Search

While the extant literature shows that various indices of economic freedom display a positive relationship with the level of income inequality, it is unclear who are the winners and, in particular, the losers. For this reason, an analysis based on deciles and top percentiles helps to deepen the understanding of this issue. Starting from this consideration, the paper adds new evidence on the relation between economic freedom and income distribution by analysing a panel of 70 developing and developed countries for the period 1980–2014. The effects of economic freedom on income shares by deciles and top percentiles are estimated through an instrumental-variable approach ruling out potential reverse causality. Results show that economic freedom increases the income shares of the percentiles included in the top decile, eroding the income of the middle and, especially, upper-middle segments. The poor, instead, appear to be unaffected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relatively small panel cointegration literature on the dynamics between FDI and income inequality predominantly finds that FDI will reduce income inequality in the long-run in developed countries. However, we point out an important technical oversight in the literature. Not accounting for cross-section dependence in panel data methodologies may yield unreliable results. Expanding on the work of Herzer and Nunnenkamp [(2013). Inward and outward FDI and income inequality: Evidence from Europe. Review of World Economics, 149(2), 395–422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-013-0148-3], who pioneered the use of panel cointegration in the European context, we obtain different results when we account for cross-section dependence and employ economic procedures robust to it. Using a panel containing 16 OECD countries (1979–2017), 2 income inequality measures, and 4 FDI measures, we begin by showing strong evidence for the existence of cross-section dependence. Then, using second-generation econometric procedures, we do not find any evidence for a cointegrating relationship between inward FDI and income inequality. We do find evidence that outward FDI is cointegrated with income inequality; however, contrary to the main results of the literature, we find that it widens the income gap in the long-run. Additionally, our results support the view that fiscal policy is an important tool to reduce income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prime objective of this article is to examine the heterogeneous impacts of economic complexity on renewable energy demand within a panel of G7 and E7 countries. One of the important contributions of this research is to explore the role of overall structural change and economic factors for renewable and cleaner energy in developed and emerging economies. The existing literature points to scant research about the impacts of economic complexity on energy transformation and renewable energy adoption. During recent years, the G7 and E7 countries have encountered enormous competition in manufacturing and industrialization and are also experiencing global pressure from both climate change and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the promotion of renewable energy infrastructure. Taking into consideration the heterogeneity of issues, the authors apply the Westerlund cointegration and heterogeneous panel data techniques (FGLS, system GMM, FMOLS, and DOLS) for an in-depth, empirical analysis. Interestingly, empirical findings indicate that economic complexity affects renewable energy demand from G7 and E7 countries. This paper documents that economic complexity is a policy factor for overall energy transformation and greener energy demand. This study recommends that complexity and structural change policies should be observed for cleaner and greener growth and overall greener energy promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of countries have instituted market liberalisation to develop their economies in the footsteps of more developed countries and changes in market system significantly influence a firm's behaviour and performance. This paper investigates the impact of market liberalisation on a firm's strategy of technology exploration in South Korea. We find that there is a U-shaped relationship between market liberalisation and technology exploration. In addition, we find that financial slack and industry concentration negatively moderate the curvilinear relationship between market liberalisation and technology exploration, while business group positively moderates this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various nonstructural models of productivity growth have been proposed in the literature. In either class of models, predictive measurements of productivity and efficiency are obtained. The different approaches to productivity and efficiency measurement all have their merits. However, they generate different results and it is in principle impossible to know which of them produces "true" estimates. We argue that instead of choosing between approaches, the analyst can average across the results generated by them. Unfortunately, this begs the question which averaging method to use? This paper examines the model averaging approaches of Hansen and Racine (2012), which can provide a vehicle to weight predictions (in the form of productivity and efficiency measurements) from different nonstructural methods. We first describe the jackknife model averaging estimator proposed by Hansen and Racine (2012) and illustrate how to apply the technique to a set of competing stochastic frontier estimators. The derived method is then used to analyze productivity and efficiency dynamics in 25 high-industrialized countries over the period 1990 to 2014. Through the empirical application, we show that the model averaging method provides relatively stable estimates, in comparison to standard model selection methods that simply select one model with the highest measure of goodness of fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine to what extent developing countries export more as a result of having the official Least Developed Country (LDC) status. We estimate a gravity model of trade over the period 1973–2013, in which identification is achieved by exploiting the particularities and asymmetries of 'inclusion' and 'graduation' criteria of LDC status. As mechanisms through which LDCs might benefit, we evaluate the effectiveness of individual trade preference schemes for LDCs of the European Union, United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Turkey and the impact of LDC status on exports. We find that first, individual trade preference regimes are not always beneficial in terms of increased export values. Export promoting effects are found for the individual schemes of some developed countries and some