Monetary integration between the Israeli,Jordanian and Palestinian economies

Monetary Integration between the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Economies. —The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians raises some interesting economic questions concerning integration between the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Past and current arrangements between Israel, the occupied territories and Jordan are described, especially the flows of goods and labour. The authors’ findings indicate that Israel, the West Bank and Gaza were closely integrated, whereas economic integration between the occupied territories and Jordan was much weaker. Based on these circumstances of the past, the (imposed) monetary union between Israel and the Palestinian economy was warranted. However, optimal monetary arrangements in the future will depend on the extent of changes in real flows and on a satisfactory settlement of the seigniorage issue.     

MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INEQUALITY: BRAZIL, 1983–94

We examine how poor macroeconomic performance, mainly in terms of high rates of inflation, affected earnings inequality in the 1980s and early 1990s in Brazil. The results, based initially on aggregate time series, and then on sub‐national panel time‐series data and analysis, show that the extreme inflation, combined with an imperfect process of financial adaptation and incomplete indexation coverage, had a regressive and significant impact on inequality. The implication of the results is that sound macroeconomic policies, which keep inflation low and stable in the long run, should be a necessary first step of any policy package implemented to alleviate inequality in Brazil.     

Temporal causality and the dynamic interactions among macroeconomic activity within a multivariate cointegrated system: Evidence from Singapore and Korea

Temporal Causality and the Dynamic Interactions among Macroeconomic Activity within a Multivariate Cointegrated System: Evidence from Singapore and Korea. — The main purpose of this paper is to discern the dynamic causal relationship (in the Granger (temporal) sense) among real output, money, interest rate, inflation and exchange rate in the context of two small open economies, such as Singapore and Korea. The Granger-causal chain implied by the authors’ evidence that real output more often the authors’ predominantly leads (rather than lags) money supply followed by other three endogenous variables, is consistent more with the recent Real Business Cycle theory than with the other two major macroeconomic paradigms such as the Keynesian and the Monetarist.     

Imperfect Competition, Economic Miracle, and Manufacturing Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan

Several recent studies on total factor productivity (TFP) concluded that the East Asian economies benefited little from TFP growth. This study claims that the failure by previous studies to consider the effect of net indirect taxes and market imperfections resulted in the underestimation of the share of the contribution of labor input to factor income, which consequently led to the overestimation of capital share and understatement of TFP growth. Therefore, this study has modified the conventional approach of calculating factor shares by taking account of net indirect taxes and market imperfections and used the modified approach to estimate TFP growth in 16 Taiwanese manufacturing industries during the period 1979–1999. The conclusion drawn by the study is that TFP growth was the driving force behind the success of Taiwan's manufacturing industries, although many of these industries experienced a sharp decline in TFP during the 1990s.     

Economic Growth and Income Inequality: Evidence from Dynamic Panel Investigation

This paper empirically investigates the effect of income inequality on economic growth using extended panel data covering a broad range of developing and developed countries. We use system generalized method of moments (GMM) techniques in a dynamic panel analysis, which alleviates the possible positive bias in difference GMM due to the persistence of lagged dependent variables as instruments. We find strong evidence of a negative effect on growth from income inequality, which contradicts the findings of Forbes [2000, September. A reassessment of the relationship between inequality and growth, American Economic Review, 90(4), pp. 869–887] and Li and Zou [1998, October. Income inequality is not harmful for growth: Theory and evidence, Review of Development Economics, 2(3), pp. 318–34]. Further analyses using combined Gini coefficients show that the difference can be overall attributed to the problem of omitted control variables and the differences in how the variations in inequality across countries are reflected. We also find that the negative effects of inequality on economic growth can be of great significance when using a sample of less developed countries or more recent inequality data set.     

信息不完全、通货膨胀目标制与货币政策声誉:跨国经验

20世纪90年代以来通行的通货膨胀目标制被认为是极具透明性、灵活性的货币政策框架，受到很多国家的推崇。本文验证通货膨胀目标制是否有助于建立货币政策声誉，构建一个基于信息不完全基础上的动态预期形成模型，通过对通货膨胀目标制能否引起结构性变化的七个发达国家的实证研究，发现政策声誉的建立是一个学习过程。通货膨胀目标制实行的时间越长，该政策对降低通货膨胀率，实现经济稳定增长越有效。     

保增长与控通胀表现发凡及相应学术论争

基于国际经验,把经济增长与通货膨胀的关系概括为五种类型。对我国1978～2011年经济增长和通货膨胀之间的关系进行实证分析,结果表明,经济增长可能导致产生通货膨胀的压力、通货膨胀与经济增长没有稳定的促进或促退关系,以及经济增长与通货膨胀不存在必然的因果关系。应对通货膨胀压力,应从实行稳定货币量的货币政策,稳定社会通胀预期,强化农业的基础地位,保护好中、低收入阶层,控制和消除资产泡沫等方面着手。     

