Meryem Duygun

World Productivity Growth: A Model Averaging Approach

The paper provides a discussion of panel data and productivity analysis in applied economic modeling. We discuss a variety of modeling scenarios and justifications for them based on classical economic theory and on more recent advances in production modeling, which formulate methods to decompose productivity growth based on a Solow-type residual (Solow, 1957) into innovation and catch-up. Methods to combine the various estimates based on different empirical specifications that model and estimate productivity growth are then discussed and these provide the econometric approaches we use to estimate world productivity growth. We also provide a counterfactual analysis of a scenario in which the rise in income inequality since the 1970s in the US is tempered by distributing productivity growth to wage compensation growth as had been the case during the post-WWII years to the early 1970s.

Green Sukuk: An Innovation in Islamic Capital Markets

Green sukuk are Shariah compliant investment vehicles that fund environmentally friendly projects such as solar parks, bio-gas plants and wind farms. The main objective behind the development of green sukuk is to address Shariah concerns for protecting the environment. For Shariah-compliant investors notably in South East Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council region, green sukuk represent an ideal investment that benefits the environment and promotes Corporate Social Responsibility. This chapter looks into the potential for Green sukuk in major Islamic finance markets. It maps the differences between more conventional types of socially responsible investments (SRI) and those funds that are guided by the morals promoted through Islam. The chapter also presents a case study of the French Orasis Sukuk, the first green sukuk in existence.

The Cost Efficiency of Water Utilities: When Does Public Ownership Matter?

ABSTRACT This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some empirical evidence for Italy, by proposing a methodology that combines non-parametric efficiency estimation and cluster analysis. Our main findings indicate that privately owned utilities indirectly controlled by a public organisation reach the highest level of efficiency but, when size and geographical location enter the analysis, ownership has a stronger significant effect on efficiency, and mixed utilities gain higher cost efficiency. Therefore, we may conclude that administrative reforms about privatisation and the institutional setting should consider a set of variables that characterise each individual organisation.