonists supply public goods. It presents a concept that is ‘dual quasi-public goods’. With reference to multi-dimensional trigger, centrobaric trigger and coordinated trigger, the paper conducts a discussion about the trigger mode of the multi-protagonists supply of the public goods. |
| Keywords: | rural public goods; multi-protagonists supply; internal institutions and external institutions; trigger mode |
| JEL: | B52 H41 |
| Date: | 2011–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34432&r=hme |
| By: | EDUARDO SÁ BARRETO (UFF) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2010:171&r=hme |