State-society relations and national development: a comparison of Argentina and Taiwan in the 1990s

Research on national development in developing and newly industrializing countries (NICs) has focused on issues of economic growth and social change independent of each other, without paying much attention to the way the two elements relate to each other and to the conditions that could lead to their simultaneous occurrence. This paper argues that explanations of how economic growth with — or without —‘positive social change’ can occur require attention to changing state-society relations. This research investigates the cases of Argentina and Taiwan, where economic growth in the 1990s has not translated into positive social change. By analyzing changing state-society relations, this research shows that relations of power within societies have a clear effect on national development; it also reveals how different social actors may be able to influence a state’s developmental strategies. This paper re-evaluates traditional views of the state and society in Argentina and Taiwan by examining the fluctuating composition of the societal base of the state and the changing relations between the state and its societal coalition. The analysis reveals the processes under which economic growth without social change is occurring in both countries, and provides general insights into the way dynamic state-society relations can influence national development in other contexts. — La recherche sur le développement national des pays en voie de développement et les pays nouvellement industrialisés a exploré les questions de croissance économique et de changement social séparément, sans s’occuper du rapport entre les deux et des conditions qui pourraiemt mener à leur occurrence simultanée. Cet article soutient qu’une explication de la croissance industrielle, avec ou sans ‘changements sociaux positifs’, demande que l’on prête attention aux relations changeantes entre l’état et la société. Cet article examine les cas d’étude de l’Argentine et de Taï?wan, où la croissance économique n’a pas apporté de changements sociaux positifs. En analysant les relations changeantes de l’état et de la société, cette étude démontre que les relations de pouvoir à l’intérieur des sociétés ont un effet manifeste sur le développement national; elle révèle aussi comment les différents participants sociaux peuvent influencer les stratégies de développement de l’état. Cet article ré-évalue les vues traditionnelles de l’état et de la société en Argentine et à Taïrsquo;?wan en examinant les compositions changeantes de la base sociale de l’état et les relations variables entre l’état et sa coalition sociale. L’analyse révèle les processus par lesquels la croissance économique survient sans changement social dans les deux pays et offre un aperçu général de la façon dont les relations dynamiques entre l’état et la société peuvent influencer le développement national dans d’autres contextes.     

Firms' internationalization and productivity growth

From a theoretical perspective it is well stated that firms involved in international markets should exhibit higher productivity levels. There is also empirical evidence that supports this result. This paper extends this relationship to a dynamic perspective. It provides evidence on how productivity evolves in more internationalized firms distinguishing different degrees of international involvement both in qualitative as well as in quantitative terms. The results show that productivity evolves differently in those firms that are doing international business, although without differences between large exporters and multinationals.     

The determinants and labour market effects of lifelong learning

Despite the policy importance of lifelong learning, there is very little hard evidence from the UK on (a) who undertakes lifelong learning and why, and (b) the economic benefits of lifelong learning. This paper uses a rich longitudinal panel data set to look at key factors that determine whether someone undertakes lifelong learning and then models the effect of the different qualifications acquired via lifelong learning on individuals’ economic outcomes, namely wages and the likelihood of being employed. Those who left school with O-level qualifications or above were much more likely to undertake lifelong learning. Undertaking one episode of lifelong learning also increased the probability of undertaking more lifelong learning. We found little evidence of positive wage effects from lifelong learning. However, males who left school with only low-level qualifications do earn substantially more if they undertake a degree via lifelong learning. We also found important positive employment effects from lifelong learning.     

Volatility transmission between stock and foreign exchange markets: a connectedness analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper empirically investigates volatility transmission among stock and foreign exchange markets in seven major world economies during the period July 1988 to May 2018. To this end, we first perform a static and dynamic analysis to measure the total volatility connectedness in the entire period (the system-wide approach). Second, we make use of a dynamic analysis to evaluate the net directional connectedness for each market. To gain further insights, we examine the time-varying behaviour of net pair-wise directional connectedness during the financial turmoil periods experienced in the sample period Our results suggest that slightly more than half of the total variance of the forecast errors is explained by shocks across markets rather than by idiosyncratic shocks. Furthermore, we find that volatility connectedness varies over time, with a surge during periods of increasing economic and financial instability.     

