EconStor Collection:
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/28
2024-03-19T03:18:39ZExport Diversification, Externalities and Growth: Evidence for Chile
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19840
Title: Export Diversification, Externalities and Growth: Evidence for Chile
Authors: Herzer, Dierk; Nowak-Lehmann D., Felicitas
Abstract: It is frequently suggested that export diversification contributes to an acceleration of growth in developing countries. Horizontal export diversification into completely new export sectors may generate positive externalities on the rest of the economy as export oriented sectors gain from dynamic learning activities due to contacts to foreign purchasers and exposure to international competition. Vertical diversification out of primary into manufactured exports is also associated with growth since primary export sectors frequently do not exhibit strong spillovers. Thus, it is to be expected that both horizontal and vertical export diversification are positively correlated with economic growth. However, there have been remarkably few empirical investigations into the link between export diversification and growth. This paper attempts to examine the hypothesis that export diversification is linked to economic growth via externalities of learning-by-doing and learning-by-exporting fostered by competition in world markets. The diversification-led growth hypothesis is tested by estimating an augmented Cobb-Douglas production function on the basis of annual time series data from Chile. Based on the theory of cointegration three types of statistical methodologies are used: the Johansen trace-test, a multivariate error-correction model and the dynamic OLS procedure. The estimation results suggest that export diversification plays an important role in economic growth.2006-01-01T00:00:00ZFinancing Agricultural Development: The Political Economy of Public Spending on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19832
Title: Financing Agricultural Development: The Political Economy of Public Spending on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Birner, Regina; Palaniswamy, Nethra
Abstract: Acknowledging that the agricultural sector can play an important role as an engine of pro-poor growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the 'political will' of governments to support this sector. The concept of 'political resources' from the political science literature is used to guide the analysis, as it combines the insights from state-centered and society-centered approaches to explain agricultural policies. Drawing on panel data covering 14 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1980-2001, we present empirical evidence showing that political factors play an important role in determining government's commitment to supporting agricultural development. We use a measure of democracy that varies both across countries and within countries over time. Estimates are presented for separate samples of democracies and non-democracies, and for a pooled sample of all countries and years irrespective of the democratic status. Our results suggest that the rural poor do exercise electoral leverage in democracies; larger rural population shares are associated with higher spending on agriculture in democracies but not in authoritarian regimes. We also find evidence consistent with the theoretical prior that larger farmers tend to be better organized in interest groups. Specifically, we find that the share of traditional agricultural exports such as coffee and cocoa in the total value of exports, which may be an indicator for the ability of farmers' to organize themselves as interest groups, induces greater spending on agriculture. This result holds true for both democracies and nondemocracies.2006-01-01T00:00:00ZIndustrial Policy in an Imperfect World
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19841
Title: Industrial Policy in an Imperfect World
Authors: Hodler, Roland
Abstract: Theoretical analyses of industrial policy normally restrict the range of possible outcomes by abstracting from either market or government failures. This paper thus studies industrial policy and its effectiveness in a model that includes both market and government imperfections. We introduce a public agency responsible for industrial policy into the model of Hausmann and Rodrik (2003), and assume that this agency has limited information and is partly politically motivated. We further extend the model to allow the public agency to communicate with en- trepreneurs and the entrepreneurs to engage in rent seeking. We find that industrial policies are ineffective if the public agency is poorly informed, but that they are not necessarily ineffective if the public agency is highly politically motivated. Given a highly politically mo- tivated public agency, industrial policies are effective if and only if the institutional setting ensures that such policies are modest e.g. by re- stricting the public agency?s budget. Moreover, our model helps us to understand why the same industrial policies that have failed elsewhere have been relatively successful in South Korea and Taiwan.2006-01-01T00:00:00ZMortality and survivors' consumption
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19837
Title: Mortality and survivors' consumption
Authors: Grimm, Michael
Abstract: The literature suggests that in developing countries illness shocks at the household level can have a negative and severe impact on household income. Few studies have so fare examined the effects of mortality. The major difference between illness and mortality shocks is that a death of a household member does not only induce direct costs such as medical and funeral costs and possibly a loss in income, but that also the number of consumption units in the household is reduced. Studies so far focused mainly on adult mortality, disregarded the death of other household members and distinguished only insufficiently between the immediate impact, and the impact after coping strategies have been implemented. Using data for Indonesia, I show that the economic costs related to the death of children and older persons seem to be fully compensated by the decrease of consumption units in the household. In contrast, when prime-age adults die, survivors face additional costs due to the loss of income and, in consequence, implement coping strategies. These strategies are quite efficient and it seems that on average households even over-compensate their loss. This suggests that the implementation of general formal safety nets which are still absent in Indonesia?as in most developing countries?can give priority to the insurance of other types of risks, such as unemployment, illness or natural disasters.2006-01-01T00:00:00Z