EDUCATION LEVEL OF WOMEN AND MANIFESTATIONS OF BIRTH RATE DECLINE: THE RELEVANT CHALLENGES IN ARMENIA

This article is dedicated to the study of the interrelation between the education level of women and the birth rate. One of the essential lessons in the demographic history of the world countries is that the high birth rate recorded during the last century was temporary; it is already evident that the world birth rate has halved and tends to decline further. The level of education and employment of women are among the factors that underlie the decrease in the birth rate. Numerous studies prove that this relation is reversed. Like some other countries in the world, there is narrow reproduction in Armenia, which is mainly caused by changes in the education level, employment, mindset of women and their role in the family.This article is dedicated to the study of the interrelation between the education level of women and the birth rate. One of the essential lessons in the demographic history of the world countries is that the high birth rate recorded during the last century was temporary; it is already evident that the world birth rate has halved and tends to decline further. The level of education and employment of women are among the factors that underlie the decrease in the birth rate. Numerous studies prove that this relation is reversed. Like some other countries in the world, there is narrow reproduction in Armenia, which is mainly caused by changes in the education level, employment, mindset of women and their role in the family

Political consequences of (consumer) debt relief

Many governments operate consumer debt relief programs, often timed to match the election cycle, but their political effects are not well understood. We ask if debt relief can influence elections in democracies. Our motivating exercise is the Biden administration’s promise to relieve student debt. We utilize quasi-experimental variation generated by another very large debt relief program enacted in the Republic of Georgia that, similar to USA, affected every sixth voter. We estimate that the program helped the incumbent candidate win that election, and that its effects persisted. Overall, we show how economic power can translate into political power in democracies

Political consequences of consumer debt relief

We study consumer debt relief as a tool of distributive politics and ask if debt relief can influence elections. We utilize quasi-experimental variation generated by a very large debt relief program enacted in the Republic of Georgia by a private foundation that affected every sixth voter. We estimate that the program helped the incumbent candidate linked to the foundation win the 2018 Presidential election, and that its effects persisted into the next election. We show how economic power can translate into political power in polities with de jure competitive elections but with de facto weak accountability

Vote buying or (political) business (cycles) as usual?

We study the short-run effect of elections on monetary aggregates in a sample of 85 low and middle income democracies (1975-2009). We find an increase in the growth rate of M1 during election months of about one tenth of a standard deviation. A similar effect can neither be detected in established OECD democracies nor in other months. The effect is larger in democracies with many poor and uneducated voters, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and in East-Asia and the Pacific. We argue that the election month monetary expansion is related to systemic vote buying which requires significant amounts of cash to be disbursed right before elections. The finely timed increase in M1 is consistent with this; is inconsistent with a monetary cycle aimed at creating an election time boom; and it cannot be, fully, accounted for by alternative explanations

Protests in Armenia. The Domestic Dimension

ISSN:1867-932

Oil and Gas Pipelines in the South Caucasus

ISSN:1867-932

Political consequences of (consumer) debt relief

Many governments operate consumer debt relief programs, often timed to match the election cycle, but their political effects are not well understood. We ask if debt relief can influence elections in democracies. Our motivating exercise is the Biden administration's promise to relieve student debt. We utilize quasi-experimental variation generated by another very large debt relief program enacted in the Republic of Georgia that, similar to USA, affected every sixth voter. We estimate that the program helped the incumbent candidate win that election, and that its effects persisted. Overall, we show how economic power can translate into political power in democracies

Political Consequences of Consumer Debt Relief

Many democracies operate consumer debt relief programs. These are often implemented or adjusted during the election cycle, but their political effects are not well-understood. We investigate if debt relief can influence high-stakes elections. We utilize quasi-experimental variation generated by a very large privately-funded debt relief program enacted in the Republic of Georgia during the presidential election in 2018 that affected every sixth voter. We estimate that the program helped the incumbent candidate win that election, and that its effects persisted. Overall, we show how economic power can translate into political power in a democracy