The Impact of Urbanization on CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions in developing countries, taking into account the presence of heterogeneity in the sample of countries and testing for the stability of the estimated elasticities over time. The sample covers the period from 1975 through 2003 for different groups of countries, classified according to their income levels. Our results show that, whereas the impact of population growth on emissions is above unity and only slightly different for upper, middle, and low- income countries, urbanization, demonstrate a very different impact on emissions for low and lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle income countries.CO2 emissions, developing countries, panel data, population growth, urbanization

The Impact of Urbanization on CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions in developing countries. In this study we treat population as a predictor in the model, instead of assuming a unitary elasticity of emissions with respect to population growth. We contribute to the existing literature by examining the effect of urbanization, taking into account the presence of heterogeneity in the sample of countries and testing for the stability of the estimated elasticities over time. The sample covers the period from 1975 through 2005 for different groups of countries, classified according to their income levels. Our results show that, whereas the impact of population growth on emissions is above unity and only slightly different for upper, middle, and low-income countries, additional demographic variables, namely, urbanization, demonstrate a very different impact on emissions for low and lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle income countries. For the first set of countries, the elasticity, emission-urbanization, is higher than unity, whereas in the second group, the elasticity is 0.72, which is in accordance with the higher environmental impact observed in less developed regions. However, in upper-middle income countries and highly developed countries, the elasticity, emission-urbanization, is negative. The heterogeneous impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions should therefore be taken into account in future discussions of climate change policies.CO2 Emissions, Developing Countries, Panel Data, Population Growth, Urbanization

Do international remittances cause Dutch disease?

The diagnosis: Dutch disease caused by international remittances afflicts the middle income countries but not the upper income and low income countries. The middle income countries can inoculate their economies from getting the disease with robust macro and sectoral economy conditions. But if they get infected, and their condition is not managed well or the illness is treated, Dutch disease could cripple their economies.Dutch disease; international remittances; tradable sector; non-tradable sector

Do international remittances cause Dutch disease?

The diagnosis: Dutch disease caused by international remittances afflicts the middle income countries but not the upper income and low income countries. The middle income countries can inoculate their economies from getting the disease with robust macro and sectoral economy conditions. But if they get infected, and their condition is not managed well or the illness is not treated, Dutch disease could cripple their economies.Dutch disease; international remittances; tradable sector; non-tradable sector

Processed foods and the nutrition transition: evidence from Asia

This paper elucidates the role of processed foods and beverages in the ‘nutrition transition’ underway in Asia. Processed foods tend to be high in nutrients associated with obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases: refined sugar, salt, saturated and trans-fats. This paper identifies the most significant ‘product vectors’ for these nutrients and describes changes in their consumption in a selection of Asian countries. Sugar, salt and fat consumption from processed foods has plateaued in high-income countries, but has rapidly increased in the lower– middle and upper–middle-income countries. Relative to sugar and salt, fat consumption in the upper–middle- and lower–middle-income countries is converging most rapidly with that of high-income countries. Carbonated soft drinks, baked goods, and oils and fats are the most significant vectors for sugar, salt and fat respectively. At the regional level there appears to be convergence in consumption patterns of processed foods, but country-level divergences including high levels of consumption of oils and fats in Malaysia, and soft drinks in the Philippines and Thailand. This analysis suggests that more action is needed by policy-makers to prevent or mitigate processed food consumption. Comprehensive policy and regulatory approaches are most likely to be effective in achieving these goals

Financial Inclusion, Poverty, and Income Inequality: Evidence from High, Middle, and Low-income Countries

The past two decades have witnessed a high national importance to financial inclusion around the world. This paper intends to explore the impact of financial inclusion on poverty reduction and income inequality in the world, high, middle, and low-income countries. For this purpose, a new composite financial inclusion was constructed with three dimensions for finding various macroeconomic variables affecting the level of financial inclusion for 122 economies, including 32 from high-income, 38 from upper middle income, 38 from lower middle income, and 14 from low-income countries. Then the impact of financial inclusion, on poverty and income inequality, for the world and then for high, middle, and low-income countries was investigated. The estimates reveal that rule of law significantly affects financial inclusion for the world, high, middle, and low-income countries. But age dependency ratio influences the financial inclusion only for our full sample. However, population density significantly decreases financial inclusion just in the full sample and Upper middle-income countries. Education completion impacts significantly financial inclusion just in upper middle income. While literacy has a higher impact on financial inclusion in high-income countries. The findings also indicate that financial inclusion is significantly correlated with lower poverty for the full sample. The link between financial inclusion and income inequality has been found for high-income countries and lower-middle-income countries

What helps countries avoid the middle-income trap? A study of policy and institutional determinants

The essay identifies the factors that help countries avoid the middle-income trap. We study the effect of institutional indicators, and the educational and technological policy variables on the income growth of the middle-income countries, with the focus on the upper-middle income countries; using the Cross-section OLS estimation and the Fixed-Effects panel estimation. For the countries that have already passed the upper-middle income threshold, the tertiary education enrolment rate and technological policy variables have a positive and significant effect on the income growth. Regarding institutional indicators, the Strong Civil Society and the Bureaucratic Quality only have a positive effect on the growth in the estimation across countries

The impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions: evidence from developing countries

This paper analyzes the impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions in developing countries, taking into account the presence of heterogeneity in the sample of countries and testing for the stability of the estimated elasticities over time. The sample covers the period from 1975 through 2003 for different groups of countries, classified according to their income levels. Our results show that, whereas the impact of population growth on emissions is above unity and only slightly different for upper, middle, and low- income countries, urbanization, demonstrate a very different impact on emissions for low and lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle income countries

Causal Nexus among Fiscal Policy, Economic Growth and Income Inequality in Sub-Saharan African Countries (1995-2016)

This paper investigates the causality among fiscal policy, economic growth  and income inequality in some twenty six  selected sub- African countries with a view to identifying the direction of causation among these variables;  thus aiding the identification of  policy choice variables whose impact could  predict the behaviour of some other variables. This  approach would ultimately provide solutions to  income inequality  and  economic  growth  problems  in sub-Saharan  African countries. To achieve this objective, the sub-Saharan African countries were divided into three–low income countries, lower  middle income countries and upper middle income countries. The methodology of multivariate Granger causality was  applied to investigate  the causality among fiscal policy, economic growth  and income inequality variables. The findings show that in low income countries and  lower middle income countries, no designable causality could be established among the three variables probably suggesting lack of effective policy cordination in SSA countries. However, a uni-directional causality running fron economic growth to income inequality was found  in upper middle income countries

Who takes the cake Effects of ECB monetary policy across income classes

This work provides evidence on the effects of monetary policy on the income class structure via stimulating economic activity and employment in Eurozone countries over the period 2007Q32016Q1. Based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data, we compute the share of the market income perceived by each income class (lower, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper) for the states that originated the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU11). We analyse the impact of monetary policy impulses under a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive approach and find that a monetary easing shock involving a decrease in nominal interest rates tends to increase the income share of middle classes at the expense of a smaller income share of the upper class, while, the lower class is not significantly affected. Our findings highlight the identified effects are mostly triggered by short-term interest rates cuts as long as they tend to vanish as the monetary policy proxy is located further in the yield curve. This suggests that the egalitarian impacts of monetary policy on market income distribution are to a lesser extent driven by decisions modifying longer-term interest rates.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech