Two-way trade between unequal partners: The EU and the developing countries

Two-Way Trade between Unequal Partners: The EU and the Developing Countries. — This paper analyses the intra-industry trade specialization between the EU and the developing countries between 1980 and 1992. It shows that EU intra-industry trade with the developing countries has greatly increased and that the traditional measure of intra-industry trade, the Grubel-Lloyd index, is inappropriate when applied to trade between developed and developing countries. By and large, the empirical analysis confirms that intra-industry trade between the developed and the developing countries increases with average and per capita income, and with reduced differences in economic size and capital-labour ratios.     

Economic growth and income inequality in the Asia-Pacific region: A comparative study of China,Japan, South Korea,and the United States

This paper builds an inequality-growth-redistribution nexus, and applies the Engle–Granger two-step ECM approach to estimate the long-run and short-run relationships between inequality and growth for four economies: China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Our estimation results support the S-shaped curve hypothesis relating GDP per capita to inequality with different starting points for the four economies. For the reverse relationship, we find a positive causal relationship for China, Japan, and the United States, indicating that increased income inequality spurred economic growth. In addition, we find mixed results on the effect of trade openness on inequality and growth. Trade openness reduced inequality in the United States and Japan, worsened it in China and had no significant effect in South Korea. In the inequality-GDP per capita relationship, exports provided an impetus to economic growth for Japan. As for redistribution, although fiscal redistributive measures reduced inequality in Japan, they played no major role in the other three countries. With regard to the inequality-GDP per capita relationship, all countries except for China show a negative effect of fiscal redistribution on GDP per capita.     

Firm agglomeration and local poverty reduction: evidence from an economy in transition

We examine the linkages between firm agglomeration and the welfare of households in Vietnam. We measured firm agglomeration by per capita firm output at the district level and household welfare by per capita income, expenditure, and poverty. We find that firm agglomeration helps households move from the informal sector to the formal sector. As a result, there is a positive effect of firm agglomeration on per capita income, per capita expenditure, and poverty reduction, albeit of a small and time‐decreasing magnitude. The effect of firm agglomeration on per capita expenditure tends to be higher for households with men, younger, and more educated heads than households with women, older, and less educated heads. Households in rural areas and those that do not have crop land are more likely to benefit from firm agglomeration than those living in urban areas and having crop land.     

The Role of TTIP on the Environment

The current study empirically investigates and shows that, on average, the possible implementation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would generally help in the fight against global warming. In particular, the study finds that a 1% increase in the bilateral trade between the United States and the typical EU member would reduce annual per capita emissions of CO₂ and GHGs in the typical TTIP member by about 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively. However, results also show that TTIP may increase annual per capita emissions of GHGs in the United States by about 2.5% per year. These results stand because the factor endowment hypothesis and the pollution haven hypothesis based on population density variations appear to dominate the pollution haven hypothesis based on national income differences.     

The Invisible Hand of Rain in Spending: Effect of Rainfall‐Driven Agricultural Income on Per Capita Expenditure in Ghana

This paper uses a nationally representative household pseudo‐panel dataset for Ghana, a rain‐fed agriculture economy, to investigate whether there is a positive relationship between rainfall‐driven agricultural income and household per capita expenditure. By using the Two Stage Least Squares Instrumental Variable (2SLS‐IV) estimator, it is found that a fall in rainfall‐driven agricultural income leads to a decrease in per capita expenditure. The results show that the gender and the locality of the household head matter in the response of per capita expenditures to rainfall‐driven agricultural income. Female‐headed and rural households are more vulnerable to rainfall‐driven agricultural income changes. The expenditure disaggregation indicates that female‐headed households significantly reduce per capita non‐food expenditure in times of rainfall‐induced agricultural income decrease whilst the response of male‐headed households focuses more on reducing per capita food and remittance expenditures.     

The role of comparative advantage in trade within industries: A panel data approach for the European Union

The Role of Comparative Advantage in Trade within Industries: A Panel Data Approach for the European Union. — A large share of EU member states trade is intra-industry trade (IIT) in the period 1985-1996; in particular, IIT is based on products differentiated in quality (vertical IIT). Moreover, exports from southern countries are located mainly at the lower end of the price-quality spectrum, whereas those countries with higher per capita incomes are located at the higher end. According to the vertical IIT models, we hypothesize that commercial specialization of members states over the quality spectrum within industries is explained by differences in technological, physical and human capital. The results show that comparative advantage is an important driver of the pattern of European trade within industries.     

