30 research outputs found

    Remittances in Pakistan: Why They Have Gone Up and Why They Are Not Coming Down

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    The flow of workers’ remittances to Pakistan has more than quadrupled in the last eight years and shows no sign of slowing down, despite the economic downturn in the Gulf Cooperation Council and other important host countries for Pakistani workers. This paper analyses the forces that have driven remittance flows to Pakistan in recent years. A methodological innovation is that we study the behaviour of per capita remittances and draw a close link between remittances and remitters’ earning capacity, in the belief that higher earning power leads to more remittances. Our main conclusions are that (i) the growth in the inflow of workers’ remittances to Pakistan is in large part due to an increase in worker migration, (ii) the higher skill levels of migrating workers has helped boost remittances, and (iii) other imporant determinants of remittances to Pakistan are agricultural output and the relative yield on investments in the host and home countries. JEL classification: F22, F24 Keywords: Workers’ Remittances, Migration, Pakista

    A cointegration model for search equilibrium wage formation

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    In flow models of the labor market, wages are determined by negotiations between workers and employers on the surplus value of a realized match. From this perspective, this paper presents an econometric analysis of the influence of labor market flows on wage formation as an alternative to the traditional specification of wage equations in which unemployment represents Phillips-curve or wage-curve effects. The paper estimates a dynamic wage equation for the Netherlands using a cointegration approach. It finds that labor flows, and notably flows from outside the labor market, are important determinants of both short-run and long-run wage setting.wage curve, labor market flows, cointegration model

    A Cointegration Model for Search Equilibrium Wage Formation

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    In flow models of the labor market, wages are determined by negotiations between workers and employers on the surplus value of a realized match. From this perspective our study presents an econometric analysis of the influence of labor market flows on wage formation as alternative to the traditional specification of wage equations where unemployment represents the Phillips-curve or wage curve-effects. We estimate a dynamic wage equation for the Netherlands using a cointegration approach. We find that labor flows, and notably flows from outside the labor market, are important determinants for both short run and long run wage settin

    Analytical performance of the Roche Lightcycler® Mycobacterium Detection Kit for the diagnosis of clinically important mycobacterial species

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    BACKGROUND: The LightCyclerH Mycobacterium Detection Kit based on real-time PCR technology for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium kansasii was recently developed. This study evaluated its analytical sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Plasmid standards were prepared and used to determine the limit of detection. The assay was also performed against organisms other than mycobacteria, other mycobacterial strains and interfering substances to exclude cross-reactivity and interference. Reference standards were prepared and tested to assess the assay’s reproducibility. All PCR assays were performed using the LightCyclerH 2.0 Instrument. The detection limit for M. tuberculosis was 28 copies per microlitre. Neither cross-reactivity nor interference occurred with non-mycobacterial organisms and substances tested. Overall reproducibility for consecutive measurements, run-to-run, lot-to-lot, day-to-day and laboratory-to-laboratory achieved a coefficient of variance of less than two percent. SIGNIFICANCE: The LightCyclerH Mycobacterium Detection kit has shown to be a robust and accurate assay with the potential to be used as a rapid TB diagnostic test.http://www.plosone.or

    Institutions, incentives and social policy in the 'Dutch model'

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    In this paper we discuss the Dutch social-economic model that has proved so successful in recent years. We pay special attention to the reform of the social security system and to the role of formal Institutions for Policy Coordination. The Dutch experience learns that in redesigning social security systems or facilitating macro-economic adjustment, a dialogue between unions, employers' organizations and the government is a valuable asset. Countries that expand existing collective social security schemes or introduce new schemes should pay close attention to possible adverse labor market incentives associated with badly designed programs. Collective social insurance of the European kind might not be the best way to achieve income protection for countries with a high share of workers employed in the informal sector. We discuss individual accounts as a possible alternative and conclude that both social security principles have their pros and cons. Developing a system of social security that combines these two approaches could very well be the best way to pursue for developing countries seeking to expand income protection for their workforce.

    Constructing labour market flows for the Netherlands using macro data from social security provisions : 1970-1995

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    This paper extends and improves a construction method for macro labour market flows developed by Broersma and Den Butter (1994). We use administrative data to derive a set of worker and job flows at the macro level for the Dutch economy for the period 1970-1995 and pay special attention to different social security provisions (welfare, unemployment insurance, occupational disability provisions and (early) retirement). Contrary to the discrete time approach taken by Davis, Haltiwanger and Schuh (1996) our continuous time approach to labour market flows takes into account all flows of workers and jobs in a consistent way and we cover the entire economy. It is argued that labour market dynamics in The Netherlands have increased since the recession in the beginning of the 1980's. This is mainly due to increased job to job movements and higher inflow into employment from non-participation and unemployed entitled to unemployment insurance provisions.

