Does democracy facilitate economic growth or does economic growth facilitate democracy? An empirical study of Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the relationship between democracy and economic growth in 30 Sub-Saharan African countries. As our proxy for democracy we first use the democracy index constructed by Freedom House and then check the sensitivity of our findings using, as an alternative proxy for democracy, the Legislative Index of Electoral Competitiveness (LIEC). We find support for the Lipset hypothesis - in the long run, real GDP Granger causes democracy and an increase in GDP results in an improvement in democracy - in Botswana and Niger with both datasets, for Chad with the Freedom House data only and for Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon with the LIEC data only. Support for the compatibility hypothesis - in the long run democracy Granger causes real income and an increase in democracy has a positive effect on real income - is found for Botswana with the Freedom House data and for Madagascar, Rwanda, South Africa and Swaziland with the LIEC data. Support for the conflict hypothesis - in the long run democracy Granger causes real income and an increase in democracy has a negative effect on real income - is found for Gabon with the Freedom House data and Sierra Leone with the LIEC data.     

INSTITUTIONALIZED CORRUPTION AND PRIVILEGE IN CHINA'S SOCIALIST MARKET ECONOMY: A GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS

Abstract.  This paper develops a general equilibrium model to consider the effects of corruption caused by institutionalized privilege on economic welfare, the network size of division of labour and productivity. First a Walrasian equilibrium in a market economy is computed; then we consider the effects on welfare when a privileged group is chosen to work as high-level administrators. Finally, we allow for explicit collusion between administrators by introducing an administrator's agent who acts in the interests of all the administrators. The model shows that in equilibrium (fixed point) the degree of corruption, the degree of division of labour and productivity are interdependent.     

Multiple and pairwise non-nested tests of the influence of taxes on money demand

The minimal computational requirements of the linear embedding techniques initiated by Davidson and MacKinnon (1981) accommodate multiple and binary tests of autoregressive, non-nested regression models with different dependent variables. The small sample adjustments of Fisher and McAleer (1981) effectively reduce the size of the P-tests for our models. Our application to transactions demand for money models supports the Holmes and Smyth (1972) hypothesis that pre-tax variables are preferred to GNP in M1 money equations.     

Back to school? What the voluntary sector can learn from the education sector

Almost unnoticed by the charitable sector as a whole, a quiet revolution has transformed educational fundraising over the last decade. From a minor and wholly owned subsidiary on the periphery of the industry, the education sector has become a highly professional and successful multinational, which in some respects is now the market leader. This paper argues that the whole of the charitable sector could benefit by taking a close look at the experience of educational fundraisers, and that such an examination could have profound repercussions in the way most fundraisers treat their donors and organise their operations. Specifically, it suggests that the nature of ‘relationship fundraising’ actually means that every donor must be treated as an individual by an individual fundraiser, irrespective of the size of their gift, and that the work of a fundraising department should not work towards merely giving the impression of such treatment.     

The impact of gender differences on determinants of job satisfaction among Chinese off–farm migrants in Jiangsu

This study examines the effect of own income versus reference group income and the subjective factors considered important in a job for a sample of off–farm migrants in China. We find that own income has a positive effect on job satisfaction while the effect of reference group income is gender specific. We find evidence that males experience a tunnelling effect (higher income co-workers increase their job satisfaction) while females experience a jealousy effect (higher income co-workers lower their job satisfaction). We explain this result in terms of men reacting more positively in competitive environments and that, in China, males have better prospects for promotion. We find that compared with employees in western countries, off–farm migrants in China place much more emphasis on income and less importance on collegiality and job stability.     

Working hours in Chinese enterprises: evidence from matched employer–employee data

The purpose of this article is to explore the factors that are correlated with hours worked in China. A distinguishing feature of the study is that we used representative‐matched employer and employee data. Hence, in addition to the usual worker characteristics examined in conventional economic models of labour supply, we also took into account the influence of firm characteristics and policies on the number of hours worked. The results suggested that in addition to the hourly wage rate, labour supply characteristics and human capital characteristics of the individual, firm‐level differences are important in explaining variation in weekly hours worked in Chinese firms. In particular, our results suggested that there is a norm of longer working hours in firms that employ a high proportion of female and migrant workers, that hours worked are less in firms which pay overtime and that hours worked are less in firms in which labour disputes have disrupted production. The policy implications of Chinese firms reducing hours worked were discussed.     

Technological Change and Wages in China: Evidence from Matched Employer–Employee Data

The relationship between research and development (R&D) intensity and wages is examined using a unique matched employer–employee dataset. The ordinary least squares estimates suggest that a one standard deviation increase in R&D intensity is associated with an increase in the hourly wage rate between 3.4% and 6.9% for the full sample, depending on the exact specification. The instrumental variable estimates are that a one standard deviation increase in R&D intensity is associated with an increase in the hourly wage rate between 5.5% and 11.4%. The wage elasticity with respect to R&D intensity is found to be higher in larger firms as well as for better educated workers and workers with technical skills. Consistent with the rent‐sharing hypothesis it is also found that the wage elasticity with respect to R&D intensity is higher for workers who belong to the Communist Party or union.     

A multivariate time series analysis of the United States aggregate production function

This study examines the effects of hours of work per unit of private sector capital, the relative price of energy, government capital per unit of private sector capital, and inflation on private sector output per unit of capital in the U.S. over the period 1952–90. A small vector autoregressive model that comprises the variables typically employed in single-equation estimates of the aggregate production function is used. Variance decompositions and cumulative impulse response functions indicate that hours of work per unit of private sector capital, the relative price of energy, and the inflation rate have significant effects on private sector output per unit of capital over the 1952–90 period. However, there is no evidence of a significant effect for government capital per unit of private capital. An historical decomposition that begins in 1973 with the emergence of a “productivity slump” and continues through 1990 indicates that shocks to hours of work per unit of capital, the relative price of oil, and inflation appear important in explaining output per unit of capital but shocks to government capital are not important.     

Migration and the Right to Social Security： Perceptions of Off-farm Migrants＇ Rights to Social Insurance in China＇s Jiangsu Province

In 2001 China ratified the International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights. By so doing the national government became legally bound,"to the maximum of its available resources",to achieve "progressively" full realization of the rights specified in the Covenant. Included amongst these entitlements is the "right of everyone to social security,including social insurance". This paper uses data from Jiangsu to examine the extent to which urbanites agree that previously disenfranchised migrants have the same right to social insurance as the urban population. Many urbanites fear that their existing entitlements to social protection will be diluted if social insurance coverage is extended to include new populations. Accordingly,state agencies and the media have sought to promote acceptance of a more positive view of migrant workers than has traditionally prevailed within towns and cities. We find that younger urban residents,urban residents who already have social insurance and urban residents working in the state-owned sector are more likely to agree that migrants have the same right to social insurance as the urban population.