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                <text>The contemporary research in initial teacher education is oriented towards development of student - teacher teaching competences through the reflective approach and experiential learning. In 2008 in Croatia, in the context of changes in teacher education at the university level within the 'Bologna reform process', a new competence-development curricula was introduced in initial foreign language teacher education. The development of foreign language teacher competence and its components within the new university curricula were examined through the application of the reflective approach and a new instrument, the European portfolio for foreign language teachers.    The participants in this study were 66 student- teachers of English, French, and Italian from three Croatian universities. Research was conducted during the practical part of their education in Croatian schools. A mixed research method was applied. It included a quantitative analysis of students’ self- evaluations of gained competences according to the descriptors in the portfolio and a qualitative analysis of a semi - structured interview with the participants about their experiences in working with a portfolio.    The results of this research show that new foreign language teacher education programs do not sufficiently develop certain components of teacher competence such as the intercultural competence. Even though that component is stressed in the ministerial programs for foreign language teaching in public schools and it is formally included in the university curricula, the students seem to fail to recognize the connection between language and culture and are more oriented towards teaching methodology of reading, listening, speaking and writing.   </text>
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                <text>Enhancing Students’ Understanding of a Japanese Language Lesson through a Classroom Quiz: the Improvised Approach &amp; the Witty Way</text>
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                <text>Classroom quizzes come in many forms of practices. They are performed generally as a testing method or as a closure of a certain lesson. From the perspectives of many Malaysian students, a classroom quiz often involves a one way interaction from a teacher to students in transmitting any tested questions or problems to be answered by them. It is scarce to see a classroom quiz integrates some psychomotor or a two-way interaction between a student and a teacher. Due to that matter, some students might find it a bit bored or unattractive. A study had been carried out in order to investigate whether the new approach and the witty way of a classroom quiz would enhance students’ understanding in the learning of Japanese language. The study involved 20 form two candidates of Dato’ Ahmad Maher Secondary School for two months. Data were collected by using a pre-test and a post-test. The results showed that the new approach and the witty way of the classroom quiz would enhance students’ understanding in the learning of Japanese language.</text>
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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

Participation Banking
in European Context
Šukrija RAMIĆ
Islamic Pedagogical Faculty, University in Zenica,
Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
sukriramic@hotmail.com

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to find a common ground for participation KEYWORDS
banking in Europe, by explaining a new way of banking practice Participation banking, Usury,
which has its roots in the European business tradition of partnership, Sharia, Murabaha, Musharaka,
investment, trading and providing services, as well as the status of Mudaraba, Salam, Istisna, Ijara
usury in Christian, Jewish and other traditions. It deals with questions
related to the openness of European societies to this invention of Islamic
culture, the main characteristics of participation banking, its benefits,
the chances for building better relations with the Muslim world, and
the possibilities of participation banking in non-Muslim environments.
It is concluded that participation banking is an opportunity for rather

ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 21 October 2011
Resubmitted: 4 Spring 2012
Resubmitted: 12 February 2012
Accepted: 25 March 2012

than a threat to, Europe which will open new dimensions for the
banking industry, diverse responsibility, bring people together, increase
competition and bring better services with more competitive prices
and, what is quite important is that it might activate the savings of
European Muslims that are currently out of the banking system.
JEL Code: G29

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Introduction
The biggest success of European society is reflected in the fact that it has largely
managed to build a pluralistic society that accepts and respects differences among
people. This achievement has opened the road to new success in the political and
economic fields, so that today we have the European Union in front of which are
great opportunities if it succeeds to maintain the direction towards pluralism and
respect for diversity among its citizens. The principle of pluralism is consistent with
the natural law of Allah Almighty because He has created people different and prescribed to them to meet and know each other: “O mankind! We have created you
from a male and a female, and made​​you into nations and tribes, that you may know
one another “(Qur’an, Al-Hujurat 13). Whatever is natural, whatever is consistent
with the natural law of God, has a chance of success, because it brings to human
beings what is in harmony with their nature, what is good and useful for them.
Although, as noted, European society is pluralistic, although it respects pluralism, some
people within society, sometimes, reluctantly accept when something comes from the
Islamic culture. There is prejudice, and even open opposition, at the first glance, just
because it comes from Islamic culture. Given the objectives that European society proclaims, it would be fair to give participation banking fair treatment and a chance to
participate and compete in the European market. Thus, the revival of the following
universal values and
​​ principles on which European society is built is necessary:
1.

