John Rand
Biographic Data
| ID | 3710438 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John Rand |
| GIVEN NAMES | John |
| FAMILY NAME | Rand |
| SIGNATURE | RAND J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Copenhagen |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7028-4772 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Differential Bunching Impacts Across the Income Distribution
We investigate the behavioural responses of individual taxpayers to changes in marginal personal income tax rates applying empirical bunching methodology to tax administrative data from Zambia over the period from 2014 to 2021. We find evidence for excess bunching at the first kink in the tax schedule for all years but less evidence of bunching at the second and third thresholds. While bunching is considerable and behavioural responses are observ…
Wage returns to workplace training in Myanmar
Good Business Practices Improve Productivity in Myanmar’s Manufacturing Sector
We investigate the relationship between business practices and enterprise productivity using panel data with matched employer and employee information from Myanmar. The data show that micro, small, and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Myanmar typically adopt only a few modern business practices, and the persistence in the use is extremely low. Even so, we find a positive and economically important association between business practices a…
Economic and environmental upgrading after a policy reform
Commitments to curb illegal logging and deforestation have proliferated in recent years with the increase of global trade in tropical timber and wood products. While they reflect international sustainability demands, the employed mechanisms to assure timber legality verification may not reflect conditions faced by local private sector actors. Facing rapid forest loss and limited foreign market access, government of Myanmar started reforming its f…
Imports, supply chains and firm productivity
Merchandise export diversification strategy for Tanzania
This paper identifies industries in Tanzania that are critical for (i) upgrading and diversifying the economy, (ii) increasing export revenue and (iii) absorbing labour. First, a Product Space analysis identifies industrial niches, which Tanzania should promote to increase economic complexity and stimulate structural transformation. The identification of industries is based on a supply‐side network method following the literature on economic comp…
Local governance quality and law compliance
In sub-Saharan Africa, many micro and small enterprises do not (or at least only partially) comply with official rules and regulations. Given that low compliance rates impede economic growth and human development, it is essential to identify mechanisms that can help improve abidance with laws. This paper investigates how the quality of governance (defined as comprising three dimensions: transparency, legal security and infrastructure quality) is …
Traditional and modern employee benefits in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector
Employer-provided benefits are independent elements in the compensation packages that make up firms’ payment strategies. Such benefits are aimed at attracting and retaining preferred employees and improving incentives. In Myanmar, there are two employee benefit systems: (1) an unregulated traditional system in which firms offer their employees in-kind benefits such as meals and accommodation; and (2) a modern mandatory system in which firms are r…
On the Link Between Managerial Attributes and Firm Access to Formal Credit in Myanmar
Using a survey of enterprises in Myanmar, we examine demand for formal credit and the extent to which firms are self-constrained by not applying for credit or if they apply and are constrained by bank’s rejections. We have information about firm managers’ managerial capacity and risk attitude. We use this to test if the allocation of loanable funds is systematically associated with the attributes. We find that these attributes are positively asso…
Corporate Social Responsibility in a Competitive Business Environment
Using a representative sample of more than 5,000 Vietnamese enterprises, we explore the firm-level productivity effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The data enables us to create 12 quantitative CSR measures, which can be grouped into two broader categories related to management and community-based CSR initiatives. We find a positive relationship between adoption of CSR initiatives and firm efficiency, and reveal that the impact is s…
Linked-in by FDI
This study combines evidence from interviews in seven countries with (i) government institutions responsible for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), (ii) 102 multinationals (MNEs), and (iii) 226 domestic firms linked to these foreign affiliates as suppliers, customers, or competitors, to identify whether relations between MNEs and domestic firms lead to direct transfers of knowledge/technology. We first document that there are relatively …
The Development Impacts of Covid-19 at Home and Abroad
Manufacturing Transformation
While it is possible for economies to grow based on abundant land or natural resources, more often structural change?the shift of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors?is the key driver of economic growth. Structural transformation is vital for Africa. The region?s much-lauded growth turnaround since 1995 has been the result of fewer economic policy mistakes, robust commodity prices, and new discoveries of natural resources…
Technology transfers, foreign investment and productivity spillovers
This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and the productivity of host country domestic firms. We rely on a specially designed survey of over 4000 manufacturing firms in Vietnam, and separate out productivity gains along the supply chain (obtained through direct transfers of knowledge/technology between linked firms) from productivity effects through indirect FDI spillovers. In addition to identifying indirect v…
The Myth of Female Credit Discrimination in African Manufacturing
We examine credit constraint differentials between male and female manufacturing entrepreneurs using firm data from 16 sub-Saharan Africa countries. Small enterprises owned by female entrepreneurs are less likely to be credit constrained compared to their male counterparts, while this is reversed for medium-sized enterprises. A generalised Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that the gap is predominantly a pure gender effect. We argue that this fi…
The informal sector wage gap among Vietnamese micro-firms
Based on unique firm survey data from 2009, this paper examines the wage differential between formal and informal manufacturing household enterprises in Vietnam. Using the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method, we investigate whether the wage gap is attributed mostly to differences in observable characteristics (the endowments) between formal and informal firms, or to variations in the returns to these characteristics (the unexplained component). T…
