This paper investigates the impact of trade openness on economic growth through a panel analysis containing a set of 61 countries over 15 years. The method we use is the fixed effect regression model in Stata, to see whether openness to trade has explanatory power over GDP per capita growth. We use secondary data taken from World bank and Worldwide Governance Indicators. The data used is a panel data containing 61 countries and the period we are studying starts at 2002 and ends in 2016, a 15 years' time interval. Our empirical results suggest that openness during these years have had a small negative impact on growth, but although this, the variable does not seem to have a statistical significance upon per capita growth within this period of time. Therefore, with reference to this study we cannot see any significance of openness upon growth.

Several countries have imposed either a ban or a tax on single-use plastic packaging, motivated by their contribution to marine plastic pollution. This may lead consumers to opt for similar unregulated substitutes, potentially undermining or even counteracting the intended effect of the policy instrument. The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically compare the environmental and welfare effects of the first-best Pigouvian taxes on both plastic bags and a substitute (paper bags), with two alternative second-best policy instruments: a tax on plastic products alone, and a common uniform tax on all packaging materials. The empirical analysis accounts for two different types of environmental externalities from the use of both bag types: marine pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It also compares results for two countries, Denmark and the USA, which differ in the demand for plastic and paper bags. The theoretical analysis shows that a unilateral tax on plastic bags should equal the marginal environmental damage of plastic bags minus a fraction of the marginal environmental cost of paper bags, hence being lower than the Pigouvian tax. The optimal common tax should equal a weighted average of the marginal environmental damage of the two bag types and would be lower than the Pigouvian tax on plastics if the marginal external cost of plastic bags exceeds that for paper bags. The empirical analysis shows that for default parameters, the variation in tax level across the studied scenarios is small. It also shows that if Pigouvian taxes cannot be implemented, a common uniform tax on both bag types would result in a higher welfare gain than a tax on plastic bags alone. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the level of the second-best taxes and their associated environmental and welfare impacts are sensitive to assumptions regarding the littering rate and decay rate of plastic bags in the marine environment.

Growth induced export has become a major concern for policy makers to transform and upgrade the export composition to achieve economic growth objectives; in this respect, export diversification become at the heart of growth induced export narrative. Nevertheless, this study attempts to find relationship between export diversification and economic growth. To investigate this relationship, a cross-section method is used with averaged data from the period 1991 to 2009 of 41 sub Saharan Africa countries; moreover, diagnostic tests were conducted to ensure the robustness of the model. The empirical result of this study shows positive correlation between export diversification and economic growth which can be concluded that export diversification promotes economic growth.

The purpose of this study is to have an in-depth understanding of the importance of the institutional environment for financial development in 43 Sub-Saharan African countries during the years 2004-2018. Using new institutional economic theory (NIE) we study how the four institutional factors Control of Corruption, Rule of Law, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, and Voice and Accountability affect financial development. We also survey how the effect of institutional factors varies when there are either high, medium or low levels of corruption. Empirical results show a positive linear relationship between all institutional factors and financial development. However, when corruption levels are high the correlation between institutional factors and financial development varies and has a weak linear relationship. Inferential statistics results from a fixed effect regression model with robust standard errors shows; when we control for the financial environment, Political Stability and Absence of Violence is the only indicator for the institutional environment that has a positive significant effect on financial development. We thereby conclude that the institutional environment, mostly political institutions, are important for financial development.

Foreign Direct Investment’s (FDI) effect on economic growth has been studied for a long time. Many empirical studies and theories have seen FDI as an important source of capital inflow and a determining factor for economic growth. However, Hayat (2019) highlights that the quality of institutions is important for the inflow of FDI and economic growth in the host country. According to North (1990), institutions are the fundamental reason behind economic growth since they allow new ideas, firms and stakeholders to exist in the market. Hence, the aim of this research is, therefore, to analyze if FDI and the quality of institutions affect economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

By using panel data for 39 Sub-Saharan African countries during the time period of 2002-2019, the results reveal that FDI has a significantly positive impact on economic growth. The five institutional variables used in this study (Government Effectiveness, Voice and Accountability, Control of Corruption, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Regulatory Quality) show no significance when it comes to the relation between quality of institutions and economic growth. Therefore, this study can not draw any conclusion regarding these results.

