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322. Resource-Led Growth — A Long-Term Perspective: The Relevance of the 1870-1914 Experience for Today's Developing Economies
- Author:
- Ronald Findlay and Mats Lundahl
- Publication Date:
- 07-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Resource-Led Growth – A Long-Term Perspective surveys the 1870-1914 experience of growth in resource-rich economies: the so-called regions of recent settlement, some tropical countries and some mineral-based export economies. First, three contrasting stylized views of resource-led development are presented. Thereafter the picture of international trade in primary products and the migration of production factors between 1870 and 1914 is sketched. The third section presents some models that may be used to analyse trade and factor movements in the context of resource-rich (staples) economies and provides some details of the experience of fifteen countries: Canada, the United States, Australia and Argentina among the regions of recent settlement, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ceylon, Malaya, Burma, Siam and the Gold Coast in the tropical group, and Bolivia, Chile and South Africa among the mineral exporters.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, South Africa, Burma, Chile, and Bolivia
323. Group Behaviour and Development
- Author:
- Frances Stewart, Judith Heyer, and Rosemary Thorp
- Publication Date:
- 06-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- A very large amount of activity occurs within groups (that is within families, firms, co-operatives, communities or governments). Yet most economic analysis focuses on market transactions between these agents. The purpose of the study is to analyse within group behaviour. Evidence suggests some groups perform well from the perspective of efficiency, equity and well-being, while others perform poorly. The study aims to identify the main causes for these different outcomes, developing a preliminary analysis of modes of group behaviour, and influences on them.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, and Emerging Markets
324. Economic Theories of the Household: A Critical Review
- Author:
- Päivi Mattila-Wiro
- Publication Date:
- 04-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The aim of this paper is to review the principal assumptions and aspects of the unitary household model and collective models of household behaviour. Empirical studies are presented to assess whether the theories can offer adequate descriptions of household behaviour and to examine the types of policy implications that can be drawn from these. The paper concludes that the models reviewed lack the analytical tools to provide an understanding of the reality of households. Theories are unrealistic and therefore are of little use in the design of policies or projects which endeavour to help people
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, and Emerging Markets
325. Inequality in Income and Access to Education: A Cross-Country Analysis
- Author:
- Daniele Checchi
- Publication Date:
- 04-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- In the current debate on the relationship between inequality in income distribution and growth one of the possible link works through the access to education. After reviewing this debate, a formal model shows how the imperfection of financial markets makes educational choices dependent on the distribution of family incomes. This leads to two testable predictions in the analysis of aggregate data on school enrolments: a negative (linear) relation with the Gini coefficient on incomes distribution; and a positive dependence on public resources invested in education and/or on skill premium in the labour market. These predictions are then tested on a (unbalanced) panel of 102 countries for the period 1960-90. The main findings of this analysis are that, once we control for the degree of development with the (log of) per capita output, financial constraints seem mainly relevant in limiting the access to secondary education. However, when considering gender differences, there is evidence that female participation in education is more strongly conditioned by family wealth, starting from primary education. On the contrary there is no clear evidence of a relevant impact of invested resources, but at the tertiary level.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, and Emerging Markets
326. Liberalization, Globalization, and Income Distribution
- Author:
- Giovanni Andrea Cornia
- Publication Date:
- 03-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Recent mainstream analyses of changes in income distribution over the post World War II period have concluded that income inequality within countries tends to be stable, that there is no strong association between growth and inequality and that, therefore, poverty is best reduced through growth-oriented, rather than distributive, policies.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and International Political Economy
327. Wage Reform, Soft Budget Constraints and Competition
- Author:
- Jian Sun
- Publication Date:
- 02-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Since the beginning of the Chinese economic reforms in 1978, there has been a series of effort to reform the labour compensation practice in state-owned enterprises to strengthen the link between pay and productivity. Despite the reforms, however, rapid increases in wage rates occurred in state-owned enterprises. Moreover, although state-owned enterprises have much lower productivity gains than non-state enterprises, they pay substantially higher wages and have faster wage growth.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, Industrial Policy, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
328. The Asian Currency Crisis: Origins, Lessons and Future Outlook
- Author:
- Abdur Chowdhury
- Publication Date:
- 02-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- What started in the summer of 1997 as a regional economic and financial crisis in East and Southeast Asia had developed into a global financial crisis within the span of a year. This crisis followed the crisis in the European Monetary System in 1992–3 and the Mexican peso crisis in 1994–5. However, unlike the previous two crises, the scale and depth of the Asian crisis surprised everyone. One obvious reason for this is East and Southeast Asia's track record of economic success. Since the 1960s, no other group of countries in the world has produced more rapid economic growth or such a dramatic reduction in poverty. Given so many years of sustained economic performance the obvious question is: how could events in Asia unfold as they did?
- Topic:
- Economics and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Asia, and Southeast Asia
329. The Weightless Economy in Economic Development
- Author:
- Danny Quah
- Publication Date:
- 01-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Can the increasing significance of knowledge-products in national income—the growing weightless economy—influence economic development? Those technologies reduce "distance" between consumers and knowledge production. This paper analyzes a model embodying such a reduction. The model shows how demand-side attributes—consumer attitudes on complex goods; training, education, and skills for consumption (rather than production)—can importantly affect patterns of economic growth and development. Evidence from the failed Industrial Revolution in 14th-century China illustrates the empirical relevance of the analysis.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- China
330. Information Technology and Economic Development: An Introduction to the Research Issues
- Author:
- Matti Pohjola
- Publication Date:
- 11-1998
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- There is substantial evidence that new information technologies are in many ways transforming the operations of modern economies. More than half of employees use a computer at work in the most advanced industrial countries. About 10 per cent of the value of all private investment in fixed non-residential capital is devoted to computers and peripheral equipment in the United States and some other economies. This share goes up to 25 per cent when investment in information processing equipment is included. Nevertheless, all spending on information technology, including hardware, software and services, does not amount to more than 3-4 per cent of nominal GDP in these countries. The share is, however, increasing rapidly, indicating that a steady state has not yet been reached.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States