Abstract This study provides a comparative analysis of the main determinants of large shifts in aid allocation by major donors, namely China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In contrast to continuing assistance, significant year-over-year variation of allocated aid to a given recipient is considered a new and deliberate decision by the donors. Using a version of quantile regression to account for heterogeneity in the characteristics of aid recipients, we show that significant differences exist in the aid allocation strategies of the major donors. There is no conditionality attached to Chinese aid, while self-economic interests and corruption levels at home and in the recipient countries determine aid allocated by France and the U.K. to their former colonies. In addition, recipient needs affect aid from France, the U.K., and the U.S. Over the 2000-2014 period, there is no significant change in the determinants of aid allocation by China in response to various criticisms of its approach. Confronted with the growing influence of emerging donors such as China, the three major traditional donors seem to adjust their aid al location policy towards their own economic interests.

Abstract The objective of our paper is to revisit African intra-trade determinants once taking into account potential spatial spillover effect due to the third country dependence. Recently, several studies have shown the importance of taking into account the spatial effect. We examined total exports flows, industrial trade flows and agricultural trade flows of 40 countries in 2002-2018 and we detected a positive spatial autocorrelation and the Spatial Autoregressive gravity model is identified as an appropriate way to model the spatial dependence. The results show that distance doesn’t affect agricultural products trade, institutional factors of destination country and neighboring countries affect intra-African trade. Except SADC area, intra-African trade is largely dominated by agricultural products. To reduce poverty through trade intensification, the regional integration process in Africa must grant an important place to industrialization policies, conflict resolution and strengthening co operation.

Abstract This paper develops a joint analysis of efficiency and distributional issues in an economy in general equilibrium with a focus on bargaining under bounded rationality. Our analysis relies on evolutionary strategies based on the Nash Harsanyi bargaining model, but we go beyond the Nash-Harsanyi model by generalizing it with ordinal preferences as well as allowing for inefficient bar gaining agreements. We show that our evolutionary schemes converge to bargaining agreements under general conditions. The analysis covers the case where the bargaining agreement is inefficient as well as the case where the bargaining process converges to an efficient allocation located on the Pareto utility frontier. We show that the outcome of the bargaining process can be represented by the simple maximization of a “generalized Nash product”. We explore the implications of bargaining agreements for income distribution. Finally, we discuss our model’s insights in analyzing the performance of an economy, emphasizing the roles of preferences, decentralization, and public goods.

Abstract This is an econometric study of noise in the financial markets, based on the Indian stock market. Historically, the role & impact of noise traders in the financial markets has been assumed to be minimal or negligible since noise traders should lose money when trading against rational arbitrageurs. How ever, [1] argues that there is little reason to believe that noise traders are un important and some reason to suspect that rational arbitrageurs dominate the financial markets. Moreover, [2] have developed formal models that allow for the survival of noise traders. Like any other systematic risk, the risk brought in by the noise traders, due to their random sentiments, should be priced. Following [3] and [4], we propose an “opening noise trading model” in which the opening price of the stock contains a component of noise that is assumed to be orthogonal to the true price change caused by the arrival of new information. We also provide evidence of the opening stock price containing noise on an everyday basis among all the Nifty stocks. Furthermore, we have shown how to estimate the share of noise in the opening price.

Abstract Globalization and the international interdependence of states have reached their climax at the beginning of the 21st century. At the same time, growing inequalities between and within countries are leaving some behind. While a variety of models have sufficiently explained national divergence, international divergence still remains subject of numerous studies. This work contributes to the set of possible explanations for worldwide disparities by combining the ideas of classical growth theory with the gravity model of trade. The circular relations between GDP, trade flows and TFP then explain long term differences in the development of states. Resulting path dependencies thus can be explained by an International Innovation Spiral that continuously leads developed economies towards potential higher outputs while existing along side national peculiarities. In this way, the importance of trade unions and the openness to international markets can be theoretically further substantiated.