sectors. Second, a country's official designation as a LDC is associated with higher aggregated exports. This is particularly the case for LDCs that export agricultural goods and light manufacturing products, including textiles and leather after 1990. Third, the positive effect of LDC status is significant and sizable even when controlling for specific trade preference schemes suggesting that there are other benefits of LDC status that play a role in promoting exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective altruism movement argues that people wanting to do the most good they can should donate to charities fighting poverty in poor countries overseas, rather than to charities helping people in need in wealthy countries. This is because there is greater need in the developing world meaning it is possible to save lives or improve living conditions at reasonably low cost. However, most people living in developed countries prefer to donate to charities helping people in need in their own country, rather than charities helping people in need in the developing world. This paper analyses why this might be. We conduct a discrete choice experiment to determine the relative importance people place on the effectiveness of a donation, the need of recipients, and whether the donation will be spent at home or overseas. We find that many people place more weight on where the donation will be spent than on how effective it will be. We also find that a significant number of people are not aware, or do not believe, a donation will be more effective in the developing world. In addition, many people's donation decisions are guided by emotion or intuition, rather than rational calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency in buildings is a major priority of industrialized countries. By eliminating market asymmetries, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) is a potential policy instrument when it comes to promoting energy efficiency of real estate. Real estate agents have an important role in providing information about dwellings for sale on the market. The aim of this paper is to study whether the introduction of EPCs changes the asking price setting of real estate agents. We take advantage of the fact that the introduction of a mandatory energy certification system represents a quasi-natural experiment, where we have data on house price and asking price. Based on the analysis, both of a hedonic model and a fixed effect model, we provide evidence that the implementation of EPCs did not affect the price setting of real estate agents. This indicates that real estate agents either disregard EPCs as providers of new information or believe that the market is indifferent to this kind of information. Our results also indicate that there are large similarities between the effects of energy labels on the asking prices and the transaction prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights open access activities and resources from Western Asia. The development of open access journals from this region is analyzed through regional listings in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and information about the development and implementation of open access repositories is taken from the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) platform. Additional information about OA resources and development projects was found through UNESCO's Global Open Access Portal. The study's findings show that, even with support from international groups like EIFL and OpenAIRE, the region's open access market lags behind that of more developed countries. Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stand out among Western Asian states, and Cyprus took the important step of instituting a national public open access policy. Awareness projects and workshops will be a vital step in helping the countries of Western Asia to see the value of open access and to build a stronger OA infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether investor attention to Islamic finance creates spillover or not. The answer to this question is relevant to understanding whether the recent growth in Islamic Finance is due to an increase in fundamentals or is more to do with a market attention shock. We examine this question for three developed countries (France, the United Kingdom (the UK) and the United States of America (the USA)), four emerging countries (Saudi Arabia (SA)), the United Arab Emirates (the UAE), Pakistan and India), and the whole world. Our findings show that while the US and the UK lead investor attention to Islamic finance and spillover across the globe, India and Pakistan have experienced the greatest spillover from investor attention for both emerging and developed countries. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, on the other hand, play a somewhat minor role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using regional level panel data of three developed countries, comprising Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the study investigates the response of consumption smoothing to housing capital gains. The consumption smoothing model first revisits the theory of perfect risk sharing. After rejecting a full consumption smoothing hypothesis, the results strongly indicate that the appreciation of house values smooths consumption further. For the sake of comparison, analysing three developed economies reveals the diversification in the response of consumption to long-run output shocks. Canadian residents appear to be more sensitive to permanent domestic output shocks while Australian's consumption pattern remains unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the export-productivity relationship using firm-level data from Egypt over the 2003–2008 period. Previous studies using data from developed countries suggest that self-selection is the main driver of the exporter premium. Using a propensity-score matching difference-in-difference approach, we find that both labor productivity and total factor productivity are significantly higher for exporters than for non-exporters. On average, labor productivity and total factor productivity are, respectively, 43% and 61% higher for exporting firms than for domestically-oriented firms. Accounting for the level of development of destination countries, we find that this export premium is due to a learning-by-exporting process rather than just a self-selection of more productive firms into exporting. In contrast to exporters to OECD countries, exporters to Non-OECD countries self-select into export markets, signaling the importance of the technical assistance from OECD buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I argue that one permissible solution to the problem of brain drain from less developed countries is to level a tax on the money skilled emigrant workers earn within more