A universal attitude toward human beings: that all human beings are bloodbrothers and sisters with the same rights and obligations.1 People should be
valued according to their actions-how beneficial or harmful their deeds and actions are to themselves, to other people and to the environment, but not based
on their ethnic origin or religion.

2.

The freedom of expression of ideas should be fully implemented. Restriction
should only be on the usage of insulting words and expressions. It will enable
people to present their products and ideas freely.2

3.

Equal rights and obligations in society and equal rights in front of the law: This
principal requires European secular states to revive the original idea of secularism, according to which all citizens are equal in their rights and obligations and
equal in front of the law.3

4.

Equal opportunity for all human achievements: It can be achieved if the cultural and other achievements of all Europeans are equally treated and given equal
opportunity to compete in the field of ideas and products.4

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Rational Behind Prohibition of Interest
The Qur’an and the Sunnah do not provide any detailed rational for the prohibition
of interest (riba). However, the implicit meaning of Qur’anic verses and sayings of
the Prophet, p.b.u.h., about interest may suggest that the charging of interest is an
act of injustice. This is why Muslim scholars, when speaking about reasons why
Islam has prohibited interest, say that the main reason behind the prohibition of
interest is the prevention of injustice. The injustice in dealing on the basis of interest
can be observed at different levels. For example, the fact is that the lender is guaranteed a positive return while the borrower takes all the risks. Therefore, taking interest
represents akl amwal an-nas bi-l-batil because the lender and the borrower are in an
unequal position. “Such injustice may result based on significant price fluctuations,
or any of a number of other considerations. Moreover, there is a very real danger
of exploitation of poor debtors by creditors, which Islam strives to eliminate.” (Zuhayli, 2001:1/337)
Furthermore, it opens the way for the accumulation of wealth in a few hands. After
explaining that as a whole, socio-economic and distributive justice, intergenerational equity, economic instability and ecological destruction are considered the basis
of the prohibition of interest, Muhammad Ayub concludes: “Keeping in mind all
relevant texts and the principles of Islamic law, the only reason that appears convincing is that of distributive justice, because the prohibition of Riba is intended to
prevent the accumulation of wealth in a few hands; that is, it is not to be allowed
to “circulate among the rich” (Holy Qur’an, 59: 7). Therefore, the major purpose
of Riba prohibition is to block the means that lead to the accumulation of wealth
in the hands of a few, whether they are banks or individuals.” (Ayub, 2007:54-55).
The way to go out, without stopping economic activities, is partnership financing
through products of participation banking.

Main Characteristics of Participation Banking
The main characteristic of participation banking and finance are:
1.

Dealing on non-interest basis. The Qur’an says: “…whereas Allah has permitted
trading and forbidden usury” (Qur’an, Al-Baqara: 275). Due to this revelation

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and some other verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h., Muslim
scholars are unanimous that usury is forbidden in Islam. Zuhayli says: “The Islamic nation is in consensus over the prohibition of riba. In this regard, Al-Mawardi
said: “To the point that no legal system (sharia) has ever permitted it”, as evidenced by the verse “That they took riba, thou they ere forbidden to do so” (4:161),
meaning in the previous revelations (Zuhayli, 2001:1/311). It is considered to
be a way of unjustified taking possessions of others (akl amwal al-nas bi al-baṭil)
by receiving monetary advantage in a business transaction without giving a just
counter value. “The principal reason why the Qur’an has delivered such a harsh
verdict against interest is that Islam wishes to establish an economic system where
all forms of exploitation are eliminated, and particularly, the injustice perpetuated
in the form of the financier being assured of a positive return without doing any
work or sharing in the risk, while the entrepreneur, in spite of his management and
hard work, is not assured of such a positive return. Islam wishes to establish justice
between the financier and the entrepreneur (Chapra, 1995).
2.

Partnership. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that Allah Almighty promised His support to humans who work together in partnership till
one of them starts to cheat the other (Abu Dawud, 2000). This is why business in
Islam is partnership oriented. Because of the same reason participation banking
is partnership oriented on the basis of profit and loss sharing. The main products
musharaka and mudaraba are pure partnerships, while all other products like salam, istisna, ijara and, even, murabaha have some elements of partnership.

3.

Asset backed financing. Islam does not recognize money and monetary paper
as a subject-matter for trade except in the trading of different currencies. “Profit
is generated when something having intrinsic utility is sold for money or when
different currencies are exchanged one for another. The profit earned through
dealing in money (of the same currency) or the papers representing them is
interest, hence prohibited. Therefore, unlike conventional financial institutions, financing in Islam is always in illiquid assets which create real assets and
inventories (Usmani, 2002).

