Download or read book Energy Subsidies and Public Social Spending written by Mr.Christian Ebeke and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-05-06 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper shows that high energy subsidies and low public social spending can emerge as an equilibrium outcome of a political game between the elite and the middle-class when the provision of public goods is subject to bottlenecks, reflecting weak domestic institutions. We test this and other predictions of our model using a large cross-section of emerging markets and low-income countries. The main empirical challenge is that subsidies and social spending could be jointly determined (e.g., at the time of the budget), leading to a simultaneity bias in OLS estimates. To address this concern, we adopt an identification strategy whereby subsidies in a given country are instrumented by the level of subsidies in neighboring countries. Our Instrumental Variable (IV) estimations suggest that public expenditures in education and health were on average lower by 0.6 percentage point of GDP in countries where energy subsidies were 1 percentage point of GDP higher. Moreover, we find that the crowding-out was stronger in the presence of weak domestic institutions, narrow fiscal space, and among the net oil importers.

Download or read book Energy Subsidies and Public Social Spending written by Christian Ebeke and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper shows that high energy subsidies and low public social spending can emerge as an equilibrium outcome of a political game between the elite and the middle-class when the provision of public goods is subject to bottlenecks, reflecting weak domestic institutions. We test this and other predictions of our model using a large cross-section of emerging markets and low-income countries. The main empirical challenge is that subsidies and social spending could be jointly determined (e.g., at the time of the budget), leading to a simultaneity bias in OLS estimates. To address this concern, we.

Download or read book Energy Subsidy Reform written by Mr.Benedict J. Clements and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy subsidies are aimed at protecting consumers, however, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. This book provides the most comprehensive estimates of energy subsidies currently available for 176 countries and an analysis of “how to do” energy subsidy reform, drawing on insights from 22 country case studies undertaken by the IMF staff and analyses carried out by other institutions.

Download or read book Energy Subsidy Reform in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Trevor Serge Coleridge Alleyne and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-08-12 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reform of energy subsidies is an important but challenging issue for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. There is a relatively large theoretical and empirical literature on this issue. While this paper relies on that literature, too, it tailors its discussion to SSA countries to respond to the following questions: Why it is important to reduce energy subsidies? What are the difficulties involved in energy subsidy reform? How best can a subsidy reform be implemented? This paper uses various sources of information on SSA countries: quantitative assessments, surveys, and individual (but standardized) case studies.

Download or read book The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reform written by Jakob Skovgaard and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-23 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive volume provides the first book-length account on the politics of fossil fuel subsidies. This title is also available as Open Access.

Download or read book Fiscal and Welfare Impacts of Electricity Subsidies in Central America written by Marco Antonio Hernández Oré and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central American countries spend approximately one percent of their aggregate gross domestic product subsidizing residential electricity consumption. This amount is comparable with what these countries spend on education and social assistance. The pressure that electricity subsidies exert on government budgets is particularly high when international energy prices rise. Electricity subsidies also provide perverse incentives for the overconsumption of electricity as households do not pay the true cost of their consumption, which in turn reduces incentives to increase energy efficiency. This book answers key questions regarding residential electricity subsidies in Central America. In particular: How do the subsidy mechanisms function in each country? What are their fiscal costs? Are these subsidies good value for the money? How efficient are subsidies in reaching households in need, and what drives this efficiency? What are the reform options? The main message of this book is that there is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of electricity subsidies in Central America by better targeting them to low-income households. The book shows that electricity subsidies help reduce the burden of electricity costs on the lowest-income groups. However, the existing electricity subsidy schemes are very inefficient at targeting resources to low-income households, with the majority of government spending going to higher-income households. Indeed, most countries in the region have the opportunity to significantly reduce the fiscal costs of electricity subsidies without imposing significant costs on households, particularly poor households. Given the limited fiscal space in the region and the major needs of the countries in terms of social services and physical infrastructure, this study seeks to provide Central American policymakers with the analytical foundations necessary to assess the costs and benefits of their electricity subsidy mechanisms, and design effective reform strategies that reflect their unique circumstances and policy priorities.

Download or read book Fiscal Politics written by Vitor Gaspar and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-04-07 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two main themes of the book are that (1) politics can distort optimal fiscal policy through elections and through political fragmentation, and (2) rules and institutions can attenuate the negative effects of this dynamic. The book has three parts: part 1 (9 chapters) outlines the problems; part 2 (6 chapters) outlines how institutions and fiscal rules can offer solutions; and part 3 (4 chapters) discusses how multilevel governance frameworks can help.

