Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social Accounting Matrix (SAM)'

Reduced-impact logging (RIL) was identified as a measure, complementary to other identified measures, which can contribute to Indonesia reducing emissions from forestry and forest degradation (REDD+). In this light, the research was aimed to investigate the economy-wide impact of implementing RIL on the economy, which was studied at the district level. For this purpose, an expert opinion survey method was integrated with Berau computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The expert opinion survey was utilised to: (i) generate information and confirm the impact of implementing RIL on logging costs, and (ii) obtain an estimate of the incentive required by logging companies to maintain the practice of RIL. Results of this approach provided input to the Berau CGE model. In addition, multiple ways of data gathering were employed to develop the dataset required for the general equilibrium analysis. Simulation results suggest that the economic impact of implementing RIL policy is negative but small on the Berau economy compared to a situation where the RIL is not implemented. Worker households (particularly agricultural worker households) are worse off and non-agricultural households are better off. Furthermore, providing compensation, which was simulated as a logging output- based subsidy, can improve the Berau economy, although to only a lesser degree. The RIL policy causes a significant negative impact on logging output which further leads to output reduction in forest-based and pulp & paper industries. The policy implementation, however, simulates production increase in other agricultural activities, notably in oil palm plantation. Furthermore, results simulations with the logging output-based subsidy suggest the magnitude of economic impacts is reduced from what would otherwise occur in the scenario of implementing RIL only (no subsidy is provided). The RIL policy also seems to result in ̳unexpected‘ emissions leakage indicated by increases in output of some agricultural-based activities such as oil palm plantation, other estate crops, and food crops. Increase in emissions is also expected to occur outside the Berau District stimulated by the increase in the District‘s import of timber.

Obiettivo di questo lavoro è studiare i fattori socio-economici responsabili del cambiamento nella distribuzione del reddito dovuto a un cambiamento nel contesto politico di riferimento, in Vietnam durante il periodo delle riforme. La metodologia adottata analizza i cambiamenti nella distribuzione del reddito sia a livello micro che a livello macro. A livello micro, l'analisi indaga sulle caratteristiche individuali e familiari da cui dipende il livello e la distribuzione della spesa. E' possibile inoltre valutare gli effetti diretti di cambiamenti nel quadro politico di riferimento. Il livello macro di analisi consente di individuare le caratteristiche strutturali della disuguaglianza nella distribuzione del reddito personale e di isolare anche gli effetti indiretti delle politiche. Gli strumenti analitici selezionati in questo studio sono un modello supply-driven, rappresentato da un modello di microsimulazione e un modello demand-driven, costituito dalla Matrice di Contabilità Sociale. In particolare, il modello di microsimulazione ha consentito la derivazione di una distribuzione controfattuale e la disaggregazione della variazione della disuguaglianza in Vietnam in: effetto di prezzo, effetto di una variazione della componente non osservata dei salari, effetto dovuto a cambiamenti nelle scelte occupazioni e effetti dovuti a cambiamenti nella popolazione. Utilizzando una nuova metodologia di scomposizione ad un livello microscopico dei moltiplicatori derivati dalla SAM, è stato possibile derivare e isolare tutti gli effetti diretti e indiretti di uno shock esogeno sulla distribuzione personale del reddito.
The aim of this work is to investigate the socio-economic factors that affect in income distribution changes caused by changes in the policy framework in Vietnam during the period of reforms. The adopted methodology analyzes policy induced changes in income distribution both at the micro and the macro level. At the micro level, the analysis of inequality can help identifying the socio-economic factors affecting the level of household expenditure and its distribution and evaluating direct effects of policies. The macro level identifies the structural characteristics of inequality and evaluates also the indirect effects of policies on the personal income distribution. The two analytical tools have been selected have been a supply driven model represented by the microsimulation model and a demand driven model, constituted by the Social Accounting Matrix. The microsimulation model allowed deriving a counterfactual distribution of income and disaggregating change in the Vietnamese income inequality into four effects: price effect, effect of a change in the unobservable component of wages, occupational choice effect and population effect. Using a new technique of decomposition of SAM-based multipliers in 'microscopic' detail, the macro model allowed deriving all the direct and indirect effects of an exogenous shock to personal income distribution.

Obiettivo di questo lavoro è studiare i fattori socio-economici responsabili del cambiamento nella distribuzione del reddito dovuto a un cambiamento nel contesto politico di riferimento, in Vietnam durante il periodo delle riforme. La metodologia adottata analizza i cambiamenti nella distribuzione del reddito sia a livello micro che a livello macro. A livello micro, l'analisi indaga sulle caratteristiche individuali e familiari da cui dipende il livello e la distribuzione della spesa. E' possibile inoltre valutare gli effetti diretti di cambiamenti nel quadro politico di riferimento. Il livello macro di analisi consente di individuare le caratteristiche strutturali della disuguaglianza nella distribuzione del reddito personale e di isolare anche gli effetti indiretti delle politiche. Gli strumenti analitici selezionati in questo studio sono un modello supply-driven, rappresentato da un modello di microsimulazione e un modello demand-driven, costituito dalla Matrice di Contabilità Sociale. In particolare, il modello di microsimulazione ha consentito la derivazione di una distribuzione controfattuale e la disaggregazione della variazione della disuguaglianza in Vietnam in: effetto di prezzo, effetto di una variazione della componente non osservata dei salari, effetto dovuto a cambiamenti nelle scelte occupazioni e effetti dovuti a cambiamenti nella popolazione. Utilizzando una nuova metodologia di scomposizione ad un livello microscopico dei moltiplicatori derivati dalla SAM, è stato possibile derivare e isolare tutti gli effetti diretti e indiretti di uno shock esogeno sulla distribuzione personale del reddito.
The aim of this work is to investigate the socio-economic factors that affect in income distribution changes caused by changes in the policy framework in Vietnam during the period of reforms. The adopted methodology analyzes policy induced changes in income distribution both at the micro and the macro level. At the micro level, the analysis of inequality can help identifying the socio-economic factors affecting the level of household expenditure and its distribution and evaluating direct effects of policies. The macro level identifies the structural characteristics of inequality and evaluates also the indirect effects of policies on the personal income distribution. The two analytical tools have been selected have been a supply driven model represented by the microsimulation model and a demand driven model, constituted by the Social Accounting Matrix. The microsimulation model allowed deriving a counterfactual distribution of income and disaggregating change in the Vietnamese income inequality into four effects: price effect, effect of a change in the unobservable component of wages, occupational choice effect and population effect. Using a new technique of decomposition of SAM-based multipliers in 'microscopic' detail, the macro model allowed deriving all the direct and indirect effects of an exogenous shock to personal income distribution.