4.

Transparency. There is no hidden costs, no small letters in the contract. Uncertainty (gharar), including deception or ignorance is prohibited. One of conditions for the contract to be valid in Islamic law is clearness, transparency,
explicitness and non existence of doubtful and uncertain matters that can cause
disagreement in the future.

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5.

Care for the society. This care is evident in many aspects. Islam prohibits
everything that is harmful to human beings like alcohol, tobacco, gambling,
prostitution, etc. Islam has prohibited maisir (gains made from speculative activity, or ‘unfairly earned income’) because it harms society. Therefore, participation banks do not finance those products and activities or anything else that
is harmful to human beings. Participation banks help poor people through a
product called qarḍ ḥasan (benevolent loan). Through special funds they try to
find solutions for the micro financing of poor people on terms that are suitable
for them. If a partner of a participation bank experiences hardship the bank has
the obligation to help because the Qur’an says: “And if the debtor is in hard
time, then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by
a way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know (Qur’an, Al-Baqara:
280). In all cases participation banking is keen for the successes of its clients,
because it is the only way that the bank can be successful.

6.

Real economic activities. Participation banking is not the mere lending of
money, but rather a very large spectrum of economic activities that represents
an alternative method to profit making in trade, partnership in project financing and providing all banking services that modern customers require. It is
widening the ways of financing and opening new opportunities. These are the
main characteristics of participation banking. All of them should be evident in
practice if participation banking is implemented according to the teachings of
Islam.

Expected Standing of Europeans about Participation Banking In Europe
Participation banking has a religious dimension for Muslims5, but for non-Muslims
it would be, at least, a human product, like other human products. Most Europeans
certainly have a positive attitude toward the previously mentioned values and principles and as a result of that they should accept participation banking as a human
product and achievement.
Sharia is the religious law for Muslims that regulates their daily activities, and for
those who don’t believe in Islam as sense of divine source, it should be a cultural
achievement of their fellow human beings. That cultural achievement has the right to
be treated equally alongside the cultural achievements of others. Therefore, Muslims

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in Europe and elsewhere are expecting that kind of treatment towards their cultural
achievements. Any treatment by which Muslim culture is placed in a second-rate
position may be a sign of intolerance, prejudice, or lack of knowledge.
All products of human beings have to be judged according to their usefulness or
harm to society, not on the cultural background of a certain product. Therefore, when discussing participation banking in Europe what should be discussed is
whether it would work properly in a certain European environment, how it can be
incorporated in the European legal system, whether it will improve economic activities, bring benefits to the society and so forth.

Is Participation Banking for Muslims only?
Certainly, it is not. These products can be used by all people, Muslims and nonMuslims6, by participation and conventional banks. Participation banking does not
require the introduction of Sharia law on the state level and participation banks can
be run by non-Muslims, too.7 Even more, conventional banks can, under certain
conditions, have windows which operate in accordance with Sharia standards8.
Therefore, correct and impartial relation to the products of participation banking
requires a discussion of it in the light of its benefits to society, possibility of its implementation in different environments, not in the sense of imposing Islam and Sharia
law on non-Muslims.9

Usury in the Past and Contemporary World
The practice of usury - lending money with interest can be traced back 4,000 years10.
This activity has always been condemned, restricted or banned by moral, ethical,
legal or religious entities.
In the Hindu Sutra (700-100 BC), as well as in the Buddhist Jatakas (600-400 BC),
the payment of interest is mentioned along with expressions of disdain for the practice. Vasishtha, a prominent lawmaker of the era, drafted a law that banned the high
caste Brahmans and Kshatryas from being usurers or money-lenders.

