The Cost of Being ‘Backward’ in India: Socio-religious Discrimination in the Labour Market

Being from backward castes, classes and Muslims in India has an economic cost associated with the nature of institutional discrimination. Using the 2011–2012 National Sample Survey data, this study identifies that caste and religion still rule the modern Indian labour market. We find that discrimination is evident in the socio-religious earnings gaps. While the parametric decompositions suggest that most of these gaps are due to differential human capital endowment, the nonparametric method almost evenly attributes inequality to discrimination and endowment. The results presented in this study suggest that discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Muslims and Other Backward Classes should be included in policy designs to promote equity in the Indian labour market.

On a Theoretical Analysis of the Family and Economic Growth

The paper considers the prospects of constructing theoretical postulates on the family that is consistent with some of the main features of economic growth. Theoretical abstraction of the parameters involved based on the intergenerational dynastic model is analyzed and compared to evidence. Descriptive and analytical technique were employed in analyzing the model. Nonmarket productivity levels and their effect on initial human capital endowment of households were also considered.

Central Bankers in Twelve Countries between 1950 and 2000

This chapter studies the professional, political, and academic ‘human capital endowment’ of the central bank governors in office between 1950 and 2000 in twelve OECD countries. Although many national differences are observed, four more general shifts in central bank governor ‘types’ have been identified: (1) the civil servant central banker of the economic ‘golden age’ of the 1950s and 1960s; (2), the central bank politicians of the 1970s; (3) the market-oriented governors of the 1980s; and (4), the academic central banker from the 1990s onward. During the period studied, it is also possible to track the development of an international elite of central bankers, sharing similar backgrounds (academically and professionally) and views on monetary policy. A key observation is that ‘what makes for a credible central banker’ has changed over time, and especially following events such as economic recessions or financial crises.

Spatial Dependence Structure of Total Factor Productivity in Polish Local Administrative Districts

The interaction between space (location) and the processes of accumulation (growth) is one of the most interesting and at the same time the most difficult areas of modern economic theory. The up till now empirical research on determinants of regional productivity in the case of Poland is however relatively scarce. Most studies focus on explaining the variation in regional income per capita mostly at NUTS–2 and NUTS–3 levels, and only a few take into account a highly spatially disaggregated NUTS–4 level. We aim to fill this important gap. The present article has several objectives. We try to explain the spatial patterns of productivity, to identify the spatial range of productivity spillovers empirically and to identify the determinants of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth in Poland with the use of spatial econometric modeling and the extended version of the Nelson‑Phelps (1966) model. The study adopts an NUTS-4 level of local administrative districts (powiats) which we find superior on both theoretical (market closing) and empirical grounds (spatial modeling). TFP in Poland assumes the highest values in the metropolitan centers and spreads out on their nearest surroundings with the maximum value for Warsaw. The secondary local hills in TFP are located in cities or towns with county rights. TFP, in general, shows a downward trend as one moves from the west to the east with the lowest values observed in the south‑eastern part of Poland. The range of TFP spillover is found to be of roughly 175–200 km and is nonlinearly decreasing from the local productivity hills. Furthermore, the rate of growth of TFP shows spatial autocorrelation and is found to depend positively on the rate of increase in human capital endowment and on the gap from the leader under certain assumptions. We find no evidence of the channel through imports. However, the FDI channel is found to be robust and strong.