Labour Law, Judicial Efficiency and Informal Employment in India

This study assesses the effects of industrial disputes legislation and the dispute settlement process on informal versus formal employment in India. It uses indicators of pro-worker court awards and court efficiency as well as amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) at the level of Indian states. The state-level IDA amendments are classified as pro-worker or pro-employer and enforcement enhancing. Three complementary empirical approaches and data sources are used. These include a quasi-panel dataset constructed from four household employment surveys (NSSO) between 1983-1999, a state-industry level panel dataset for organised (formal) sector industrial units (ASI) for 1980-1997 and a cross-sectional survey of unorganised (informal) manufacturing firms for 2000/2001.Informal employment, labour law, industrial disputes, judicial efficiency, employment structure

Protection through Proof of Age. Birth Registration and Child Labor in Early 20th Century USA.

A birth certificate establishes a child's legal identity and is the sole official proof of a child's age. However, quantitative estimates on the economic significance of birth registration are lacking. Birth registration laws were enacted by the majority of U.S. states in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Controlling for state of birth and cohort effects, the differential timing of birth registration laws across US states is used to identify whether birth registration changed the effectiveness of child labor legislation between 1910 and 1930. The incidence of child labor declined significantly in the early 20th century. The study finds that if a birth registration law had been enacted by the time a child was born, the effectiveness of minimum working age legislation in prohibiting under-aged employment more than doubled. This effect was stronger for children residing in non-agricultural areas.Birth registration, Child Labor, Law and Economics, Economic history, USA

Globalisation, Instability and Economic Insecturity

This paper documents and analyses the volatility of economic growth in rich and poor countries. It concludes that whereas volatility has declined almost universally in advanced countries, the picture is more mixed for developing countries. The paper then concentrates on the case of India, where GDP volatility has declined over the past two decades. The evidence shows that the move away from agriculture has stabilised the economy. Increased financial depth and more favourable developments in terms of trade have had a similar effect. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between economic instability and insecurity at a general level.Volatility, GDP growth, globalisation

Whether to Hire Local Contract Teachers? Trade-off Between Skills and Preferences in India.

Whether to hire teachers locally on a contract basis, or via competitive examinations and training as government officials, is a major policy question in developing countries. Recruitment practices can have implications for the competence, motivation and the cost of teachers. This study relies on a Discrete Choice Experiment to assess the job preferences of a sample of 700 future elementary school teachers in the state of Uttarakhand in India. The students have been selected using either district-wide competitive examination or from a pool of locally hired, experienced contract teachers (para-teachers). Skills in English, Arithmetic and Vocabulary are also tested. We find a trade-off between skills and preferences, as teacher students hired using competitive examination have higher skills, but prefer posts in less remote regions. Most of the differences in job preferences between the two groups can be explained by geographic origin of the teachers, skills, experience and education.Education, Para-teachers, Discrete Choice Experiment, Skills, Preferences, India

How do family ties, boards and regulation affect pay at the top? Evidence for Indian CEOs

This paper investigates the effects of corporate governance factors and family ties on the pay of managing directors in a sample of Indian stock listed companies. It uses a unique seven-year firm level panel dataset and controls for firm performance and both CEO and firm specific fixed effects. The hypothesis is that corporate governance, ownership structures and market pressure shape the power relations between the board and managers, and affect the level and structure of CEO pay. The evidence for India supports these hypotheses. Managing directors, who are related to the founding family, or controlling group, or any of the members on the board of directors, are paid more. This holds for total pay and both for the less variable component and the performance-related component of pay. In contrast, the presence of outside representatives on the board - non-executive directors or nominees of creditors or institutional investors - is found to have a disciplinary effect. The presence of nominees lowers the level of pay and that of non-executives ties pay more to firm performance. A further timely finding is that the staged introduction of a recent mandatory corporate governance code, aiming to improve governance and pay disclosure in listed companies, has raised the tendency of firms to tie pay explicitly to firm performance. Overall, the practice of tying pay explicitly to performance has become more common over time.Executive pay, Corporate Governance, Family firms, Corporate Law, India

