Legal Origin, Shareholder Protection and the Stock Market: New Challenges from Time Series Analysis

This paper uses a new time series dataset of shareholder protection consisting of 60 annual legal indicators for the period 1970-2005 for France, Germany, the UK and the US. On the basis of these data it examines developments in shareholder protection and reassesses the claims that common-law countries have better shareholder protection than civil law countries. Furthermore it examines the relationship between legal changes and stock market development. It casts serious doubt on the claim that common-law countries have better shareholder protection which in turn leads to more stock market development.Stock Market, Corporate Governance, Financial Development, Leximetrics

Papers, please! The effect of birth registration on child labor and education in early 20th century USA

A birth certificate establishes a child's legal identity and age, but few quantitative estimates of the significance of birth registration exist. Birth registration laws were enacted by U.S. states in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Using 1910-1930 census data, this study finds that minimum working age legislation was twice as effective in reducing under-aged employment if children were born with a birth registration law, with positive implications for school attendance. Registration laws also improved the enforcement of schooling laws somewhat, but the connection is weaker. The long-term effect of registration laws was to increase educational attainment by 0.06-0.1 years

Whether to hire local contract teachers? Trade-off between skills and preferences in in India

Whether to hire teachers locally on a contract basis, or via competitive examinations as government officials, is a major policy question in developing countries. We use a Discrete Choice Experiment to assess the job preferences of 700 future elementary school teachers in the state of Uttarakhand in India. The students have been selected using either competitive examination or from a pool of locally hired contract teachers. Skills in English, Arithmetic and Vocabulary are also tested. We find a trade-off between skills and preferences, as students hired using competitive examination have higher skills, but prefer posts in less remote regions

Globalisation, instabilité et insécurité économique

Sonja Fagernas and Ajit Singh - Globalisation, instability and economic insecurity. This paper documents and analyses the volatility of economic growth in rich and poor countries. It concludes that whereas volatility has declined almost universally in advanced countries, the picture is more mixed for developing countries. The paper then concentrates on the case of India, where gdp volatility has declined over the past two decades. The evidence shows that the move away from agriculture has stabilised the economy. Increased financial depth and more favourable developments in terms of trade have had a similar effect. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between economic instability and insecurity at a general level.Fagernas Sonja, Singh Ajit, Saint Girons Anne. Globalisation, instabilité et insécurité économique. In: Tiers-Monde, tome 47, n°186, 2006. Asie : les enjeux d'une croissance élevée, sous la direction de Sunanda Sen . pp. 391-420

Globalisation, instabilité et insécurité économique

This paper documents and analyses the volatility of economic growth in rich and poor countries. It concludes that whereas volatility has declined almost universally in advanced countries, the picture is more mixed for developing countries. The paper then concentrates on the case of India, where GDP volatility has declined over the past two decades. The evidence shows that the move away from agriculture has stabilised the economy. Increased financial depth and more favourable developments in terms of trade have had a similar effect. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between economic instability and insecurity at a general level.