This paper tests for spatial spillover effects of state-level telecommunications infrastructure investment on state output, using panel data for 48 U.S. states from 1970 through 1997. As information and communication technologies support more industrial locational freedom, states may use telecommunications infrastructure investment as a competitive tool for attracting factors of production. In a production-function framework, this effect would manifest itself as a negative output spillover effect from telecommunications infrastructure investment. Findings indicate that a state benefits from its own telecommunications infrastructure, but telecommunications investment by other states has a negative impact on its output growth path, and proximity amplifies this negative spillover effect. Copyright 2002 Blackwell Publishers Inc.

This paper examines the banking efficiency in a pre- and post-liberalization environment by drawing on the Turkish experience by using DEA. The paper also investigates the scale effect on efficiency. Our findings suggest that liberalization programs were followed by an observable decline in efficiency. Another finding of the study is that the Turkish banking system had a serious scale problem during the study period. The second part of our analysis relied on econometric methods and found that one major reason for such system-wide efficiency decline has been the growing macroeconomic instability of the Turkish economy in general and financial sector in particular. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Banking, Efficiency, Liberalization, Data envelopment analysis, C14, C61, G21, G28,

The traditional shift-share model measures the combined effects of output growth and productivity change on employment. A region with above average employment growth either has a favorable industry mix or enjoys a competitive advantage over other regions. To separate the effects of output and productivity, the shift-share model is extended to decompose the effects of changes in output and productivity on employment. This paper modifies the Rigby-Anderson extension by separating the contribution of labor and capital to productivity growth in the analysis of regional economic performance, and investigates twenty (two-digit SIC) manufacturing sectors in twelve states (six snowbelt, six sunbelt states) to assess whether observed changes in employment were due to changes in output or to productivity.Kingsley E.

The international development community has used the World Bank's Statistical Capacity Index since its inception in 2004. The Sustainable Development Goals create new challenges for national statistical systems to produce high-quality and internationally comparable data. This paper reviews measurement methodologies, posits desired attributes, and presents theoretical and empirical frameworks to propose a new, improved index to monitor progress in the statistical capacity of nations. The paper illustrates the properties of the proposed index with global data from 2016. JEL Classification numbers: C8, H00, I00, O1. *We thank the editor James Fenske, four anonymous reviewers and participants at the World Congress of the International Statistical Institute (Kuala Lumpur) for useful feedback on earlier versions of the paper. We also thank Juderica Dias for helpful support with the data and Junhe Yang for capable research assistance. We are grateful to the UK Department of International Development for funding assistance through its Knowledge for Change (KCP) program and Strategic Research Program (SRP).1 Statistical capacity is usually interpreted as the ability of an NSS to meet user needs for relevant and good quality statistics in a timely manner. An NSS often consists of a number of different data-producing agencies and departments (such as the national statistical office, the central bank, and statistical departments within other line ministries), which renders the task of directly measuring statistical capacity a difficult one.