Questa tesi è una raccolta di tre saggi di economia multisettoriale applicata. L'obiettivo è la progettazione di politiche economiche per il sistema educativo degli Stati Uniti. Un miglioramento delle prestazioni del sistema educativo può avere effetti positivi sullo sviluppo socio-economico del paese. Il metodo di analisi adottato è l'approccio della matrice di contabilità sociale, in inglese Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). I modelli multisettoriali basati sulla SAM estendono l'analisi input-output tradizionale ai problemi della generazione e distribuzione del reddito e della formazione della domanda finale. L'impiego di modelli multisettoriali statici e dinamici basati sulla SAM mostra che politiche per l'istruzione progettate in modo appropriato possono stimolare la produzione di capitale umano, l'attività produttiva e la formazione di reddito contribuendo, allo stesso tempo, alla stabilizzazione del deficit del governo federale degli Stati Uniti. Il primo capitolo descrive le SAM per gli Stati Uniti per gli anni 2009 e 2012 e spiega come compilare una SAM. Il secondo descrive un modello multisettoriale statico e presenta alcune politiche per l'istruzione. Il terzo descrive un modello multisettoriale dinamico e presenta alcune politiche per l'istruzione. Le politiche proposte si dimostrano adatte a contrastare crisi e recessione e possono indicare una strada verso stabilità economica e crescita.
This dissertation is a collection of three essays on applied multisectoral analysis. The aim is to design and evaluate policies for the education system of the US. Good performances in terms of education have positive externalities on the social and economic development of a country. The methodology adopted is the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) approach, which extends traditional input-output analysis to income generation and distribution and final demand formation. Policy design and evaluation carried out through static and dynamic SAM-based multisectoral models show that well-conceived policies for education can stimulate the accumulation of human capital, production and income while contributing to the stabilization of the federal budget deficit of the US. The first chapter describes the SAMs for the US for the years 2009 and 2012 and shows how to assemble a basic SAM from readily available statistics. The second chapter discusses a static SAM-based multisectoral model and policy applications. The third chapter discusses a dynamic SAM-based multisectoral model and policy applications. The policies proposed in the second and third chapter prove to be effective in contrasting output and income downturns and can show a way for economic growth and stability.

Questa tesi è una raccolta di tre saggi di economia multisettoriale applicata. L'obiettivo è la progettazione di politiche economiche per il sistema educativo degli Stati Uniti. Un miglioramento delle prestazioni del sistema educativo può avere effetti positivi sullo sviluppo socio-economico del paese. Il metodo di analisi adottato è l'approccio della matrice di contabilità sociale, in inglese Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). I modelli multisettoriali basati sulla SAM estendono l'analisi input-output tradizionale ai problemi della generazione e distribuzione del reddito e della formazione della domanda finale. L'impiego di modelli multisettoriali statici e dinamici basati sulla SAM mostra che politiche per l'istruzione progettate in modo appropriato possono stimolare la produzione di capitale umano, l'attività produttiva e la formazione di reddito contribuendo, allo stesso tempo, alla stabilizzazione del deficit del governo federale degli Stati Uniti. Il primo capitolo descrive le SAM per gli Stati Uniti per gli anni 2009 e 2012 e spiega come compilare una SAM. Il secondo descrive un modello multisettoriale statico e presenta alcune politiche per l'istruzione. Il terzo descrive un modello multisettoriale dinamico e presenta alcune politiche per l'istruzione. Le politiche proposte si dimostrano adatte a contrastare crisi e recessione e possono indicare una strada verso stabilità economica e crescita.
This dissertation is a collection of three essays on applied multisectoral analysis. The aim is to design and evaluate policies for the education system of the US. Good performances in terms of education have positive externalities on the social and economic development of a country. The methodology adopted is the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) approach, which extends traditional input-output analysis to income generation and distribution and final demand formation. Policy design and evaluation carried out through static and dynamic SAM-based multisectoral models show that well-conceived policies for education can stimulate the accumulation of human capital, production and income while contributing to the stabilization of the federal budget deficit of the US. The first chapter describes the SAMs for the US for the years 2009 and 2012 and shows how to assemble a basic SAM from readily available statistics. The second chapter discusses a static SAM-based multisectoral model and policy applications. The third chapter discusses a dynamic SAM-based multisectoral model and policy applications. The policies proposed in the second and third chapter prove to be effective in contrasting output and income downturns and can show a way for economic growth and stability.

Social accounting matrix (SAM) is one of the tools used in regional economic analysis, enabling understanding the structure of the economy as well as analyzing the impacts of policies or exogenous shocks. In this thesis, a two-region SAM of Turkey is constructed for the year 2002 and the findings of multiplier analysis are presented. To this end, first, a two-region input-output (I-O) table is constructed using location quotient (LQ) method and using this two-region I-O table, a two-region SAM is compiled. Then, multiplier analysis is performed on the two-region SAM constructed. According to the results of the multiplier analysis, through an exogenous shock amounting to 1% of GDP gives better results both in absolute and distributional terms when it is originated in region East than region West. This thesis should construct a first step towards more comprehensive analyses including higher level of sectoral detail and micro-data.

Iraq is a country with exceptional natural resource wealth, but also consistent political turbulence manifested by high levels of state corruption, patronage networks, weak governance, poor institutional quality, civil unrest and sectarian conflict, all of which have undermined the sovereignty of its vast petroleum wealth and limited its potential for economic prosperity. As a mechanism for reducing the high levels of corruption and patronage networks as well as stimulating economic activity, this dissertation proposes the use of citizen-based direct distribution of oil revenues and studies the economic impacts of this policy using Social Accounting Matrix analysis. The methodology for this analysis includes testing the policy at different levels of per capita distribution, as well as with three variations in the design of the distribution programs. These variations include a universal cash transfer funded by oil revenue surpluses, a targeted cash transfer funded by oil revenue surpluses and a universal cash transfer funded by the reallocation of funding from the existing food subsidy system. The results illustrate that in each of the scenario variations, cash transfers are shown to have a significant positive impact on household incomes, producing activities and aggregate demand in the economy. The results also illustrate a net welfare gain to households when replacing the existing food subsidy system with cash transfers. In the comparison of distribution variations, targeted programs are shown to have the largest effect on the economy, primarily as lower-income households were allocated a greater proportion of income and subsequently also spend a greater proportion of their income on goods with lower leakages. Higher-income households, who are non-recipients in the targeted programs, benefit from targeted programs through the indirect/induced effects, which are largest in comparison to the other distribution variations. The results also show increased consumption on essential goods & services, primarily agricultural produce, which would ease concerns that cash transfers may generate increased consumption on non-essential/temptation goods.