Abstract With the proliferation of banking distress issues over the last years, empirical literature on systemic banking crises has grown substantially. Yet, studies assessing the antecedents of banking systems’ structure within EU peripheral economies are less developed. Here, we use data from 2009 to 2019 and employ annual financial statements of Greece’s four systemic banks, to assess the country’s banking system. Our analysis is based on two panel data econometric models using ten bank-specific business process performance indicators and four macroeconomic variables. Our findings indicate that the causes of the Greek banking system’s collapse can be divided into three categories. The first two include macroeconomic and bank-specific factors, whereas the third category suggests other factors related to the long-lasting financial crisis. Evidence recorded highlights that the main cause of the Greek banking crisis was the accumulated deficits and imbalances of the economy which caused initially a debt crisis followed by a banking crisis. However, the exact causes of the problem seem to be more intricate and have their roots in perennial structural distortions of the Greek economy.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the wage gap between men and women in Côte d’Ivoire. More specifically, it aims to assess the main aspects of gender inequality in the functioning of the labor market in Côte d’Ivoire. The factors underlying the wage gap between men and women are examined empirically using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method. The data used are from the 2016 National Survey on the Situation of Employment and the In formal Sector (ENSESI) among households. The results of the study show that, more 74.16% of the total wage gap remains unexplained by objective factors. In addition, wage inequality varies by socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, education), employment setting (urban or rural), and by sector and employment status. Finally, the total wage gap is predominantly explained by age, work experience, socio-professional category (senior manager) and form of remuneration.

Abstract The study looks at the impact of Corporate Governance on the financial performance of seven Thai banks for the period from 2009 to 2018, and also focused on the relationship between corporate governance, leverage, financial performance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a mediating variable. Corporate governance was observed through seven variables. Financial performance was measured through three ratios. Relationship between Independent Variables and Dependent Variables was verified through CSR as a mediator. Ordinary Least Square and Two Stage Least Square were used to determine the relationship between the variables. Using Hausman test it was found that Random Effect model was the suitable model. Few of our independent variables were having endogeneity so in order to have stable results we used Two Stage Least Square Method instead of ordinary least square. The study also shows the hidden significance of many relationships. Different statistical tools used for data analysis include MS-Excel, SPSS-23.0, STATA-16, Eviews-10 and Smart-PLS 3.0. This study will help the management of Thai banks to work on the different aspects of Corporate Governance and strategize CSR which can result in improvement of the financial performance. The result will also be helpful for the bank management and policy makers. The data of banks was collected from the Annual reports available online. We could not find any similar study on Thai local banks. This may be the first study on local banks and may contribute towards the literature related to the Corporate Governance.

Abstract In an important but neglected paper, Begg (1980) attempted to solve the puzzle of monetary super-neutrality in the steady-state. Super-neutrality was shown to depend on two sufficient conditions, only one of which is necessary. Begg argued that a more general specification restores monetary non-super-neutrality .This note suggests an additional sufficient condition for super-neutrality. The demand for real balances must be modeled as a decreasing function of the real interest rate. This has implications for models assuming a steady-state. Harkness (1978) had already shown that the extra sufficient condition is a necessary condition for existence.

Abstract Globalization and the international interdependence of states have reached their climax at the beginning of the 21st century. At the same time, growing inequalities between and within countries are leaving some behind. While a variety of models have sufficiently explained national divergence, international divergence still remains subject of numerous studies. This work contributes to the set of possible explanations for worldwide disparities by combining the ideas of classical growth theory with the gravity model of trade. The circular relations between GDP, trade flows and TFP then explain long term differences in the development of states. Resulting path dependencies thus can be explained by an International Innovation Spiral that continuously leads developed economies towards potential higher outputs while existing alongside national peculiarities. In this way, the importance of trade unions and the openness to international markets can be theoretically further substantiated.