    Remittances in Pakistan

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    The flow of workers'' remittances to Pakistan has more than quadrupled in the last eight years and it shows no sign of slowing down, despite the economic downturn in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other important host countries for Pakistani workers. This paper analyses the forces that have driven remittance flows to Pakistan in recent years. The main conclusions are: (i) the growth in the inflow of workers'' remittances to Pakistan is in large part due to an increase in worker migration; (ii) higher skill levels of migrating workers have helped to boost remittances; (iii) other imporant determinants of remittances to Pakistan are agriculture output and the relative yield on investments in the host and home countries.Workers remittances;Migration;Capital inflows;remittances, remittance, worker migration, labor migration, remitter, workers ? remittances, increase in remittances, capita remittances, migrant workers, migrant, remittance flows, per capita remittances, immigrant stock, data on remittances, migrant worker, immigrant workers, remitters, bilateral remittance, amount of remittances, determinants of remittances, volume of remittances, immigrant population, capital flows, flow of remittances, value of remittances, worker remittances, average remittances, highly qualified workers, illegal immigrants, average remittance, flows of remittances, capita remittance, remittance inflow, value of remittance, migrant transfers, remittance transfers, impact of remittances, highly skilled workers, mexican immigrants, remittance data, monthly remittances, impact of remittances on growth, diaspora, growth of remittances, bilateral remittances

    Can individual unemployment savings accounts resolve Okun's equity-efficiency trade-off?

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    Recently some authors have proposed to introduce a system of individual unemployment savings accounts as an alternative to traditional public unemployment insurance. In this paper we investigate the feasibility of individual accounts as a possible alternative route to address the equity-efficiency trade-off of public benefit systems and increase labor force participation in Europe. Under a system of individual accounts, workers save a share of their wage in special accounts to draw unemployment compensation from these accounts when they are laid off. Individual accounts reduce the adverse incentives of traditional unemployment insurance because individuals internalize the costs of unemployment. The system might have negative consequences for labor market dynamics and restructuring, as it may harm the 'irrigation function' of unemployment benefits for the economy, when workers would be to willing to accept inefficient jobs, just to save on withdrawals from their accounts. Another adverse effect of individual accounts is that it may introduce dual labor markets and decrease solidarity between workers with a high and a low unemployment risk. We conclude that, despite the disadvantages, the idea of individual accounts deserves serious attention as this form of institutional innovation addresses the key problem of contemporary benefit systems in many European countries: low unemployment outflow rates and a high level of labor inactivity.unemployment benefits; equity and efficiency; moral hazard; labor market dynamics

    Inflation and Conflict in Iraq

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    Containing inflation has turned out to be one of the most challenging aspects of economic management in Iraq. This paper posits that conventional as well as unconventional factors explain inflation dynamics in the recent past. We build a theoretical model based on the insights into the workings of socialist economies under supply shortages provided by Shleifer and Vishny (1992) to help explain price dynamics. In the model, strategic behavior of the fuel distribution monopolist results in fuel shortages, with implications for fuel and non-fuel inflation. A number of step-wise adjustments of administered prices for fuel products since December 2005 offer an interesting experiment to help study this behavior. Our findings show that inflation may have been influenced by shortages in fuel and non-fuel commodity supplies, which themselves are driven by violence and rent-seeking.Commodity prices;Commodity markets;Oil product prices;Shadow economy;inflation, black market, money supply, monetary policy, price level, monetary fund, high inflation, price inflation, rate of inflation, inflation dynamics, terms of trade, monetary transmission mechanism, macroeconomic stability, monetary transmission, central bank, value of money, macroeconomic analysis, inflationary pressures, inflation rate, demand for money, foreign exchange, foreign currency, money growth, inflation equation

    Evaluating Dutch Housing Market Regulation

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    Although the primary goals of post war housing policy in The Netherlands have beenaccomplished, the Dutch housing market remains highly regulated. This paper develops a staticpartial equilibrium model to investigate the effects of deregulation on the private marketprices and the allocation of houses among households. We focus on three policy measures:individual rent support, social housing projects and the fiscal rules for owner occupiedhouses.
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