Institutions and economic performance: What can be explained?

Institutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyse whether commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms. We look at three ‘levels’ of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system affects performance. The second concerns whether the business and investment environment affects the performance of countries and the third concerns whether perceived business constraints directly affect the performance of firms. In all instances, we find little evidence of a robust link between widely used measures of institutions and our indicators of performance. We consider why this might be the case and argue that mis-measurement, mis-specification, complexity and non-linearity are all relevant factors.

Institutions and Economic Performance: What Can Be Explained?

Institutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyze whether commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms. We look at three 'levels' of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system affects performance. The second concerns whether the business and investment environment affects the performance of countries and the third concerns whether perceived business constraints directly affect the performance of firms. In all instances, we find little evidence of a robust link between widely used measures of institutions and our indicators of performance. We consider why this might be the case and argue that mis-measurement, mis-specification, complexity and non-linearity are all relevant factors.institutions, growth

Do economic crises lead to health and nutrition behavior responses?: analysis using longitudinal data from Russia

Using longitudinal data on more than 2,000 Russian families spanning the period between 2007 and 2010, this paper estimates the impact of the 2009 global financial crisis on food expenditures, health care expenditures, and doctor visits in Russia. The primary estimation strategy adopted is the semi-parametric difference-in-difference with propensity score matching technique. The analysis finds that household health and nutritional behavior indicators do not vary statistically between households that were crisis-affected and households that were not affected by the crisis. However the analysis finds that crisis-affected poor families curtailed their out-of-pocket health expenditures during and after the crisis more than poor families that were not affected by the crisis did. In addition, crisis-affected vulnerable groups changed their health behavior. In particular, households with low educational attainment of household heads and households with more elderly people changed their health and nutrition behavior response when affected by the crisis. The results are invariant to the propensity score matching techniques and parametric fixed effects estimation models

Democracy and income inequality: revisiting the long- and short-term relationship

This paper studies the relationship between democracy andincome inequality in long- and short/medium-run. Using appropriate econometrictechniques on both, averaged and panel data for the period 1962-2006, we findno evidence that democracy is associated with tighter income distribution. Ourresults are robust to different specification techniques, to exclusion ofdeveloped as well as the transition countries. We speculate that the different(and opposing) transmission mechanisms, as well as the nature and thedefinition of the democracy variables (both Polity IV and Freedom House)influence our results. Improvement of conceptualization and measurement of democracycould shed further light onto the democracy-inequality nexus

Determinants of diabetes in Kuwait: evidence from the World Health Survey

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly among countries within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We analysed data from the World Health Organization’s World Health Survey conducted in Kuwait in 2013 in order to distil the main demographic and socio-economic determinants of diabetes. A subjective measure of diabetes was used given the low blood chemistry measurement response rates. An analysis of key risk factors indicated that obese, hypertensive and insufficiently active respondents were more likely to be diabetic. In addition, when examining the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, our results showed that diabetic patients were more likely to have been diagnosed with two or more chronic conditions compared to non-diabetics. Finally, results from the multivariate logistic regression model indicated that people’s weight, age and employment status were the most significant predictors of diabetes. Although not the focus of this paper, similar results yield for the entire population (i.e. nationals and expatriates). Given the cost associated with diabetes and that diabetics were more likely to suffer from multiple chronic conditions, the government should devote more effort to preventive types of healthcare

Myanmar is approaching the point of economic collapse

Myanmar made significant progress in the 2010s, but the effects of the pandemic and a military coup in February 2021 are reversing those gains. Zlatko Nikoloski (LSE) says poverty rates could double by 2022

Employment Concentration and Resource Allocation: One-Company Towns in Russia

The paper looks at the effects of employment concentration on resource allocation with a particular focus on one-company towns in Russia defined as towns where a single company accounts for a significant share of total employment of the locality. Empirical analysis of firms' production functions indicates that companies located in one-company towns are characterised by lower marginal product of labour, higher marginal product of capital and lower overall productivity pointing towards significant labour hoarding. One-company town enterprises are also found to be financially more vulnerable. The paper argues that the dominance of natural resources in the Russian economy and employment concentration is closely linked.employment concentration, one-company towns, labour productivity, Russia

Implementing the Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare: are we ready?

On Friday 25 October 2013 European Union countries will bring into force their regulations necessary to comply with the Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare. On the same day at LSE, policymakers will join academics from the 13 partner institutions in the European Union Cross Border Care Collaboration (EUCBCC) project to discuss international experiences (for more information about the event or to book a place please see here)

Financial risk protection and unmet healthcare need in Russia

Background: Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) includes financial risk protection. To date, catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE), the impoverishing effect of out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare payments, and unmet healthcare need are the most widely used indicators for assessing the financial risk protection of a healthcare system. This study aimed to estimate the Russian healthcare system’s financial risk protection by focusing on CHE, OOP and unmet healthcare need. Methods: The study used eight waves of the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) (2010-2017) to analyze the financial risk protection of the Russian healthcare system. Commonly used indicators – CHE, both incidence and intensity, the impoverishing effect of CHE and unmet need – were used. Results: We found low incidence and intensity of CHE in the Russian Federation. Our results are robust to various definitions of CHE (eg, as a share of total household expenditure or total household income). Furthermore, the impoverishing effect of OOP healthcare payments remains limited, despite the most recent economic slowdown (2014– 2016). This could be explained by a noticeable reduction in CHE during the crisis years, as postponing healthcare was adopted as a coping mechanism, particularly among households heavily affected by the crisis. Conclusion: As stressed by the UHC framework, our findings suggest that CHE only partly captures inefficiencies and inequities in coverage, because one tenth of households forwent medical care for medicines and certain services. As spending on medicines and dental care are the main drivers of CHE, policy interventions should focus on extending coverage for pharmaceutical and dental care and target financial barriers to seeking care, particularly for the poor and vulnerable