Indicators of Social Well-Being, Education, Genre Equality and World Development: Analysis of 132 Countries, 2000-2008

In this article we present an analysis of several socio-economic indicators related with quality of life, economic development, human capital, social capital and women participation in politics, management, labor and income. We present some econometric models which relate women income ratio with political, management and labor participation, as well as with the educational level of population, quality of government and real GDP per capita. Regarding quality of life we also analyze some indicators related with health assistance, education expenditure and poverty eradication. The overall conclusion is that international cooperation to foster education is of uppermost importance for world development and human wellbeing. Among the initiatives to reach the Millennium Development Goals it is of uppermost importance to reach a closer cooperation between development economists, journalists, educators and other social agents highly motivated to increase international cooperation for education and poverty eradication.Government quality, Education and Development, Well-being Indicators, World Development, Genre Equality, MDGs

Industry, Foreign Trade and Development: Econometric Models of Europe and North America, 1965-2003

We compare several econometric models of Western Europe, Central Europe, the United States, Canada and Mexico in order to analyze the impact of foreign trade and industry on development Regarding the positive effects of foreign trade it is important to notice that they are more due to the positive role of imports from the supply side than to the effect of exports from the demand side, although both sides are relevant. The main benefit from increasing exports is usually to increase the capacity to import intermediate inputs and other goods and services which are necessary or help to foster economic development in the domestic market. There are many studies which show the positive effects of exports but very few focused on the role of imports, and this study contributes in this regard.. On the other hand the analysis of industrial contribution to the non industrial sectors is twofold: directly providing intermediate and capital goods to non industrial sectors and indirectly increasing exports and the capacity to import foreign inputs which contribute to domestic production.Industry, Foreign Trade, Development, Europe, America

Consumption expenditure on Health and Education: Econometric models and evolution of OECD countries 1970-96

We analyse the evolution of Private Consumption on two special groups of expenditure: Health, and Education and Culture, having into account that there are some substitution effects between public and private expenditure on both groups. The comparison is made with data of real private expenditure by inhabitant, at 1990 prices and exchange rates, for 13 OECD countries in the period 1970-94 and with data of real public and private expenditure by inhabitant for 24 countries in the year 1996. We estimate some econometric models for private expenditure and the results confirm the existence of the substitution effect and that this effect seems to be higher in the case of Health. From the analysis of the evolution of these variable our main conclusion is that the to increase the expenditure on both groups, with economic development, is positive for welfare and obeys to a rational behaviour of consumers. So we do not agree with the propositions and attempts to cut public expenditure on these important services, which sometimes are made in the name of a kind economic efficiency that do not have into account, in the desirable degree, the quality of services and social welfare.

An Interregional Econometric Model for Market Services Employment in 120 EEC Regions

We present a complete set of data of employment and value-added at 6 sectors classification, calculated having into account OECD National Accounts, regional data from Eurostat and our own estimations when necessary for former EEC12 countries, for the years. We fit and analyze an interregional econometric model for market services employment in 120 EEC regions in the year 1985 and compare its results with another models estimated for the period 1985-98. Our main conclusion is that value-added in industry and non-market sectors are the most important explanatory variables with positive impact on the increase of value-added and employment of the market services sector, and thus we think that European Union should try to help the increase of these factors in the regions under average. This recommendation is specially interesting before the forthcoming expansions of European Union after 2002.Employment; Europe; Models

Fifty years of Econometrics Research in Spain: Doctoral Dissertations, international publications and other contributions, 1956-2006

This paper presents a first part in English and a second part in Spanish, with a summary of contributions to Econometrics research in Spain for the period 1956-2006. We focus on the contributions by the pioneers and their disciples in universities all over Spain, accordingly to the information available at several registers and particularly to their supervising activities of Doctoral Dissertations, which have been of great importance to increase the level and interest of teaching and research in Spanish Universities. The paper is open to updates as soon as we get more information relevant to this goal. We include a reference to Spanish publications in English or in other languages, particularly focused on Econometrics research. Este trabajo presenta una recopilación novedosa de datos relevantes de la historia de la Econometría en España, con especial referencia a los éxitos logrados en las últimas décadas de dicho siglo veinte y en los primeros años del siglo veintiuno. Está escrito como homenaje a los profesores que fueron pioneros de esta materia en España, a los que la mayoría de los investigadores econométricos debemos gratitud como discípulos directos o indirectos, y a todos los que han contribuido a impulsar el interés y calidad de la docencia y de la investigación econométrica. Presentamos un amplio panorama de las tesis doctorales de esta especialidad leídas en las universidades españolas, agrupadas por su director, y también hacemos referencia a otras publicaciones, destacando la alta posición que la Econometría española ha alcanzado a nivel europeo e internacional.

