Purchasing power

About: Purchasing power is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2714 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36866 citations. The topic is also known as: adjusted for inflation.

Economic growth and education: a new international policy

Abstract: First of all this paper presents a world wide view of economic growth and education in 1994, with data of population, gross domestic product per head, and public expenditure on education per head for 199 countries grouped in 40 geographical areas. In the second place the paper present an international production function that includes both physical capital and human capital, measured by the stock of population with secondary education of second level complete, as factors of production. The model was fitted with data of 37 countries, of different levels of development, and shows a good fit and the significativeness of the coefficient of both variables. Education has a positive influence in economic development As many countries are very far below the world average of production and education expenditure by inhabitant, measured in purchasing power parities around 5620 dollars for production and 257 for education expenditure by inhabitant, the only way to improve their situation is to foster international co-operation, as many of those countries are unable to cope with their challenges because they are so poor. Education has a positive influence on economic growth also reducing excesses in fertility average rates, creating a social environment that improve productive investment, making workers more productive and voters more prepared to choose a good government and promote reasonable socio-economic policies. The international co-operation should improve also, where needed, better quality in education contents of human values, promoting respect to peace, human rights and equality for women, as well as the learning of one or more widely spoken world languages to avoid isolation and promoting the access to a greater wealth of information.

GNI per capita, PPP (current international $)

Abstract: GNI per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP GNI is gross national income (GNI) converted to international dollars using purchasing power ...

Trends in Agricultural Incomes: An Analysis at the Select Crop and State Levels in India

Abstract: India's agricultural sector is at a crossroads, facing challenges of stagnation in crop yields, non-remunerative prices, falling crop incomes and tardy responses from public service systems. There are reports of peasant suicides due to non-profitability of farming. However, scant empirical evidence is available on changes in real income and wages in the Indian agricultural sector. The present study uses data from the National Accounts Statistics and Cost of Cultivation Surveys to analyse the changes in real income and discusses the underlying reasons. The study reveals that the purchasing power of farmers has remained low and has worsened over recent years. The value of crop output has increased, but a disproportionate rise in input costs has resulted in a fall in crop incomes in several states, with the agriculturally developed Punjab being an exception. Interestingly, real wage rates for agricultural labour have shown an increasing trend, indicating improvement in the welfare of labour.

The power of public procurement: social equity and sustainability as externalities and as deliberate policy tools

Abstract: Cities in the USA are facing the impacts of climate change and socio-economic disparities on a daily basis. In response, local governments are leading other public and even private organisations on sustainability efforts in general and in sustainable procurement in particular. The research on what drives a local government's involvement in sustainable procurement is scarce. This study analyses survey responses from 207 US regional and local governments to create a model analysing organisational, regional socio-economic, and regional demographic variables and demonstrates that political leanings, degree of professionalisation, and access to decision makers are the most significant predictors of variance in adoption of sustainable procurement practices. We conclude that ethical spending of public dollars to achieve sustainable outcomes (i.e., sustainable procurement) is more likely to be influenced by the political leanings of the population than by the capacity of the local government to institute and enforce sustainable practices.

Income redistribution in money and in kind

Abstract: It is a tenet of the liberal theory of economic policy that interference by the government with the distribution of real income should normally be confined to transfers of general purchasing power, leaving the allocation of specific goods to the competitive market.2 Among the main arguments in favour of this doctrine is one which invokes the results of welfare economics; it is summarised very clearly in the following extract from a recent paper by Professor K. J. Arrow:3 The interest in the competitive model stems partly from its presumed descriptive power and partly from its implications for economic efficiency. In particular, we can state the following well-known proposition (First Optimality Theorem). If a competitive equilibrium exists at all, and if all commodities relevant to costs or utilities are in fact priced in the market, then the equilibrium is necessarily optimal.... With this in mind, the following statement can be made (Second Optimality Theorem): If there are no increasing returns in production, and if certain other minor conditions are satisfied, then every optimal state is a competitive equilibrium corresponding to some initial distribution of purchasing power. Operationally, the significance of this proposition is that if the conditions of the two optimality theorems are satisfied, and if the allocation mechanism in the real world satisfies the conditions for a competitive model, then socialpolicy can confine itself to steps taken to alter the distribution of purchasing power. For any given distribution of purchasing power, the market will, under the assumptions made, achieve a competitive equilibrium which is necessarily optimal; and any optimal state is a competitive equilibrium corresponding to some distribution of purchasing power, so that any desired optimal state can be achieved. The redistribution of purchasing power among individuals most simply takes the form of money: taxes and subsidies. The implications of such a transfer for individual satisfactions are, in general, not known in advance. But we can assume that society can ex post judge the distribution of satisfactions and, if deemed unsatisfactory, take steps to correct it by subsequent transfers. Thus, by successive approximations, a most preferred social state can be achieved, with resource allocation being handled by the market andpublic policy confined to the redistribution of money income. If, on the contrary, the actual market differs significantly from the competitive model, or if the assumptions of the two optimality theorems are not fulfilled, the separation of allocative and distributional procedures becomes, in most cases, impossible. It is the purpose of this article to point out two new objections to