Market Integration Policies Research Articles

The Yangtze River Delta market integration and farmers ' income increase

Market integration is of great significance to increase farmers' income. Taking 27 core cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2011 to 2021 as an example, an evaluation index system of market integration including 8 indicators is constructed from three perspectives: regional connection, scientific and technological innovation and environmental regulation, and the entropy method is used to comprehensively evaluate the level of market integration. The measurement results show that the level of market integration in the Yangtze River Delta is still severe, and the internal differences are large. Using two-way fixed effects, it is found that the level of market integration can significantly and positively affect the per capita disposable income of rural residents, and pass the robustness test; heterogeneity analysis found that the level of market integration can significantly positively affect high-level income rural residents, but not significantly affect low-and middle-income rural residents. Suggestions are put forward from the perspectives of optimizing market integration policy, paying attention to middle and low income farmers, and coordinating regional development, so as to provide reference for policy implementation path.

Does country of resettlement influence the risk of labor market marginalization among refugees? A cohort study in Sweden and Norway.

This study aimed to compare the risk of labor market marginalization among refugees across different host countries of resettlement and examine the moderating role of birth country and length of stay on these associations. Cohorts of refugees and native-born individuals aged 19-60 in Sweden (N=3 605 949, 3.5% refugees) and Norway (N=1 784 861, 1.7% refugees) were followed during 2010-2016. Rates (per 1000 person-years) of long-term unemployment, long-term sickness absence, and disability pension were estimated for refugees and the host populations. Cox regression models estimated crude and adjusted (for sex, age, educational level, and civil status) hazard ratio (HRadj) for refugees compared to their respective host population, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Analyses were also stratified by birth country and length of stay. Refugees in Norway and Sweden had a higher incidence of labor market marginalization compared to their host population. Refugees in Sweden had a comparatively lower relative risk of long-term unemployment but higher risk of disability pension (HRadj 3.44, 95% CI, 3.38-3.50 and HRadj 2.45, 2.35-2.56, respectively) than refugees in Norway (HRadj 3.70, 3.58-3.82 and HRadj 1.57, 1.49-1.66, respectively). These relative risks varied when stratifying by birth country. A shorter length of stay was associated with a higher risk of long-term unemployment and a lower risk of disability pension, with a stronger gradient in Sweden than in Norway. The relative risk of labor market marginalization varied by the refugees' birth country but followed similar trends in Sweden and Norway. Although speculative, these findings may hint at non-structural factors related to the refugee experience playing a more important role than host country structural factors for the risk of labor market marginalization among refugees. Future research, including host countries with more variability in structural factors, is required to further investigate these associations. The higher risk of long-term unemployment among refugees with shorter length of stay indicates a need for more efficient labor market integration policies for newly-arrived refugees.

Historical Transformation of Germany's Immigration and Labor Market Integration Policies from 1945 to the Present

Almanya, gelişmiş ekonomisi ve son yıllarda özellikle vasıflı işgücünü teşvik etmek amacıyla gerçekleştirdiği mevzuat düzenlemeleriyle, düzenli ve düzensiz göçmenler için cazip bir hedef ülke haline gelmiştir. Göçmenlerin önemli bir kısmının işgücüne katılacağı gerçeğinden hareketle, Almanya’nın göç politikalarının göçmenlerin işgücü piyasası entegrasyonuna nasıl etki edeceği önem taşımaktadır. Son yıllarda en çarpıcı göç akışının gerçekleştiği 2015 yılında, Suriye’deki savaştan kaçan ve diğer bölgelerden gelen yüzbinlerce göçmenin Almanya’ya girişleriyle birlikte, Almanya Avrupa’da en fazla mülteciye ev sahipliği yapan ülke haline gelmiştir. Makalede Almanya’nın 1945’ten günümüze sürdürdüğü göç politikaları ve işgücü piyasasına entegrasyon politikaları incelenmektedir. Çalışmada literatürdeki birincil ve ikincil kaynaklardan yararlanılmış, gerçekleşen politika süreçleri tarihsel sırayla ele alınmıştır. Almanya, göç ülkesi olduğunu kabul etmeye başladığı 2000’lerden itibaren çeşitli düzenlemeler ile ülkeye özellikle vasıflı işgücü göçünü teşvik etmektedir. Öte yandan son yıllarda 2015’teki sığınma politikalarına geri dönüş olmayacağı, sığınmacı göçünün azaltılmaya çalışıldığı görülmektedir. Böylece Almanya, 2015 sonrasında, nitelikli işgücü göçüne ve var olan göçmen işgücünün piyasaya entegrasyonuna öncelik verdiği, diğer gruplara ise kısıtlayıcı politikalar uyguladığı bir göç politikasına geçiş yapmıştır.