Download or read book Research Bulletin March 2015 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Articles in the March 2015 Research Bulletin focus on the oil market, energy subsidies, and output. The Research Summary on "An Exploration in Deep Corners of the Oil Market," authored by Rabah Arezki, Douglas Laxton, Armen Nurekyan, and Hou Wang, examines fluctuations in oil prices. "The State Budget May Afford It All," by Christian Ebeke and Constant Lonkeng Ngbouana, reviews energy subsidies and their fiscal, distributional, and environmental costs. In the “Q&A” column Pau Rabanal takes a look at “Seven Questions on Potential Output.” The Bulletin includes a listing of recent IMF Working Papers, Staff Discussion Notes, recommended readings from IMF Publications, and a call for papers for the next Annual Research Conference. A link with information and free access to IMF Economic Review is also included.

Download or read book Social Unrests and Fuel Prices The Role of Macroeconomic Social and Institutional Factors written by Alassane Drabo and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-10-27 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper investigates the impact of fuel price increases on social unrests in addition to the macroeconomic, social and institutional factors driving this relationship. Using the IV fixed-effect estimator on a sample of 101 developing countries during 2001-2020, we find that changes in fuel prices are positively associated with the number of social unrests, mainly anti-government demonstrations. This impact is however amplified: (i) during economic downturns and periods of high exchange rate instability; (ii) when government spending is low, especially on health and education, thus suggesting that streamlining fuel subsides and diverting parts of the reform savings to the health and education sectors is an appropriate policy that could appease social tensions; (iii) in countries with high income inequality, low institutional quality and high level of corruption. The results are robust to a battery of tests, including the use of an instrumental variable approach to address reverse causality concerns given that social unrests could also prompt a freeze in fuel prices. We also find consistent results using either changes in diesel or gasoline prices. Overall, the findings of the paper provide support to the grievance and deprivation theory in explaining the association between fuel price increases and social unrests, but fail to find evidence for the resource theory and the theory of political opportunities.

Download or read book An Introduction to Circular Economy written by Lerwen Liu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is purposefully styled as an introductory textbook on circular economy (CE) for the benefit of educators and students of universities. It provides comprehensive knowledge exemplified by practices from policy, education, R&D, innovation, design, production, waste management, business and financing around the world. The book covers sectors such as agriculture/food, packaging materials, build environment, textile, energy, and mobility to inspire the growth of circular business transformation. It aims to stimulate action among different stakeholders to drive CE transformation. It elaborates critical driving forces of CE including digital technologies; restorative innovations; business opportunities & sustainable business model; financing instruments, regulation & assessment and experiential education programs. It connects a CE transformation for reaching the SDGs2030 and highlights youth leadership and entrepreneurship at all levels in driving the sustainability transformation.

Download or read book How to Achieve Inclusive Growth written by Valerie Cerra and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-22 with total page 901 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Rising inequality and widespread poverty, social unrest and polarization, gender and ethnic disparities, declining social mobility, economic fragility, unbalanced growth due to technology and globalization, and existential danger from climate change are urgent global concerns of our day. These issues are intertwined. They therefore require a holistic framework to examine their interplay and bring the various strands together. Leading academic economists have partnered with experts from several international institutions to explain the sources and scale of these challenges. They gather a wide array of empirical evidence and country experiences to lay out practical policy solutions and to devise a comprehensive and unified plan of action for combatting these economic and social disparities. This authoritative book is accessible to policy makers, students, and the general public interested in how to craft a brighter future by building a sustainable, green, and inclusive society in the years ahead.

Download or read book If Not Now When Energy Price Reform in Arab Countries April 2017 Rabat Morocco written by International Monetary Fund and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-06-13 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regulating energy prices has been a common practice around the world. The objective is, generally, to facilitate access to energy products, which are central to people’s well-being and countries’ economic development. However, energy price regulation also leads to wasteful and excessive consumption, discourages investment in the energy sector, and locks in inefficient technologies. Low energy prices also result in subsidies that erode fiscal space, while benefits for the poor are limited. All these effects have been evident in Arab countries, where domestic energy prices are among the lowest in the world. The current environment of low oil prices offers a unique opportunity for change. Lessons from international experience suggest how well thought-out and sequenced reforms can be successful.

