1. Business Demography of Sole Proprietorships in Japan

    Mikio Suga

    Abstract: At first sight, the idea of basing business demography statistics on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) seems strange because the LFS is a survey of households and is not a longitudinal survey. However, its use is possible because self-employed workers are also sole proprietors and entry and cessation can be identified using items from the special questionnaire of the LFS. In this study, business demography indicators such as entry and cessation rates were calculated using custom-made tables supplied by the LFS and were compared with accounting data on sales or profits from the Unincorporated Enterprise Survey.

    Keywords: Labour Force Survey, sole proprietorships, self-employed worker, entry rate, cessation rate, Unincorporated Enterprise Survey.

    Pages: 107 – 121 | Full PDF Paper

  2. Estimating Optimum Location & Performance of a Branch Network After Mergers & Acquisitions of Financial Institutions

    Maria Mavri

    Abstract: During financial crisis, many banks are reformed in order to become more efficient in the new economic environment. Mergers and acquisitions commonly take place in all financial markets. In this study based on a previous work, in which we proposed the PERFORMANCE algorithm for reconfiguring bank branch network according to the dictates of the market (the optimum number of branches for bank networks, the optimum performance), we add a LOCATION procedure to the algorithm to define, branches’ optimum locations. The algorithm reveals a solution by taking into account both operational and relocation costs of branches. The goal of the study is to propose a “decision” tool to policy makers, provide them with a pre- and post- evaluation report of the potential upcoming consolidation of institutions, and aid policy makers in making difficult financial decisions.

    Keywords: banks; mergers/acquisitions; branch Location; performance measures.

    Pages: 122 – 140 | Full PDF Paper

  3. Trade in Services in Statistical Frameworks — Apt for Decision-Making?

    Andreas Maurer

    Abstract:

    The release in January 2013 of a new OECD/WTO database on trade in value added terms suggested that the real share of services in world trade is twice as high as measured by conventional statistics. Against this background, it is asked whether trade in services statistics are relevant for decision-making such as the formulation of national negotiation strategies or the analysis of global value chains.
    This paper examines the type of services information available from international trade statistics, the Balance of Payments, and the System of National Accounts, including the international supply of services through foreign affiliates or individuals who temporarily move abroad. Measurement issues are discussed from a conceptual angle to identify possible improvements of concepts and definitions as well as for data production in order to sketch a roadmap for the future development of international trade information systems.

    Keywords:  services trade statistics, challenges, roadmap.

    Pages: 141 – 148 | Full PDF Paper

  4. Operationalising Financial Inclusion Index as a Policy Lever: Uttar Pradesh (in India)-A Case Study

    Rabi N. Mishra, Puneet Verma, Sanket Bose

    Abstract: The inter relationship between financial development and economic growth is well accepted. In the recent years, the debate has expanded to include the notion of financial “exclusion” as a barrier to economic development and the need to build an inclusive financial system (Beck et al. 2008). Recent empirical evidence using household data indicates that access to basic financial services such as savings, payments, insurance and credit can make a substantial positive difference in improving poor people’s lives (Caskey et al. 2006, Dupas and Robinson 2009). India with its diversities in extent of development across provinces and within them across regions badly needs a ‘multi-variate index’ to reflect extent of financial penetration so that policy measures can be effectively organized in sync with requirements. This paper aims at using a Financial Inclusion Index (FII) to rank considered 71 districts of Uttar Pradesh (in India) in terms of level of financial penetration. Based on the secondary data on some of the available factors, suitable FII has been enumerated for the districts. The main objective of the study is to provide a statistically justified method for assignment of appropriate weights to the factors according to their importance and devise a method to obtain individual factor indices. Instead of one, four methods are discussed and compared extensively. The proposed index lies between 0 to ∞, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion. This ranking will help policy makers choose appropriate levers to mitigate the complex problem of financial penetration-deficit.

    Keywords: Financial Inclusion, Financial Development, GDP, Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

    Pages: 149 – 165 | Full PDF Paper