|
on Transition Economics |
| By: | Le Coq, Chloe (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics); Paltseva, Elena (New Economic School, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | Current debate on the energy security in the EU often stresses the EU dependency on gas imports from Russia. However, Russia is no less dependent on the EU – more than half of its gas exports goes to Europe. The purpose of this paper is to characterize this mutual dependency through an index-based approach, and to discuss how the development of gas markets may affect such dependency. We suggest a unified framework to assess the security of gas supply for the EU and the security of gas demand for Russia, and construct dependency indexes for both parties. Our approach accounts not only for the traditional import/export dependency measures but also for the balance of power between Russia and the EU. The proposed methodology is then used to address the evolution of the EU-Russia gas relationship in the view of gas market’s developments. New gas pipelines projects (e.g., South Stream, Nabucco) and increasing use of liquefied natural gas are all likely to impact both the demand side and the supply side of the EU-Russia gas trade, and affect mutual gas dependency between the EU and Russia. |
| Keywords: | Energy Security; European Union; Gas transit risks; Index; Russia. |
| JEL: | C81 Q40 Q48 |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hasite:0018&r=tra |
| By: | Kang, Lili; Peng, Fei |
| Abstract: | This paper examines provincial disparities and convergence of sectors in China from a labour cost perspective. We find that the provinces in the Northeast and Coastal regions have strong advantages in the manufacturing sector, while the Primary sector, Construction and Real estate sectors have better cost competitiveness in the Interior and West regions. The decrease of relative unit labour cost (RULC) is mainly due to the faster growth rates of relative labour productivity (RLP) than the growth rate of relative nominal labour costs (RNLC) in most cases. A decomposition analysis shows that there are much more cost competitiveness gains, as well as relative decrease of nominal labour costs and labour productivity improvement during the period 1978-1995 than the years afterwards. We find the fast convergence of RULC is consistent with the fast converging RLP among provinces with static wages, suggesting the importance of institutional factors such as rigid wage setting in Chinese labour markets. |
| Keywords: | Unit Labour Cost; Regional Development Planning; China |
| JEL: | R58 J30 |
| Date: | 2012–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42449&r=tra |
| By: | Mitchell Kellman (The City College of New York and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York); Mitchell Yochanan Shachmurove (The City College of New York and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York) |
| Abstract: | Poland has historically demonstrated exceptional resiliency in the face of change. This paper examines how Poland coped with huge structural realignments from the rise of Solidarity until the present, seeking to provide an objective analysis of Poland’s evolution of trade structures while it developed into a competitive member of the European Union. Employing four methodologically unrelated measures, this study looks at how the degree of sophistication of Poland’s manufactures responded and contributed to these changes. The result is that each distinct index reveals a common trend of rapid adaptation within the competitive environment of the European Union. |
| Keywords: | Trade Patterns in a Transition Economy; Machinery and Transport Equipment; Exports; Poland; Solidarity; Structural Change; Sophistication Indices; Trade Specialization Index; Intra-Industry Trade; Shock Therapy; Revealed Comparative Advantage; Herfendahl- Hirschman Index; Standard International Trade Classification; Compositional Shifts; Data Aggregation; Dispersion; Market Power |
| JEL: | F0 F1 L0 L1 L6 N0 N6 O1 O52 P2 R1 |
| Date: | 2012–11–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wse:wpaper:64&r=tra |
| By: | Anna Matysiak (Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of developments in fertility, family policy models, and intensity of work-family tensions in the CEE region in the 1990s and 2000s. It hypothesises that the intensification of work-family incongruities in the 1990s might have been an important determinant of the decline in fertility seen in post-socialist countries in the 1990s, and that the implementation of reconciliation policies in some of the post-socialist countries in the 2000s might have led to diversity in rates of fertility improvement in the region. It concludes by encouraging more in-depth research on the interrelationships between fertility, women’s employment, family policies and social norms regarding women’s work in the CEE region, all of which would help verify these hypotheses. |
| Keywords: | fertility, work-family tensions, women’s labour supply, Central and Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J22 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isd:wpaper:49&r=tra |
| By: | Grunow, Daniela; Müller, Dana (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "We assess the relative impact of cultural norms and structural conditions on employment interruption patterns of new mothers in reunified Germany, 1992-2009. During this time, East and West Germany share similar family policies, yet, the regions differ markedly with regard to cultural orientations towards working mothers. Our comparison therefore allows drawing conclusions about the relative importance of structural and cultural factors in shaping patterns of individual behaviour. New mothers who were born and raised in the east, but had their first child after moving to the west provide us with key insights in this respect. We test three cultural mechanisms which seek to explain the distinct behaviour of east-west mobile mothers, relative to their immobile peers: selection, adaptation and socialization. Our results show that eastwest mobile mothers return to work faster than West German mothers, but more slowly than East German mothers. The longer east-west mobile mothers have lived in western Germany prior to the birth of their first child, the more similar they behave to West German mothers. We interpret this as evidence of successive adaptation. In addition we find evidence of socialization-based similarities among mothers who grew up in the eastern part of Germany. These similarities between the mobile and immobile eastern German peers only become apparent after controlling for regional context differences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Berufsrückkehrerinnen, Mütter, berufliche Reintegration, regionaler Vergleich, kulturelle Faktoren, institutionelle Faktoren, Elternzeit, Elterngeld, Erwerbsunterbrechung - Dauer, Geschlechterrolle, Rollenverständnis, Binnenwanderung, berufliche Mobilität, Lebenslauf, Berufsverlauf, IAB-Biografiedaten, Sozialisationsbedingungen, Ostdeutschland, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| JEL: | J62 J21 C41 |
| Date: | 2012–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:022012&r=tra |
| By: | Münich, Daniel; Srholec, Martin; Moritz, Michael (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Schäffler, Johannes (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "The aim of the paper is to assess the heterogeneity of German affiliates in the Czech Republic and their mother companies in Germany. Applying cluster analysis to firm-level data from the unique IAB-ReLOC survey, we identify four main groups of firms that partition the sample by broad sectoral lines and technological intensity of their operation. More specifically, the principal clusters can be interpreted as: I) High-tech industrial firms; II) Low-tech industrial firms; III) High-tech service providers; and IV) Low-tech service providers. The classification is examined more closely by location, ownership and industry of the firms and in the framework of a probit model. The main result is that there is a significant technological gap between the mothers and their cross-border daughters in industry that cannot be found in the service sector. From this follow implications for technological upgrading on both sides of the border, which are discussed in the concluding section of the paper." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Auslandsinvestitionen, multinationale Unternehmen, sektorale Verteilung, Wirtschaftszweige, Heterogenität, Herkunftsland, Technologietransfer, Wissenstransfer, Tschechische Republik, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| JEL: | D21 L16 F23 O23 |
| Date: | 2012–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:172012&r=tra |