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2007

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Full-Text Articles in Economics

Singapore's Exchange Rate Policy: Some Implementation Issues, Hwee Kwan Chow Dec 2007

Singapore's Exchange Rate Policy: Some Implementation Issues, Hwee Kwan Chow

Research Collection School Of Economics

Reflecting the small open nature of its economy, Singapore has adopted an exchange rate-centered monetary policy framework since 1981. The exchange rate regime in Singapore is an intermediate regime that follows the basket-band-crawl system. With this managed float system, the MAS has successfully deterred speculators from attacking the domestic currency for most of the past three decades. At the same time, the flexibility accorded by the managed float system aided Singapore in escaping from the 1997–1998 Asian crisis relatively unscathed. In order to advance our understanding of the hitherto successful operation of Singapore's exchange rate policy, we examine the following …


Geographic Decomposition Of Inequality In Health And Wealth: Evidence From Cambodia, Tomoki Fujii Dec 2007

Geographic Decomposition Of Inequality In Health And Wealth: Evidence From Cambodia, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

The small-area estimation developed by Elbers, Lanjouw and Lanjouw (2002, 2003), in which a census and a survey are combined to produce the estimates of welfare measures for small geographic areas, has become a standard tool for poverty analysis in developing countries. The small-area estimates are typically plotted on a map, which are commonly called a poverty map. Poverty maps proved useful for policy analysis and formulation, and have become increasingly popular among policy-makers and researchers. In Cambodia, poverty maps have been used by various international organizations, ministries and non-governmental organizations for analyzing the poverty situations for their operation areas, …


Presentation On The Arab Economies In A Changing World, Marcus Noland, Howard Pack Nov 2007

Presentation On The Arab Economies In A Changing World, Marcus Noland, Howard Pack

Marcus Noland

No abstract provided.


Review Of "Rethinking Asia’S Economic Miracle: The Political Economy Of War, Prosperity And Crisis", Su-Mei Ooi Oct 2007

Review Of "Rethinking Asia’S Economic Miracle: The Political Economy Of War, Prosperity And Crisis", Su-Mei Ooi

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The article reviews the book Rethinking Asia’s Economic Miracle: The Political Economy of War, Prosperity and Crisis by Richard Stubbs.


El Cobre Para Hoy Y Siempre : Hacia Un Futuro Menos Volátil, Más Sostenible Y De Mayor Valor Agregado En El Sector Chileno Del Cobre, Nicholas Anderson Oct 2007

El Cobre Para Hoy Y Siempre : Hacia Un Futuro Menos Volátil, Más Sostenible Y De Mayor Valor Agregado En El Sector Chileno Del Cobre, Nicholas Anderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Copper fuels the Chilean economy more than any other good or sector. But despite being Chile’s greatest resource, copper does very little for the average Chilean because most of the benefits are captured by mining companies and the government. Furthermore, the copper producing sector is volatile, subject to variations in the world price of copper, and not sustainable, as it depends on a nonrenewable natural resource. This paper establishes that there is room to deepen the copper sector with the goal of creating jobs and making the copper sector in Chile more sustainable and less volatile. This idea that there …


Wage Inequality, Intergenerational Mobility, And Education In Singapore, Kong Weng Ho Oct 2007

Wage Inequality, Intergenerational Mobility, And Education In Singapore, Kong Weng Ho

Research Collection School Of Economics

Accompanying Singapore’s phenomenal economic growth over the past four decades has been a rapid increase in educational attainment over the years. In 1960, the mean years of schooling for residents aged 25 and over was 3.14 years; in 2006, it was 9.3 years. This dramatic increase in the supply of skilled labour in all sectors of the economy helped to power Singapore’s high growth rates over the past few decades of economic development, which also saw declining wage inequality and high upward intergenerational mobility in education. However, we need to ask if these trends will continue in the future and …


Valorar Lo Nuestro Para Fortalecer El Futuro: Etnoturismo Mapuche En La Ix Región, Ashleigh Martin Oct 2007

