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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Wu , Yanrui (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | China’s local government debt (LGD) has recently become the focus of economic policy debates. However, information about LGD and its impact on economic growth in the Chinese economy is scarce. This paper attempts to present an empirical investigation of the impact of China’s LGD on economic growth. It is probably the first of its kind to focus on China and thus contributes to the general literature on the relationship between government debt and economic growth. The paper first provides an assessment of LGD in China’s regional economies, using recently released auditing statistics and other available secondary information. It then applies conventional growth analysis methods to examine the impact of LGD on regional growth in China. Various scenario and sensitivity analyses are also conducted, to accommodate the inadequacy and potentially poor quality of debt statistics. |
| Keywords: | local government debt; regional growth; China |
| JEL: | H74 O11 O53 |
| Date: | 2014–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2014_020&r=tra |
| By: | Leonid Vardomskiy |
| Abstract: | Benefits of federation are in more flexible use of the social and economic potential of its subjects at wide inter-regional competition. The federal system allows to use effects of either greater economic space or more complete considering of local conditions and interests. Specificity of modern Russian federalism lies in the history of the formation and organization of its space. Russian history is a history of over-centralized state, which however considered the specificities of individual territories . Introduction of federalism in a state management practices in Russia in early 1990s. occurred in the wave of democratization, but excluding the condition of Russian economy and inherited status of the Russian state space. Strong regions won from the devolution to the RF regions, but it was the result of unequal conditions in which the subjects of the federation were in the market transformation and dissolution of the USSR. Among economic reasons of recentralization in 2000 are growing regional disparity , payments crisis, regional protectionism , the contradictions between the center and the regions about the financial and production assets . In the most critical moment of market transformation economic disintegration of the space of the country began to amplify. Business - elite close to the authorities , seek to free hands in resources development and their export. Request to strengthen the central government came also from the management of economically weak RF subjects who needed financial support from the federal budget. After the restoration of the vertical of power in relations with the regions intergovernmental transfers became the main instrument of the federal government. Huge volume redistribution operations have become a key element of regional policy . Built vertical power was aimed at neutralizing possible political and social consequences of divergence space growth, but not the reasons for its cause. Today federal relations are in a certain accordance with a level of the Russian economy and its spatial structure. The introduction of more democratic forms of federalism without appropriate technological and structural changes in the economy of the RF subjects can create more problems than positive effects. To change the system of power , it is necessary to change a space and the technological base of the economy. Change of the space requires joint efforts of all levels of government and local communities. The task of the central government is to organize their partnership , using political , economic and social institutions . |
| Keywords: | federalism Russia space development competition; |
| JEL: | H77 R12 F01 F15 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p384&r=tra |
| By: | Alexander Sergunin |
| Abstract: | The paper aims at examining Russian sub-state units' Arctic 'foreign policies'. The paper starts from discussing which theories are applicable to explaining the phenomenon of paradiplomacy. Particularly, the paper focuses on the following strategies/methods of paradiplomacy: making direct agreements with international partners; attracting foreign investment; creating regions' positive image; cooperation with international organizations; establishing representative offices in foreign countries; city-twinning; participation in Euroregions and other sub-regional arrangements; capitalizing on national diplomacy and federal infrastructures, etc. The institutional framework available for the sub-state actors in the Arctic region is examined. The implications of paradiplomacy for Russia's Arctic strategy are analyzed. |
| Keywords: | subnational units; Russia; paradiplomacy; Arctic; |
| JEL: | F59 H77 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1759&r=tra |
| By: | Roberto Casarin (Department of Economics, University of Venice Cà Foscari); Komla Mawulom Agudze (Department of Economics, University of Venice Cà Foscari); Monica Billio (Department of Economics, University of Venice Cà Foscari); Eric Girardin (Aix-Marseille University, CNRS & EHESS) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses features of 28 provincial growth-cycles in China’s economy from March 1989 to July 2009. We study the multivariate synchronization of provincial cycles and the selection of the number of cycles phases’ by means of panel Markov-switching models. We obtain evidence that growth cycles in China and its provinces’ are characterized by distinct episodes of ‘growth-recession’, ‘normal-growth’ and ‘rapid-growth’. We find a demarcation between coastal and interior provinces in term of level of ‘normal-growth’ and ‘rapid-growth’ rates. The results, also, show evidence supporting interior provinces catching up on coastal provinces proving efficient economic policy coordination to reduce the gap between the Chinese coastal and interior. However, in terms of concordance, coastal provinces have cycles that are more synchronized with the national cycle than the interior provinces. Thus, China’s national and subnational officials have to take further effective measures to achieve high degree of concordance between national and interior provinces. The geographic pattern of the national growth-recessions and rapid-growth periods have substantially changed over time. The number of provinces experiencing growth-recession at the middle of the nation’s growth-recession has reduced over time while the number of provinces in rapid-growth at the middle of the nation’s rapid-growth has increased over time. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian inference, China’s provinces, growth-cycles, multivariate-synchronization, panel Markov-switching. |
| JEL: | C1 C11 C15 C32 E32 E37 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2014:19&r=tra |
| By: | Andrey Polynev |
| Abstract: | The study presents the results of multifactorial integral evaluation of the economy competitiveness of regional (the subjects of the Russian Federation) in 2010-2013. Regional competitiveness is seen as actually implemented competitiveness in real market conditions, from a perspective of practical implementation in the current economic activity of the entire complex of competitive advantages and limitations of economic growth of regions. This approach to definition is conceptually different from the content interpretation in other analytical studies characterizing competitiveness exceptionally as a potential competitive ability. An important feature of the assessment of regional competitiveness in this study is a priority not only achieved its comparative level of characteristics, but also their current dynamics. This assessment of the regions is carried out on the basis of the calculation of the integral index of competitiveness, which allows comparing its current level, not only with other regions, but also with average Russian background. Integral index of competitiveness of regions synthesizes assessments due to the most important components, including the overall effectiveness of the regional economy, the level of real income of the population, investment activity of private investors, the level of small enterprise development, the current financial standing of the enterprises, the level of activity of enterprises in the international commodity markets, the level of fiscal capacity of the regions, the innovative activity in the regions. For each component of regional competitiveness the most representative indicator has been identified. This indicator is built on the basis of statistical reporting on the Russian regions. The results of the calculations showed a significant differentiation of the current level of competitiveness of Russian regions. On the one hand, the leading position occupied the major economic centers of the country, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, a number of industrialized regions of the Central Volga and Urals federal districts, as well as some regions of Siberia and the Far East, specialized on the production of hydrocarbons and non-ferrous metals. On the other hand, the extremely low level of the current competitiveness of the economy observed in several regions of the European part of Russia, in the North Caucasus, in the border regions of the eastern part of the Russian Federation. Along with this assessment of trends in regional competitiveness in recent years reflects the stable character of the serious problems in the competitive development of the economies of the majority of Russian regions. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness of regions; integral assessment of regional competitiveness; components of regional competitiveness; integral index |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p713&r=tra |
