Aug 20, 2017
0
Aug 20, 2017
Some 100 countries have in place gender quotas, the practice of reserving political positions for women, to overcome long-standing gender inequalities, yet little is known about its long-term impact. A working paper by Klaus Deininger, Songqing Jin, Hari Nagarajan, and Xia Fang fills the gap. Drawing on 15 years of data from individual respondents in India, the authors explore how reservations affect leader qualifications, service delivery, political participation, local accountability, and individuals’ willingness to contribute to public goods, both during the "reserved" period and in the long term. India is particularly suitable for this analysis: in the early 1990s, it implemented policies to reserve leadership positions in one-third of its villages -- randomly chosen in each period -- along with far-reaching decentralization policies. As the reservation policy aims to bring to office women who would not have qualified otherwise, the short-term impact on leader quality is often negative. But gender quotas increase the level and quality of women's political participation, the ability to hold leaders to account and the willingness to contribute to public goods in the long term. The full impact often materializes only after a time delay, highlighting the importance of considering the longer-term impact to gain a full appreciation of the policy.
Sources: World Bank
read more
Do Gender Quotas Affect Long-Term Political Outcomes?
Some 100 countries have in place gender quotas, the practice of reserving political positions for women, to overcome long-standing gender inequalities, yet little is known about its long-term impact. A working paper by Klaus Deininger, Songqing Jin, Hari Nagarajan, and Xia Fang fills the gap. Drawing on 15 years of data from individual respondents in India, the authors explore how reservations affect leader qualifications, service delivery, political participation, local accountability, and individuals’ willingness to contribute to public goods, both during the "reserved" period and in the long term. India is particularly suitable for this analysis: in the early 1990s, it implemented policies to reserve leadership positions in one-third of its villages -- randomly chosen in each period -- along with far-reaching decentralization policies. As the reservation policy aims to bring to office women who would not have qualified otherwise, the short-term impact on leader quality is often negative. But gender quotas increase the level and quality of women's political participation, the ability to hold leaders to account and the willingness to contribute to public goods in the long term. The full impact often materializes only after a time delay, highlighting the importance of considering the longer-term impact to gain a full appreciation of the policy.
Sources: World Bank
Dec 19, 2011
1
Dec 19, 2011
Infrastructure investments like rural roads are generally for the long haul. But it's difficult for researchers to measure their long-term impact, as it can be confounded by changes in outside factors that cannot be observed but affect road development and other outcomes, such as shifts in local political influence and household norms. In a new working paper, Shahidur Khandker and Gayatri Koolwal address this issue in evaluating and comparing the short-term and long-term effects of a road-paving project in rural Bangladesh over eight years. A dynamic panel model, based on household survey data collected under the project, accounts for time-varying unobserved characteristics. It shows the project improved per capita expenditure, schooling, and transport prices in the short term, but the benefits wore off over time. The benefits of rural roads also vary across sectors and the distribution of households. Employment in the rural non-farm sector, for example, rose faster over time, indicating increasing returns to road investment. Gains for middle-income groups strengthened as their employment shifted toward the non-farm sector. But the very poor failed to sustain the short-term benefits of public roads. The results also show that the evolution of benefits depends on initial community and household characteristics, as well as road quality.
read more
Who Benefits from Rural Road Projects in the Long Run?
Infrastructure investments like rural roads are generally for the long haul. But it's difficult for researchers to measure their long-term impact, as it can be confounded by changes in outside factors that cannot be observed but affect road development and other outcomes, such as shifts in local political influence and household norms. In a new working paper, Shahidur Khandker and Gayatri Koolwal address this issue in evaluating and comparing the short-term and long-term effects of a road-paving project in rural Bangladesh over eight years. A dynamic panel model, based on household survey data collected under the project, accounts for time-varying unobserved characteristics. It shows the project improved per capita expenditure, schooling, and transport prices in the short term, but the benefits wore off over time. The benefits of rural roads also vary across sectors and the distribution of households. Employment in the rural non-farm sector, for example, rose faster over time, indicating increasing returns to road investment. Gains for middle-income groups strengthened as their employment shifted toward the non-farm sector. But the very poor failed to sustain the short-term benefits of public roads. The results also show that the evolution of benefits depends on initial community and household characteristics, as well as road quality.