Under det senaste årtiondet har Kina genomgått en snabb tillväxt i sin exporthandel. I denna avhandling undersöks de viktigaste faktorer som påverkar Kinas export med hjälp av gravitationsmodellen. Studien observerar Kinas export till med hjälp av paneldata 30 mellan 1998 och 2007. De empiriska resultaten visar att de beroende variablerna, BNP per capita och populationen har starka och betydande effekter på Kinas exporthandel, medan distansen mellan länderna har en negativ effekt på handeln. Dessutom visar de empiriska resultaten att handelssamarbete har lett till betydande positiva effekter på exporten. Två andra förklarande variabler, regional ekonomisk organisation APEC (Asien Pacific Economic Cooperation) och växelkursen påverkar inte Kinas export betydligt.

The purpose of this research study is to examine the relationship between international trade and economic growth and the effect that international trade has on economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries (Sub-Saharan Africa). The majority of previous studies and research in this area claim that there is a positive correlation between these two variables, yet there are still some who question how much these two variables actually have influenced each other and if that effect is really significant enough to be considered significant as well as important. The information and data used in this study are taken from the World Bank Group, Human Development Reports and Fraser Institute. The study's theoretical framework uses growth theories, which consisted of the Solow model and endogenous growth theory, and trade theories, which consisted of the Ricardian model, the Heckscher-Ohlin model, and institutional theory to better explain the concept of economic growth and how international trade can affect the process of achieving economic growth. Within this research, a panel dataset study was carried out with the support of a regression analysis in order to measure the correlation between international trade and economic growth. The dependent variable for this research study was economic growth in the form of annual GDP per capita growth, while the independent variables included international trade, education, capital, population growth, labor force, corruption and economic freedom. Additionally, the study includes thirty-six out of a total of forty-eight possible countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is limited to a ten-year period between 2009-2019. The final result of this study's research shows that there is a significant positive correlation between economic growth and international trade and concludes that international trade actually has a very important effect/impact and is essential to achieving economic growth.

In 1993 the internal market within the European Union was formed and ensured free movement of goods, services, capital and people. This led to the removal of trade barriers between members of the European Union. When opening up for competition, price differences between countries decreased and more jobs were created. A single currency was introduced by eleven countries in 1999 with the goal of reducing transaction costs, eliminating exchange rate risk and to further simplify trade. In 2001 Greece joined the collaboration and introduced the euro. With a single currency, price differences are expected to decrease. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a common currency has had a significant effect on reducing price dispersion or not. Two types of convergence are tested, beta and sigma convergence. 21 different product groups are included in this study and are sorted after the speed of convergence. All of the 27 EU member states are included and divided into two groups, one euro group and one non-euro group. We also examine if differences in productivity can explain price convergence. The results indicate that the introduction of a common currency did not decrease price dispersion within the majority of product groups. For the product groups in which price convergence are evident, only one product group within the euro countries and one product group within the non-euro countries have proven to be significantly positive in terms of differences in productivity.

The debt level of Swedish households has increased noticeably since the 1980’s and is today at a record high level. This has given rise to questions regarding the sustainability of the debt level, its macroeconomic implications and driving factors. Previous studies on the subject show deficiencies in the standard theory for analyzing household debt, the life-cycle hypothesis, due to lack of consideration in the theory of credit restrictions and humans’ inability to act completely rationally. An alternative framework for analysis received renewed attention in connection with the financial crisis in the U.S. in 2008 – Hyman Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis – incorporating speculation in credit and asset markets as explanations for indebtness. This thesis investigates whether Minky’s hypothesis can be applied on Swedish households and explain the change in debt levels since the 1980’s, through a linear regression model, using aggregate data for the period 1980 to 2012.