| By: | Petr Koráb; Jitka Pomenková |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the access of small and medium-sized enterprises to external financing during the recent financial crisis via non-parametric density estimation. The kernel density estimation is applied on a firm-level measure of financing constraints and evaluates its distribution on a balanced panel of SMEs. For application and cross-country comparison we use panel data on Limited Liability enterprises in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Our results reveal asymmetric impact of the financial crisis on the ability of SMEs to secure external financing. We identify that there is no sizeable difference in access to credit of SMEs in Hungary and Poland before and during the crisis. In Slovakia and the Czech Republic our results suggest that firms were more constrained during the crisis and their financing constraints did not largely improve after the end of financial crisis. We argue that economic recession was the driving factor of financing constraints in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. |
| Keywords: | financing constraints, KZ index, credit crunch, financial accelerator, non-parametric estimation, kernel density |
| Date: | 2014–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2014:i:485&r=tra |
| By: | Larisa Melnikova |
| Abstract: | Inconsistencies in targeting and forecasting during the process of strategic planning in regions?subjects of Russian federation is atopic of the paper presented. It presents the results of analysis of regional strategies of long-term socio-economic development performed for federal subjects of Siberian and Far Eastern federal districts as well as for a group of largest federal subjects and macro-regions of Russia. The set of regional strategies may be considered as a unique sociological survey in which regions perform a role of interviewed subjects. A method of testing strategic documents of federal subjects in terms of their consistency and availability of resources is presented. The method involves a) analysis of targeting in sub-federal strategies; b) aggregation of isolated forecasts of subjects of the same federal district; c) a comparison of the aggregate of independent sub-federal strategic forecasts with the complex long-term spatial forecast of socio-economic development of Russian economy. The authors of regional forecasts have an advantage of local knowledge, of the economic situation, but they are not able to account all resource constraints that arise when intersectoral and interregional relations between production and exchange of goods in the economy (or within a larger macro-region) are analyzed. Such possibility is provided by the use of a national and spatial input-output models unified in the model complex. It provides forecasts in the cut of 8 federal districts (including Tyumen) and 40 economic activities. This result confirms the assumption of a lack of validity of regional administrations' investment plans. According to the forecasts based on OIIM, in the years 2006?2020, the Russian economy is unable to provide investments stated in regional forecasts. The results of a comparative analysis of the resource security of regional strategies and a verification of independent regional GDP growth forecasts by regions of Siberia, Far east and other macro-regions showed a potential of interregional competition for labor and investment resources. It is shown that a regional strategy is often used as a means of competition with other regions for federal resources. The basic problems are formulated that should be solved in order to make regional strategies actually important element of improving the system of regional governance and the document of public consensus between the government, business, and the population in respect of key issues of regional development. |
| Keywords: | Consistency of sub-federal forecasts; long-term development strategies; regional growth; |
| JEL: | D78 R11 R15 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p688&r=tra |
| By: | Ko, Chiu Yu; Koyama, Mark; Sng, Tuan-Hwee |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the causes and consequences of political centralization and fragmentation in China and Europe. We argue that the severe and unidirectional threat of external invasion fostered political centralization in China while Europe faced a wider variety of smaller external threats and remained politically fragmented. We test our hypothesis using data on the frequency of nomadic attacks and the number of regimes in China. Our model allows us to explore the economic consequences of political centralization and fragmentation. Political centralization in China led to lower taxation and hence faster population growth during peacetime than in Europe. But it also meant that China was relatively fragile in the event of an external invasion. Our results are consistent with historical evidence of warfare, capital city location, tax levels, and population growth in both China and Europe. |
| Keywords: | China; Europe; Great Divergence; Political Fragmentation; Political Centralization |
| JEL: | H0 H1 H56 N0 N13 N15 N40 N43 N45 |
| Date: | 2014–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60418&r=tra |
| By: | Irina Ilina; Carol Scott Leonard; Evgenij Pliseckij |
| Abstract: | This paper, part of a larger project on governance and growth in Russia. It deals with the problems and priorities of the future development of primary producer regions of Russia. We design a regional strategy for socioeconomic development to 2025-2030. The analysis concerns growth and diversification of the economy of regions, where raw materials are abundant, in order to scale back the exploitation of mineral resources and diversify the economy. Almost all strategies involve a gradual change of the vector in the direction of modernization and diversification of the economy. We emphasize that the important role here is for a new regional policy. The paper examines regional financial resilience in Russia in the period following the global financial crisis. The level of risk is rising, as government emergency finance is withdrawn and regions face rising debt to cover even operational expenses, but "resource" regions seem securely well off, despite having been most affected by the financial crisis. This paper examines one region, Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous okrug (KhMAO), the largest "donor" to the federal budget, against the background of other mineral resource abundant regions. It traces developments since the dramatic budget reforms (late 1990s through 2005), including centralization of revenues and rationalized program expenditure (Alexeev and Weber 2013). It assesses regional budget and debt management in response to pressures from increased federal required expenditures, post-crisis withdrawal of subsidies, and the roll-out of new debt guidelines. It describes and explains KhMAO's stability and relative autonomy in these crisis conditions. The key questions are: Why are these "donor" regions, more affected by the crisis than others, also more resilient? Is Russia's growth core of regions financially stable because of federal intervention? How vulnerable is the resource region to future oil price shocks? Our findings are tenative, since there remain questions about transparency and soft budget constraints (Plekhanov 2006). We show federalism at its most cooperative: among other factors, regional collaborative action fosters flexible budgeting. In the longer run, the resilience of resource regions, such as KhMAO, with their overall steady growth, despite volatility in oil prices, arguably is due geopolitical factors, which attract energy producers and industrial giants other than in the oil sector, and the business environemnt, including steady maintenance of a higher standard of living and skills attracted in new clusters, which are supported by innovation-oriented budgets. The findings here, however, also include, even more fundamentally, an evolvinig cooperative federalist agenda, with groups of regions acting together to secure negotiated decisions on tax allocations and spending requirements. Supportive of the conclusion in Chebankova (2008), the term adaptive federalism applies to finance, and compels a rethinking of the concept of fiscal rigidity as applied to the Russian Federation. |