Valorar Lo Nuestro Para Fortalecer El Futuro: Etnoturismo Mapuche En La Ix Región, Ashleigh Martin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The mapuche people have lived a history of struggle. Today it seems they are faced with the impossible choice of being poor and without the resources to maintain their culture, or succumbing to the pressures of a world imbued with globalization and equally changing what is fundamentally theirs. As a unique solution to this problem, many mapuche individuals and communities have opted to develop “turismo mapuche”, or ethnic tourism programs—part of a recent trend toward a more responsible form of tourism. These programs strive to provide tourists with the opportunity to experience cultures different from their own. The primary aim …


Vecinos Indiferentes: Chile, Bolivia Y La Gas Natural, Daniel Hodges-Copple Oct 2007

Vecinos Indiferentes: Chile, Bolivia Y La Gas Natural, Daniel Hodges-Copple

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the relationship between Chile and Bolivia with respect to the issue of natural gas exportation and importation. For various historical, political and cultural reasons, Bolivia chooses not to export any of its large natural gas reserves to its neighbor, Chile. This paper will demonstrate and analyze the current energy situation of both countries, the obstacles that prevent cooperation, the efforts being made to correct them, and suggestions for resolving the issue to the benefit of both countries in the context of regional integration.


Modeling Country Risks: An Asian Perspective, Swee Liang Tan, G. K. Randolph Tan Sep 2007

Modeling Country Risks: An Asian Perspective, Swee Liang Tan, G. K. Randolph Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper investigates the use of the Markov Regime Switching Model (MRSM) as a means to track changes in the levels of investor confidence. It also assesses the probabilities of a country switching between different regimes using the transition probability matrix. A maximum of three possible levels or regimes of risk – low, intermediate and high volatility regimes, is considered. From the smoothed probabilities calculated for different regimes, this paper makes inferences about timings of debt crisis. Comparing Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines and Indonesia in particular, we date the onset and subsequent dissolution of crisis-induced panic. We give interpretations of …


Forecasting The Car Penetration Rate (Cpr) In China: A Nonparametric Approach, Sainan Jin, Liangjun Su Sep 2007

Forecasting The Car Penetration Rate (Cpr) In China: A Nonparametric Approach, Sainan Jin, Liangjun Su

Research Collection School Of Economics

With strong economic growth, the auto industry has made great breakthroughs in recent years and has become a backbone industry in China, while cars play an increasingly important role, and are now the principal part of the auto industry. Both China's government and academic circles take strong interest in the prediction of CPR (i.e. car penetration rate or cars per thousand people), which will be the main guidance for the future industry policy. We summarize the existing problems in recent research and propose to use nonparametric methods to estimate the CPR and its elasticity with respect to GDP per capita …


Maternal Education And Child Nutrition: Evidence From The 2000 And 2005 Ethiopian Demographic And Health Surveys, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel Aug 2007

Maternal Education And Child Nutrition: Evidence From The 2000 And 2005 Ethiopian Demographic And Health Surveys, Alemayehu Azeze Ambel

International Conference on African Development Archives

I used the 2000 and 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys to analyze the effect of maternal education and its pathways on chronic and acute malnutrition in Ethiopia. The pathways examined in this study are socioeconomic status, maternal health-seeking behavior, maternal knowledge of health and family planning and reproductive behavior. I find that maternal education works through all except health-seeking behavior. I also find that maternal education and its pathways are more relevant and robust in explaining chronic than acute malnutrition. Socioeconomic status is the most important factor linking maternal education and child nutritional status. Although girls’ education is a …


A Problem Of Social Capital And Cultural Norms?, Salaam Yitbarek Aug 2007

A Problem Of Social Capital And Cultural Norms?, Salaam Yitbarek

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper asserts that in Ethiopian society, there exist certain cultural norms or ‘dysfunctional behaviours’ that inhibit effective communication, lead to intra-group conflict, and make conflict resolution difficult. This has resulted in a diminished capacity for cooperation and a dearth of social capital and civil society, which does not bode well for development and democracy. It is imperative that research is expanded in the neglected area of cultural norms and social capital in Ethiopian society, and that intervention strategies are designed to increase social capital by addressing cultural norms directly through social marketing, awareness raising, and other mechanisms.