난민 위기 이후 독일의 난민과 망명 신청자의 노동시장 통합정책에 대한 고찰

난민 위기 이후 독일의 난민과 망명 신청자의 노동시장 통합정책에 대한 고찰

The Territorial Embeddedness of Novel Labour Integration Policy: Something Old, Something New and Something Borrowed

This paper examines how local governments can develop new practices in labour integration policy through cross-sector collaborations, and the role of territorial embeddedness in enabling them. The paper is informed by three initiatives for labour market integration of immigrants led by the city district of an urban suburb in the city of Göteborg, in collaboration with actors from the public sector, private sector, and civil society. The paper contributes to research into institutional entrepreneurship and local governments. First, it shows the importance of undermining old, or traditional, practices in labour market integration as part of the process of developing new ones. It also reveals how new practices and organizational forms are added to existing ones, instead of replacing them. Thus, expanding the scope of the public sector in the local labour market integration policy field through elaborative rather than radical change. Second, it reveals the importance to diffuse the new practices, beyond the boundaries of the collaboration that facilitates their creation. Third, the paper illustrates how, rather than hindering, the territorial embeddedness of these collaborative coalitions in marginalized urban suburbs provides access to a wide repertoire of resources, practices, and ideas to facilitate change. Paradoxically, the territorial embeddedness also hampered the diffusion of new practices in the broader field of labour market integration.

Does the development of digital technology contribute to the innovation performance of China's high-tech industry？

Using the regional panel data of China's high-tech industry (HTI) from 2004 to 2016, this study investigates the main effect, regulatory effect, and intermediary effect of digital technology development (GTD) on the innovation performance (IP) of China's HTI through the spatial econometric model, intermediary effect model, and panel threshold model. The findings revealed that the IP of China's HTI has a global positive spatial correlation. The GTD exerts an apparent promoting effect on the IP of China's HTI, but it has a negative spatial spillover effect on the IP of China's HTI. From the effect decomposition of the SAR model, in terms of direct effect, market integration and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) play a significant positive regulatory role between the GTD and IP of China's HTI, and R&D investment (RDI) and technology diffusion play an intermediary role. In terms of the indirect effects, market integration and EPU play a negative regulatory role between the GTD and IP of China's HTI, and RDI and technology diffusion play a masking role. The panel threshold test shows that taking the GTD and RDI as threshold variables, when the GTD and RDI are appropriate, could significantly promote the IP of China's HTI. As a result, this study asserts that the government departments should promote the development and application of digital technology, augment supporting rules and regulations and alleviate the “polarization effect” due to digital technology to promote the innovation and development of China's HTI.

Inequality in air pollution mortality from power generation in India

India’s coal-heavy electricity system is the world’s third largest and a major emitter of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it remains a focus of decarbonization and air pollution control policy. Considerable heterogeneity exists between states in India in terms of electricity demand, generation fuel mix, and emissions. However, no analysis has disentangled the expected, state-level spatial differences and interactions in air pollution mortality under current and future power sector policies in India. We use a reduced-complexity air quality model to evaluate annual PM2.5 mortalities associated with electricity production and consumption in each state in India. Furthermore, we test emissions control, carbon tax, and market integration policies to understand how changes in power sector operations affect ambient PM2.5 concentrations and associated mortality. We find poorer, coal-dependent states in eastern India disproportionately face the burden of PM2.5 mortality from electricity in India by importing deaths. Wealthier, high renewable energy states in western and southern India meanwhile face a lower burden by exporting deaths. This suggests that as these states have adopted more renewable generation, they have shifted their coal generation and associated PM2.5 mortality to eastern areas. We also find widespread sulfur emissions control decreases mortality by about 50%. Likewise, increasing carbon taxes in the short term reduces annual mortality by up to 9%. Market reform where generators between states pool to meet demand reduces annual mortality by up to 8%. As India looks to increase renewable energy, implement emissions control regulations, establish a carbon trading market, and move towards further power market integration, our results provide greater spatial detail for a federally structured Indian electricity system.