1
Over the past two decades, globalization, deregulation, and financial innovations have led to significant growth of financial institutions around the world. These trends have lowered borrowing costs, improved risk diversification, and increased capital flows and productivity. But the same trends also brought those institutions closer and increased their exposure to common sources of risk. In a new working paper, Deniz Anginer and Asli Demirguc-Kunt show a significant increase in default risk co-dependence leading up to the 2008 global financial crisis. The results also suggest higher co-dependence in the banking sector of countries with more integrated or liberalized financial systems and weak banking supervision. The results lend support to more international supervisory cooperation, as well as capital charges for "too-connected-to-fail" institutions that can impose significant banking externalities. The authors reach these conclusions by examining how the correlation structure of default risk evolved for more than 1,800 banks in more than 60 countries.
read more
Has the Global Banking System Become More Fragile Over Time?
Over the past two decades, globalization, deregulation, and financial innovations have led to significant growth of financial institutions around the world. These trends have lowered borrowing costs, improved risk diversification, and increased capital flows and productivity. But the same trends also brought those institutions closer and increased their exposure to common sources of risk. In a new working paper, Deniz Anginer and Asli Demirguc-Kunt show a significant increase in default risk co-dependence leading up to the 2008 global financial crisis. The results also suggest higher co-dependence in the banking sector of countries with more integrated or liberalized financial systems and weak banking supervision. The results lend support to more international supervisory cooperation, as well as capital charges for "too-connected-to-fail" institutions that can impose significant banking externalities. The authors reach these conclusions by examining how the correlation structure of default risk evolved for more than 1,800 banks in more than 60 countries.
0
Most emerging markets do not often borrow in their own currency internationally, even though doing so could provide an attractive insurance mechanism. This phenomenon, commonly labeled as "the original sin" in international finance, has mostly been interpreted as evidence of the inability of developing countries to borrow in their domestic currency from abroad. A new working paper by Julien Bengui and Ha Nguyen provides a novel explanation for that phenomenon: It's not that they can't borrow this way, but they might not need to. That's because domestic and foreign lenders have different consumption baskets, the authors say. Domestic lenders largely keep their consumption basket in domestic currency, but all foreign lenders keep theirs in dollars. A depreciation of domestic currency, which tends to occur in bad times, is therefore less harmful to domestic savers than to foreign investors. It's not surprising that domestic lenders require a lower premium than foreign lenders do on domestic currency debt. For plausible calibrations, this consumption-basket effect can induce foreign investors to pull out of the domestic currency debt market.
read more
Why Don't Developing Countries Borrow in Their Own Currency from Abroad?
Most emerging markets do not often borrow in their own currency internationally, even though doing so could provide an attractive insurance mechanism. This phenomenon, commonly labeled as "the original sin" in international finance, has mostly been interpreted as evidence of the inability of developing countries to borrow in their domestic currency from abroad. A new working paper by Julien Bengui and Ha Nguyen provides a novel explanation for that phenomenon: It's not that they can't borrow this way, but they might not need to. That's because domestic and foreign lenders have different consumption baskets, the authors say. Domestic lenders largely keep their consumption basket in domestic currency, but all foreign lenders keep theirs in dollars. A depreciation of domestic currency, which tends to occur in bad times, is therefore less harmful to domestic savers than to foreign investors. It's not surprising that domestic lenders require a lower premium than foreign lenders do on domestic currency debt. For plausible calibrations, this consumption-basket effect can induce foreign investors to pull out of the domestic currency debt market.
Nov 3, 2011
0
Nov 3, 2011
Trade Liberalization Can Help Empower Women
Gender equality is a source of comparative advantage when a
country integrates into the world market, according to a new working
paper by Quy-Toan Do, Andrei A. Levchenko and Claudio Raddatz. For
example, industries relying more on female labor expand more in
countries that empower women. Meanwhile, trade affects a society’s
attitude toward gender: the gender gap is smaller in Bangladesh and
other countries that export goods requiring female labor. Thus, the road
to female empowerment in an increasingly integrated world market
depends on a country’s productive structure, as well as its exposure to
global markets. Compared with countries with a comparative advantage in
female labor-intensive goods, countries with a comparative advantage in
male-labor intensive goods require more effort to counterbalance the
resultant economic forces, leading to a slower pace of women’s
empowerment. Nonetheless, these same efforts will in turn change the
comparative advantage of countries in a way that will further promote
conditions that help empower women.
read more
Sep 8, 2011
0
Sep 8, 2011
Lower Fertility Rates Boost Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Low-Income Countries
A new working paper by Monica Das Gupta, John Bongaarts and John
Cleland argues that there is now a broad consensus among researchers
that lower fertility rates facilitate economic growth in low-income
countries.
