Understanding the Relationship between Institutions and Economic Development: Some Key Theoretical Issues

The paper tries to improve our understanding on the role of institutions in development by critically examining the current orthodox discourse on institutions and highlighting some of its key problems. After discussing some definitional problems, the chapter examines a number of problems in the orthodox literature arising from the widespread failure to distinguish between the forms and the functions of institution. Then it critically examines the excessive emphasis on property rights in the orthodox literature. Finally, it discusses a number of problems that arise from the simplistic view on institutional change that underlies the orthodox view on institutional persistence.institutions, forms and functions, institutional change, property rights

Stranger than Fiction? Understanding Institutional Changes and Economic Development

The volume Institutional Change and Economic Development fills some important gaps in our understanding of the relationship between institutional changes and economic development. It does so by developing new discourses on the 'technology of institution building' and by providing detailed case studies-historical and more recent-of institution building. It is argued that functional multiplicity, the importance of informal institutions, unintended consequences, and intended 'perversion' of institutions all imply that the orthodox recipe of importing 'best practice' formal institutions does not work. While denying the existence of universal formulas, the volume distills some general principles of institutions building from theoretical explorations and case studies.institutions, history, property rights, markets, ideas, technology, law, governance, bureaucracy, federalism,

State-Owned Enterprise Reform

This United Nations Policy Note on State-Owned Enterprise Reform provides practical guidance on alternative policies to reform SOEs and manage natural resource rents. This Policy Note has been developed in cooperation with UN agencies, and has been officially reviewed by distinguished academics/ development specialists such as Jose Antonio Ocampo, Jomo K.S. and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.state-owned enterprises, management natural resource rents, development planning

Oil and Gold Prices: Correlation or Causation?

This paper uses the monthly data spanning from Jan-1986 to April-2011 to investigate the relationship between the prices of two strategic commodities: gold and oil. We examine this relationship through the inflation channel and their interaction with the index of the US dollar. We use different oil price proxies in our investigation and find that the impact of oil price on gold price is not asymmetric but non-linear. Our results show that there is a long-run relationship existing between the prices of oil and gold. Our findings imply that the oil price can be used to predict the gold price.oil price, gold price, inflation, US dollar index, cointegration

The impact of oil price fluctuations on stock markets in developed and emerging economies

This study examines the response of stock markets to oil price volatilities in Japan, Singapore, Korea and Malaysia by applying the generalized impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to the monthly data spanning 1986:01 – 2011:02. The results suggest that the reaction of stock markets to oil price shocks varies significantly across markets. Specifically, the stock market responds positively in Japan while negatively in Malaysia; the signal in Singapore and South Korea is unclear. We find that the stock market inefficiency, among others, appeared to have slowed the responses of the stock market to aggregate shocks such as oil price surges.oil price fluctuation, stock return, exchange rate, emerging market, VAR model.

OIL AND GOLD: CORRELATION OR CAUSATION?

This study using the monthly data spanning 1986:01-2011:04 to investigate the relationship between the prices of two strategic commodities: gold and oil. We examine this relationship through the inflation channel and their interaction with the index of the US dollar. We used different oil price proxies for our investigation and found that the impact of oil price on the gold price is not asymmetric but non-linear. Further, results show that there is a long-run relationship existing between the prices of oil and gold. The findings imply that the oil price can be used to predict the gold price.oil price fluctuation, gold price, inflation, US dollar index, cointegration.

The Impact of Oil Price Fluctuations on Stock Markets in Developed and Emerging Economies

This study examines the response of stock markets to oil price volatilities in Japan, Singapore, Korea and Malaysia by applying the generalized impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to the monthly data spanning 1986:01 – 2011:02. The results suggest that the reaction of stock markets to oil price shocks varies significantly across markets. Specifically, the stock market responds positively in Japan while negatively in Malaysia; the signal in Singapore and South Korea is unclear. We find that the stock market inefficiency, among others, appeared to have slowed the responses of the stock market to aggregate shocks such as oil price surges.oil price fluctuation, stock return, exchange rate, emerging market, VAR model

Dynamics Between Strategic Commodities and Financial Variables

This study employs the bounds testing approach to cointegration to investigate the relationships between the prices of two strategic commodities (oil and gold) and the financial variables (interest rates, exchange rates and stock prices) of Japan – a major oil-consuming and goldholding country. Our results suggest that the prices of gold and stock can help form expectations of higher inflation over time. In the short run, only gold prices impact the interest rate in Japan. Overall the findings of this study could help the Japanese monetary authority in conducting monetary policy and investors of Japanese yen in building their optimal portfolios. Specifically our findings suggest that the optimal choice in the long term for those who invest in yendenominated assets would be to include gold in their portfolios.strategic commodities, financial variables, bounds test to cointegration