The results of the thesis indicate that the increased debt level to a large extent can be explained by Minsky’s hypothesis, where a de-regulated credit market and falling interest rates seem to have caused increased speculation in real assets, increased risk-taking by both debtors and creditors and thus an increased level of household debt.

Denna uppsats har för avsikt att undersöka det negativa sambandet mellan arbetslöshet och tillväxt i svenska län. Sambandet vi använder oss av är den inom nationalekonomin välkända Okun’s lag. Denna lag kommer vi att applicera på Sveriges 21 län mellan åren 1986 till 2003. Vi förväntar oss att sambandet kommer att variera mellan länen. Vi har även tagit med tidigare regional forskning från USA där man har estimerat Okun’s lag för 26 delstater. Uppsatsen tar även upp troliga faktorer som inverkar på sambandet, detta är gjort för att läsaren skall kunna bilda sig en uppfattning om de bakomliggande orsakerna till variationen i sambandets styrka mellan de svenska länen.

Global initiatives have caused renewed interest in the efficiency of aid and its impact on poverty. Whilst growth effects of foreign aid have extensively been analyzed, less attention has been paid to the distributional effect of aid. This paper aims to investigate the potential moderating effects of foreign aid on within-country income inequality using econometric analysis. Employing unbalanced panel data on 42 countries in the period 1990–2017, and conducting a multivariate regression analysis, this study finds no robust empirical support for the positive effects of foreign aid on income inequality.

Equality is part of the European policy and legislation. However there are still evident signs of women being treated unequally in the labour market. The aim of the thesis is to answer the question if women are more vulnerable to economic shocks in terms of wage distribution. The focus will be on women in Spain in the context of the financial crisis of 2008. The thesis examines the evolution of the salary structure in the period 2002-2014 using the microdata of the Structural Earning Survey. The taste-based and the statistical discrimination theory are going to be described in order to explain the causes of gender wage discrimination. The methods applied in this paper are the Mincer method, which explains the human capital theory and the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions, which separates the gender wage gap into explained and unexplained parts. The results from the study suggest that there is a decrease in the gender wage gap in Spain following the situation before and after the crisis.

Equality is part of the European policy and legislation. However there are still evident signs of women being treated unequally in the labour market. The aim of the thesis is to answer the question if women are more vulnerable to economic shocks in terms of wage distribution. The focus will be on women in Spain in the context of the financial crisis of 2008. The thesis examines the evolution of the salary structure in the period 2002-2014 using the microdata of the Structural Earning Survey. The taste-based and the statistical discrimination theory are going to be described in order to explain the causes of gender wage discrimination. The methods applied in this paper are the Mincer method, which explains the human capital theory and the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions, which separates the gender wage gap into explained and unexplained parts. The results from the study suggest that there is a decrease in the gender wage gap in Spain following the situation before and after the crisis.

Sweden is one of the countries that has had a very strong increase in the housing prices during the recent years according to SCB’s calculations. The development has not only been seen in Stockholm but it has also affected the smaller cities as well. The factors behind the massive price increases may be many, but the purpose of the essay has been to estimate the relationship between the factors: population density, income, new constructed condominiums in relation to the population, interest rate and unemployment have on condominiums rates. The main focus will lay on the following big cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö from the years of 2008-2016.

The housing prices will be analyzed from an economic perspective. Further, the study has been formed by the statistical material that has been accessible and then been tested using panel data that includes fixed effect. The study encompasses 45 municipalities with a time period of 9 years (2008-2016) which comprises to 405 observations, where the data is strongly balanced, meaning that the database is complete.

The result of the essay shows a positive correlation between population density and housing prices, an increase of one inhabitant per increases housing prices by 15.8 kr per square meter, if all the other variables are hold constant (model 7). The regression results indicate that population density is the factor that has the main impact on housing prices in comparison to all other factors. The results also shows a positive correlation between income and housing prices, as well as a negative correlation between the factors unemployment and the interest rate on housing prices in all models. On the other hand, new production shows an unexpected result.