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Western philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Cato, Cicero, Seneca and Plutarch were
critics of usury. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all forbid usury. The Torah discusses the prohibition against taking interest in many places: Exodus 22:24; Leviticus
25:36-37; and Deuteronomy 23:20-21. The verses in Deuteronomy says: “You must
not make your brother pay interest, interest on money, interest on food, interest on
anything on which one may claim interest. You may make a foreigner pay interest, but
your brother you must not make pay interest” (Deuteronomy, 23:19-20)11.
The Qur’an states: “That is because they say: “Trading is like usury,” whereas Allah
has permitted trading and forbidden usury” (Qur’an, Al-Baqara : 275).
Despite these facts, only Muslims, and some non-Muslim individuals and smaller
groups and organizations stand firmly against interest, and try to avoid it in their
everyday life. On other side churches like the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox
churches do not object anymore to the interest charged by conventional banks12.
However, after the last prime mortgage crisis in America which affected most countries worldwide it seems that the Catholic Church has started opening its doors to
the idea of participation banking. One article in the Brussels Journal on this subject
is clear about the changes which can be expected in the future. The Journal states:
In yet another act of conciliation on the part of Western religions towards Islam,
the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has voiced its approval of Islamic finance. The Vatican paper wrote that banks should look at the rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients at a time of global economic crisis.
“The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to
their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service,” the
L’Osservatore Romano said. “Western banks could use tools such as Islamic bonds,
known as sukuk, as collateral”. Sukuk may be used to fund the “‘car industry or
the next Olympic Games in London,” the article says. The Vatican article is only
one of many articles that have recently appeared on the acceptance by Western
governments and bankers of an Islamic financing system. More than accepting it,
they seem to be welcoming it, though they are certainly being pressured into this by
unnamed forces bowing to the dictates of Islam (Tiberge, 2009).
France, which has opposed Paricipation banking for a long time, has eliminated
legal hurdles, particularly levies, for Islamic financial services and products and
enabled listing companies on the Paris Stock Exchange. French Finance Minister
Christine Lagarde announced in 2009 France’s intention to make Paris “the capital
of Islamic finance” and said that several Islamic banks would open branches in the
French capital in 2009 (Aki, 2011).

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On 17.01.2011, The Bloomberg news has quoted the statement of State Secretary
for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche that France is going to develop Islamic finance
and attract investment from the Gulf to its economy:
“We’ve had some delay, compared to the British particularly,” Lellouche said in
an interview in Abu Dhabi today, “The legal mechanisms are getting in place and
French banks are very capable and they are at it.”
The Bloomberg reported that the first Islamic bond from France could be sold in
early 2011 after the government introduced guidelines for sukuk offerings, Thierry
Dissaux, chief executive officer of the French Deposit Guarantee Fund said in an
interview Dec.15.
Reuters reported on 27 October 2011 that French lender Credit Agricola (CAGR.
PA) is considering either issuing an Islamic bond or creating a wider sukuk program
that could lead to several issues, as European banks seek to diversify funding, a senior executive said on Thursday. “It’s something that we’re always looking at but it’s
probably more on the agenda today than yesterday because banks need to diversify
funding,” Simon Eedle, managing director and global head of Islamic banking, told
the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit. “I believe it’s something that we will
do. It’s only a question of time,” he said. “If Credit Agricole were to issue a sukuk, it
would be an ijara structure with real Islamic assets to justify to the investors that we
are using the financing to divide the liabilities to match the Islamic assets we have,”
he said (Pasha&amp; Uppal, 2011).
Despite the fact that the preparation of the legal framework and the introduction of
the instruments of Islamic banking seem slow, these developments in Europe are a
good sign which Muslims worldwide applaud and encourage.

Participation Banking Products
Participation banking is enjoining permanent development. It comes with new products and improves existing ones. Today, the most popular products of participation banking are the following:

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1. Murabaha
“Murabaha is a particular kind of sale where the seller expressly mentions the cost
of the sold commodity he/she has incurred, and sells it to another person by adding
some profit thereon” (Usmani, 2002)13. The murabaha transaction exists between
three parties: the financier (the bank), the vendor from whom the bank purchased
the goods, and the client of the bank who will buy the goods on deferred payment
basis.
More than eighty percent of participation banking financing is done through this
product and due to this fact murabaha is known as a method of banking operations,
while in the essence it is a kind of trade with a disclosed profit margin.

2. Musharaka
Musharaka means a joint enterprise formed for conducting some business activities
in which all partners share the profit according to a specific ratio, while the loss is
shared according to the ratio of the contribution (Usmani, 2002).
This mode is represented in the contribution of partners of equal or unequal ratios
of capital to establish a new or to take part in an existing project, whereby each
participant owns a share in the capital and deserves his share of the profit. The partnership originally is intended to continue up to the dissolution of the company.
It is possible, though, for one of the partners to sell his share in the capital and to
withdraw from the project one for reason or another,.
The participation banks use this mode in different projects. They finance their customers with part of the capital in exchange for a share of the output that they agree
upon. Mostly, they leave the responsibility of management to the customer partner
and retain the right of supervision and follow up.

