Workers' Remittances to Former Soviet States

Workers' remittances are an important source of external finance for many former Soviet countries. Nevertheless, the determinants of remittances are only rarely analyzed. Using panel-data estimation techniques the study comes to the following major results: Remittances are highly persistent. They can only be partly explained by income. Furthermore, the performance of the domestic banking sector and the access of the private sector to credit play an important role. Better international integration and a better quality of institutions lead to an increase in remittances.remittances, migration, economic development, panel data model

Bringing home the money: what determines worker's remittances to transition countries?

remittances, migration, dynamic panel data models

Patterns of grammaticalization in African languages

The approach outlined in the present paper is based on observations made with African languages. Although the 1000-odd African languages display a remarkable extent of structural variation, there are certain structures that do not seem to occur in Africa. Thus, to our knowledge, an African language having anything that could be called an ergative case or a numeral classifier system has not been discovered so far. It may turn out that our approach can, in a modified form, be made applicable to languages outside Africa. This , however, is a possibility that has not been considered here. The present approach is based essentially on diachronic findings in that it uses observations on language evolution in order to account for structural differences between languages. Thus, it has double potential: apart from describing and explaining typological diversity it can also be material to reconstructing language history

Private Savings in Eastern European EU-Accession Countries: Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Data Model

After the collapse in early transition years, saving rates in Eastern European EUaccession countries have recovered strongly. Is private saving in these countries now driven by the same forces as in the EU? A GMM estimator is applied to analyze the determinants of private saving in both country groups. Main results are: saving rates are persistent; income growth increases saving, whereas public saving crowds out private saving. Domestic saving and foreign capital operate as substitutes. Long-run effects of income growth and public saving are larger in the EU than in the candidate countries, indicating that saving behavior in the EU is determined to a larger extent by long-run perspectives than in the candidate countries.Dynamic panel data model, private savings, Eastern European EU-accession countries, GMM estimator

Back on Track?: Savings Puzzles in EU-Accession Countries

After the collapse in the early years of transition, saving rates in many EU-accession countries have recovered and remained stable during recent years. This may indicate that the transformation process has come to an end with regard to savings. Is saving behaviour in EU-accession countries now driven by the same forces as it is in market economies? We use a panel data set covering the years 1990 to 1999 to estimate fixed-effects models for domestic and private saving ratios. Central findings: saving is highly persistent; income, growth and institutional reforms cause saving to increase, whereas public saving crowds out private saving. Domestic saving and foreign capital are operating as substitutes. (Panel data, savings, EU-accession countries, transformation

Migration and Money - What Determines Remittances?: Evidence from Germany

The determinants of migrants' remittances are the subject of this study based on German SOEP data. For our analysis of the probability and amount of remittances, we do not restrict ourselves on immigrants with a foreign citizenship, but focus on all individuals with a migration background. Major findings are: first, the degree of integration into German society matters. Second, the probability to remit is not dominated by income. Third, foreigners living in Germany are not a homogenous group concerning their remittance behavior: people with Turkish and former Yugoslavian citizenship, who are facing a comparable strong pressure for return migration, remit significantly more than others. The study points to potentially interesting directions for future research: (a) deeper investigations of the extent to which the legal status of the migrant influences cross-border transfer behavior and (b) reconsidering the theoretical arguments since the motive for remittances might have changed during the ongoing globalization process..Remittances, international migration, altruism

Migration and Money: What determines Remittances? Evidence from Germany

The determinants of migrants' remittances are the subject of this study based on German SOEP data. For our analysis of the probability and amount of remittances, we do not restrict ourselves on immigrants with a foreign citizenship, but focus on all individuals with a migration background. Major findings are: first, the degree of integration into German society matters. Second, the probability to remit is not dominated by income. Third, foreigners living in Germany are not a homogenous group concerning their remittance behavior: people with Turkish and former Yugoslavian citizenship, who are facing a comparable strong pressure for return migration, remit significantly more than others. The study points to potentially interesting directions for future research: (a) deeper investigations of the extent to which the legal status of the migrant influences cross-border transfer behavior and (b) reconsidering the theoretical arguments since the motive for remittances might have changed during the ongoing globalization process.remittances, international migration, altruism

Relationship Banking and SMEs: A Theoretical Analysis

Reliable information on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is rare and costly for financial intermediaries. To compensate for this, relationship banking is often considered as the appropriate lending technique in the case of SMEs. In this paper we offer a theoretical model to analyze the pricing behavior of banks in a Bertrand competition framework with monitoring costs. We show that the lack of reliable information leads to comparably high interest rates even if a long-term relationship between borrower and bank exists. The paper offers a theoretical explanation why SME managers consider external finance as a major constraint to their business.Relationship banking; Financial constraints; Small and medium sized enterprises; Accounting

Does Macroeconomic Policy Affect Private Savings in Europe?: Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Data Model

This note explores the relationship between the price elasticity of demand and the R&D intensity of the product. We introduce the concept of R&D intensity into a standard Dixit-Stiglitz/Krugman-type setting. R&D activity is treated as a fixed cost of production. Within this framework, sectors with a higher R&D intensity show a lower price elasticity of demand. This proposition is confirmed by an empirical investigation of export demand for manufactured goods from major industrialised countries. Consequently, real exchange rate changes have an impact on the commodity structure of exports.Dynamic panel data model; Private savings; European Union; GMM estimator