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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Marcela Cristini y Guillermo Bermudez (FIEL) |
| Date: | 2004–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iel:doctra:81&r=tra |
| By: | Niny Khor (Stanford University); John Pencavel (Stanford University and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Though much has been written about annual income inequality in China, little research has been conducted on longer run measures of income inequality and on income mobility. This paper compares income mobility of urban individuals in China and the United States in the 1990s. The following questions are taken up. To what extent are measures of annual income inequality misleading indicators of long-run income inequality? How much income mobility was there in China in the first half of the 1990s and how did this compare with mobility in other countries? Have real income increases been greater for the poor or the rich? How important is the variation in permanent incomes in China and how has this changed? |
| Keywords: | income inequality, income mobility, China, United States |
| JEL: | D31 D63 O15 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2003&r=tra |
| By: | Weili Ding (Queen's University); Steven Lehrer (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | Peer effects have figured prominently in debates on school vouchers, desegregation, ability tracking and anti-poverty programs. Compelling evidence of their existence remains scarce for plaguing endogeneity issues such as selection bias and the reflection problem. This paper is among the first to firmly establish the link between peer performance and student achievement, using a unique dataset from China. We find strong evidence that peer effects exist and operate in a positive and nonlinear manner; reducing the variation of peer performance increases achievement; and our semi-parametric estimates clarify the tradeoffs facing policymakers in exploiting positive peers effects to increase future achievement. |
| Keywords: | Peer Effects, Ability Grouping, Selection on observables, China, Academic performance, Teacher quality |
| JEL: | I2 Z13 P36 |
| Date: | 2005–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1047&r=tra |
| By: | Maaja Vadi; Krista Jaakson |
| Abstract: | Honesty is deemed as crucial ground for ethical behaviour in various respects. The aim of this paper is to explore to what extent and in what ways the individual value honest signifies in the organisations of Baltic States and Russia and to draw some managerial implications on the basis of our findings. The subjects of study had different cultural background (Estonians from Estonia, Russians from Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) and they were asked to rank their own terminal and instrumental values, including the value honest as well as to speculate how their co-workers would rank the same list of values. Consequently, there were two lists of terminal and instrumental values for every respondent and the following analysis focuses on the comparisons of the importance, impact of other values and socio-demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, organisational position, and country of residence). One of the most important findings of our study is that the assessment of peer’s value honest tells the most how important honest is for the focal person. Results reveal also the role of some other personal values as well as the country of residence in respect with the importance of value honest. |
| Keywords: | ethical behaviour, honesty, personal values |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:43&r=tra |
| By: | Hyeok Jeong; Yong Kim |
| Abstract: | In developing countries, the gradual transition to modern growth seems puzzling given the large productivity growth gap between traditional and modern sectors. We document this transition and develop a theory that resolves this puzzle. The key forces are sector-specific complementarity between work-experience and labor, and exogenous technical progress present only in the modern sector. Using nationally representative micro data from the Socio-Economic Survey of Thailand (1976-1996), we measure the theory by estimating cross-sectional earnings functions, and assess if the model jointly captures the observed transition dynamics of earnings growth and inequality. The model successfully explains the gradual transition, stagnation then take-off of aggregate earnings, and the rise and fall of experience-earnings profiles in Thailand. |
| Keywords: | Sector-Specific Complementarity, Modern Economic Growth, TFP and Inequality |
| JEL: | O11 O47 J31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:scp:wpaper:06-44&r=tra |
| By: | Mechthild Schrooten |
| Abstract: | Workers' remittances are an important source of external finance for many former Soviet countries. Nevertheless, the determinants of remittances are only rarely analyzed. Using panel-data estimation techniques the study comes to the following major results: Remittances are highly persistent. They can only be partly explained by income. Furthermore, the performance of the domestic banking sector and the access of the private sector to credit play an important role. Better international integration and a better quality of institutions lead to an increase in remittances. |
| Keywords: | remittances, migration, economic development, panel data model |
| JEL: | F22 F36 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hituec:a476&r=tra |