Uganda faces considerable challenges in revamping economic growth performance, reducing the proportional of people living below the poverty line to below 20 percent, and attaining other Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. These developments have prompted the government to prioritise poverty alleviation and the attainment of sustainable real GDP growth (i.e. at 7 percent per annum), among other policies. This dissertation argues that a proper identification of the critical sectors of growth with significant linkages to the rest of the economy can guide policy makers to affect the outcomes of external shocks (e.g. by redirecting resources to sectors with potential for higher output growth and welfare effects) .Using the 2002 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Uganda, we investigate the properties of the multipliers that can be calculated from the SAM, in particular contrasting them with the simpler input-output multipliers. Using the SAM multipliers, the computed linkages suggest that Agriculture, Food Processing, and Other Services (Trade, and Health and Education) are the key sectors of Uganda’s economy. Similarly, Manufacturing, Construction, and Transport were found to be sectors with weak linkages to the rest of the economy. Moreover, the multiplier impact on output, employment, and household income distribution is higher with in agriculture relative to other sectors. Our multiplier results confirm the need for policy makers in Uganda to target agriculture-led growth if Uganda is to substantially raise economy wide growth, and to improve household incomes for significant poverty alleviation. Policies to boost the agriculture sector include: building and maintaining feeder roads, provision of farm inputs, training farmers on better methods of production and productivity, reviving cooperatives (i.e. to enable coordinated farming activities, storage, processing, and marketing of farmers produce, and easy access to credit from lending institutions). It should be noted that Agriculture in Uganda is characterised by low productivity resulting from the use of poor inputs, undeveloped value chains, and low public and private investment in the sector. Government should significantly invest in agro-processing industries to increase value addition and exports for higher incomes. Since such investments are costly, requiring significant capital investments which majority of poor farmers cannot afford, the government should promote public-private sector partnership. It should be noted that Uganda’s exports are dominated by unprocessed primary low products which fetch low earnings from world markets. Using a country specific CGE model and selected exogenous changes and policies, our findings suggest that an increase in the world price of exports and workers remittances, and a decrease in import tariffs are growth and welfare enhancing with the positive shock to world export prices producing the largest impact on real GDP, employment (largely, low skilled labour and in agriculture), factor and household incomes. The significant role of migrant remittances in growth and poverty alleviation (i.e. by increasing household incomes, and investment in agriculture, education, and real estate among others) is worth noting. These findings suggest that Ugandan authorities could encourage Ugandans living and working abroad to invest at home by introducing a diaspora bond and sharing information on investment opportunities to encourage increased inflow of workers remittances which would boost domestic investment. Where possible, surplus labour could be exported to other regions or countries and arrangements made to have workers remittances invested in Uganda. In all the policy experiments performed, we find that the welfare of households in the northern and eastern regions of the country is lower compared to that of households based in other regions. This suggests that the government needs to design and implement specific poverty alleviation programs in these regions. The relatively high poverty in northern and eastern regions is attributed to the 19 year civil conflict and the communal land ownership which limits agriculture production for food security and improved household incomes. The government could increase the provision of social and physical infrastructure and promote sustainable agriculture by opening up irrigation schemes, supplying farmers with drought resistant crops, restocking farms, and building and maintain valley dams, and implementing land reforms which promote agriculture. Given the importance of agriculture to Uganda’s growth and poverty alleviation prospects, we argue that the government should implement the recommendations of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration which calls for the allocation of 10 percent of the national budget to agriculture. This allocation is necessary to achieve the target of agriculture sector growth by 6 percent which is required to reduce significantly the number of Ugandans living in extreme poverty and hunger. The budgetary allocation of 4 percent coupled with inadequate supervision, and corruption and misallocation of funds meant for agriculture development programs have contributed to persistent decline in in output and increase in rural and urban poverty. Our results suggest agriculture is associated with higher employment of low skilled labour which is the largest labour force in Uganda. According to the World Bank, employment is the surest way to poverty alleviation. Thus, Uganda should pursue an agriculture led growth strategy for poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth. However, to substantially increase household incomes and contribute to poverty alleviation, policy interventions in agriculture should focus on increasing value addition through food processing and exports. Further, interventions that empower women to own assets should be enforced by government. Women are the principal users of land, and they must have stronger rights over the resources they depend upon. Our simulations have demonstrated that employment and incomes of women increase from interventions that target the agriculture sector in Uganda. Women constitute over 90 percent of the total labour force employed in agriculture and earn less or none of farm incomes, and most of them operate under chronic poverty. To gain greater knowledge of and control over their environment and build more productive sustainable systems, the government could empower women with basic education and training, increase their access to new technologies and mobilise them to participate in rural saving banks and cooperatives to boost their earnings from agriculture. Our results suggest that Services (mainly education and health) are potential candidates for growth and poverty alleviation in Uganda because they generate significant employment. However, Uganda, Services employ high skilled labour and are urban based, implying they cannot absorb the dominant low skilled labour and the youth. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda currently has about 34.5 million people of which about 65 percent are youth. About 83 percent of these youth (aged 18-30 years) have no formal employment. This calls for authorities in Uganda to reorient the current curriculum towards her development needs where the youth and graduates are trained to be job creators and not job seekers. Massive investment in vocation training where the youth are trained and equipped with skills to manage their own lives by engaging in small scale projects should be prioritised by the government. To overcome the high rate of youth and graduate unemployment in developing countries Uganda inclusive, the donor community in collaboration with African governments identified vocational training as a critical component in each country’s poverty reduction strategy.

Este trabalho analisa a estrutura socioeconômica da produção de etanol no Brasil tendo como enfoque o uso de fatores primários de produção terra, capital e trabalho e as relações entre este setor e as demais atividades da economia. Para tanto, utilizou informações do Sistema de Contas Nacionais SCN, publicado pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística IBGE, para estimar uma matriz insumoproduto para o ano 2004. Esta matriz foi desagregada em 142 contas com destaque para a desagregação do setor sucroalcooleiro em quatro atividades: dois tipos de canade- açúcar (de alta e baixa produtividade relativa), etanol e açúcar. Além disso, desagregou-se o fator primário de produção trabalho em dez categorias salariais e o consumo das famílias em 10 categorias de renda. Tal desagregação utilizou os microdados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios PNAD e da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares - POF, ambas também publicadas pelo IBGE. Posteriormente, foi estimada uma matriz de contabilidade social e calculado seus multiplicadores contábeis em sua forma decomposta em efeitos transferência (transfer), intergrupos (open-loop) e extragrupo (closed-loop). A análise desses multiplicadores mostrou que choques exógenos de demanda no setor sucroalcooleiro provoca impactos relevantes sobre o próprio setor e sobre a indústria química, farmacêutica, de cosméticos, de alimentos e dos refinados de petróleo, mostrando que este setor tem uma cadeia produtiva relativamente pouco extensa. Porém, este setor tem importância estratégica no que tange a política de empregos uma vez que utiliza grande número de trabalhadores de baixa qualificação e de pequenos produtores rurais. Este trabalho constata, ainda, que a incorporação de tecnologia à cultura da cana-de-açúcar, além de torná-la mais produtiva, a torna mais rentável; que a intensidade de criação de emprego é maior na produção de cana-de-açúcar de menor produtividade; e, que a produção de etanol tem efeito multiplicativo relativamente intenso para capital, de forma que pode trazer boas remunerações aos investidores neste setor. Uma simulação foi realizada considerando dois cenários: aumento de produção de etanol em 204,55% e aumento de consumo das famílias e exportações em 166,15% e 412,5%, respectivamente, respeitando as projeções de agentes do setor. Estas simulações confirmaram a análise obtida por meio dos multiplicadores da matriz de contabilidade social e mostraram, finalmente, a importância dos efeitos intergrupo e extragrupo na economia, dado que o resultado obtido pela exogeinização da consumo das famílias foi menor que o esperado.
This work analyses the social and economical structure of ethanol production in Brazil focusing the primary production factors use land, capital and labor and the relationship among this sector and other economic activities. It is used national accounting system information, published by Brazilian Geography and Statistic Institute (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística IBGE), to estimate an input-output matrix to year of 2004. This matrix has been disaggregated in 142 accounts with highlight for sugarcane industry disaggregation in four economic activities: two kind of sugarcane (one with high productivity and another with low productivity), ethanol and sugar. Besides that, the primary production factor Labor has been disaggregated in ten wage categories and the household consumption, also, in ten outcome categories. Such disaggregation has used the micro-data of National Household Sample Research (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios PNAD) and Household Budget Research (Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares POF), both also published by IBGE. After that, a Social Accounting Matrix and its decompounded accounting multipliers have been estimated. The multipliers analysis shows exogenous shocks in sugarcane industry demand cause relevant impacts on own sector and on chemical, medicines, cosmetics, food and oil by products industries, showing that such industry has a production chain relatively small. But, this sector has strategic importance on employment policy because use a high number of employees with low qualification level and small farmers. This work checked that an increasing in technology use in sugarcane growing, besides that became them more productive, become them more profitable. However, the intensity of job creation is higher in low productivity sugarcane production. The ethanol production has multiplicative effect relatively intensive to capital and, hence, it can bring good remunerations for investors. A simulation has been realized considering two scenarios: increasing in ethanol production in 204,55% and an increasing of household consumptions and exports in 166,15% and 412,5%, respectively, considering some sector agents expectations. Such simulation confirmed the analyses obtained through social accounting matrix multipliers and shows, finally, the open-loop and closed-loop effects importance in accordance with the household consumptions exogenation results lower than expected.