| JEL: | R58 R51 H70 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1111&r=tra |
| By: | Shengmin Sun (Center for Economic Research, Shandong University); Qiang Chen (School of Economics, Shandong University) |
| Abstract: | The mainstream view that decollectivization significantly contributed to China's agricultural growth has recently been challenged by revisionists, who emphasize the positive effects of the socialist legacy, such as irrigation and mechanization. This study contributes to this debate by explicitly recognizing the endogeneity of institutional changes and uses lagged weather shocks as valid instruments. With improved data on irrigation and mechanization in a provincial-level dataset covering the1970-1987 period, the results of panel GMM estimations reveal that the Household Responsibility System had a significantly positive effect on China's agricultural growth, which is larger than that indicated by OLS estimates.. |
| Keywords: | Decollectivization, Household Responsibility System, Agricultural Growth, China |
| JEL: | O13 O43 Q15 N55 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shn:wpaper:2014-05&r=tra |
| By: | Aldashev, Alisher; Danzer, Alexander M. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the economic returns to language skills and bilingualism. The analysis is staged in Kazakhstan, a multi-ethnic country with complex ethnic settlement patterns that has switched its official state language from Russian to Kazakh. Using two newly assembled data sets, we find negative returns to speaking Kazakh and a negative effect of bilingualism on earnings while Russian was the official state language in the 1990s. Surprisingly, the Kazakh language continues to yield a negative wage premium 13 years after it has been made official state language. While we do neither find evidence for an ethnically segmented labor market nor for reverse causality, the low economic value of the Kazakh language can be explained by the comparatively poor quality of schools with Kazakh as language of instruction. Based on PISA data, we illustrate that scholastic achievements are substantially lower for pupils taught in Kazakh, despite the official support for the titular language. Our results suggest that switching the official state language without appropriate investments in school resources is unlikely to cure the economic disadvantage of a previously marginalized language. |
| Keywords: | Bilingualism; returns to language skills; wage premium; language policy; language of instruction |
| JEL: | J24 I21 P23 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:muenec:21875&r=tra |
| By: | Elena Kotyrlo |
| Abstract: | Historically, the northern Russian regions have been an object of a special socio-economic policy, united by extreme climate conditions, geographical isolation and rich natural resources reserves. Northern investment risks in human capital formation are proposed in the paper, as an indicator of investment conditions, which can be employed to improve policy of human development in the northern regions of Russia. Northern investment risks encompass uncertainties associated with extreme northern climate conditions, historically determined allocation of resources in the Russian northern regions and restrictions on labour mobility caused by geographic isolation and administrative rules. Investment risks in human capital, its measurement, methods of estimation are considered. Empirical estimation illustrates higher investment risks in the northern regions. Method of estimation can be employed widely to compare investment conditions in imperfect economies. Policy of insurance of private investment risks and current restrictions on it's implementation in the northern regions of Russia are discussed. |
| JEL: | D81 J31 J38 J78 R59 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p294&r=tra |
| By: | Cantoni, Davide; Chen, Yuyu; Yang, David Y.; Yuchtman, Noam; Zhang, Y. Jane |
| Abstract: | We study the causal effect of school curricula on students' stated beliefs and attitudes. We exploit a major textbook reform in China that was rolled out between 2004 and 2010 with the explicit intention of shaping youths' ideology. To measure its effect, we present evidence from a novel survey we conducted among 2000 students at Peking University. The sharp, staggered introduction of the new curriculum across provinces allows us to identify the effects of the new educational content in a generalized difference in differences framework. We examine government documents articulating desired consequences of the reform, and identify changes in textbook content and college entrance exams that reflect the government's aims. These changes were often effective: study under the new curriculum is robustly associated with changed views on political participation and democracy in China, increased trust in government officials, and a more skeptical view of free markets. |
| Keywords: | beliefs; China; ideology; indoctrination; schooling curricula |
| JEL: | I21 I28 P36 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10004&r=tra |
| By: | Stepan Zemtsov |
| Abstract: | Innovation development is declared as one of the key objectives of social and economic policy in Russia. The purpose of the work was to identify regions with the highest innovation capacity and developed regional innovation system, where support of innovation activities would be the most effective. The hypothesis was that innovation capacity can be expressed as a probability function, which dependent on density and concentration of innovators and intensity of their interaction. Taking in account the hypothesis, gravity model of patent activity per capita was used to estimate creative potential of Russian regions. Patent activity in Russia declined significantly from 60000 granted patents in 1989 to 22500 in 2012. The largest cities and closed science cities are still the sources of new technologies, but activity in the Moscow core decreased from 230 to 30 patents / 100 thousand residents in 1999. Patents are not innovations in the full sense of the term, because they may not be implemented. The official Russian statistics is not perfect because of optionality of statistical forms filling. Most of approaches for capacity assessment in Russia based on index compilation and have several disadvantages: correlation between indicators, non-normal distribution of indicators, etc. Considering the disadvantages the author collected a database of 38 indicators of innovation sphere, and conducted normal distribution, correlation and factor analyses. The indicators of the first factor are: estimation of economic-geographical position; percentage of residents in cities with population more than 200 thousand people (%); percentage of people with a higher education (%), number of university students per 10 thousand people; percentage of employees in R & D sector in total employment (%); number of registered patents per 1000 employees; percentage of organizations with a website (%). Six groups of regions were identified: ?innovation core' (index = 1 ? 0.7); ?highly developed' (0.7 ? 0.6); ?regions with a strong science sector' (0.6 ? 0.5); ?regions of basic sectors of the economy' (0.5 ? 0.4); ?regions with limited potential' (0.4 ? 0.3); and ?peripheral regions' (less than 0.3). To prove the correctness of the chosen indicators probit-regression between the index and international PCT-applications was made. The regression results are compared with the results for other existing indexes. The probability of new technology generation in Moscow among all regions close to 1, and it is close to zero in Chukotka. The work has confirmed the hypothesis of high concentration of potential in major agglomerations and research centres. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; potential; regions; development; |
| JEL: | R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p138&r=tra |
| By: | Shiyi Chen; Wolfgang K. Härdle; Li Wang; |