The Global Response To The Darfur Crisis, Mehari Maru Aug 2007

The Global Response To The Darfur Crisis, Mehari Maru

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper examines the global response to the Darfur crisis. The term global refers to non-Sudanese actors in Darfur crisis including but not limited to: international and multilateral governance institutions such as United Nations and its family agencies (hereafter UN), International Criminal Court (hereafter ICC), African Union (hereafter AU), European Union (hereafter EU), North Atlantic Organization (hereafter NATO), and the Arab League; countries such as United States of America (hereafter USA), Peoples Republic of China, Chad, and Central African Republic; and international NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and many other relief and humanitarian organizations, …


Challenges Of Regional Peace After The Comprehensive Peace Agreement In Sudan, Elke Grawert Aug 2007

Challenges Of Regional Peace After The Comprehensive Peace Agreement In Sudan, Elke Grawert

International Conference on African Development Archives

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), concluded between the Government of Sudan and the leadership of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in January 2005, ended a 22 years lasting civil war. The core of the CPA document is the agreement on power and wealth sharing, tackling the main causes of the conflict: unfair distribution of power and marginalization of the majority of the population. The conclusion of the CPA is not only the merit of the two warring parties but also an outcome of the commitment of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the special envoy of the Kenyan government, …


Towards Resolving The Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes, Daniel Kendie Aug 2007

Towards Resolving The Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes, Daniel Kendie

International Conference on African Development Archives

The 46-year-old dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia has been commonly called a “border dispute.” Contrary to that description, it may be more appropriate to portray it as a dispute that has been driven principally by economic interests and by the effort to control scarce resources. Among these interests and resources are the following: the struggle for water wells and fresh grazing pastures for nomads; the insecurity Somalia feels about the Juba and the Wabi Shibeli rivers, as their sources are in Ethiopia; the discovery of gas and oil in the Ogaden; Somalia’s challenging geographic shape that makes communication between the …


The Greater Horn Or Africa: Priming A Strategy And Mechanism For Greater Horn Of Africa Peace, Security And Development, Bt Costantinos Aug 2007

The Greater Horn Or Africa: Priming A Strategy And Mechanism For Greater Horn Of Africa Peace, Security And Development, Bt Costantinos

International Conference on African Development Archives

The paper will address threats to national security, real and potential, that include, among others: lack of constitutional order; incapacity to manage disputes; threats of invasion and destabilisation; terrorism; contested borders and natural resource jurisdiction – blood diamonds; small arms; poverty related unrest; ethnic conflicts; feeble governance institutions; human displacement and pandemics.


Party Politics, Political Polarization And The Future Of Ethiopian Democracy, Merera Gudina Aug 2007

Party Politics, Political Polarization And The Future Of Ethiopian Democracy, Merera Gudina

International Conference on African Development Archives

A closer glance at the source of what appears to be a curse of history can be explained largely by the political polarization and fragmentation between and among Ethiopian political parties, which time and again failed to set a common agenda and mobilize millions for a common good.


Leadership Perspective: Country Development And Transition To Free Market Economy, Kinfu Adisu Aug 2007

Leadership Perspective: Country Development And Transition To Free Market Economy, Kinfu Adisu

International Conference on African Development Archives

In the following essay, the author will examine the need for a clear understanding of the transition process and economic development in Ethiopia. The country’s move towards a free market economy will be critically analyzed as an important step to fight poverty. This will also raise the question of what policies need to be changed to make the nation competitive. A case method is taken into consideration to examine various experiences from African and Asian developing nations. The analysis will be from leadership perspective and takes a business approach to examining the issues and primarily utilizes free market transitional theories. …


Private Transfers, Informal Loans And Risk Sharing Among Poor Urban Households, Eskander Alvi, Seife Dendir Aug 2007

Private Transfers, Informal Loans And Risk Sharing Among Poor Urban Households, Eskander Alvi, Seife Dendir

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper contributes to a growing literature that investigates the mechanisms of risk-sharing among poor households. There are two aspects of the paper that are particularly relevant in the context of the literature. First, it focuses on poor urban areas. The disproportionate focus in the literature on rural households has meant that we know relatively little about the risk-sharing practices of poor urban households. Given that formal insurance is largely absent even in urban areas of most developing economies, it is apparent that these households may be no less vulnerable to income risk than their rural counterparts. Furthermore, because of …


Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele Aug 2007

Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The spatial, physical and socio-economic conditions of Addis Ababa City, in general, is by far behind the requirements fundamental to sustain the livelihood of the city. In addressing the problems of the city, the suggested government intervention strategies include, among others, the relocation and resettlement of residents for efficient utilization of potential sites, and bringing balanced and coordinated investment/development in different parts of the city. These strategies, so far, seam to concentrate on the supply side and neglected the effective demand of the majority of investors. This study, therefore, aims to assess determinants of investors' willingness to pay for a …


Farmers’ Preferences For Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers From East Ethiopian Highlands, Wagayehu Bekele Aug 2007

Farmers’ Preferences For Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers From East Ethiopian Highlands, Wagayehu Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The aim of this paper is to better understand farmers' perception of the relevance of different development intervention programs. Farmers’ subjective ranking of agricultural problems and their preference for development intervention are elicited using a stated preference method. The factors influencing these preferences are determined using a random utility model. The study is based on a survey conducted in the Hunde-Lafto area of the East Ethiopian Highlands. Individual interviews were conducted with 145 randomly selected farm households using semi-structured questionnaires. The study suggests that drought, soil erosion and shortage of cultivable land are high priority agricultural production problems for farmers. …


Influence Of Credit Constraint On Technical Efficiency Of Farm Households In Southeastern Ethiopia, Hussien Hamda Komicha, Bo Öhlmer Aug 2007

Influence Of Credit Constraint On Technical Efficiency Of Farm Households In Southeastern Ethiopia, Hussien Hamda Komicha, Bo Öhlmer

International Conference on African Development Archives

Credit constraint not only affects the purchasing power of farmers to procure farm inputs and cover operating costs in the short run, but also their capacity to make farm-related investments as well as risk behaviour in technology choice and adoption. These, in turn, have influence on technical efficiency of the farmers. Although credit constraint problem has been recognized in economics literature, especially in those dealing with developing countries, little emphasis has been given to its effect on productive efficiency of farmers. In light of this, explicitly considering credit constraint, this paper estimated technical efficiency of credit-constrained (CCFH) and unconstrained farm …


The Contribution Of Farmers’ Breeders In Meeting Food Security: The Case Of Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench) In Ethiopia, Firew Mekbib Aug 2007

The Contribution Of Farmers’ Breeders In Meeting Food Security: The Case Of Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench) In Ethiopia, Firew Mekbib

International Conference on African Development Archives

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the fifth most important cereal crop worldwide and it is the third most important crop in Ethiopia. The national average yield amounts 1302 kg/ha. In order to assess the achievement in farmer breeding various types of research were undertaken. These include survey research to quantify the trend in productivity, the level of and reasons for adoption of improved varieties, yield performance and preference evaluation of farmers’ varieties (FVs) and improved varieties (IVs). As per the trend analysis over the last four decades, total production and yield per hectare has increased by 11.63% and …


2007 International Conference On Ethiopian Development Studies (4th Iceds) A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges Of Peace And Development In Ethiopia & The Horn Of Africa, Western Michigan University Aug 2007

2007 International Conference On Ethiopian Development Studies (4th Iceds) A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges Of Peace And Development In Ethiopia & The Horn Of Africa, Western Michigan University

International Conference on African Development Archives

Proceedings from the 2007 International Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (4th ICEDS) A Multidisciplinary Conference on the Challenges of Peace and Development in Ethiopia & the Horn of Africa, held in Kalamazoo, Michigan (WMU), August 2-4, 2007.