This research study focuses on providing evidence that indicates that, making use of contemporary green building practices within a low cost subsidised housing project have more social, economical as well as environmental benefits than that of a conventional, non-green approach. Low cost subsidised housing units have become an everyday sight in the light of the global as well as the local economy. The increasing levels of unemployment and subsequent social problems lead to growing needs for this form of housing. As these projects consume a number of resources, steps need be taken to lighten the load – such as the carbon emissions - that is put on the environment. According to the United Nations, the key areas that are influenced by sustainability are environmental, economical as well as social. In South Africa, a number of government as well as local policies exist that regulates the planning and building practices of the low cost subsidised housing projects. These policies have been used as a foundation for this study. This study focuses on the Lufhereng project as a case study, and technology used in the Kuyasa as well as Cosmo City developments furthermore assisted in the groundwork for the comparison between the different construction approaches. The challenges facing the utilisation of a contemporary green building approach were researched, identified, discussed and recommendations were made. SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis on the Gauteng SAM obtained from the DBSA (Development Bank of South Africa), analysis and comparison of existing data as well as a qualitative questionnaire that was sent to industry stakeholders were utilised to obtain relevant information. The quantitative as well as qualitative data obtained from the primary as well as secondary research indicated that there are a number of aspects which has an influence on method of construction used in subsidised low cost housing units. The findings from literature as well as empirical research were analysed and discussed accordingly. Recommendations and suggestions regarding strategies that may be followed to increase the use of contemporary green approaches in these projects were made. These recommendations were based on the findings from literature as well as the research conducted for this study. The use of contemporary green approaches are vital for the social, economic as well as environmental sustainability of the country, and thus, ultimately of the world as a whole. It is, in this light, imperative that everything in our power should be done to preserve our resources by any means possible.
PhD (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The theme of this thesis is to analyze the impact of policy interventions such as financing human development (HD), tax reform and conditional cash transfer programmes, under the framework of growth and sustainable development. These policy instruments are evaluated through the application of both partial and general equilibrium models, and the last paper concentrates on developing regional social accounting matrices (SAMs) as a core database for spatial general equilibrium modelling. Essay 1: Trade-offs in Achieving Human Development Goals for Bangladesh investigates the benefits and costs associated with alternative investment financing options for achieving HD goals by applying the MAMS (Maquette for Millennium Development Goals Studies) model. We find that full achievement of these goals would have led to a GDP loss that would have been significantly larger in the domestic borrowing scenario than in the tax scenario. The tax-financing alternative is thus the better option for financing large development programs. In terms of public spending composition, we find that, under some circumstances, a trade-off arises between overall Millennium Development Goal (MDG) progress and poverty reduction. Essay 2: Welfare impact of broadening VAT by exempting Small-Scale food markets: The case of Bangladesh analyses the welfare impacts of different VAT reforms. A general and uniform VAT on all commodities is preferred as it is more efficient and less administratively costly. However, due to equity concerns, food is normally exempted from VAT. On the other hand, exemptions on food mean that an implicit subsidy is provided to high-income households. Hence, we analyze a broad-based VAT regime with a high threshold that excludes small-scale operators (where the low-income households buy their products most, including food) and the simulation result shows that welfare improves for the low-income households. Essay 3: Effect of Girls’ Secondary School Stipend on Completed Schooling and Age at Marriage: Evidence from Bangladesh estimates the effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on education and age at marriage. We apply both difference in differences (DiD) and regression discontinuity methods to evaluate the impact of the policy instrument. Our estimation results show that the girls in the treatment group who were exposed to the programme had a higher average number of completed years of schooling and also delayed their first marriage compared to the girls in the control group. We also show that the DiD approach might produce a biased result as it does not consider the convergence effect. Essay 4: Estimation of Multiregional Social Accounting Matrices using Transport Data proposes a methodology for estimating multiregional SAMs from a national SAM by applying the cross-entropy method. The methodology makes possible the construction of regional SAMs that are consistent with official regional accounts and minimize deviations from transport data.

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O objetivo desta tese é analisar as mudanças na estrutura de rendimento, ocorridas na economia brasileira entre 2000 e 2010, e sua relação com as alterações nos padrões de consumo e as transformações na estrutura produtiva do país. Para isso, são elaboradas duas matrizes, por meio de um modelo de Matriz de Contabilidade Social (MCS), desagregada para 10 grupos familiares representativos. A estrutura de interdependência de renda entre as famílias é investigada por meio dos multiplicadores inter-relacionais de renda de Miyazawa. Já as mudanças na estrutura produtiva, entre 2000 e 2010, induzida por cada uma das 10 famílias típicas é investigada por meio de uma Análise de Decomposição Estrutural. Os principais resultados alcançados pela aplicação desses dos dois métodos apontam para uma relevante redução na renda absorvida pela última classe familiar, dado um choque exógeno de renda, ao longo do período de análise. Por outro lado, as famílias que fazem parte dos grupos de menor rendimento, tiveram aumento significativo na absorção de renda entre 2000 e 2010. O que pode ser explicado pelas transformações na estrutura de rendimentos, ocorridas principalmente em favor das classes familiares de menor renda, representadas sobretudo pela redução dos indicadores de desigualdade de renda. Isso implica que, políticas de transferência de renda, como o Bolsa Família, e as mudanças no mercado de trabalho, observada principalmente por meio do aumento do salário mínimo real, passaram a gerar maiores benefícios às camadas mais pobres da população. Já a análise de decomposição estrutural indica que os grupos familiares com menor rendimento médio foram aqueles que mais contribuíram para o aumento da produção observada no período. Esse resultado sugere que o crescimento da renda, associado a novos padrões de consumo, está intimamente ligado aos avanços produtivos entre 2000 e 2010.
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the changes in the structure of income that occurred in the Brazilian economy between 2000 and 2010, and it's relation with the changes in patterns of consumption and the transformations in the productive structure of the country. To achieve this objective, two matrices are elaborated, using a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) model, disaggregated for 10 representative households groups. The structure of income interdependence among households is investigated through Miyazawa's interrelational income multipliers. The changes in the productive structure, between 2000 and 2010, induced by each one of the 10 typical families are investigated through a Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA). The main results point to a significant reduction in the income absorbed by the last household, given an exogenous income shock, throughout the period of analysis. On the other hand, the families that are part of the lower income groups had a significant increase in income absorption between 2000 and 2010. This can be explained by the changes in income structure, mainly in favor of lower income households, mainly represented by the reduction of income inequality indicators. This implies that income transfer policies, such as Bolsa Família, and changes in the labor market, observed mainly through the increase of the real minimum wage, generated greater benefits to the poorest sections of the population. On the other hand, the analysis of structural decomposition indicates that the household groups with the lowest average income were the ones that contributed the most to the production increase observed in the period. This result suggests that income growth and the rise of a new middle class, with new patterns of consumption, are closely linked to the productive advances between 2000 and 2010.