Furthermore, the essay considered to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the selected factors and its impact on the housing prices in Sweden's three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö during the period 2008-2016.

This paper investigates the relationship between insider trading and positive abnormal return. More specifically, whether CEO share purchases generates a positive abnormal return. In order to investigate this relationship, this study is based on event study methods. An event study is a statistical method which calculates the impact of an event on another variable under a specific time period, and in this paper, the impact of CEO share purchases on the stock price during 11 days. Furthermore, the result from this study is insufficient and cannot be used to generalize the concrete conclusions. It has been shown that the probability of positive abnormal return varies depending on what period of time is analyzed. A positive abnormal return did not occur when analyzing the whole period (11 days). However, the results were somewhat significant when we analyzed and compared specific periods with each other. Thus, we find it hard to justify whether CEO share purchases within the own company generates a positive abnormal return.

The purpose of the thesis examines the relationship between migration and economic growth that has taken place in the EU Member States during the period 2009-2019. The study includes three different theories, Borja's model, Solow's model and Romers' model. It's based on these models in order to be able to answer the study's question and achieve the purpose of this study. A multiple regression analysis is used with the help of panel data for those EU member states. The data material which is used in this study is taken from Eurostat and The World Bank. The GDP per capita growth is used as the dependent variable and the independent variables are Migration, Employment, Expenses, Education and Trade. The results of the regression analysis show that migration has a significant positive relationship with the GDP per capita growth. This supports Borja's (1995) assumptions that there is a migration surplus for the receiving countries when migrants enter, moreover many other studies that are mentioned later that indicate the same. The discussion part deals with the connection between economic growth and migration in which the connections between previous studies and the results from this study is discussed.

The purpose of the thesis has been to investigate whether there is a link between trade liberalism and economic growth in the Asian countries. Previous research has pointed out that correlation exists between these variables, but there have also been other researchers who criticized such a relationship. We discovered that economic growth studies had previously been conducted where countries in Asia were included. This motivated us to carry out our study as our research hopefully helps to replenish existing knowledge gap. In the study, we have used cross-sectional regression analysis for 30 Asian countries where data were collected for 1990-2000. Our dependent variable in our regression is average GDP per capita, which also defines growth. We have used two independent variables as main variables, trade volume and economic freedom index. Our analysis shows that the majority of the variables in the study have a positive significant relation to economic growth.

Keywords: economic growth, trade liberalism, trade, GDP / capita, EFI, direct investment, import, export.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the level of human capital in a country will influence the effect FDI has on economic growth. The study covers 31 OECD-countries during the time period 1989-2020. The impact of FDI on economic growth is examined in a multiple regression model with panel data where the focus is on the interaction between FDI and education (a proxy for human capital). The theoretical framework is mainly focused on Romer’s endogenous growth theory and institutional theory. The result of the multiple regression model shows that FDI as a single variable has a positive effect on economic growth. The interaction between FDI and human capital was shown to have a negative effect on economic growth. However, the result of human capital as a single factor was proved to be positive in relation to economic growth. The results indicate that a high level of human capital in a country does not attract enough foreign direct investment to have a positive effect on economic growth.

This bachelor thesis examines the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Mexico and the countries that resembles the European Union(EU) prior to the expansion in 2004, hereafter(EU15). The purpose is to analyze the effects of the FTA between the trading parties and investigate whether the FTA has resulted in positive effects on export volumes. The model includes 16 countries and is estimated with panel data between the years 1997-2016. We apply a gravity model as econometric framework and perform two regressions, one with fixed effects and one with random effects. Our results suggest that export volumes from Mexico to the EU on an aggregated level have increased for Mexico and the EU has increased. However, in contrast to previous estimates, our results show that the FTA have generated negative effects on trade creation between the trading parties.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate the relationship between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions per capita in Sweden in the period of 1970-2018. As indicators, the economic indicator will be represented by the per capita gross domestic product, GDP, as the environmental indicator this study will use carbon dioxide emissions per capita, CO2, and the energy use per capita will represent the energy consumption variable. 

