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The Habitats Directive is a key document for the protection of critical natural capital in the European Union. In a manner consistent with the understanding of sustainability in the European Commission, even critical natural capital is subject to trade-offs in favour of economic and social development. This is reflected in Articles 6(3) and 6(4) of the directive. This paper analyses the planning process leading to the approval of the expansion of the port of Rotterdam project – which will significantly affect Natura 2000 – against sustainability criteria. Although it shows that the directive is powerful to promote sustainable planning, the success of the case study was due mainly to elements specific to the particular planning process, namely the use of deliberative public participation mechanisms as well as specific assessment tools. Lessons are drawn and recommendations made to strengthen the Habitats Directive and the national planning processes in relation to projects potentially affecting Natura 2000 sites. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widespread perception among academic researchers and aid practitioners alike that empirical cross-country analysis fails to find any significant link between aid flows and growth, and that aid is successful only when associated with good policies in the recipient countries. These positions do not stand up to careful scrutiny of existing studies. In this paper, we offer a re-examination of the literature on the aid–savings, aid–investment, and aid–growth relationships, and a comparative appraisal of more recent research contributions. Using an analytic framework for evaluating the empirical work, a coherent and positive picture of the aid–growth link emerges. There is a robust aid–growth link even in countries hampered by an unfavourable policy environment. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the adoption of neoliberal economic models by Latin American countries as they emerged from military dictatorships into democracies. South American countries' exploitation of natural resources and its relation to their economy; Occurrence in the shift in economic policies of most South American governments in parallel with the forces of political change.

This paper describes the socio‐economic dynamics that, in the Colombian case, underlie the relationship between mining and the territory where it takes place. The description includes the key features of public policy regarding mining, under which mineral resource extraction may have produced unintended effects that raise doubts regarding mining's contribution to Colombian economic development. Under a qualitative approach, I carried out a documentary analysis from which I identified several aspects of the economic and mining policy. The analysis confirms several of the explanations for the so‐called resource curse hypothesis, the connection between these aspects, and of them with specific policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, it is shown that it matters a lot for empirical research whether policy is taken to be exogenously set or to be endogenous. In the model investment depends on policy that depends on economically important fundamentals and is, thus, endogenous. The paper analyzes what might be concluded when treating policies as randomly assigned, when in fact they are not. When policy is endogenous, the measured effects of policy on growth will generally be biased. Based on the model and OECD data, the signs of the biases for tax variables and for redistribution are derived. Based on these signed biases, the paper discusses some empirical results that seem puzzling from a theoretical viewpoint. The paper argues that regressing growth on policy can still yield important information if policy endogeneity is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Having reviewed 1259 papers on cluster theory, we find that current cluster studies primarily discussed cluster phenomena from either a microlevel or mesolevel. We argue that studying relations among clusters would increase our understanding of clusters, and such a research topic is worth becoming a new research orientation for cluster theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stochastic framework for coordination of macroeconomic policies is introduced in this paper. It is suggested that: (i) measures of policy accountability should allow for the climate of uncertainty that surrounds policy decisions, and (ii) most models of aggregate economic activity impose arbitrary specifications of uncertainty that do not appear to be empirically justifiable. Ambiguities in interpreting the Humphrey-Hawkins reports of policy authorities are sketched in section II; a proposal for maximizing the ex ante prospects of policy objectives is illustrated in section III; finally, nonstationary allocations of uncertainty are discussed in sections IV and V. This paper provides a brief survey of ongoing work by members of the Federal Reserve Board staff on the role of uncertainty in policy forecasts. It suggests that policy discussion could be improved by more explicit consideration of the allocation of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper empirically examines the growth effects of stabilisation funds and fiscal rules in oil‐rich African countries, using Nigeria as a case study. The analysis captures the ‘international standard’ of the two fiscal instruments by empirically comparing the effects of Nigerian instruments with those of non‐African oil‐exporting countries (i.e. Norway and Mexico). The results show that the fiscal instruments are effective in Nigeria and that the effectiveness is comparable to that of non‐African economies, implying that the Nigerian instruments meet ‘international standard’. The paper also discusses the development policy implications of the results, one of which is that the fiscal instruments can be used to control risky behaviours of economic agents in oil‐rich African economies. For example, since the instruments are effective in increasing growth (i.e. real GDP growth) and limiting its volatility, they can be employed to control increases in demand for and supply of risky sex caused by increases in real per capita income during oil booms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Harrod, Kalecki and Kaldor, this paper seeks to revive the view that ceteris paribus firms reduce investment if they have already built up high capacities relative to their assessment of the normal potential of their markets. This reaction introduces a fundamental stabilizing mechanism into the economy. The paper adapts the idea to a growth context and applies it to the neo‐Kaleckian baseline model with its Harrodian instability. It demonstrates that, in principle, a sufficiently strong feedback could stabilize the steady state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of economic development research. They include "Recent trends and prospects for major Asian economies," "Unintended consequences: social policy, state institutions and the 'stalling' of the Malaysian industrialization project" and "Vanuatu's economy: is the glass half empty or half full?"