developed countries. Contrary to both Brock and Blake, this tax may be levelled even if it was not announced to the emigrants in advance of their training in their home country, and even if they never explicitly agreed to accept that tax as a condition on that training. This is because the emigrants are still political members within their home country – though their membership fades away gradually with time spent in their new country – and can thus be subjected to the burdens of political membership, including redistributive taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper empirically investigates the effect of income inequality on economic growth using extended panel data covering a broad range of developing and developed countries. We use system generalized method of moments (GMM) techniques in a dynamic panel analysis, which alleviates the possible positive bias in difference GMM due to the persistence of lagged dependent variables as instruments. We find strong evidence of a negative effect on growth from income inequality, which contradicts the findings of Forbes [2000, September. A reassessment of the relationship between inequality and growth, American Economic Review, 90(4), pp. 869–887] and Li and Zou [1998, October. Income inequality is not harmful for growth: Theory and evidence, Review of Development Economics, 2(3), pp. 318–34]. Further analyses using combined Gini coefficients show that the difference can be overall attributed to the problem of omitted control variables and the differences in how the variations in inequality across countries are reflected. We also find that the negative effects of inequality on economic growth can be of great significance when using a sample of less developed countries or more recent inequality data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the press or search of the internet tells us that structures continue to fail. These extreme events are a worldwide phenomenon; the so-called developed countries are not immune. This paper explores some of the issues and initiatives stemming from the UK. It will refer to the work of the Standing Committee on Structural Safety, to the recent study of major hazards in construction, and to work on disproportionate collapse. The prevention of failure requires competent persons, robust processes and assured products - the 3Ps - working within a contractual and statutory framework. The issues are wide ranging: globalisation, rapid growth, commercial pressures, and the danger of forgetting "safety" in the rush to accommodate sustainability. How we can bring this about (starting at the education base phase, through initial professional development and then into later professional life) is discussed in the paper. This paper is a continuation of the themes identified in "Safety, risk and failure - the management of uncertainty" (Carpenter, 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an original framework to examine whether the strength of the relationship between financial development and economic growth, widely documented in the recent empirical literature, varies with the inflation rate. Using a Panel Smooth Threshold Regression for 71 developed and developing countries over the period 1960–2004, we find a non-linear link between financial development and economic growth: three equilibriums are identified with inflation rate. Then, there is an inflation threshold, for which finance ceases to increase economic growth. Our results suggest that for an inflation rate higher than 20%, economic growth is not, or is negatively, affected by financial development, whereas the impact of finance on growth is positive and significant for an inflation level below 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of services has become an increasingly important component of the economy of industrialized countries and the revenue stream for many traditional product companies. This is especially true for companies that offer information technology (IT) products. This paper examines factors that are associated with the extent to which IT product companies are able to develop service revenue, which we refer to as service expansion of IT product companies. We identify the characteristics of the product portfolio-specifically, the composition and scope of firm offerings among hardware, application software, and infrastructure software-as key to successful service expansion. We also propose that this relationship is moderated by prior performance of the product business and industry characteristics such as concentration and maturity. Data from IT product vendors spanning five years are used to test the proposed relationships. Overall, this research provides a theoretical foundation for understanding service expansion and diversification in the IT industry as well as practical guidance for IT product companies considering expansion to services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Urban food security is a significant development challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the field is currently under -researched and under-theorized. Urban food insecurity, where it is considered, has been viewed through a development studies lens that views food insecurity as a household-scale problem. There has been significant focus on food deserts in developed countries as one way of engaging with such insecurity. The food deserts research views food insecurity through a social exclusion and food justice lens. This article introduces the food desert concept to provide a conceptual tool to begin to understand the spatial determinants of urban food insecurity, which are not well captured by the existing framings of food security in the region. Using data from a 2008 household food security survey conducted in Cape Town, the paper highlights gaps in the food deserts approach, most significantly its neglect of non-market sources of food and of household decision-making processes. The paper therefore concludes by suggesting a new approach which takes the household's assets, abilities and decision-making as the starting point and overlays this with the market and non-market foodscapes accessed by these households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, although many cost function studies have been done in developed countries, there has been no such study for the developing countries such as Vietnam. This paper will make the first attempt at conducting a cost function analysis for Vietnam. Second, it also demonstrates how the results of the cost function analysis can be used to potentially address two weaknesses of the current norms for intergovernmental educational transfers in Vietnam. These norms neither are relevant for output-based budgeting purposes nor fully account for factors influencing provinces' cost of delivering education. The cost function results can be used for