The research hypothesis is based on the idea of the classical EKC, the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Multivariate Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach which makes possible to evaluate non-stationary and cointegrating variables, while overcoming the omitted variable bias was used for the methodology part. Econometrics tests such as Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test and Johansen co-integration test are included, and the Granger causality test will provide four hypothesizes for the potential causalities between the included variable in this study. 

Previous studies have found that the differences in unemployment between different regions within a country can be large and persist over time. Also among Swedish municipalities the differences in unemployment levels are large. This paper examines if the differences in unemployment levels between Swedish municipalities has increased or decreased between 2008 and 2014 and whether it is possible to find other patterns in the evolution of unemployment rates in Swedish municipalities during the period.

Two regression analysis of the periods 2008-2010 and 2010-2014 are performed, by using data on unemployment rates and other variables in the municipalities. The results show that it is not possible to prove that the differences in unemployment between the municipalities have increased during the period. However, it can be concluded that the unemployment in 2008-2010 increased more in the municipalities with higher unemployment in 2008, and that the reduction of unemployment in 2010-2014 was bigger in the municipalities that had higher unemployment in 2010. This result remains valid also when controlling for a number of other factors such as the proportion of people employed in the manufacturing industry, net migration from/to the municipality and the residents' age and education level.

It is not possible to draw any firm conclusions about what the different patterns of change in unemployment is due to. However, several possible explanations to this development is discussed. One possible explanation is that municipalities with a high proportion of workers in industries undergoing structural change has a higher equilibrium unemployment rate and that an accelerated structural change following the financial crisis in 2008 has resulted in a faster increase of unemployment in the following years in these municipalities. Other possible explanations to the faster increase of unemployment in municipalities with high unemployment before 2008 could be less efficient matching on the labour market or higher wage levels.

The European Union was created to promote peace and stability and evolved to become an economic union. Its member states are part of trade agreements where tariffs and quotas are abolished. Trade liberations lead to easier access of information and technology which in turn lead to faster growth. This study was made as we were interested to see if high level of economic integration, EU membership, has effected economic growth. The dependent variable we chose to study is GDP growth per capita. The time period included in the study is the years 1996-2011.

In this study we are interested to see if higher level of economic integration has led to growth and income convergence in the Central and Eastern European. A multiple regression analysis has been conducted to see if EU membership have an effect on growth. In addition a beta convergence regression is carried out in order to see if the new member states are catching up to the EU income level.

We found that joining the EU has no significant effect on growth. However the CEEC seem to enjoy higher level of price stability due to EU membership. However due to the lack of observations the results we received are inconclusive.

The prices of detached houses in Sweden have in recent decades shown a price development that has been record high. The purpose of this study is to estimate whether there is a significant relationship between different economic variables for detached house prices in Sweden's municipalities. The thesis was carried out through an economic multiple regression analysis with panel data where “fixed effect” was included. The study covers 289 municipalities in Sweden during the period 2001–2019 and the total number of observations is 5491. The study is carried out in the form of two analyzes where the variables supply ratio, income, unemployment, interest, population, tax and debt are included.

In the first analysis in 2001–2019, debt is excluded because there is no basis and lack of data. In the second analysis in 2010–2019, the purpose is mainly to estimate the relationship between price as the dependent variable and debt as the independent variable. The study is based on the first analysis to answer the research question: Factors that affect the price development for detached houses in Sweden.The result of the thesis shows that income is the variable with the most estimated correlation and impact on housing prices relative to the other independent variables.

The result also shows an expected positive relationship between the variable population and the detached house prices, as well as an expected negative relationship between the variables supply ratio, unemployment, mortgage interest, tax and debt on detached house prices. The study contributes to an increased understanding of how different economic factors affect the relationships for detached houseprices in Sweden's municipalities during the period 2001–2019. The study includes observations over a long period of time with a data base where there is no loss of observations. The validity of this study is based on the study's implementation and theoretical basis with authentic references.