This paper studies how catch‐up industrial policies in China affect economic development in a two‐sector neoclassical growth model. To fulfil their aspirations of catching up with the output of the capital‐intensive sector of developed countries, Chinese political leaders adopted industrial policies that subsidise this target sector at the expense of other sectors from 1952 until the economic reform in 1978. The static effect of this industrial policy distorts the allocation of resources across sectors and lowers the aggregate TFP. The dynamic effect discourages the accumulation of capital. We show that although the output of the capital‐intensive sector boosts initially, it will be lower than its first‐best counterpart in the long run if catch‐up aspirations are too strong. Our theoretical predictions are consistent with the experience of the Chinese economy from 1952 to 1978. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

The paper discusses the economic analysis of modern rich economies. It argues that standard economic theory acknowledges that it does not apply if there is own‐consumption and/or joint production and suggests that successful economic reforms of the 1980s have used markets to drive down costs in sectors where standard economic theory applies. This process has resulted in a situation where rich country economies are increasingly oriented to sectors – predominantly services – where markets work less well, namely those with extensive own‐consumption and joint production, where theory says that factor rewards and other prices cannot be determined by production and consumption conditions. Arguing that this can explain the “wages squeeze,” the paper concludes that other economic mechanisms should and have arisen to secure better welfare gains, thus explaining the recent shift in policy priorities of the ACTU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on three papers within the issue: "Long-Term Effects of Government Deficits on the U.S. Output Potential," by George von Furstenburg, "Capital Formation and the Recent Productivity Slowdown," by Peter Clark, and "U.S. Productivity Growth Recession: History and Prospects for the Future," by Michael McCarthy. The author discusses each article and criticizes their shortcomings. He looks at von Furstenburg's use of the Phelps-Shell model of dynamic economic growth and notes the usefulness of neoclassical growth theory. The author feels that his discussion on the effects of government deficits on output growth or productivity represent a fruitful economic analysis innovation.

