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Cross-country Differences (cross-country + difference)
Selected AbstractsThe Quality of Education, Educational Institutions, and Cross-Country Differences in Human Capital AccumulationGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2005SHAWN D. KNABB ABSTRACT Cross-country studies of education and economic prosperity often reach conflicting results when using growth rates as the measure of economic development. However, growth rates lack persistence over time and may not accurately measure long-term economic success over relatively short economic horizons. To overcome this potential specification problem, we estimate the relationship between key education variables and the capital to physical labor ratio. Using both cross-sectional and panel specifications, we find that both the primary-pupil,teacher ratio and decentralized education finance are associated with a larger capital to physical labor ratio. The relationship between human capital and expenditures, private education, and test scores are less robust. [source] Cross-country experiences and policy implications from the global financial crisisECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 62 2010Stijn Claessens Summary The financial crisis of 2007--2008 is rooted in a number of factors, some common to previous financial crises, others new. Analysis of post-crisis macroeconomic and financial sector performance for 58 advanced countries and emerging markets shows a differential impact of old and new factors. Factors common to other crises, like asset price bubbles and current account deficits, help to explain cross-country differences in the severity of real economic impacts. New factors, such as increased financial integration and dependence on wholesale funding, help to account for the amplification and global spread of the financial crisis. Our findings point to vulnerabilities to be monitored and areas of needed national and international reforms to reduce risk of future crises and cross-border spillovers. They also reinforce a (sad) state of knowledge: much of how crises start and spread remains unknown. --- Stijn Claessens, Giovanni Dell'Ariccia, Deniz Igan and Luc Laeven [source] Anatomy of employment growthECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 34 2002Pietro Garibaldi Summary This paper studies net employment growth across 21 OECD economies since 1980, focusing on the wide range of experiences within the European Union. The initial composition of employment across sectors is relevant in a few countries, but can only partially account for cross-country differences in net employment growth. Institutions play a more important role. A policy package including low dismissal costs and low taxation is significantly associated with high net employment growth and can account for a substantial share of cross-country differences. While the Netherlands' employment miracle is largely accounted for by an increase in part-time jobs for women aged 25,49 in the services sector, we find that in the whole sample part-time jobs largely replace full-time jobs, and temporary jobs replace permanent jobs, with small net effects on hours worked. Continental Europe did not increase employment as much as other OECD countries until the mid-1990s, but later appears to be staging a resurgence of employment growth. We argue that this resurgence is not merely cyclical, is likely related to reforms, and may well be there to stay. [source] Explaining the differences in income-related health inequalities across European countriesHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 7 2004Eddy van Doorslaer Abstract This paper provides new evidence on the sources of differences in the degree of income-related inequalities in self-assessed health in 13 European Union member states. It goes beyond earlier work by measuring health using an interval regression approach to compute concentration indices and by decomposing inequality into its determining factors. New and more comparable data were used, taken from the 1996 wave of the European Community Household Panel. Significant inequalities in health (utility) favouring the higher income groups emerge in all countries, but are particularly high in Portugal and , to a lesser extent , in the UK and in Denmark. By contrast, relatively low health inequality is observed in the Netherlands and Germany, and also in Italy, Belgium, Spain Austria and Ireland. There is a positive correlation with income inequality per se but the relationship is weaker than in previous research. Health inequality is not merely a reflection of income inequality. A decomposition analysis shows that the (partial) income elasticities of the explanatory variables are generally more important than their unequal distribution by income in explaining the cross-country differences in income-related health inequality. Especially the relative health and income position of non-working Europeans like the retired and disabled explains a great deal of ,excess inequality'. We also find a substantial contribution of regional health disparities to socio-economic inequalities, primarily in the Southern European countries. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] International Differences in the Cost of Equity Capital: Do Legal Institutions and Securities Regulation Matter?JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006LUZI HAIL ABSTRACT This paper examines international differences in firms' cost of equity capital across 40 countries. We analyze whether the effectiveness of a country's legal institutions and securities regulation is systematically related to cross-country differences in the cost of equity capital. We employ several models to estimate firms' implied or ex ante cost of capital. Our results support the conclusion that firms from countries with more extensive disclosure requirements, stronger securities regulation, and stricter enforcement mechanisms have a significantly lower cost of capital. We perform extensive sensitivity analyses to assess the potentially confounding influence of countries' long-run growth differences on our results. We also show that, consistent with theory, the cost of capital effects of strong legal institutions become