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O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar os fatores que influenciam a demanda das firmas brasileiras (restritas e irrestritas) por financiamento, e quais os efeitos de choques no setor de intermediação financeira sobre o produto e sobre essa demanda no Brasil. Buscou-se na metodologia Insumo-Produto, e em suas recentes abordagens, elementos que contribuíssem para o entendimento das restrições de oferta na decisão de estrutura de capital das empresas brasileiras. Foram construídas Matrizes de Contabilidade Social e Financeiras, as quais evidenciam a variação de ativos e passivos dos agentes econômicos, e por meio delas, foram extraídos multiplicadores do produto, que representam o efeito de choques exógenos sobre a produção brasileira. O impacto de choques no setor de intermediação financeira sobre o produto dos demais setores de atividade econômica foi denominado: Multiplicador Financeiro Setorial (MFS), por permitir visualizar o impacto de restrições dos fluxos financeiros no nível do setor. O impacto de restrições financeiras no nível da firma foi analisado com o modelo de Almeida e Campello (2010), destacando que a demanda por recursos externos é menos sensível ao fluxo de caixa em firmas mais propensas a sofrer restrições financeiras, o que implica na aceitação de que as decisões de investimento e financiamento são endógenas, ao menos para a firmas restritas, ressalvando as proposições tradicionais da teoria de estrutura de capital, como Dynamic Trade-off (DTO) e Pecking Order Theory (POT), bem como a necessidade de tratamento especial na modelagem econométrica. O modelo de Flannery e Rangan (2006), estimado pelo Método das Variáveis Instrumentais, de forma a considerar a restrição financeira, revela a importância de diversos fatores determinantes do endividamento além do fluxo de caixa, como tamanho, tangibilidade, risco, elementos relacionados a janelas de oportunidades, o custo da dívida e o efeito negativo do MFS, que o destaca como indicador da sensibilidade setorial. Estimando o modelo de Shyam-Sunders e Myers (1999), pelo Método dos Momentos Generalizados, também de forma a considerar a presença de restrição, observou-se que a POT é adequada para explicar a decisão de estrutura de capital somente das empresas irrestritas.
The goal of this research is to analyze the factors influencing the demand of Brazilian firms (restricted and unrestricted) for funding, and what the effects of shocks in the financial intermediation sector on the product and this demand in Brazil. Sought in the input-output methodology, and its recent approaches, elements that contribute to the understanding of supply constraints in the decision of capital structure of Brazilian companies. Were built a Financial and Social Accounting Matrix, which show the variation of assets and liabilities of economic agents, and through them, were extracted product multipliers, representing the effect of exogenous shocks on the Brazilian production. The impact of shocks in the financial intermediation sector about the product from other economic sectors was called: Financial Sector Multiplier (MFS), it allows to visualize the impact of restrictions on financial flows at the sector level. The impact of financial constraints at the firm level was analyzed in accordance with Almeida and Campello (2010). The demand for external funds is less sensitive to cash flow in firms more likely to suffer financial constraints. It implies acceptance that investment and financing decisions are endogenous, at least for constrained firms, safeguarding the traditional beliefs of the capital structure theory, as Dynamic Trade-off (DTO) and Pecking Order Theory (POT) as well as the need for treatment in econometric modeling. In order to consider the financial constraint, the Flannery and Rangan (2006) model was estimated by Instrumental Variables Method. It reveals the importance of various determinants of capital structure beyond the cash flow, such as size, leverage, risk elements related to market timing, the cost of debt and the negative effect of MFS, which stands as an indicator of sectorial sensitivity. Also to take into account the presence of restriction, we estimate the Shyam-Sunders and Myers (1999) model with the Generalized Method of Moments, it was observed that the POT is adequate to explain only the unconstrained firms capital structure decision.

Lo scopo della tesi di dottorato è quello di indagare, analizzare e costruire evidenza empirica sulla rilevanza degli approcci territoriali per affrontare il problema dell'insicurezza alimentare, sulla base del presupposto che l'inefficacia degli approcci tradizionali alla sicurezza alimentare e nutrizionale (FNS) sottolinea la necessità di passare da approcci “one-size-fits-all”, interamente top-down e settoriali ad approcci integrati, contesto-specifici e territoriali. La prima parte definisce un quadro concettuale e di policy per l'approccio territoriale alle politiche di FNS, intervistando anche i principali esperti sui temi della FNS e dello sviluppo regionale. La seconda parte si propone colmare il gap in termini di informazione e di metodi di analisi per la FNS tramite lo sviluppo di strumenti e approcci per misurare e valutare le determinanti strutturali territoriali della FNS. In particolare, nel lavoro si propongono due diversi strumenti: il Territorial Capital Index (TCI) e la matrice di contabilità sociale (SAM). Il lavoro di ricerca conclude che la FNS è un problema complesso e multisettoriale di sviluppo socio-economico caratterizzata da una forte dimensione territoriale che va ben oltre la produzione alimentare ed è il risultato di interazioni dinamiche e complesse tra politiche sociali, economiche, istituzionali e ambientali. L'approccio TCI-SAM proposto fornisce ai decisori politici un sistema di informazioni e di analisi territoriali esaustivo per indirizzare le strategie e le politiche di FNS e per una più efficiente allocazione delle risorse.
The aim of the PhD thesis is to investigate, analyze and build empirical evidence on the relevance of territorial approaches for addressing the issue of food insecurity, based on the assumption that the ineffectiveness of traditional approaches to food and nutrition security (FNS) stresses the need to shift from one-size-fits-all, entirely top-down and sectoral-based approaches to integrated, context-specific and place-based approaches. The first part defines a conceptual and policy framework for the territorial approach to FNS policies also by interviewing the main experts on the issues of FNS and regional development. The second part aims at filling the FNS gap in terms of information and analytical methods by developing tools and approaches to measure and assess the territorial structural determinants of FNS. In particular, it proposes two different tools: the Territorial Capital Index (TCI) and the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The research concluded that FNS is a multi-sectoral and complex socio-economic development issue characterized by a strong territorial dimension which goes far beyond food production and it is the result of dynamic and complex interactions between economic, social, institutional and environmental policies. The combined TCI-SAM approach provides policy makers with comprehensive territorial information to target FNS strategies and policies and to better allocate resources.