The relationship between foreign aid and economic growth has been the subject of much controversy. A recent theme suggesting that aid promotes growth, but only in a good policy environment has ratchet up that debate. In this paper, we assess the importance of policy and aid in generating growth when the aid, policy, and growth relationship is nonlinear. This allows us to examine the varying effects of aid and policy in different data segments, which we do without imposing any particular structure on the underlying relationship. We find that policy is an important determinant of growth. We also find partial corroboration of the view that aid is growth enhancing in a good policy environment, and some evidence of diminishing returns to aid. These findings suggest that nonlinearities if not appropriately addressed fail to capture the detailed underlying dynamics and thereby mask some key features of the aid-policy-growth relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the factors which promote entrepreneurial activity across a number of transition, developing and developed countries. It produces results which highlight the importance of institutions in promoting entrepreneurial activity. This work is part of an on-going research project on the relationship between the legal system and factors which influence economic development. In particular, it has been shown that legal rules protecting creditors and investors influence the size of financial markets which in turn influence economic development. Our paper thus extends the analysis of the impact of institutions beyond that previously established to demonstrate its influence on another driver of economic development. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slow growth of the permanently settled migrants in host cities poses new challenges for the sustainability of China's future urbanization. Given the growing importance of homeownership, this paper clarifies migrants' settlement intentions into three mutually exclusive patterns, including de facto permanent settlement intention through homeownership, long‐term temporary settlement intention and short‐term temporary settlement intention. Based on matched micro‐ and macro‐level data, this paper examines the influence of city economic development and housing prices on these three patterns. The results suggest that economic development exhibits an attractive effect on migrants' settlement intentions for both earning money and for making a life while housing price weakens rural migrants' de facto permanent settlement intention. We also highlight the effect of the Housing Provident Fund (HPF), the most important housing financial policy in China, on settlement intention, and the results suggest that the HPF serves as an option to help migrants achieve permanent settlement through housing availability. The findings can explain the mixed results of previous research and provide policy references for sustainable urbanization in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reviews the recent (post‐2000) literature that assesses the importance of institutions as a factor determining cross‐country differences in growth rates or in the contemporary level of “prosperity.” It first sketches how institutional economics has evolved. It then examines critically the methods of analysis employed in the recent literature. The paper finds that this literature has made a major contribution to the analysis of the causes of economic growth but the relative importance of institutions as a determinant of long‐run growth and prosperity is still a wide open question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the development of tax policy in the UK over the last decade or so and assesses policy change against a low bar-consistency and coherence. While this government has followed some consistent policies-notably, in some aspects of corporation tax and in increasing the income tax personal allowance-there are few signs of a wider coherent strategy. The same has been true of other recent governments. Many aspects of the system have become more complex. There have been numerous policy reversals. And few of those aspects of the system in most need of reform have been tackled. The need for reform, and a clear strategy for reform, remain as pressing as ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the driving forces behind structural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa, and to further access the role of structural reforms in accounting for cross-country differences in transformation. Evidence from this paper reveals that country specific fundamentals, institutions and policy reforms as well as governance and fiscal reforms are the key drivers of transformation in the region. A set of policy strategies is proposed to engender sustained transformation and development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighty per cent of the world's population professes religious belief. Such beliefs provide precepts on how individuals should conduct their private lives and (often) how society should be organized. Given there are 2.1 billion Christians worldwide and 1.3 billion Muslims, understanding the religious approach to social life based on sacred texts and social teachings of Christianity and Islam has a strong relevance to those interested in implementing international economic development policies. This paper argues that religion can thus play a positive role in development and specifically support development economic policies at the international level. The purpose of this paper is not to present a fully formed development economic policy, but rather to identify teachings of the world's two largest religions - such as preferencing the poor, minimizing inequality and having the economy serve wider realms of society - that directly speak to how sustainable economic development is understood within these faith traditions and how these teachings could scaffold and support and international policy frameworks aimed to achieve sustainable economic development. