We examine the welfare consequences of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and credit market reform in a small open developing economy using a 2 × 2 full-employment general equilibrium model with both labour market and capital market distortions. Apart from factor market imperfections, there is a tariff on the import-competing sector, which creates commodity market distortion. We find that either of the two policies can lead to welfare improvement under reasonable conditions. Subsequently, using a two-sector, specific factor Harris-Todaro type mode; like that of Beladi and Naqvi (1988), we have verified the robustness of the result that have earlier obtained in the full-employment case. We have found that although the effects of FDI flows on both welfare and urban unemployment are ambiguous, credit market reform unequivocally improves welfare and mitigates the unemployment problem. Considering both the cases together, it might be concluded that as a policy, credit market reform is distinctly superior relative to investment reform. The results could be useful for policymaking in a developing economy like India where multiple distortions coexist. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

SARBAJIT CHOWDHURY

Economics

University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

International Review of Economics and Finance

This theoretical paper shows that developing countries possess an inherent shock-absorbing mechanism that stems from their peculiar institutional characteristics and can lessen the gravity of detrimental welfare consequence of international terms-of-trade disturbances in terms of a static two-sector, full-employment general equilibrium model with endogenous labour market distortion. The supply of foreign capital in the economy is a positive function of the return to capital. Subsequently, it has been verbally explained why the main result of the full-employment model would remain valid even in a two-sector specific-factor Harris-Todaro type model with urban unemployment. The analysis leads to a couple of important policies that should be adhered to preserve this in-built system. Finally, it offers three important statistically testable hypotheses which would pave the way for future empirical research in this area. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Economic Modelling

Endogenous labour market imperfection, foreign direct investment and external terms-of-trade shocks in a developing economy

This paper explains the existence of intersectoral wage differential in a developing economy in terms of trade union behavior in the formal sector industry and analyzes its role in predicting the outcomes of trade and investment reforms on welfare. It provides theoretical explanations of certain real life phenomena e.g. why the developing countries are yearning for foreign capital despite the standard immiserizing result and why these countries are not reducing the tariff rates beyond certain levels although they have chosen free trade as their development strategy.

Metroeconomica

Trade unionism and welfare consequences of trade and investment reforms in a developing economy

This paper makes an attempt to provide a theory of determination of interest rate in the informal credit market in a less developed economy in terms of a three-sector static deterministic general equilibrium model. There are two informal sectors which obtain production loans from a monopolistic moneylender and employ labour from the informal labour market. On the other hand, the formal sector employs labour at an institutionally fixed wage rate and takes loans from the competitive formal credit market. We show that an inflow of foreign capital and/or an emigration of labour raises (lowers) the informal (formal) interest rate but lowers the competitive wage rate in the informal labour market when the informal manufacturing sector is more capital-intensive vis-{\`{a}}-vis the informal agricultural sector. International factor mobility, therefore, raises the degrees of distortions in both the factor markets in this case. {\textcopyright} 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Fulltext

International factor mobility, informal interest rate and capital market imperfection: A general equilibrium analysis

A three-sector, three-factor general equilibrium model is developed for a small open developing economy where an inflow of foreign capital generates externalities in the presence of a non-traded final commodity. There are two types of capital and the efficiency of labor depends positively on the consumption of the non-traded commodity. Effects of inflows of foreign capital on social welfare and human capital formation are examined. The analysis finds that while capital that is used in all the sectors may improve welfare, capital used specifically in the non-traded sector is likely to affect social welfare adversely. These results, which hold for a wide range of parameter values, can at least question the desirability of allowing entry of foreign capital in the non-traded final good sector that emanates externalities.

Foreign capital, non-traded goods and welfare in a developing economy in the presence of externalities

In development literature Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is traditionally considered to be instrumental for the economic growth of all countries, particularly the developing ones. It acts as a panacea for breaking out of the vicious circle of low savings/low income and facilitates the import of capital goods and advanced technical knowhow. This book delves into the complex interaction of FDI with diverse factors. While FDI affects the efficiency of domestic producers through technological diffusion and spill-over effects, it also impinges on the labor market, affecting unemployment levels, human capital formation, wages (and wage inequality) and poverty; furthermore, it has important implications for socio-economic issues such as child labor, agricultural disputes over Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and environmental pollution. The empirical evidence with regard to most of the effects of FDI is highly mixed and reflects the fact that there are a number of mechanisms involved that interact with each other to produce opposing results. The book highlights the theoretical underpinnings behind the inherent contradictions and shows that the final outcome depends on a number of country-specific factors such as the nature of non-traded goods, factor endowments, technological and institutional factors. Thus, though not exhaustive, the book integrates FDI within most of the existing economic systems in order to define its much-debated role in developing economies. A theoretical analysis of the different facets of FDI as proposed in the book is thus indispensable, especially for the formulation of appropriate policies for foreign capital. © Springer India 2014. All rights are reserved.

Journal	Data powered by TypesetInternational Review of Economics and Finance
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier Inc.
ISSN	1059-0560