3. Musharaka Mutanaqisa
“According to this concept, a financier and his client participate either in the joint
ownership of property, or equipment, or in a joint commercial enterprise. The share
of the financier is further divided into a number of units. It is understood that the
client will purchase the units of the share of the financier one by one periodically.

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By doing that, the client is increasing his own share, till all the units of the financier are purchased by him so as to make him the sole owner of the property, or the
commercial enterprise, as the case may be” (Usmani, 2002).
Decreasing or diminishing partnership differs from permanent partnership in terms
of continuity. In the decreasing partnership the bank intends, from the beginning,
to remain associated with the client for a defined period of time, not indefinitely.
According to this concept, the bank has all the rights and obligations of the ordinary
partner. The client uses the shared property or the equipment and pays rent for the
part owned by the bank. The collected rent is what the participation bank earns
from this kind of partnership.

4. Mudaraba
“This is a kind of partnership where one partner gives money to another one for
investing in a commercial enterprise. The investment comes from the first partner
who is called rabb al-mal whiles the management and work is an exclusive responsibility of the other, who is called mudarib and the profit generated are shared in a
predetermined ratio” (Usmani, 2002). Mudaraba in the banking industry is a finance process whereby the participation bank contributes funds and a client contributes
expertise and works to execute a potentially successful project. Profits are distributed
in a percentage agreed upon beforehand. The bank shall bear any loss if the client is
not negligent or in violation of the terms. Mudaraba can cover one deal, several deals, or a specified period of time up to a specified ceiling (Archer &amp; Karim, R: 2002).

5. Salam
“In salam, the seller undertakes to supply specific goods to the buyer at a future date
in exchange for an advanced price fully paid at spot” (Usmani, 2002). Therefore,
salam is a financial transaction in which price is advanced in cash to the seller who
abides the delivery of commodity of determined specification on a definite due date
and place. The bank can, on parallel salam, sell a commodity of the same kind as it
has previously purchased with the first salam, without making one contract depend
on the other. The bank also has the option of waiting to receive the commodity and
then selingl it for cash or deferred payment.14

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6. Istisna
It is a contract with a manufacturer who is to make something for the purchaser,
for a defined price, which can be paid in advance or later. Therefore, istisna is a sale
transaction where a commodity is transacted before it comes into existence. In this
kind of transaction the price and all necessary specifications of the commodity and
other terms must be fixed and fully settled. Participation banks frequently use istisna
to finance building and constructing projects. The majority of the jurists consider
istisna to be one of the divisions of salam.

7. Ijara (Operating Lease)
“In leasing an owner transfers its usufruct to another person for an agreed period, at
an agreed consideration (Usmani, 2002). Leased subject must have usufruct, must
be identified and quantified. It remains in the ownership of the lesser. According to
this mode, the participation bank maintains a number of various assets as its property to respond to the needs of different customers. These assets usually have a high
degree of marketability. The bank lends these assets to any party and after the end
of the lease period the assets are returned to the bank, which looks for a new lessee.
The collected rent is what the participation bank earns from this activity.

8. Ijara wa iqtina’ (Lease purchase)
Lease purchase, or lease that ends with possession, is a new mode tailored by participation banks. The bank purchases an asset on behalf of a customer who is interested
in owning it by means of lease that ends with possession. At the end of the lease period, ownership is transferred to the lessee. Generally, the bank calculates total rentals
on the basis of the cost of asset plus the profit. Rentals are paid over a period of time
as agreed between the bank and the customer (Usmani, Archer &amp; Kerim, 2002).

9. Qard hasan (Benevolent loan)
“Qarḍ ḥasan is a loan which is returned at the end of the agreed period without
any interest or share in the profit or loss of the business.” (Chapra,1995:68). Every
participation bank has a special account for the qard hasan fund. They normally put

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some of their annual profit in that fund and channel to that account all income that is
forbidden in Sharia, like penalties etc. These funds are limited. Therefore, qard hasan
financing is available to a limited extent. It is provided for financing of small businesses or to help those people who face personal hardships and need financial help.