a more output-oriented and more adequate, thus more equitable, distribution of educational transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the regressive nature of tax exemptions for children compared to child allowances and estimates the decline in child poverty in several developed countries due to child allowances. The paper then estimates the decline in child poverty in the United States due to tax exemptions for children and simulates the impact of various possible child allowance programs on child poverty in the United States. It finds that a $3000 to $4000 child allowance would reduce child poverty in the United States to the level of other developed nations and, due to the costs associated with child poverty, be a cost effective policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the validity real interest rate parity (RIP) for a sample of 19 OECD and Asian developing economies. The distinction of this paper is that we exploit both linearity and non-linear unit root tests as advocated by Dufrenot et al. (Applied Economics, 38, pp. 203-229, 2006) to validate the parity. The major finding are: (i) the alignments from real interest rate differentials (RIDs) are corrected in a non-linear fashion and that the adjustments is asymmetric in both size and speed; (ii) that RIP holds for the developed and developing countries; and (iii) the empirical results are invariant with respect to the US, Japan or Germany as the centre country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to trace the evolution of the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM), and the definition of the term as it is being currently understood. The paper then proceeds to discuss its relevance as a strategy to be adopted in water resources development and management. The term IWRM is a current buzzword that is vigorously pursued in developing countries by many water professionals. However, the paper notes that its underlying concepts have been reflected in traditional water management practices in some countries several centuries ago. The paper comments on the applicability of the prescribed strategies in today's context. Lessons for an integrated approach to manage the water resources in a country can be drawn from any source, but the wisdom of trying to fully replicate the developed country management models in the present context of Asia is questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between part-time work and job satisfaction in Honduras. In contrast to previous work for developed countries, this paper does not find higher job satisfaction among women working part-time. Instead, for both women and men, job satisfaction is higher when in full-time work, although this finding is stronger for men. Consistent with an interpretation of working part-time as luxury consumption, the paper finds that partnered women with children, poor women or women working in the informal sector are more likely to report higher job satisfaction when working full-time than single women, partnered women without children, non-poor women or women working in the formal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that environmental stringency adversely affects the international competitiveness (net exports) in manufacturing sectors. The model follows the standard factor endowment approach to explain the effects of environmental regulatory policy on net exports in different product-based industries. An econometric model is constructed, which includes factor endowments and environmental regulations to examine how strict environmental policies impact export competitiveness. A panel dataset of 10 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, over 17 years, 1987-2003, was constructed for the modelling effort. The study finds that environmental regulations can be a way to combat the flight of manufacturing out of developed countries if the output from these industries can be identified as environmentally friendly. A positive relationship between net exports and environmental regulations was found for paper products, wood products and textile products. However, most manufacturing industries are harmed by increased environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 30 years the UK has seen a structural increase in mortgage default, interacting with cyclical economic trends to provide peaks and troughs of default. The latest upturn in mortgage arrears, from 2004, has been exacerbated by recessionary pressures since 2006. Despite significant exposure to risk and a distinct configuration to the current recession, lenders initial responses in 2006 and 2007 to managing arrears were limited and unchanged from the 1990s. This paper explores the extent to which such practices then changed, why and with what consequences. The paper identifies a shift in lenders' responses to mortgage arrears and possessions from 'pay or possess' to more 'managed forbearance'. It explores the ways in which commercial considerations, housing market drivers, a more stringent regulatory environment and government intervention have influenced this change resulting in a slower than expected growth in possessions. The paper considers the contingent nature of these changes and the implication for the longer-term sustainability of homeownership. The paper is based upon a qualitative study of lenders' and government agencies' responses to the current market downturn. The paper has a UK focus, but, in the context of global recession and significant homeownership markets in many developed countries, the issue of mortgage default and its management may resonate beyond the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights some tensions regarding lifelong learning discourses for countries which are listed in the lower part of international development indexes. Such countries are often referred to collectively as the 'South', though this represents a political focus rather than geographical accuracy and usually represents those formerly colonised countries that are affected by international aid agendas, as opposed to those in the 'North' that are identified as advanced industrialised countries. This discussion follows recent concerns (for example by Torres 2003) that the dominant discourse for lifelong learning is articulated as a priority for the North while the learning priority for countries in the South are reduced to basic education, as evidenced in internationally agreed development targets such as the Millennium Development Goals. It is also a response to further calls (for example by Rogers 2003, 700) to articulate 'real alternatives' for the South, and for 'more theoretical' work on 'lifelong learning for the countries of the South' (Youngman 2003, 114). One of this paper's arguments is that the 'North-South' divide of policy agendas for educational reform is symbolic of other divisive discourses and behaviours by the international aid community that are constructed in the name of development. Its other argument is that the South has its own context-specific perspectives that can help to shape a more global lifelong learning vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on the theme of the journal. The main issue of the journal is the identification of a "learning society," which by focusing on the developed nations, a renewed approach is being taken to understand the concept of knowledge and learning. Focus is also put on the previously colonized nations, as to how they were left behind in the developmental scheme of things.

