Search

Begin New Search Topic Economy Publication Year within 10 Years

371. Classifying Exchange Rate Regimes: 15 Years Later

Author:
Eduardo Levy-Yeyati and Federico Sturzenegger
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Levy Yeyati and Sturzenegger (2001, 2003, 2005) proposed an exchange rate regime classification based on cluster analysis to group countries according to the relative volatility of exchange rates and reserves, thereby shifting the focus from a de jure to de facto approach in the empirical analysis of exchange rate policy. This note extends the classification through 2014 and broadens the country sample, increasing the number of classified country-year observations from 3335 to 5616. Based on this extension, the note documents the main stylized facts in the 2000s, including the behavior of exchange rate policy around the global financial crisis, and the prevalence of floating regimes.
Topic:
Economy, Global Political Economy, Global Financial Crisis, and Exchange Rate Policy
Political Geography:
Global Focus and Global Markets

372. Bounding the Price Equivalent of Migration Barriers

Author:
Michael Clemens, Claudio E. Montenegro, and Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Large international differences in the price of labor can be sustained by differences between workers, or by natural and policy barriers to worker mobility. We use migrant selection theory and evidence to place lower bounds on the ad valorem equivalent of labor mobility barriers to the United States, with unique nationally-representative microdata on both U.S. immigrant workers and workers in their 42 home countries. The average price equivalent of migration barriers in this setting, for low-skill males, is greater than $13,700 per worker per year. Natural and policy barriers may each create annual global losses of trillions of dollars.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Immigration, Economy, and Borders
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

373. The New Economic Case for Migration Restrictions

Author:
Michael Clemens and Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
For decades, migration economics has stressed the effects of migration restrictions on income distribution in the host country. Recently the literature has taken a new direction by estimating the costs of migration restrictions to global economic efficiency. In contrast, a new strand of research posits that migration restrictions could be not only desirably redistributive, but in fact globally efficient. This is the new economic case for migration restrictions. The case rests on the possibility that without tight restrictions on migration, migrants from poor countries could transmit low productivity ("A" or Total Factor Productivity) to rich countries—offsetting efficiency gains from the spatial reallocation of labor from low to high-productivity places. We provide a novel assessment, proposing a simple model of dynamically efficient migration under productivity transmission and calibrating it with new macro and micro data. In this model, the case for efficiency-enhancing migration barriers rests on three parameters: transmission, the degree to which origin-country total factor productivity is embodied in migrants; assimilation, the degree to which migrants’ productivity determinants become like natives’ over time in the host country; and congestion, the degree to which transmission and assimilation change at higher migrant stocks. On current evidence about the magnitudes of these parameters, dynamically efficient policy would not imply open borders but would imply relaxations on current restrictions. That is, the new efficiency case for some migration restrictions is empirically a case against the stringency of current restrictions.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Labor Issues, and Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

374. Off Pitch: Football’s financial integrity weaknesses, and how to strengthen them

Author:
Matt Andrews and Peter Harrington
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Men’s professional football is the biggest sport in the world, producing (by our estimate) US $33 billion a year. All is not well in the sector, however, with regular scandals raising questions about the role of money in the sport. The 2015 turmoil around FIFA is obviously the most well known example, creating a crisis in confidence in the sector. This study examines these questions, and the financial integrity weaknesses they reveal; it also offers ideas to strengthen the weaknesses. The study argues that football’s financial integrity weaknesses extend far beyond FIFA. These weaknesses have emerged largely because the sector is dominated by a small elite of clubs, players and owners centered in Europe’s top leagues. The thousands of clubs beyond this elite have very little resources, constituting a vast base of ‘have-nots’ in football’s financial pyramid. This pyramid developed in recent decades, fuelled by concentrated growth in new revenue sources (like sponsorships, and broadcasting). The growth has also led to increasingly complex transactions—in player transfers, club ownership and financing (and more)—and an expansion in opportunities for illicit practices like match-fixing, money laundering and human trafficking. We argue that football’s governing bodies – including FIFA – helped establish this pyramid. We explore the structural weaknesses of this pyramid by looking at five pillars of financial integrity (using data drawn from UEFA, FIFA, clubs, primary research, and interviews). In the first pillar of Financial Transparency and Literacy we find that a vast majority of the world’s clubs and governing bodies publish no financial data, leaving a vast dark space with no transparency. In the second pillar of Financial Sustainability we estimate that a majority of global clubs and governing bodies are at ‘medium to high risk’ of financial failure. We find, additionally, that European tax debts have grown despite Financial Fair Play, and confederations and FIFA contribute to a pattern of weak Fiscal Responsibility. We then create a new metric of Financial Concentration and find that the football sector is at ‘high risk’ of over-concentration, which poses existential questions for many clubs and even leagues. In the final pillar of Social Responsibility and Moral Reputation, we find that football’s governing bodies face a crisis of legitimacy stemming from a failure to tackle moral turpitude, set standards and regulate effectively. We suggest a set of reforms to re-structure FIFA in particular, separating its functions and stressing its regulatory role.
Topic:
Crime, Sports, Economy, and World Cup
Political Geography:
Europe, Global Focus, and European Union