Government’S Response To The Challenge Of Hiv/Aids In Ethiopia, Bedri Jebril Mohammed Aug 2007

Government’S Response To The Challenge Of Hiv/Aids In Ethiopia, Bedri Jebril Mohammed

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia is facing a huge threat to the survival of its people and the socio-economic development of the country from a generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic. Ethiopia with an estimated 1.3 million HIV/AIDS infected people as of December 2006, is one of the worst-affected countries where HIV infection is concentrating among productive age group, thereby affecting productivity. The objective of this study is to examine the ways in which the government of Ethiopia has been dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and suggests the ways in which it can improve its strategies. More specifically, the study tried to investigate the …


U.S. Policy In The Horn Of Africa, James Swan Aug 2007

U.S. Policy In The Horn Of Africa, James Swan

International Conference on African Development Archives

No abstract provided.


What Role Should Civil Society Organizations Play To Address Ethnic Conflicts In Ethiopia?, Sisay Gebre-Egziabher Aug 2007

What Role Should Civil Society Organizations Play To Address Ethnic Conflicts In Ethiopia?, Sisay Gebre-Egziabher

International Conference on African Development Archives

The Ethiopian people are ethnically heterogeneous, speaking multiplicity languages comprising of more than 100 groups. Hence, the country presents a mosaic of nationalities, each speaking a dialect of one of more than 70 languages and has a long history of rich culture and strong social values. Although there were some ethnic-conflicts, that go back a long way, among few of the ethnic groups (mainly for control over resources, such as grazing land, water points, cultivable land), people solved such conflicts using their own conflict resolution mechanism; for instance elders meeting and community tribunal system. The indigenous civil society groups have …


Status Of Local Governance At Woreda/District Level In Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw Aug 2007

Status Of Local Governance At Woreda/District Level In Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

In Ethiopia, about 50% of the population lives below poverty line. Efforts have been exerted to reverse the situation both by Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs); so far however solid results have not been achieved as expected. The question of “what has gone wrong?” has been coiling around in the minds of development practitioners. The international communities point their fingers at poor governance, corruption, internal and regional conflicts for the underdevelopment of the country. It was the outcome of these kinds of questions along with suggestions made that brought about the idea of promoting good governance in developing countries. The …


Examining The 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election Results Under Alternative Electoral Rules, John Ishiyama Aug 2007

Examining The 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election Results Under Alternative Electoral Rules, John Ishiyama

International Conference on African Development Archives

As many scholars have noted, electoral systems exert a powerful influence on the process of democratization (Taagepera and Shugart, 1989; Horowitz, 1985; Ishiyama 1997). Indeed first competitive or “transitional” elections are crucial moments for newly democratizing countries. Although these elections mark only a beginning point in an often arduous journey, their outcomes crucially affect the future course of democratic transition and democratic consolidation (Olsen 1993; Schmitter 1992; Bermeo, 1987). Indeed, whoever wins the transitional election often has the opportunity to re-write the rules of the game to their advantage and, hence, significantly influence future political developments.


Determinants Of Institutional Quality In Sub-Saharan African Countries, Eyerusalem G. Siba Aug 2007

Determinants Of Institutional Quality In Sub-Saharan African Countries, Eyerusalem G. Siba

International Conference on African Development Archives

In this study, a number of factors have been considered as potential determinants of institutional quality in sub-Saharan African countries. The empirical analysis has shown that historical factors such as state legitimacy determine the quality of current institutions in the region. Foreign aid dependence is found to erode quality of governance as measured by rule of law, government effectiveness and control of corruption. Variability of aid is found to counterbalance the destructive nature of high level of aid dependence. However, the last result is not retained in the robust regression analysis performed. Countries with strong political constraints on the ruling …