Economics Commons^™

Sanctions Under The Eu Generalised System Of Preferences And Foreign Policy: Coherence By Accident?, Clara Portela, Jan Orbie

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article investigates the relationship between the European Union's withdrawal of trade benefits for developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and its sanctions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Our expectation is that GSP withdrawals and CFSP sanctions will not cohere. However, our research reveals that GSP suspension has been coherent with CFSP sanctions when the latter exist prior to the decision-making process on GSP sanctions and when the International Labour Organisation has set up a Commission of Inquiry condemning the country, as with Myanmar/Burma and Belarus. The presence of separate institutional frameworks explains the …

Balancing Short-Term Concerns, Long-Term Goals, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

To be delivered almost a month later than usual, this year’s Budget will be closely watched for Singapore’s strategy on economic growth, income redistribution, reducing societal inequality and the government’s role in seeking a national consensus on these key issues.

A General Framework For Price Regulation Of Airports, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Price cap regulation (PCR) was first implemented for privatized utilities in the UK in the 1980s. It has since been adopted by numerous countries as a regulatory regime in several sectors. This paper focuses on the development of different forms of price regulation of airports of which PCR is one variant. In countries where airport privatization is still in the early stages, the spectrum of airports and varied nature of regulatory regimes can be confusing and the lack of a general framework can itself become an obstacle to privatization. This paper proposes a general framework comprising decisions to be made …

Shrinkage Estimation Of Common Breaks In Panel Data Models Via Adaptive Group Fused Lasso, Junhui Qian, Liangjun Su

Research Collection School Of Economics

In this paper we consider estimation and inference of common breaks in panel data models via adaptive group fused Lasso. We consider two approaches—penalized least squares (PLS) for first-differenced models without endogenous regressors, and penalized GMM (PGMM) for first-differenced models with endogeneity. We show that with probability tending to one, both methods can correctly determine the unknown number of breaks and estimate the common break dates consistently. We establish the asymptotic distributions of the Lasso estimators of the regression coefficients and their post Lasso versions. We also propose and validate a data-driven method to determine the tuning parameter used in …

Implementation With Transfers, Yi-Chun Chen, Takashi Kunimoto, Yifei Sun

Research Collection School Of Economics

We say that a social choice rule is implementable with (small) transfers if one candesign a mechanism whose set of equilibrium outcomes coincides with that speciÖed bythe rule but the mechanism allows for (small) ex post transfers among the players. Weshow in private-value environments that any incentive compatible rule is implementablewith small transfers. We obtain this permissive implementation result by proposinga natural extension of Abreu and Matsushima (1994) to incomplete information environments.Furthermore, in order to showcase the applicability of our results, we relatethem to the recent developments in implementation theory. Next we revisit the conjectureby Abreu and Matsushima (1994), who …

Sieve Instrumental Variable Quantile Regression Estimation Of Functional Coefficient Models, Liangjun Su, Tadao Hoshino

Research Collection School Of Economics

In this paper we consider sieve instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR) estimation of functional coefficient models where the coefficients of endogenous regressors are unknown functions of some exogenous covariates. We estimate the functional coefficients by the sieve-IVQR technique and establish the uniform consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimators. Based on the sieve estimates, we propose a nonparametric specification test for the constancy of the functional coefficients and study its asymptotic. We conduct simulations to evaluate the finite sample behavior of our estimator and test statistic, and apply our method to study the estimation of quantile Engel curves.

Estimation Of Large Dimensional Factor Models With An Unknown Number Of Breaks, Shujie Ma, Liangjun Su

Research Collection School Of Economics

In this paper we study the estimation of a large dimensional factor model when the factor loadings exhibit an unknown number of changes over time. We propose a novel three-step procedure to detect the breaks if any and then identify their locations. In the first step, we divide the whole time span into subintervals and fit a conventional factor model on each interval. In the second step, we apply the adaptive fused group Lasso to identify intervals containing a break. In the third step, we devise a grid search method to estimate the location of the break on each identified …

