scholarly journals A Time to Build

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (35) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Chami ◽  
Elorm Darkey ◽  
Oral Williams

We use a unique data set for 115 countries, from 2000–18, and 5-year non-overlapping averages to explore the impact of technical assitance on revenue mobilization. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first such effort to determine a direct relationship between technical assistance and the improvement in tax revenues. The paper finds that technical assistance significantly and positively increases tax revenues. Both income per capita and openness were found to positively improve the tax ratio in line with findings in the literature. Dynamic estimations also uncovered a long-run relationship among technical assistance, income per capita, openness, and tax revenues. This result further underscores that it takes time to build capacity and institutional resilience.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
Hany Fahmy

The Prebisch-Singer (PS) hypothesis, which postulates the presence of a downward secular trend in the price of primary commodities relative to manufacturers, remains at the core of a continuing debate among international trade economists. The reason is that the results of testing the PS hypothesis depend on the starting point of the technical analysis, i.e., stationarity, nonlinearity, and the existence of structural breaks. The objective of this paper is to appraise the PS hypothesis in the short- and long-run by employing a novel multiresolution wavelets decomposition to a unique data set of commodity prices. The paper also seeks to assess the impact of the terms of trade (also known as Incoterms) on the test results. The analysis reveals that the PS hypothesis is not supported in the long run for the aggregate commodity price index and for most of the individual commodity price series forming it. Furthermore, in addition to the starting point of the analysis, the results show that the PS test depends on the term of trade classification of commodity prices. These findings are of particular significance to international trade regulators and policymakers of developing economies that depend mainly on primary commodities in their exports.


Ekonomika ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andriy Stavytskyy ◽  
Vincent Giedraitis ◽  
Darius Sakalauskas ◽  
Maik Huettinger

This paper investigates the historical trends in economic development through the impact of economic depressions and emissions of greenhouse gasses, namely carbon dioxide (CO2). The analysis includes four countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. The focus, therefore, will be on the impact of two economic crises and their effect on global warming. Temperature changes in the longer period are very often regarded as a result of human activity, which can be measured by the increase of GDP (per capita). The findings indicate that GDP (per capita) parameters cannot be considered as correct measures of human pollution activity. The results show that the long-run temperature can be evaluated with the help of annual average temperatures of the previous four years. The proposed model does not only provide quite satisfactory forecasts, but is very stable with coefficients variables that can make a model more reliable for practice.


Author(s):  
Nenubari John Ikue ◽  
Lucky Ifeanyi Amabuike ◽  
Joseph Osaro Denwi ◽  
Aminu Usman Mohammed ◽  
Ahmadu Uba Musa

This paper investigated how oil revenue and the activities in the oil industry affected the size of income accrue to each Nigerian (Per capita income) from 1980 to 2019. The variables were sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI), OPEC Statistics, Baker Hughes Rig Count and the central bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin. Using the AutoRegressive Distributional Lag (ARDL) we observed that explorative activities of crude oil in Nigeria positively impacted the size of individual income. The magnitude of the impact was massive irrespective of time; a 1% increase in exploration increases the size of individual income by 0.4786% in the long run and 0.6030% in the short run. The interaction of rigs by output (interaction of rig-count and oil-production) negatively impacted the size of individual income. This implies that the size of individual income in Nigeria is sensitive to the nature of the explorative environment of the Nigerian oil industry.


Author(s):  
Chien-Yuan Sher ◽  
Ho Ting Wong ◽  
Yu-Chun Lin

Dengue has long been a public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. In 2015, a dengue outbreak occurred in Taiwan, where 43,784 cases were reported. This study aims to assess the impact of dengue on Southern Taiwan’s economic growth according to the economic growth model-based regression approach recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Herein, annual data from Southern Taiwan on the number of dengue cases, income growth, and demographics from 2010–2015 were analyzed. The percentage of reduction of the average income per capita in 2015 due to the dengue outbreak was estimated. Dengue was determined to have a negative linear economic impact on Southern Taiwan’s economic growth. In particular, a reduction of 0.26% in the average income per capita was estimated in Southern Taiwan due to the 2015 outbreak. If the model is applied alongside other dengue outbreak forecast models, then the forecast for economic reduction due to a future dengue outbreak may also be estimated. Prevention and recovery policies may subsequently be decided upon based on not only the number of dengue cases but also the degree of economic burden resulting from an outbreak.


2018 ◽  
Vol 05 (02n03) ◽  
pp. 1850012 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Niggol Seo

This paper examines the impact of the typhoons generated in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and affecting East/Southeast Asia on the number of human fatalities using the typhoon data from 1980 to 2016 and whether future typhoons, likely more intense due to global warming, will dramatically increase human fatalities. The best-track data and the tropical cyclone (TC) reports show that there was no change in the intensity of cyclones during this time period, nor in the number of fatalities. An application of a negative binomial count-data model of the number of TC fatalities shows that the number of fatalities increases by 1.8 percent in response to a one-unit increase in TC intensity, expressed in terms of the minimum central pressure (MCP), but the number of fatalities also decreases by 0.53 percent in response to a one-unit increase in income per capita. In the future year 2100, a 5 millibar decrease in MCP, i.e., an increase in TC intensity, is predicted to increase the number of fatalities by 9 percent from the present fatality value, while a 10 millibar decrease to increase it by 18 percent. However, an increase in income per capita by 1 percent annually coupled with a 10 millibar decrease in the MCP is predicted to decrease the number of fatalities by 59 percent of the present number of fatalities. A surprisingly high income elasticity in the Northwest Pacific is attributed to the difference between Japan and the Philippines, two island nations both heavily affected by typhoons. The income per capita in Japan is more than 20 times than that of the Philippines, which makes the historical number of fatalities in each cyclone landfall more than 20 times smaller in the former, due to superb historical adaptations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 908-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil S. Epstein ◽  
Dalit Gafni ◽  
Erez Siniver

