Are poor able to access the informal credit market? Evidence from rural households in China

The poor are often excluded from formal credit markets, but few empirical studies in literature have investigated whether the poor are constrained in the informal credit market. This paper uses recent micro data of rural China to answer this question. An instrumental variable model is estimated to account for potential endogeneity issues. Results show that poorer households have lower probability of entering the informal credit market. Further examination shows that the poor are limited by social network and that they have no financial means to invest in their social capital to expand their social network. Our findings shed light on potential solutions of reducing poverty in rural areas.     

Like father,like son? Parental input,access to higher education,and social mobility in China

This paper studies the role of parental input in university access in the context of a 10-fold expansion of China's higher-education sector since 1999. Using a Logit regression, we find that an increase in a parent's education level significantly raises their child's probability of entering university. Moreover, the effects of parental involvement and children's trust towards their parents on university entrance are highly significant. The results are robust to Probit and Linear-Probability-Model specifications. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that for rural and/or worse-educated families, parental involvement significantly affects the child's access to university, while for urban and/or better-educated families, the child's own study attitude is key for progression to university. To address the confounder of genetic inheritance, we use regression discontinuity and two-stage least squares and find that the nine-year compulsory education policy launched in 1986 not only increased the education years of the first generation by about 1.66 years, but has also had a lasting effect by raising the second generation's probability of access to university by 11.77%.     

Growth,employment and income distribution in Egyptian agriculture, 1964–1979

This paper is a study of the aggregate behavior of crop production in Egypt. We find that the output growth rate declined in the 1970s but there were some signs of recovery towards the end of the decade. This trend cannot be explained by the observed-cyclical movements in profitability and in the real price of aggregate output. On the other hand, investment in infrastructure goes a long way towards explaining the trends both in aggregate output and in land profitability. Increased investment in agriculture infrastructure tends to raise the growth rate of the sector and, at the same time, to increase labor's share in production at the cost of property share. Our observations also suggest that the demand for agricultural labor is rather inelastic with respect to the wage rate. Therefore, using the agricultural sector as an absorbent of employment shocks in the rest of the economy may lead to significant variability in income distribution.     

Roles of rural non-farm employment (RNFE) in India: Why RNFE,the conveyor of a shock like COVID 19 is also the key to recovery?

We assess the role of Rural Non-Farm Employment (RNFE) in livelihoods and in likely impacts of shocks like COVID 19. In India’s agri-food system, the preponderance of small farmers with low endowments of human and financial capital implies that, RNFE has been the principal source of poverty reduction. Yet, RNFE is also the most adversely affected by shocks like COVID 19 and the measures adopted to prevent disease spread. To assess the roles of RNFE and possible effects of shocks, we uniquely utilize the recent rounds of nationally representative Periodic Labor Force Surveys (PLFS). To assess the “potential impact” of COVID 19 on workers, by using the large dataset, we match similar workers in different states of employment (SOE) where SOE may partly reflect the situation post shock. Job loss, reduction in work hours, movement across types of employment, casualization within RNFE is possible due to shocks to RNFE. We estimate that SOE in RNFE have significant association with poverty and income. With the data on COVID lockdown periods, we then validate the results to pair with the prospectively assessed impacts. Notwithstanding the effect of shocks, RNFE has the unique potential in recovery, being the prime rural income generator and risk mitigator apart from being characterized by comparatively high growth in female employment and in socially disadvantaged groups in India.     

Agriculture and controls in Denmark 1930–1950

Abstract

In 1932/33 the Danish Ministry of Agriculture established a number of government export boards with fairly wide-ranging powers. In spite of strong liberal traditions, Danish farmers soon learned to appreciate government intervention. Firstly, the administration was entrusted entirely to the agricultural organisations, giving them wide opportunities for influence. Secondly, through the export boards, the agricultural interest was afforded the chance of controlling the marketing stage in the same way as it already dominated the production stage via the cooperative movement.

Starting off from this example, we shall discuss in more general terms the integration mechanisms responsible for bringing about close teamwork between organisations and government. This teamwork came about in large measure for reasons of technical administration, the organisations being able to offer a complementary administrative machine which at the same time functioned as a harmonising element for the government. Moreover the Danish political system, characterised as it was and is by consensus democracy and minority parliamentarism, facilitated close integration of the organisations in policy formulation and implementation.     

Exporting firms’ factor and product-quality adjustments in response to employment protection legislation: Evidence from China

Employment-protection legislation (EPL) is known to reduce the unemployment risk of workers and employees and implicitly raises the costs of labor as a factor of production, in particular, the adjustment costs for that factor. Using firm-level accounting data and matched transaction-level trade data, the paper documents that firms responded to the inception of a new labor contract law as accepted by the National People's Congress of China in mid-2007 not only by adjusting their labor demand but also in terms of other adjustments: they raised the capital intensity of production and increased the quality of their output. The paper provides evidence that such changes and adjustments were particularly strong for firms in ex ante labor-intensive sectors and for private firms which were less shielded from adverse competitive effects than state-owned ones.     

Examining employment discrimination in South Africa, 1997–2016

This study examines employment discrimination by race and gender in 1997–2016 by employing a sample that represents the labour force (excluding informal sector workers, agricultural workers, domestic workers, self-employed and employers) aged between 15 and 65 years. Probit models are conducted to estimate labour force participation, employment and occupational attainment likelihoods. This is followed by the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, and the results indicate that the unexplained component of the white–African employment probability gap reveals a downward trend in absolute terms in 2002–2014, but in relative terms it still accounts for about 50% of the gap in 2016. The unexplained component is most dominant in the male–female employment gap decomposition. While these results suggest that employment discrimination (unexplained component) against Africans and females remains serious, the improvement of education and skills level of the workseekers (explained component) from the previously disadvantaged groups remain crucial to improve their employment prospects.     

Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China, 1994–2002

The question of whether fiscal decentralization has affected economic growth since the 1994 fiscal reform in China is interesting to both policy makers and economists. Using a simple model of endogenous growth that incorporates spending by different levels of government, and a panel data set for 30 provinces for the period of 1994–2002, this paper finds that fiscal decentralization contributes significantly to economic growth. This finding is consistent with the theoretical prediction that fiscal decentralization can increase economic efficiency. In addition, this paper attempts to investigate how the relationship between fiscal decentralization and provincial growth differs in the different regions considered. For this purpose, the 30 Chinese provinces and regions are categorized into three conventional economic belts that comprise the eastern, central, and western areas. This study finds that the effects of fiscal decentralization on economic growth vary among these three regions.     

Reallocating wealth? Insecure property rights and agricultural investment in rural China

This paper evaluates the impact of village-level land reallocations in China on household economic outcomes. The primary objective is to analyze the effect of short-term differences in tenure security in the year of a reallocation, employing the past history of land shifts as a source of exogenous variation in current tenure security. The results show that a decrease in the probability of losing the current plot yields an increase in agricultural inputs and production with no change in non-agricultural investments, conditional on household fixed effects that control for any unobserved and time-invariant characteristics of the household. This suggests that even small increases in the security of tenure enjoyed by households could yield benefits in terms of greater agricultural output.     

Social network,intra-network education spillover effect and rural–urban migrants' wages: Evidence from China

This study examines the determinants of rural–urban migrant wages, paying special attention to the intra-network education spillover effect of the migrants' social network in China. Using the new migrant sample of Rural Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) 2009 survey data, we find that the migrants' social network does have a significant impact on their own earnings. In particular, we find evidence that there exists an education spillover effect of the migrants' social network, which indicates that the education level of the migrants' social network has a significant positive effect on their earnings. We also find that the education spillover effects differ with gender. The results are robust after considering the potential problem of endogeneity.     

China＇s Stock Market： Inefficiencies and Institutional Implications

The dramatic movements of China＇s stock market in the past two and a half years have renewed debate among academics over the efficiency of China＇s stock market. The present paper tests the efficiency of China＇ s stock market. The realization of efficient markets requires the effective operation of a complete set of macro and micro mechanisms. However, such mechanisms are not only incomplete in China＇ s stock market, but are also ineffective because of the prevalence of institutional deficiencies.     

Technological change and the decline of the traditional pulp and paper industry in Norway, 1950–1980

Abstract

With its breakthrough around 1870, the Norwegian pulp and paper industry came to be a principal driving force in the industrialization of the country, retaining a leading position in the national economy until the mid-1950s. From that time onwards, however, the industry has experienced a relative as well as an absolute decline. Of great importance in this decline has been the fact that new technology made possible the use of all kinds of wood, which, internationally, led to a major relocation and restructuring of the industry. Technological change is, however, not sufficient to explain the decline of the Norwegian industry. National social characteristics as well as certain structural features of the industry also deserve attention.     

A survey of economic thought in Sweden, 1875–1950

Abstract

My subject is the economic debate in Sweden during the last seventy-five years. Though that must not be taken as being synonomous with the debate in the Stockholm Economic Society, what I have to say is largely based on a study of the Society's transactions. The printed proceedings cover all years except the first; those of the first year, that of the Society's foundation, have never been printed and, if ever recorded, that record must now be lost. Even without that year, however, the row of printed volumes makes an impressive and informative series.     

Informal lending amongst friends and relatives: Can microcredit compete in rural China?

This paper explores the relationship between informal and formal lending in China with consideration of how the strength of informal lending might affect microcredit. Lending relationships involving trust are investigated using original survey data from over 1500 farm households. Econometric results confirm a relationship between trust and informal lending, and mistrust and formal lending. With over 67% of farm households borrowing from friends and relatives the economic significance between this form of informal lending and borrowing from Rural Credit Cooperatives and Micro Finance Institutions cannot be overlooked.     

Missed opportunities? Human welfare in Western Europe and the United States, 1913–1950

GDP suggests that the period 1913–1950 is one of missed opportunities for improving living standards in Europe. However, life in Europe during these years improved significantly, as citizens experienced dramatic declines in mortality, working time and inequality. To measure the contribution of these aspects to broader welfare, I apply a new theoretically-grounded indicator that, contrary to previous measures used in the literature, allows for a direct comparison with GDP across countries and time. I find that income underestimates welfare growth significantly (up to 2.2 percent annually) and that cross-country differences are larger and more persistent than other welfare measures imply. This article calls for a reappraisal of the evolution of living standards during the period 1913–1950 and, more generally, presents an application of a new indicator to measure multi-dimensional welfare in historical contexts.     

Looking back: Government politics and trust in rural developments in Tanzania and Zimbabwe 1980–1990

Trust is assigning the right to act to others. Trust is therefore building community. But trust can increase and wane with complex consequences. Community was built differently in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Tanzania reached independence already in 1961; Zimbabwe in 1980. Both were subjected to British colonialism. Both experienced liberation movements more harshly suppressed in Zimbabwe than in Tanzania. Both had large rural populations. It can be argued that some level of generalised trust among people within the state’s formal boundaries is a condition for a functioning democracy. Distrust that makes a citizen, a group or a whole category of people exit from the state’s basic institutions fragments the state. The question here is how government politics in rural affairs, both policy-making and the organisation of implementation, affected trust relations between rulers and rural citizens in the two countries. The assumption is the less positive meaning policy has, the less trust, a reduced willingness to assign authority to policy maker and implementers.