Firm-Level Corruption in Vietnam
This article uses panel data from a survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam to uncover which firms pay bribes and which do not. We also study how bribe paying evolved between 2005 and 2007 and test how the determinants of bribes changed between the two years. Three sets of insights emerge. First, bribe incidence is highly associated with firm-level differences in visibility, sunk costs, ability to pay, and some, but not all, type…
Does Gender Influence the Provision of Fringe Benefits? Evidence From Vietnamese SMEs
This contribution studies the provision of fringe benefits using a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Analysis of the survey reveals that women who own SMEs are more likely than men who own similar firms to provide employees with fringe benefits such as annual leave, social benefits, and health insurance. This gender effect exists especially with regard to mandatory social insurance and is robust to the inclusi…
The Benefits of Formalization
Enterprise Growth and Survival in Vietnam
This paper analyses whether direct government assistance during start-up and other forms of interaction with the state sector have influenced the long-run performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Using three partly overlapping surveys during the period 1990-2000, we find strong effects on firm dynamics from interaction with state institutions. Enterprises which have the state sector as their main customer…
Credit Constraints and Determinants of the Cost of Capital in Vietnamese Manufacturing’
Understanding Victimization
Business Cycles in Developing Countries
The Benefits of Formalization
Firm-Level Corruption in Vietnam
This article uses panel data from a survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam to uncover which firms pay bribes and which do not. We also study how bribe paying evolved between 2005 and 2007 and test how the determinants of bribes changed between the two years. Three sets of insights emerge. First, bribe incidence is highly associated with firm-level differences in visibility, sunk costs, ability to pay, and some, but not all, type…
Business Cycles in Developing Countries
The Development Impacts of Covid-19 at Home and Abroad
Understanding Victimization
Economic and environmental upgrading after a policy reform
Commitments to curb illegal logging and deforestation have proliferated in recent years with the increase of global trade in tropical timber and wood products. While they reflect international sustainability demands, the employed mechanisms to assure timber legality verification may not reflect conditions faced by local private sector actors. Facing rapid forest loss and limited foreign market access, government of Myanmar started reforming its f…
Imports, supply chains and firm productivity
Local governance quality and law compliance
In sub-Saharan Africa, many micro and small enterprises do not (or at least only partially) comply with official rules and regulations. Given that low compliance rates impede economic growth and human development, it is essential to identify mechanisms that can help improve abidance with laws. This paper investigates how the quality of governance (defined as comprising three dimensions: transparency, legal security and infrastructure quality) is …
On the Link Between Managerial Attributes and Firm Access to Formal Credit in Myanmar
Using a survey of enterprises in Myanmar, we examine demand for formal credit and the extent to which firms are self-constrained by not applying for credit or if they apply and are constrained by bank’s rejections. We have information about firm managers’ managerial capacity and risk attitude. We use this to test if the allocation of loanable funds is systematically associated with the attributes. We find that these attributes are positively asso…
The informal sector wage gap among Vietnamese micro-firms
Based on unique firm survey data from 2009, this paper examines the wage differential between formal and informal manufacturing household enterprises in Vietnam. Using the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method, we investigate whether the wage gap is attributed mostly to differences in observable characteristics (the endowments) between formal and informal firms, or to variations in the returns to these characteristics (the unexplained component). T…
Does Gender Influence the Provision of Fringe Benefits? Evidence From Vietnamese SMEs
This contribution studies the provision of fringe benefits using a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Analysis of the survey reveals that women who own SMEs are more likely than men who own similar firms to provide employees with fringe benefits such as annual leave, social benefits, and health insurance. This gender effect exists especially with regard to mandatory social insurance and is robust to the inclusi…
Business Cycles in Developing Countries
Credit Constraints and Determinants of the Cost of Capital in Vietnamese Manufacturing’
Understanding Victimization
Enterprise Growth and Survival in Vietnam
This paper analyses whether direct government assistance during start-up and other forms of interaction with the state sector have influenced the long-run performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Using three partly overlapping surveys during the period 1990-2000, we find strong effects on firm dynamics from interaction with state institutions. Enterprises which have the state sector as their main customer…
Does Gender Influence the Provision of Fringe Benefits? Evidence From Vietnamese SMEs
This contribution studies the provision of fringe benefits using a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Analysis of the survey reveals that women who own SMEs are more likely than men who own similar firms to provide employees with fringe benefits such as annual leave, social benefits, and health insurance. This gender effect exists especially with regard to mandatory social insurance and is robust to the inclusi…
The Benefits of Formalization
The informal sector wage gap among Vietnamese micro-firms
Based on unique firm survey data from 2009, this paper examines the wage differential between formal and informal manufacturing household enterprises in Vietnam. Using the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method, we investigate whether the wage gap is attributed mostly to differences in observable characteristics (the endowments) between formal and informal firms, or to variations in the returns to these characteristics (the unexplained component). T…
Firm-Level Corruption in Vietnam
This article uses panel data from a survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam to uncover which firms pay bribes and which do not. We also study how bribe paying evolved between 2005 and 2007 and test how the determinants of bribes changed between the two years. Three sets of insights emerge. First, bribe incidence is highly associated with firm-level differences in visibility, sunk costs, ability to pay, and some, but not all, type…
The Myth of Female Credit Discrimination in African Manufacturing
We examine credit constraint differentials between male and female manufacturing entrepreneurs using firm data from 16 sub-Saharan Africa countries. Small enterprises owned by female entrepreneurs are less likely to be credit constrained compared to their male counterparts, while this is reversed for medium-sized enterprises. A generalised Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that the gap is predominantly a pure gender effect. We argue that this fi…
Technology transfers, foreign investment and productivity spillovers
This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and the productivity of host country domestic firms. We rely on a specially designed survey of over 4000 manufacturing firms in Vietnam, and separate out productivity gains along the supply chain (obtained through direct transfers of knowledge/technology between linked firms) from productivity effects through indirect FDI spillovers. In addition to identifying indirect v…
Manufacturing Transformation
While it is possible for economies to grow based on abundant land or natural resources, more often structural change?the shift of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors?is the key driver of economic growth. Structural transformation is vital for Africa. The region?s much-lauded growth turnaround since 1995 has been the result of fewer economic policy mistakes, robust commodity prices, and new discoveries of natural resources…
Corporate Social Responsibility in a Competitive Business Environment
Using a representative sample of more than 5,000 Vietnamese enterprises, we explore the firm-level productivity effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The data enables us to create 12 quantitative CSR measures, which can be grouped into two broader categories related to management and community-based CSR initiatives. We find a positive relationship between adoption of CSR initiatives and firm efficiency, and reveal that the impact is s…
Linked-in by FDI
This study combines evidence from interviews in seven countries with (i) government institutions responsible for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), (ii) 102 multinationals (MNEs), and (iii) 226 domestic firms linked to these foreign affiliates as suppliers, customers, or competitors, to identify whether relations between MNEs and domestic firms lead to direct transfers of knowledge/technology. We first document that there are relatively …
The Development Impacts of Covid-19 at Home and Abroad
Traditional and modern employee benefits in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector
Employer-provided benefits are independent elements in the compensation packages that make up firms’ payment strategies. Such benefits are aimed at attracting and retaining preferred employees and improving incentives. In Myanmar, there are two employee benefit systems: (1) an unregulated traditional system in which firms offer their employees in-kind benefits such as meals and accommodation; and (2) a modern mandatory system in which firms are r…
On the Link Between Managerial Attributes and Firm Access to Formal Credit in Myanmar
Using a survey of enterprises in Myanmar, we examine demand for formal credit and the extent to which firms are self-constrained by not applying for credit or if they apply and are constrained by bank’s rejections. We have information about firm managers’ managerial capacity and risk attitude. We use this to test if the allocation of loanable funds is systematically associated with the attributes. We find that these attributes are positively asso…
Merchandise export diversification strategy for Tanzania
This paper identifies industries in Tanzania that are critical for (i) upgrading and diversifying the economy, (ii) increasing export revenue and (iii) absorbing labour. First, a Product Space analysis identifies industrial niches, which Tanzania should promote to increase economic complexity and stimulate structural transformation. The identification of industries is based on a supply‐side network method following the literature on economic comp…
Local governance quality and law compliance
In sub-Saharan Africa, many micro and small enterprises do not (or at least only partially) comply with official rules and regulations. Given that low compliance rates impede economic growth and human development, it is essential to identify mechanisms that can help improve abidance with laws. This paper investigates how the quality of governance (defined as comprising three dimensions: transparency, legal security and infrastructure quality) is …
Wage returns to workplace training in Myanmar
Good Business Practices Improve Productivity in Myanmar’s Manufacturing Sector
We investigate the relationship between business practices and enterprise productivity using panel data with matched employer and employee information from Myanmar. The data show that micro, small, and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Myanmar typically adopt only a few modern business practices, and the persistence in the use is extremely low. Even so, we find a positive and economically important association between business practices a…
Economic and environmental upgrading after a policy reform
Commitments to curb illegal logging and deforestation have proliferated in recent years with the increase of global trade in tropical timber and wood products. While they reflect international sustainability demands, the employed mechanisms to assure timber legality verification may not reflect conditions faced by local private sector actors. Facing rapid forest loss and limited foreign market access, government of Myanmar started reforming its f…
Imports, supply chains and firm productivity
Differential Bunching Impacts Across the Income Distribution
We investigate the behavioural responses of individual taxpayers to changes in marginal personal income tax rates applying empirical bunching methodology to tax administrative data from Zambia over the period from 2014 to 2021. We find evidence for excess bunching at the first kink in the tax schedule for all years but less evidence of bunching at the second and third thresholds. While bunching is considerable and behavioural responses are observ…
Economics (22 works) · Business (19 works) · Economic growth (8 works) · Labour economics (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Taxation and Compliance Studies (7 works) · Demographic economics (5 works) · Global trade and economics (5 works) · Industrial organization (5 works) · International trade (5 works)