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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Yin-Wong Cheung (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)) |
| Abstract: | The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been quite aggressive recently in promoting the international use of its currency, the renminbi. Historical experience suggests that an active offshore market is essential for a global currency. Indeed, anecdotal evidence affirms the role of offshore markets in pushing the renminbi currency to the world. One should not, however, overplay the contribution of offshore markets. While offshore markets offer the opportunities to experiment with the global use of the currency, the overseas acceptance of the renminbi is ultimately determined by both internal and external economic forces, and geopolitical factors. With its relatively small size, the offshore renminbi is not likely to pressure the PRC and alter its financial liberalization policy. A well-organized offshore renminbi market will complement the PRC’s renminbi internationalization policy, but it is not possible to raise the currency’s global status beyond the level justified by its economic and political attributes. |
| Keywords: | renminbi, International currency, renminbi internationalization, PRC, offshore markets |
| JEL: | F33 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:financ:24049&r=tra |
| By: | Jin, Hua |
| Abstract: | In this study, we explore collaboration between universities and industrial entities in the development of Chinese high-tech industries from the 1980s to the 2000s. For developing countries, the creation and cultivation of high-tech industries can be the key to economic development in a globalized era. Since the 1980s, China has served as an example of one of these developing countries. In attempting to create and develop high-tech industries in China, the Chinese government has long promoted university-industry collaboration. As a result, the Chinese government has been widely considered as the catalyst behind the development of university-industry collaboration. However, our analysis demonstrates that there are multiple proponents that have advocated multiple paths to successful university-industry collaboration in China. |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hjbswp:181&r=tra |
| By: | Eswar Prasad (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the prospects for the renminbi’s role as an international currency and the implications for global financial markets. Although the People’s Republic of China (PRC) does not have either an open capital account or a flexible exchange rate, the renminbi has attained considerable traction as an international currency on account of the PRC’s rising shares of global trade and gross domestic product. Through bilateral swaps that the People’s Bank of China has established with other countries’ central banks, the renminbi is also becoming more prominent in international finance. However, the renminbi is unlikely to become a major reserve currency in the absence of capital account convertibility, a flexible exchange rate, and better-developed financial markets. The renminbi’s rising prominence—if it is accompanied by significant economic reforms within the PRC—could add to the stability of Asian and global financial systems. |
| Keywords: | renminbi, Capital account liberalization, the people's bank of China, global financial markets, International currency |
| JEL: | F3 F4 E5 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:financ:24046&r=tra |
| By: | Pavel Hait; Petr Jansky |
| Abstract: | Inflation rates have traditionally been measured by the annualized percentage change in the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The market basket represents the spending patterns of average household. However, households differ in their spending patterns and there are differences in the price changes of various goods and services. Therefore, different households experience different inflation rates. This paper finds that these differences have been significant in the Czech Republic during the period 1995-2010. Only around 60 % of households actually experienced an inflation rate that was similar to the national average. Furthermore, the higher the average inflation rate over time, the lower the percentage of households whose inflation rate was similar to that average. The main determiners of inflation were expenditures for housing and energy and, especially for low-income households and pensioners, expenditures on food and non-alcoholic drinks. In most years, pensioners and low-income households faced significantly higher inflation rates than the average rate for the whole population. |
| Keywords: | households; inflation; inflation differentials; relative prices; |
| JEL: | D12 H22 I31 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp508&r=tra |
| By: | Alexander Knobel (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | The article addresses the issue of fiscal policy risks in countries with an abundance of natural resources, including Russia. It is demonstrated which consequences Russia’s federal budget may be faced with as a result of declining oil prices. In the context of phenomena typical of resource-dependent economies, it is shown that they have a tendency toward a lower rate of long-term economic growth. The macroeconomic and institutional aspects of the resource curse and the role of sovereign funds in shaping up the budget policy are discussed, with a special emphasis being made on their institutional importance. |
| Keywords: | resource curse, budget policy, institutions, economic growth, sovereign funds. |
| JEL: | H61 O11 Q32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0094&r=tra |
| By: | Lin, Chih-Fan; Yü, Mei-Chen |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to verify whether overseas direct investment activities of China can substitute or complement domestic exports. Using panel data of 85 host countries from 2003 to 2011 we conduct detailed empirical examinations within the framework of the gravity model. After correcting for bias caused by synchronism between trade flow and investment flow and also for econometrical misspecifications we discover that, contrary to all existing studies, Chinese overseas direct investment has a very weak substituting relationship with domestic exports. Sub-sample regressions show that Chinese overseas direct investment substitutes exports to developed countries but complements exports to developing countries. Panel threshold model further confirms the role of host country’s economic developmental stage (measured by per capita GDP) in determining the influence of overseas direct investment on exports and detects two thresholds. Thus the sample is divided into three regimes: (1) in the first regime where per capita GDP is lower than 1150.39 dollars, overseas direct investment complements exports to the host country; (2) in the second regime where per capita GDP falls between 1150.39 and 11601.63 dollars, the “gray zone”, overseas direct investment has very weak influence on domestic exports; (3) in the third regime where per capita GDP exceeds 11601.63 dollars, overseas direct investment substitutes exports to the host country. This paper concludes with possible explanations to the empirical results and the threshold phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | Overseas Direct Investment; Domestic Exports; Gravity Model; Panel Threshold Model |