In an earlier paper, 'Beyond the Surrogate of Motivation', the author posits that the fragmentation of organizational work has led to the loss of meaning and thus to the invention of motivation in the second half of the 20th century. In this paper, the focus is on the meaning of work in organizational contexts during early US industrialization, specifically the American whaling industry, before motivation was invented as a management tool. The paper will explore how and to what extent the meaning of work was ultimately lost and 'perverted' in whaling, when the industry turned from a profession into a capitalist business that reached its peak by the early 1840s. The paper is written from a socioanalytic perspective and based on the working hypothesis that while organization studies, and psychoanalytic ones in particular, focus predominantly on contemporary organizations and their respective working conditions as their objects of study, the dramatic changes in the American whaling industry during the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century provide insight into the conscious and unconscious dynamics underlying the transition from an organizational reality based on the relatedness of members of a community to one driven exclusively by profit. In the whaling example, this change can be understood partly as one from a profession into a business that finds its expression in the increasing alienation of the work force, its exploitation by ship-owners and captains alike and the exclusive pursuit of money and wealth by ship-owners. (Part 2 will contain some further reflections on the relatedness of meaning and motivation at work in the whaling industry.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impervious surface distribution and its temporal changes are considered key urbanization indicators and are utilized for analysing urban growth and influences of urbanization on natural environments. Recently, urban impervious surface information was extracted from medium/coarse resolution remote sensing imagery (e.g. Landsat ETM+ and AVHRR) through spectral analytical methods (e.g. spectral mixture analysis (SMA), regression tree, etc.). Few studies, however, have attempted to generate impervious surface information from high resolution remotely sensed imagery (e.g. IKONOS and Quickbird). High resolution images provide detailed information about urban features and are, therefore, more valuable for urban analysis. The improved spatial resolution, however, also brings new challenges when existing spectral analytical methods are applied. In particular, a higher spatial resolution leads to reduced boundary effects and increased within-class variability. Taking Grafton, Wisconsin, USA as a study site, this paper analyses the spectral characteristics of IKONOS imagery and explores the applicability of SMA for impervious surface estimation. Results suggest that with improved spatial resolution, IKONOS imagery contains 40-50% of mixed urban pixels for the study area, and the within-class variability is a severe problem for spectral analysis. To address this problem, this paper proposes two approaches, interior end-member set selection and spectral normalization, for SMA. Analysis of results indicates that these approaches can reasonably reduce the problems associated with boundary effects and within-class variability, therefore generating better impervious surface estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we theoretically and empirically explore the question whether the unequal distribution of different aspects of social capital (networks, trust, norms) over a number of social dimensions (gender, age, income, employment status, and educational level) is smaller in countries with more developed welfare systems. Our data cover 13 Western industrialized countries and two periods in time (1981, 1999). The paper adds to the existing literature in several ways: by focusing explicitly on the empirical study of social capital inequality, by relating this subject to (quantitative and qualitative) welfare state characteristics, and by studying it from a cross-national and longitudinal perspective. We find that in the sample of countries analyzed there is no clear relationship between social capital inequality and welfare state characteristics. However, whether generally welfare states do not reduce social capital inequalities remains an issue for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of the international diffusion of technological capacity from ICT sectors on the total factor productivity in developed countries. Special attention is paid to the construction of a more recent and homogeneous industry-level data set using unit value ratios and a hedonic price index. A cointegration analysis is performed on this annual panel data for 10 manufacturing sectors in six OECD countries over the period 1979-2001. On the basis of our results, we may conclude that a country receives more international technology spillovers in its manufacturing industries the closer its relations with more technologically advanced nations are and the more open it is to imports. Meanwhile, information and communication technologies developed abroad increase the total factor productivity of each of the manufacturing sectors of a country, and this effect is enhanced where ICT goods are imported from nations with advanced technology of this kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mail survey is a popular data collection tool in developed countries, but little is known about its use and efficacy in developing countries. Grounded on social exchange and diffusion of innovations theories, this study sought to ascertain whether the mail survey works in Nepal – one of the developing countries, by looking at how long respondents take to respond to mail surveys, and what the determinants are of the response time. A mail survey was conducted in June–September 2012 among 863 village animal health workers. Analysis of the data derived from 500 usable surveys shows that if properly planned and executed, the mail survey will perfectly work in developing countries as well. However, response period greatly varied by respondent's home region, program