Regional Differences in Food Consumption in Urban Mozambique: A Censored Demand System Approach

A nationwide household survey for Mozambique is used to estimate a large censored food demand system with 12 food groups for the sample of urban households. Using the translog indirect utility approach, the censored nature of the data is addressed by estimating a system of Tobit equations with a recently suggested quasi maximum likelihood estimator. Augmenting the system with demographic and geographical variables in a theoretically consistent way, I find that differences in elasticities between regions are significant. The results show that regional variation has to be taken into account when evaluating policies or employing CGE models. Further, the approach employed here can be applied to a number of developing countries with varying geographic conditions.censored demand system; elasticities; Mozambique; food demand; regional differences

Estimation of Tobit Type Censored Demand Systems: A Comparison of Estimators

Recently a number of authors have suggested to estimate censored demand systems as a system of Tobit multivariate equations employing a Quasi Maximum Likelihood (QML) estimator based on bivariate Tobit models. In this paper I study the efficiency of this QML estimator relative to the asymptotically more efficient Simulated ML (SML) estimator in the context of a censored Almost Ideal demand system. Further, a simpler QML estimator based on the sum of univariate Tobit models is introduced. A Monte Carlo simulation comparing the three estimators is performed on three different sample sizes. The QML estimators perform well in the presence of moderate sized error correlation coefficients often found in empirical studies. With absolute larger correlation coefficients, the SML estimator is found to be superior. The paper lends support to the general use of the QML estimators and points towards the use of simple etimators for more general censored systems of equations.censored demand system; Monte Carlo; quasi maximum likelihood; simulated maximum likelihood

The European Council’s latest agreement to tackle youth unemployment is unlikely to have any immediate impact.

Last week the European Council held a summit largely devoted to the issue of youth unemployment. Mikkel Barslund assesses the outcome of the summit, which saw extra funding committed to tackling the problem. He argues that while the measures agreed are a step in the right direction, they are unlikely to have any immediate impact on youth unemployment levels. The Commission should therefore attempt to manage expectations by clearly outlining the potential impact and timeframe of the new elements which have been agreed

Rural Credit in Vietnam

This paper uses a survey of 932 rural households to uncover how the rural credit market operates in four provinces of Vietnam. Households obtain credit through formal and informal lenders, but formal loans are almost entirely for production and asset accumulation. Interest rates fell from 1997 to 2002, reflecting increased market integration; but the determinants of formal and informal credit demand are distinct. Credit rationing depends on education and credit history, but we find no evidence of a bias against women. Regional differences are striking, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach to credit policy is clearly inappropriate.rural credit; household survey; Vietnam

Extending Working Lives: The Case of Denmark. CEPS Working Document No. 404, 17 February 2015

Extending working lives has been a key item on the political agenda in Denmark for at least two decades now. This study details recent and prospective reforms to the voluntary early retirement scheme and the pension age, as well as current policy initiatives to keep older workers in employment. Other aspects central to a long working life, such as health, lifelong learning, age management practices in companies, and elderly workers’ motivation are discussed in depth. Overall, Denmark is in a relatively good state when it comes to older workers’ labour market participation and related job satisfaction. This impacts positively on the public finance challenge linked to population ageing which, given agreed reforms, should be manageable. Ongoing reform implementation is likely to substantially increase the employment of those aged 60 and over. Nevertheless, surveys point to age discrimination as a potential problem and people who fall into unemployment at a late stage of their careers still face challenges to reemployment

Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam

This paper uses a survey of 932 rural households to uncover how the rural credit market operates in four provinces of Vietnam. Households obtain credit through formal and informal lenders. Formal loans are almost entirely for production and asset accumulation, while informal loans are used for consumption smoothening. Interest rates fell from 1997 to 2002, reflecting increased market integration. Moreover, the determinants of formal and informal credit demand are distinct. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. A ‘one size fits all’ approach to credit policy in Vietnam would be inappropriate.rural credit; household survey; Vietnam

The proposed mobility package may not have much effect on mobility, but what about politics? CEPS Commentary, 16 December 2016

While finding the new proposed changes well measured, Barslund and Busse question in this Commentary whether they will affect the politics of labour mobility, which have a tendency to flare up with some regularity around the time of important European elections