The Impact of Market Integration on Renewable Energy Technology Innovation: Evidence from China

China is vigorously building a unified domestic market, with priority given to regional market integration while maintaining a national unified market. Limited research has been conducted on whether market integration affects renewable energy technology innovation (RETI). This paper empirically studies this topic based on panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2004 to 2020 using FMOLS (Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares), DOLS (Dynamic Least Squares method), and FGLS (Feasible Generalized Least Squares). Research results have been verified by robustness tests. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Market integration has an important positive impact on RETI, namely, boosting it. This conclusion remains robust when different indicators of innovation and market segmentation are included. (2) The regional impacts of market integration on RETI are heterogeneous, being the greatest in east China, followed by west China and central China. (3) Market integration affects RETI through energy structure and technological innovation. It can optimize energy structure, improve technological innovation, and thus enhance RETI. Based on the above conclusions, in order to improve RETI in China and expand its contribution to carbon neutrality and carbon peaking, China needs to strengthen the construction of a national unified market and implement differentiated market integration policies in east, central, and west China. Furthermore, it is necessary to give full play to the role of energy structure and technological innovation in market integration by optimizing energy structure and improving technological innovation.

ASEAN Energy Market Integration and Indonesia's Policy to Address Energy Poverty: Convergence or Divergence?

Access to modern energy among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries has not been evenly distributed and some member countries are still in a status of energy poverty. Therefore, ASEAN has initiated the integration of energy markets. Indonesia is one of the ASEAN countries that still needs to overcome the problem of inequality in access to energy, especially in remote, isolated, underdeveloped, rural and border areas. ASEAN Energy Market Integration (AEMI) is based on the logic that integration of energy markets would allow national governments to address energy policy challenges more effectively and efficiently than they are able to do on their own; it therefore emphasizes interconnectivity through trade and energy investment. This study analyzed the linkage between the points of agreement in AEMI and the implementation of Indonesian policies in the context of harmonization of regulations, development of energy infrastructure, and subsidy policies. Using qualitative research methods, this study sought to rationalize whether the linkage between AEMI and Indonesian policies was convergent or divergent. This study concluded that there was a convergence between the AEMI agreement and the implementation of policies in Indonesia to address energy poverty.
 Keywords: AEMI, energy poverty, Indonesia, policy, electrification, new and renewable energy

Haredi labor market integration policy in a neoliberal environment

ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, welfare states across the developed Western world, including Israel, have adopted differential employment policies for disadvantaged marginal populations that perform poorly in the labor market and are underrepresented in it. The intensive and rapid shift from Keynesian welfare policy to a more economical and efficient neoliberal approach sparked great turbulence in Israel's labor market, leaving broad swaths of the country's marginal populations outside of the capitalistic post-scarcity economy. In this article, we examine third-sector initiatives and governmental employment policies aimed at integrating and advancing Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) in the Israeli labor market. We also explore the tension between welfare, with its associated benefits and governmental assistance mechanisms, and the neoliberal approach, with its reliance on economic efficiency tests. The article looks at how the Haredi sector's labor market integration process has evolved. We aim to understand parallel developments between the processes outlined by the state and the Haredi community's socioeconomic needs under a neoliberal regime that prizes competition, achievement, and materialism – a regime in which social institutions are being reshaped, adjusted, and disciplined in accordance with market-oriented principles. We will examine the forces working behind the scenes to integrate Haredim in the economy and in society as a whole – the top-down policy forces striving to increase Israeli economic output, and the bottom-up internal-civic forces that want to create normative and economically feasible alternatives to the Haredi “society of learners” that developed under welfare-state auspices. The article seeks to answer three main questions in light of the aforementioned processes: How did the shift from a Keynesian welfare state to state workfare contribute to Haredi integration in the Israeli employment market? Who were the key political-social-economic actors and forces that shaped the process of Haredi labor market integration? And finally: how has neoliberal employment policy affected the Haredi community on the gender, spatial (center-periphery), class, and community planes, i.e., has this policy approach helped strengthen the Haredi middle class, and if so, how?

Labour, mechanization, market integration, and government policy: Agrarian change and lowland rice cultivation in northeastern Thailand and southern Laos

AbstractOver the last two decades, significant changes in lowland rice cultivation practices have occurred in mainland Southeast Asia. Here, we compare lowland rice farming in six provinces in northeastern Thailand and four districts in Savannakhet Province in southern Laos and consider the ways that agrarian change, including the deepening of capitalist relations, is occurring. Some of the most important changes taking place relate to increasing mechanization, remittances, changing bases of labour's simple reproduction, and the increased importance of international markets, especially for organic rice. These changes and associated government policies are having a considerable influence on agricultural practices. The Chinese market for organic rice from Laos is reducing pesticide and herbicides use and prolonging hand‐transplanting of paddy, while encouraging farmers to use uniform sized high‐yielding rice varieties, and abandoning local seeds. Rice exports from Laos are having both positive and negative environmental effects, indicating the nuanced influences of particular international markets and government policies.