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No empirical evidence has yet emerged for the existence of a robust positive relationship between financial openness and economic growth. This paper argues that a key reason for the elusive evidence is the presence of a time-varying relationship between openness and growth: countries tend to gain in the short term, immediately following capital account liberalization, but may not grow faster or even experience temporary growth reversals in the medium to long term. The paper finds substantial empirical evidence for the existence of such an intertemporal tradeoff for 45 industrialized and emerging market economies. The acceleration of growth immediately after liberalization is found to be often driven by an investment boom and a surge in portfolio and debt inflows. By contrast, the quality of domestic institutions, the size of FDI inflows and the sequencing of the liberalization process are found to be important driving forces for growth in the medium to longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the practical approach to sustainable development in Bhutan and specifically on public views on and experiences with the implementation of this strategy. Bhutan's development goal is ‘gross national happiness’. The strategy it has adopted to achieve this goal is known as the ‘middle path strategy’, which essentially addresses four sources (‘pillars’) of gross national happiness: economic development, ecological preservation, cultural preservation and good governance, without giving greater emphasis to any one pillar over the others. The paper is based on a survey conducted in 10 districts of Bhutan. Standard pre-designed questionnaires were used for interviews with representatives of three main groups in society: the state, civil society and the market. The results of this survey, the first of its kind to be carried out in the country, revealed that there is general agreement with the substance of the development strategy, although not everyone is fully aware of its scope and implications. A remarkable outcome of the survey, and one that contrasts with happiness studies conducted elsewhere in the world, was the high score for happiness in a country whose gross domestic product is so small. However, people do feel uncertain and the chosen development path is still fragile. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the dynamically evolving triangular relationships between institutions, growth and inequality in the process of economic development, in order to deepen the understanding of institutional conditions for pro-poor growth and shared growth. In this context, the paper discusses the institutional conditions found in sub-Saharan Africa, which may have produced the growth pattern that is unequal and against the poor. The analysis shows that sub-Saharan African countries require transforming institutions for embarking upon and sustaining a development path which would ensure shared growth in years to come. The paper first evaluates the growth-inequality-poverty nexus, as found in the recent literature, which increasingly challenges the trade-off between growth and equity, as postulated in the traditional theories. Various definitions of pro-poor growth are discussed and a sharper definition of the concept of ‘shared’ growth is provided. Definitions of institutions are then examined, as well as the triangular inter-relationships between institutions, inequality and poverty. The paper finally analyses specific institutional conditions found in sub-Saharan Africa that prevent economies from emerging out of low-equilibrium poverty traps that are characterized by low economic growth, unequal distribution of income and wealth as well as unequal access to resources and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a note about Cheng et al.'s paper, in which we consider a dual structure of division of labour and trade that is missed in the model of Cheng et al. Though the inclusion of the dual structure will not change the main results in the paper by Cheng et al., it explores an interesting way to use a general equilibrium model to describe a dual structure with underemployment in a transitional period of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of remittances on economic growth, using developing countries in Asia and the Pacific as a case study. Using data for the period 1993–2013, our results show that remittances only generate negative and significant impacts on economic growth if they reach 10 percent of GDP or higher. A remittances‐to‐GDP ratio of below 10 percent could still impact growth negatively, but the effect is statistically insignificant. The present study finds some degree of substitutability between remittances and financial development. Foreign direct investment (FDI), but not other types of capital inflow, contributes significantly to economic growth. Other traditional growth engines, including education, trade openness, and domestic investment, are crucial in promoting growth in developing Asian and Pacific nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along the path of economic development, advancement of some groups naturally generates economic disparity in society. The concurrent presence of both winners and losers invariably give rise to the psychologically economic question of how the losers perceive and respond to the benefits of development. The 'tunnel effect' proposed by Hirschman provides valuable insights for understanding the changing tolerance of economic inequality in the process of economic development. This paper critically discusses this proposition, reviews the related literature, and provides possible extensions. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the impact of Asia's demand rebalancing and supply‐side productivity changes on long‐term economic growth in Asia and worldwide. Results from a panel vector autoregression model show that a productivity–neutral demand‐rebalancing shock has no permanent effect on Asian output, whereas labour productivity shocks have significant, positive and permanent effects. Simulations using a global intertemporal multisector general equilibrium model suggest that labour productivity shocks increase the foreign GDP over time, but rebalancing shocks have a negative international spillover effect. In addition, labour productivity shocks help in rebalancing. Structural reforms promoting labour productivity growth along with rebalancing policies across Asia can achieve higher economic growth worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Policy reforms targeting the services sectors are a neglected dimension of the process of structural transformation and economic development. The effects of such reforms on employment across industries as a function of their use of services as intermediate inputs are theoretically ambiguous and remain largely understudied. This paper uses sector‐level data for 24 transition economies for the 1990–2012 period to assess the impacts of services policy reforms on downstream manufacturing employment. We find a negative effect of services reforms on manufacturing sector employment. This is mostly associated with the process of transition to a market‐based economy. Controlling for transition‐specific dynamics, the data suggest a neutral effect of progress towards adopting “best practice” policies for upstream services on employment in downstream manufacturing. Furthermore, in line with the extant literature, we confirm that services policy reforms enhance productivity of downstream manufacturing industries. Finally, we find that the negative effects on downstream employment are mitigated in countries with better economic governance and human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Domestic savings remain low in Ghana despite several attempts to improve this situation. Whereas existing studies on private savings have identified several determinants, the role of financial literacy in saving decisions has not been explored. In this paper, we build on existing studies and provide evidence supporting our hypothesis that financial literacy is key to promoting domestic saving. The study relies mainly on primary data, and the binary probit regression model is employed as the estimation technique. Our results show that improving financial literacy among Ghanaians should be incorporated into the broad policy package aimed at increasing domestic saving which is a prerequisite for investment and subsequently sustainable economic growth. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study complements existing literature by investigating how the advancement in information and communication technology affects the formal economic participation of women. The focus is on 48 African countries for the period 1990‐2014. The empirical evidence is based on ordinary least squares, fixed effects and the generalized method of moments regressions. The results show that improving communication technology increases female economic participation with the following consistent order of increasing magnitude: mobile phone penetration, internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions. The findings are robust to the control for heterogeneities across countries. Policy implications are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing tax system complexity is a common goal amongst policymakers; yet there is no commonly agreed definition of complexity. This paper seeks to fill this gap, by proposing the construction of an index of tax system complexity, conceived as a summary indicator of the overall complexity of a tax system at a particular point in time. If adopted, such an index would not only enable assessment of the changing level of a country's tax system complexity over time, but may also facilitate comparisons of the relative complexity of different countries' tax systems in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

One of the significant features of Chinese economic development in the 1980s was that grain imports increased sharply, while the whole economy experienced rapid growth and reform. This paper attempts to measure the domestic resources costs (DRC) of rice and wheat production in China (two of the most important grains in the Chinese grain sector) during the period 1981-87 and to examine the questions of whether, or to what extent, the level of comparative advantage in grain production can explain the performance of China's grain trade. Substantial comparative advantage in China's rice production and considerable comparative disadvantage in wheat production have been found by the measurement. These preliminary results suggest that the relative costs incurred by China's domestic grain sector were likely to have played some role in determining both the structure of its grain trade and its large scale of net wheat importation in the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on infrastructure spending and unemployment in Australia. The Australian government's policy package had several components. The first was a recognition that high economic growth was required if significant inroads into unemployment were to be achieved. Given the government's beliefs about the likely outcomes for labour productivity and the labour force participation rate, it was thought that a real growth rate of 4.8 per cent would be required to achieve the target unemployment rate of 5 per cent by 2001. The Green Paper and the subsequent White Paper were pretty vague as to exactly how such a long stretch of high economic growth was to be achieved, placing a lot of faith on microeconomic reform and improving the quality of labour through training reform. However, it was also recognised that high growth by itself was not sufficient, and that a policy of active labour market programs directed at the long-term unemployed and those at high risk' of becoming long-term unemployed would be necessary to reduce long-term unemployment. The Job Compact was an extensive raft of active labour market programs which included an expanded wage subsidy scheme, training programs and case management of the chronically unemployed and which placed an obligation on targeted individuals to participate in the scheme to retain unemployment benefits.