Model Selection For Explosive Models, Yubo Tao, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the limit properties of information criteria for distinguishing between the unit root model and the various kinds of explosive models. The information criteria include AIC, BIC, HQIC. The explosive models include the local-to-unit-root model, the mildly explosive model and the regular explosive model. Initial conditions with different order of magnitude are considered. Both the OLS estimator and the indirect inference estimator are studied. It is found that BIC and HQIC, but not AIC, consistently select the unit root model when data come from the unit root model. When data come from the local-to-unit-root model, both BIC and …

Housing Policies In Singapore, Sock Yong Phang, Matthias Helble

Research Collection School Of Economics

Singapore has developed a unique housing system, with three-quarters of its housing stock built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and homeownership financed through Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. As a result, the country’s homeownership rate of 90% is one of the highest among market economies. At different stages of its economic development, the Government of Singapore was faced with a different set of housing problems. An integrated land–housing supply and financing framework was established in the 1960s to solve the severe housing shortage. By the 1990s, the challenge was that of renewing aging estates and creating a market …

Optimal International Agreement And Restriction On Domestic Efficiency, Gea M. Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

The WTO's strict treatment of domestic subsidies has not been well received in the existing literature. An essential reason is that the consequent restriction on domestic efficiency is hardly compatible with the existing theory of government intervention under which the primary objective of using domestic subsidies, domestic efficiency, is not sacrificed for another objective. We develop a trade-agreement model in which the magnitude of a legitimate domestic subsidy with which to address a production externality is private information. We find that an optimal agreement substantially restricts domestic efficiency for the international objective of expanding market access.

Subsidies And Countervailing Duties, Gea M. Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

This survey pays attention to a recent development of the literature that analyzes two important regulatory features found in the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCM agreement): the restrictive treatment of domestic subsidies and the general prohibition of export subsidies. The WTO's restriction on domestic subsidies is challenged by the existing terms-of-trade theory that offers an efficiency foundation for the market-access focus of the GATT rules. On the other hand, against the backdrop of the SCM agreement and preferential trade agreements (PTAs), a recent literature attempts to provide a rationale for the WTO to restrict the use of …

Contributions To The Committee On The Future Economy, Singapore Management University

Research Collection School Of Economics

In response to the call to contribute to the dialogue initiated by the Committee on The Future Economy (CFE), SMU has held a series of engagement sessions with faculty and staff to brainstorm and propose recommendations to add to the government’s deliberations on strategies for the next stage of Singapore’s economic growth. Through the leadership of SMU Provost, Professor Lily Kong, faculty and senior staff produced various recommendations on five key areas namely Corporate Capabilities and Innovation, Future Growth Industries & Markets, Future of Connectivity, Future City and Future Jobs and Skills.

From The Orderly World Of Frameworks To The Messy World Of Data: Canada’S Experience Measuring The Economic Contribution Of Maritime Industries, Alejandro De Maio, Christine Irwin

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This paper extends the frameworks developed by Park and Kildow (2014) to explore the use of supply chains to classify and organize ocean industries. Canada’s experience with measuring the economic contribution of ocean related sectors is discussed; with particular emphasis on illustrating the supply chain approach and of highlighting the multiple practical challenges that arise in defining and measuring the ocean economy. The overall conclusion is that Canada has succeeded in developing a methodological framework that allows it to report, on an annual basis high level estimates of gross domestic product, employment and labour income generated directly and indirectly by …

Caste-Ethnic Disparity In Vaccine Use Among 0- To 5-Year-Old Children In Nepal: A Decomposition Analysis, Satis Devkota, Christopher Butler

Economics & Management Publications

Objectives To examine what factors, if any, could account for caste/ethnic disparities in vaccine utilization between upper caste and indigenous, and upper caste and low caste (Dalit) groups in Nepal.

Methods Using the Institute of Medicine (IOM) approach to calculate disparity, we estimate the disparity between upper caste and indigenous, and between upper caste and Dalit 0- to 5-year-old children in Nepal. Then we use Fairlie’s non-linear regression-based decomposition technique to account for those disparities in immunization.

Results Using nationally representative data (the Nepal Living Standard Survey II and III), we construct a pooled cross-sectional series and calculate the disparity …

Wage Distribution Impacts Of Higher Education Faculty Unionization, Charles S. Wassell Jr, David W. Hedrick, Steven E. Henson, John M. Krieg

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The literature on the effects of unions on the distribution of wages at the macroeconomic and inter-industry levels has given little attention to the effects at the firm level. At the same time, research on collective bargaining impacts in higher education has focused on the overall wage level rather than on the distribution of salaries. Using panel data on individual faculty members, we find faculty unionization to be associated with a significant flattening of the wage distribution across academic disciplines. This has implications for why faculty might choose to unionize, even in the absence of an overall wage premium.