Low dependency ratios (resulting from lower fertility rates) create a window of opportunity for savings and increase productivity and investment — which, if properly managed by policy makers, can permanently transform living standards. The more rapid the fertility decline in a region, the wider the window of opportunity, though its duration will be shorter, because the population will age more rapidly.
The studies reviewed also indicate that rapid population growth can be a constraint on economic growth, especially in poor countries with policies that don’t encourage rapid rise in productivity. In addition, lower fertility is associated with better child health and schooling, reduced maternal mortality and morbidity, a higher rate of labor participation by women, and higher household earnings.
Studies reviewed by the authors also highlight the deep challenges to managing common environmental property resources, because of diverging interests among users. But the pressure on these resources can be mitigated by reducing the rate of population growth. Although family planning programs are only one policy lever to help reduce fertility, most studies find them effective. Such programs might help the Sub-Saharan African region in particular, where high fertility rates and institutional constraints on economic growth have combined to slow rises in living standards.
Extracted from WorldBank
read more
Low dependency ratios (resulting from lower fertility rates) create a window of opportunity for savings and increase productivity and investment — which, if properly managed by policy makers, can permanently transform living standards. The more rapid the fertility decline in a region, the wider the window of opportunity, though its duration will be shorter, because the population will age more rapidly.
The studies reviewed also indicate that rapid population growth can be a constraint on economic growth, especially in poor countries with policies that don’t encourage rapid rise in productivity. In addition, lower fertility is associated with better child health and schooling, reduced maternal mortality and morbidity, a higher rate of labor participation by women, and higher household earnings.
Studies reviewed by the authors also highlight the deep challenges to managing common environmental property resources, because of diverging interests among users. But the pressure on these resources can be mitigated by reducing the rate of population growth. Although family planning programs are only one policy lever to help reduce fertility, most studies find them effective. Such programs might help the Sub-Saharan African region in particular, where high fertility rates and institutional constraints on economic growth have combined to slow rises in living standards.
Extracted from WorldBank
Sep 3, 2011
0
Sep 3, 2011
Factory and Hiring Data Reduce the Fear of Recession
Factory activity and hiring data on Wednesday suggested a recession could be avoided despite some weak economic signals.
Factory activity showed a strong rebound in demand for manufactured goods in July as orders for motor vehicles posted their largest gain since 2003, and the forecasts for the institute for Supply Management’s index of national manufacturing to fall to 48.5 in August from 50.9 in July may be overdone while the official survey will published on Thursday, since ISM does not take into account that the auto industry is getting a very strong pick-up in orders as parts are replenished and production is continuing.
In addition, ADP also showed private employers added 91,000 new jobs this month after expanding payrolls by 114,000 in July, and nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by only 75,000 in August, slowing from July’s 117,000 rise. The jobless rate is seen holding at 9.1%.
It implied that the labor market is soft but not falling apart, and the economy is not on the verge of a recession, according to Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
read more
Factory activity showed a strong rebound in demand for manufactured goods in July as orders for motor vehicles posted their largest gain since 2003, and the forecasts for the institute for Supply Management’s index of national manufacturing to fall to 48.5 in August from 50.9 in July may be overdone while the official survey will published on Thursday, since ISM does not take into account that the auto industry is getting a very strong pick-up in orders as parts are replenished and production is continuing.
In addition, ADP also showed private employers added 91,000 new jobs this month after expanding payrolls by 114,000 in July, and nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by only 75,000 in August, slowing from July’s 117,000 rise. The jobless rate is seen holding at 9.1%.
It implied that the labor market is soft but not falling apart, and the economy is not on the verge of a recession, according to Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
Aug 30, 2011
0
Aug 30, 2011
Construction Approvals Strongly Grow in Cambodia
Construction approval increased by 84% year-on-year through July to US$747.7 million which the official called the biggest jump since property market bust since three years ago, though the number of approved projects had decreased to 1,279 for the period from 1,344 projects approved in the first seven months of 2010. The increase in value was due to their size, as rice milling facilities, garment and animal-feed facilities and apartments, as among other construction, Lao Tip Seiha, director of the Construction Department at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, said yesterday.
read more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
