The Association between Subsidies and Productivity: Panel Analysis

Abstract. This study investigates the impact of subsidies, which is a proxy for incentives given to firms in an economy, on value added created by entire economy and four different sectors (i.e., agriculture, manufacturing, industry, and services).  The largest period under study is between 1972 and 2013 and the largest sample covers 151 countries. First of all univariate and multivariate fixed time effect models (FEM) and the following univariate and multivariate random time effect models (REM) were estimated using unbalanced panel data. Value added and its logarithmic values are used in the model as a dependent variable. Five different value added variables are used in order to evaluate the sensitivity and validity of our empirical results. This study empirically investigates the effect of subsidy on value added level of a country. In order to test this relationship the study use five different indicators for value added. The data used in analyses are unbalanced data and cover the years between 1972 and 2013 for 151 countries in the largest sense. The main finding of the study implies that countries with higher subsidy level experience higher level of value added.Keywords. Subsidies, Value Added, Incentives.JEL. H20, H21, H22

The long-run analysis of the association between macroeconomic variables and suicide: the case of Turkic-speaking countries in Central Asia

Using an unbalanced data set covering the years from 1990 to 2017, this study examines the long-run relationship between three selected macroeconomic variables (unemployment, per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation) and suicide rates for Turkic-speaking countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). The mean group estimation results suggest that among the three macroeconomic variables under study, only the unemployment rate has a statistically significant relationship with the suicide rate for the Central Asian Turkic-speaking countries. Regarding country-specific estimations, results suggest that all macroeconomic variables under study correlate with the suicide rate for some countries in the sample. Overall, the empirical findings of the study suggest that unemployment and per capita GDP are important contributors of suicide and intentional self-harm in Central Asia. Estimation results also call attention to the inflation rate

Long-run asymmetric association between FDI and productivity in Turkey

Incoming foreign direct investments (FDI) may enhance the productivity level of the host country by bringing new advanced technologies. On the other hand, the nexus of FDI and productivity, rather than being linear, might be nonlinear because the effect of increases and decreases in FDI on productivity may not be symmetric. In this sense, this study investigates the asymmetric relationship between FDI and productivity in Turkey by using two different productivity indicators (i.e., PROD1 and PROD2) and employing a Nonlinear ARDL approach. Our hypothesis claims there is an asymmetric association between FDI and productivity in the long run in Turkey. Nonlinear cointegration test findings indicate that selected variables are cointegrated. Hence, they move together in the long run. Our study uses aggregated data at the macro level to analyze the long-term asymmetric relationship between foreign direct investment and labor productivity in Turkey using the NARDL estimation technique. Concerning the estimation results, a long-run nonlinear relationship between incoming FDI and labor productivity was detected, and this finding remained valid across two models constructed by using two distinct labor productivity indicators. As a whole, our results are consistent with the ones found in the literature. Besides, for the first time in the literature, this study addresses the long-run asymmetric nexus between FDI and labor productivity by using macro-level data specific to Turkey and makes various policy recommendations

Evaluation of Fetal Central Nervous System Anomalies; Perinatology Council Data of a Reference Center

INTRODUCTION: Central nervous system (CNS) anomalies are the second most common congenital malformations detected during antenatal period. Rates of prenatal diagnosis are aroung 96% in anencephaly, but drops down to approximately 14 % in migration anomalies.We aimed to determine the frequency and features of CNS anomalies evaluated in the perinatology council of our hospital where high-risk pregnancies were discussed and also to emphasize the importance of antenatal diagnosis. METHODS: Pregnant women, with a CNS anomaly detected in their fetus, who were evaluated between January 2019-December 2019 in the perinatology council of Tepecik Training and Research Hospital were included in the study. Retrospectively, the records of the cases were examined, prenatal, and maternal risk factors at the time of council session, the council decision and the results were recorded. Statistical analyzes were done using SPSS 20.0 program. RESULTS: Data of 1272 pregnant women were evaluated in the study, and 261 cases (20.5%) with CNS anomalies were detected. A total of 129 pregnant women were excluded from the study because follow-up of these patients were not realized in our center or they didn't give birth yet.. Totally, 132 pregnant women were included in the study. The mean maternal age was 26.99+-6.50 (14-42) years, the mean gestational age was 22.63+-7.08 (10.4-38.6) weeks. Most common CNS anomalies detected were neural tube defects (n=54; 40%), hydrocephalus/ventriculomegaly (n=36; 27%), migration defects (n=21; 15%) and cerebellar malformations (n=9; 6%). Termination of pregnancy was decided for 29.8% (n=78) of pregnant women, but realized only for 62 pregnancies. Among pregnancies which were decided to be continued due to the fact that gestational week was 22 weeks or more (n=51), had fetuses with neural tube defects (n=25; 50%) and hydrocephalus/ventriculomegaly (n=36; 27%) with poor prognosis. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: As the anomalies with high morbidity and mortality were referred to our hospital after the 22nd gestational week, termination option could not be offered to these pregnancies. High-risk pregnancies should be directed to perinatology centers in the early period so that this option can be presented to the family, appropriate follow-up and treatment of life-compatible ones