The New Blue Economy: The Future Of Sustainability, Mark J. Spalding

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The world’s ocean is the world’s life support. Many human activities have defined a negative relationship with the ocean. Simply put: we dump too much bad stuff in, and we take too much good stuff out. The traditional ocean economy—those ocean-based and ocean-related activities from which humans derive economic benefit— did not acknowledge or honor the ocean’s natural services, nor its finite capacity to take human abuse without undermining those services on which we depend. The “new blue economy” is the term of art for identifying those activities that improve the human relationship with the ocean and for aligning our …

Economic Assessment Of Oceans For Sustainable Blue Economy Development, Maria Corazon M. Ebarvia

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This paper presents the common approach on blue economy assessment adopted by selected countries in the East Asian Seas region, and results of initial assessment studies. There are many discourses on the definition and scope of blue economy as the ocean space is evolving, driven by innovations, shifting demands, and pressures from changing environment and climate. The ocean economy contributes to the GDP of the EAS countries in varying degrees: 3 % in RO Korea, 4.5 % in the Philippines, 9 % in China, and 13 % in Indonesia. In addition to the ocean economic activities, the ocean also generates …

Ocean Economy Valuation Studies In The Asia-Pacific Region: Lessons For The Future International Use Of National Accounts In The Blue Economy, Alistair Mcilgorm

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

There have been several projects that have addressed the challenges of measuring the ocean economy in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper examines some lessons from these projects and the implications for the future use of national accounts.

Following the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Bali declaration, the APEC Marine Resource Conservation Working group’s “Measuring the Marine economy” project promoted consistent measurement of the marine economy across the 21 APEC economies against a list of agreed marine industry categories which was developed by an APEC workshop on Easter Island in 2004.

In 2008-09 a Partnership for the Environmental Management of the …

Accounting For The Ocean Economy Using The System Of National Accounts, Raymundo J. Talento

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The increasing importance to measure the ocean economy cannot be discounted. A number of countries attempted to measure the ocean economy based on their needs and perceptions. At this point, however, there is no agreed scope and coverage of the ocean economy nor is there an agreed operational definition of the variables needed for its measurement. Moreover, there is no internationally endorsed framework that will guide and lead to comparable estimates across countries or regions.

Utilizing the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA) as a framework, this paper endeavors to estimate the contribution of the ocean economy in the Philippines …

A Statistical Assessment Of Maritime Socioeconomic Indicators For The European Atlantic Area, Javier Fernandez-Macho

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Ever since the introduction into marine and maritime policy strategies worldwide of the relatively new concept of Blue Growth there has been an increasing interest in developing integrated systems of indicators for the maritime economy.

The Marnet project has been a recent attempt to develop a comparative maritime socioeconomic framework for the European Atlantic area and its database contains a large number of socioeconomic indicators for many maritime activities at different territorial levels that provide the information needed to help analyze and compare the maritime economy of the European Atlantic regions.

However, there are still many gaps with respect to …

The Role Of Economics In Ecosystem Based Management: The Case Of The Eu Marine Strategy Framework Directive; First Lessons Learnt And Way Forward., Soile Oinonen, Tobias Börger, Stephen Hynes, Ann Katrin Buchs, Anna-Stiina Heiskanen, Kari Hyytiäinen, Tiziana Luisetti, Rob Van Der Veeren

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) sets out a plan of action relating to marine environmental policy and in particular to achieving ‘good environmental status’ (GES) in European marine waters by 2020. Article 8.1 (c) of the Directive calls for ‘an economic and social analysis of the use of those waters and of the cost of degradation of the marine environment’. The MSFD is ‘informed’ by the Ecosystem Approach to management, with GES interpreted in terms of ecosystem functioning and services provision. Implementation of the Ecosystem Approach is expected to be by adaptive management policy and practice. The initial …

Maritime Accounts In The European Union: Coping With Limited Information, Regis Kalaydjian

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The European Commission's effort to define the scope and components of the maritime economy was initially motivated by the "Integrated Maritime Policy" (2007). This policy package, principally based on coastal environment protection, maritime safety and security, and the European marine observation and data network, also included the development of an EU-wide economic and social database on maritime activities. The IMP database (2009) used experience from EU member states in terms of maritime database development, and conversely was an opportunity to update national contributions.