Lo scopo della tesi di dottorato è quello di indagare, analizzare e costruire evidenza empirica sulla rilevanza degli approcci territoriali per affrontare il problema dell'insicurezza alimentare, sulla base del presupposto che l'inefficacia degli approcci tradizionali alla sicurezza alimentare e nutrizionale (FNS) sottolinea la necessità di passare da approcci “one-size-fits-all”, interamente top-down e settoriali ad approcci integrati, contesto-specifici e territoriali. La prima parte definisce un quadro concettuale e di policy per l'approccio territoriale alle politiche di FNS, intervistando anche i principali esperti sui temi della FNS e dello sviluppo regionale. La seconda parte si propone colmare il gap in termini di informazione e di metodi di analisi per la FNS tramite lo sviluppo di strumenti e approcci per misurare e valutare le determinanti strutturali territoriali della FNS. In particolare, nel lavoro si propongono due diversi strumenti: il Territorial Capital Index (TCI) e la matrice di contabilità sociale (SAM). Il lavoro di ricerca conclude che la FNS è un problema complesso e multisettoriale di sviluppo socio-economico caratterizzata da una forte dimensione territoriale che va ben oltre la produzione alimentare ed è il risultato di interazioni dinamiche e complesse tra politiche sociali, economiche, istituzionali e ambientali. L'approccio TCI-SAM proposto fornisce ai decisori politici un sistema di informazioni e di analisi territoriali esaustivo per indirizzare le strategie e le politiche di FNS e per una più efficiente allocazione delle risorse.
The aim of the PhD thesis is to investigate, analyze and build empirical evidence on the relevance of territorial approaches for addressing the issue of food insecurity, based on the assumption that the ineffectiveness of traditional approaches to food and nutrition security (FNS) stresses the need to shift from one-size-fits-all, entirely top-down and sectoral-based approaches to integrated, context-specific and place-based approaches. The first part defines a conceptual and policy framework for the territorial approach to FNS policies also by interviewing the main experts on the issues of FNS and regional development. The second part aims at filling the FNS gap in terms of information and analytical methods by developing tools and approaches to measure and assess the territorial structural determinants of FNS. In particular, it proposes two different tools: the Territorial Capital Index (TCI) and the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The research concluded that FNS is a multi-sectoral and complex socio-economic development issue characterized by a strong territorial dimension which goes far beyond food production and it is the result of dynamic and complex interactions between economic, social, institutional and environmental policies. The combined TCI-SAM approach provides policy makers with comprehensive territorial information to target FNS strategies and policies and to better allocate resources.

The purpose of this work was to present and apply an analytical tool to the flows of goods and income between economic agents and the environment that allows us to calculate the Environmental Gross Domestic Product (EGDP) for Brazilian Legal Amazon. In order to achieve this goal the Environmental Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) was developed. The model was developed from the traditional Social Accounting Matrix, the Environmental Input-Output Analysis Models, and from the United Nations handbook on the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accountings. The EGDP was calculated from the Environmental Input-Output Analysis, since the unavailability of data did not allow the application of the model of ESAM. The flows between the economy and the environment considered were the emissions of green house gases (depreciation of natural capital) and the investment needed to return the air to the same quality it had before being polluted. The results showed that the inclusion of depreciation of natural capital in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in the added value (AV) calculation for each industry of the Brazilian Legal Amazon Region diminished the AV significantly in the industries of cattle (235%), soybean (77%), and other activities of livestock and agricultural (24%). In the Rest of Brazil, the industries with the highest impact of depreciation of natural capital on AV were soybean (30%), cattle (15%) and sugarcane (13%). The total EGDP of the Brazilian Legal Amazon Region was 15% smaller than its total GDP, whereas this difference for the rest of Brazil was 1%. Considering that the GDP is a component of economic wellbeing, the results show a significant reduction in economic wellbeing due to green house gas emissions released into the air by economic activities, mainly due to land use changes. The Environmental Social Accounting Matrix Model is a useful tool to help decision makers since it offers an analytical instrument for economic behavior and the impacts of economic activities on the environment.
The purpose of this work was to present and apply an analytical tool to the flows of goods and income between economic agents and the environment that allows us to calculate the Environmental Gross Domestic Product (EGDP) for Brazilian Legal Amazon. In order to achieve this goal the Environmental Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) was developed. The model was developed from the traditional Social Accounting Matrix, the Environmental Input-Output Analysis Models, and from the United Nations handbook on the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accountings. The EGDP was calculated from the Environmental Input-Output Analysis, since the unavailability of data did not allow the application of the model of ESAM. The flows between the economy and the environment considered were the emissions of green house gases (depreciation of natural capital) and the investment needed to return the air to the same quality it had before being polluted. The results showed that the inclusion of depreciation of natural capital in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and in the added value (AV) calculation for each industry of the Brazilian Legal Amazon Region diminished the AV significantly in the industries of cattle (235%), soybean (77%), and other activities of livestock and agricultural (24%). In the Rest of Brazil, the industries with the highest impact of depreciation of natural capital on AV were soybean (30%), cattle (15%) and sugarcane (13%). The total EGDP of the Brazilian Legal Amazon Region was 15% smaller than its total GDP, whereas this difference for the rest of Brazil was 1%. Considering that the GDP is a component of economic wellbeing, the results show a significant reduction in economic wellbeing due to green house gas emissions released into the air by economic activities, mainly due to land use changes. The Environmental Social Accounting Matrix Model is a useful tool to help decision makers since it offers an analytical instrument for economic behavior and the impacts of economic activities on the environment.

L’objectif de la thèse est d’identifier la pertinence des modèles en équilibre général calculable (MEGC) pour analyser la problématique posée par les Accords de Partenariat Économique (APE) entre l’Union européenne et les pays ACP. Une revue de la littérature est d’abord réalisée, puis un modèle en équilibre général calculable (MEGC) à dynamique intertemporelle est construit pour analyser l’impact de l’APE sur un pays spécifique : le Ghana. À partir du constat portant sur la diversité des résultats de simulations, qui dépendent essentiellement de la structure du modèle et des modes de fermeture choisis par le modélisateur, ce travail cherche à mettre en évidence la largeur du faisceau de résultats possibles et l’impossibilité de mettre en avant les bénéfices potentiels qui peuvent être attendus d’un tel accord en s’appuyant simplement sur des MEGC néoclassiques standards
This work aims to analyze to what extent the use of an applied general equilibrium model (AGE) allows to correctly assess the potential economic impact of EPAs between ACP countries and the European Union. First, a review of the literature is conducted and then an intertemporal dynamic AGE model is built in order to assess the potential impact of EPA on a specific country: Ghana. From the variety of results resulting from the models simulations and depending on hypothesis made on the model structure and the type of closure chosen by the modeler, our work aims to stress the risk of using standard neoclassical Walrasian models to assess the potential benefits of an EPA on ACP countries economy

Luxembourg is one of the most successful financial centers in the world. Initially associated with international syndicated loans, euro-bonds and euro-currency markets, Luxembourg has developed as a center for private banking and is currently the second largest center for the domiciliation of investment funds in the world after the US - with a portfolio equivalent to about sixty times the country’s GDP -, and the first captive reinsurance market in the European Union. As in many other financial centers, the interbank market plays an important role. This partly reflects intra-group operations of foreign banks using their Luxembourg branches and subsidiaries to adjust their liquidity position. More generally, Luxembourg has attracted foreign banks seeking to benefit from its favorable regulatory framework, political stability, language skills of the local workforce and the agglomeration of specialized skills in accounting and legal services.

The importance of the financial sector in Luxembourg implies that a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with explicit modeling of the financial sector is indispensable in order to properly take into account the interaction between the financial and the real sector in the economy and the interconnectedness between different financial institutional sectors (e.g. commercial banks and investment funds). Explicit modeling of the financial sector also allows for an analysis of how the economy might respond to financial shocks.