| Abstract: | The development of shadow banking system in China catalyzes the expansion of banks’ off-balance-sheet activities, resulting in a distortion of China’s traditional credit expansion and underestimation of its commercial banks’ overall risk. This paper is the first to incorporate banks’ overall risk, endogenously into bank’s production process as undesirable by-product for the estimation of banks’ total factor efficiency (TFE) as well as TFE of each production factor. A unique data sample of 171 Chinese commercial banks, which is the largest data sample concerning with Chinese banking efficiency issues until now as far as we know, making our results more convincing and meaningful. Our results show that, compared with a model incorporated with banks’ overall risk, a model considering on-balance-sheet lending activities only may over-estimate the overall average TFE and under-estimate TFE volatility as a whole. Higher overall risk taking of banks tends to decrease bank TFE through ‘diverting effect’. However, significant heterogeneities of bank integrated TFE (TFIE) and TFE of each production factor exist among banks of different types or located in different regions, as a result of still prominent unbalanced development of Chinese commercial banks today. Based on newly estimated TFIE, the paper also investigates the determinants of bank efficiency, and finds that a model with risk-weighted assets as undesirable outputs can better capture the impact of shadow banking involvement. |
| Keywords: | Total Factor Efficiency, Unbalanced Development, Shadow Banking, Global SBM |
| JEL: | C14 C33 G21 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2014-068&r=tra |
| By: | Kryklii, Olena; Pavlenko, Ludmila; Podvihin, Sergei |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to determine the scale, technical and overall efficiency of the banking system of Ukraine using the DEA method in dynamics in the post-crisis period. The DEA method belongs to the group of non-parametric methods based on front’s technology analysis and allows considering the totality of impacts both the input parameters (resources) and output (products / services). The structure of banks included 24 banks of Ukraine with total assets amounted to 806.7 billion UAH (72 % of banking system assets). Banks were classified into state-owned banks and banks in which the state has a controlling interest, banks with domestic capital, banks with Russian capital and banks with foreign capital (excluding Russia). Empirical data analysis demonstrated that over the period of analysis the effectiveness of large-scale banks increased, while pure technical remained at a moderate level. Most of the banks included in the sample operate with average effective or ineffective. |
| Keywords: | the scale, technical and overall efficiency; the banking system; DEA method. |
| JEL: | C14 G21 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60481&r=tra |
| By: | Olga Tarasova |
| Abstract: | Severe climatic conditions, low population density, lack of infrastructure leave as the only possible nodular economic development of Arctic territories of the Russian Federation. In this case, a natural question arises: how to define points of growth, how to delineate those "patches of economic activity"? In today's economic conditions, growth points for Arctic territories will be resource projects. Analysis of the mineral complex projects in terms of minerals markets, as well as alternative approaches of transportation and energy supply stands for the main objective of the study. Necessity of active use of administrative and financial resources of the state, interdependence of projects and other characteristics of the new Arctic industrial complexes allow a methodological analogy with the classical TPC-approach. Proposed by the author earlier the system of arctic aqua territorial production complexes in this paper develops in the direction of the internal structure justification. At the first stage priority projects were highlighted and second stage projects listed. Then different variants of their realization were modeled. The constructed simulation model allows a comparison of costs and effects for business, regions and Russian Federation as a whole. Investment costs certainly will need to be distributed between actors of regional development, as conditions of economic activity require a widescreen public-private partnership in the Arctic. For the convenience of variant evaluation a "situation room" (specific interface of the model) was designed, the calculation results were visualized on the map. For justification of state expenses into Arctic infrastructure serve geostrategic factors. However, share of state participation required in terms of the commercial attractiveness of the projects could be defined in the simulation model framework. In this study effectiveness of various instruments of state support was estimated, the amount of government subsidies for domestic raw material supplies from said objects was calculated. The model includes blocks of individual projects, as well as built relationships within industrial complexes. With its help options of internal structure of the Taimyr-Yakutsk ATPC were evaluated. The priority projects here are Tomtorskoe field of complex niobium and rare earth ores and Popigai field of industrial diamonds. Having a wide range of applications in high-tech industries, those could give rise to the Russia' innovative development. It was determined that the priority transport infrastructure projects should be: ports Uriing-Khaya, Hatanga, Yenisei-NSR system objects, on deposits should be organized decentralized energy supply - separate electric station with diesel fuel. Also found that using the redistribution of effects the competition of neighboring regions for investment resources should be neutralized - the Krasnoyarsk Territory (as the leading party) and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The author recommends the correction of development programs of the Russian Arctic regions based on the above aspects. |
| Keywords: | aqua-territorial production complexes; project evaluation; simulation modeling; |
| JEL: | R12 O22 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p233&r=tra |
| By: | Alla Sorokina |
| Abstract: | In my presentation I would like to describe the results of a RANEPA team research project in which I am participating. The main object of presented research is factors that determine companies' growth. The research area is limited by companies that achieved high-speed growth by improving their competitiveness and not as a result of market extension. There are a vast majority of studies that search for determinants of companies' competitiveness (description is presented in the overview article "P. Mohnen and B.H. Hall. Innovation and Productivity: an Update / Eurasian Business Review, 3(1), 2013, 47-65"). Most of them indicates that implementation of different types of innovations (product, process, marketing and organizational) are important for firm's growth. I would like to present the results of econometric and statistical analyses of internal and external factors that influence on company's growth rate. There is strong evidence that emergence of high growth companies (gazelles) is more likely in regions that are famous for their innovativeness. It is an external factor which could be called "appropriate environment for high growth firms". Statistical analyses of regional data demonstrates existence of correlation (coefficient of correlation exceeds 0.5) between the number of high-growth companies and such indicators as "The number of researchers per 10 000 people" (k = 0.59), "The ratio of number of PCT applications to the economically active population" (k = 0.56), "The share of employees with higher education in the total number of population in economically active age" (k = 0.55) and "The ratio of the number of applications for inventions submitted to the Russian Patent Bureau by national applicants, to the economically active population" (k = 0.52). The next step of analysis was to examine intramural factors that determine companies' growth rates. We used closed data collected via national survey of high growth innovative companies ("Rating-TechUp" that was completed in 2013 year - http://www.ratingtechup.ru/en/rate/). Econometric analysis provided evidence that the mains intramural factor that determine company's growth rates are share of new (innovative) production in the company's overall sales and expenditures on education of company's staff. Determined external and intramural factors could be used for elaborating recommendations for implementation of industrial policy in Russia. |
| Keywords: | high-growth companies; gazelles; innovative regions; determinants of competitiveness |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p705&r=tra |
| By: | Jing You; Katsushi Imai; Raghav Gaiha |
