114 research outputs found
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Debt Sustainability Assessment: Mission Impossible
Full text linkDebt sustainability is a vexing issue. Its importance is immediately obvious but it escapes any easy definition. This situation is not unheard of in economics; price stability and full employment are examples of other crucially important policy objectives that cannot be simply defined. Yet, while price stability or full employment can both be measured with a reasonable degree of precision, debt sustainability cannot even be measured directly
The Euro and Structural Reforms
Full text linkThis paper investigates whether or not the adoption of the Euro has facilitated the introduction of structural reforms, defined as deregulation in the product markets and liberalization and deregulation in the labor markets. After reviewing the theoretical arguments that may link the adoption of the Euro and structural reforms, we investigate the empirical evidence. We find that the adoption of the Euro has been associated with an acceleration of the pace of structural reforms in the product market. The adoption of the Euro does not seem to have accelerated labor market reforms in the "primary labor market;" however, the run up to the Euro adoption seems to have been accompanied by wage moderation. We also investigate issues concerning the sequencing of goods and labor market reforms
The Effect of Industrialization on Children�s Education. The Experience of Mexico
Full text linkWe use census data to examine the impact of industrialization on children’s education in Mexico. We find no evidence of reverse causality in this case. We find small positive effects of industrialization on primary education, effects which are larger for domestic manufacturing than for export-intensive assembly (maquiladoras). In contrast, teen-aged girls in Mexican counties (municipios) with more growth in maquiladora employment 1990-2000 have significantly less educational attainment than do girls in low-growth counties. These results shed light on literatures analyzing the impacts of industrialization, foreign investment, and intra-household bargaining powe
Has the Euro Boosted Intra-Euro Area Exports? Evidence from Industry Data
Full text linkWe estimate the euro effect on export patterns using a panel of industry data from Ireland over the period 1993-2004. Our main innovation is to account for country and industry specific omitted trending variables bias. We find that the euro effect on Irish exports to the euro area countries relative to the rest of the trading partners of Ireland has been positive, significant and increasing since 2000. Furthermore, we find heterogeneous euro effects across industries. We find consistent significant positive euro effects for industries characterised by increasing returns to scale
Social Capital of Social Capital Researchers
Full text linkThis paper investigates the co-authorship network of star researchers from different disciplines who work on social capital. There has been a recent surge of interest in social capital. Articles on social capital that are published in the last five years constitute more than 60 percent of all articles on social capital. Research on social capital now spans sociology, economics, management, political science and health sciences. Despite this interest there is still not a consensus on the definition and the measurement of social capital. This is partially due to lack of interaction between disciplines. By employing a simple social network analysis this paper shows that the social capital of social capital researchers is low between disciplines. Different from other theories of capital, social capital theory has concurrently been developed by various disciplines and as such, research across disciplines will improve our understanding of social capital
Institutions and Economic Performance: What Can Be Explained?
Full text linkInstitutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyze whether commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms. We look at three ‘levels’ of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system affects performance. The second concerns whether the business and investment environment affects the performance of countries and the third concerns whether perceived business constraints directly affect the performance of firms. In all instances, we find little evidence of a robust link between widely used measures of institutions and our indicators of performance. We consider why this might be the case and argue that mis-measurement, mis-specification, complexity and non-linearity are all relevant factors
Multinational Firms and the Pursuit of Social Benefits
Full text linkIt is argued that a new actor is emerging in international business, which can be dubbed “Social Multinational”, that is a blend of international rent-creation and pursuit of social objectives. However, it would be misleading to state that the emergence of Social Multinationals will be the natural outcome of a market driven process. Too much is left to the understanding and sensitiveness of individual entrepreneurs. Signals of the emergence of this new and promising breed are still very weak. Important institutional innovations will have to be enacted to favour its strengthening and growt
External Debt and Growth
Full text linkThis paper assesses the non linear impact of external debt on growth using panel data for 93�developing countries. The estimates support a non-linear, hump-shaped relationship between debt and growth, especially when the debt burden is measured relative to GDP. For a country with average indebtedness, doubling the debt ratio reduces growth by a third to a half percentage point after controlling for endogeneity. Our findings also suggest that the average impact of debt becomes negative at about 160�170 percent of exports or 35�40 percent of GDP and the marginal impact of debt at about half of these value
Long Live Patents: the Increasing Life Expectancy of Patent Applications and Its Determinants
Full text linkRelying on a comprehensive dataset including detailed information on all patent applications filed to the EPO from 1980 to 2000 and on the renewal of those of them that were granted, this paper presents the first survival time analysis of the determinants of patent length. The results are twofold: first, they clearly establish that the life expectancy of patent rights has significantly increased over the past decades despite a small decline in the average grant rate. Second, they show that some filing strategies very strongly influence the overall length of patents, possibly due to induced delays in the examination process. This suggests that such strategies may result in higher and longer lasting legal uncertainty on the markets, with unknown consequences on the dynamic efficiency of the patent system
The Role of Institutions in Growth and Development
Full text linkIn this paper we argue that the main determinant of differences in prosperity across countries are differences in economic institutions. To solve the problem of development will entail reforming these institutions. Unfortunately, this is difficult because economic institutions are collective choices that are the outcome of a political process. The economic institutions of a society depend on the nature of political institutions and the distribution of political power in society. As yet, we only have a highly preliminary understanding of the factors that lead a society into a political equilibrium which supports good economic institutions. However, it is clear that it is the political nature of an institutional equilibrium that makes it very difficult to reform economic institutions. We illustrate this with a series of pitfalls of institutional reforms. Our analysis reveals challenges for those who would wish to solve the problem of development and poverty. That such challenges exist is hardly surprising and we believe that the main reason for such challenges is the forces we have outlined in this paper. Better development policy will only come when we recognize this and understand these forces better. Nevertheless, some countries do undergo political transitions, reform their institutions, and move onto more successful paths of economic development. We also can learn a lot from these success stories