Later, two other packages contributed to broadening EC's approach. 1) The "Marine Strategy Framework Directive" (2008) was …

Introduction To Special Edition: The Oceans And National Income Accounts: An International Perspective, Charles S. Colgan

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Introduction to articles in the special edition.

Kelas Menengah Dalam Bingkai Middle Indonesia, Wasisto Raharjo Jati

Jurnal Politik

No abstract provided.

Social Capital, Culture, And Institutions As Determinants Of Entrepreneurship In A Development Context, Daniel Nikolic

Undergraduate Economic Review

Entrepreneurship is still a social term that scholars have difficulty defining, and a lack of consistency in theory in turn leaves researchers without an accurate way to measure entrepreneurial activity. A working definition and theory of the entrepreneur is provided as a way to synthesize the various multi-disciplinary approaches taken towards entrepreneurship in past literature, with emphasis on welfare and judgmental decision-making under uncertainty. Past studies find significant relationships between economic growth and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Little is known, however, on which elements of a society contribute to entrepreneurship and which do not. This study …

How Much Should You Pay For A Financial Derivative?, Boyan Kostadinov

Publications and Research

We explain some key mathematical ideas behind the no-arbitrage pricing of financial derivatives by replication, starting from a simple coin toss model and ending with the continuous-time limit of a multi-step coin-toss model using a geometric random walk model. In the limit, we obtain the classical Black-Scholes-Merton formula for pricing European call and put options.

The Bakken Goes Boom: Oil And The Changing Geographies Of Western North Dakota, William Caraher, Kyle Conway

Digital Press Books

In 2008, the Bakken went boom. Thanks to advances in hydraulic fracturing, oil production in western North Dakota exploded. As the price of oil went up, so did the oil rigs. People came from all over the country (and the world) in search of work, and cities and towns struggled to keep up. This book is about the challenges they faced. It is about the human dimensions of the boom, as told by artists, poets, journalists, and scholars. It captures the boom at its peak, before the price of oil fell and the boom went bust.

This is the only …

The Impact Of Microfinance On Pro- Social Behaviors: Experimental Evidence Of Public Goods Contributions In Uganda, Bryan C. Mccannon, Zachary Rodriguez

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We ask whether access to microfinance loans by the poor has a spillover effect on their pro‐social behaviors. An experimental field study in southern, rural Uganda is conducted using free riding in public goods contributions as an assessment. We document higher levels of contributions by those who have previously received a microloan. This effect cannot be explained by changes in social norms, income effects, or sample selection bias. The results suggest that exposure to microfinance promotes social preferences.

The Economic Burden Attributable To A Child’S Inpatient Admission For Diarrheal Disease In Rwanda, Fidele Ngabo, Mercy Mvundura, Lauren Gazley, Maurice Gatera, Celse Rugambwa, Eugene Kayonga, Yvette Tuyishme, Jeanne Niyibaho, Jason M. Mwenda, Philippe Donnen, Philippe Lepage, Agnes Binagwaho, Deborah Atherly

Dartmouth Scholarship

Backround:

Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. Hospitalization for diarrhea can pose a significant burden to health systems and households. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic burden attributable to hospitalization for diarrhea among children less than five years old in Rwanda. These data can be used by decision-makers to assess the impact of interventions that reduce diarrhea morbidity, including rotavirus vaccine introduction.

Methods:

This was a prospective costing study where medical records and hospital bills for children admitted with diarrhea at three hospitals were collected to estimate resource use and …

James Livingston Interview, Jennifer Thomson

Bucknell: Occupied

Jennifer Thomson, assistant professor of History at Bucknell University, interviews James Livingston, professor at Rutgers University in the department of History about his new book tentatively entitled F--- Work. Thomson and Livingston discuss cultural ideas about work and full employment. Livingston describes the cultural changes necessary for the adoption of ideas related to transfer payments.