Growth Effects of Economic Integration: Evidence from the EU Member States

After compiling an index of economic integration that accounts for global (GATT) as well as regional (European) integration of the EU member states we test for permanent and temporary growth effects in a growth accounting framework, using a panel of fifteen EU member states over the period 1950–2000. While the hypothesis of permanent growth effects is rejected, the results—though not completely robust to controlling for time-specific effects—suggest sizeable level effects: GDP per capita of the EU would be approximately one-fifth lower today if no integration had taken place since 1950. JEL no. C33, F15, F43, O52     

Financial Development and Economic Growth in Sub‐Saharan African Countries: Evidence from Time Series Analysis

Abstract: This paper seeks to empirically explore the causal link between the level of financial development and economic growth in 13 sub‐Saharan African countries. The empirical investigation is carried out in a vector autoregression (VAR) framework based on the theory of cointegration and error‐correction representation of cointegrated variables. The results of the cointegration analysis provide evidence of the existence of a long‐run relationship between financial development and economic growth in almost all (12 out of 13) of the countries. With respect to the direction of long‐term causality, the results show that financial development plays a causal role on economic growth, again in eight of the countries. At the same time, evidence of bidirectional causal relationships is found in six countries. The findings imply that African countries can accelerate their economic growth by improving their financial systems.     

An Examination of Subnational Growth in Nigeria: 1999‐2012

I use satellite imagery on night‐time lights to measure growth across states and local government areas in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999. The data suggest that states in southern Nigeria have grown faster on average than states in the north. Using the Ordinary Least Squares, I estimate a relationship between change in night lights and real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Africa and use the coefficients to estimate GDP growth for states and local government areas in Nigeria over the period. Finally, I evaluate the effects of violence on growth in Plateau, Yobe and Borno states. I find that the crisis in Plateau state has resulted in slower growth compared with other states in the region. I also show that Yobe and Borno states had performed worse than other states in the north even before the outbreak of violence related to the Boko Haram sect.     

Export behavior and productivity growth: Evidence from Italian manufacturing firms

Export Behavior and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms. — This paper provides econometric evidence supporting the hypothesis that exporting implies learning effects. Learning-by-exporting is modeled as a change, induced by export behavior, in the stochastic process governing firms’ productivity. Empirically, this is implemented by specifying cross-section regressions of labor productivity growth on measures of export behavior, controlling for past productivity growth and other firms’ characteristics. Using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms, it is found that exporters do not exhibit faster productivity growth. Nevertheless, growth in value added per worker has a positive and significant relation with firms’ export intensity. In other words, only firms substantially involved in exporting have a significantly higher rate of productivity growth. This result suggests that learning-by-exporting is by no means simply the outcome of the presence in the export market.     

Causal Relationship between Domestic Savings and Economic Growth: Evidence from Seven African Countries

This paper utilizes cointegration and the vector error‐correction model (VECM) to explore the causal relationship between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings for Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Specifically, three analyses were undertaken. First, the time series properties of economic growth and domestic savings were ascertained with the help of the augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root procedure. Second, the long‐run relationship between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings was examined in the context of the Johansen and Juselius (1990) framework. Finally, a Granger‐causality test was undertaken to determine the direction of causality between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings. The results indicate one order of integration [I(1)] for each of the series. The results of the cointegration tests suggest that there is a long‐run relationship between economic growth and growth rate of savings. The results from the Granger‐causality tests indicate that contrary to the conventional wisdom, economic growth prima facie causes growth rate of domestic savings for most of the countries under consideration.     

Bank Lending and Inflation in Malaysia: Assessment from Unrestricted Error-Correction Models

The paper estimates inflation models for Malaysia by considering the influence of bank lending. The unrestricted error-correction model (UECM) proposed in Pesaran et al. (2000) was employed as being appropriate for small sample analysis such as the present study which covered annual data from 1973 to 1997. The results of 'bounds' tests confirmed a long-run equilibrium relationship between inflation and its determinants, namely import price, money supply (M3), bank credit and real income. The estimated UECMs revealed that the important factors in the Malaysian inflation process are import price and real-income variables. It was found that concurrent fiscal policies had a major influence on the impact of the depreciation of the naira on inflation. The UECMs appear to perform well and to provide an appropriate framework for forecasting the Malaysian inflation behaviour.     

Investment and institutional uncertainty: A comparative study of different uncertainty measures

Investment and Institutional Uncertainty: A Comparative Study of Different Uncertainty Measures. — There is ample empirical evidence of a negative relationship between aspects of institutional uncertainty and investment. Most studies, however, do not allow a comparison between different dimensions of such uncertainty because they focus on specific indicators, particular regions or different periods. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the quantitative effects of the significant uncertainty indicators on investment finding that a lack of rule of law, high corruption, and volatility in real exchange rate distortions are the most detrimental for investment.     

More similar and less equal: Economic growth in the European regions

More Similar and Less Equal: Economic Growth in the European Regions. — This paper examines the growth process of 109 European regions using a new data base. Applying various statistical tools, it concentrates on per capita income and labor productivity. The main results are the following: There has been a clear process of aggregate productivity convergence across the European regions over the 1980s. At the sectoral level, there has not been convergence in agriculture, while the industrial and services sectors show ß-convergence. Most crucially, the regional dispersion in per capita income has remained almost constant so that the differences in wealth conditions of the European citizens are still extremely high.