substantially smaller and, in many cases, statistically insignificant as capital markets become globally more integrated. [source] International Pricing in a Generalized Model of Ideal VarietyJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 2009DAVID HUMMELS Lancaster ideal variety; price to market We examine international markups and pricing in a generalized version of an "ideal variety" model. In this model, entry causes crowding in variety space, so that the marginal utility of new varieties falls as market size grows. Crowding is partially offset by income effects, as richer consumers will pay more for varieties closer matched to their ideal types. We show theoretically and confirm empirically that declining marginal utility of new varieties results in: a higher own-price elasticity of demand (and lower prices) in large countries and a lower own-price elasticity of demand (and higher prices) in rich countries. The model is also useful for generating facts from the literature regarding cross-country differences in the rate of variety expansion. [source] AGGLOMERATION VERSUS PRODUCT VARIETY: IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL INEQUALITIES,JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006Kristian Behrens ABSTRACT We investigate how cross-country differences in firms' fixed set-up costs affect the trade-off between global efficiency and spatial equity. Our analysis reveals that the standard assumption of symmetry in set-up costs masks the existence of an interesting effect: the range of available varieties depends on the spatial distribution of firms. In such a setting, where the market outcome leads to excessive agglomeration in the symmetric case, a planner may opt for asymmetric set-up costs and even more agglomeration. We show that the planner will always favor lower set-up costs in the large country with more agglomeration when the consumer's marginal preference for variety is high, or with less agglomeration when the consumer's marginal preference for variety is low. [source] The Structure of Wages by Firm Size: A Comparison of Canada and the USALABOUR, Issue 2 2009Stéphanie Lluis Cross-country comparisons of the skill premium between USA and Canada show differences in the returns to higher education between the two countries since the 1980s. This paper analyses whether such differences could be related to differences in skill distribution and worker sorting across firm size between the two countries. Estimation of the wage structure by size for male non-unionized workers in the private sector reveals that selectivity effects on wages are present and similar in both countries. There are significant and substantial cross-country differences in the returns to education among large firms, especially for younger workers. [source] Employer Wage Differentials in Germany: A Comparative NoteLABOUR, Issue 3 2002Gesine Stephan The paper contributes to the growing empirical literature on employer wage differentials, presenting first estimates for West Germany and comparing them with recent findings from other studies for the USA, France and Denmark. The empirical results show that the variation of global employer wage differentials is comparatively low in West Germany and has remained stable during the first half of the 1990s. This low dispersion results from wage setting for blue-collar workers, while cross-country differences are negligible for white-collar workers. Employer wage differentials have, however, become more important for the remuneration of West German blue-collar workers during the period investigated. [source] The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: the Aggregate EvidenceTHE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 462 2000Olivier Blanchard Two key facts about European unemployment must be explained: the rise in unemployment since the 1960s, and the heterogeneity of individual country experiences. While adverse shocks can potentially explain much of the rise in unemployment, there is insufficient heterogeneity in these shocks to explain cross-country differences. Alternatively, while explanations focusing on labour market institutions explain current heterogeneity well, many of these institutions pre-date the rise in unemployment. Based on a panel of institutions and shocks for 20 OECD nations since 1960 we find that the interaction between shocks and institutions is crucial to explaining both stylised facts. [source] US Credit Crisis and Spillovers to AsiaASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2009Morris GOLDSTEIN F41; F34; F31; F37 We review key highlights of the global credit crisis. We then consider how financial turmoil in the largest advanced economies might be transmitted to East Asia. The focus is on foreign trade links, international capital flows, currency market pressures and mismatches, financial sector fragilities, and countercyclical monetary and fiscal policy actions. We introduce a set of vulnerability indicators and explore whether an ordinal ranking of East Asian economies according to these vulnerability indicators seems to be related to the cross-country differences in estimated slowdowns of economic growth during the crisis. Finally, we discuss how Asian economies might encourage the adoption of a stronger regulatory and supervisory framework in the USA and whether some Asian economies and the USA might pursue a more "balanced" growth strategy after the crisis. [source] Demographic Change and Economic Growth in AsiaASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009David E. BLOOM J11; O11 Abstract Trade openness, high savings rates, human capital accumulation, and macroeconomic policy only accounted for part of the 1965,1990 growth performance in East Asia. Subsequently, demographic change was shown to be a missing factor in explaining the East Asian growth premium. Since 1990, East Asia has undertaken major economic reforms in response to financial crises and other factors. We reexamine the role of the demographic transition in contributing to cross-country differences in economic growth through to 2005, with a particular focus on East Asia. We highlight the need for policy to offset potential negative effects of aging populations in the future. [source] | |||||||||||||