| Abstract: | Abstract Chinese households have experienced significant income growth, while their nutrition intake has not increased pari passu. This paper uses household data in both rural and urban China over the period 1989-2009 to explain the paradox of higher income but lower nutrition. In addition to traditional inputs into nutrition intake, we emphasise different sources of income, the heterogeneous income effects across households, and the price effects under rising and volatile food prices. The instrumental variable estimation shows that, although nutrition is not responsive to aggregate income, pro-agriculture income growth in terms of proportionally more crop income raises rural households’ nutrient intake, while business and wage income improves urban households’ nutrition. The estimation of a quantile instrumental variable fixed-effects panel model further documents a nutrition-improving effect of income for the least nourished and only the better-nourished are able to benefit from widely believed contributors of nutrition intake such as dietary knowledge, local off-farm employment and out-migration. Uncertainties attached to prices of meat, eggs and oil and fat accentuate nutrition poverty and can off-set the positive income effect, raising the risk of food insecurity despite growing income. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:20714&r=tra |
| By: | Byström, Hans (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | I use Google News TM to study the relation between news volumes and stock market volatilities. More than nine million stock market-related news stories in English and (Mandarin) Chinese are collected and the dynamics of the news volume and the stock market volatility is compared in both the Anglophone world and the Sinophone world. I find that the stock market volatility and the number of publicly available global news stories are strongly linked to each other in both languages. Contemporaneous correlations between news and volatility are positive and highly significant, and regressions tell us that the directional link between news and volatility rather is from news to volatility than vice versa. In out-of-sample evaluations of volatility forecasts I find news volumes to improve forecasts, regardless of language. The relationship between news and volatility is weakest in mainland China and a possible reason for this is that Chinese retail investors do not read (traditional) news, neither in Chinese nor in English. The results suggest that news could be used in volatility-related financial applications such as GARCH-models or VIX-like fear indexes. |
| Keywords: | news aggregator; news; language; volatility; stock market; Chinese; Mandarin; GARCH; VIX |
| JEL: | C82 D80 G10 |
| Date: | 2014–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2014_041&r=tra |
| By: | Elena Anokhina |
| Abstract: | Effective, balanced development of regions is one of the major factors of economic growth of any country, both in macroeconomic stability, and in functioning of national economy in the conditions of world crisis. Occurring on a boundary XX and ÕÕI centuries transformation of economy of the developed countries, led to financial and economic crisis 2008-2009, proceeding uncertainty of tendencies of development of the world economy, begun after the long period of reduction repeated deepening of an inter-regional inequality in regions and countries of the world testify for the first time about necessity of search of approaches to formation of a new paradigm of management by the states and regions. Monitoring of social and economic development of regions of Russia in an economic crisis has shown that crisis processes occurred to different speed and in different degree influenced financial, economic and social sphere in regions with different level of the social and economic development, belonging to various typological groups. The most competitive, developed regions in Russia in crisis have tested the greatest recession in economic and social spheres. The similar tendency was observed in the countries of the world. In a number of the countries taking the advanced places in ratings of competitiveness, made by the International Institute for Management Development (Switzerland) and the World Economic Forum, in an economic crisis observed deep recession of economy. It means that competitiveness was not steady. It testifies that at definition of prospects of development of the countries and regions, at the decision-making, defining strategy of development of the countries and regions dangers, which can threaten social and economic development of the country or region at changes of the external and internal environment, have not been developed anti-recessionary strategy. The financial and economic crisis which has begun in Russia in 2008, has shown necessity of introduction for the theory and practice of regional strategic management of such concept as «regional risk». Working out of the concept of strategic regional management, taking into account regional risks is the really way to the sustainable competitiveness of countries and regions. This concept can be a basis for joint researches in the field of perfection of management by regions as the strategic approach is actual for the present stage of social and economic development and this approach never was key in realised in the countries of the world concepts of regional development. |
| Keywords: | R38 - Government Policies; Regulatory Policies; |
| JEL: | R58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p496&r=tra |
| By: | Evgenya Bukharova; Irina Vorontsova; Irina Ferova; Ludmila Vitkovskaya |
| Abstract: | Population Allocation in Resource-Based Economy Areas and Entrepreneurship Support Evgenya Bukharova, Irina Vorontsova Irina Ferova Ludmila Vitkovskaya Siberian Federal University Key words: urban and rural areas, population allocation pattern, urban agglomerations, territorial clusters, distribution of productive forces, territorial asymmetry of economic development Russian President Vladimir Putin placed an emphasis on priority development of the resource regions of Eastern Siberia: this is related to the large-scale development of natural resources and to the development of modern manufacturing industries. In this context, it is necessary to solve the problem of rational territorial distribution of new industries, taking into account the current territorial structure. ? The present stage of the new industrialization in Siberian regions will be accompanied by stiff competition for human capital on the background of the increasing role of human capital in today's economy. ? The system of focal allocation of population in resource regions with a significant differentiation of living and business conditions, which was established in previous years, usually does not coincide with the future allocation scheme. In the Krasnoyarsk Krai alone large investment projects will lead to increasing the share of the Krasnoyarsk Krai`s territories, actively involved in economic development. ? Imperfect mechanisms for institutional support of business in the regions and forms of territorial organization of production limit the investment attractiveness of the regions. The example of Krasnoyarsk Krai was taken as a regional model for conducting the analysis of influence factors and proposing approaches to strategic development of territorial settlement patterns: ? Core settlements - small towns are "points of growth" in new places of concentration of economic activity in which investment projects stimulate the economic development of the territory. ? The formation of an optimal backbone for the population allocation system in these areas will require the use of intra-regional shift work, which will facilitate the involvement of working population of the already existing settlements of the Krai into economic activities. ? It is necessary to accelerate the process of formation of Krasnoyarsk agglomeration as a business center, which multifunctional environment and its integrative properties are crucial: in Krasnoyarsk, one will observe not only the concentration of activity, but the concentration of development and concentration of conditions for the innovative development. ? The improvements of the territorial organization of production are associated with the creation of regional clusters as a form of inter-sectoral cooperation of economic activities. |
| Keywords: | urban and rural areas; population allocation pattern; urban agglomerations; territorial clusters; distribution of productive forces; territorial asymmetry of economic development; R12; R58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1233&r=tra |
| By: | Pavel Ratner |
