Do remittances promote financial development?

Workers' remittances to developing countries have become the second largest type of flows after foreign direct investment. This paper uses data on remittance flows to 109 developing countries during 1975-2007 to study the link between remittances and financial sector development. In particular, we examine the association between remittances and the aggregate level of deposits and credit intermediated by the local banking sector. This is an important question considering the extensive literature that has documented the growth-enhancing and poverty-reducing effects of financial development. We provide evidence of a positive, significant, and robust link between remittances and financial development in developing countries.     

Does tourism development promote economic growth in transition countries? A panel data analysis

This study examines causal relationships between tourism spending and economic growth in 10 transition countries for the period 1988–2011. Panel causality analysis, which accounts for dependency and heterogeneity across countries, is used herein. Our empirical results support the evidence on the direction of causality, and are consistent with the neutrality hypothesis for 3 of these 10 transition countries (i.e. Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia). The growth hypothesis holds for Cyprus, Latvia and Slovakia while reverse relationships were found for the Czech Republic and Poland. The feedback hypothesis also holds for Estonia and Hungary. Our empirical findings provide important policy implications for the 10 transition countries being studied.     

Resource integration of regional economic development in northwest China

Northwestern area is the most arid and underdeveloped area in China. Lots of researches have been doneto find the approaches to alleviate poverty. But there are some problems, for example, how to invest, how to use capital,and why the utilization rate is ambiguous. Water, capital and human resources are analyzed in this paper to be comparedwith their Utilization rates. As a result, according to the dependences of economic growth on those resources, a newapproach has been selected to organize the integration ways among these resources for economic development innorthwestern China. The efficient ways to develop northwestern China are： firstly, use the wanting resources mosteffectively to make an efficient integration model of multiple resources. For example, enhance the utilization rate of waterto raise the value of other resources. Secondly, invest more in basic factors for economic development to upgrade thecompetitiveness in the western China. For example, invest more in primary education and sustainable development ofbasic natural resources in order to have more power for sustainable development.     

A study of economic development in Tibet of China based on the ecological economic mode

The purpose of this paper is to study the issues on keeping the continuous development of Tibetan economy and the relative stability of its ecosystem. Hence, in order to achieve the object, the study analyzes the status quo of economic development in Tibet and the problems of resource exploitation. It especially discusses frailty of Tibetan eco-environment, and evaluates the contradictions between the traditional economic developing mode and the safety of plateau＇s ecosystem. It concludes that there is an inevitable clash between the development of Tibetan economy and the safety of plateau＇s eco-system; this problem cannot be avoided by any decision maker, Therefore, the character of Tibetan econvironment and the requirement of its economic development strategy determine that ecological economy developing mode is the only choice for Tibet. This paper suggests that it should be compensated by the national government to assure that Tibetan economy can keep a higher developing speed. In accordance with the feature of plateau eco-economy system and demand of Tibetan economic development, this paper also suggests several methods to apply the ecoeconomy developing strategy of Tibet.     

Analysis on regional disparity of economic development in China based on DEA

The economy of China has been developing fast after the beginning of the new century, but the 31 provinces or municipalities （excluding Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao） develop disparately. So, finding an appropriate way to analyze and compare the economic situations of various regions is of great significance for the balanced development of the east coastal area and the hinterland. With the DEA method, on the basis of regionalism, this paper analyzes various regions of China, and gets the conclusion that the effective proportion of DEA of the coastal developed areas is relatively higher, and the extremely tittle foreign investment makes the relative efficiency of DEA of frontier areas pretty high. In addition, through the analysis parameters of the regions where DEA is relatively ineffective, this paper points out that the surplus labor force is the most influential factor, and the spare foreign investment is the main reason for the lack of efficiency of relatively developed regions.     

Ecological economic benefit in sustainable development

From the concept of ecological economic benefit, I put forward the general formula for the benefit of ecological economy and the appraisal methods of the ecological economy. Theory on ecological benefit and economic benefit is the base of the benefits of ecological economy To some extent the development of ecological economy, theory and practice on eco-agriculture are both the production made from opposition and unify of ecological benefit and economic benefit. This paper discusses the ＂T＂ type saucture, which will give the theoretical bases for enhancing the ecological and economical benefits.     

Does FDI improve economic development in North African countries?

