Informality and credit constraints: evidence from Sub-Saharan African MSEs

The attributes of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) influencing access to credit, in particular the level and role of firm informality, are analysed in the article. The puzzle is the push for MSEs to join the formal sector and the tug to avoid the extra burden it places on the firm. It is important to know more clearly what forces are at work and the sources of the causal effects. This study uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys for five low-income countries (LICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The method is empirical and as we find informality to be endogenous to credit constraints, an instrumental variable approach is estimated. Further, to address the possibility of reverse causality, an instrument for the informality variable is required; not registered with Inland Revenue (tax office) is the chosen instrument variable. The findings reveal that as the probability of a firm operating in the formal sector increases, there is greater access to external credit. The causality relationships are tested providing a strong platform for the formalization of polices to reduce the informality of the MSE sector. These are discussed in the context of the research findings.     

Origin and concentration

We analyse the effects of different types and concentration of ownership on performance using a large population of firms in the Czech Republic after mass privatization. Specifications based on first‐differences combined with instrumental variables show that the performance effects of different types and concentration of ownership are limited when compared to earlier studies. Often, concentrated ownership has a positive effect, a finding that supports the agency theory. The positive effect of foreign ownership is detected primarily for majority ownership and for ownership by foreign industrial firms. The state as a holder of the golden share has a positive effect on employment and sometimes, also on output and profitability. Overall, our results highlight the benefits of strategic restructuring accompanied by an inflow of new capital and managerial culture.     

中国地区收入差距影响因素的实证分析

运用1987-2005年的面板数据引入制度变量--市场化指数,对全国以及东中西三地区收入差距的影响因素进行分析,在考虑教育变量内生性的基础上,发现固定资本投资对经济增长有明显正向作用,人力资本是影响地区收入差距的重要因素,其中健康对经济增长作用较显著,高等教育比初等教育作用大.市场化对经济增长影响为正,且比较显著,另外,国有经济职工比例对经济增长的影响为正,地方财政支出和其他经济职工比例的影响不确定.     

The Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth Nexus Revisited

This paper addresses two challenges that the fiscal decentralisation and economic growth nexus faces – namely, endogeneity problems and inaccurate measurement of fiscal decentralisation. We introduce novel instrumental variables based on common legal system origin, common federal system, geographical position and relative country size. The positive relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth that we find remains valid when using these instrumental variables. Using fiscal decentralisation measures that better reflect the autonomy of subnational governments changes this relationship. This finding, however, is the result of the accompanying changes in the sample rather than the use of these alternative measures themselves.     

公司内部治理机制与绩效的交互效应——基于内生性视角的经验证据

在公司治理机制与绩效关系的研究中,已有文献大都着眼于单个治理机制,并先验地把它们作为外生变量来处理,认为二者之间是一种静态关系。文章以我国1999～2008年间沪深两市509家上市公司为研究对象,从股东、管理层、董事会和债权融资四种内部控制机制之间的联合效应入手研究其与绩效之间的关系,在控制住内生性问题的影响后发现:(1)不同的公司治理机制之间彼此不是独立的,一种治理机制的选择取决于另外一种治理机制;(2)公司治理机制是内生决定的,在静态框架下其与绩效无显著性关联,但在考虑跨期影响的动态框架下二者却有着显著联系;(3)股权结构以非线性的方式影响着公司绩效,管理层持股和控股股东的影响分别呈W型和N型。     

Dynamic analysis of British demand for tourism abroad

This paper investigates how preference endogeneity, in the form of habit persistence, can affect short-run and long-run tourism expenditure decisions. The proposed model is applied to British quarterly data over the period 1979–91 and the empirical results suggest that preference endogeneity appears to have an important effect. This has policy implications for countries competing for British tourist arrivals. The differences between the short-run and long-run price and budget elasticities which are implied by habit persistence are also investigated.     

Estimating the impact of incidents on urban controlled-access highways: an empirical analysis

An empirical analysis is developed that quantifies the impact of different types of traffic incidents on the speed and maximum flow averages of vehicles on a controlled-access highway. The incident types considered include damage to highway infrastructure, vehicle rollover, crashes (into stationary objects), collisions (with moving vehicles), rain, fog, vehicle breakdowns, pedestrians on roadway, etc. Using real-world data from Chile’s most heavily used urban motorway/freeway, estimates of incident impacts on speed are generated using a multiple linear regression model incorporating instrumental variables to correct for endogeneity. Flow results are then generated using the fundamental traffic equation relating speed, flow and density. A ranking of the impacts on highway traffic of the different incident types based on incident frequency as well as impact size demonstrates that for the real case studied, the incidents with the greatest cumulative effect are (in order of magnitude) vehicle breakdown, collisions and rain.     

Employment and the risk of domestic violence: does the breadwinner’s gender matter?

This article studies the effect on the risk of female victimization of the employment status of the woman and her partner. We use individual-level data from the violence against women surveys for Spain, which also provide information on income and a rich set of sociodemographic characteristics. To address the potential endogeneity of the binary employment indicators, we exploit exogenous geographical information on the employment and unemployment rates by gender and age, within a multivariate probit framework. Our estimation results show that male partner employment plays a major role in the risk of physical violence, while female employment only lowers it when her partner is employed too. The lowest risk appears for more egalitarian couples in which both partners are employed.     

中国中老年人的健康状况对劳动参与的影响

利用中国健康与养老追踪调查——浙江和甘肃两省的预调查数据,分析了两省45岁及以上人群的健康状况对其劳动参与的影响。考虑到健康和劳动参与的联立性以及健康状况的内生性问题,建立了健康和劳动参与的联立方程,使用二阶段估计方法进行分析。结果显示,健康状况对45岁以上中老年人的劳动参与有显著的正影响;劳动参与不仅无损于健康状况,反而有利于健康,说明存在理由内生性。因此,在老龄化压力日益增大的当今社会,要保持劳动力市场中有足够的老年劳动力供给,加强健康保健服务、加大对卫生部门的投入十分必要。     

Does gender diversity matter for green innovation?

This study empirically investigated the relationship between board gender diversity and firm's green innovation, using panel data of public companies of China's manufacturing. Green product innovation was assessed by “green” patents and green process innovation assessed by environmental management certification. The endogeneity problem that resulted from self‐selection of gender diversity was addressed by means of extended probit regressions with an instrumental variable, and the instrumental variable was elaborately constructed based on changes in directorships. The findings show that occurrence of green innovation at the firm‐level is systematically related to female board representation. Specifically, women can exert a sizable and positive effect on green innovation, once they enjoy at least two seats on the boards; a further increase in representation of women on the boards can increase the likelihood of green product innovation rather than the likelihood of green process innovation. These results were robust to various regression specifications and alternative samples. The study provides empirical evidence that women at the top management can play a positive role in developing firm's active environmental strategies, and the conclusions are of practical implications for improving corporate governance along the environmental dimension.