Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

A firm theoretical basis for the empirical relationship between dependency rates and savings behavior in developing countries is still lacking. Two demographic extensions of the representative household’s stochastic dynamic optimization problem are presented here. It is shown that the relationship between expected dependency rates and consumption growth depends on two parameters: the demographically varying committed consumption and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution. Thus, the expected path of demographic variables can provide information on the consumers’ willingness to smooth consumption, and on the savings responsiveness to changes in the real interest rate.

Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Consumption --- Demographic Economics: General --- Demography --- Economics --- Income --- Macroeconomics --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- National accounts --- Population & demography --- Population and demographics --- Population --- Private consumption --- Saving --- Wealth --- South Africa

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Indirect taxes are an important element in stabilization tax packages that aim at raising revenue in the short run. This paper evaluates, by using a general equilibrium model, alternative instruments of indirect taxation in middle-income developing countries. It uses data for Thailand as an illustration and examines the effects on revenue, efficiency, equity, and international competitiveness. The paper shows that the interaction between taxes and distortions caused by various policies can be important for revenue and efficiency. It also reveals significant backward shifting and a link between outward-looking supply-side tax policies and trade policies in industrial countries.

Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Business Taxes and Subsidies --- Consumption --- Economics --- Income --- International Trade Organizations --- Macroeconomics --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- National accounts --- Public finance & taxation --- Saving --- Spendings tax --- Tariff --- Taxation --- Taxes --- Trade Policy --- Wealth --- Thailand

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This paper examines the effects of inflation and associated financial instability on income distribution. Using both pooled cross country and single country time series models, the level of inflation, inflation variability, and the variability of the nominal exchange rate are shown to impact negatively on overall income equality. Looking at disaggregate measures of income distribution, the issue as to whether inflation is a progressive or regressive tax is found to be negatively correlated with the level of development and the sophistication of the financial structure. The paper argues that these results point towards financial variables as a partial way of rectifying the generally poor explanatory power of both cross-country and time series models of income distribution.

Foreign Exchange --- Inflation --- Macroeconomics --- Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Price Level --- Deflation --- Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Income distribution --- Personal income --- Consumer price indexes --- Purchasing power parity --- National accounts --- Prices --- Income --- Price indexes --- United States

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The paper focuses on distributional consequences of macroeconomic adjustment. The preferences of economic agents over the level of the real exchange rate derived from standard models are monotonic, with agents favoring either an infinitely appreciated or depreciated rate. To generate less extreme preferences, a model is presented where appreciation would depress economic activity, while a large depreciation would hit the tradable sector by limiting the availability of labor, offsetting the favorable price effect. The model is in the spirit of the dependent economy model, but built on explicit microfoundations. The results can be used to analyze political economy aspects of macroeconomic adjustment.

Foreign Exchange --- Labor --- Macroeconomics --- Political Economy --- Open Economy Macroeconomics --- Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General --- Labor Economics: General --- Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Labour --- income economics --- Currency --- Foreign exchange --- Political economy --- Real exchange rates --- Wages --- Income --- Labor economics --- Economics --- Income economics

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The vertiginous increases in the overall price level and dramatic swings in relative prices experienced by Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan since the onset of the transition rendered their traditional Paasche retail price indices obsolete and called for the introduction of Laspeyres consumer price indices. While the latter represent a major improvement, several measurement or interpretation issues remain, reflecting various potential index number biases, dispersion of prices and inflation across geographical areas and social groups, discontinuities in the inflation process, residual shortages, and seasonality.

Inflation --- Macroeconomics --- Price Level --- Deflation --- Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Prices --- Other Production and Pricing Analysis --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- Saving --- Wealth --- Aggregate Factor Income Distribution --- Consumer price indexes --- Price indexes --- Consumption --- Income --- Prices --- National accounts --- Economics --- Kazakhstan, Republic of