Download or read book Private Savings Determinants in Former Soviet Union Countries written by Botagoz Kalkenova and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2011-09 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inheriting similar political and economic institutions, the dissolution of the Soviet Union can be considered as a natural experiment that allows the tracing of the influence of political institutions on economic results. This book will investigate the difference of the private saving rate determinants in fifteen selected former USSR countries. On the surface, savings rates in resource rich countries with autocratic political regimes tend to be higher than those in economies with more liberal political cultures. For that reason, the analysis is guided by the idea that diverging private savings rates cannot be solely explained by differing socio-economic fundamentals, but can be rather attributed to the nature of political regimes shaping socio-economic fundamentals and thus private savings decisions. In this regard, a critical assumption, underlying the line of argument, is that different political regimes provide people with different opportunities and incentives to save. Taking this perspective, this book tries to extend on the existing literature on savings rates in transition economies, which has primarily viewed savings decisions as a function of socio-economic factors.
Download or read book Exploring the Political Economy of Diverging Private Savings Patterns in Selected Transition Economies written by Botagoz Sabirovna Kalkenova and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis has investigated the differences of private savings determinants in fifteen selected former Soviet Union countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. On the surface, savings rates in resource rich countries with autocratic political regimes tend to be higher than those in countries with more liberal, democratic political cultures. For that reason, this analysis was guided by the idea that diverging private savings rates cannot be solely explained by differing socio-economic fundamentals, but rather can be attributed to the nature of the political regimes shaping socio-economic fundamentals. In this regard a critical assumption underlying the line of argument was that different political regimes provide people with different opportunities and incentives to save. Taking this perspective, this thesis tried to extend on the existing literature on savings rates in transition economies, which has primarily viewed savings decisions as a function of socio-economic factors (e.g. GDP per capita, annual GDP growth). To analyze the empirical relationship between private savings and the quality of political institutions and regime types in the selected fifteen post-soviet countries, a two-way fixed effects panel model covering the period between 1998 and 2008 was applied. The data for this study has been obtained from different sources such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Polity IV Project, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and British Petroleum. Research findings indicate that financial and capital account liberalizations may increase domestic activity with a positive effect on overall economic income, and thus private savings, but it also can be a driver of short-term and non-sustainable financial acceleration. Striking a balance on this double edged sword of financial liberalization depends rather on the quality of market governing institutions, i.e. regulatory quality, than political regime type. Substantially lower and decreasing private savings rates in democratic countries of the former USSR can be attributed to popular pressures for immediate consumption. This has been primarily financed by a rapid influx of foreign bank capital. In contrast, well-endowed countries characterized by more autocratic forms of governance seem to have relied more on repressive financial governance and resource revenues to safe-guard political and economic stability. From a public policy perspective, several immediate implications arise. It would seem a natural choice for resource poor economies to implement taxes aimed at cooling an excessive expansion of consumption credit and thereby to direct capital inflows toward more productive ends in the investment sector would present a natural choice. In addition, raising social security contributions may slow down households' consumption (in this case, household disposable income will be lower), although it may also undermine households' ability to save. For resource rich economies, research findings indicate that these economies could reduce forced private savings and increase current consumption levels, spurring domestic demand and overall economic welfare for their citizens. However, as this study has shown, financial liberalization can come at the expense of deteriorating domestic private savings rates, if not accompanied by substantial macroeconomic and regulatory reform.
Download or read book Income Inequality and Poverty During the Transition from Planned to Market Economy written by Branko Milanovi? and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Bank Technical Paper No. 394. Joint Forest Management (JFM) has emerged as an important intervention in the management of Indias forest resources. This report sets out an analytical method for examining the costs and benefits of JFM arrangements. Two pilot case studies in which the method was used demonstrate interesting outcomes regarding incentives for various groups to participate. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the incentives for communities to participate in JFM.
Download or read book From Red to Gray written by Mukesh Chawla and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conventional wisdom holds that aging populations are unfavorable for economic growth because of their potential impacts on labor supply, productivity, and savings. When this is coupled with the increased spending pressures because of pension requirements and health care, aging societies are likely to face serious fiscal problems. This report addresses these concerns in the unique context of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union where many countries are aging rapidly without the economic resources and institutional capacity of other aging societies in Western Europe and Japan.
Download or read book Transition the First Ten Years written by Pradeep Mitra and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wide variation in transition economies raises questions about differences in economic growth, the applicability of transition policies, and the advantages of economic reform. This report seeks to answer these questions.
Download or read book Forced Savings and Repressed Inflation in the Soviet Union written by Mr.Mario I. Bléjer and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1991-06-01 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In countries such as the Soviet Union, where wealth is mainly stored in monetary assets, the behavior of the money to income ratio is a poor indicator of the growth of undesired monetary balances (monetary overhang). In those countries a monetary overhang is primarily a wealth overhang, which has to be analyzed by evaluating deviations of actual from desired wealth holdings; this requires an empirical analysis of consumption and saving decisions. In this paper, we present estimates of a consumption function for the Soviet Union, from which an evaluation of the monetary overhang existing at the end of 1990 is derived.
