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1. Cycles versus Trends: The Effects of Economic Growth on Earnings in Bolivia

Author:
Beatriz Muriel H. and Horacio Vera C.
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the effects of economic growth on labor earnings in Bolivia during 1999-2012. More precisely, we develop a labor market model to capture both cycle and trend effects of prices, and production on earnings, which is estimated econometrically using pseudo-panel data methods. The results show that labor earnings have had a pro-cyclical behavior. In particular, we find that, in the short run, an increase of 1% in prices or production explains an earnings rise of around 0.5%, while, in the long run, a production increase of 1% is associated with an earnings variation of 0.4%. Furthermore, we find that labor earnings growth by sector follows, to some extent, the economic performance of its corresponding sector, which responds to the sector segmentation characteristics in the Bolivian labor market.
Topic:
Business, Economic Growth, Earnings, and Wages
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

2. Does Licensing Induce Technological Spillovers to Domestic Firms?

Author:
Luis Castro
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
Productivity differences can explain differences in economic growth across countries. It has been demonstrated that the presence of a foreign-owned multinational enterprise (MNE) in a developing country is one of the most important methods through which technology transfer occurs. This presence could be in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI), licensing, or imports from the developing country. However, it is still unclear by what means and how effectively each type of foreign presence affects domestic productivity. In this paper, I study licensing as one of the channels through which foreign technology is transferred to domestic plants. This technology transfer can occur in one industry and also in related industries, which results in technology spillovers that can affect both intra- and inter-industry productivity. Moreover, the institutional framework of the country can affect the type of foreign presence adopted by MNEs in the host country. Therefore, it is important to analyze the effect of a change in the institutional framework on technology spillovers. This can be achieved by analyzing a set of new and stronger intellectual property rights (IPR). Using Chilean firm level data for the 2001–2007 period I find that there are positive inter-industry spillover effects when licensing occurs in downstream sectors which result in higher productivity for domestic plants in upstream sectors (backward spillovers). When evaluating the effect of the IPR measure, I find that stronger IPR measures decrease the backward spillover effect. I also find that the change in policy has a stronger effect on firms that are, on average, smaller and have low productivity. Moreover, there is a crowding-out effect between licensing and FDI since, with better IPR, MNEs prefer doing licensing than incurring higher costs of FDI. This is consistent with the literature arguing that licensing becomes the preferred mode of technology transfer, replacing FDI, once a certain threshold of IPR is reached.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Business, and Spillovers
Political Geography:
South America and Chile

3. Employment and Labor Regulation: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in Bolivia, 1988-2007

Author:
Beatriz Muriel and Carlos Gustavo Machicado
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper analyzes employment in Bolivian registered manufacturing firms during 1988 to 2007, establishing its relationship with labor regulation. Estimating job flows, we find that firms with high temporary worker rates (less labor regulation costs) are those with both higher job reallocation rates and higher net employment growth, and only they contributed to employment growth during the country economic downturn, 1998-1999. In addition, estimating demand functions, we find the following effects of recent changes in labor norms: i) the compulsory basic salary rise in 2006-2009 entailed costs in terms of job losses, 5.6 percent for production workers and 4.8 percent for non-production workers; iii) the major labor costs derived from the new pension law, enacted in 2010, decreased employment demand around 1 percent; and, iv) labor protection policies decreased production workers demand.
Topic:
History, Labor Issues, Employment, Regulation, Business, and Manufacturing
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia