Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Nikos Benos Title: Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from OECD Keywords: Panel Data, Fiscal Policy,Taxation, Government Expenditures Abstract: This paper decomposes public spending and tax revenue into various sub-categories and estimates the impact of each of them on economic growth. The results provide some support for theoretical models of endogenous growth. Specifically, the main findings are: a) government spending on education, health and fuel-energy display a hump-shaped relationship with per capita growth; b) public expenditures on housing-community amenities, social security-social assistance and transport-communication are characterized by a U-shaped relation with growth; c) the effect of public spending on education and social expenditures on growth is stronger the poorer a country is, while the opposite is true for expenditures on health; d) there is a non-linear impact of distortionary taxation on growth, but the form on non-linearity is sensitive to changes in estimation method, since sometimes we find a hump-shaped and sometimes a U-shaped relationship; e) budget surplus has a positive effect on growth. These results are derived by estimating both single growth equations and systems of equations, which endogenize social spending. Length: 53 pages Creation-Date: 2005-07 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/1-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:1-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Chris Papageorgiou Author-Name: Andreas Savvides Author-Name: Marios Zachariadis Title: International Medical Technology Diffusion Keywords: International Technology Diffusion, Health Abstract: Does medical technology originating in countries close to the technology frontier have a significant impact on health outcomes in countries distant from this frontier? This paper considers a framework where lagging countries may benefit from medical technology (a result of research and development by countries close to the frontier) that is embodied in medical imports or diffuses in the form of ideas. Using a novel dataset from a cross-section of 73 technology-importing countries, we show that medical technology diffusion is an important contributor to improved health status, as measured by life expectancy and mortality rates. Length: 46 pages Creation-Date: 2005-06 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/2-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:2-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Christos Cabolis Author-Name: Sofronis Clerides Author-Name: Ioannis Ioannou Author-Name: Daniel Senft Title: A Textbook Example of International Price Discrimination Keywords: international price discrimination, book industry, textbooks Abstract: We investigate differences in book prices between the United States and other countries. We find that general audience books are similarly priced internationally, but textbooks are substantially more expensive in the United States (often more than double the price). This disparity is much more pronounced for commercial publishers than for university presses. We argue that supply-side factors like cost and market structure can not explain this phenomenon. We discuss several demand-side explanations; our preferred theory is that higher US textbook prices reflect the unique status of the textbook as a centerpiece of US college instruction. Length: 18 pages Creation-Date: 2005-09 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/3-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:3-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Anil K Bera Author-Name: Yannis Bilias Author-Name: Pradosh Simlai Title: Estimating Functions and Equations: An Essay on Historical Developments with Applications to Econometrics Keywords: Abstract: The idea of using estimating functions goes a long way back, at least to Karl Pearson's introduction to the method of moments in 1894. It is now a very active area of research in the statistics literature. One aim of this chapter is to provide an account of the developments relating to the theory of estimating functions. Starting from the simple case of a single parameter under independence, we cover the multiparameter, presence of nuisance parameters and dependent data cases. Application of the estimating functions technique to econometrics is still at its infancy. However, we illustrate how this estimation approach could be used in a number of time series models, such as random coefficient, threshold, bilinear, autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models, in models of spatial and longitudinal data, and median regression analysis. The chapter is concluded with some remarks on the place of estimating functions in the history of estimation. Length: 60 pages Creation-Date: 2005-09 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/4-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:4-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Nikos Benos Title: Education Systems, Growth and Welfare Keywords: Economic development, Educational Finance, National Government expenditures and education Abstract: This paper focuses on the implications of Decentralized Education (DE) and Centralized Public Education (CPE) for growth and welfare in an overlapping generations model. Individuals choose learning time, consumption and human capital. Under DE, there is no government intervention, while in CPE, human capital is augmented by public education expenditures financed by a distortionary income tax, where the latter is chosen by a benevolent fiscal authority. CPE is welfare superior to DE for moderate/strong preferences over human capital bequests and medium/high elacticities of human capital with respect to average public education spending, average and parental human capital. So, even if we abstract from equity considerations, education policy may be supported on welfare grounds Length: 30 pages Creation-Date: 2005-09 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/5-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:5-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Thanasis Stengos Author-Name: Ximing Wu Title: Partially Adaptive Estimation via Maximum Entropy Densities Keywords: Abstract: We propose a partially adaptive estimator based on information theoretic maximum entropy estimates of the error distribution. The maximum entropy (maxent) densities have simple yet flexible functional forms to nest most of the mathematical distributions. Unlike the nonparametric fully adaptive estimators, our parametric estimators do not involve choosing a bandwidth or trimming, and only require estimating a small number of nuisance parameters, which is desirable when the sample size is small. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the proposed estimators fare well with non-normal error distributions. When the errors are normal, the efficiency loss due to redundant nuisance parameters is negligible as the proposed error densities nest the normal. The proposed partially adaptive estimator compares favorably with existing methods, especially when the sample size is small. We apply the estimator to a bio-pharmaceutical example and a stochastic frontier model. Length: 25 pages Creation-Date: 2005-10 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/7-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:6-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Thanasis Stengos Author-Name: Yiguo Sun Title: The Absolute Health Income Hypothesis Revisited : A Semiparametric Quantile Regression Approach Keywords: Abstract: This paper uses the 1998-99 Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS) data to examine the health-income relationship that underlies the absolute income hypothesis. To allow for nonlinearity and data heterogeneity, we use a partially linear semiparametric quantile regression model. Among more than dozen of socioeconomic variables, we find that family income, age and the food security status are the most important factors in explaining an individual's overall functional health. The "absolute income hypothesis" is partially true; the negative aging effects appear more pronounced for the ill-healthy population than for the healthy population and when annual income is below 40,000 Canadian dollars. Length: 30 pages Creation-Date: 2005-10 File-URL: http://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/8-2005.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:7-2005 Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Steven N. Durlauf Author-Name: Andros Kourtellos Author-Name: Chih Ming Tan Title: Empirics of growth and Development Keywords: Abstract: Length:22 pages Creation-Date: 2005-09 File-URL: http://www.econ.ucy.ac.cy/research/working_papers/2005/05-09.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:8-2005