Growth in transition countries

This study analyzes the impact of the speed of transition reforms on economic growth in transition countries in the context of the debate on ‘big‐bang vs. gradualist approach’. It builds a new indicator for the speed of transition reforms based on a three‐way principal component analysis. It shows that: (i) the speed of transition reforms Granger‐causes economic growth and there is no reverse causation; (ii) the impact of contemporaneous speed of transition reforms on economic growth is negative, but becomes positive in the longer horizon; and (iii) other factors, such as initial conditions and macroeconomic stabilization programmes, also drive economic growth. Although the first two results are robust to different estimators, the impact of control variables depends on the econometric specification.     

Economic Growth Evens Out Happiness: Evidence from Six Surveys

In spite of the great U‐turn that saw income inequality rise in Western countries in the 1980s, happiness inequality has fallen in countries that have experienced income growth (but not in those that did not). Modern growth has reduced the share of both the “very unhappy” and the “perfectly happy.” Lower happiness inequality is found both between and within countries, and between and within individuals. Our cross‐country regression results suggest that the extension of various public goods helps to explain this greater happiness homogeneity. This new stylized fact arguably comes as a bonus to the Easterlin paradox, offering a somewhat brighter perspective for developing countries.     

社会资本、金融发展与经济增长--基于中国东中西部省际数据的实证检验比较

社会资本对理解转轨情境下的当代中国金融发展与经济增长问题十分重要。采用中国东、中和西部的省际面板数据研究中国转轨时期不同制度水平下社会资本、金融发展及其联合效应对经济增长的影响。实证研究表明,正规金融的发展促进了经济增长,而社会资本对中国经济增长则具有显著的负影响。社会资本与正规金融发展的联合效应在东部和西部地区有利于经济增长,但非正规金融与社会资本的联合效应则不利于经济增长,并且制度越完善,这种负面效应越明显。因此,在深化制度改革和金融发展的同时,应注重社会资本结构优化和平衡,规范非正规金融发展。     

Economic Growth and Transboundary Pollution in Europe: An Empirical Analysis

The existing empirical evidence suggests that environmental Kuznets curvesonly exist for pollutants with semi-local and medium term impacts.Ansuategi and Perrings (2000) have considered the behavioral basis for thecorrelation observed between different spatial incidence of environmentaldegradation and the relation between economic growth and environmentalquality. They show that self-interested planners following a Nash-typestrategy tend to address environmental effects sequentially: addressingthose with the most immediate costs first, and those whose costs aredisplaced in space later. This paper tests such behavioral basis in thecontext of sulphur dioxide emissions in Europe.     

Innovation and Economic Growth in East Asia: An Overview

East Asia has been one of the most dynamic regions of economic growth and development. The past two decades have seen tremendous economic and technological catching up in the region. Using South Korea as a case to illustrate the process of technology catching up, we find that the process of graduating from imitation to innovation is a nonlinear one, and requires conscious efforts to invest in research and development and other technological capability‐enhancing activities. Successful technology upgrading also calls for policies and institutions that are relevant to technological innovation to evolve and adapt as an economy goes through the different stages of economic and technological development.     

中国股票市场与经济增长关系的实证研究

股票市场与经济增长一直是近年来的热点问题,在国外的相关研究中,大多数认为股票市场通过其功能作用促进了经济增长,而我国情况又如何呢?我们在前人的研究成果上,对股票市场与经济增长关系运用协整分析和格兰杰检验作实证分析。结果显示,换手率和上市公司数目增长率与经济增长不具有协整关系。而资本率和交易率与经济增长具有协整关系,但他们不是经济增长的格兰杰原因;反之,则成立。因此,加强法制建设,规范股票市场,使其发挥应有的作用是当前的关键所在。     

Ordinal Bivariate Inequality: Concepts and Application to Child Deprivation in Mozambique

This paper introduces a concept of inequality comparisons with ordinal bivariate categorical data. In our model, one population is more unequal than another when they have common arithmetic median outcomes and the first can be obtained from the second by correlation‐increasing switches and/or median‐preserving spreads. For the canonical 2 × 2 case (with two binary indicators), we derive a simple operational procedure for checking ordinal inequality relations in practice. As an illustration, we apply the model to childhood deprivation in Mozambique.     