Purpose – Economic outcomes are compared for university graduates in Israel belonging to four different ethnic groups. A unique data set is used that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008 and which tracks them for up to ten years from the year they graduated. The main finding is that education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run and that an ethnic group can improve its position relative to certain groups while there is no effect relative to other groups. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors consider three of the main factors determining the success of assimilation: size of the ethnic group; cultural differences between groups and skin color; and examine how these factors affect economic outcomes. The authors use a unique data set that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008. Findings – The results obtained in this study show that on average native Jews attain the best economic outcomes, followed by FSU immigrants, Israeli Arabs and finally Ethiopian immigrants. Education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run. An ethnic group can improve its position relative to other groups as they accumulate work experience. Originality/value – This is the first time that the Ethiopian immigrants where taken into account.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania El Kallab ◽  
Cristina Terra

PurposeThis paper explores the role of colonial heritage on long-term economic development from a resource-curse perspective. The authors investigate the impact of colonial exports on long-term economic development through two channels: (1) a direct impact of the economic dependency on natural resources and (2) an indirect impact via its effect on colonial institutions, which persisted over time and influenced current economic development.Design/methodology/approachTo address this issue, the authors use an original data set on French bilateral trade from 1880 to 1912. The authors use partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in the empirical analysis, so that the authors are able to construct latent variables (LVs) for variables that are not directly observable, such as the quality of institutions.FindingsThe authors find that exports of primary goods to France had a negative impact on colonial institutions and that for French colonies, this impact was driven by minerals exports. Despite its impact on colonial institutions, exports of French colonies had no significant indirect impact on their current institutions. The authors find no significant direct impact of colonial trade on current development for French colonies. Finally, colonial exports of manufactured products had no significant impact on colonial institutions among French colonies and a positive impact among non-French ones.Research limitations/implicationsResearch implications regarding the findings of this paper are, namely, that the relative poor performance within French colonies today cannot be attributed to the extraction of raw materials a century ago. However, human capital and institutional development, instead of exports, are more relatively important for long-term growth. Some limitations in trying to determine the simultaneous relationship among colonial trade, institutions and economic performance are the relation between colonial trade and the extent of extraction from the colonizer, which is hard to quantify, as well as its precise mechanism.Practical implicationsSince the initial institutions set in those former colonies presented a strong persistence in the long run, their governments should focus now on building sound and inclusive political and economic institutions, as well as on investing in human capital in order to foster long-term growth. Once a comprehensive set of institutional and human resources are put in place, the quality and quantity of exports might create a positive spillover on the short-run growth.Social implicationsOne social implication that can be retrieved from this study is the ever-lasting effect of both human capital investment and introduction of inclusive political and economic institutions on the long-run impact of growth.Originality/valueThe paper uses an original primary data set from archival sources to explore the role of colonial heritage on long-term economic development from a resource-curse perspective. It applies a relatively new model partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) that allows the construction of LVs for variables that are not directly observable, as well as channeling the impact on growth through both direct and indirect channels. Finally, it allows for the simultaneous multigroup analysis across different colonial groups.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-367
Author(s):  
Faridul Islam ◽  
Saleheen Khan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic relationship among immigration rate, GDP per capita, and and real wage rates in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The paper implements the Johansen-Juselius (1990, 1992) cointegration technique to test for a long-run relationship; and for short-run dynamics the authors apply Granger causality tests under the vector error-correction model. Findings – The results show that the long-run causality runs from GDP per capita to immigration, not vice versa. Growing economy attracts immigrants. The authors also find that immigration flow depresses average weekly earnings of the natives in the long-run. Originality/value – The authors are not aware of any study on the USA addressing the impact of immigrants on labor market using a tripartite approach by explicitly incorporating economic growth. It is therefore important to pursue a theoretically justified empirical model in search of a relation to resolve on apparent immigration debate.


2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Malmberg ◽  
Bo Malmberg ◽  
Per Lundequist

In the 1990s, there has been an increase in interest in the spatial agglomeration of similar and related firms and industries. The recent literature is, however, marked by a lack of balance between theoretical development and empirical validation of the importance of agglomeration economies. Our aim in this paper is to redress the balance by assessing empirically the impact of various types of agglomeration economies on export performance. Our study is based on a unique data set including all Swedish export firms. We find that localisation economies are not as important as recent theoretical contributions on industrial districts, new industrial spaces, and innovative milieus have led us to believe. Instead, traditional scale economies, together with urbanisation economies, have a larger effect on export performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 105-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi Rocha ◽  
Claudio Ferraz ◽  
Rodrigo R. Soares

This paper documents the persistence of human capital over time and its association with long-term development. We exploit variation induced by a state-sponsored settlement policy that attracted immigrants with higher levels of schooling to particular regions of Brazil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. We show that one century after the policy, municipalities that received settlements had higher levels of schooling and higher income per capita. We provide evidence that long-run effects worked through higher supply of educational inputs and shifts in the structure of occupations toward skill-intensive sectors. (JEL I26, J22, J24, J61, N36, O15, Z13)


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