This study examines the relationship between SAHA’s corporate governance rating score and firm performance in Turkey for the period between 2008, 2009 and 2010. The purpose of study is to analyze whether there is a relationship between Saha’s corporate governance score which is based on the principles of Capital Market Board of Turkey and firm performance for 16 companies listed in corporate governance index Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) by using Saha’s Corporate Governance. It also aims to determine this relationship by attempting to answer the question of whether better governed firms as measured by high corporate governance score have higher firm performance in Turkey. With this purpose three analyses were conducted and random effect model, one type of panel data, is used to analyze whether there is a relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. The conceptual framework for this study is a combinationan of approaches to agency, stakeholder and stewardship theory. Panel data is created as unbalanced data and random effect model is used.Accounting based performance measures of firms: return on asset, return on equity and returnon sales were used to compare with Saha’s Corporate Governance Rating Score based on four sub-indices: 1) shareholder rights, 2) public disclosure and transparency, 3) stakeholders and 4) board of directors. The results based on Saha’s Corporate Governance Score show that corporate governance does matter in Turkey. The study shows that better governed firms measured by high corporate governance score have better performance in Turkey. The result of regressing return on asset, return on equity against Saha’s corporate governance rating score indicates that there is a significantly relationship between corporate governance and firm performace. However, the result of regressing return on sales indicates that there is no statistically significant relation between Saha’s corporate governance score and return on sales.

Economic growth around the world has not been equal for a long time. Some economics grow faster while others grow slower. But economists have predicted that the slower growing economics will eventually converge with the faster growing economy as some point in the future. This is known as the convergence hypothesis. In this study, we test this hypothesis for Ghana and the Western Europeans countries with UK been a proxy for these countries, using time series data to determine whether or not it holds. We determine how fast or slow this convergence process is by using the returns to scale concept on Ghana’s economy and latter account for factor that determines economic growth in sectors. The study supported the null hypothesis of convergence i.e. Ghana is catching up with the Western European countries. The study also shown that Ghana growth accounting exhibit decreasing returns meaning convergence is relatively slow and also signifies that Ghana is not on a balanced growth path (this refers to the simultaneous, coordinated expansion of several sectors of the economy). The study showed a negative relationship between GDP and labour both in the long run and short run relationship. Again the study showed a positive relationship between GDP and capital, Agric and Industrial sector. Lastly, the study showed a negative relationship between GDP and AID and Service in the long run and positive relationship in the short run.

The aim of this study is to add to the understanding of how sensitive a country's inflation level is to global factors in relation to the size of its economy and to question the theory of the traditional Phillips Curve. The case study takes on a qualitative method by gathering and analyzing earlier research and applies a econometrics model study approach to analyze how certain variables might affect inflation. Panel data is used from 10 different OECD countries for the time period 1972–2020. The results for the Phillips Curve implies that there generally is a negative causality as the model predicts but that the causality is not always applicable. Results from the multivariate regression analysis that was performed on the panel data implies that productivity, GDP growth and import has a significant impact on inflation out of the four chosen variables. These results are coherent with a large part of the earlier research. The conclusion we make is that more research is required but defining the exact explanation behind what controls inflation might be hard to reach.

Difficulties with the integration of foreign born and especially refugees in the Swedish labor market have further strengthened unemployment in the country. Unemployment is a macroeconomic problem with the fact that it leads to loss of tax revenues and lower productivity which negatively affects a country's growth. Unemployment varies within counties and among population groups of municipalities in Sweden. This is problematic as it creates economic inequality between population groups and municipalities. It also creates social contexts meaning that some areas become resource-strong while others are resource-weak. This has a negative effect on economic welfare in the country. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the persistently high unemployment rate among foreign-born in Sweden`s municipalities can be explained by differences in municipal characteristics regarding human capital, cultural distances, and wage levels. Methods used for the study is the fixed effects regression models using a panel data of 290 individuals (all municipalities in Sweden) during the period 2009-2018. Statistical analyzes using figures and tables have been used as well. 