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 discusses the trade policies and practices of Singapore based on the latest WTO trade policy review. Though Singapore's trade policies have been effective and contributing to its remarkable economic performance, it also faces problems and new challenges in the modern globalisation era. Reviewing Singapore's policies also provides guidance for other small open economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Europe's growth problem. Recovery from the recent global financial crisis and 'great recession' has been slower than after previous recessions in most advanced countries and areas, especially Europe. But the European growth problem is structural in character and it started much earlier. This paper analyses the structural causes of the European growth problem, evaluates the policies that Europe adopted to overcome it, and concludes that even with the appropriate policies, the prospects for accelerating growth in Europe will be difficult, especially in the context of Brexit and the slowdown of world growth in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic theory suggests that opening the capital account should allow a country to diversify away economic shocks, increase capital inflows, expand economic growth and efficiency as well as encourage governments to pursue good policies. The empirical evidence with regard to these theoretical predictions, however, are in some instances debatable. Many studies, for example, have reported mixed results as it relates to the impact of capital account integration on growth, exchange rates, trade and policy discipline. This paper provides a review of this literature as well as some recommendations for policymakers in relation to managing the process of removing capital controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economics of happiness, or subjective well being, is an expanding field, with a growing number of applied papers reporting empirical associations between happiness and other variables. This paper takes a broad view of the topic, aiming to provide an outline of the literature in relation to happiness economics' origins, definitions, theory, methods, applications, critiques, relations with other areas of economic research, political and policy connections, and promising directions for future inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a spatial neoclassical growth model for a system of N regional economies. Regional output growth is determined by interregional fixed capital relocations which depend on initial factor endowments as well as a region's relative location in space. The dynamics of the model are captured by a Taylor approximation, which provides a testable spatial econometric model specification that is applied for European regions on the NUTS 2 level. Both theoretical and empirical results show how relatively high human capital endowments are beneficial to growth if found within one region, but disadvantageous if found in neighbouring regions. Este artículo proporciona un modelo de crecimiento neo-clásico espacial para un sistema de N economías regionales. El crecimiento del producto regional viene determinado por deslocalizaciones interregionales de capital fijo que dependen de la dotación de factores inicial, así como de la relativa localización espacial de una región. Las dinámicas del modelo son capturadas mediante una aproximación de Taylor, que proporciona una especificación comprobable de modelo econométrico espacial que se aplica a regiones europeas a nivel NUTS 2. Tanto los resultados teoréticos como los empíricos muestran como las dotaciones relativamente elevadas de capital humano son ventajosas para el crecimiento cuando se concentran en una región, pero una desventaja si se encuentran en regiones vecinas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether related variety, among other types of spatial externalities, affected regional growth in Spain at the NUTS 3 level during the period 1995-2007. We found evidence that related variety matters for growth across regions, especially when using two new methods that measure revealed relatedness between industries. The first method is based on Porter's cluster classification while the second method uses the proximity index proposed by Hidalgo et al. Our analyses show that Spanish provinces with a wide range of related industries tend to show higher economic growth rates, once we control for other determinants of growth. Este artículo investiga si la variedad relacionada, entre otros tipos de externalidades espaciales, afectó el crecimiento regional en España a nivel NUTS 3 durante el periodo 1995-2007. Hallamos pruebas de que la variedad relacionada influye en el crecimiento entre regiones, especialmente al utilizar dos métodos nuevos que miden el grado de conexión manifiesto entre industrias. El primer método está basado en la clasificación de conglomerados de Porter, mientras que el segundo método utiliza el índice de proximidad propuesto por Hidalgo et al. Nuestros análisis muestran que las provincias españolas con un amplio rango de industrias relacionadas tienden a mostrar tasas de crecimiento económico más altas, una vez que se logra controlar otros factores determinantes del crecimiento. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation policy has emerged as a new field of economic policy during the last few decades. This paper explores the rationales for national innovation policies, as laid out in the existing literature on the subject, and considers what the lessons and challenges for theory and practice in this area are. Innovation policy attempts to influence innovation activity, often with the purpose of increasing economic growth. But it can also have more specific aims such as preventing unwarranted climate change, improving national health, and so on. The increasing attention given to innovation policy at the national level from the 1990s onwards went hand in hand with the development of a new, systemic understanding of innovation, which in a better way than before accounted for the 'stylised facts' of innovation activity as identified by empirical work. The system approach, as the paper shows, came to have a significant influence on the subsequent policy discourse. Drawing on recent advances in innovation-systems theory, a synthetic framework for the analysis of innovation policy is developed and used to highlight issues of particular relevance for the conduct of innovation policy and future scholarly work in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional growth rate measures (such as month-on-month, year-on-year growth rates and 6-month smoothed annualized rate adopted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Economic Cycle Research Institute) are popular and can be easily obtained by computing the growth rate for monthly data based on a fixed comparison benchmark, although they do not make good use of the information underlying the economic series. By focusing on the monthly data, this paper proposes the k-month kernel-weighted annualized rate ( k-MKAR), which includes most existing growth rate measures as special cases. The proposed k-MKAR measure involves the selection of smoothing parameters that are associated with the accuracy and timeliness for detecting the change in business turning points. That is, the comparison base is flexible and is likely to vary for different series under consideration. A data-driven procedure depending upon the stepwise multiple reality check test for choosing the smoothing parameters is also suggested in this paper. The simple numerical evaluation and Monte Carlo experiment are conducted to confirm that our measures (in particular the two-parameter k-MKAR) improve the timeliness subject to a certain degree of accuracy. The business cycle signals issued by the Council for Economic Planning and Development over the period from 1998 to 2009 in Taiwan are taken as an example to illustrate the empirical application of our method. The empirical results show that the k-MKAR-based score lights are more capable of reflecting turning points earlier than the conventional year-on-year measure without sacrificing accuracy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central question of this paper is to test whether multinational firms (MNFs) are more likely to exit the local market than domestic firms. Using firm-level data for Belgium, we estimate a random effects probit model taking into account the endogeneity of firm size, total factor productivity (TFP) and sunk costs in firm exit. Our results highlight two features of the 'footloose' nature of MNFs. First, controlling for firm and sector characteristics, the exit probability of MNFs is larger than that of domestic firms. Second, MNFs have a lower sensitivity to TFP and size than do domestic firms. This means that an improvement in economic performance on the local market will not prevent a multinational from closing its local plant as much as it would for a domestic firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses several issues related to the relationship between finance and development. Link between financial development and economic growth; Role of finance in poverty reduction in developing countries; Stability of the financial system.

The economic crisis has had significant short-term effects in most countries around the world, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the economies are now expected to begin recovering, although the recovery is anticipated to be protracted, uneven across indicators and countries, and may be fragile. Despite the recovery, will the crisis have long-term consequences for human development and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) achievements in Africa? If so, what are the mechanisms through which such impacts could take place, and what is the role for policy? This paper seeks to address these questions by examining the evidence from similar episodes in the past, and by using a simple framework to assess the long-term impact on human development including trends towards the MDGs. Using growth projections to 2014 for the countries in the region, and a range of observed trends, it models possible impacts on the MDGs, and demonstrates how the crisis could lead to real slow-downs or reversals in the rate of progress. Based on these results the paper suggests that a series of active policy interventions are needed both to accelerate progress towards the MDGs and to build resilience for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the latter half of 2010, a new round of inflation has gradually been manifesting in China. The debate regarding whether excess money supply is responsible for this inflation has attracted scholars to investigate the effects of money growth on inflation. In this paper, we use correlation analysis to confirm the comovement between growth of monetary aggregates and inflation. We explore the asymmetric effects of monetary policy on inflation using the Markov regime-switching model. The empirical results show that monetary policy can be more effective in curbing inflation in a high inflation state than in boosting the price level in a low inflation state. However, simply tightening the money supply might not be sufficient to suppress the price level. To this end, the Chinese Government should adopt other policies, such as supply stabilization policies, to help suppress the price level. Our study can help policy-makers to determine the actual economic state and provides some policy implications for the current inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]