Globalization and the Island Economies of the South Pacific

globalization, aid dependence, growth, South Pacific island economies

STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS OF NEW ZEALAND'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES: SOME EMPIRICAL RESULTS

This paper examines the sources of total factor productivity growth (TFP) in New Zealand's manufacturing industries over the period 1978-98 and over various sub-periods. Examination of the data adopts two stages using a stochastic frontier approach. The first stage involves the specification and estimation of the stochastic frontier production function and the prediction of technical efficiency effects. The second stage involves the specification of a regression model for the predicted technical efficiency effects. The sources of TFP growth have been decomposed into four components; i.e. technical progress, changes in technical efficiency, scale effects, and change in allocative efficiency. The empirical results show that productivity has been largely due to changes in technical progress, technical efficiency and resource allocation effect. The changes in technical progress and resource allocation have improved in the post-reform period, i.e. 1984-98, while technical efficiency has declined in the post-reform period. With respect to scale effect its contribution to productivity growth is quite small.New Zealand Manufacturing Sector, Total Productivity Growth, Technical Progress, Technical Efficiency, Scale Components, Allocative Efficiency, Industrial Organization, D24, C23, O47,

Closer economic relations between Australia and New Zealand: specialisation, competitiveness, complementarity

The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) came into effect in 1983 and the objective of bilateral free trade in goods between the two countries was achieved in 1990. This study provides a quantitative analysis of the Agreement’s impacts on specialisation, competitiveness and complementarity in trade between the two countries. It is shown that, compared with Australia, New Zealand was able to exploit its comparative advantage and increase its complementarity in trade with Australia to a greater extent in the first time period after free trade was reached (1991-1995). However, subsequent to 1995, the reverse has been true, reflecting the greater effectiveness of Australia’s commercial policies and economic performance in the late 1990s relative to New Zealand

The Role of Institutions, Culture, and Wellbeing in Explaining Bilateral Remittance Flows: Evidence Both Cross-Country and Individual-Level Analysis

This paper explores the determinants of bilateral remittance flows at the country-level; specifically, institutional quality, wellbeing, and culture using a novel dataset published by Ratha and Shaw (2007). Next, we look for support in the German Socio-Economic Panel using individual level regressions which allows us: (i) to control for various individual correlates and fixed effects, and (ii) to analyze remittances sent for different purposes separately. We uncover important relationships with these unique datasets. The country-level results indicate; (i) classical gravity equation variables explain bilateral remittance flows (ii) institutional quality, wellbeing and cultural differences play important role in explaining bilateral remittance flows (iii) financial variables such as exchange rate and interest rate differentials matter as well. Institutional quality matters more for remittance flows between high-income countries and between low-income countries but it does not explain the remittance flows from high-income to low-income countries. Cultural differences become a more dominant factor in explaining the flows between low-income countries. These findings are also supported by the individual level analysis. In addition, German migrants send less money back home when they feel like more German and become home-owners. Countries receive less remittances from Germany when they become happier, their health-care and social-security system improve but receive more with confidence in government, chance of war, and improved political system. These institutional factors only matter for remittances sent for family support. Financial variables such interest rate and exchange rate differentials however, only matter for remittances sent for savings purposes. The results have important policy implications. Institutions matter for remittances but treating whole institutions as one in this framework can be misleading. The role of financial variables, indicators of institutions, and culture depend on the form of remittance and the characteristics of receiving and sending countries.Bilateral cross-country remittance data, individual-level remittance data, institutional quality, wellbeing, gravity equations.

Corruption and economic development nexus: Variations across income levels in a non-linear framework ☆

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o This article investigates the relationship between income and corruption which provides an insight to the changes in the level of perceived corruption and economic development across countries. An existing shortcoming is that previous studies have focused only on detecting the linear effects of income on corruption. We therefore use the hierarchical polynomial regression to evaluate any existence of a non-linear relationship after controlling for socio-economic and institutional factors. Our results challenge some of the findings of a negative income-corruption association in the literature, and provide some new inferences. The findings indicate a quadratic function that best fits the data, and despite an upsurge of corruption among the low-to-medium income countries, the advanced stages of development eventually reduce corruption level substantially. The results persist when per capita income is instrumented for by latitude distance and life expectancy. The policy implications suggest a combination of economic, institutional and social policies that can effectively, in turn, reduce and lower the effects of corruption on the society, economy and development

Is there a consensus towards transparency: International\u27s Corruption Perceptions Index?