Industry and Foreign Trade in India, China and OECD countries: an analysis of causality, 1960-2002

We analyse causality relationships between industry and foreign trade in three major areas of the world economy: India, China and OECD countries for the period 1960-2002, and found that the effect of imports is usually positive and significant to favour industrial and non-industrial development, from a mixed approach to economic growth which has into account demand and supply sides. We use several approaches to causality, including Granger´s bivariate and trivariate tests and analysis of contemporaneous relationships.Foreign Trade, Causality, India, China, OECD

Health Expenditure, Poverty and Economic Development in Latin America 2000-2005

Two of the main problems of many Latin American countries are poverty and low levels of expenditure on health. In many countries there has been little progress in this regard due to the lack of resources, and thus it is important to focus on the main policies that may improve Latin American development because its positive effect on income per capita and health expenditure. This article analyses the evolution of health expenditure, poverty indicators and economic development in American countries for the period 2000-2005, and focus on the important positive effect that the necessary increase in industrial development will have on poverty eradication and health improvement for the next years. Both national policies and international cooperation to development in the poorest countries of Latin America should favor all the factors of production which contribute to foster economic development, and particularly the investment in industry.Health Expenditure, Education, Development, Poverty

Modelos econométricos dinámicos y desarrollo económico: Análisis del salario real, la productividad y el empleo en los países de la OCDE, 1965-2005

In order to analyses the propagation effect, which is of great importance in the analysis of dynamic relationships in studies of Economic Development, here we present a classification of dynamic models, having into account several situations retarding this important effect, including not only models with lags but also models without explicit lags but with propagation effect through one stock variable, as it happens in the case of the production function when real Gdp is explained by the supply side of primary inputs. We present a comparison of several dynamic specifications, including models in levels, in first differences, mixed dynamic models and Error Correction Models, to wages, productivity, employment and GDP in Spain and other OECD countries. The main conclusion regarding the dynamic model specification is that the mixed dynamic model is a good choice for many econometric applications. Analizamos el efecto propagación, que es de gran importancia en el análisis de relaciones dinámicas en estudios de desarrollo económico, y para ello presentamos una clasificación de los modelos dinámicos, teniendo en cuenta varias situaciones e incluyendo no sólo modelos con retardos sino también modelos sin retardos explícitos donde el efecto propagación se transmite a través de una variable stock, como es el caso de la función de producción cuando el PIB real es explicado por el lado de la oferta de inputs primarios. Presentamos una comparación de varias especificaciones dinámicas, incluyendo modelos en niveles, en primeras diferencias, dinámico mixto, y modelos de corrección de error, CE, aplicadas a los salarios, productividad, empleo y PIB en España y en otros países de la OCDE. La principal conclusión en relación con la especificación dinámica es que el modelo dinámico mixto as una buena elección en muchas aplicaciones econométricas.

Causalidad y desarrollo económico: Análisis econométrico de los países de la OCDE, 1965-2005

This paper presents an analysis and classification causality relationships in Econometrics, with particular focus on economic development, having into account the changes in direction of causality, in disequilibrium models, and other views from demand and supply sides. We analyze the evolution of employment rates, real wages and real Gross Domestic Product per capita in Spain, Germany, The United Kingdom, the United States and other OECD countries for 1965-2005 and present applications of the Granger´s test and other methods to analyze causal relationships. Este documento presenta un análisis y clasificación de las relaciones causales en Econometría, con especial referencia al desarrollo económico, teniendo en cuenta los cambios en la dirección de causalidad, en modelos de desequilibrio, y otras perspectivas desde el lado de la oferta y el lado de la demanda. Analizamos la evolución del empleo, el salario real y el PIB por habitante en España, Alemania, Gran Bretaña, Estados Unidos. y otros países de la OCDE durante el período 1965-2005 y presentamos los resultados de aplicar el test de Granger y otros métodos de análisis de relaciones causales.