Medición,estructura y efectos de la informalidad en una microeconomía

En este artículo se mide el alcance del empleo informal y los ingresos no registrados que genera en una microeconomía caracterizada por una gobernanza deficiente. Se utilizan datos censales y de encuestas para estimar el número de trabajadores informales en Chipre Septentrional y analizar sus características durante el periodo 2004–2011. En su mayoría son nacionales no registrados en el régimen de seguridad social, inmigrantes ilegales o pluriempleados que no han declarado su segundo empleo. En términos de valor añadido, el tamaño estimado de la economía informal era del 9,1 y del 12,2 por ciento del PIB en 2006 y 2011, respectivamente.     

Credit card debt and consumption: evidence from household-level data

This research investigates the relationship between credit card debt and consumption using household level data. This is a departure from the previous studies which have used aggregate measures of consumption and general debt such as the Debt Service Ratio or total revolving credit. We use a detailed monthly survey of credit card use to impute credit card debt to respondents from the Consumer Expenditure Survey sample. In contrast to some earlier studies using aggregate data, we find a negative relationship between debt and consumption growth. Our work shows that a $1000 increase in credit card debt results in a decrease in quarterly consumption growth of almost 2%. Investigations are also made into effects of debt within different age categories and into the impact of expected income growth on the debt–consumption relationship.     

Shadow price of working in the shadows: services industry evidence

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we use an exogenous policy variation in the labour market to determine the wage gap between formally and informally employed workers. For our purposes, ‘informal employment’ describes employees who are not officially registered with any social security scheme. We use self-reported employee registration status to identify such workers, but the choice of working unregistered is not exogenous. Nevertheless, through an amnesty that was extended to only some workers in the labour market, we reduce the endogeneity problem, enabling estimation of the wage gap between these two groups. Our two-stage least square estimates reveal that the hourly wage penalty of working in the shadows is as high as 59%, and the monthly salary penalty is around 66%. Moreover, the wage gap is higher (as high as 70%) for those working in the services sector, as unregistered workers in this sector tend to be low skilled and low educated, and the monitoring of this sector is more difficult. Our analysis contributes to the literature by using an instrumental variable to treat the endogeneity of workers’ registration status. In addition, it shows that people working informally in the services industry receive a higher average wage penalty than other informally employed workers.     

Historical development of the school for deaf children which was opened in Cyprus under the British Administration

In this paper, the School for Deaf Children that was opened under the rule of the British Administration in Cyprus is examined. The school was opened in the 1953–1954 academic year and became the second private education institution on the island. Additionally, it was a mixed school that served both the Greek and Turkish communities. Although the school was initially opened with contributions from the Rotary Club, it continued to provide educational services with funds from the British Administration, students’ parents and voluntary contributions. During the period of mixed education, the school could not adopt a fully settled structure in terms of the building in which it was locate and was moved to different areas during that period. In the period when the British government transferred responsibility for the education on the island to the Greek and Turkish communities, the school continued to provide services on a mixed basis. However, after the events of 1963, the Turkish teachers and students began to leave the school. Today, it continues its activities in southern Nicosia, whereas in the northern part of the island, the Lapta School for People with Hearing and Speaking Disabilities was opened in 1975 in order for Turkish students to continue their education. The present study is supported with information obtained from Education reports and Cyprus Gazette resources as well as national and international works and verbal resources.

     

The historical background of tolerance education for blind learners in Cyprus

Tolerance, in its broadest sense, can be understood as accepting all the differences in the society. Some people in society have limitations on certain parts of their bodies or their organs, which can lead to impairment on their physical functioning. Some of these people in society who have disabilities are those who have sight impairments. In order for blind people to be able to function in society in the same manner as other individuals it is possible that they can receive a private education in a similar manner to other people with disabilities. In Cyprus, the first school for the sight impaired was established under the British administration. The institution was opened in Nicosia in 1929 under the initiative of the wife of the Governor Ronald Storss as the St. Barnabas School for Blind Children, where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots had the opportunity to be educated together. By the end of 1963, the Turkish Cypriot sight impaired children from various regions of the island were educated at St. Barnabas School for the Blind. At the school, English, Greek and Turkish teachers worked together. The main aim of the school was to educate the blind children and reintegrate them into the society. In the present study, information obtained from Blue Book and Cyprus Gazette has been supported by the information compiled from domestic and foreign publications as well as verbal sources. Consequently, it is understood that children in society who became blind for various reasons were educated at the St Barnabas School for Blind Children.

     

A Measure of the Shadow Economy in a Small Economy: Evidence from Household‐Level Expenditure Patterns

In this paper we measure the size of the shadow economy in North Cyprus by using micro‐econometric approaches and then calculate its implications on national accounts and fiscal balances. There is a relatively new strand of literature that focuses on comparing income–expenditure patterns of households to calculate the degree of underreporting of income levels by self‐employed and privately employed individuals, as compared with public servants. We use the 2008 Household Budget Survey of North Cyprus and analyze the differences in food consumption patterns among three kinds of employees: self‐employed, privately employed, and public. We found that self‐employed and privately employed individuals underreport their income levels by 20 percent and 13 percent, respectively, compared with publicly employed individuals. This has important implications for the aggregate economy in North Cyprus, where we estimate that the shadow economy created by underreporting is as much as 8.6 percent of GNP and 11.1 percent of total tax revenue.