Import competition, employment and wages in U.S. manufacturing

This paper uses cointegration analysis to examine if employment and wages in the U.S. manufacturing sector exhibit any long run relationship with import competition. While overall the cointegration analysis supports the results reported in Revenga’s (1992) panel study it indicates that in the long run a positive correlation between import price and employment and/or a negative correlation between import price and wage are sector sensitive. There is also a considerable variation in the magnitude of employment and wage elasticities.     

The role of productivity growth and farmers’ income protection policies in the decline of relative farm prices in the United States

The paper emphasizes three interrelated questions about the decline in relative farm to non-farm prices in the United States since 1973: (1) Is it unusual, (2) What caused it, and (3) Is it likely to continue? We find that based on historical and international evidence this phenomenon may be considered unusual. Separating farm price and income support in 1973 and growing relative productivity in agriculture have been the major contributors to changing the trend of the relative farm goods inflation. This trend is likely to continue based on predicted steady growth of relative agricultural productivity and continuation of direct payments and other forms of farm income support policies.     

Corruption, efficiency and productivity in OECD countries

Over the last decade there has been growing interest in understanding the relationship between corruption and economic performance. The principal motivation of this work is to analyze whether corruption affects the economic results of OECD countries from a productivity-based perspective. To this end, we shall adopt a frontier approach which will allow us, on the one hand, to study whether corruption conditions the efficiency levels at which the economies perform and, on the other, to determine the channels through which it can affect productivity growth, whether by influencing improvements in relative efficiency levels or by shifting the production frontier.     

The dynamics among entrepreneurship,innovation, and economic growth in the Eurozone countries

Economic growth in the Eurozone has been lacklustre over the last two decades due to increased global competition from economic players in other regions, economic and financial crisis, and political uncertainties within the zone. To increase the global competitiveness of the region, the European Union launched the Europe 2020 Strategy to raise the level of entrepreneurship and innovation, which are purported to be key drivers of economic growth. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this assertion is true. Thus, the paper investigates the Granger causal relationships among entrepreneurship development, innovation, and economic growth for a sample of the Eurozone countries for the period 2001–2016. Using a vector error-correction model, the study finds that in the long run, both entrepreneurship and innovation stimulate economic growth. In the short run, strong causal links exist but are not always uniform. The results reveal that Eurozone countries should indeed base their growth strategies on policies that promote innovation and policies that create incentives for entrepreneurship.     

Nondestructive creation: Entrepreneurship and management research in the study of growth

Economists’ focus on institutions in explaining economic growth, while important, can obscure the significant role played by individual entrepreneurs and the process of entrepreneurship. The prevailing view of entrepreneurship in economics (which continues to shape prevailing public policies) centers on Schumpeter's famous concept of “creative destruction.” In the context of sustained high levels of economic growth, as in the recent American experience, I focus on a different feature of entrepreneurship—“nondestructive creation,” in which the uncoordinated contest of ideas and search for new applications of existing ideas generate growth. And this nondestructive creation should be analyzed and can be fostered.     

投资、消费与经济增长

刺激消费不能作为当前宏观政策实施的重点 ,因为投资特别是非国有投资不足才是当前我国经济面临的主要矛盾。非国有经济投资不足的原因在于融资的交易成本太高 ,致使投资意愿得不到相应的资金支持而难以实现。有效解决民营经济的融资难问题 ,实现投资增长和消费回升 ,根本出路在于通过深化金融体制改革 ,进一步完善货币政策传导的微观基础和相应的实施条件。     

The impact of microcredit on small firms in Brazil: A potential to promote investment,growth and inclusion

Over the past decades, microfinance has become a pillar of economic development policies. However, despite the great popularity of micro-credit programs, the results of empirical studies are mixed. Thus, more research is needed to help us understand how effective microfinance is in achieving poverty reduction, economic development, and financial inclusion. This paper contributes to the literature by relying on a unique dataset from one of the biggest Fintech companies in Brazil to study the impact of microcredit on small firms’ outcomes. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that access to credit increases monthly revenues and profits by nearly 4.5%. We show that the effects are stronger for women-led businesses and less experienced entrepreneurs. In addition, we find that credit renewal strengthens the benefits of credit access. We discuss several policy implications from our results. In particular, the permanent availability of credit – as opposed to one-time/short-term interventions -- has greater potential to generate virtuous cycles of ever more reinvestment and growth, indicating larger gains from relaxing borrowing constraints in the long run.     