| Abstract: | Nowadays Russian government pays a lot of attention to solutions of the high energy intensive production system in the country. The key factors of low efficiency of regional energy saving programs is the lack of approved standards and algorithms in the area of energy audit. In practice, both technical and economical parameters of energy audit fluctuate in a very large range. It's due not only to different complexity of the audit but also the immaturity of the market. General population in Russia on its own has not yet embraced energy efficiency as a social value, therefore not many people are interested to invest in increasing energy efficiency of their homes and, therefore, to use algorithms for home energy audit suggested by well-known western companies such as Energy Star and others. New energy efficient home appliances can significantly reduce the energy consumption, however, the extent to which the theoretical reduction potential can be realized highly depends on individual decision processes. In this situation most of the small and middle-size companies as well as government organizations are getting more and more interested in some 'do-it-yourself' tools that can help to make very first steps in introduction of energy management systems and reduce the cost of professional energy audit. In this paper we present a simple interactive calculator, which can be used in individual flats and houses, office buildings and educational institutes such as colleges and schools, for assessment of electricity use by different categories of equipment. The user indicates only type of equipment and its approximate time of work. The program outputs the structure of energy consumption in graphic format. The results of test procedures and the ways for improvement of the program are discussed. The program is realised using the C++ programming language following the C++03 standard. It uses Qt libraries and provides graphical output in the form of a histogram, showing which energy appliances consume the most energy. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency; energy audit; interactive calculator; energy consumption structure; |
| JEL: | Q41 Q48 C88 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p932&r=tra |
| By: | Markussen, Thomas; Fibaek, Maria; Tarp, Finn; Nguyen, Do Anh Tuan |
| Abstract: | Using survey data from rural Vietnam, this paper documents a statistically significant, positive effect of self-employment in farming on subjective well-being. Wage workers are less happy than farmers across a range of different types of wage jobs. These |
| Keywords: | happiness, self-employment, wage work, agriculture, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-108&r=tra |
| By: | Maria Csanádi (Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Why some party-states collapse and others don't? Why some transformations are accompanied by economic crisis while others by economic growth? Are first political or economic transformation strategic alternatives? This paper comprises the essence of the author’s comparative research on party-state systems in Europe and Asia embodied in a comparative interactive party-state model interpreted as network. Networks evolve during the decision-making process formed by the tightly intertwined dependency and interest promotion relationships among actors in the party, the state, and the economy. The model also describes the structural background of the different operation and transformation of party-state systems as specific patterns of power distribution in the network forging the different ways and instruments of self-reproduction, and different sequence, speed and conditions of system transformation. |
| Keywords: | party-state systems, network, varieties of power distribution, selective resource distribution, political rationality of economic behavior, transformation, China |
| JEL: | P2 P5 D78 F5 P21 P26 P30 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1427&r=tra |
| By: | Jana Nekolová; Jiøà Novosák |
| Abstract: | There are a number of research themes related to location of economic activities. Brownfield redevelopment or comparison of brownfields and greenfields belong to them. Note that the importance of these themes is given by their close relationship to sustainable development principles. Generally, location characteristics of brownfields are regarded as worse than location characteristics of greenfields. In this regard, several barriers of brownfield redevelopment are repeated in scholarly literature. However, a complex empirical research on this issue is rather limited. Thus, the intent of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the location characteristics of brownfields, redeveloped sites and greenfields. We chose the Ostrava metropolitan area in the Czech Republic in the post-socialist period after the year 1989 as our case study. The research is designed as follows. First, we identified three hundred sites which satisfied our conditions (e.g. area, former use, location in the model area). These sites were classified into six categories - brownfields, partially redeveloped brownfields, sites without changes in use after the year 1989, partially redeveloped sites after 1989, redeveloped sites after 1989, and greenfields newly used after 1989. Location of economic activities was the main factor for categorization. Second, the location characteristics of all these sites were added. These included location in morphogenetic zones of the model area, ownership structure, existence of environmental burden, quality of transport accessibility and others. In this way, a data matrix of the sites and their characteristics was created. Third, relations in the data matrix were analyzed. We identified the location characteristics and their combinations which differentiated between the particular categories of the sites. Finally, a model based on the rough-set method was suggested to evaluate the development potential of brownfields. Our findings show some important conclusions. The assumptions on worse location characteristics of brownfields were confirmed but the differences between the particular categories of sites were rather not statistically significant. However, this was true for some combinations of location characteristics of brownfields. This conclusion evoked the idea on the uniqueness of brownfield redevelopment projects. In addition, our findings supported the thesis that brownfields and greenfields were two partial real estate submarkets. |
| Keywords: | location of economic activities; brownfields; greenfields; redeveloped sites; Ostrava metropolitan area; Czech Republic; |
| JEL: | R32 R12 Q24 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p919&r=tra |
| By: | Koettl, Johannes (World Bank); Kupets, Olga (National University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy); Olefir, Anna (World Bank); Santos, Indhira (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Ukraine's economy lacks dynamism, and this is both the cause and the effect of people not moving across the regions. The rate at which Ukrainians move from one region to another within the country is only half of what would be expected in comparison with other countries. This paper examines the barriers that prevent workers from moving within Ukraine, using information from focus group discussions and expert surveys. It also offers recommendations for creating greater labor mobility in Ukraine through addressing institutional bottlenecks and defines five key areas for improvement, including the population registry system, housing and credit markets, vocational education and training systems, labor market institutions, and the social welfare system. |
| Keywords: | barriers to migration, housing market, internal labor mobility, transition economies |
| JEL: | J61 J68 P25 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8631&r=tra |
| By: | Dorota Czyzewska; Anna Golejewska |
| Abstract: | Elaborated in 2008 as part of the new industrial policy, the concept of smart specialisation has quickly become of key importance for the EU 2020 innovation strategy. New activities are to be nominated at the regional level that aim at exploring and discovering new technological and market opportunities in the process of entrepreneurial discovery. Smart specialisation is about defining a method to help policy-makers identify desirable areas for innovation policy intervention [Foray 2013]. Moreover, setting up national and regional smart specialisations constitutes an ex-ante conditionality for the cohesion policy programmes in the perspective 2014-2020. Smart specialization principles provide strategies and roles for all regions: leaders and less developed regions in the field of innovation and R&D. The main objective of the paper is to assess the advancement of selected Polish and French regions in the process of smart specialisation as examples of the above mentioned two types of regions present on the S3 platform. In order to achieve the main objective of the paper, the following detailed objectives are expected to be met: - presentation of the economic fundamentals of smart specialization; - analysis of the transposition of the smart specialisation concept into strategic national and regional documents in