Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe health costs associated with obesity are increasing in developed and emerging economies. Particularly important, though remaining underexplored, is the overall impact of health risks associated with being obese and overweight on the productivity of firms in a cross-country setting. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper exploits the natural variation in the percentage of obese males in the population as an exogenous health risk randomly distributed across firms in each country.FindingsInvestigating this link for a sample of around 80 emerging countries, the evidence suggests a significant negative effect of health risks on productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThe identification assumptions are checked using different approaches to establish the robustness of the empirical link.Originality/valueThis study helps us understand the microlevel effects of the rising average obesity rate. This knowledge is rare in emerging economies which are facing the highest risks of obesity and cardiovascular diseases associated with it.

PurposeThis study explores the role of firm age as a mediating variable in the link between performance and the risk of terrorism. Theoretically, there can be vulnerabilities, liabilities or learning effects associated with age.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical strategy uses randomness in the occurrence of successful terrorist incidents to estimate the hypothesized link in a sample of 1,600 Pakistani firms.FindingsThe results suggest a significant effect of terrorism for organizations lying beyond the 50th percentile of the age distribution. In addition to relevant controls – like size, ownership and location effects – the baseline results withstand alternative empirical specifications and the use of instrumental variables.Originality/valueThe study helps us understand the role of firm age in its performance, taking into account the presence of risks posed by weak law and order.

Abstract
A secure business environment for private enterprises is desired by all states and is endorsed as a part of United Nation's sustainable development goals. However, the risk exposure of private enterprises against terrorism, particularly in developing countries, is not adequately studied. Using Enterprise Surveys (ES) data for more than 2000 firms located across the four provinces of Pakistan, this paper studies the link between the risk of terrorism and firm performance. It finds, after controlling for various firm specific performance determinants as well as provincial and sector specific heterogeneities, that terrorism has a significant negative effect on firms' performance which is independent of firm size. This effect is robust against different specifications and estimation methods including instrumental variables strategy. Beyond much explored aggregate consequences, terrorism has direct consequences for production processes at micro level.

Purpose
The use of remotely piloted aerial vehicles (RPVs) as a counterterrorism strategy is intensely debated on grounds of legitimacy, political feasibility and human rights. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the link between RPVs' strikes and terrorism through evidence-based analysis.


Design/methodology/approach
Using insights from economic analysis of counterterrorism, the study hypothesized possible channels through which RPVs may increase costs for terrorism. A novel data set is gathered to empirically test the theory-consistent prediction of a negative link between RPVs' strikes and terrorism in a multivariate econometric framework.


Findings
Focusing on RPVs' strikes in Pakistan over 2008 to 2013, the analysis yields important new insights. The principal finding suggests that RPVs reduce overall terrorism, while, without negating the negative spillover effects of RPVs use, there is no evidence of a positive feedback from civilian casualties to terrorism. These findings are not driven by extreme observations and satisfy a number of conventional diagnostic checks.


Practical implications
A well-constructed comparison and empirical evidence in this study implies that RPVs may yield net benefits in terms of greater security at regional and national levels.


Social implications
Moreover, as a proactive counterterrorism measure, RPVs can be an effective policing tool in crowded urban areas facing the greater threat of terrorism.


Originality/value
The study is the first to systematically analyze the link between RPV strikes and the magnitude of terrorism. The groundbreaking analysis thus extends the scope of economic inquiry to the role of RPVs as a counterterrorism strategy at national, regional and global levels. The findings of the study cast doubt on the validity of many popular notions about RPVs strikes, as they find little support in the empirical analysis.

This paper focuses on the empirical link between monetary policy transparency and output volatility. The questions addressed are: (i) Does transparency about policy processes stabilize output? (ii) Do different aspects of transparency differ qualitatively or quantitatively in terms of their effects on output volatility? Controlling for many standard structural sources of output stability, and using a data set of 80 countries over 1998 to 2007, our results show that transparency has a stabilizing influence on output volatility. However, it has less influence on output volatility than other structural sources of stabilization. Further, among the dimensions of transparency we find that operational transparency (covering control errors and macroeconomic disturbances) has the most robust stabilizing effect on output volatility. Whenever significant, political transparency (covering prioritization of objective and institutional arrangements) tends to increase output volatility, whereas other components have insignificant or negligible influence. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This note casts skepticism over various hypothesis formulated by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) in reaching the conclusion that institutions cause economic development. The author has identified four major issues in the study. It lacks adequate econometric specification and relies only on, what the author termed, destiny variables. Secondly, the historical record does not support the author's theory that mortality rate determine Europeans strategy for institutions they intended to develop in the host country; thirdly, given current living standards and disease ridden environment in low and middle income countries, the claim that disease environment of early 19th century was neutral to economic development seems farfetched; finally, assuming that initial institutions caused present institutions put in question the developmental efforts of past half century and thus is more than a sweeping generalization.

"This note casts skepticism over various hypothesis formulated by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2001) in reaching the conclusion that institutions cause economic development. The author has identified four major issues in the study. It lacks adequate econometric specification and relies only on, what the author termed, destiny variables. Secondly, the historical record does not support the author's theory that mortality rate determine Europeans strategy for institutions they intended to develop in the host country; thirdly, given current living standards and disease ridden environment in low and middle income countries, the claim that disease environment of early 19th century was neutral to economic development seems farfetched; finally, assuming that initial institutions caused present institutions put in question the developmental efforts of past half century and thus is more than a sweeping generalization." (author's abstract)

The influence of politics on economic policy is not fully understood. The challenge to ensure political inclusiveness and economic prosperity remains. Perhaps, one way to attain this objective is by increasing political competition. This paper gathers empirical evidence from Pakistan, a country with a checkered political history characterized by episodes of representative, non-representative, and indirectly elected governments. In recent years, the country has witnessed a gradual strengthening of democratic rules with economic progress. Focusing on nine elections held over 1970 to 2015 the authors measure political competition and estimate its impact on economic policy. Contrary to popular conceptions about Pakistan's economy, they find a positive association between lack of political competition and poor economic policy. This finding holds at national as well as subnational levels in Pakistan and withstands a number of robustness tests.

The influence of politics on economic policy is not fully understood. The challenge to ensure political inclusiveness and economic prosperity remains. Perhaps, one way to attain this objective is by increasing political competition. This paper gathers empirical evidence from Pakistan, a country with a checkered political history characterized by episodes of representative, non-representative, and indirectly elected governments. In recent years, the country has witnessed a gradual strengthening of democratic rule with economic progress. Focusing on nine elections held over 1970 to 2015 the authors measure political competition and estimate its impact on economic performance. Contrary to popular conceptions about Pakistan's economic performance, they find a positive association between lack of political competition and poor economic performance. This finding holds at national as well as subnational levels in Pakistan and withstands a number of robustness tests.

This paper studies monetary policy committee transparency (MPCT) based on a new index that measures central bankers' educational and professional backgrounds as disclosed through central bank websites. Based on a novel cross-sectional data set covering 75 central banks, we investigate the determinants of MPCT as well as its economic consequences. We find that past inflation, quality of institutional setup, and extent of Internet use in a country are important determinants of MPCT. MPCT has a robust and significantly negative impact on inflation variability, even after controlling for important macroeconomic variables and institutional transparency, as well as instrumenting MPCT in various ways.