Legal Origin, Shareholder Protection and the Stock Market: New Challenges from Time Series Analysis

This paper uses a new time series dataset of shareholder protection consisting of 60 annual legal indicators for the period 1970-2005 for France, Germany, the UK and the US. On the basis of these data it examines developments in shareholder protection and reassesses the claims that common-law countries have better shareholder protection than civil law countries. Furthermore it examines the relationship between legal changes and stock market development. It casts serious doubt on the claim that common-law countries have better shareholder protection which in turn leads to more stock market development.Stock Market, Corporate Governance, Financial Development, Leximetrics

GATT-sopimuksen mukaisten kauppaliittojen vaikutus monenkeskisen kaupan vapauttamiseen

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.WTO:n jäsenmaiden välisten kauppaliittojen muodostamisesta säädetään GATT-sopimuksen artiklassa 24. Artiklan 24 mukaan kauppaliiton maiden ulkoinen tullitaso ei saa nousta kauppaliittoa edeltävän tason yläpuolelle. Eräs kauppaliittoteorian perusoletuksia on, että hyvinvointiaan maksimoivilla kauppaliitoilla on taipumus korottaa tullejaan ja näin heikentää ulkopuolisten maiden hyvinvointia. Tullitasoa rajoittamalla on pyritty turvaamaan ulkopuolisten maiden asema ja varmistamaan, että kauppaliitot eivät muodostu monenkeskisen kaupan vapauttamisen esteiksi. Tutkielmassa selvitetään kahden mallin (Syropoulos 1999; Zissimos - Vines 1999) avulla miten artiklaan 24 sitoutuvat kauppaliitot vaikuttavat pyrkimyksiin edistää monenkeskistä vapaakauppaa. Lisäksi arvioidaan artiklalle 24 vaihtoehtoisten käytäntöjen vaikutuksia vapaakaupan saavuttamiseen. Tutkielmassa osoitetaan, että vaikka kauppaliitto ei korottaisikaan tullejaan, sisäisten tullien alentaminen heikentää ulkopuolisten maiden asemaa. Sisäisen tullitason alentaminen lisää liiton sisäistä kaupankäyntiä ja parantaa liiton vaihtosuhdetta ja hyvinvointia suhteessa liittoa edeltävään tilanteeseen. Muun maailman vaihtosuhde laskee, mikä alentaa maan monopolivoimaa maailmanmarkkinoilla ja tätä kautta maan hyvinvointia. Artiklaan 24 sitoutuva liitto tarjoaa jäsenilleen useimmiten myös vapaakauppaa korkeamman hyvinvointitason. Vaikka näin ei aina ole, antavat tulokset aihetta epäillä, että liitolla ei usein ole kannustinta pyrkiä vapaakauppaan. Tämä saattaa selittää ainakin osittain sen miksi monenkeskisen vapaakaupan edistäminen on WTO:n puitteissa viime aikoina ollut vaikeaa. Tulokset osoittavat, että jos vapaakauppaa halutaan pitää pitkän aikavälin tavoitteena, artiklaa 24 olisi perusteltua uudistaa. Tutkielmassa käsitellään kolmea vaihtoehtoa artiklalle 24. Näitä ovat (i) ns. avoimen integraation periaate, (ii) liiton muodostaminen niin, että maiden vaihtosuhde säilyy vakiona sekä (iii) hyvinvointitappion korvaaminen. Toisen mallin puitteissa tarkastellaan myös tilannetta, jossa liitto voi asettaa tullinsa täysin vapaasti. Kolmesta vaihtoehdosta kaksi ensimmäistä saattaisivat edistää vapaakauppaa, jos ne olisivat ainoat mahdolliset tavat muodostaa kauppaliitto. Tilanne, jossa tulliliiton tullitasoa ei ole rajoitettu on vapaakaupan saavuttamisen ja muun maailman kannalta huonoin ratkaisu