Innovation spurs employment across South Asia — but what kind of innovation and in what industries? More and more states are investing in social protection for their citizens — but how do countries compare in the latest indices? And many Afghan migrants pass through Greece and Turkey — but why do some stay while others continue on to other European countries? These are just a few of the questions tackled by our researchers in December 2017 — in two book chapters, four PhD dissertations, and 10 journal articles, among many others. Click here for the full list of our most recent publications.
Book chapters
‘The root causes of movement: Exploring the determinants of irregular migration from Afghanistan‘ and ‘Assisted voluntary return and reintegration of migrants: A comparative approach‘ are two book chapters in the book ‘A long way to go: Irregular migration patterns, processes, drivers and decision making‘, co-edited by Prof. Khalid Koser. The book presents the findings of a unique migration research programme harnessing work of some of the leading international and Australian migration researchers on the challenging and complex topic of irregular maritime migration. By Dr. Craig Loschmann, Dr. Katherine Kuschminder, Prof. Melissa Siegel and Prof. Khalid Koser.
Journal articles
‘Imported technology and manufacturing employment in Ethiopia‘ aims to establish the role played by trade, FDI and technology in employment and skills in Ethiopia. The results lend support to a labour–augmenting effect. Moreover, the implemented two-equation dynamic framework provides evidence of a skill-bias specific to those enterprises with a higher share of foreign ownership and located in the vicinity of the capital city. More generally the article contributes to the research on the impact of technological change on employment in the least developed countries (LDCs) embarking on globalisation and consequent international technological transfer. By Marco Vivarelli et al.
‘Does easy start-up formation hamper incumbents’ R&D investment?‘ investigates the implications that complementary assets needed for the formation of start-ups have on the innovative efforts of incumbent firms. In particular, the article highlights a strategic incentive effect by which the innovative efforts of incumbents decrease in the availability of the complementary assets needed for the creation of a start-up. Furthermore, the authors argue that the R&D investments of incumbents are positively related to the presence of policy support to innovation, and to the firm’s endowment of human capital. By Marco Vivarelli et al.
‘The economic payoff of name Americanization‘ provides the first evidence of the magnitude and consequences of the Americanisation of migrants’ names in the early 20th century. The article consistently finds that migrants who Americanised their names experienced larger occupational upgrading than those who did not. Name Americanisation embodies an intention to assimilate among low-skilled migrants and reveals the existence of preferences for American names within the labour market. The authors conclude that the trade-off between individual identity and labour market success was as present then as it is today. By Dr. Corrado Giulietti et al.
‘A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter‘ studies the health trajectories of immigrants within the context of selection and migration policies. Using SHARE data the article examines the HIE, comparing Israel and 16 European countries that have fundamentally different migration policies. The study’s results are important for migration policy and relevant for domestic health policy. By Dr. Amelie Constant et al.
‘Challenged by migration: Europe’s options‘ examines migration and labour mobility in the European Union and elaborates on their importance for the existence of the EU. Against all measures of success, the current public debate seems to suggest that the political consensus that migration is beneficial is broken. This comes with a crisis of European institutions in general. The article finds that the EU in its current form and ambition could perfectly survive or collapse even if it solves its migration challenge but that it will most likely collapse if it fails to solve the mobility issue by not preserving free internal labour mobility and not establishing a joint external migration policy. By Dr. Amelie Constant and Prof. Klaus F. Zimmermann.
‘The employment effect of innovation: Evidence from Bangladesh and Pakistan‘ investigates the employment effects of innovation for two South Asian developing countries: Bangladesh and Pakistan. The article shows that both product and process innovation spur employment in this region as a whole, in both low-tech and high-tech industries. Moreover, although both innovation types also have significant, positive impacts on employment growth of all Bangladeshi and of all Pakistani firms separately, they are important factors for employment growth of only high-tech Bangladeshi firms and of only low-tech Pakistani firms. Contrary to most previous studies, the study witnesses an insignificant effect of the growth of labour cost on employment growth, perhaps due to the availability of cheaper labour force compared to developed countries. By Dr. Abdul Waheed.
‘Innovation and firm-level productivity: Evidence from Bangladesh‘ examines the labour productivity impact of manufacturing firms’ innovation in Bangladesh, a region which has, to date, been understudied in this respect. The article reveals that Bangladeshi firms’ process innovation is an important factor for their labour productivity, whereas the significant effect of product innovation is not clearly established. By Dr. Abdul Waheed.
‘Criteria for prioritization of HIV programs in Viet Nam: a discrete choice experiment‘. This study elicits preferences and the trade-offs made between different HIV programmes by relevant stakeholders and decision-makers in Viet Nam. It also pays attention to how differences in social and professional characteristics of stakeholders and their agency affiliations shape preferences for HIV programme criteria in Viet Nam. By Dr. Ali Safarnejad et al.
‘Afghan refugee journeys: Onwards decision making in Turkey and Greece‘ contributes to the lack of research on refugee journeys by examining the factors influencing Afghan refugees’ plans to stay in Greece or Turkey or migrate onwards as a continuation of their fragmented refugee journeys. This article examines the four conceptual challenges of refugee journeys of temporal elements, drivers and destinations, the process of the journey, and the wayfarers characteristics. The results show that all the conceptual elements are significant in influencing Afghan decision-making for the continuation of their refugee journeys. By Dr. Katherine Kuschminder.
‘What drives spatial clusters of entrepreneurship in China? Evidence from economic census data‘ explains spatial clusters of entrepreneurship for both manufacturing and services. For both sectors, entrepreneurship (measured by new private firms) tends to emerge in places with more relevant upstream and downstream firms. In manufacturing, small upstream and downstream firms seem to be more important for manufacturing entrepreneurship. This article is the first to consider both manufacturing and service entrepreneurship in China and should be of interest to both local and national policymakers who plan to encourage entrepreneurship. By Prof. Zhong Zhao et al.
Reports
‘Social Protection Floor Index 2017: Update and country studies’. The Global Coalition for the Social Protection Floor (SPF) developed the Social Protection Floor Index (SPF Index) to indicate the financial size of national SPF gaps in 2015. The Index measures the amount of resources that a country would have to allocate to social transfers and health services in order to achieve the minimum level of income and health security that is required by Recommendation R. 202 concerning national floors of social protection of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The overall SPF Index value is the point of departure that leads towards analysing protection gaps in the health and income dimension respectively. Furthermore, it can be used to compare progress over time and draw comparisons with other countries in the region. Consequently, the SPF Index is a monitoring tool that can be usefully employed for discussions at both the international and the national levels, respectively. By PhD fellow Mira Bierbaum et al.
‘Syrian diaspora groups in Europe – Mapping their engagement in Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom’. This study seeks to explore Syrian diaspora mobilisation in six European host countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The report focuses on the organisational framework, transnational links and practices of Syrian diaspora groups, by taking into account both internal dynamics and potential lines of conflict as well as the contextual factors in the country of origin and destination. The mapping and study seek to provide a basis for further engagement with the most relevant group of Syrians (associations and individual) across Europe for consultations on future solutions scenarios for Syrian refugees, as well as to enable DRC’s Diaspora Programme to develop activities specifically targeting the Syrian diaspora looking towards the reconstruction and development of Syria. By PhD fellow Nora Jasmin Ragab et al.
PhD defences
‘Redressing the gender gap: Conditional cash transfers and women’s experiences of empowerment in Brazil and Mexico’ aims to provide in-depth knowledge about how women living in extreme poverty experience the effect of the CCTs on their empowerment. Using the Oportunidades/Prospera programme in Mexico and the Bolsa Família programme in Brazil as case studies, this dissertation identifies the cultural, social and policy conditions that need to be in place for the empowerment process to occur in different areas of women’s lives, notably labour market participation, intra-household decision-making and self-worth. By Dr. Ana Patricia Silva Vara.
‘New actors in the global economy: The case of Chinese development finance in Africa’. This dissertation analyses, both theoretically and empirically, how the entry of players from the Global South like China into development finance game affects the current framework of international development cooperation between the traditional Western donors and investors on the one hand and African recipient countries on the other hand. By Dr. Tobias Broich.
‘Winds of change: Expanding renewable energies in developing countries‘ addresses one of the major challenges to combat climate change, namely that of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector. The thesis shows that by explicitly and systematically including additional socio-economic and political factors to complement the Technological Innovation System (TIS) approach, comprehensiveness is improved, revealing additional avenues for medium and long-term policies that could help expand RETs adoption in developing countries. By Dr. Hans-Erik Edsand.
‘Essays on the economic effects of non-contributory social protection‘ sheds new light on how social transfers promote a sustainable path out of poverty while fostering economic performance. The main findings of the thesis show that non-contributory social protection investments do foster economic performance and that social protection programmes must be seen as an investment rather than as a cost. However, the effects are context-specific. The economic effects of social transfers depend on labour market conditions, access to financial services and productive assets, coverage and quality of health and education services, social exclusion, and general economic performance. By Dr. Andres Mideros Mora.
Working papers
‘Testing the growth links of emerging economies: Croatia in a growing world economy‘. This working paper estimates a dynamic simultaneous equation model for 16 variables of the Croatian economy in order to test the links of growth with education, R&D, trade, savings and FDI. It finds that permanent shocks increasing the intercepts of the equations for education, R&D, trade, savings and FDI show that most of the growth links work well in Croatia, but that they also enhance foreign imbalances. Policies to balance the two aspects are briefly discussed. By Dr. Thomas Ziesemer.
‘Effects of health insurance on labour supply: Evidence from the health care fund for the poor in Viet Nam’. This working paper examines the labour supply effects of the Health Care Fund for the Poor (HCFP) in Viet Nam in terms of the monthly number of work hours and the probability of employment. The authors show that HCFP, which aims to provide poor people and disadvantaged minority groups with free health insurance, has a positive labour supply effect in the short run. However, in the longer run, the net effect becomes negative due to the income effect. This raises the question of targeting strategy of the programme to avoid unintended labour supply distortion. By PhD fellow Nga T. Q Le, Dr. Sonila Tomini et al.
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