sponsor, income groups, but not by gender, age, and education. The paper concludes by outlining suggestions to improve the mail survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates how parent management control and firm-specific advantages (FSAs) influence subsidiary performance in Thailand. We find that parent management control has a mediating effect on the influence of political risks and subsidiary goals on subsidiary performance for emerging market multinationals, whereas for developed country multinationals, it only shows a mediating effect on the influence of subsidiary goals on subsidiary performance. We also find that the FSAs of parent firms based in developed countries moderate and mediate the effect of parent management control on subsidiary performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a systematic literature review of growing research on microfinance, as promoted by scholars and policymakers in an entrepreneurial finance context. The results suggest promising opportunities for further research on microfinance in developed countries. Bibliometric analyses were used to identify three main dimensions of microfinance that guide academic research: social considerations, economic effects, and performance of microfinance institutions. Most literature focuses on developing countries, reflecting the success of microfinance as an instrument for promoting social and economic development. A keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals that financial inclusion and entrepreneurship domains remain empirically underexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant remittances are important to some countries. According to the World Bank, they comprise more than 30% of the GDP of Kyrgyzstan, Tonga, Tajikistan, Haiti and Nepal. Compared to official development aid or foreign direct investment, remittances have lately become a prime income stream for less-developed nations. In this paper, we analyze the net spillover and feedback effects from the consumer demand generated in migrants' home countries. We use World Bank estimates of remittances and the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) for the investigation with so-called 'hypothetical insertion' as the tool of choice. We find that even some developed nations, like the US, likely benefit from remittances (the largest global path for remittances is that from the US to Mexico), but that not all do (e.g. Canada does not). We stop short of making strong policy recommendations. Instead, we suggest that more attention is paid to the veracity of remittance estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of tourism in emerging countries is a major contributor to the sector's growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An assessment of emissions produced by Brazilian tourists confirms this trend, and reveals the importance of each country's unique economic, social and environmental factors, which make it difficult to treat emerging countries as a homogenous group. This paper explores the possible futures of Brazilian tourism emissions by using various scenarios, starting with the reconstruction of submarkets based on transport modes and distances travelled, using national sources for the year 2010. A reference scenario shows that GHG emissions are likely to be multiplied by four by 2030 and by eight by 2050. Finally, alternative hypotheses on the driving forces behind Brazilians' domestic and international tourism are combined and used as building blocks to develop alternative scenarios. The outcome of reasonable mitigation options would maintain tourism's contribution to national greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 at a level comparable to those currently observed in highly developed countries. However, between 2030 and 2050, tourism emissions would continue to grow, whereas national emissions would diminish. Tourism could therefore become a major burden in national mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Championship in Cybernetic Building Optimization (WCCBO) was held in 2019 to test participants' ability to optimize buildings cybernetically. Office buildings with a total floor area of 10,000 m2 were built in cyberspace, one for each of the 33 participating teams. The cyber buildings were controlled by BACnet, and the participants competed to show their operational skills by tuning the HVAC system of their respective cyber buildings online. The ability of optimization was evaluated in terms of both energy consumption and thermal comfort, and their scores were published online in real-time. A total of 339 different operations were tested during the two-month competition period. The top-ranked team succeeded in reducing energy consumption and thermally dissatisfied occupant rate by 12.1% and 21.0%, respectively. In this paper, we report on the examination of the rules and schedule of this championship as well as the analysis of the participants' scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research from developed countries indicates that improving how government communicates with the public can increase trust in government and satisfaction with public services. In countries affected by violent conflict, communication has even been described as the 'missing link' necessary to rebuild a positive relationship between citizen and state. Does this approach work? This paper presents a field experiment implemented in partnership with a Colombian government agency, to test two communication interventions in statebuilding areas. The results suggest limits to these programmes. One treatment – provision of information on service delivery via text messages – led to a reduction in satisfaction with services. For the second treatment – an invitation for citizens to vote on service provision priorities – we can detect no effect. We find evidence that people's prior beliefs are strong drivers of these results: both treatments had negative effects among people with low political interest and knowledge, suggesting that informational interventions may backfire among precisely the sub-populations that statebuilders seek to engage. Instead of improving perceptions of service delivery, they may have raised expectations among this otherwise apathetic population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more and more developed countries adopt policies that favour highly educated immigrants, the impact of such policies on developing countries remains unclear. Some researchers have argued that migrants who are more educated tend to bring their immediate family members to host countries, and thus, send less money to source countries in remittances. While a number of papers have documented the relationship between education and remittance, whether that is related to sponsorship decisions remains under-explored. Using individual-level panel