Does working with spouses make teams more productive? A field experiment in India using NREGA

経済学 / EconomicsAn important question in labour economics is whether the presence in a work environment of friends or relations lowers or raises productivity. We examine the question using evidence from a simple field experiment in Uttar Pradesh, India with married wives and husbands. Teams of four are engaged to dig soil under the NREGA programme. In one treatment husbands and wives work together; in the other treatment they work in separate teams. We find that working with spouses is associated with significantly higher productivity.JEL Classification Codes: C9, D1, D7, M5, O1http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/munro_alistair

Trends and Impacts of Real and Financial Globalization in the People's Republic of China and India since the 1980s

The dynamic process of integration of national economies has a long history, with two distinct waves: one, from the middle of the 19th century until its interruption with outbreak of the First World War in 1913 till the end of the Second World War in 1945. The second wave is ongoing dating from 1950. Two sub-processes of integration are usually distinguished. The first, called real integration related to flows of goods, services and factors across borders; the second called financial integration related to financial flows of claims on the nominal returns on financial assets. Financial integration has had a checkered history. Private financial flows, particularly debt flows, were evident in the first wave. During the second wave, debt flows, both intergovernmental and private banking lending were dominant during 1950–1980. Only after 1980, private non-debt flows particularly equity flows accelerated. This paper's primary focus is on the real and financial integration and their impact on trade, growth and poverty in the world's two dominant developing countries in emerging markets, namely the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India. The paper also discusses the reforms of institutional (domestic and multinational) foundations of real and financial integration, particularly the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Group of 20. The impacts of the 2008–2009 financial crisis on the PRC and India are noted and the need for domestic financial sector reforms in both for them to cope with and respond to future financial crises is pointed out. Attention is drawn to the inadequacy of available analytical tools, in particular the absence of an appropriately integrated model of real and financial sectors to enable a meaningful assessment of the impact of financial shocks on the real sector

Data Collected by the Theme Group "The Reception of Netherlandish Art in Asia and its Impact on Asian and European Cultures" at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) 2009-2010

A group of European, Asian and American art historians and historians joined forces to study artistic contacts between the Netherlands and different Asian civilisations during the early modern era. The focus of the study was the complexities of artistic transfer and the mediating role of the Dutch East India Company in the Early Modern Period. This dataset has been deposited at DANS in order to facilitate access to the research material for members of the theme group and for all others who are involved in this research project