| JEL: | F14 F21 |
| Date: | 2013–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55349&r=tra |
| By: | Irina I. Krasnopolskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper is devoted to identifying and analyzing the role of corporate volunteering in functioning as the infrastructure of volunteer activity in Russia and the influence of employee civil engagement. Four main functions of third-sector infrastructure are used in this article: motivation and mobilization, organization and support of civil activity, education and socialization, representation and interests protection, as well as net construction and communications. The theoretical background of the research methods lie in the institutional treatment of corporate social responsibility. The role of corporate volunteering in employee civic engagement based on a comparison of the employees who participate in volunteering events and those who do not is examined in detail. Based on the results of binary logistic regression analysis, we conclude that employee participation in corporate volunteering positively influences their civil engagement outside the corporation and satisfaction with various aspects of one’s life. Corporate volunteers (n = 399) are statistically more likely to report civil engagement and personal happiness and satisfaction than employees who do not take part in corporate volunteering events (n=402). Corporate volunteering is positively related with current and future civil engagement, including monetary donations. |
| Keywords: | corporate social responsibility; corporate volunteering; volunteering infrastructure; civic participation. |
| JEL: | Z13 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:39/soc/2014&r=tra |
| By: | Van Hoang |
| Abstract: | This paper reproduces a version of the New Keynesian model developed by Ireland (2004) and then uses the Vietnamese data from January 1995 to December 2012 to estimate the model’s parameters. The empirical results show that before August 2000 when the Taylor rule was adopted more firmly, the monetary policy shock made considerable contributions to the fluctuations in key macroeconomic variables such as the short-term nominal interest rate, the output gap, inflation, and especially output growth. By contrast, the loose adoption of the Taylor rule in the period of post-August 2000 leads to a fact that the contributions of the monetary policy shock to the variations in such key macroeconomic variables become less substantial. Thus, one policy implication is that adopting firmly the Taylor rule could strengthen the role of the monetary policy in driving movements in the key macroeconomic variables, for instance, enhancing economic growth and stabilizing inflation. |
| Keywords: | New Keynesian model, Monetary Policy, Technology Shock, Cost-Push Shock, Preference Shock. |
| JEL: | E12 E32 |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2014-1075&r=tra |
| By: | Konstantin Yu. Totyev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article is devoted to the legitimation and application of the standards of ex post and ex ante by courts and the executive authorities in the sphere of competition regulation. The postulates of ex post and ex ante are considered as legal principles. The principle of ex post is intended solely for judicial and administrative application; it has a deontological framework; it assumes that the legality of the activity of economic entities is assessed only on the basis of positive legal criteria in terms of the subjective rights violated; it is limited to a particular case. The traditional approach to the principle of ex post limits the scope of its application on the subjects and excessively expands its objects. The postulate of ex ante has a utilitarian basis which assumes the assessment of the application of relevant rules in the future. One of the main aims of the article is to refute the common view of lawyers and economists that a legislator applies principle of ex ante not being bound by principle of ex post, while it is the other way around for the courts and the executive authorities. The principle of ex ante may be applied not only in the process of the creation of new rules but also at the application stage for existing rules on economic competition. This is justified because the arguments of the courts and the executive authorities about a refusal to take into account the consequences of a decision in a particular case are not convincing. |
| Keywords: | antitrust law; competition; competition law; principles of ex post and ex ante; rights belonging to a person (legal rights); micro-level and macro-level consequences. |
| JEL: | K21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:37/law/2014&r=tra |
| By: | Edlira Narazani |
| Abstract: | This research investigates what drives the euroization in Albania. By using survey data collected in one of the main Albanian cities, we find that factors like remittances, financial literacy, perception of high inflation and trust in financial system play an important role in the extent of euroization together with the experience of past events. Factors related to the future, such as the expectation on the exchange rate fluctuations, seem to not be correlated with the extent of euroization. As regards the current Eurozone crisis, its impact on euroization results to be mediated by the (mis)trust in EURO rather than local currency. |
| Keywords: | Euroization, currency substitution, survey data, eurozone crisis |
| JEL: | E41 E50 D14 C83 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:bpaper:109&r=tra |
| By: | Bejenariu, Simona (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Mitrut, Andreea (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Roma, Europe’s largest minority, face poverty, social exclusion and life-long inequalities, despite the intensified efforts to alleviate their plight. Surprisingly, despite substantial funding aimed at improving Roma outcomes, there is a very little evidence on the effectiveness of these programs. This is the first paper to analyze the Roma Health Mediation Program (RHM), a large-scale public health program implemented first in Romania and developed further in other countries, whose main aim was to improve the health status of pregnant and postpartum Roma women and children, with the help of specially trained Roma health mediators. Using unique registered data from Romania, we exploit the spatial and temporal variation in implementation dates of the program to investigate the effects of the RHM on prenatal care take-up rates and child health. We find that the program had a very large impact on the take-up of prenatal care services, but this improvement was not reflected in the health outcomes at birth of Roma children. However, we do find evidence of decreased stillbirths and infant deaths after the program implementation. |
| Keywords: | Roma; exclusion; poverty; program take-up; health at birth |
| JEL: | I14 J13 J15 |
| Date: | 2014–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0590&r=tra |