This article examines the relationship between FDI inflows and welfare improvement in North African countries. Using net per capita FDI inflows and the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index as the principal variables, our analyses confirm the positive and strongly significant relationship between net FDI inflows and welfare improvement in North Africa, although we do find significant differences among the countries in the region. This relationship holds even after we control for government size, country indebtedness, macroeconomic instability, infrastructural development, institutional quality, political risk, openness to trade, education and financial market development. Hence, at the aggregate level, FDI contributes to economic growth in North Africa, in turn generating additional revenues for governments and populations in the region through fiscal policies and jobs creation. We also found that FDI received by countries in the region are mainly concentrated in very few industries (particularly extractive petroleum, services and tourism, construction and utilities); relatively fewer of these investments are directed towards the nonextractive primary industries, which are pro-poor sectors and highly labour intensive, or the manufacturing sector, with a high potential for spillover effects in the economy. This lack of diversification of FDI received in the region’s economies in part explains the differences observed in the link between FDI and welfare in these countries. It is therefore essential for governments in the region to continue investing in social infrastructures while improving the quality of their institutions and their governance; doing so will probably help avoid the type of unrest we have witnessed recently.     

Do unions discourage economic activity?

Previous examinations of the influence of unions on economic activity fail to use a measure of unionization that varies both by state and industry. Such a failure introduces the possibility of serious specification errors, a possibility confirmed by comparing traditional estimates which suggest unions depress a state's economic activity with new estimates which reveal no such effect.     

Does fiscal decentralization promote the inflow of FDI in China?

This paper tests whether China's fiscal decentralization promotes the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). Using provincial panel data during 1995–2002, we find that fiscal decentralization has a positive and significant effect on inward FDI, after controlling for other factors, and fixed time and province effects in both LSDV (Least squares dummy variables) regression and system GMM (Generalized method of moments) estimations that address the endogeneity of fiscal decentralization. The results are robust to six measures of fiscal decentralization that consider budgetary amount, extra-budgetary funds and inter-governmental transfers. A simple theory is offered to explain the findings. The results during 1987–1994 are further contrasted. Policy implications are also presented.     

Does integration and economic policy coordination promote business cycle synchronization in the EU?

Previous studies have discounted important factors and indirect channels that might contribute to business cycle synchronization (BCS) in the EU. We estimate the effects of market integration and economic policy coordination on bilateral business cycle correlations over the period 1995–2012 using a simultaneous equations model that takes into accounts both the endogenous relationships and unveils direct and indirect effects. The results suggest that (1) trade and FDI have a pronounced positive effect on BCS, particularly between incumbent and new EU members. (2) Rising specialization does not decouple business cycles. (3) The decline of income disparities in EU27 contributes to BCS, as converging countries develop stronger trade and FDI linkages. (4) There is strong evidence that poor fiscal discipline of EU members is a major impediment of business cycle synchronization. (5) The same argument holds true for exchange rate fluctuations that hinder BCS, particularly in EU15. Since BCS is a fundamental prerequisite and objective in an effective monetary union, the EU has to promote market integration and strengthen the common setting of economic policies.     

Do authoritarian institutions mobilize economic cooperation?

This paper explores the effect of dictatorial institutions on revenue composition. The higher the degree of institutionalization of the regime, the higher the perceived levels of legitimacy, efficiency and credibility, so taxes that require cooperation and compliance can be more effectively collected from the population. Institutionalized regimes thus make sense if non-tax revenue sources are scarce so limited representation must be granted in exchange of economic support. Our selection-corrected results show that more institutionalized regimes are able to collect more taxes on income, profits and capital gains, taxes on goods and services, taxes on property and payroll taxes.

Is economic rebalancing toward consumption “greener”? Evidence from visibility in China, 1984–2006

The Chinese government has adopted a rebalancing strategy since 2011, shifting from an investment- to consumption-oriented growth model. An aim of this reform is for a “greener” development mode, but relevant empirical evidence is slim. In this study, we propose an innovative methodology to shed light on the environmental externalities of economic rebalancing. First, we use air visibility across China to reflect air quality during 1984–2006. Second, with the daily visibility data, we propose a weekend-effect regression model to difference out city-specific unobserved heterogeneity. Third, we approximate local consumption intensity with the portion of the residential electricity usage in the total electricity usage. To our surprise, the estimates suggest that the pollution intensity of consumption activities has not only been significant, but also exceeded that of production since the mid-1990s. Hence, rebalancing toward consumption is not necessarily more environmentally friendly according to the recent development experience of China.     

