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202. How Does Monetary Policy Affect the Poor? Evidence from the West African Economic and Monetary Union
- Author:
- David Fielding
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) has a history of monetary stability and low inflation. Nevertheless, there is substantial variation in relative prices within some UEMOA countries, in particular in the price of food relative to other elements of the retail price index (IHPC). Using monthly time-series data for cities within the region, we analyze the impact of changes in monetary policy instruments on the relative prices of components of the IHPC. We are then able to explore how the burden of monetary policy innovations is likely to be shared between the rich and poor.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Welfare, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Africa
203. Inequality and Welfare Evaluation of Heterogeneous Income Distributions
- Author:
- Anthony Shorrocks
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper establishes the principles which should govern the welfare and inequality analysis of heterogeneous income distributions. Two basic criteria—the 'equity preference' condition and the 'compensation principle'—are shown to be fundamentally incompatible. The paper favours the latter, thereby vindicating the traditional method of dealing with heterogeneous samples. However, inequality and welfare comparisons will usually be well defined only if equivalent incomes are obtained using constant scale factors; and researchers will need to distinguish clearly between inequality of nominal incomes and inequality of living standards. Furthermore, household observations must always be weighted according to family size.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, Human Welfare, and Poverty
204. A Development-focused Allocation of the Special Drawing Rights
- Author:
- Ernest Aryeetey
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Efforts to realize the issue of development-focused Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been on-going for many years. Recently, however, the campaign first gained a new momentum immediately after the Asian financial crises with the new liquidity problems of developing nations following the collapse of private capital markets. Currently the search for financing options towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals drives the interest in development-focused SDRs. Extending the uses to which SDR can be put is derived from the growing demands on the international financial system to respond to the development finance needs of poor nations. Apart from the need to provide emergency funds in times of crises and the whole area of crisis prevention, increasingly the facilitation of development in poor countries and assistance to make the best policy decisions is considered crucial.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
205. New Sources of Development Finance: Funding the Millenium Development Goals
- Author:
- Anthony B. Atkinson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), substantial additional external funding needs to be mobilized. Estimates differ, but a 'ballpark' figure is an annual increase of US$50 billion. This could be achieved by a doubling of official development assistance (ODA). Welcome steps have been made in that direction, but this takes time, and time is of the essence. For this reason alone, it is necessary to consider new sources.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States
206. Sustainability of External Development Financing to Developing Countries
- Author:
- Matthew Odedokun
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- External development finance consists of those foreign sources of funds that promote or at least have the potential to promote development in the destination countries if delivered in the appropriate form. This rather broad definition qualifies all forms of external finance, and the quality and quantity of their inflows to developing countries are thus covered in the studies that form the background to this Policy Brief. These include official bilateral and multilateral, private commercial, and private noncommercial flows. A common characteristic is that all these types of flows are inadequate or becoming inadequate on the one hand and that their distribution is lopsided geographically and/or temporally, on the other.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and United Nations
207. Poverty, International Migration and Asylum
- Author:
- Christina Boswell and Jeff Crisp
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- In recent years, the issues of international migration and asylum have risen to the top of the international agenda. The pressures and opportunities linked to the process of globalization have led to an increase in the number of people moving from one country and continent to another. At the same time, insecurity and armed conflict in many of the world's poorest and economically marginalized states have triggered new waves of displaced people.
- Topic:
- Economics, Migration, Poverty, and United Nations
208. Measurement of a Multidimentional Index of Globalization and its Impact on Income Inequality
- Author:
- Almas Heshmati
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- In this paper we present two composite indices of globalization. The first is based on the Kearney/Foreign Policy magazine and the second is obtained from principal component analysis. They indicate which countries have become most globalized and show how globalization has developed over time. The indices are composed of four components: economic integration, personal contact, technology and political engagement, each generated from a number of variables. A breakdown of the index into major components provides possibilities to identify sources of globalization and associate it with economic policy measures. The empirical results show that a low rank in the globalization process is due to political and personal factors with limited possibility for the developing countries to affect. The high ranked developed countries share similar patterns in distribution of various components. The indices were also used in a regression analysis to study the causal relationship between income inequality and globalization. Globalization indices explain only 7 to 11 per cent of the variations in income inequality among countries.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Globalization
209. Quo Vadis? Inequality and Poverty Dynamics across Russian Regions
- Author:
- Ruslan Yemtsov
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses regional data on inequality and poverty in Russia during 1994-2000 using published series from the regionally representative Household Budget Survey. The paper finds that the share of inequality in Russia coming from the between-regions component is large (close to a third of the total inequality), growing, and accounts for most of the increase in national inequality over 1994-2000. The paper demonstrates an absence of interregional convergence in incomes across Russian regions using various techniques. On the other hand, the paper finds evidence of convergence in inequality within regions, trended towards an internationally high level. Based on these two findings, the paper projects dynamics of inequality and poverty in Russia over a ten-year time horizon. The projections show that if the observed trend continues, by 2010 the absolute majority of Russia's poor will be concentrated in a few permanently impoverished regions, while relatively more affluent regions will become virtually free of poverty. Finally, the paper relates fluctuations in inequality within regions to a set of factors classified into four broad categories: endowments and initial conditions, preferences, policies, and shocks. Among these factors short-run fluctuations of the unemployment rate are revealed as significant and strong signals of inequality.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
210. Spatial Inequality for Manufacturing Wages in Five African Countries
- Author:
- Oliver Morrissey and Dirk Willem te Velde
- Publication Date:
- 09-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher wages than firms located elsewhere, and whether such benefits accrue to all or only certain types of workers. Earnings equations are estimated that take into account worker characteristics (education and tenure) and relevant firm characteristics (notably size and whether foreign owned). Any location effect identified is therefore additional to appropriate control variables. There are two main findings. First, we find evidence of a 'pure capital city premium' equivalent to between 12 per cent and 28 per cent of nominal average earnings in the five countries. In some countries this location premium exceeds plausible consumer price differentials, between the capital and other urban areas. This does suggest that real (purchasing power) manufacturing wages are higher in the capital city (although this real premium is no more than ten per cent). Second, we find that skilled workers earn a higher wage premium in the capital city than those less skilled. However, this is not because of location effects on earnings per se, but rather because of other firm characteristics of firms located in the capital city, such as size and foreign ownership. This suggests that spatial inequality in itself does not directly contribute to skilled–less-skilled wage differentials.
- Topic:
- Economics and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa