| 1. |
- Heshmati, Almas, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of Landmine Fatalities and Injuries in the Kurdistan Region
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Interpersonal Violence. - : SAGE Publications. - 0886-2605 .- 1552-6518. ; 30:15, s. 2591-2615
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study analyzes landmine victim data in the Kurdistan Region during the period 1960 to 2005. A regression analysis is used to identify the determinants and impact of the probability of getting killed by mines and unexploded ordnances. The rates of killed/injured victims are explained using a set of socioeconomic variables. As the data are a repeated cross-section in which the individuals are observed when they are subjected to landmine incidents, and to account for the dynamic aspect of the process and heterogeneity by location as well as to control for unobserved location and time effects, a pseudo panel data are created where districts are observed over the entire time period forming a panel data. The results show that (a) males, children, and the elderly are more susceptible to a higher level of landmine risks; (b) landmine training and awareness programs do not reduce the rate of landmine mortality; and (c) the rate of incidents are declining over time. This result can be used in the planning, monitoring, and resource allocation for mine action, as well as labor market programs and rehabilitation activities.
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| 2. |
- Hartvigson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability of Cooperation in the International Development of African Higher Education
- 2023
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0031-3831 .- 1470-1170. ; 67:3, s. 489-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study compares an ideal model of a sustainable research institution and the dominating model used by Sida. It uses a complementary capacity building (CCB) model aimed to promote an improved research culture for strengthening the sustainability of research partnerships in economics and management disciplines. This study uses bibliometric data to show post-graduation publication results from graduated Ph.D. students from the Sida supported research partnership in Rwanda and data from public records to show results from the implementation of the CCB model in the same country. The results show an increased publication activity among a significant proportion of the faculty members targeted by the CCB model and its contribution to improved research culture. Based on the evidence, the paper provides some recommendations to induce improvements in outcomes, including activities promoting a more active research culture in research partnerships with sub-Saharan African institutions.
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| 3. |
- Heshmati, Almas, et al.
(författare)
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Effective Corporate Tax Rates and the Size Distribution of Firms
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade. - : Springer. - 1566-1679 .- 1573-7012. ; 10:3-4, s. 297-317
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We analyze the effects of effective corporate tax rates on the size distribution of firms. In modelling this relationship we account for conditional variables as well as unobservable time and industry effects. A number of hypotheses are tested concerning heterogeneity in the impact of effective corporate tax rates on the size distributions of firms with regard to firm size class, industry and time. The results are based on data covering the whole Swedish economy for the period 1973–2002. The descriptive results suggest that effective corporate tax rates differ by firm size, industry and over time. Application of t-tests demonstrate inequality in mean and variance of effective corporate tax rates between major size classes but not within major size classes: smaller firms report a higher effective corporate tax rate than larger firms. The t-tests also demonstrate inequality in mean and variance of effective corporate tax rates between industrial sectors: service sector reports a higher effective corporate tax rate than production sector. The regressions show effective corporate tax rates to have: a negative effect on the size distribution of large firms, negative effect on transportation, financing and service sector and a positive effect on manufacturing, electricity and on production sector. We conclude that effective corporate tax rates affect the size distribution of firms as well as the composition of industries.
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| 4. |
- Heshmati, Almas, et al.
(författare)
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Generality, State Neutrality and Unemployment in the OECD
- 2013
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Ingår i: Global Economy Journal. - : De Gruyter. - 1524-5861 .- 2194-5659 .- 1553-5304. ; 13:3, s. 333-358
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to Buchanan and Congleton (1998. Politics by Principle, Not Interest: Towards Nondiscriminatory Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), the generality principle in politics blocks special interests. Consequently, the generality principle should thereby promote economic efficiency. This study tests this hypothesis on wage formation and labor markets, by investigating whether generality defined as state neutrality could explain employment performance among OECD countries during 1970–2003. We identify three types of non-neutrality concerning unemployment. These include the level or degree of government interference in the wage bargaining process over and above legislation which facilitates mutually beneficial wage agreements, the constrained bargaining range (meaning the extent to which the state favors or blocks certain outcomes of the bargaining process), and the cost shifting (which relates to state interference shifting the direct or indirect burden of costs facing the parties on the labor market). Our overall hypothesis is that non-neutrality or non-generality increases unemployment rates. The empirical results from the general conditional model suggest that government intervention and a constrained bargaining range clearly increase unemployment, while a few of the cost shifting variables have unexpected effects. The findings thus give some, but definitely not unreserved, support for the generality principle as a method to promote economic efficiency. One implication may be that the principle should be amended by other requirements if the political process shall indeed be able to promote economic efficiency.
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| 5. |
- Oh, Donghyun, et al.
(författare)
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Technical change and total factor productivity growth for Swedish manufacturing and service industries
- 2012
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Ingår i: Applied Economics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0003-6846 .- 1466-4283. ; 44:18, s. 2373-2391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents alternative specifications of the production functions of a large panel of Swedish firms for the period 1992 to 2000. The period can be characterized as a transition when long-run productivity growth in the Swedish economy improved from being among the weakest to one of the strongest within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In order to present a detailed exploration of this dramatic change, the time trend and general index models are applied to estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth, rate of technical change and returns to scale. The models are extended to allow for firm specific as well as time-varying technical change. The parametric TFP measures are also compared with the nonparametric Solow residual, and several hypotheses are tested to explain the growth patterns in the Swedish economy. It is found that the improved growth rate, initially starting in large exporting manufacturing firms, after a deep economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, spilled over to the rest of the economy, both manufacturing and services.
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| 6. |
- Oh, Donghyun, et al.