Does government paternalistic care promote entrepreneurship in China? Evidence from the China Employer-Employee Survey

ABSTRACT

This article examines whether government paternalistic care exerts positive effects on entrepreneurship in China, and the channels through which paternalistic care affects entrepreneurship, using data from the 2015 baseline of the China Employer-Employee Survey (CEES). The data suggests that over 70% of manufacturing firms received at least one type of government paternalistic care, though the distributions are different depending on the firm’s size, ownership, industry, firm and entrepreneur’s age. The empirical analysis indicates that government paternalistic care negatively affects entrepreneurship by diminishing innovation capability. Human capital and imported intermediate goods should be the driving forces for a firm’s development, but government paternalistic care has a counterproductive effect on those two factors, thereby impeding entrepreneurship. The results show that those good intentions have gone awry. The government should gradually terminate its paternalistic policies for firms, and firms need to promote their own solid innovation capability.

Abbreviations: CEES: China Employer-Employee Survey SOE: State-owned enterprise     

Do economic,institutional or political variables explain regulated wholesale unbundled local loop rate setting?

This study examines OECD fully unbundled and line-sharing monthly wholesale prices for 2002–2008. Although both series are well explained by the models, the principal contribution of the research is that economic, institutional and political factors explain mandated wholesale rate settings. The study finds evidence of both regulatory capture (to benefit incumbents) and retail margin setting to encourage entry (to benefit entrants).     

Can investment advisors promote rational investment? Evidence from micro-data in China

Investment advisors are important participants in financial markets. With the increasing demand for household financial asset management in China, the role of investment advisors is being widely discussed. Taking investors’ degree of diversification as the proxy of the rational investment, this study examines the role of investment advisors in promoting rational investments. It finds that investors with investment advisors are more likely to invest rationally. Further analysis shows that investment advisors play a greater role in promoting rational investment of investors with more investment experience, better financial literacy, more investible assets and male. The conclusions of this study indicate that giving full play to the role of professional investment advisors in household asset allocations and encouraging investors to invest rationally is important for the prevention of financial risks and the promotion of the healthy development of the financial market.     

Do mergers really increase output? Evidence from English hospitals

The English hospital sector underwent a major restructuring program between 2000 and 2008 to centralize activity in fewer and larger hospitals. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effects of such consolidations on hospital outputs. As mergers occurred in a staggered way, treatment could start and end at every time and treatment duration varied over the years. As every time is a mix of hospital pre-treatment, treatment and post-treatment phases, the canonical difference-in-differences assumption of homogeneous policy effects is not only meaningless but also misleading, raising doubts about the appropriateness of the methods previously used in this literature and consequently the accuracy of its results. We instead adopt a new matching and difference-in-differences approach, the flexible conditional difference-in-differences approach, developed by Dettmann et al. in 2020, more appropriate for causal analysis of treatments characterized by varying start dates and varying treatment duration. Our results suggest that mergers downsize hospital activities, especially the most expensive ones. If the goal of hospital mergers is to gain efficiency by centralization of activity, our findings suggest this restructuring programme is not the most successful policy to pursue. Mergers reduce the scope for competition between hospitals and do not create any incentive for poorly performing hospitals.     

Do economics journal archives promote replicable research?

Abstract. All the long‐standing archives at economics journals do not facilitate the reproduction of published results. The data‐only archives at Journal of Business and Economic Statistics and Economic Journal fail in part because most authors do not contribute data. Results published in the FRB St. Louis Review can rarely be reproduced using the data+code in the journal archive. Recently created archives at top journals should avoid the mistakes of their predecessors. We categorize reasons for archives' failures and identify successful policies.     

Do liberal trade policies promote trade openness?

Although trade liberalization and trade openness are assumed to be strongly associated with each other and often used interchangeably, the empirical evidence has not been forthcoming. This article is an attempt to fill this gap. By investigating the link between trade openness and trade restrictions, it argues that while a negative link between various types of trade restrictions and trade openness is evident, the relationship is weak, statistically not always significant and there is no clear evidence that the removal of trade restrictions (trade‐liberalization) invariably leads to improved trade openness.     

Do Political Factors Cause the Regional Inequality in the Reform‐Era China?

We construct a political variable—the number of ministers of all national government departments born in each province weighted by provincial population—to examine its effect on economic growth in China during 1981–2010. We find that the lagged per capita political variable has a significant, positive effect on economic growth in both ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation and system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation. We also find that the lagged per capita political variable has a significant, positive effect on financial deregulation policies distributed across provinces, which offers a possible mechanism for the political variable to impact growth.     

Do foreign institutional investors enhance firm innovation in China?

This paper investigates the impact of the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme regulated by the Chinese government on firm innovation in China. By explicitly addressing the potential endogenous relationship between foreign institutional ownership and firm innovation, we find that foreign institutional investors enhance firm innovation in China, suggesting that the Chinese government should further relax its foreign capital investment control, for example, increase the quota of the QFII scheme.