data from the New Immigrant Survey, we show that sponsoring family members leads to lower remittances. Furthermore, we show that college educated immigrants from high-income families are less likely to sponsor relatives, presumably because of the relatively higher opportunity cost of migration of their relatives. Together, these two results suggest a positive association between education and remittances, which is, indeed, what we find in the data. Our extended analysis shows that alternative explanations (such as higher income of more educated immigrants, or repaying implicit educational loans) cannot completely explain the positive association between education and remittances. Our results suggest that skill-based immigration policies are likely to result in more remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors look at the effect of the composition of government spending on per capita GDP level using Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG) data. Government spending on education was found to significantly impact per capita GDP in the short term. R&D spending on education and recreation, culture and religion was found to have a significant long-run GDP effect. This paper suggests that developed countries can successfully promote economic growth by redirecting their total spending portfolio toward education and by increasing their R&D spending on education and recreation, culture and religion. By examining the effect on GDP of government spending, the authors have discovered a useful idea for the application and utilization of COFOG data. Their findings have policy implications for achieving sustainable economic growth in developed countries. Developed countries can promote economic growth via recomposition of their total spending portfolio toward education and of their R&D spending toward education and recreation, culture and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions about global aquaculture production and prospects for future growth largely focus on Asia, where most global production takes place. Countries in Asia accounted for about 89% of global production in 2016. Exclusive attention to Asian aquaculture, however, overlooks the fact that "the blue revolution" is occurring in most parts of the world. This paper examines patterns in the development of aquaculture production by analyzing growth rates across the globe at the regional, species and country levels. The results show that production in some non-Asian countries is growing more rapidly than the major Asian producers. Moreover, most developed countries have played a limited role in the blue revolution despite being leading producers as late as the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intra-household water use and management from a gender perspective has remained a relatively under-researched theme in developed countries. Australia is no exception, with the lack of research particularly evident in the many rural and peri-urban communities. These communities have experienced significant water scarcity in recent years. In this context, this paper explores the potential of water use diaries to explore gender perspectives in Australian intra-household water use. Primarily a methodological paper, it examines the concepts that might inform a water diary examining gendered aspects of intra-household water management and use. Following the research approach to gendered intra-household resource allocation established in developing nation research, the aim is to develop a tool that has the potential to clarify the gender implications within households of current water policies and practices. Albeit a tentative step toward understanding gender aspects of intra-household water use and management, this paper raises a number of issues suggesting this type of research has both practical usefulness and academic importance. Its practical value lies in it capacity to influence the water agencies' ability to target specific 'water user groups' and develop effective public policy in a participatory manner with detailed household information. The academic worth lies in the 'cutting edge' nature of the research as it explores an approach proven in developing nations but as yet narrowly adopted in Australia and other developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis investigates the correlation between domestic saving and investment as a challenge to sustainably integrating capital stocks and flows in Mexico's quest to progress toward the long-term capacities of developed economies. If the integration of developing economies with developed ones entails the deepening of international capital markets, this would mean moving toward sustainable, long-term growth at the regional level via capital markets in which investment rates are limited by neither domestic saving nor domestic capital markets. By focusing on the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle of domestic investment-saving constancy across countries irrespective of structural changes, this paper analyzes how NAFTA and financial restructuring affected Mexico's saving and private investment decisions between 1970 and 2004. After checking for cointegration, a structural change model shows how investment is limited by saving rates in Mexico and abroad, which are not completely in line with other developing economies. RESUMEN. El analisis examina la correlacion que existe entre el ahorro interno y las inversiones, como un desafio respecto a la integracion para respaldar el capital social y sus flujos, en la busqueda mexicana de convergir hacia las capacidades largoplacistas de las economias desarrolladas. Si la integracion de las economias en desarrollo con las desarrolladas implica la expansion del mercado de capitales internacional, al nivel regional esto significaria un desplazamiento hacia el crecimiento sostenible a largo plazo a traves de los mercados de capital, donde las tasas de inversion no estan limitadas por el ahorro interno ni por el mercado de capitales. Centrados en el rompe cabezas de Feldstein-Horioka sobre la constancia entre la inversion-ahorro internos a traves de los paises, independientemente de los cambios estructurales que se produzcan, este estudio analiza el efecto que el NAFTA y la reestructuracion financiera han ejercido sobre la toma de decisiones mexicanas sobre el ahorro e inversiones privadas en un periodo que abarca de 1970 a 2004. Despues de verificar la cointegracion, el modelo de los cambios estructurales muestra las limitaciones que sufre la inversion debido a las tasas de interes vigentes en Mexico ya que, externamente, ellas no estan completamente y alineadas con las que rigen en otras economias en desarrollo que ya implementaron su apertura. RESUMO. A analise examina a correlacao entre a poupanca domestica e os investimentos, como um desafio a integracao sustentavel de