375. SITREP: What We Talk About When We Talk About Brazil

Author:
Dick Virden
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Just a few years ago Brazil was a feel good story. Its economy was soaring at a rate to rival China’s. Its charismatic president, Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, was among the most popular leaders anywhere, a rags-to-riches phenomenon. In 2014, when the Council on Foreign Relations chose its “Great Decisions” topics for the next year, one was “Brazil in Metamorphosis.” Unfortunately, the country has slipped back into its cocoon. The Samba music has stopped. Instead of being on a roll, Brazil is mired in an awful slump. Or as Frank Sinatra put it, riding high in April, shot down in May. What sort of country is this anyway?
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Corruption, Government, Economy, and Domestic politics
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, North America, and United States of America

376. Corruption Reports 2016: Hidden Economy in Turkey

Author:
Hasan Kirmanoğlu and K. İpek Miscioğlu
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
SELDI network have proposed to prepare a hidden economy overview to contribute to understanding the hidden economy and tracing its links with corruption that are significant for both anti-corruption practices and increasing welfare in Southeastern Europe (SEE) countries. Anti-corruption policies alone are unlikely to produce wide societal support, unless they are imbedded in economic reform and increase in prosperity. Therefore, a broadening of the anti-corruption debate from sheer law enforcement towards more economic grounded rationale, such as addressing the nexus between corruption and hidden economy, is needed.
Topic:
Corruption, Law Enforcement, Economy, Business, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

377. Working Girls and Education: Policy Recommendations in the Framework of Children Rights

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) and Aydın Doğan Foundation (ADV)
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Aydın Doğan Foundation (ADV) and Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) launched, in December 2015, www.turkiyedecocuklar.org as an innovative policy tool. Open data from TÜİK, ILO, and Hacettepe TNSA on working girls in Turkey was assembled and reorganized as an interactive database to facilitate evidence-based effective policy making. Working girls and education is the most alarming issue on the database. As a follow-up, ADV and TESEV brought together experts, in Istanbul, on 28 April 2016, to discuss and recommend policies.
Topic:
Education, Labor Issues, Children, and Economy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

378. Poland in the European Union.Ten Years of Membership

Author:
Katarzyna Kolodziejczyk
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
Twelve years have passed since the Polish entry into the European Union. For Poland the date of 1 May 2004 is the culmination of a transformation process launched at the end of the Cold War in 1989. One of the priorities of Polish foreign policy, the expansion of the political, economic and cultural relations with Western Europe and the United States has been met. This approach has been described as ‘the return to Europe’. Membership in the European Union changed the Polish economy and the new politics opened up new opportunities for businesses and citizens. The aim of the article is to analyze the balance of the Polish membership in the European Union in the economic, financial, political and social dimensions.
Topic:
European Union, Partnerships, Finance, Economy, Exports, and Imports
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

379. Transforming Sub Saharan Africa Agriculture

Author:
Jamal Saghir and Hans Hoogeveen
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) agriculture is a dominant sector in the economies of most countries accounting for between 30 to 40 percent of gross domestic product, and the sector is a leading source of jobs for over two-thirds of Africa’s population. And yet, though it has the potential to be an agricultural power, a combination of low productivity and an inadequate policy framework make SSA the world’s most food-insecure region. Over the last 40 years it has also been steadily losing its share of the global agricultural market. With less than 10% of SSA’s population, Thailand exports more food products than all SSA countries combined, and Brazil’s food exports are now 150% higher than those of SSA, although levels were similar in the 1980s. The “Green Revolution” that transformed tropical agriculture in Asia and Latin America largely bypassed Africa, with total factor productivity growth in agriculture lagging behind that of other regions in the world (Evenson and Gollin 2003) 1 . Two main factors are responsible. First, little land on the continent is irrigated. Only two percent of Africa’s renewable water resources are used, compared to a global average of five percent. Of the 183 million hectares of cultivated land in SSA, 95 percent is rain-fed and less than 5 percent benefits from some sort of agricultural water management practice—by far the lowest irrigation development rate of any region in the world. Moreover, of the 7.1 million hectares equipped with irrigation equipment, only 5.3 million are currently operational. Second, modern inputs and technological processes are grossly underutilized. Africa has, by far, the lowest rate of improved seed and fertilizer use of any region— a rate that has remained virtually constant for the last 40 years—and the lowest level of mechanization in the world. In consequence, African farmers have the lowest farm productivity; their grain yields only one-half of those achieved by Asian or Latin American farmers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Poverty, and Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

380. London 2030: How Will the Capital's Economy Change

Author:
Oxford Economics
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
London’s economy is growing strongly, easily outpacing both the UK and its nearest European rivals such as Paris and Frankfurt. Significant investments in public infrastructure, office buildings, retailing, and homes all point to widespread optimism that the growth will continue, not just for the next year or two but for many years to come. But how confident should we be about London’s growth trajectory? London 2030 analyses the trajectory and magnitude of change that is likely to confront London’s economy in the decade and a half from 2015 up to 2030. The study is the result of analysis by our specialist cities forecasting team, and provides unrivalled forecast data sets and in-depth analysis of what trends imply for the scale and structure of the capital’s economy over the next fifteen years, as well as assessment of other factors that might influence growth. The full research programme is now available for purchase, and is comprised of five research papers: - Our baseline forecasts for London’s economy, population growth and employment to 2030 - A forecast comparison between our data and The London Plan - Analysis of housing trends: will a shortage of housing constrain London’s growth? - Assessment of the impact of alternate scenarios, such as a Eurozone crisis, or a stronger performance -Possible drivers of change such as the impact of new technology, or the UK leaving the EU
Topic:
Economy, Economic growth, and Investment
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and London