ICT modernization in Central and Eastern Europe: a Schumpeterian catching up perspective

The paper characterizes main trends in ICT implementation and diffusion in the CEE countries in terms of market volume, economic development and ICT trade integration within the EU market. The analysis reveals a gradual closing up of the technology gap in ICT sector between the CEE and the ‘old’ EU countries. The focus is on the relationship between ICT expenditure, NRI index, vs GDP per capita, competitiveness and productivity. The evolution of ICT development trajectory is traced analysing the changing pattern of ICT trade between the CEE countries and the EU. The impact of the current crisis on the structural adjustment of the CEE ICT sector is assessed from the perspective of Schumpeterian technology gap and catching up.     

Budget Structure and Pollution Control： A Cross-country Analysis and Implications for China

In the published literature, the differences in environmental performance across countries are typically explained using the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The Environmental Kuznets Curve states that pollution initially increases with economic growth. Once GDP per capita reaches a certain level, the relationship reverses. In the present paper, we provide an alternative hypothesis, where budget structure plays an important role in explaining the variations in pollution across the world.＂ the lower the business-related taxes as a share of total tax revenue, the higher the property tax in total tax revenue and the higher the ratio of public health expenditure in total expenditure, then the stronger the incentive of pollution control and the lower the pollution level. Our empirical findings reveal that the budget structure does have an important impact on pollution control. The policy implication of this research is that effective control of environmental pollution requires changes in tax structure and expenditure assignment. This research has important policy implications for China ＂s tax system reform and pollution control efforts.     

EXPLAINING THE GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN SOUTH AFRICA

What determines government spending in South Africa? The paper estimates the determinants of real per capita government spending in the Republic of South Africa using annual data for the period 1960‐2007, a tumultuous period during which South Africa experienced a variety of internally imposed changes (e.g. the abolition of apartheid, changes in political institutions) and externally generated shocks (e.g. war, oil shocks). Using multivariate cointegration techniques, we find that per capita government spending, per capita income, the tax share and the wage rate are cointegrated, a result that supports the notion that government spending is associated not only with per capita income and the true cost of government service provision as given by the wage rate but also with the fiscal illusion caused by budget deficits. We also find evidence that per capita government spending was positively affected by external shocks. These external shocks seem to play a significant role in explaining the dynamics of government spending growth.     

Quality Competition and Pricing‐to‐Market: A Unified Framework for the Analysis of Bilateral Unit Values

This article presents a unified framework for analyzing two factors that have been independently studied as determinants of unit values in international trade: product differentiation by quality (which suggests that unit values should be positively correlated with exporters' per capita income) and pricing‐to‐market (which suggests they should be positively correlated with importers' per capita income). No previous work has considered both exporter and importer income effects and allowed these effects to vary by product. On a large sample of bilateral unit values for 2005, we find that about 56% of all Harmonized System (HS)‐6 products demonstrate both significant exporter‐income effects and importer‐income effects, with the former predominating in prevalence and magnitude. Distance‐related effects appearing directly in prices appear significantly larger than one would expect as a result of shipping margins.     

中国农村基础设施现状:皖省例证与政策选择

依据农村基础设施建设状况的背景,对安徽省水库移民地区进行实地调查。从长期看,农民纯收入与支援农村生产支出、各项农业事业费、农业基本建设支出、水利建设投资存在着显著的正相关关系。预测显示,未来五年随着支援农村生产支出、各项农业事业费、农业基本建设支出、支农总支出等投入的较大幅度增加,农民人均纯收入将呈现规模报酬递减趋势,但到2015年农民人均纯收入可到达万元以上。现阶段,我国农村基础设施建设投入规模仍然不足,结构矛盾较为突出。应通过建立稳定的农村基础设施建设投入增加的长效机制,调整基础设施建设在地区间和项目间优先序等措施来改善农村生产生活环境,提高农民收入。     

北京市城镇居民消费与收入关系的实证分析——基于协整分析和状态空间模型

文章利用1986—2011年的统计数据,基于协整分析和状态空间模型,实证检验北京市城镇居民消费与可支配收入的数量关系以及城镇居民边际消费倾向的动态变化．实证结果表明：北京市城镇居民消费支出与可支配收入之间存在协整关系,消费支出对可支配收入的长期弹性为0．81,短期弹性为0．84。1986—2011年,北京市城镇居民边际消费倾向总体呈下降趋势。下降幅度为0．27。其中,1986—1991年,边际消费倾向呈现波动下降;1992-2003年,边际消费倾向缓慢下降;2004午后,边际消费倾向下降幅度加大。文章解释了边际消费下降的原因,并提出了相应对策建议。     