This dissertation contributes to the literature by developing two analytical tools:

1.\
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.Comm.
The central question addressed by this study is how a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for South Africa can be use to measure the impact of fiscal policy on the well being of South Africa's society and therefore assist fiscal policy makers in the making of Fiscal Policy in South Africa. As a starting point, this study will define the concept of poverty and look at income distribution as a measure of welfare. The questions to be raised in this section are: What is the importance of income distribution? How does South Africa compare in an international perspective and how does the different sources of data in South Africa compare with one another? How can inequality be measured? What does a profile of South Africa's poor looks like and what is the burden of poverty that they have to deal with? The second section of this study describes South Africa's Fiscal Policy in order to understand its impact on societies well being. More specifically, it examines: The failures of recent fiscal policy and its lessons for the future; and The government's GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution) policy. Section three investigates possible fiscal policy interventions for attacking poverty. The following questions are addressed: Which programmes can the government implement in order to address poverty? What is the priorities for action? The fourth and final section of the study looks at the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) as a method for measuring the impact of fiscal policy on the well being of a society. It is discussed from various perspectives in order to arrive at a thorough understanding of its scope and nature, including: o What is a Social Accounting Matrix and does it exists in South Africa? o How can a Social Accounting Matrix assist fiscal policy makers?

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1995.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-235).

碩士
中原大學
國際經營與貿易研究所
101
This study aims to examine the potential effects of exogenous energy shocks on the economy of Taiwan under an economy-wide framework. The social accounting matrix (SAM) framework has been served as the basis of the analysis. SAM multiplier decomposition, structural path analysis, and price model analysis are then used to analyze the effects of oil, electricity and other energy shocks may have on the Taiwanese economy. In addition to the above, this study also uses the constrained fixed-price model to explore the differential effects of two policies: restricting energy use and improving energy efficiency. The SAMs for 1996, 2001 and 2006 are compiled by integrating input-output tables with national accounts for the corresponding years. There are 49 industrial sectors in the matrices, which has enabled us to explore a wide variety of sectoral results. The results of the analysis indicate that exogenous energy shocks will have significant effects on the industrial outputs and prices of sectors. Moreover, to reduce energy use, improving energy efficiency as compared to limit energy use directly seems to be a better policy action, as the latter will generate much bigger negative effects to the economy.

Nella definizione più conosciuta, data dal rapporto di Brundtland, il termine “sviluppo sostenibile” significa integrare gli obiettivi economici, sociali e ambientali della società, al fine di massimizzare il benessere umano nel presente senza compromettere la capacità delle generazioni future di soddisfare i propri bisogni (ONU 1987). Negli ultimi anni, quest’ultimo ha rappresentato un importante obiettivo di politica economica per tutti i paesi del Mondo come conseguenza della forte presa di coscienza riguardo ai cambiamenti climatici che hanno portato a numerose problematiche ambientali. Generalmente, le politiche rivolte alla protezione dell’ambiente consistono in una serie di misure orientate a migliorare l'efficienza sul consumo di energia e a ridurre i comportamenti inefficienti. L'utilizzo di tali strumenti, mirati a ridurre la quantità di emissioni e a promuovere la conservazione dell'ambiente in base ad accordi internazionali, in alcuni casi viene tutt’ora scoraggiato da alcuni politici e governi che interpretano queste misure come un peso per lo sviluppo di alcune economie. (Ciaschini and all, 2009) Dopo anni di dialogo difficile e forte il dibattito con i paesi occidentali sulle questioni relative alla tutela dell'ambiente e alla riduzione delle emissioni di CO2, l'emergenza ambientale è ufficialmente entrata nel programma di governo della Cina. Questo è certamente un passo importante verso la realizzazione di un'azione unica contro il cambiamento climatico, tuttavia, la questione ambientale in Cina deve essere affrontata e dibattuta come una "rivoluzione culturale" che coinvolge tutti gli attori del sistema economico, dalle attività produttive ai settori istituzionali. L’incredibile crescita economica della Cina, nel corso degli ultimi tre decenni, è attribuita soprattutto al suo impressionante sviluppo industriale; infatti la Cina ad oggi nonostante i numerosi progressi in tema ambientale, è ancora come uno dei maggiori produttori di emissioni biossido di carbonio (CO2) dovuto soprattutto al massiccio utilizzo del carbone come fonte di energia. (IEA, 2014). Tuttavia, la Cina, sta facendo progressi significativi nella lotta contro i cambiamenti climatici, tra cui l'impegno espresso durante la Conferenza sul Clima di Parigi (COP21) a ridurre al massimo le emissioni di carbonio entro il 2030. Il Governo Cinese, attraverso l’obiettivo di riduzione dell’uso del carbone ad elevate intensità energetica a favore di produzione di energie rinnovabili più pulite, ha chiaramente indicato che il Paese ha già iniziato a spostarsi verso un modello di sviluppo ecologicamente ed economicamente più sostenibile. Il tredicesimo piano quinquennale (2016-2021), in linea con i precedenti, contiene molte proposte di programmi che si rifanno direttamente o indirettamente ai principi dello sviluppo sostenibile: come la riduzione della povertà ed una migliore tutela dell’ambiente. In particolar modo, essi comprendono la riforma dei territori rurali, uno sviluppo industriale meno inquinante e più pulito, la promozione di veicoli ad energie rinnovabili, la protezione delle foreste, una gestione efficiente delle acque, ed un miglioramento del sistema di protezione sociale volto a ridurre il livello di povertà della popolazione. Tuttavia, anche se l'obiettivo politico cinese di costruire una “società socialista armoniosa” non è nuovo, questo ancora non è stato raggiunto. Quindi, alla luce di quanto detto, ci si è chiesti: come può la Cina riequilibrare la sua economia per affrontare al meglio le relative sfide di sradicamento della povertà, riduzione delle ineguaglianze e protezione dell'ambiente? Considerando la seguente domanda di ricerca, l'obiettivo di questo lavoro è studiare l'impatto economico di politiche ambientali volte alla riduzione delle emissioni di CO2 tenendo in considerazione l’analisi di distribuzione del reddito cinese. Il quadro di riferimento scelto, è la matrice di contabilità sociale (SAM) per la Cina per l’anno 2011. All’interno della SAM sono registrati tutti i flussi relativi alla circolare del reddito: produzione, generazione del valore aggiunto, attribuzione primaria e seconda del reddito, utilizzazione del reddito e formazione del capitale il tutto in contesto di economia aperta. I flussi relativi alla domanda intermedia, alla domanda finale, al valore aggiunto, secondo l’origine e la destinazione. Per queste ragioni, la costruzione della matrice di contabilità sociale della Cina (SAM) per il 2011, proposta in questo lavoro, offre un'analisi completa in grado di fornire una migliore comprensione del modo in cui i vari soggetti dell’economia cinese interagiscono tra loro. Successivamente, la SAM per la Cina è stata integrata con conti ambientali per le emissioni di CO2, al fine di includere il collegamento tra l'economia e l'ambiente, esplorando il rapporto tra attività produttive, inquinamento e distribuzione del reddito. Il fine di questo sforzo `e strettamente connesso alle esigenze della teoria per lo studio di aspetti sociali, economici, ambientali e la verifica dell’efficacia delle manovre di policy. L’analisi d’impatto, che può essere condotta avendo a disposizione tale base dati, implica l’implementazione di un modello multi-settoriale esteso basato sulla SAM, considerando esogene le esportazioni, la variazione delle scorte e gli oggetti di valore. Il modello multisettoriale esteso permette di mostrare l’interdipendenza economica fra i settori istituzionali e ed i settori produttivi più inquinanti. La matrice strutturale dell’economia, ricavata dalla soluzione di equilibrio del modello, permette di effettuare un’analisi di impatto relativa agli scenari di policy volte alle riduzioni delle emissioni inquinanti. L'analisi applicata seguirà il flusso circolare del reddito (derivato dalla SAM), per cui inserendo uno shock di politica economica su una data variabile macro è possibile misurare quantitativamente gli effetti diretti e indiretti prodotti sulle altre variabili macro all'interno del ciclo. Seguendo gli obiettivi del 13° piano quinquennale, l'accordo internazionale di azione per il Clima di Parigi e in conformità con i principi dello sviluppo sostenibile, gli interventi dei policy-makers sono mirati a ristrutturare la composizione della domanda finale in modo da raggiunge una riduzione delle emissioni di CO2. Questo lavoro, è stato importante per valutare una nuova struttura della domanda finale in grado di raggiungere un obiettivo composito: la sostenibilità economica ed il miglioramento ambientale. Lo scopo finale della ricerca è dimostrare la possibilità di combinare una politica orientata alla tutela ambientale con una politica che può sostenere le attività delle imprese e delle famiglie.