The study is based on human capital theory, social capital theory and theory of segregation. The results have shown that human capital related factors and characteristics linked to cultural distances have a significant impact on unemployment among foreign-born, in addition have foreign-born a lower value of human and social capital, which results in lower returns. The conclusion of this paper is that the human capital related factors can explain the higher unemployment rate among foreign-born people to a great extent. The cultural distance affects the value of foreign-born human and social capital and thus return. Therefore, there is a need for more effective integration policies to facilitate the establishment of foreign-born people in the Swedish labor market. Allocating them to the right areas where opportunities to acquire the necessary skills are great is one option. Even by shortening the waiting time for decisions on residence permits, work permits and waiting time for Swedish citizenship is important because this could give the opportunity to the foreign-born people to enter the country s labor market quickly as possible. Time is an important factor for them because it takes time to improve the value of their human capital, social capital, and necessary skills as well.

The ambitious UN-adopted sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been criticized for being inconsistent, difficult to quantify, implement and monitor. Disparaging analysis suggests that there exists a potential inconsistency in the SDGs, particularly between the socio-economic development and the environmental sustainability goals. Critiques also raise questions on the measurability and monitoring of the broadly framed SDGs. The goals are non-binding, with each country being expected to create their own national or regional plans. Moreover, the source(s) and the extent of the financial resources and investments for the SDGs are ambiguous. This chapter quantifies and examines the inconsistencies of the SDGs. It further inspects which of the underlying social, economic or environmental pillars are that most effective for achieving sustainable development. Analyses of the data reveal that the developed countries need to remain focused on their social and environmental policies. The developing countries, on the other hand, are better off being focused on their economics and social policies in the short run, even though environmental policies remain significant for sustainable development.

This thesis consists of five chapters.

Chapter 1 and 2 The first chapter presents the introduction and the summary and the second chapter provides details on the survey and the data collection.

Chapter 3 The demand and supply of credit in the rural finance markets are investigated in this paper using data on 989 households, in Orissa, India. The aim is to study the effects of household, farm productive characteristics and the policy variables on the demand and supply of credit. A type 3 Tobit model is estimated which corrects for sample selection and endogeniety bias. In addition, a generalised Double Hurdle model is estimated where the household's access to credit is treated distinctly from decisions about the interest rate charged. The results from the type 3 tobit model suggest that the size of the operational holdings, net-wealth, the dependency ratio, educational level of the household and the wages and output prices are important determinants of the demand and supply of credit. The Double Hurdle model suggests the important result that the size of land owned plays a crucial role in whether the household obtains a loan or not.

Chapter 4 Based on the 'Rural Credit Market Survey of the Puri district in India', this paper investigates evidence on segmentation in the rural credit markets of Puri district. It further investigates the presence of any systematic association between the type of collateral offered by the household and the rate of interest at which it borrows. The data shows differences in the loan characteristics between the households borrowing from the formal and the informal sector. The empirical results confirm the presence of segmentation in the Puri credit market. For the households borrowing from the informal sector and the moneylenders, evidence also shows that the marketability of the collateral is inversely related to the interest rate. However, no such clear relationship is found for households borrowing from the formal sector.

Chapter 5 In the theoretical and the empirical literature on rural credit markets it is widely assumed that the households are credit rationed in the formal sector, which offers subsidised credit. This view rests on the assumptions that all households have a positive demand for formal credit and that it is the cheaper source of credit. Three different models of formal credit rationing are estimated in this paper. The first model is a conventional credit-rationing model. The second model assumes that the probability to borrow from the formal sector is jointly determined by the demand for credit and the decision of the bank on access. Finally, the third model relaxes both these assumptions and the household chooses between borrowing from the formal or the informal sector. The results confirm that the access to the formal sector in the Puri rural credit markets is limited and that there exists a high demand for credit. This suggests a high degree of effective credit rationing by the formal sector in Puri.