| By: | Nguyen Chan; Tran Kim Dung |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the efficiency and distributional effects of trade liberalization in the context of fiscal reform in Vietnam. The analysis is performed using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Vietnamese economy calibrated to late- 1990s production and household data. It is a standard small open price taking economy model with CES nested demand and CES production functions. Results show that the efficiency gains (in term of aggregate welfare measure) from the combined tax and tariff reform are modest, but significant redistribution occurs among rich and poor household groups and between urban and rural populations. Careful analyses show that the sharpness of the redistribution falls as the country moves from only trade liberalization the combined tax and tariff reforms. Finally, additional simulations have been performed to make clearer the transmission mechanisms linking tariff policy to income distribution and household welfare. A key finding is that trade liberalization is pro-rich due essentially to the higher share of imported goods consumed by the rich. |
| Keywords: | CGE model, counterfactual simulations, distributional effects, efficiency, household welfare, tariff, tax reform, trade liberalization, VAT, Vietnam |
| JEL: | R13 R20 C68 D58 D63 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:mpiacr:2006-02&r=tra |
| By: | Margus Kõomägi; Priit Sander |
| Abstract: | The aim of the article is to describe how Estonian venture capitalists make financing and investment decisions, and compare these results with theoretical recommendations found in corporate finance and venture capital literature. The focus is on the methodological procedures in venture capital investment and financing. A case study approach is used to collect information about the current practice of venture capital investments and financing in Estonia. Five of the largest Estonian venture capital funds were analyzed in this article, and different problems have been presented in the article. Some of them require an academic and some a practical solution. The problems are divided into four parts: venture capital deal structuring, corporate governance and investor protection, the cost of venture capital and valuation. Venture capital deal structuring is discussed first, and we look at of the following topics: syndication, staged investment, use of financial instruments, ownership share and dilution problems. Syndication of investments, staged investments and convertible financial instruments are used quite rarely by Estonian venture capitalists. Most Estonian venture capitalists take a minority holding in their portfolio companies and the ownership share changes mainly due to the use of convertible instruments and financial options. Estonian venture capitalists do not consider this kind of dilution a big problem. Most Estonian venture capitalists do not have a measure of the required rate of return as considered in financial theory. The determination of the rate of return among Estonian venture capitalists is more intuitive: they use an internal rate of return instead. The required rates of return used by Estonian venture capitalists have about the same interval as in the rest of the world. Corporate control and investor protection are important issues in the venture capital process. These are closely linked to deal structuring. The Estonian Commercial code has average investor protection, but it restricts the use of preferred shares, which are often used in venture capital deal structuring abroad. Some corporate control problems have arisen at the board level in Estonia. Although venture capitalists do not use complicated models to find the cost of capital, they pay much more attention to complicated valuation models. Multiples, book value, and DCF methods are used. Numerical analysis is not as important as the authors expected. Much attention is paid to the linkages between these themes. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:44&r=tra |
| By: | Duo Qin (Queen Mary, University of London); Marie Anne Cagas (Asian Development Bank (ADB)); Geoffrey Ducanes (Asian Development Bank (ADB)); Xinhua He (Institute of World Economics & Politics (IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)); Rui Liu (Institute of World Economics & Politics (IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)); Shiguo Liu (Institute of World Economics & Politics (IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)); Nedelyn Magtibay-Ramos (Asian Development Bank (ADB)); Pilipinas Quising (Asian Development Bank (ADB)) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes a quarterly macroeconometric model of the Chinese economy. The model comprises household consumption, investment, government, trade, production, prices, money, and employment blocks. The equilibrium-correction form is used for all the behavioral equations and the general→simple dynamic specification approach is adopted. Great efforts have been made to achieve the best possible blend of standard long-run theories, country-specific institutional features and short-run dynamics in data. The tracking performance of the model is evaluated. Forecasting and empirical investigation of a number of topical macroeconomic issues utilizing model simulations have shown the model to be immensely useful. |
| Keywords: | Macroeconometric model, Chinese economy, Forecasts, Simulations |
| JEL: | C51 E17 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp553&r=tra |