The lack of transparency in the pricing and operational activities of State Trading Enterprises (STEs) has generated concerns that certain countries’ STEs are circumventing Uruguay Round commitments on export subsidies, domestic support, or market access. Critics argue that STEs pursue activities that mask export subsidies or import tariffs and that STE’s exclusive purchase/sell rights in domes...

This paper studies the implications of globalization for aggregate output and welfare when risk averse workers face the risk of unemployment. The impact of globalization on the welfare of workers and aggregate output depends on the degree of substitutability between domestic workers and imported inputs. When the degree of substitutability is high (low), then globalization reduces (increases) wa...

This paper is concerned with equity and efficiency in social security. If social security, ormore specifically unemployment insurance, leads to losses in employment and output, menwhy is it such a widely observed phenomenon? The first rationale for social security isutility interdependence or a preference for equality, combined with the public goodcharacter of income redistribut...

We study whether the effects on registered manufacturing output of dismantling the License Raj — a system of central controls regulating entry and production activity in this sector — vary across Indian states with different labor market regulations. The effects are found to be unequal across Indian states with different labor market regulations. In particular, following delicensing, industries...

This paper examines the structural determinants of output volatility in developing countries, and especially the roles of geography and institutions. We investigate the volatility effects of market access, climate variability, the geographic predisposition to trade, and various measures of institutional quality. We find an especially important role for market access: remote countries are more l...

This paper uses metropolitan data to test empirically if health insurers possess monopsony or monopoly-busting power on the buyer-side of the hospital services market. According to theory, monopsony power is indicated by a fall in output, whereas, monopoly-busting power is shown by an increase in output when buyer concentration rises. The empirical results provide evidence that greater health i...

The study investigates consumers’ preference for cowpea reflected in the Nigerian markets through price discounts and premiums that consumers pay for different cowpea characteristics. The price data used for this study were obtained through a market survey. A common data collection protocol was employed. Every month, between October 2009 to December 2010, five cowpea samples per seller were bou...