The paper gives an overview of the most important principles and the most recent research in the field of the economics of happiness. Its aim is to improve the basis for public discussion and ...informed decision-making in policy creation and implementation. The concept of happiness attracted economists early on and their attitude towards it has changed with time. Modern happiness data represent a new, scientifically validated way of measuring progress, although there is still room for improvement. The research shows that key determinants of happiness include physical and mental health, social relations, income and institutions. Happiness in itself leads to a wide range of benefits for individuals and society. This kind of research can help policy creators decide on the role, nature, target recipients and priorities for relevant policies. All this demonstrates that happiness economics has a potential for addressing current needs and future tasks to build a happier society.
Članak daje pregled temeljnih postavki te nalaza znanstvenih istraživanja vezano uz temu utjecaja financijskih aranžmana Međunarodnog monetarnog fonda (Fond) na priljeve inozemnog kapitala, a u svrhu ...unapređenja podloge za kvalitetnu raspravu te donošenje informiranih i znanstveno utemeljenih odluka o ovoj temi. Države obično sklapaju financijske aranžmane s Fondom kada više nisu u mogućnosti trajno financirati deficite na tekućem računu platne bilance priljevima inozemnog kapitala. U takvim okolnostima jedan od ključnih zadataka je potaknuti nove priljeve odnosno smanjiti odljeve inozemnog kapitala. I sam Fond zastupa viđenje o katalitičkom učinku svojih aranžmana na priljev inozemnog kapitala. Međutim, sistematičan pregled nalaza empirijskih istraživanja na ovu temu ukazuje na vrlo diferencirane rezultate promatranih studija. Općeniti zaključci iziskuju oprez, no čini se da empirijska istraživanja na većem uzorku ne daju jednoznačnu potvrdu teze o postojanju snažnog i konzistentnog pozitivnog učinka Fonda na priljev inozemnog kapitala. Ukoliko se ovakvi rezultati ne uzmu u obzir prilikom oblikovanja i provedbe ekonomske politike to može dovesti do ekonomskih, financijskih i političkih teškoća kako u državama korisnicama tako i u samom MMF-u. Doprinos rada ogleda se u sažetom prikazu i povezivanju ključnih postavki predmetne problematike, kritičkoj sistematizaciji dosadašnje literature, definiranju prisutnih trendova i njihovih mogućih implikacija te identifikaciji potencijalnih novih načina za dublje izučavanje i bolje razumijevanje ove kompleksne teme. Osim znanstvenoj literaturi, kritički prikaz znanstveno utemeljenih spoznaja i nalaza u ovom kontekstu, predstavlja značajan doprinos i za donositelje odluka, ulagače te širu javnost.
The paper gives overview of basic tenets and academic findings regarding the effect of IMF financial arrangements on international capital flows, with a view to creating good-quality foundations for debate and making informed and scientifically-based policy decisions. Countries usually enter IMF arrangements when they have not been able to finance current account deficits by means of foreign capital inflows. In such circumstances, one of the key tasks is to instigate new foreign capital inflows and alleviate respective outflows. IMF itself has traditionally claimed that its programmes have catalytic effect in this respect. However, systematic review of the existing empirical studies points towards very nuanced results. This highlights the danger of generalisations as it appears that empirical analyses on larger samples do not corroborate the thesis about strong and consistent IMF catalytic effect on international capital. If such findings are not duly taken into account, it can exacerbate economic, financial and political issues in user-countries and IMF itself. The paper’s contribution lies primarily in giving succinct picture of the subject, making critical overview of the existing studies, defining underlying trends with their possible implications and identifying potential new venues for deeper analysis and understanding of this complex phenomenon. Its overview of scientifically based notions and findings contributes not only to academic literature, but will be also valuable for policy decision-makers, investors and general public.
Well-being is an essential human need and has social, psychological and economic benefits. Consequently, social scientists and economists, in particular, want to know whether economic reform can lead ...to increased (and sustainable) happiness. To answer this question, we applied a new approach—investigating the effect of economic reform programmes on national well-being for 154 countries between 2005 and 2018. As the dependent variable, we employed national subjective well-being scores based on people’s evaluation of their satisfaction with life. International Monetary Fund economic reform programmes provided a sufficiently long time–series and global presence for the main independent variable. We used a treatment effect model and fixed-effects instrumental variable panel with the novel approach of synthetic instruments, to address selection bias generated by the non-random selection of countries into International Monetary Fund programme participation, also controlling for unobservable characteristics influencing both International Monetary Fund participation and national well-being. Irrespective of the approach used, empirical findings show that economic reform programmes lead to increased national well-being globally, both in the short-term and the long-term. The results do not imply that International Monetary Fund arrangements should be used as policy tools to increase national well-being. They empirically confirm our argument that improvements in national economies sustaining increased well-being require intentional effort and engagement.