The aim of this thesis is to study the impact of natural resources on the regional economic system in Italy, both in terms of growth potential and of sustainability, with a special focus on Basilicata region. It is a resource rich region, but, from an economic point of view, it is part of an underdeveloped area of a developed country. It suffers from the same structural and institutional problems of Mezzogiorno, in terms of low economic dynamism, infrastructural gaps with the rest of Italy, low institutional quality, etc. It offers thus a very interesting case to study the interaction between resource use, economic development and sustainability, the impact of this interaction on the local economy and the trade-offs that may arise. This thesis is composed of different but logically connected papers. We start from the analysis of the concept of sustainable development in its application to the regional level. The main aim of this part is to understand how the sustainability of development path should be assessed at this territorial level, through a critical review of vailable methods and indicators. them is evaluated in its ability to depict sustainability in a regional context. In the second paper we propose an original estimate of the Genuine Savings rate for the 20 Italian regions. In the framework of weak sustainability, this indicator it is shown to be particularly powerful, because it provides a measure of the sustainability of the whole system, and the interaction between natural an economic dynamics of a territory. In the third paper we analyze the impact of the extractive resources sector on the whole economic system, and try to verify if a "Dutch disease" phenomenon is occurring at the regional level. Finally,in the last part we propose a policy simulation through the use of a bi-regional SAM for Basilicata and the rest of Italy, with an economic-environmental model. Moreover, we simulate several royalties allocation scenarios, proposing an empirical extension of the Genuine Saving rate, in order to assess the social sustainability implication of the policy scenarios considered.

The study was conducted in order to test the application of the social accounting matrix-based structural path analysis to urban agriculture at the local level. This was part of an attempt to advance an alternative methodology that could guarantee higher levels of precision and reliability in the measurement and analysis of the role of urban agriculture. A quantitative field survey research design characterised by stratified random sampling of respondents and consultation of secondary SAM data based on South Africa already in the public domain were used. Field observation and administration of interviews were the main primary data collection methods. In-depth literature review helped to establish elements of SAM-based SPA and the conditions that favour its application to urban agriculture at the local level. The prerequisites for application of SPA include regular data capturing on the performance of an activity in local and national accounts and compilation of local SAMs. The lack of a local SAM for Lukhanji could not allow feeding the collected primary data into such a local SAM for analysis using the SimSIP SAM software. As a result of the dominance of subsistence farming operations in the study area the primary data generated could not be deployed in testing the requirements for application of SPA. Descriptive statistical techniques were applied to the primary data sets and inferential statistical methods including the Pearson's chi-square analysis and variance of analysis (ANOVA) were used to analyse primary data and to test the study hypotheses. The results show poor performance in terms of gross and net output value, contribution to household income, food security, low levels of participation in market processes, and employment in the local economy. These results reveal that little is known about the internal operations of urban agriculture. Quantitative based studies can help in bridging this gap. Lack of formalization, commercialization, low capital investment, minimal use of intensive farming techniques, minimal participation in the mainstream market economy are the key factors that impact urban agriculture performance in Lukhanji. Contemporary descriptive and qualitative-based studies have not generated sufficient statistics that can help in tracing the growth patterns of the activity over time and space. The environment that favours application of SPA to the activity requires the formalization and commercialization, regular capture of data on performance in local and national accounts, and compilation of local SAMs. The contribution of this research centres on several issues. It has highlighted current limitations in contemporary approaches in the study and analysis of urban agriculture. It has brought to the fore possibilities for the application of SPA method to raise the level of reliability in measurement of the activity. The study has shown that the nature of the activity is poorly understood partly because no standard classification framework exists and quantifying the contribution to the household economy remains an area requiring further research.
Thesis (PhD.(Geography) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014

Unemployment within the South African economy has indicated to be a prominent issue with an official unemployment rate of 25.2% in the year 2013 (Statistics South Africa, 2013). The South African government released the National Growth Path that is primarily focused on creating stable economic growth, in order to create jobs as well as eradicate inequality. This is followed by the Industrial Policy Action Plan 2 (IPAP2) document which includes a policy package to facilitate the specific industries that are identified for job creation (DTI, 2012). Thus, employment creation has become a real concern within the South African context. The highest percentage of total employment has remained within the services industry since 2004, at a rate above 60%. This is double the combined employment within agriculture and industry, with agriculture at 5% and industry at 25% of total employment. Thus the services industry has contributed to the highest amount of employment in South Africa. The exports of services have grown consistently since the year 2004. The largest exporter within the services industry is the travel sector, with substantial exports which peaked at 9 billion dollars in 2013. When analysing the remaining service sectors within the South African economy, it indicates that there can be a greater deal of growth in exports, with the majority of service sectors exporting less than 1 billion dollars. Export expansion can be a basis to growth in employment creation, if policy can specifically be focused towards it. Because of the demand for methods and strategy for employment creation, this study reviewed the literature regarding the effects of export expansion, as well as research methods to identify labour intensive sectors and their spill-over effects. Studies show that the increases in exports have a predominantly positive effect on employment. Furthermore, these studies also found prominent inter-linkages of services sectors within the economy. The aim of this study was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and their linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) used in this study model generally explains through a general table of a region or nation, by listing the regional or national economy accounting data within a square table. Thus the main goal of the SAM model was to form a comprehensive economic-wide database, which included information about all the productive activities in the economy, as well as incorporating unproductive institutions and markets, such as capital markets, factor markets, government, households and the rest of the world. The above model can thus be used to determine the link between a specific sectors expansion and the labour intensity of that sector. Furthermore, the model is not only limited to measure labour intensity, but it can also measure the specific GDP and production spill-over effects for a specific sector within the economy. Therefore, the study could analyse the spill-over effects of specific services sectors, as well as the possible employment effect it could have throughout the South African economy. The results of the study could then also be used as a strategy for export expansion and employment creation. There is currently no policy focused strategy for the services industry, which could become beneficial. The first step for the empirical analysis was to identify the services sectors which are tradable/ exportable. The following SAM services sectors are more tradable/ exportable than others in commercial terms, and thus they will be used in the analysis of this study: - Building and Construction - Trade - Accommodation - Communication - Finance and Insurance - Real Estate - Business Services - Community, Social and Personal Services In the second part of the study, the objective was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and its linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The results of this study indicated that an increase in the exports of services in South Africa has a definite impact on employment in the following sectors: - Production o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - GDP o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - Labour o Community, Social and Personal Services, Accommodation, and Business Services
MCom (International Trade), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015