Download or read book Gulf Cooperation Council GCC Energy Price Reforms in the GCC What Can Be Learned From International Experiences written by International Monetary Fund and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy prices in the GCC countries are low by international standards. These low prices have co-existed with rapid economic development in the region over the past 50 years, but the costs of this policy have also risen in terms of very high energy usage per capita. Providing energy at low prices has also effectively absorbed resources that could otherwise have been invested in human and physical capital or saved for future generations. The implicit cost of low energy prices in the GCC, in terms of foregone revenue, is estimated to be around 5 percent of GDP (about 8 percent of non-oil GDP) this year. GCC countries have been embarking on energy price reform in recent years. The recent decision of the UAE to remove fuel subsidies is an important initiative. Nevertheless, energy prices are generally still below international levels and differ substantially across the GCC countries. In most countries, further steps are needed to raise energy prices to reduce the growth in energy consumption and to support the fiscal adjustment that is necessary in the current lower oil price environment. Evidence in this paper suggests the inflationary impact of higher energy prices in the GCC is likely to be small, and while there may be some adverse effect on growth in the near-term, over the longer-term the growth benefits should be positive. Given the low weight of energy products in the CPI, first round effects of higher energy prices should be limited, while well anchored inflation expectations should help prevent second-round effects. On growth, a gradual increase in energy prices should have a manageable impact on industrial activity, although energy intensive industries will be adversely affected and will need to adjust. In the longer-term energy price reforms could generate significant permanent real income gains for the economy as a whole. More broadly, international experiences suggest that the likelihood of success with energy price reforms increases if the reforms are:

Download or read book IMF Research Bulletin June 2015 written by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the June 2015 issue, the Research Summaries review "Migration: An Attractive Insurance Option in African Countries" (Ahmat Jidoud) and "Investment in Emerging Markets" (Nicolas E. Magud and Sebastian Sosa). The Q&A looks at "Seven Questions on Islamic Finance” (Inutu Lukonga). The Bulletin also includes its regular listings of recent IMF Working Papers and Staff Discussion Notes, as well as information on the "IMF Economic Review." A new IMF eLibrary discussion site on energy and climate change is highlighted, along with new recommendations from IMF Publications.

Download or read book Excerpt Fiscal Politics written by Vitor Gaspar and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-03-24 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper discusses how politics affects policies on the fiscal front. The literature on the political economy of fiscal policy dates back to the nineteenth century when the Italian and Swedish schools of public finance began to analyze how governments choose policies. During the twentieth century, the Public Choice school continued this work and focused on the political incentives and constraints in policy formulation. Elections mainly affect the stabilization and redistribution functions of the government. Proximity of elections can influence the government’s budget decisions in various ways. Ideology heavily influences fiscal policies that pertain to redistribution. Leftwing parties draw their support from workers and the middle- and low-income segments of the population. Thus, they pay particular attention to income inequality, redistribution, social benefits, and interventionist supply-side policies in the form of public provision of human and physical capital. Although the cabinet’s ideology is an important predictor of fiscal policy, it does not always play the same role, especially when the government’s credibility is at stake and they need to reassure financial markets.

Download or read book Commitment to Equity Handbook written by Nora Lustig and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A how-to guide for assessing the impact of fiscal policy on inequality and poverty Inequality has emerged in recent years as a major topic of economic and political discussion, but it is often unclear whether governments can or should do something about it, and if so, what that something might be. This unique volume, edited by Nora Lustig, an equity expert at Tulane University, helps fill that void. Developed by the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane, the book examines both the theory and the practical methods for determining the impact of taxation and public spending on inequality and poverty. It provides a step-by-step guide for policymakers, economists, and social planners when analyzing whether fiscal policy has narrowed or widened inequality. The book also has user-written software for conducting a Commitment to Equity Assessment, along with several country studies of these assessments. In addition to serving as a manual, the book can be used as a stand-alone reference for those interested in the methods for assessing the impact on equity of fiscal policy. It also serves as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on public finance and income distribution.

Download or read book The Economics of Renewable Energy written by Roger Fouquet and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major reference work brings together for the first time key articles on the economics of renewable energy. From a modest role as a backstop technology in the 1970s to a central role in low carbon transitions today, this collection reveals the emergence and growing importance of this sub-field of economics. Topics covered in this timely volume include the costs of renewable power (taking account of issues related to technological development, intermittency and interconnection), policies that promote renewable energy development, its public and private demand, and its impact on the environment and the economy. This indispensable collection is complemented by a comprehensive introduction that will serve as an essential source of reference for students and researchers.