The Political Economy of Fiscal Institutions and Macroeconomic Management in Sudan

Author(s):  
Kabbashi M. Suliman

This chapter draws on the literature on historical institutionalism and distributive politics, combining qualitative and quantitative information from Sudan’s territorial economic structures, to highlight the evolution of the fiscal and political institutions and indicate their impact on fiscal policy and macroeconomic outcomes. The results show that the inherited colonial fiscal institutions, underpinned by cotton production partnership, significantly determined Sudan’s economic development path after independence and facilitated the incorporation of rural areas and communities into the national economy. However, the greater centralization of power to boost the elites’ legitimacy, including the prioritization of public expenditures on entrenched and inefficient political patronage networks, have not only undermined the macroeconomic management role of the fiscal policy, but also triggered a process of territorial fragmentation that escalated into open civil wars and eventually led to the breakup of the state. The policy implications of these findings are outlined.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kambale Kavese ◽  
Andrew Phiri

Abstract This study employs a partial general equilibrium approach calibrated on the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) and a contemporaneous dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the effect of expansionary fiscal policy on economic growth, income inequality, poverty, employment and inequality reduction in South Africa. The simulation results reveal that expansionary fiscal policy i) benefits rich ‘white’ households the most and poor ‘coloured’ households the least ii) improves adult employment more than youth employment iii) improves employment in urban areas as proposed to employment in rural areas iv) has a very small effect on improving economic growth and reducing the Gini coefficient v) benefits ‘well-off’ households more than it does ‘poor’ households vi) promotes ‘low-skilled’ employment more than it does for ‘high-skilled’ labourers. Associated policy implications based on our findings are also discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. MAZHARUL ISLAM ◽  
KAZI MD ABUL KALAM AZAD

SummaryThis paper analyses the levels and trends of childhood mortality in urban Bangladesh, and examines whether children’s survival chances are poorer among the urban migrants and urban poor. It also examines the determinants of child survival in urban Bangladesh. Data come from the 1999–2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The results indicate that, although the indices of infant and child mortality are consistently better in urban areas, the urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality have diminished in recent years. The study identifies two distinct child morality regimes in urban Bangladesh: one for urban natives and one for rural–urban migrants. Under-five mortality is higher among children born to urban migrants compared with children born to life-long urban natives (102 and 62 per 1000 live births, respectively). The migrant–native mortality differentials more-or-less correspond with the differences in socioeconomic status. Like childhood mortality rates, rural–urban migrants seem to be moderately disadvantaged by economic status compared with their urban native counterparts. Within the urban areas, the child survival status is even worse among the migrant poor than among the average urban poor, especially recent migrants. This poor–non-poor differential in childhood mortality is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The study findings indicate that rapid growth of the urban population in recent years due to rural-to-urban migration, coupled with higher risk of mortality among migrant’s children, may be considered as one of the major explanations for slower decline in under-five mortality in urban Bangladesh, thus diminishing urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality in Bangladesh. The study demonstrates that housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas, even after controlling for migration status. The findings of the study may have important policy implications for urban planning, highlighting the need to target migrant groups and the urban poor within urban areas in the provision of health care services.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
José L. Calvo ◽  
Cristina Sánchez ◽  
Pedro Cortiñas

In 2007 the Spanish National Institute of Statistics modified the methodological approach to the Survey of Income and Living Conditions and included an estimate of Imputed Rent. It removes one of the main criticisms of Spanish poverty studies since this variable is associated with home ownership, and because more than 80% of Spanish families are homeowners, its exclusion biased the estimates of the size of Spain's poor population and poverty intensity. We estimate a Heckman model with a selection equation in which the dependent variable is the probability of being poor, and a truncated regression to explain poverty intensity. Our findings have at least two economic policy implications: Spanish social policy against poverty should take into account geographical differences but, at the same time, should consider Imputed Rent. Without this variable efforts should concentrate in Spanish less developed regions and rural areas, but if we include it poverty increases in urban population. The article has also reveals that most retired people cannot be considered poor if we take into account wealth (imputed rent included) instead of current income (pension).


