Are devaluations contractionary in emerging economies of Eastern Europe?

In most developing countries currency depreciation is said to be contractionary. This is because depreciation reduces the aggregate supply more than it increases the aggregate demand. However, emerging European economies have received no attention so far, mostly due to unavailability of data. Now that enough time-series data are available, we try to fill the gap by investigating the impact of real depreciation in effective exchange rates of Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Slovak Republic on their domestic output. We find that in the short run real depreciation is expansionary in Belarus, Latvia, Poland, and Slovak Republic; contractionary in Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Russia; and has no effect in Lithuania. In almost none of the countries, the short-run effects last into the long run.

Health awareness of rural households towards COVID-19 pandemic in India: Evidence from Rural Impact Survey of the World Bank

This paper aims at analysing the level of awareness of the symptoms and the methods of protection from COVID-19 based on the Rural Impact Survey of the World Bank, collected from 5200 households belonging to six states in India that is, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Data has been analysed using chi-square test and regression analysis. Results of the analysis indicate that about 70.8% rural households are aware of the symptom of coronavirus, and 81.9% are aware of the preventive measures for controlling the spread of COVID-19. Analysis indicates a significant association between awareness level on symptoms and prevention of COVID-19 and socio-demographics and location. The study further analyses the key determinants of awareness of COVID-19 symptoms and preventive measures using the logistics regression model, indicating that age, gender, education, income, poverty status, access to information, cash relief and medical services are the determining factors of health awareness on COVID-19 pandemic among rural households in India. Considering the importance of self-protecting measures in fighting the pandemic, this paper highlights the importance of strengthening public awareness for containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Institutional quality and economic growth: Evidence from South-Asian countries

The current study investigates the relationship between institutional quality and economic growth, focusing on South-Asian countries entailing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, from 2002 to 2018. The data are analysed using the dynamic heterogeneous panel (panel autoregressive distributed lag [ARDL] model) approach, specifically the dynamic fixed effect (DFE), mean group (MG), and pooled mean group (PMG). Based on the findings, the three governance indicators, namely corruption control, accountability, and the rule of law, positively and significantly affect economic growth. All the nations have consistent long-run estimates but varied short-run estimates and adjustment speed for the long-term equilibrium. This is due to governance volatility that is evident in all the nations. This article offers both practical and theoretical contributions. This article contributes to the institutional quality and economic growth literature from a theoretical perspective from the South-Asian perspective. From a practical perspective, the study findings are significant for policymakers, particularly those from the countries that demonstrate major fiscal and external imbalance due to war and terrorism, low oil prices and weak trade. Hence, there is a pressing need to address economic growth issues instigated by the policymakers' negligence to ensure appropriate governance and macroeconomic management. Regulators can improve economic growth through national and regional image building by developing a stable economic and political landscape and maintaining macroeconomic stability by improving the institutional quality indicators. There is evidence that institutional quality improvement leads to better economic growth.     

The Kurds in Iraq

The following briefs are edited versions of papers presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Anchorage, Alaska, November 8, 2003. The editors were Hakan Yavuz and Michael Gunter, whose papers are included below. Why Kurdish Statehood is Unlikely , Michael M. Gunter, professor of political science, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee Transnational Networks: New Opportunities and Constraints for Kurdish Statehood , Denise Natali, visiting research fellow, Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI); director of WKI's transnational project Turkey and Kurdistan‐Iraq, 2003 , Robert Olson, professor of Middle East and Islamic history, University of Kentucky Could a Kurdish State Be Set Up in Iraq? , Nihat Ali Özcan, author of PKK (Kurdistan ýpçi Partisi) Tarihi, Ideolojisi ve Yönetimi (Ankara: Asam, 1999) Kurdish Reality in an Emerging Iraq , Khaled Salih, University of Southern Denmark Provincial Not Ethnic Federalism in Iraq , M. Hakan Yavuz, associate professor of political science, University of Utah     

Reforming Sticky Institutions: Persistence and Change in Turkish Agriculture

The recent revival of interest in institutions in development studies favors the analysis of macroinstitutions and questions of institutional origination and change. But a strong emphasis on mid-range, sectoral arrangements, and a refined notion of continuity, can also improve our understanding of institutions in late developers—one by facilitating a thick view of institutions while offering a sharp perspective on the current institutional reform agenda, and the other by casting new light on instances of irregular change and failed or partial reform. The trajectory of Turkey’s agricultural support regime is used as a case to substantiate this argument. Building on an analytic distinction between resilience and persistence, the article explains the dynamic continuity of populist-corporatist forms of market governance in Turkish agriculture, despite the neoliberalism of the 1980s and 1990s and radical institutional reform efforts of the 2000s.

Mobilising faith-based and lay leaders to address antenatal care outcomes in northern Ghana

ABSTRACT

Despite the benefits of antenatal care, evidence from sub-Saharan Africa suggests that women often initiate these services after the first trimester of pregnancy and do not complete the recommended number of visits. This study examines the impact of mobilising faith-based and lay leaders to address the socio-cultural barriers to antenatal care uptake in northern Ghana in the context of a broader child survival project. A quasi-experimental design was used, and data were analysed using a difference-in-differences approach. The results presented in this article indicate the potential for faith-based and lay leaders to promote uptake of maternal and child health behaviours.     

Presidents Shaping Public Opinion in Parliamentary Democracies: A Survey Experiment in Turkey

Many parliamentary democracies feature a president alongside a prime minister. While these presidents have a nonpartisan status as head of state, they often have had long political careers with partisan affiliations before assuming office. How do voters react when such actors make issue statements to shape public opinion? Are such statements filtered through voters’ partisan lenses, provoked by the partisan background of these actors? Or perhaps partisan reactions are not invoked, owing to the nonpartisan status of the office? We argue that voters’ reactions depend on the issue domain. Partisan reactions will be invoked only when the statements are about issues outside the president’s prerogatives. We provide evidence for our argument from a population-based survey experiment in Turkey.     

Explanatory investigation of the moderating role of employee proactivity on the causal relationship between innovation‐based human resource management and employee satisfaction

In this paper, combinations of structural equation modeling and moderated‐hierarchical regression were used to examine the causal influence of organization‐driven innovation‐based human resource management on employee satisfaction among passenger‐contact employees in Nigeria. Further, we investigated the role that employee's proactivity plays in the aforementioned causal relationship. Specifically, our result implied that with higher levels of proactivity, passenger‐contact employees benefited more from the positive contribution of innovative human resource management than when proactivity is low. Theoretical and practical implications are suggested.