Given the clandestine nature, corruption is intrinsically a complex phenomenon and hard to measure. This paper examines whether Transparency International\u27s corruption perception index converges towards consensus over time? Furthermore, we estimate the speed of adjustment towards general agreement. The results indicate differences in the degree of concordance, i.e. high level of agreement for the mostlyclean and most-corrupt countries but disagreement remains high for the mediumcorrupt countries. The speed of converge is high for the most-corrupt and mostlyclean countries and a decline for the medium corrupt countries

The Role of Institutions, Culture, and Wellbeing in Explaining Bilateral Remittance Flows: Evidence Both Cross-Country and Individual-Level Analysis

This paper explores the determinants of bilateral remittance flows at the country-level; specifically, institutional quality, wellbeing, and culture using a novel dataset published by Ratha and Shaw (2007). Next, we look for support in the German Socio-Economic Panel using individual level regressions which allows us: (i) to control for various individual correlates and fixed effects, and (ii) to analyze remittances sent for different purposes separately. We uncover important relationships with these unique datasets. The country-level results indicate; (i) classical gravity equation variables explain bilateral remittance flows (ii) institutional quality, wellbeing and cultural differences play important role in explaining bilateral remittance flows (iii) financial variables such as exchange rate and interest rate differentials matter as well. Institutional quality matters more for remittance flows between high-income countries and between low-income countries but it does not explain the remittance flows from high-income to low-income countries. Cultural differences become a more dominant factor in explaining the flows between low-income countries. These findings are also supported by the individual level analysis. In addition, German migrants send less money back home when they feel like more German and become home-owners. Countries receive less remittances from Germany when they become happier, their health-care and social-security system improve but receive more with confidence in government, chance of war, and improved political system. These institutional factors only matter for remittances sent for family support. Financial variables such interest rate and exchange rate differentials however, only matter for remittances sent for savings purposes. The results have important policy implications. Institutions matter for remittances but treating whole institutions as one in this framework can be misleading. The role of financial variables, indicators of institutions, and culture depend on the form of remittance and the characteristics of receiving and sending countries

Aid Allocation of the Emerging Central and Eastern European Donors

The paper examines the main characteristics of the (re)emerging foreign aid policies of the Visegrád countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia), concentrating on the allocation of their aid resources. We adopt an econometric approach, similar to the ones used in the literature for analyzing the aid allocation of the OECD DAC donors. Using this approach, we examine the various factors that influence aid allocation of the Visegrád countries, using data for the years between 2001 and 2008. Our most important conclusion is that the amount of aid a partner county gets from the four emerging donors is not influenced by the level of poverty or the previous performance (measured by the level of economic growth or the quality of institutions) of the recipients. The main determining factor seems to be geographic proximity, as countries in the Western-Balkans and the Post-Soviet region receive much more aid from the Visegrád countries than other recipients. Historical ties (pre-1989 development relations) and international obligations in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq are also found to be significant explanatory factors. This allocation is in line with the foreign political and economic interests of these new donors. While there are clear similarities between the four donors, the paper also identifies some individual country characteristics

Diplomazia creativa al servizio di strategie di nicchia di una piccola potenza

In the year marking the centenary since the foundation of the Azerbaijani Diplomatic Service, Baku’s foreign policy is increasingly characterised by a broader understanding of diplomacy, shaped by the gradual yet steady expansion of both areas and the tools for intervention. Guided by the attempt to develop a ‘niche strategy’ aiming at safeguarding and promoting Azerbaijani national interest, the Humanitarian Diplomacy emerges as a privileged field for Baku to adopt a pro-active and creative foreign policy. Building upon the debate around the interests behind the aid-providing activities of traditional and emerging donors, the article aims at introducing the motivations and the aims behind Azerbaijani aid policy. In particular, it aims at demonstrating that Baku’s Humanitarian Diplomacy aims chiefly at achieving immaterial benefits, having to do with international prestige and with the construction and international projection of a Good International Citizenship

Strengthening Fiji's national poverty policies in the context of regionalism

Although Fiji is the most affluent South Pacific island nation, its history of coups and failed policies reflects missed opportunities by pushing more people into poverty. The question addressed here is whether Fiji?s economic policies over the past decade have been pro-poor, and if not, what direction should policy take? Increasing domestic economic activities, livelihood schemes, and assistance via regionalism are seen as important ways to build labour capacity for economic growth and poverty reduction. Actions to address poverty should be based on mutual obligations of individuals, government, and foreign aid