Testing Social Preferences for an Economic “Bad”: An Artefactual Field Experiment*

We test for social preferences over a commodity in an artefactual field experiment using the random price voting mechanism. Subjects are university staff members, and the commodity is water “contaminated” by a sterilized cockroach. Our results suggest that social preferences exist with respect to commodities and “bads”, supporting a more general utility framework for social preferences. Our empirical test allows for the coexistence of three social‐preference models; our results support the models of Fehr and Schmidt (1999) and Charness and Rabin (2002), but not the model of Bolton and Ockenfels (2000). Also, we find that incorporating social preferences improves the efficiency of majority‐rules voting.     

我国股票市场与经济增长的长期关系——基于协整的实证研究

本文选择1992—2007年的GDP增长率和上证综合指数作为我国股票市场价格指数与我国经济增长关系的研究依据,运用协整分析方法,实证研究了两者之间的长期关系。研究发现:中国的股票市场与经济增长之间不存在协整关系,这说明中国股票市场的发育还不成熟,某种程度上,股票市场还不具备促进经济增长的作用。     

经济增长与环境污染——环境库兹涅茨曲线假说的中国检验

本文运用1996-2002年我国省际面板数据,对我国经济增长与包括水污染、大气污染与固体污染排放在内的6类环境污染指标之间的关系进行了实证检验.实证结果发现,环境库兹涅茨倒U型曲线关系很大程度上取决于污染指标以及估计方法的选取.就本文选取的部分污染指标(工业废水排放、二氧化硫排放)而言,也存在以相对低的人均收入水平越过环境倒U型曲线转折点的可能.并且,包括人口规模、技术进步、环保政策、贸易开放以及产业结构调整等在内的污染控制变量分别对环境库兹涅茨曲线关系起着重要影响.     

Public Investment and Economic Performance in Highly Indebted Poor Countries: An Empirical Assessment

Understanding how public investment affects economic performance in highly indebted low‐income countries is crucial in order to implement effective fiscal policies for adjustment with growth. In this paper we provide an empirical analysis to investigate the relationship between public investment, private investment and output. A dynamic econometric procedure is implemented on a selected group of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). Our results provide empirical support for the crowding‐in hypothesis and a positive relation between public investment and output.     

Decomposing Poverty Change: Deciphering Change in Total Population and Beyond

In the understanding of decomposing poverty change, the growth effect of mean income is replaced with the growth effect of total income and the impact of change in total population. These two, along with changes in inequality, form the three broader effects that can be computed in multiple ways depending upon the base period and the sequence of calculation. Changing the base does not alter the broader effects while specific attributions within each effect get interchanged. For a given base, there will be six possible sequences and we take an average of these to compute the three broad effects. Finally, poverty change on account of the three broad effects comprising growth of total income, change in inequality, and change in total population are shown as part of the within‐group effect while change in population shares, which is different from change in total population, is a between‐group effect. We provide empirical illustrations with data from India.     

Growth and convergence in South–South integration areas: An empirical analysis

Until recently, it has been argued in economic theory that regional integration and trade agreements among developing countries may achieve negative growth effects. This study tests empirically the effects of such South–South agreements on growth and convergence. All three world regions in question are considered: South America, Southeast Asia, and Sub‐Saharan Africa. A comprehensive panel data analysis is conducted that distinguishes between the problems of testing for stronger growth and accelerated convergence, respectively. The data indicate that the considered South–South agreements promote both.     

环境规制与我国经济增长关系的区域差异研究——基于东、中、西部地区三次产业部门的数据分析

本文以2001-2010年全国东部、中部和西部地区的面板数据为样本,将区域经济增长细化为三次产业经济的增长,通过建立面板数据模型,分区域研究环境规制对各产业部门的经济增长效应,研究发现环境规制水平对我国三次产业的影响呈现出明显的区域差异性。环境规制水平与东部和中部地区的第二、三产业呈显著的正向相关关系,对西部地区第二产业的发展有显著的正效应,而对东、中部地区的第一产业和西部地区的第一、三产业的增长无显著影响。因此,应当采取相应的政策措施,以促进各区域环境规制与经济增长的协调发展。