Abstract This is an econometric study of noise in the financial markets, based on the Indian stock market. Historically, the role & impact of noise traders in the financial markets has been assumed to be minimal or negligible since noise traders should lose money when trading against rational arbitrageurs. However, [1] argues that there is little reason to believe that noise traders are unimportant and some reason to suspect that rational arbitrageurs dominate the financial markets. Moreover, [2] have developed formal models that allow for the survival of noise traders. Like any other systematic risk, the risk brought in by the noise traders, due to their random sentiments, should be priced. Following [3] and [4], we propose an “opening noise trading model” in which the opening price of the stock contains a component of noise that is assumed to be orthogonal to the true price change caused by the arrival of new information. We also provide evidence of the opening stock price containing noise on an everyday basis among all the Nifty stocks. Furthermore, we have shown how to estimate the share of noise in the opening price.

Abstract This paper develops a joint analysis of efficiency and distributional issues in an economy in general equilibrium with a focus on bargaining under bounded rationality. Our analysis relies on evolutionary strategies based on the Nash Harsanyi bargaining model, but we go beyond the Nash-Harsanyi model by generalizing it with ordinal preferences as well as allowing for inefficient bargaining agreements. We show that our evolutionary schemes converge to bargaining agreements under general conditions. The analysis covers the case where the bargaining agreement is inefficient as well as the case where the bargaining process converges to an efficient allocation located on the Pareto utility frontier. We show that the outcome of the bargaining process can be represented by the simple maximization of a “generalized Nash product”. We explore the implications of bargaining agreements for income distribution. Finally, we discuss our model’s insights in analyzing the performance of an economy, emphasizing the roles of preferences, decentralization, and public goods.

Abstract The objective of our paper is to revisit African intra-trade determinants once taking into account potential spatial spillover effect due to the third country dependence. Recently, several studies have shown the importance of taking into account the spatial effect. We examined total exports flows, industrial trade flows and agricultural trade flows of 40 countries in 2002-2018 and we detected a positive spatial autocorrelation and the Spatial Autoregressive gravity model is identified as an appropriate way to model the spatial dependence. The results show that distance doesn’t affect agricultural products trade, institutional factors of destination country and neighboring countries affect intra-African trade. Except SADC area, intra-African trade is largely dominated by agricultural products. To reduce poverty through trade intensification, the regional integration process in Africa must grant an important place to industrialization policies, conflict resolution and strengthening cooperation.

Abstract This study provides a comparative analysis of the main determinants of large shifts in aid allocation by major donors, namely China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In contrast to continuing assistance, significant year-over-year variation of allocated aid to a given recipient is considered a new and deliberate decision by the donors. Using a version of quantile regression to account for heterogeneity in the characteristics of aid recipients, we show that significant differences exist in the aid allocation strategies of the major donors. There is no conditionality attached to Chinese aid, while self-economic interests and corruption levels at home and in the recipient countries determine aid allocated by France and the U.K. to their former colonies. In addition, recipient needs affect aid from France, the U.K., and the U.S. Over the 2000-2014 period, there is no significant change in the determinants of aid allocation by China in response to various criticisms of its approach. Confronted with the growing influence of emerging donors such as China, the three major traditional donors seem to adjust their aid allocation policy towards their own economic interests.

Abstract In the era of great informational quantity, the presence of technologies that assist in the extraction, transformation, and loading of data has become increasingly necessary. The term Big Data, usually used to describe this volume of information, requires the user to have knowledge of multiple tools such as Excel, VBA, SQL, Tableau, Python, Spark, AWS, and so on. In this context, the present work aims to study data extraction techniques using different methodologies. At the end of the work, a library of functions in the Python language will be made available that will deliver a compilation of stock price information available on the Yahoo Finance website as well as balance sheets from financial institutions released by Bacen. The main resource used will be Web Scraping, which is a method that aims to automate data collection via the web. Once the collection of functions has been structured, it will be made available for public enjoyment through the GitHub platform.

