INCIDENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF HOUSING UPGRADING IN CAIRO

Cairo is a very high density metropolis, where informal multi-unit housing accounts for a large share of the housing stock. Combined with a low residential mobility rate, this argues for dwelling improvements as a key element by which lower income homeowners can improve their housing circumstances. The article reports the extent of dwelling upgrading for this group and analyzes the determinants separately of both maintenance and major improvements. The analytic model is based on prior work, adjusted to the Egyptian context and available data. The incidence of improvements appears to be lower in Cairo than in more tropical megacities. However, the findings broadly confirm a general similarity in the determinants of housing investments by lower-income Cairene owners with those of lower income owners in more tropical locations. Three factors stand out: tenure security, household income, and the stimulation effects on investment of better infrastructure and poor dwelling conditions.     

WHO WILL RETURN AND WHEN? AN ANALYSIS OF RURAL-TO-URBAN MIGRANTS IN INDIA*

An analysis of temporary migration in India is presented. In particular, the author examines, within a multivariate context, the importance of various socioeconomic factors that influence the future plans of rural-urban migrants and their intended timing of return to the rural area. The data are from a 1975-1976 survey of 1,615 migrant heads of households in Delhi.     

A SURVEY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LITERATURE OF FINANCE AND GROWTH

Abstract.  This paper provides a survey of the recent progress in the literature of financial development and economic growth. The survey highlights that most empirical studies focus on either testing the role of financial development in stimulating economic growth or examining the direction of causality between these two variables. Although the positive role of finance on growth has become a stylized fact, there are some methodological reservations about the results from these empirical studies. Several key issues unresolved in the literature are highlighted. The paper also points to several directions for future research.     

THE DETERMINANTS OF RURAL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE PERFORMANCE IN KOREA

Since the 1980s, a total of 221 small- and medium-sized rural industrial estates have been established primarily to induce economic growth into the rural areas in Korea. Despite a growing interest in the performance of the rural industrial estates, it has not been closely examined. The purpose of this paper is to find the plausible factors that have a significant influence on the performance of the rural industrial estates, thereby providing a general understanding of the structural relationship between the estate performance and its determinants. An econometric modeling approach, called LISREL, is used to carry out this evaluation. Of several influential determinants distinguished, seven variables appear to be of substantial significance. They include the urbanization and industrialization of the estate host community, the accessibility of the individual estates to the major cities, the distances from the estates to the large industrial complexes, the local tax rates, and the government loans and incentives. The findings imply that more favorable are the estates constructed within the labor market boundaries of the major cities and adjacent to large industrial complexes. In addition to the location and environmental factors, financial funds and incentives will continue to remain as an influential factor for the success or failure of the estates.     

SPECIFYING AND TESTING OUTPUT AND PRICING STRUCTURES OF ALTERNATIVE MACROECONOMIC MODELS

ABSTRACT This paper puts forward a framework for choosing between alternative macroeconomic models. It is shown that a three-sector model with importables, exportables and non-traded goods can be specified so as to encompass both the Keynesian one-sector imperfect substitutes model and the two-sector dependent economy model with traded and non-traded goods as special cases. A two-stage test procedure is suggested in order to let the data determine which of these alternative models is the most appropriate. The use of this procedure is illustrated for the case of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.