是FDI导致中国经济“冰火两重天”?——基于省级面板数据的检验

FDI被认为是经济高速增长与居民消费严重不足"冰火两重天"式奇特现象的重要答案。本文使用1990～2009年中国省级面板数据进行的实证检验表明,FDI推动中国经济增长的同时也提高了居民人均消费支出,其影响的主要渠道可能是增加当地居民收入和地方政府社保支出份额。文章设想的FDI负向影响居民人均消费支出的社会保障支出份额效应虽然有迹象表明是存在的,但其效应被FDI增加地方政府社保支出份额效应所抵消。文章设想的FDI负向影响居民人均消费支出的收入不平等效应则被证实是不存在的。在此基础上本文得出结论,中国经济"冰火两重天"现象的原因可能需要从经济体系内部寻找,强势政府和要素市场扭曲可能才是根源,FDI流入一定程度上还修正了这种制度的缺陷。     

Revisiting Growth‐Poverty Relationship: A Medium‐Term Causality Approach

This article examines the potential medium‐term causal relationship between changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and poverty in developing countries during the 1970s–1990s. For this purpose, we use panel data model evaluation techniques to test the out‐of‐sample forecasting performance of competing models. We conclude that the evidence supports the hypothesis that increases in GDP per capita cause unidirectional poverty reduction, measured by the $1/day poverty rate, in the period 1970s–1980s. The results are similar when analysing low‐ and middle‐income countries and mid‐high‐ and very high‐inequality countries separately. However, in the period 1980s–1990s, it is only statistically significant for low‐income countries.     

The Balassa-Samuelson Hypothesis and Oil Price Shocks in a Small Open Economy: Evidence from Cyprus

Focusing on a small open economy, this paper provides very supportive evidence for the Balassa-Samuelson productivity-bias proposition. Using a battery of tests we show that a positive and significant long run relationship exists between the relative price of nontraded goods and real income per capita. An implication of this result is that the prices of services in Cyprus will rise, if EU membership leads to income convergence with the rest of the EU. We have, furthermore, demonstrated that Rogoff's hypothesis, that real oil price changes negatively affect the price of nontradables, is supported by the empirical results.     

Biases in the allocation of foreign aid: Some new evidence

The purpose of the paper is to examine the pattern of bilateral and multilateral foreign aid allocations during the 1970s. Cross-section and pooled regressions for a set of roughly 90 countries where aid allocations have been relatively free of gross political overtones confirm the well-known bias in per capita aid flows against populous countries, butdo not provide evidence of a middle income bias. Instead, regressions on 1976–1978 aid flows and per capita incomes of recipient countries seem to suggest a low income bias, i.e. low income countries received more aid per capita than middle income countries. Yet, there was asample of extremely poor countries which remained neglected in foreign aid allocations.     

Does income affect fertility or does fertility affect income?

"This paper tests for the dynamic causal connection between real income per capita and the birth rate for a subset of developing countries. These countries are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay. Our empirical findings show that, for the historical period under review, in several countries real income per capita affected the birth rate. Virtually no evidence is found to support the hypothesis that the birth rate affected real income per capita."     

Problems in estimating income differences in contemporary Russia

The paper analyzes various approaches used in calculating the income distribution of the Russian population. It describes a distribution model which uses special functions to adjust per capita income and expenditure data for HBI 5-percent groups to analogous indicators describing the balance of cash income and expenditure. Based on this model experimental calculations of the income distributions of the populations of Russia as a whole and of four of its constituent members were made.     

基于基尼系数的中日医疗卫生经费区域公平性对比分析

利用基尼系数的等价算法:收入份额法,测算了中国和日本的省际医疗经费的基尼系数及基尼系数边际效应。结果表明,我国人均医疗财政支出的省际差距较大,但差距呈逐步缩小之势。近十年来,我国地域间医疗经费支出的公平性有了较大改善,但相比较日本还有很大的优化空间。根据日本的发展经验,不断完善我国的财政体系,确保地方政府的财权和事权的协调统一,是从根本上保障我国医疗事业的健康可持续发展的必由之路。