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-183
Author(s):  
Colin Emrich

Can the design of governmental institutions promote timely governance? This article investigates this question by examining the relationship between the design of fiscal institutions and budgetary delays across the fifty states. These budgetary offices are created by lawmakers to advance sound fiscal policy and sustainable public finance. This article argues that the unbiased information provided by nonpartisan budget offices minimize the likelihood of budgetary delay as well as lessen how long budgetary stalemate persists when a delay occurs. The findings suggest that nonpartisan fiscal institutions do not prevent budgetary delay but substantially reduce the duration of budgetary gridlock.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-224
Author(s):  
Aan Jaelani

This paper discusses the management of public expenditures in Indonesia in State Budget 2017. The data collected from fiscal policy documents, especially about government spending plans in 2017, and then be reviewed by policy analysis, the theory of public expenditures, and the theory of public goods, and compared with the theory of public expenditure in Islamic economics. Public expenditure management in Indonesia has implemented a distribution system that divided public expenditure for central government expenditures, transfers to the regions, and the village fund. In terms of fiscal policy, public expenditure priorities to support the achievement of sustainable economic growth, job creation, poverty reduction, and the reduction of gaps in the welfare of the whole community. In Islamic economics, public expenditure is used to meet the needs of the community based on the principles of general interest derived from the sharia. Public expenditure on Indonesia’s government as an effective tool to divert economic resources and increase the income of society as a whole, and focused on the embodiment of the people’s welfare.


2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 577-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Ferreiro ◽  
Carmen Gómez ◽  
Felipe Serrano

The paper analyses the mistakes made in the management of the fiscal policy in Spain before the crisis. The authors argue that the low size of the public expenditures, the adoption of a procyclical expansionary fiscal policy the years before the crisis, and the lack of a correct coordination between the Spanish fiscal policy and the ECB?s monetary policy, are key elements to understand the depth and length of the economic crisis and the current high fiscal imbalances in Spain.


Author(s):  
Laura Suarsana

AbstractThis chapter presents empirical results on the German LandFrauen clubs and associations as contemporary elements of German civil society from the conceptual perspective of social innovation, as an approach which is expected to hold high potential particularly for rural areas. The analysis shows that the German LandFrauen clubs and associations are highly engaged in initiating change and development in rural Germany by uniquely addressing women’s needs through social, cultural, and educational offers. Here, the members’ social interactions function as a basis and starting point for further activities providing impulses in local development.As prerequisites that enable the LandFrauen to pursue their activities, two key characteristics were identified: (1) Their practices are integrated into specific local fields and highly adaptive to local needs and interests through the deep integration of the large and diverse base of members in their local villages and rural society, which allows for functions as local initiators, catalysts, and multipliers in regional development. (2) The institutional frame of clubs and associations allows for support, cooperation, and exchange across the vertical and horizontal structure, and provides access to resources and a broad network to external partners.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Guo ◽  
Andi Cao ◽  
Minjun Huang ◽  
Houjian Li

Abstract Recently, serious haze pollution has not only threatened the human health and food security, but also seems to have aggravated the unscientific use of pesticides by rice farmers in rural area of China. Using original data on haze pollution across China, combined with rural household survey data collected from 2014 to 2018, we conducted a detailed empirical study on the effects of haze pollution on pesticide use by rice farmers based on the theory of risk aversion. The empirical results revealed that haze pollution with higher levels of PM2.5 positively impacted the use of chemical pesticides in the rice cultivation. More precisely, with 1% increases in PM2.5 concentration, the amount of pesticide application per mu increased by 7.9%, and the average pesticide fee per mu increased by 2.3%, respectively. The results were robust to a series of tests that addressed potential endogeneity concerns, including omitted variable bias, measurement error and reverse causality. We then examined the heterogeneous effects of haze pollution increase on the use of chemical pesticides and found that the effects of haze pollution on the use of chemical pesticides to be weaker for rice farmer with more rice-planting experience, those with smaller cultivated area of rice, however, the effects on the amount of chemical pesticide application per mu to be weaker for those with rice insurance, but the effects on the average chemical pesticide fee per mu to be stronger for those with rice insurance. Our findings provide important policy implications for pesticide risk management in rural areas of developing countries.


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