Globalization's Winners and Losers - Evidence from Life Satisfaction Data, 1975 - 2000

This paper analyzes the effect of globalization on subjective well-being by using a dataset that combines micro- and macro-level variables for the EU-15 countries from 1975 to 2000. The estimations provide evidence that - in line with theoretical predictions - globalization has benefited especially high-skilled workers, right-wing voters, and people in the highest income quartile. On the other hand, globalization has increased well-being to a higher extent for old people than for young people.Life satisfaction; well-being; globalization; Heckscher-Ohlin theorem

What Determines Trust in International Organizations?

So far no existing study has analyzed what determines people’s trust in the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO even though – in the absence of democratic accountability – this is one of the few ways to assess the legitimacy of these institutions. This study is intended to fill this gap in the literature based on Eurobarometer survey data from the EU-15 countries. The estimation results suggest that individual characteristics (gender, international background, formal education level, personal income, ideological preferences, interest in politics, and exposure to media) as well as the extent of globalization influence trust in the three international organizations. The state of the economy only has a significant effect on trust in the WTO. Moreover, respondents’ attitudes towards globalization have a bearing on trust in all three international organizations. Survey items on individual knowledge and perceptions of the WTO allow us to test additional hypotheses that apply to this institution alone. We find that familiarity with the WTO fosters trust. Finally, beliefs that the EU is well-represented in the WTO, that the WTO has a good reputation and that it is a democratic and necessary institution increases repondents’ propensity to trust the WTO.Institutional trust, International economic organizations, Globalization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization

Globalization's Winners and Losers - Evidence from Life Satisfaction Data, 1975 -2001

This paper analyzes the effect of globalization on subjective well-being by using a dataset that combines micro- and macro-level variables for the EU 15 countries from 1975 to 2001. The estimations provide evidence that – in line with theoretical predictions - globalization has benefited especially high-skilled workers, right-wing voters, respondents that trust the WTO, the World Bank, and the IMF as well as respondents in the highest income quartile. In addition, globalization has increased well-being to a higher extent for old people than for young people.life satisfaction, well-being, Globalization, Heckscher-Ohlin theorem

What determines trust in international organizations? An empirical analysis for the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO

So far no existing study has analyzed what determines people’s trust in the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO even though – in the absence of democratic accountability – this is one of the few ways to assess the legitimacy of these institutions. This study is intended to fill this gap in the literature based on Eurobarometer survey data from the EU-15 countries. The estimation results suggest that individual characteristics (gender, international background, formal education level, personal income, ideological preferences, interest in politics, and exposure to media) as well as the extent of globalization influence trust in the three international organizations. The state of the economy only has a significant effect on trust in the WTO. Moreover, respondents’ attitudes towards globalization have a bearing on trust in all three international organizations. Survey items on individual knowledge and perceptions of the WTO allow us to test additional hypotheses that apply to this institution alone. We find that familiarity with the WTO fosters trust. Finally, beliefs that the EU is well-represented in the WTO, that the WTO has a good reputation and that it is a democratic and necessary institution increases repondents’ propensity to trust the WTO.Institutional trust; International economic organizations; Globalization; International Monetary Fund; World Bank; World Trade Organization

Corruption and the Composition of Public Expenditures: Evidence from OECD Countries

This paper analyzes how corruption affects the composition of public expenditures. First, a two-stage rent-seeking model with endogenous rent-setting is derived that captures both "political corruption" and "bureaucratic corruption". The model illustrates how asymmetries between industries in the degree of competition and in the difficulty of concealing bribery may influence the allocation of public spending. The theoretical implications are tested with a panel dataset for 26 OECD countries over the 1996 - 2008 period. The results suggest that the shares of spending on health and environmental protection increase, while the shares of spending on social protection and recreation, culture and religion decline with higher levels of corruption. The significance of these distortions is robust to a variety of specifications such as fixed effects, random effects, seemingly unrelated regressions, the inclusion of additional controls, and the use of alternative corruption indicators.Corruption; rent-seeking; public expenditures; budget composition

What determines trust in international organizations? An empirical analysis for the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO

So far no existing study has analyzed what determines people’s trust in the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO even though – in the absence of democratic accountability – this is one of the few ways to assess the legitimacy of these institutions. This study is intended to fill this gap in the literature based on Eurobarometer survey data from the EU-15 countries. The estimation results suggest that individual characteristics (gender, international background, formal education level, personal income, ideological preferences, interest in politics, and exposure to media) as well as the extent of globalization influence trust in the three international organizations. The state of the economy only has a significant effect on trust in the WTO. Moreover, respondents’ attitudes towards globalization have a bearing on trust in all three international organizations. Survey items on individual knowledge and perceptions of the WTO allow us to test additional hypotheses that apply to this institution alone. We find that familiarity with the WTO fosters trust. Finally, beliefs that the EU is well-represented in the WTO, that the WTO has a good reputation and that it is a democratic and necessary institution increases repondents’ propensity to trust the WTO

Public Education Spending in a Globalized World: Is there a Shift in Priorities Across Educational Stages?

This paper studies the effect of globalization on public expenditures allocated to different stages of education. First, we derive theoretically that globalization’s influence on education expenditures depends on the type of government. For benevolent governments, the model suggests that expenditures for higher education will increase and expenditures for basic education will decline with deepening economic integration. For Leviathan governments, on the other hand, the effects of globalization on public education spending cannot be unambiguously predicted. In the second part of the paper, we empirically analyze globalization’s influence on primary, secondary, and tertiary education expenditures with panel data covering 104 countries over the 1992 - 2006 period. The results indicate that globalization has led in both industrialized and developing countries to more spending for secondary and tertiary and to less spending for primary education.Globalization, economic integration, public education, education expenditures

Globalization, Redistribution, and the Composition of Public Education Expenditures

We analyze whether globalization affects the composition of public expenditures for education by integrating arguments from the Heckscher-Ohlin and the tax competition literature into a common theoretical framework. The model suggests that with increasing global integration, developing countries have strong incentives to shift public education expenditures towards lower education. In industrialized countries, on the other hand, globalization has an ambiguous effect on the composition of public education expenditures. We test and confirm these hypotheses with data on 86 countries over the 1999-2006 period.globalization, public education, composition of public spending

Globalization and the Composition of Public Education Expenditures: A Dynamic Panel Analysis

This paper studies the relationship between globalization and the composition of public education expenditures. The theoretical model is embedded in a median voter setting and is based on the assumption that globalization leads to lower tax revenues as well as an increase in the relative wage of high-skilled workers. Overall, the theoretical discussion suggests that globalization induces a shift from primary to tertiary education expenditures, which is backed up by empirical evidence from dynamic panel estimations for 121 countries over the 1992 - 2006 period. A possible implication of the shift in educational priorities towards higher education is an increase in income inequality.Globalization, public education expenditures, educational policy

Globalization and the Composition of Public Education Expenditures: A Dynamic Panel Analysis

This paper studies the relationship between globalization and the composition of public education expenditures. The theoretical model is embedded in a median voter setting and is based on the assumption that globalization leads to lower tax revenues as well as an increase in the relative wage of high-skilled workers. Overall, the theoretical discussion suggests that globalization induces a shift from primary to tertiary education expenditures, which is backed up by empirical evidence from dynamic panel estimations for 121 countries over the 1992 - 2006 period. A possible implication of the shift in educational priorities towards higher education is an increase in income inequalityGlobalization, public education expenditures, educational policy