fluxos de capital e capital social, na busca mexicana da conversao rumo as capacidades de longo prazo das economias desenvolvidas. Se a integracao das economias em desenvolvimento com aquelas desenvolvidas expressar o aprofundamento do mercado internacional de capitais, isso significa rumar para o desenvolvimento sustentavel, de longo prazo, no nivel regional, atraves dos mercados de capital, onde os indices de investimento nao sao limitados pela poupanca domestica nem pelos mercados de capital domesticos. Enfocando o quebra-cabeca Feldstein-Horioka sobre a constancia de investimento-poupanca entre os paises, sem levar em consideracao as mudancas estruturais, este estudo analisa como a NAFTA e a reestruturacao financeira afetaram as decisoes de investimento privado e a poupanca no Mexico, entre 1970 e 2004. Apos a verificacao da co-integracao, um modelo com as mudancas estruturais mostra como os investimentos sao limitados pelos indices de poupanca no Mexico e no exterior, nao completamente em linha com outras economias em desenvolvimento que se abrem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the internationalisation of Chinese piano firms from a branding perspective. The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, it examines the interplay between the country of origin (COO) effect and international branding, and how COO affects the choice of branding strategies in international markets. Second, it explores the possible link between international branding decisions and international expansion of the firm. A model is introduced that illustrates the relationships between COO, branding options and internationalisation. Corresponding to its progress in internationalisation, a firm's branding development in international markets may follow certain stages. As the firm moves to advanced stages, it increases its international brand equity; the impact from negative COO will decrease and eventually become irrelevant. The literature on internationalisation is largely based on the experience of MNEs from Western developed countries. Multinational firms from developing countries such as China possess some unique characteristics that make it very difficult to apply Western theories to them. The emergence of MNEs from developing countries calls for the development of new theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Smoking during pregnancy is a major risk for the unborn child. Reliable data on the relevant high-risk groups are essential for devising effective preventive and interventional programmes. This review aims at identifying factors which differentiate women who smoke during pregnancy from those who do not, in developed countries. Methods This systematic literature review is based solely on empirical original papers with population-representative samples of pregnant women. All studies concerned developed countries and were published between 1997 and 2006. Two blinded investigators working in parallel selected the papers in accordance with the recommendations formulated in the QUOROM Statement. Cross-checking was then carried out to identify any differences. Results A total of 17 studies were identified. Correlates for smoking during pregnancy can be grouped according to biological, material/structural, psychosocial and behavioural factors. Women of younger age, with a low social status, a large number of children, without a partner or with a partner who smokes, and deficient prenatal care, are more likely to smoke than women in the respective reference groups. Conclusions This study identified risk groups with an above-average prevalence of smoking during pregnancy. These risk groups are a key target population for preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of civil society in EU development policy. The two key findings are that over the years European civil society has been increasingly marginalised in the planning and implementation of EU external assistance and that the practice of ensuring effective participation by Southern civil society in the programming process is far from optimal. The first part of the paper shows that the marginalisation of European civil society actors is due to the new emphasis on ownership of development by developing countries and is also a consequence of the process of devolution of management authority from Brussels to the external delegations. Moreover, while the interaction between European civil society actors and the European Commission has progressively become more difficult, their relations with European Parliament and a majority of the member states in the Council continue to be optimal. The second part of this paper concentrates on the involvement of Southern non-state actors in the programming process. While in theory the Cotonou Agreement provides a comprehensive framework for integrating civil society in the development process, the practice has been very different. Efforts have been made to involve as many actors as possible; nonetheless the overall quality of participation is not yet satisfying. An even more serious concern is that little progress has been achieved between the first (2002-2007) and the second (2008-2013) programming exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the scope for developing countries to benefit from the Internet in non-synchronous ways that is, in cases where some delay is involved in the delivery of information, as compared with the real-time alternative used in developed countries. The first part of the paper draws on insights from Becker and others, to argue that poor people in poor countries are wont to exchange (relatively abundant) time for reductions in the cost of Internet use. The second part of the paper then examines whether such time-intensive products actually exist and to the extent they do, how the required degree of cost reductions are effected in practice. I conclude that time-intensive Internet technology represents a highly promising opportunity for developing countries to close the digital divide, an opportunity that warrants serious academic scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organized labour, once considered to be a key component of democratically managed political systems, was dismissed as a hindrance to economic and political modernization in the neo-liberal economy. As the size and influence of organized formal sector labour diminishes, this paper examines how unionization as an institutional form of labour organization is gaining popularity among informal workers in newly industrializing nations. Counteracting the impression that this unionization is outdated; the paper looks at this return of unionization and its significance for planners and concludes that this trend calls for more, not less planning, albeit of a different kind than used earlier for state-led industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]