| 57 | Matteo Marinangeli, Andrea Filippo Presbitero | |
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Can the Poor Save More? Evidence from Bangladesh [novembre 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| Bangladesh, Microfinance, Savings | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| F33- | International Economics – International Finance – International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions | |
| F34- | International Economics – International Finance – International Lending and Debt Problems | |
| F35- | International Economics – International Finance – Foreign Aid | |
| O11- | Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth – Economic Development – Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development | |
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Abstract: | |
| Microsavings contribute to smooth consumption, face emergencies and increase welfare of poor households and to empower and foster investment opportunities for poor women. We take advantage of an original survey submitted to 98 Bangladeshi women member of Hitaishi, a small Dhaka-based microfinance institution (MFI), to analyze the determinants and the effects of voluntary microsavings for poor households. The analysis of saving strategies confirms that the poor are financially sophisticated and use several different (formal and informal) savings devices. Different econometric exercises show that time inconsistency play a key role in women's attitude to voluntary save, which increases also with MFI membership. Distinctive patterns emerge in the choice of formal and informal savings institutions. We also find that the capacity to cover unexpected expenditures and over-indebtedness are less likely to occur among voluntary savers. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 56 | Giulia Bettin, Riccardo Lucchetti, Alberto Zazzaro | |
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Financial development and remittances: micro-econometric evidence. [settembre 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| Financial Development, Migrants' Remittances | ||
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Abstract: | |
| We estimate a behavioural model of household's remittances to investigate to what extent the level of financial development in the home country affects decisions on whether and how much to remit. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 55 | Pietro Alessandrini, Andrea Filippo Presbitero | |
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Low-Income Countries Vulnerabilities and the Need for an SDR-Based International Monetary System [settembre 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| International Mometary System, Key Currency, Low-Income Countries, Reserves, SDR | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| F33- | International Economics – International Finance – International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions | |
| F35- | International Economics – International Finance – Foreign Aid | |
| F55- | International Economics – International Relations and International Political Economy – International Institutional Arrangements | |
| O11- | Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth – Economic Development – Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development | |
| O19- | Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth – Economic Development – International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations | |
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Abstract: | |
| The global financial crisis, the weakening role of the dollar and the increasing importance of China in the global arena are calling for a reform of the international monetary system (IMS) in the direction of a greater multilateralism. We agree with the necessity to reform the IMS and we advance a proposal based on a greater role of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), focusing on the potential benefits that a new monetary order could brings to Low-Income Countries (LICs). Given their extreme vulnerability to external shocks and their dependence on the exchange rate vis-vis the US dollar, poor countries would benefit from the creation of a more stable multi-currency monetary system. The new SDRs will created exogenously – with a disproportionate allocation to LICs -, but also endogenously, through the substitution account and the overdraft facility. Finally, we discuss the superiority of this proposal in the context of the current foreign assistance framework. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 54 | Michele Fratianni, Francesco Marchionne | |
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Trade Costs and Economic Development [settembre 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| economic development, gravity equation, heterogeneity, trade costs | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| F10- | International Economics – Trade – General | |
| F14- | International Economics – Trade – Country and Industry Studies of Trade | |
| O52- | Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth – Economywide Country Studies – Europe | |
| R12- | Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics – General Regional Economics – Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity | |
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Abstract: | |
| We test the hypothesis of the circular causality between trade costs and degree of economic development using data on Italian provinces. Using different methods to control for multilateral resistance, we apply a gravity equation to estimate sectoral exports to 188 countries over the period 1995-2004. Provincial trade costs are constructed as the sum of five province-specific elasticities, including distance, adjacency, and common money. We find that Italian provinces are heterogeneous with respect to trade costs. These costs are influenced by lagged provincial per capita income and industrial structure. In turn, trade costs influence future provincial per capita income. This two-way relationship between trade costs and income is broadly consistent with the cumulative causation process emphasized by the New Economic Geography. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 53 | Michele Fratianni | |
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Riflessioni sulla politica economica italiana in occasione del 150esimo anniversario dell'Unità [luglio 2011] | |