Abstract One of the main financial policies is related to the capital structure to be defined by the companies. For this reason, studies related to factors determining the capital structure have a high priority on the research agenda in finance area. This being so, the proposal is to investigate whether the nature of the company’s shareholding control—family, foreign, state-owned—affects its capital structure. It is the first work that uses real shareholding control. For the development of this research, the publicly traded Brazilian companies listed in B3 are adopted as a sample. The analyzed sample covers 128 Brazilian companies listed in B3, between 2010 and 2017, excluding companies from the financial sector. It is necessary to study each company report to discover last—and true—shareholding control (Reference Forms). To verify the influence of the capital structure, regression models with panel data are used (fixed effect and robustness). The results are consistent with the expected ones: 1) the excessive concentration of family capital impairs indebtedness, which, due to the control loss aversion, reduces the financing by debt; 2) the concentration of foreign capital favors companies’ indebtedness, as they have more efficient management, better access to financing sources and better investment opportunities, and, 3) the concentration of state capital favors indebtedness, since these companies are of government’s interest to maximize the country’s development, and have low capital costs arising from development banks.

Abstract In the Greek economy, the wine industry is one of the most important sectors, not just for the domestic beverage market, but also for the development and promotion of Greek traditional products abroad. The wine sector has been recognized as one of the most significant economic activities in many countries, both in terms of employment and revenue. Financial analysis is crucial to understanding the economic condition of wine production companies and ensuring the sustainability of the industry. Financial ratio analysis provides insights into the factors that determine economic utility, which is increasing profitability, reducing risk, and providing liquidity to economic entities. The main purpose of the paper is to examine and analyze the financial situation of companies active in the wine industry. This will evaluate how well they adapt to the changing market environment. By analyzing the financial profile of the companies, an effort was made to identify the problems that they faced as well as analyzed their efficiency. Cluster analysis would be conducted in order to determine their level of competition. According to the results, large companies were able to pay their current liabilities, fixed costs, interest, dividends, as well as better handle any current losses. The large companies have a high level of solvency and display rapid circulation of their stocks. Small and medium-sized businesses had difficulties meeting their current obligations as well as dealing with potential losses. Indicators measuring the efficiency of the utilization of assets in large and medium-sized enterprises were relatively stable, but a significant over-investment of capital relative to sales could lead to obligations not being met in the future. The debt to assets ratio of large companies was higher than that of medium and small companies, which must be addressed by increasing the firms’ liquidity to avoid debt service problems.

Abstract This article aimed to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of Xi Jinping’s socialist economic thoughts among the Chinese theorists. It adopts a domain-based systematic literature review method to conduct the study. Xi proposed some new concepts, ideas and strategies for the country’s governance systematically and comprehensively, starting from the significant issues and practices of economic development of socialism with Chinese attributes in the new era. Xi introduced his thoughts on China’s economic growth, offering a far-sighted vision of China’s economic reform and development practice in the new era. This paper is the first one in English to introduce Xi Jinping’s Socialist Economic Thoughts to international theorists. It provides some guidance and reference to other developing countries’ economic and social development.

Abstract Fiscal deficit financing is confirmed in both theoretical and empirical literature to often lead to higher-than-expected inflation. The unsustainable regime of fiscal deficit financing in Ghana over the years had contributed to price instability in Ghana. Previous studies on deficit financing-inflation nexus in Ghana concentrated completely on linear and symmetric relation while ignoring the effect of regime of fiscal deficit financing on inflation. This study investigated the regime of fiscal deficit financing and its effects on inflation dynamics in Ghana over the 1980-2018 period. The Theory of Fiscal Price Level (TFPL) was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. The TFPL highlighted the macroeconomic consequences of fiscal dominance over monetary policy actions and how it impacts on price stability due to the financing of government fiscal deficit in a country. The study employed Markov-Switching Regime Dynamic Model (MSRDM) to investigate the regime effects of fiscal deficit financing on inflation. The study revealed the presence of two fiscal regimes in Ghana and that the regime of fiscal deficit financing remained persistent over the study period. The paper further found that fiscal deficit financing had a stronger effect on inflation dynamics in Ghana in the higher regime of fiscal deficit financing while its impact on inflation in the lower regime of fiscal deficit financing remained relatively subdued. The paper recommends that the government of Ghana should adopt fiscal policy actions that could lead to the achievement and maintenance of fiscal sustainability and consolidation consistent with a low inflation regime going forward .