Conditioning Factors for Re-election and Incumbency Advantage after a Natural Disaster: Evidence from a Large-scale Earthquake
EfD Authors:
Since the public assessment of political leadership is more evident during crisis events, natural disasters have become a plausible explanation for electoral outcomes and public support. This imposes a prominent challenge for developing countries, which are less prepared to deal with catastrophes. This paper proposes a theoretical and an empirical approach to evaluate the unrestricted and conditional impact of natural disasters on the continuity of local authorities.
Revisiting the link between resource windfalls and subnational crowding out for local mining economies in Chile
EfD Authors:
Literature on the resource curse argues that resource windfalls, such as those resulting from a commodity price boom, crowd out several determinants of long-term fiscal income (Papyrakis and Gerlagh, 2006). Although empirical literature tests this theory at an intercountry context, similar attention has not been paid to that of subnational governments. This different type of spatial scope would reveal how low-tier governments strategically behave in regard to resource windfalls and covering local costs.
Efficiency of research in universities of Chile
EfD Authors:
To evaluate the management of Chilean universities in terms of their role as knowledge generators, the DEA methodology was applied to a subset of universities. Next, a fractional probit model was estimated with the efficiency scores obtained to explore factors that influence performance. The results show high levels of efficiency in research, with private institutions reporting higher scores than state institutions, and some important factors being detected in obtaining that performance.
Environmental policy instruments and corruption
EfD Authors:
In this paper we discuss the choice of taxation or regulation of environmental externalities. The subject might appear to be a well-trodden path, but we believe we have a new angle on this well-established question. We think we are being quite realistic when we assume that corrupt practices lurk behind every corner, threatening to derail the good intents of any regulator.
Embedding effect and the consequences of advanced disclosure: evidence from the valuation of cultural goods
EfD Authors:
This study revisits the embedding effect, a long-standing problem in the nonmarket valuation literature. The embedding effect was a popular research topic during the 1990s, especially following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. It has resurfaced after a special issue of The Journal of Economic Perspectives in 2012 in which Jerry Hausmann asserts that among the three long-standing problems with contingent valuation, the embedding effect is the most challenging.
Natural Resource Revenues and Public Investment in Resource-rich Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
EfD Authors:
The general policy prescription for resource‐rich countries is that, for sustainable consumption, a greater percentage of the windfall from resource rents should be channeled into accumulating foreign assets such as a sovereign public fund as done in Norway and other developed but resource‐rich countries. This might not be a correct policy prescription for resource‐rich sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries, where public capital is very low to support the needed economic growth. In such countries, rents from resources serve as an opportunity to scale‐up the needed public capital.
Quality of institution and the FEG (forest, energy intensity, and globalization) -environment relationships in sub-Saharan Africa
EfD Authors:
The current share of sub-Saharan Africa in global carbon dioxide emissions is negligible compared to major contributors like Asia, Americas, and Europe. This trend is, however, likely to change given that both economic growth and rate of urbanization in the region are projected to be robust in the future. The current study contributes to the literature by examining both the direct and the indirect impacts of quality of institution on the environment.
Social capital and subjective well-being: a study of the role of participation in social organizations in life satisfaction and happiness in Chilean cities
EfD Authors:
The concept of welfare has evolved to incorporate subjective elements. One key factor for development is social capital. Participation in organizations promotes a more active social life, with potential positive results on welfare. This work investigates this last association through the estimation of a bivariate ordered probit model by using the World Value Survey for Chile.