(författare)
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Total factor productivity of Korean manufacturing industries : Comparison of competing models with firm-level data
- 2014
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Ingår i: Japan and The World Economy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0922-1425 .- 1879-2006. ; 30, s. 25-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents the parametric estimation of the rates of technical change and total factor productivity (TFP) growth of 7462 Korean manufacturing firms over the period 1987-2007. Two alternative formulations of technical change measured by the time trend and the general index approaches are estimated with panel data models assuming flexible functional forms. Several extensions of each approach are also considered and their benefits and limitations are discussed. In addition to making estimates of the TFP growth and its decomposition, the paper compares the parametric TFP growth measure with the non-parametric Solow residual serving as a benchmark. Several hypotheses related to technology level, firm sizes, industrial sectors, skill biased technological change and macroeconomic and industrial policies are tested to explain the growth patterns and heterogeneity in technical change, input biases and TFP growth rates. Using second regression analysis, the paper explores the determinants of TFP growth and their policy implications.
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| 7. |
- Heshmati, Almas, et al.
(författare)
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Measurement and Analysis of Multidimensional Well-Being in Rwanda
- 2019
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Ingår i: Efficiency, equity and well-being in selected African countries. - Cham : Springer. - 9783030114190 ; , s. 37-68
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The well-being of families and their children is given high priority in development goals. Children’s well-being in Africa is important since the growing number of children is the greatest resource of this continent. Rwanda was one of the first countries that ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The country, despite its very low GDP per capita, also has one of the best child well-being indicators in Africa. In the recent past the country has also had two important achievements: protection of children by establishing the National Commission for Children and launching a Strategy for National Child Care Reform. The measures aim to protect children’s rights and integrate children into families that are supported to provide needed care to them. These achievements are largely the result of strong laws and policies many of which have been developed with support from UNICEF. Investments in children’s well-being will help in addressing many persistent difficulties that society may have to face in the future. What happens during the early years is of crucial importance for every child’s development. This period offers great opportunities, but children are also vulnerable to negative influences. The objective of this research is to estimate multidimensional well-being of children and their families in Rwanda. The aim is to compute an overall well-being index decomposed into its underlying main components. The households are ranked by the level of well-being and by various household and community characteristics. The results shed light on the state and changes in the well-being of children and their families in Rwanda indicating which provinces and districts offer relatively better conditions for them. This can serve as a model for public policies aimed at improving general well-being in the country.
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| 8. |
- Battese, G. E., et al.
(författare)
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Efficiency of labour use in the Swedish banking industry : A stochastic frontier approach
- 2000
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Ingår i: Empirical Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0377-7332 .- 1435-8921. ; 25:4, s. 623-640
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the deregulation of the Swedish banking industry in the mid-1980s, and the consequent banking crisis, on productive efficiency and productivity growth in the industry. An unbalanced panel of Swedish banks is studied over the period, 1984 to 1995. A total of 1275 observations are analysed for 156 banks that were observed for between two and twelve years. We adopt a translog stochastic frontier model to estimate the labour-use requirements in terms of the variables, loans, deposits, guarantees, number of branches and total inventories, together with the year of observation. The inefficiency effects in the labour-use frontier are modelled in terms of the number of branches, total inventories, the type of bank and year of observation. The technical inefficiencies of labour use of Swedish banks were found to be significant, with mean inefficiencies per year estimated to be between about 8 and 15 per cent over the years of study. However, the confidence interval predictions for these inefficiencies were found to be quite wide.
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| 9. |
- Heshmati, Almas
(författare)
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On the Growth of Micro and Small Firms : Evidence from Sweden
- 2001
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Ingår i: Small Business Economics. - 0921-898X .- 1573-0913. ; 17:3, s. 213-228
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relationship between the size, age and growth rate of firms is examined for a large sample of micro and small firms in Sweden. These firms have between 1-100 employees and operate in a geographically concentrated area. Micro and small firms are dominant in the industrial structure and thus their growth patterns are crucial to the economic growth of the region. The period of study is of particular interest because it allows us to evaluate the effects of various regional development policy programs on the growth and formation of firms. The data is an unbalanced panel covering the period 1993-1998. We allow for the exit and entry of firms. The growth rate is defined in terms of the number of employees, sales and assets. In the estimation of the growth rate we control for various factors characterizing the sample firms, their capital structure, performance, human capital, and local labor market conditions. Our results show that the relationship between the growth, size and age of firms is very sensitive with respect to the method of estimation, functional form and definition of growth and size.
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| 10. |
- Lööf, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge capital and performance heterogeneity : A firm-level innovation study
- 2002
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Ingår i: International Journal of Production Economics. - : Elsevier B.V. - 0925-5273 .- 1873-7579. ; 76:1, s. 61-85
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is an empirical analysis of knowledge capital and performance heterogeneity at the firm level. We apply new econometric methods to extensive data on innovation and innovative activities in Swedish manufacturing. A number of interesting results emerge. First, the results show that knowledge capital, defined as the ratio of innovation sales to total sales, is found to be a significant factor contributing to performance heterogeneity among firms. This relationship holds even when we control for human capital, type of output, firm size. and the entry. merger., partial closure or exit of firms. Second. knowledge capital rises with innovation input. the firm's internal knowledge for innovation, and co-operation on innovation with domestic universities. Third, when controlling for differences in innovation investments and human capital, knowledge-intensive firms are not more innovative than labor-intensive or capital-intensive firms. Fourth, organizational rigidities in innovation projects and a lack of appropriate investment sources for innovative activities are found to have a negative impact on productivity. Finally, we find a positive association between an outspoken aggressive innovation strategy, customers and a firm's internal resources for innovation and the size of innovation investment.
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