Motivation to work, labor income taxes and life satisfaction: Hungary, Estonia, Continental Europe and the United States

The primary findings of this paper are that the increase in hours worked per employee comes at the expense of life satisfaction, and differences in labor income taxes cannot account for differences in time allocation. Once life satisfaction is included, the hypotheses of previous neoclassical economic studies is almost irrelevant in determining the response of market hours to higher taxes. We find a negative relationship between hours worked across countries and life satisfaction. In the countries with the highest hours worked (Hungary, Estonia), leisure is generally preferred to wealth and in the lowest hours worked ( France, Germany), wealth is preferred to leisure. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Testing tourism-led economic growth and economic-driven tourism growth hypotheses: The case of Georgia

This paper empirically investigates a causal relationship between tourism and economic growth in Georgia for 1997-2018 period by employing ARDLBT approach to cointegration. Results reject economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis for Georgia and reveal that impact of tourism development over economic growth is negative in the long-run, in contrary positive in the short-run. Obtained results suggest that there is a possibility to have a tourism resource curse in the long-term in Georgia. Georgian government should build a tourism strategy to avoid crowding out of human capital from industrial production and decrease the share of imports for the needs of tourism sector

Expected Macroeconomic Impacts of the Accession to WTO on Azerbaijan Economy: Empirical Analysis

World Trade Organization (WTO) is the largest trade organization which is supposed to open the international trade for the benefit of all countries through liberalization or removing impediments over trade. It may directly impact import and export and indirectly other macroeconomic variables. In this context, Azerbaijan’s accession process to WTO has been subject to many discussions in terms of what impacts are expected for the economy in case of the accession. This thesis attempts to do an empirical analysis of the expected macroeconomic impacts of the membership on Azerbaijan economy through application of VAR model. In this thesis, central question is what overall macroeconomic impact is expected for Azerbaijan’s economy if Azerbaijan join to WTO. In this context, I hypothesize that macroeconomic impact of the membership over Azerbaijan economy is expected to be negative. To test my hypothesis, I benefit from the membership experience of Georgia and Armenia and use VAR model to estimate time series data for Georgia and Armenia individually, and panel data consisted of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan’s time series data. After all, I conclude that WTO membership increases import much more than export. However, the research fails to find enough evidence to say that overall impact of WTO membership is statistically significant. After taking Azerbaijan’s economic characteristics into consideration, the research concludes that overall macroeconomic impact of WTO membership is expected to be negative for Azerbaijan

To Work More or Less? The Impact of Taxes and Life Satisfaction on the Motivation to Work in Continental and Eastern Europe

Using country-level data from 2000-2013, we test the relationship between life satisfaction (measured as how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings) and the motivation to work (measured as aggregate hours of work). Our hypothesis is that even after controlling for average labor income tax rates in countries with high and low average hours worked, there is a significant negative association between the motivation to work and life satisfaction. The main findings of this paper are that the increase in the motivation to work per employee comes at the expense of life satisfaction, and differences in average tax rates on labor income cannot account for differences in time allocation. Once life satisfaction is included, the hypotheses of previous neoclassical economic studies are almost irrelevant in determining the response of market hours to higher average tax rates on labor income. In line with our assumption, we find a negative relationship between life satisfaction and the motivation to work in the cross-country examinations. In countries with the highest hours worked (Hungary, Estonia), wealth is generally preferred to leisure and in countries with the lowest hours worked (France, Germany), leisure is preferred to wealth

Postwar Karabakh: What Is the Resettlement Potential?

The aftermath of the 44-day Second Karabakh War resulted in the significant superiority and final victory of Azerbaijan, and the liberation of occupied territories revealed a nationwide plan for socioeconomic development. Currently, the rising actuality of the resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs) in their freed homeland is the primary focus of both governmental and societal discourse. This article highlights the resettlement potential in Azerbaijan’s postwar territories. A survey unveils a high rate of repatriation intention among IDPs and substantial resettlement potential among non-IDPs

Openness-Inflation Nexus in South Caucasus Economies

Following Romer (1993), openness-inflation nexus has been subject to many empirical researches. However, South Caucasus economies are not studied yet. The aim of this research is to fill this gap in empirical literature by using multiple regression models and impulse-response function analysis for the region countries, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, separately for the period 1996-2012. To define the level of openness, methodology in Ashra (2002) is used. Findings provide no significant impact of the openness on inflation level in all region countries, except partially Georgia. However, the direction of the relationship differs across countries because of the international trade patterns

Macroeconomıc Analysıs And Graphıcal Interpretatıon Of Azerbaıjan Economy In 1991-2012

The aim of this research is to analyze macroeconomic performance and discuss transition indicators in Azerbaijan economy for 1991-2012. After regaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan implemented economic transition process toward market economy. In first years of independence serious economic recession was observed. However, after 1995, restructuring of the economy was started. In this sense, signing “Contract of the Century” was a turning point toward oil based high speed economic growth or oil boom period. Thus, by opening “Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan” pipeline in 2005, Azerbaijan’s macroeconomic indicators experienced with considerable growth for following years. On the other hand, Azerbaijan officially declared the end of economic transition process in its economy in 2009. Here, the author discusses political-economic and economic process in whole period as well as analyzes macroeconomic performance with and without oil & gas contribution. In addition, the author questions if economic transition was ended in Azerbaijan economy. After all, it is concluded that oil & gas production has serious impact over macroeconomic indicators and transition indicators for Azerbaijan implies the end of economic transition partly, not totally

Macroeconomıc Analysıs And Graphıcal Interpretatıon Of Azerbaıjan Economy In 1991-2012

The aim of this research is to analyze macroeconomic performance and discuss transition indicators in Azerbaijan economy for 1991-2012. After regaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan implemented economic transition process toward market economy. In first years of independence serious economic recession was observed. However, after 1995, restructuring of the economy was started. In this sense, signing “Contract of the Century” was a turning point toward oil based high speed economic growth or oil boom period. Thus, by opening “Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan” pipeline in 2005, Azerbaijan’s macroeconomic indicators experienced with considerable growth for following years. On the other hand, Azerbaijan officially declared the end of economic transition process in its economy in 2009. Here, the author discusses political-economic and economic process in whole period as well as analyzes macroeconomic performance with and without oil & gas contribution. In addition, the author questions if economic transition was ended in Azerbaijan economy. After all, it is concluded that oil & gas production has serious impact over macroeconomic indicators and transition indicators for Azerbaijan implies the end of economic transition partly, not totally

Life Satisfaction and Tax Morale in Azerbaijan: Mediating Role of Institutional Trust and Financial Satisfaction

This paper examines the relationship between life satisfaction (measured as the self-reported satisfaction of each individual with their past life and goal achievements) and tax morale (measured as the likelihood of an individual’s intrinsic motivation to pay taxes). Using a large-scale survey dataset from Azerbaijan, it is documented that life satisfaction is positively associated with tax morale. Life satisfaction plays a significant role in increasing tax compliance practices. It is also important to note that there is a positive mediating effect of life satisfaction on tax morale through financial satisfaction and institutional trust. In line with our hypotheses, the results of a series of analyses remain robust to different models. These results imply that a higher level of life satisfaction may increase the proportion of individuals who report the highest tax morale in Azerbaijan. Our findings have policy implications for Azerbaijan and other governments aiming to alleviate high levels of tax evasion