Poland and in France; - assessment of the advancement of the smart specialisation process in selected Polish and French regions (sector analysis of smart specialisations in selected regions with regard to the innovation potential emphasized in the regional innovation strategies). There is an accepted rule in Poland that smart specialisations at national and regional level should be identified independently, which means that national specialisations cannot be treated as superior to regional ones. The progress of identifying regional smart specialisations is diversified. Fifteen Polish regions are registered in S3 Platform, of which only five are peer-reviewed and eight have adopted RIS3 priorities. Worth mentioning is the fact that specialisations identified at both national and regional level are convergent which indicates that both approaches selected effective specialisations, focused on whole country's economic growth. In France, where smart specializations are only identified at regional level, 20 out of 26 regions are registered in S3 Platform, 24 of them being regions with encoded RIS3 priorities. It is expected that the research results concerning the advancement of the smart specialisation process in selected regions under analysis will give recommendations for regional authorities of Polish and French regions in terms of the smart specialisation elaboration and monitoring. |
| Keywords: | national and regional smart specialisation; innovation policy; France; Poland; |
| JEL: | R58 L52 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p430&r=tra |
| By: | Igor Shevchuk; Evgeny Zhirnel |
| Abstract: | Spatial development in remote areas is associated with a number of problems and hindrances, the main ones being the difficult demographic situation and poor infrastructure. By introducing "green" technologies one can begin to overcome infrastructural limitations, develop the economy and the settlement system through efficient utilization of local resources. This approach is implemented in practice within the international project "Green cities and settlements: sustainable spatial development in remote border areas" of the Karelia Cross-border Cooperation Programme of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. "Green" cities and settlements are a model of communities that strive to live so as to reduce pollution, efficiently use local resources, convert wastes to energy, and thus minimize their input to climate change. The key is not only to develop the territory in a sustainable way, but also to eliminate infrastructural limitations and find new opportunities for local economic development. Land resources in many municipalities are now used very inefficiently because of the poor condition or absence of utility and power networks. Local administrations with their deficient budgets cannot handle the problem on their own, whereas businesses are not willing to invest at such scope. By reducing the dependence on centralized infrastructure, first of all energy infrastructure, one can expect the spatial hindrances to the development of settlements to be eliminated. The project pilot areas are the border municipalities in the north of the Republic of Karelia. The project outputs are proposals on how to actualize the potential of the territory, promote spatial development and business development. These proposals are concerned with the development of energy-efficient technologies, enterprise development, utilization of local resources for building the "green economy". Implementation of these plans requires a fundamentally new approach to the infrastructural development of municipalities. We believe "green" technologies today are an effective, if not the only, way to develop the energy, housing and utilities infrastructure in remote areas. These technologies can help maintain the settlement system by making the living in remote communities more comfortable. Many of such communities have the potential to become eco-settlements and focus on sustainable tourism. One of the project outputs is the Concept of establishing the cross-border cluster of energy-efficient technologies. The partnership network that has brought together Russian and Finnish entrepreneurs, scientific organizations that design and implement energy-efficient technologies can turn into a new arrangement for the development of northern border areas and formation of the "green economy". |
| Keywords: | green economy; entrepreneurship; northern border regions; clusters; energy-efficiency |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1237&r=tra |
| By: | Natalya Zelenyuk (Business School, The University of Queensland); Valentin Zelenyuk (School of Economics, The University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | The banking sector plays a major role in any economy, and it played a critical role in transition of Ukraine to a market economy. In this work, we investigate the hypothesis that, despite the tremendous growth and apparent prosperity that existed before the country was hit by the global financial crisis, the Ukrainian banking industry already suffered from significant inefficiencies. We estimate the intermediation-type efficiency of individual banks, and analyze how various bank- specific factors (e.g., type of ownership, regional aspects, level of risk as per Basel Accords, business model, size, etc.) explain the differences in the estimated levels of inefficiency across banks. Among other results, we find strong support for the conclusions from the agency theory: we find that banks that were 100% foreign- owned were significantly more efficient than locally owned and partially foreign- owned banks, on average and ceteris paribus and, in particular, regardless whether they were headquartered in the capital city or in a region, in the East or in the West of the country. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uqcepa:97&r=tra |
| By: | Markus Ahlborn; Joachim Ahrens; Rainer Schweickert |
| Abstract: | In order to identify convergence patterns among the group of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) we analyze clusters of traditional OECD countries, i.e. EU-15 plus Norway and Switzerland, Anglo-Saxon non-EU countries plus Japan, and CEECs based on macro data on government regulation and spending instead of micro data on firm relations and market characteristics as is usually applied in Varieties-of-Capitalism (VoC) analysis. This framework is supposed to incorporate some of the critique that has been expressed towards the traditional VoC-approach, especially its ignorance of government spending and performance. We acknowledge for the transition aspect by looking at cluster history and principal component analysis for periods of transition. Our analysis reveals that there is consolidation rather than convergence with CEECs being divided in clusters leaning towards CME and LME prototypes respectively. Overall, there are worlds of redistribution within which clusters differ with respect to their mix of – negatively correlated – regulation and innovation. Interestingly, CEECs do not mix up with Mediterranean MMEs, which indeed provide a kind of worst case setting, while Scandinavian CMEs as well as traditional LMEs provide a kind of role model within their respective worlds of redistribution |
| Keywords: | Varieties of Capitalism, Worlds of Welfare States, Government Spending, Regulation, Cluster Analysis, Transition, Economic Systems, CEECs |
| JEL: | H10 P10 P51 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1976&r=tra |
| By: | Popov, Vladimir |
| Abstract: | Why even after the dramatic increase in inequality in the 1990s and after the emergence and enrichment of “oligarchs”, the alternative (leftist, social democratic) economic policies that could have improved material and social wellbeing of the majority of the population is not supported by this majority? It is argued that in immature democracies (without efficient restrictions for the participation of private capital in politics) mass media and electoral campaigns are controlled by the rich, so there is vicious circle: market reforms and private property create the class of the wealthy (“oligarchs”) that are not only interested in these reforms, but also have power to maintain their political and eonomic might through mass media and democratic elections. The return of public opinion to the “norm” so that it reflects interests of the majority is possible only if mass media and political process are separated from private capital and private financing. =================================================== Почему после резкого увеличения неравенства в 90-е годы прошлого века, после появления и стремительного обогащения «олигархов», альтернативная (левая, социал-демократическая) экономическая политика, которая могла бы улучшить материальное и социальное положение значительного большинства населения не поддерживается этим большинством? В статье доказывается, что в условиях незрелой демократии (без эффективных барьеров для участия частного капитала в политике) средства массовой информации и избирательные кампании контролируются владельцами крупных состояний, так что возникает замкнутый круг: рыночные рефоры и частная собственность рождают класс богатых («олигархов»), которые не только заинтересованы в этих реформах, но и обладают рычагами поддержания своего экономического и политического влияния через СМИ и демократические выборы. Возвращение общественных предпочтений к «норме» – к стереотипам, отражающим интересы большинства, возможно лишь при отделении СМИ и политического процесса в целом от частного капитала и частного финансирования. |
| Keywords: | Public opinion, transition from socialism to capitalism, inequalities, elections, mass media |
| JEL: | H00 P26 P3 |
| Date: | 2014–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57842&r=tra |
| By: | Geessien Lubberman-Schrotenboer, I. |
| Abstract: | In this comparative-historical case study, changes in payment modes and currencies are described and analysed for the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia against the background of the breakup of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. First, an analytical framework is developed, yielding an ideal type of payments and a categorisation of movements away from and towards this ideal. While a unilateral decision tree forms the basic framework, it is argued that choosing a payment mode and a currency to effect a transaction is a problem of coordination. The aggregate outcome of changes in payments is understood by putting emphasis on the interplay of informal and formal rules in payments as well as on network structure and characteristics of payment systems. After a description of the context, per case overviews are provided of major changes with respect to the payment system, payment network, legal tender and currency regime that occurred before, during and after the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. By bringing theory and empirical data together, the thesis illuminates how and why payments changed under circumstances of conflict, how problems in payments were circumvented or solved, and what the economic outcome of the changes in payments was. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:0bcfb2a3-bcd8-4652-84e9-ba27606750ba&r=tra |
| By: | Kent Deng (London School of Economics); Patrick Karl OÕBrien (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Our article is a critical survey of the concepts, methods and date constructed and utilized by scholars (particularly the late Angus Maddison) in order to provide estimates for the measurement of relative levels and long term trends in the GDP per capita for China from the Han Dynasty to modern times. We applaud the endeavour but have reluctantly concluded that, even as conjectures, they are not fit for purpose. Furthermore, our article suggests that the Kuznetsian paradigm in empirical economics may not turn out to be viable for qualitative analysis of the long term development of imperial economies of pre-modern East and South Asia. |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0063&r=tra |
| By: | Iacob, Constanta; Taus, Delia |
| Abstract: | Paradoxically, while the economic crisis has had an impact on many economic sectors worldwide automotive industry has become the most important sector of the economy emerging Europe. For Romania, the automotive industry has become a major contributor to achieving the export sector, and major automakers find a place suitable for the manufacture of auto parts cheap, near markets and assembly firms. Analyzing correlations results - total revenue and profitability results - consumed resources profitability note that the values of a variable are in direct sense, increasing the values of the other variable, which means that the two variables are correlated with each other and in one case and in the other, and the probability chance of obtaining a test value "t" is insignificant. |
| Keywords: | revenues, expenditures, economic profitability, resource consumption, economic performance |
| JEL: | C14 C15 L25 M41 |
| Date: | 2014–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60264&r=tra |
| By: | Rudolf Bauer; Jana Knezova; Andrej Steiner |
| Abstract: | Dynamism of development and competiveness of regions, as spatially and administratively defined units, depend not only on their natural, economic, social, and territorial potential but also on quality of regional development governance. At the time of creation of the regional level of territorial management in Slovakia there was expected that by introducing this new governance level the regional governments would become strong players in the field of regional development policy and provide supra-local and sub-national public services more effectively and with better quality. The paper, in its first part, concentrates on critical assessment of the current position and performance of entrusted tasks of the regional self-governments after 12 years of their existence, particularly in terms of their real opportunities to influence integrated development of territories pursuing principles of 'good governance'. Emphasis is put on analysis of key determinants conditioning legitimacy and power of regional self-governments in the area of ensuring and coordinating regional development. Findings suggest that territorial and administrative definition of the Slovak regions for fulfilling their core mission is not optimal. Furthermore there are gaps in their competencies, financial strength, fiscal autonomy and quality of development processes. We can state that despite regional governments are responsible, pursuant to law, for the comprehensive integrative development of the region, their direct impact on economic, social and environmental development of their territories is relatively small. The current status is confronted with the focus of the European policy for the period 2014-2020 and the need to react also on this level on global challenges such as climate change, ageing, lack of renewable resources, opening disparity scissors between regions etc. The paper, in its second part, in order to achieve higher quality of governing regional development within existing legal, economic and institutional framework in Slovakia, presents the innovative model of good governance in conjunction with planning and implementation of development processes. Through the analysis of individual components of the model the set of recommendations has been elaborated with the aim of optimizing position of the regional self-government as the key actor in development of its territory having not only responsibility but also adequate conditions and tools. The paper is based on results of the three years research within the project Governance financed by the Norwegian financial mechanism. |
| Keywords: | good governance; regional development; regional government; |
| JEL: | R58 R59 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p440&r=tra |
| By: | Plank, Leonhard; Staritz, Cornelia |
| Abstract: | Regional suppliers still play an important role in the global apparel industry. By studying the experience of Romania's apparel sector, the paper highlights, first, the importance of multiscalar institutional, macro and policy contexts in analyzing the articulation of and up- and downgrading experiences in global production networks. These include the Multi-Fibre Arrangement, EU trade agreements and accession, the global economic crisis, and the specific institutional and policy context of post-Socialism. Second, the paper stresses the existence of diverse, non-linear and uneven up- and downgrading trajectories and of reactive adaptation rather than pro-active firm strategies. This questions the ideal upgrading account often portrayed in chain and network research. |
| Keywords: | Romania,apparel,global production networks,trade policy,upgrading,downgrading |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:oefsew:50&r=tra |
| By: | Saman, Corina (Institute for Economic Forecasting, Romanian Academy) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test the nonlinearity of the relation between the stock price in Romania and the nominal Romanian Leu against Euro from March 2000 to March 2014. The empirical evidence shows that there is a long-run equilibrium between the two variables during the time period investigated. There exist also short-run relationships that were found to be nonlinear in variables involved (exchange rate and stock price) and also regarding the error correction mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Exchange rates, Stock prices, Causality, Nonlinearity |
| JEL: | C52 F31 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rjr:wpiecf:141110&r=tra |