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 52 | Stefano Caiazza, Alberto Franco Pozzolo, Giovanni Trovato | |
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Do domestic and cross-border M&As differ? Cross-country evidence from the banking sector [giugno 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| M&As, bank, bank intrenationalization | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| G15- | Financial Economics – General Financial Markets – International Financial Markets | |
| G21- | Financial Economics – Financial Institutions and Services – Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages | |
| G34- | Financial Economics – Corporate Finance and Governance – Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance | |
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Abstract: | |
| Are the drivers of domestic and cross-border M&As in the banking sector different? Despite the intense research on bank M&As in the last decade, the attention paid to this issue is surprisingly limited. We fill this gap studying the ex-ante determinants of national and international acquisitions in the banking sector in an unbalanced panel of nearly 1,000 banks from 50 world countries, from 1992 to 2007. Our results show that size and profitability have a stronger impact on the probability that a bank is a bidder in a cross-border deal than in a domestic deal. Consistent with the findings of the literature on the determinants of the internationalization of manufacturing firms, international expansion in the banking sector is therefore easier for countries with a number of large "national champions", that are more capable to overcome the fixed costs of internationalization and have a stronger incentive to diversify the idiosyncratic risks of their domestic activities. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 51 | Maria Cipollina, Giorgia Giovannetti, Filomena Pietrovito, Alberto Franco Pozzolo | |
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FDI and growth: What cross-country industry data say [maggio 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| Capital intensity, Economic growth, Foreign direct investment, Patents, Technological progress, Total factor productivity | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| F23- | International Economics – International Factor Movements and International Business – Multinational Firms; International Business | |
| F36- | International Economics – International Finance – Financial Aspects of Economic Integration | |
| F43- | International Economics – Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance – Economic Growth of Open Economies | |
| O16- | Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth – Economic Development – Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Govern | |
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Abstract: | |
| The theoretical literature has discussed different channels through which foreign direct investments (FDI) promote host country's economic growth, but empirical analyses have so far been inconclusive. In this paper we provide evidence that FDI have a positive and statistically significant growth effect in recipient countries, using a panel of 14 manufacturing sectors for (a sample of) developed and developing countries over the period 1992-2004. Moreover, we find that this effect is stronger in capital intensive and in technologically advanced ectors, highlighting the importance of sector characteristics. We find that the growth enhancing effect comes primarily from an increase in total factor productivity (TFP) and from capital accumulation. FDI not only contribute to physical capital accumulation, but also generate positive technological spillovers. Our results are robust to the inclusion of other determinants of economic growth. We also address the issue of potential endogeneity and results are confirmed. Policy implications of our findings are important, especially for developing countries, where the growth enhancing promotion of foreign investment in capital intensive and technologically advanced sectors is at the heart of the debate. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 50 | Lorenzo Ciari, Riccardo De Bonis | |
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Entry decisions after deregulation: the role of incumbents' market power [aprile 2011] | |
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Keywords: | |
| banking, barriers to entry, deregulation, market power | ||
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JEL Classification: | |
| G28- | Financial Economics – Financial Institutions and Services – Government Policy and Regulation | |
| L1- | Industrial Organization – Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance | |
| L5- | Industrial Organization – Regulation and Industrial Policy | |
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Abstract: | |
| This paper investigates the role of incumbents' market power in shaping the entry decisions of Italian banks after branching liberalization in 1990. Using a unique dataset on 260 banks, we find that entry over the 1990-1995 period was targeted towards markets that were more competitive to begin with, i.e. where banking spreads were smaller. The results confirm the entry deterrent role of market power in the short-run and show a long run effect of regulation that survives after the removal of administrative barriers. The capacity of market power to discourage entry is confirmed in instrumental variables specifications, where we use the characteristics of the local banking markets in 1936, a proxy for tightness of banking regulation, to identify an exogenous source of variation in the spreads. | ||
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 49 | Luca Papi | |
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Central bank capital adequacy for central banks with or without a monetary policy [gennaio 2011] | |
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Citations: CitEc | |
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| 48 | Michele Fratianni | |
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Sviluppo, rischio e conti con l'esterno delle regioni italiane: commenti e riflessioni [gennaio 2011] | |
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Citations: CitEc | |
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