Prospects for Applying the Experience of Financial Cooperation within the ASEAN + Russia Framework

Aim. The presented study aims to summarize the experience of ASEAN countries in the harmonization of national legislations regulating the financial markets of the Association’s individual member states and to systematize approaches used by this regional bloc when building cooperation in the financial sector within the ASEAN + framework.Tasks. The authors analyze an association’s experience of coordinating a financial market regulation policy among a group of countries; examine the experience of ASEAN’s financial cooperation with other countries within the ASEAN + framework, primarily with the region’s leading countries — China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea; assess the current level of financial and trade interaction between Russia and ASEAN member states (ASEAN + Russia framework).Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition to examine various aspects of the financial market integration policy of ASEAN member states, trends in the current state and development of the pursued policy, and major directions for its modernization.Results. ASEAN countries have devoted considerable time to building relations in the field of financial market integration. However, this process has not reached the level of development that would indicate a significant breakthrough in the convergence of financial regulation or progress in the harmonization of national legislations of ASEAN member states. At the current stage of development, the pace of financial integration is slowing down. ASEAN countries have developed a structure of international financial relations, where developed countries and multinational companies play a significant role. In these circumstances, key ASEAN partners have to compete in order to change the established relations. The current results of cooperation within the ASEAN + framework do not provide a clear indication of its effectiveness.Conclusions. Since Russia’s financial cooperation with ASEAN countries is currently at the stage of formation, obtaining results from its development requires more active efforts to create an institutional environment for cooperation and finding promising projects and junction points for its development.

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Labor Market Integration Policies in EU Member States Using PROMETHEE

From an economic point of view, the rational response towards migration is the labor market integration of immigrants. Within the above framework, several actions have been developed by the European Union member states over the last few years, in an effort to integrate migrants to local communities. This paper evaluates the performance of the European Member States as regards to their labor market integration policies using the Zaragoza indicators for employment. Combining those indicators, the data will be processed with the well-known multi-criteria analysis method PROMETHEE. The model will be constituted by the selected years from 2008 to 2017 as 10 successive scenarios, the 28 EU countries as alternatives, and eight criteria. The paper will end up with ten final rankings of the countries, which will be analyzed in detail.

Parties, governments and the integration of immigrants

ABSTRACT Integration of immigrants into the labor market is a sizeable policy concern for developed democracies. This article argues that government type influences immigrants’ labor market outcomes. Since immigrant integration constitutes a multidimensional policy space, differences in party preferences and the dynamics of intragovernmental and legislative bargaining make it hard for coalition and minority governments to implement effective labor market integration policies. Consequently, single-party majority governments are better able to foster the labor market integration of immigrants. Fixed-effects estimations in a panel of OECD countries provide evidence in favor of this argument. A single-party majority government reduces the employment gap between the foreign and the native-born population with several percentage points.

Refining the smallholder market integration framework: A qualitative study of Ethiopian pastoralists

The continued interest in market access and market integration policies targeting small-scale agricultural producers has led researchers to further explore the theoretical underpinnings of these concepts. This study presents an in-depth qualitative investigation into the behavioral consequences of market integration for Ethiopian pastoralists. The findings show that pastoralists further strengthen their strategic connection to the market by the processes of market sensing and market responding, which enable them to offer livestock with the quality attributes demanded by buyers. Pastoralists engaging in these activities typically generate more revenue from the market, thereby improving their livelihoods. They are also more capable of adapting to changes in natural conditions and are more likely to change their lifestyles. These findings imply that policymakers should not only foster the market participation of small-scale agricultural producers, but also ensure that producers align their products with the wants and needs of customers by sensing and responding to their market.