Članak daje pregled ključnih postavki i najnovijih istraživanja na području ekonomike sreće, u svrhu poboljšanja temelja za javne rasprave i informirano donošenje odluka prilikom stvaranja i provedbe ...relevantnih politika. Koncept sreće rano je privukao pozornost ekonomista, a njihov odnos prema njemu se mijenjao kroz vrijeme. Suvremeni podatci o sreći impliciraju novi, znanstveno valjan način mjerenja društvenog napretka, s prostorom za daljnja poboljšanja. Ukazuju da su fizičko i mentalno zdravlje, međuljudski odnosi, dohodak i institucije važne odrednice sreće. Sreća, pak, uzrokuje niz pozitivnih učinaka na osobnoj i društvenoj razini. Nadalje, istraživanja ovoga područja mogu pomoći kreatorima politika u odlučivanju o ulozi, prirodi, ciljnim skupinama i prioritetima relevantnih politika. Sve navedeno pokazuje potencijal ekonomike sreće za doprinos u rješavanju trenutnih i budućih društvenih potreba s ciljem izgradnje sretnijeg društva.
Provider: - Institution: - Data provided by Europeana Collections- Temeljem odgovarajućeg konceptualnog okvira i upotrebom primjerenog empirijskog modela, ovaj doktorski rad istražuje utjecaj ...financijskih aranžmana s Međunarodnim monetarnim fondom (Fond ili MMF) na priljev inozemnih izravnih investicija u Srednjoj i Jugoistočnoj Europi, identificira 2 čimbenika koji mogu doprinijeti katalitičkom učinku Fonda vezano uz priljev inozemnih izravnih investicija, formulira rezultate istraživanja te njihove implikacije, kao i preporuke za nositelje ekonomske politike.
Slijedom navedenog, doktorski rad u suštini odgovara na sljedeća pitanja - Potiču li financijski aranžmani MMFa priljev inozemnih izravnih investicija te ukoliko je to slučaj koji su neki od čimbenika koji mogu pozitivno djelovati na takav katalitički učinak? Kontrolirajući za endogenu pristranost upotrebom modela tretmanskog efekta, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da financijski aranžmani s MMFom u cjelini dovode do katalitičkog učinka u smislu povećanog priljeva inozemnih izravnih investicija u zemljama Srednje i Jugoistočne Europe u razdoblju 1990-2013. Nadalje, razlikujući prema pojedinačnim tipovima financijskih aranžmana, rezultati istraživanja također pokazuju da samo u onim okolnostima (tj. kod SBA tipa aranžmana) gdje se zemlje korisnice mogu kredibilnije obvezati na tražene gospodarske promjene te gdje MMF može snažnije utjecati da to naprave, katalitički učinak je pozitivan. Tamo gdje to nije slučaj (ECF te EFF tip aranžmana), katalitički učinak je negativan. Ovakvi rezultati ukazuju da 2 čimbenika - kredibilno obvezivanje zemalja korisnica zajma na gospodarske promjene te utjecaj MMFa u tom smislu - mogu pozitivno djelovati na katalitički učinak. Uloga spomenutih dvaju čimbenika dodatno se ilustrira i kroz odgovarajuće studije slučaja.
Općenito uzevši, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da postoje slučajevi u kojima je MMF moguće koristiti kao instrument jačanja pozitivne percepcije inozemnih izravnih investitora. No, ukazuju i da sudjelovanje u financijskim aranžmanima s Fondom ne može automatski poboljšati percepciju inozemnih investitora. K tome, u cjelini, ovo istraživanje neizravno naznačuje da ono što je inozemnim investitorima ključno jest perspektiva gospodarskih promjena u zemlji odnosno percepcija predanosti zemlje u tom smislu. Za nositelje ekonomske politike u regiji Srednje i Jugoistočne Europe uputno je, pak, kritičko promišljanje mogućih koristi ali i troškova vezanih uz financijske aranžmane Fonda kao i njihove učinke.- Based on the appropriate conceptual and empirical approach, this doctoral thesis explores the effect of International Monetary Fund (Fund or IMF) financial arrangements on the inflows of foreign direct investment in Central and South-Eastern Europe, identifies two factors that contribute to the catalytic effect of the Fund in this respect, formulates research results as well as their implications and recommendations for the creators of economic policy.
In this respect, the doctoral reserach answers 2 questions – do IMF financial arrangements stimulate foreign direct investment inflows, and if this is the case, what are some of the factors that can positively influence the existence of the catalytic effect? Controlling for the endogeneity bias by means of treatment effect model, the research shows that IMF financial arrangements on the whole lead to catalytic effect in the region of Central and South-Eastern Europe in the period between 1990 and 2013. Furthermore, differentiating between three basic types of Fund arrangements, the research shows that only under those circumstances (i.e. under SBA arrangements) where user-countries can more credibly commit to required reforms and where IMF has stronger influece to induce such a behaviour on their part, the catalytic effect is positive. Where this is not the case (i.e. ECF and EFF arrangements), the catalytic effect is negative. Such results indicate that 2 factors – credible commitment of user-country towards economic reforms and the influence of IMF in this respect - can positively contribute towards catalytic effect. The role of these two facts is also ilustrated through four case-studies for individual countries of the region.
On the whole, according to the research results, there are cases where it is possible to use IMF as an instrument for increasing positive perception of foreign direct investors. However, results also indicate that participation in IMF financial arrangements by itself cannot automatically improve the perception of foreign direct investors. Overall, the results of the research imply that what is crucial for foreign direct investors is the perspective of economic reforms in the country, i.e. the perception of the country's commitment in this respect. Regarding creators of the economic policy in the observed region, they are advised to critically think about potential benefits and costs regarding IMF financial arrangements and their respective effects.- All metadata published by Europeana are available free of restriction under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. However, Europeana requests that you actively acknowledge and give attribution to all metadata sources including Europeana
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