Social investment effects of public education,health care,and welfare service expenditures on economic growth

The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically examine whether public spending in education, health care, and welfare service operates as a fruitful investment in welfare states, which has been implied in the literature of social investment arguments. Based on comprehensive review of existing literature, this study suggested a tripartite mechanism of social investment effect of such spending, that is “enhancement of human capital,” “support for labor force participation,” and “job creation.” To find the empirical evidence, a pooled time‐series cross‐section analysis was conducted with the data of 15 advanced welfare states from 1980 to 2015 using estimation technique of fixed‐effect model. The results confirmed that public spending in education, health care, and welfare service had a positive medium‐term as well as long‐term effect on economic performance, while cash‐type welfare spending had an obscure or no visible effect on economy. Government consumption that is a proxy and control variable of size of the welfare state showed a positive effect on real GDP in the medium term but a negative effect in the long run. In conclusion, this study suggests that reinforcing social services should be recognized and dealt with as essence of social investment strategy.     

The causal relationship among electricity consumption,economic growth and capital stock in Iran

Due to the progress in industries, electricity consumption (EC) plays a vital role in economic growth (EG) as one of the important components of production. Furthermore, the influence of capital stock (CS) and labor is significant in EG. The main purpose of this paper is to examine causality and relationship among EG, EC, and CS, to forecast these variables and to propose related policy viewpoints for Iran. The empirical findings indicate the lack of short-run causality between pairwise variables. The results of standard Granger-causality (SGC) test demonstrate a bi-directional long-run causality between EC and EG and a uni-directional long-run causality from EC to CS. To forecast variables, the vector auto regression (VAR) model is estimated using logged variables. The Ariño and Franses approach is applied to transform time series data and forecast variables. The performance of the estimated VAR model is investigated and it clarified a highly accurate estimation with mean absolute percentage errors (MAPEs) of less than 4% for all variables. The results of the impulse response function (IRF) analysis indicate the dynamic behavior of long-run causalities. Therefore, to reduce EC and avoid negative impact on EG, Iran should adopt appropriate and affordable policies to raise efficiency optimization of EC. Finally, four policies including privatization, industrialization, supervision of banking resources and allocation of credits and liberalization of electricity prices are proposed.     

Introduction: Social security,inclusive growth and social cohesion

This special issue selectively addresses the relationship linking social security systems, inclusive growth and social cohesion. Inclusive growth and social cohesion are viewed as political expedient and necessary goals for national economies. The desirability of their attainment reflects political pragmatism, the “social contract”, as much as it does a commitment to the wider emancipative goal of social justice. The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has often paraphrased these assertions to argue that there can be “no social justice without social security”. Of course, progress achieved towards the realization of the goals of inclusive growth and social cohesion should be equally beneficial for the adequacy, sustainability and coverage of social security systems. The aim of this special issue is to unpack and better understand the nature of this relationship.     

The relationship between different social expenditure schemes and poverty,inequality and economic growth

In this article, we study how social expenditure is related to poverty, income inequality and GDP growth. Our main contribution is to disentangle these relationships by the following social expenditure schemes: 1) “old age and survivors”, 2) “incapacity”, 3) “health”, 4) “family”, 5) “unemployment and active labour market policies” and 6) “housing and others”. For this purpose, we employ OLS and 2SLS regression models using a panel data set for 22 Member States of the European Union from 1990 until 2015. We find total public social expenditure to be negatively related to poverty and inequality, but not related to GDP growth. The results vary substantially between the different social expenditure schemes, which makes more accurate targeting possible.