South East Europe electricity roadmap – modelling energy transition in the electricity sectors

ABSTRACTOne of the most important challenges for the South East Europe region will be replacing more than 30% of its presently installed fossil fuel generation capacity by the end of 2030, and more than 95% by 2050 if its age structure is considered. This requires a strong policy framework to incentivise new investments in a region currently lacking investors, but also presents an opportunity to shape the electricity sector over the long term according to the broader energy transition strategy of the EU and the Energy Community. The aim of this paper is to assess what type of long-term pathways exist for electricity sector development in the region if they follow the energy transition process of the EU. In this model-based scenario assessment, long term electricity sector futures are explored using a set of interlinked electricity models evaluating the level of renewable energy investment required in the region to reach a deep decarbonization target, assuming emission reduction above 94% by 2050 compared to 1990 in line with the long term market integration and climate policy goals of the EU. It also explores what are the most important system wide impacts of the high deployment of renewable energy concerning generation adequacy and security of supply.Key policy insightsEnergy policies in the South East Europe (SEE) region, both at the national and regional level, should focus on enabling renewable energy integration, as this will be a key component of the future energy mix.EU and Energy Community policies should be incorporated into national energy planning to ensure that SEE countries embark on the energy transition process at an early stage.Stranded costs should be carefully considered in decision-making on new fossil-fuel generation and gas network investment in order to avoid lock-in to carbon intensive technologies.If consistent decarbonization policy prevails, with a significant and persistent CO2 price signal, the role of natural gas remains transitory in the region.The SEE region offers relatively cheap decarbonization options: the power sector can reduce GHG emissions above 94% by 2050 in the modelled scenarios.

The male immigrant–native employment gap in Sweden: migrant admission categories and human capital

Despite having a celebrated labor market integration policy, the immigrant–native employment gap in Sweden is one of the largest in the OECD. From a cross-country perspective, a key explanation might be migrant admission group composition. In this study we use high-quality detailed Swedish register data to estimate male employment gaps between non-EU/EES labour, family reunification and humanitarian migrants and natives. Moreover, we test if differences in human capital are able to explain rising employment integration heterogeneity. Our results indicate that employment integration is highly correlated with admission category. Interestingly, differences in human capital, demographic and contextual factors seem to explain only a small share of this correlation. Evidence from auxiliary regressions suggests that low transferability of human capital among humanitarian and family migrants might be part of the story. The article highlights the need to understand and account for migrant admission categories when studying employment integration.

Financial liberalization and cross-border market integration: Evidence from China's stock market

Using the weak-form measure, this paper derives a normalized index to study the impact of China's financial liberalization policies on its stock market integration with the rest of the world during 2000–2015. It reveals that the Chinese stock markets in general have become more integrated with the world markets irrespective of significant fluctuations. In particular, it is found that QFII, QDII and RQFII have consistent and positive effects on market integration but other policy reforms act negatively. Some de jure policy reforms, such as the RMB exchange rate liberalization, are found to have varying effects depending on other market conditions.

The Value of Face-to-Face: Search and Contracting Problems in Nigerian Trade

Distance between buyers and sellers can create search and contracting problems: how to find out what goods are available in far away places, and ensure they are actually delivered? Traveling to do business in person is one way of dealing with both, transforming a remote transaction into one that is face-to-face. I estimate the magnitude of search and contracting frictions in a developing country context by exploiting the fact that travel is a common, costly, and easily observable strategy for coping with them. I collect transaction-level panel data from Nigerian importers of consumer goods that combines the “what” of trade (e.g. products, quantities) with variables describing “how” trade is conducted (e.g. travel, payment terms). To account for patterns inconsistent with a full information environment, I build and estimate a model that embeds a search problem and a repeated game with moral hazard into a monopolistically competitive trade framework. Welfare from imported consumer goods would be 29% higher in the absence of both frictions. I decompose the total barrier into parts attributable to search and to contracting, and show why the effects will be larger in markets with low consumer spending, high firm entry/exit rates, and frequently changing products. The results suggest that greater attention to market integration policies beyond transportation and tariffs could have large welfare effects, particularly in developing countries. In counterfactual scenarios, I show that regulation of air travel between Nigeria and China would yield gains in Nigeria on the order of $650 million per year through consumer goods trade alone, while existing financial services do little to mitigate frictions because they do not offer a better contract enforcement technology than travel or repeated interaction.

Interregional Trade, Specialization, and the Business Cycle: Policy Implications for the EMU

In this paper we analyse the effects of trade and specialisation on regional business cycle co-movement in the Economic and Monetary Union. Using a novel and unique bilateral regional trade dataset, we find that regions with stronger trade linkages and similar economic structures have more synchronized cycles. These results suggest that policies fostering regional specialization at the European level may reduce business cycle synchronization across regions and countries. This, in turn, might generate macroeconomic tensions in the common currency area. On the other hand, market integration policies can foster regional cycle synchronization and favour the functioning of the monetary union.