Property rights on First Nations reserve land

This paper examines the economic effects of existing private property rights on First Nations reserves. We focus on three regimes of land tenure: lawful possession, designated land and permits. These land regimes have been used to create individual landholdings and grant secure and transferable rights of use of reserve land. Using confidential census microdata and rich administrative data, we find evidence of a positive relationship between the use of these tenure regimes and homeownership rates, housing conditions and band's public spending. We also observe a positive relationship with average income. However, this last result is driven by the inflow of a non-Indigenous population not by improvements in Indigenous households’ income or on-reserve employment. Our findings thus suggest that while reforms to individual property rights on reserve have some positive effects, their scope remains limited and they are unlikely to constitute a transformative tool to alleviate poverty on reserve.     

Can traffic light nutritional labels induce healthier consumer choices? Experimental evidence from a developing country

In a context of increasing health problems related to bad dietary habits in developing countries, simplified nutritional label formats may be a promising policy alternative. The aim of this study is to assess whether the multiple traffic light (MTL) system can improve the nutritional quality of consumer decisions. We conducted a selection experiment in Peru, where participants were offered a choice between three alternatives in two different food categories (crackers and beverages). Individuals were randomly assigned products with MTL labels on them. Our results reveal that exposure to MTL labels significantly increases the probability of avoiding the least healthy options and of choosing the healthiest items among the alternatives provided. These effects are large in magnitude and seem to be driven by individuals that are female, report average or above average dietary habits, and lack basic nutritional knowledge. However, our findings also suggest that the effectiveness of MTL labels may be sensitive to the specific characteristics of the set of options provided. These findings contribute to the emerging experimental literature on MTL labels in two ways. First, we provide evidence that this system can be effective in inducing consumers to make healthier choices in real‐life situations. Second, we explore which individuals are more likely to benefit from exposure to MTL labels, as well as potential limitations to their effectiveness. Overall, our results provide new insights on how to assess the issue of bad nutrition in emerging economies.     

Assessing the Welfare Impact of Tax Reform: A Case Study of the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut

This note acknowledges a programming error in our paper, “Assessing the Welfare Impact of Tax Reform: A Case Study of the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut” (Review of Income and Wealth, 58(2), 233–56, 2012). Correcting the error primarily has the effect of scaling the calculated family welfare impact of 2001 U.S. Tax Cut. The primary conclusions from the analysis, however, are unaffected.     

Micro‐impacts of the Brazilian Regional Development Funds: Does lending size matter?

This paper evaluates the micro‐impacts of regional development funds in Brazil—the Constitutional Financing Funds (CFF)—using fixed effects panel data models and generalized propensity score between 2000 and 2012. Assessing the industrial and commerce/services sectors using fixed effects models, the results provide weak evidence of a positive and statistically significant impact of the CFF on job creation and no statistically significant impact on labor productivity growth at the firm level. Regarding dose‐response estimates, the results present evidence of nonlinear effects after three years of financing, suggesting that the amount of subsidized credit plays an important role in creating jobs and improving firm productivity.     

Enhancing individual entrepreneurial orientation measurement using a metacognitive decision making-based framework

Entrepreneurship, and individuals’ predisposition toward entrepreneurial activities in particular, i.e. Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation (IEO), has been gaining increasing relevance in academia and management practice alike. Understanding IEO is a critical element not only for its promotion, but for better and more informed managerial and investor decision making as well. As such, this study proposes a new framework for understanding and measuring IEO based on the integrated use of cognitive mapping and the interactive multiple criteria decision making (TODIM) method. We present the steps for building such a framework, as well as a practical application of these steps. The results are promising: the methodology applied allowed a large number of determinants of IEO and their relationships to be mapped; and, subsequently, ranked and weighted for the creation of an IEO measurement tool. The implications of the resulting framework for theory and practice, its limitations and possibilities for further research are also discussed.     

Classical and Impulse Stochastic Control of the Exchange Rate Using Interest Rates and Reserves

We consider the problem of a Central Bank that wants the exchange rate to be as close as possible to a given target, and in order to do that uses both the interest rate level and interventions in the foreign exchange market. We model this as a mixed classical‐impulse stochastic control problem, and provide for the first time a solution to that kind of problem. We give examples of solutions that allow us to perform an interesting economic analysis of the optimal strategy of the Central Bank.