Download or read book The Determinants of National Saving and Wealth written by Richard Hemming and published by Springer. This book was released on 1983-02-17 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Capital Flows to Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union written by Stijn Claessens and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: September 1998 Foreign direct investment and, more recently, short-term debt and portfolio flows have become important parts of private capital flows to Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Private flows have increased in response to reform efforts, the buildup of reserves, and prospective membership in the European Union. Private capital flows to Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have taken off in recent years. Foreign direct investment was the most important such flow from 1991-97, but since 1993 short-term debt and portfolio flows have also been important. The increase in these potentially more volatile short-term flows raises some questions about sustainability and vulnerability. Perhaps more than in other developing countries, reform efforts appear to be the most important determinant of private flows to the region. Private flows also have responded positively to the buildup of reserves (a proxy for improvements in perceived creditworthiness) and to prospective membership in the European Union (reflecting greater economic integration with the West and a greater commitment to reform). Official flows have been associated with the financing of fiscal deficits and appear to have led, rather than followed, countries' reform efforts. This paper-a joint product of the Economic Policy Division, Poverty Reducation and Economic Management Network; and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region-was prepared for the National Bureau for Economic Research study, Capital Flows to Emerging Markets, organized by Sebastian Edwards. The authors may be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].
Download or read book World Inequality Report 2018 written by Facundo Alvaredo and published by Belknap Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Inequality Report 2018 is the most authoritative and up-to-date account of global trends in inequality. Researched, compiled, and written by a team of the world's leading economists of inequality, it presents--with unrivaled clarity and depth--information and analysis that will be vital to policy makers and scholars everywhere. Inequality has taken center stage in public debate as the wealthiest people in most parts of the world have seen their share of the economy soar relative to that of others, many of whom, especially in the West, have experienced stagnation. The resulting political and social pressures have posed harsh new challenges for governments and created a pressing demand for reliable data. The World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley, has answered this call by coordinating research into the latest trends in the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth on every continent. This inaugural report analyzes the Lab's findings, which include data from major countries where information has traditionally been difficult to acquire, such as China, India, and Brazil. Among nations, inequality has been decreasing as traditionally poor countries' economies have caught up with the West. The report shows, however, that inequality has been steadily deepening within almost every nation, though national trajectories vary, suggesting the importance of institutional and policy frameworks in shaping inequality. World Inequality Report 2018 will be a key document for anyone concerned about one of the most imperative and contentious subjects in contemporary politics and economics.
Download or read book The Former Soviet Union in Transition written by United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Capitalizing China written by Joseph P. H. Fan and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: La 4e de couverture indique : "Despite a vast accumulation of private capital, China is not embracing capitalism. Deceptively familiar capitalist features disguise the profoundly unfamiliar foundations of "market socialism with Chinese characteristics." The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by controlling the career advancement of all senior personnel in all regulatory agencies, all state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and virtually all major financial institutions state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and senior Party positions in all but the smallest non-SOE enterprises, retains sole possession of Lenin's Commanding Heights. The chapters in this volume examine China's high savings rate, banking system, financial markets, financial regulations, corporate governance, and public finances; and consider policy alternatives the CCP might consider if its goal is China's elevation into the ranks of high income countries."
Download or read book Energy Pricing in the Soviet Union written by Mr.Manmohan S. Kumar and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1991-12-01 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy exports, which are already the primary source of Soviet convertible currency earnings and an important contributor to the budget, could bring in much more revenue if the Soviet Union were to reduce its extremely high levels of energy consumption. To encourage this process, energy prices need to be raised substantially. Under plausible assumptions, it is shown that an increase in prices could yield sizable foreign exchange earnings. Large increases in energy prices could, however, threaten the solvency of industrial enterprises, precipitate major economic and social dislocation, and severely strain interrepublican economic relationships.
Download or read book Pensions Savings and Capital Flows From Ageing to Emerging Markets written by Reisen Helmut and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2000-05-15 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This books explores the international aspects of pension reform, private savings and volatile capital markets and clarifies how they relate to each other.
Download or read book Reforming Tax Systems written by Vahram Stepanyan and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-09-01 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Starting in the early 1990s, the Baltics, Russia, and other (BRO) countries of the former Soviet Union initiated tax reforms that varied widely at the later stages. Recently, some of the BRO countries, basing decisions on the proposition that lowering of the top marginal income tax rate would significantly benefit economic development and increase tax compliance, have initiated a new stage of tax reforms. This paper reviews country experiences and suggests that (i) overall, there seems to be little evidence of a substantial improvement in income tax revenues resulting simply from a reduction in the top marginal tax rates, and (ii) in the BRO countries, the elasticity of the behavior of economic agents, in terms of labor supply, saving, and investment, with respect to income tax rates is not large, and a reduction of the existing income tax rates is unlikely to lead to a notable expansion of economic activity.
Download or read book Fiscal Transition in Countries of the Former Soviet Union written by MissA. Cheasty and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1996-06-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper reviews the uneven record of fiscal performance in the states of the former Soviet Union since independence. Deficits have come down rapidly, an important contribution to stabilization. Given, however, the unexpectedly severe revenue decline and limited financing, the stabilization was reached by sharp cuts in expenditure. The cuts were abrupt and not focused on transition goals, and the instruments used vitiated normal budgetary processes. Hence, benchmarks of fiscal success other than stabilization are elusive. Government intervention and subsidies remain important, social spending is inefficient, and there is little evidence in the budget of restructuring.
Download or read book Household Savings in Transition Economies written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2003 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) brings together the world's leading scholars and development practitioners for a lively debate on state-of-the-art thinking in development policy and the implications for the global economy.The ABCDE is a forum for discussion and debate of important policy issues facing developing countries. The conferences emphasize the contribution that empirical and basic economic research can make to understanding development processes and to formulating sound development policies.The 14th conference addressed four timely and important themes in development: trade and poverty, Africa's future in terms of industrial and/or agricultural development, education and empowerment, and investment climate and productivity. This book is a collection of conference papers from this forum, written by researchers in and outside the World Bank.