Chinese exports and productivity gains: Panel evidence

This paper examines the impact of imports from China on the labour productivity levels of importers, using unbalanced data from 1994 to 2006. It is hypothesised that imports from China increase importer countries' labour productivity levels. Using cross-section, fixed and random-effect models, a statistically significant, positive relationship is found between the share of a country's imports from China and labour productivity in the manufacturing sector of that country. Moreover, it is found that imports from China have a larger impact on China's main Asian-Pacific trade partners and countries with higher manufacturing shares in their total exports. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd

Foreign Bank Participation and Banking Crises in Transition Economies

Using a fixed effect multivariate panel logit econometric model and taking possible endogenity problem into account, we test the hypothesis that foreign bank participation contributes to decrease in banking crises in transition economies in 1990-2006. The results suggest that foreign bank participation decreases the possibility of banking crises, controlling for other factors that may cause banking crises. This paper contributes to the literature by presenting the first empirical evidence on the negative relationship between the actual level of foreign bank presence (or foreign bank concentration) and banking crises for transition countries

Impact of private forest ownership on deforestation and poverty

We analyzed the impact of private forest ownership on deforestation and poverty. Using multivariate cross-section models, we identified a statistically significant negative correlation between private forest ownership and deforestation and a statistically significant negative correlation between private forest ownership and poverty. Our study presents the importance of privatization in the forest sector and stimulation of private forestry to combat deforestation and poverty

Türkiye'de beşeri sermaye ve ekonomik büyüme: Uzun vadeli analiz

In this study, the cointegration relationship between human capital and economic growth is examined by using five different economic growth measures and it is tried to estimate the long-term effect of human capital on economic growth for Turkey. The sample covers the period of 1961-2019, and all analyzes were carried out with the ARDL technique. The cointegration test findings obtained from the ARDL bounds test indicate that human capital and economic growth in Turkey are cointegrated and therefore act together in the long run. This common movement remains valid in all four models. In addition, it is seen that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between human capital and economic growth for the four models in the long run. In conclusion, the diagnostic test results show that none of the four different models suffer from autocorrelation and varying variance problems, and each model is stable in terms of parameter stability.Bu çalışmada, beş farklı ekonomik büyüme ölçüsü kullanarak beşeri sermaye ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki eşbütünleşme ilişkisi incelenmekte ve beşeri sermayenin ekonomik büyüme üzerindeki uzun vadeli etkisini Türkiye için tahmin edilmeye çalışılmaktadır. Örneklem 1961-2019 dönemini kapsamakta olup, tüm analizler ARDL tekniği ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. ARDL sınır testinden elde edilen eşbütünleşme testi bulguları, Türkiye'de beşeri sermaye ve ekonomik büyümenin eşbütünleşik olduğunu ve dolayısıyla uzun vadede birlikte hareket ettiklerini işaret etmektedir. Bu ortak hareket dört modelde geçerliliğini korumaktadır. Ayrıca uzun dönemde dört model için beşeri sermaye ile ekonomik büyüme arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı pozitif bir ilişki olduğu görülmektedir. Sonuç olarak, tanısal test sonuçları, dört farklı modelin hiçbirinin otokorelasyon ve değişen varyans problemlerinden muzdarip olmadığını ve her modelin parametre kararlılığı açısından kararlı olduğunu göstermektedir

China's Export Surge and World Poverty

This paper addresses the impact of imports from China on the importer countries' poverty levels. We posit that imports from China equal to or over a certain threshold level such as 2%, i.e., the ratio of a country's imports from China to its total imports is equal to or greater than 2% on average over the estimation period; could contribute to the decrease in the poverty levels of the importer countries. Using cross-section fixed and random effect regressions and data from 1994 to 2006, we report evidence that increases in the share of one country's imports from China is associated with higher Human Development Index and higher per capita GNP (both indicators of poverty). The obtained result holds for low-income countries as well

Deforestation, corruption, and private ownership in the forest sector

One of the remedies launched in combating corruption in the forest sector is privatization of state forests (and private forest ownership). We hypothesized that privatization could reduce deforestation through reducing corruption. We found a statistically significant strong positive relation between corruption and deforestation for the period between 1995 and 2008 by using two different corruption indices and panel data, a highly statistically significant negative correlation between private forest ownership and corruption across countries by using univariate and multivariate models for three different corruption indices, and a highly statistically significant negative correlation between private forest ownership and deforestation across countries by using univariate and multivariate models