Participation Banking in the European Tradition and Opposition to it
The above mentioned products may be traced and found in the European tradition,
as well as in temporary practice15. Europeans have long traded with known and unknown profit margins; they have been establishing joint ventures, investing in different businesses, leasing properties etc. Europeans had and they still have co-operative,
interest-free banks. A well known bank of this type is the JAK bank in Sweden. JAK
has been operating an interest-free savings and loan system since 1970. It was licensed
in 1997. It has 36,300 members and annual growth of 7 percent16 (Jak, 2011).
Despite the fact that the products of participation banking are widely practiced in
the everyday lives of Europeans, it still faces some opposition, sometimes because of
prejudice and mostly due to ignorance regarding the intentions of Shariah which are
reflected primarily in the protection of the five core values: protection of life, religion,
wealth, honour, and offspring. It can be said that the great majority of Europeans
support these values as Muslims which practise Islam do. Therefore, they can, for
certain, find common ground when participation banking is in question. The best
proof for such a claim are European banks, many of which are trying to benefit from
participation banking system by opening windows for participation banking. This
trend is supposed to continue more vividly in the future. If it becomes a success story,
it will remove some suspicions that still circle in Europe about participation banking.

European Experience in Participation Banking
The UK has the most and the longest experience in participation banking amongst
European countries, despite the fact that it does not have the biggest Muslim population. The UK has 1.8 million, while France has 5 million Muslims. Participation
banking in the UK started a quarter of a century ago, and France actively started
preparations for the introduction of participation banking in 2009.

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The UK has become a centre for participation banking because London, as the most
influential financial centre in Europe, has became the centre for Islamic finance.
The beginning was with Al-Baraka International Bank in 1982, then United Bank
of Kuwait, which later became Al-Ahli United Bank. This bank still operates. The
first dedicated participation bank in the UK is the Islamic Bank of Britain, which
was licensed in 2004. The first participation investment bank, the European Islamic
Investment Bank, was opened in UK as well.
Participation banks in the eighties had an excessive liquidity and London took advantage of this to channel money into its market and businesses. The excessive liquidity is
obvious nowadays, and, maybe it is the main reason why Gordon Brown, while speaking in the conference on participation banking and finance held in London in 2006,
said: “It is the vibrancy and dynamism of Britain’s Muslims, combined with Britain’s
openness to the world and our historic ties with Muslim countries, that means the
ambition you have set for yourselves - to make Britain the gateway to Islamic finance
and trade - is one I believe Britain is well placed to achieve” (Adfero, 2006).
In his speech related to this subject Financial Services Authority (FSA) Chairman
Sir Callum McCarthy laid out the UK position, saying, “It is important that we
showed we were able to accommodate Islamic banking practices alongside traditional non-Islamic banking, for reasons both of principle and of practical importance”
(McCarthy, 2006).
There is a need to emphasize a great potential in liquid money owned by European
Muslims, who are out of the banking system due to the fact that they are trying to avoid dealing in interest. If a ḥalal system is provided, they will invest, especially if they
know that keeping liquid money as kanz (unused money) is blame worthy in Islam.
When Turkey becomes a full member of the European Union, the participation
banking which is growing rapidly in this Euro-Asian state will gain new dimensions.

The Participation Banking Experience in Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina
Vakufska banka d.d. Sarajevo, founded in 1992, was the first bank in Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina that was established to work according to the participation banking principles.
However, it never introduced that practice and their business has included interest
from the beginning, due to a lack of skilful professionals in participation banking.

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Orient banka d.d. Sarajevo – founded in 1996, was the very first bank that provided
loans on a non-interest basis. In January 2000, this bank was forced to merge with
the conventional ABS banka d.d. Sarajevo and, accordingly, lost its identity as a
participation bank.
In October 2000 Bosna Bank International d.d. Sarajevo was founded. It is the only
bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina that operates under the principles of participation
banking. The founders of BBI are: the Islamic Development Bank 45, 46%, the Dubai Islamic Bank 27,27%, and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank 27,27%. BBI provides
all banking services, but it faces limitations because of the local legal system, which
does not recognize “interest-free” business models. Therefore, the main products of
participation banking like murābaha, mushāraka and ijāra cannot be used in their
“classical” forms.
There are some other difficulties that the bank is facing, like double taxation due to
tax on profit obligations at the end of the business year (participation in sharing of
profit represents income for the bank, while interest represents costs charged as expenses). Since 2006, BBI is trying to amend the Law on Banking. The amendment
past successfully through the House of Representatives, but it did not go to the
House of People because there was not enough support from Croat representatives.
In order to remove some doubts about participation banking, BBI is organizing
seminars and promoting the idea of participation banking in different ways. One seminar was organised in 2006 for the Federal Government and the Banking Agency.
The speakers were Professor Rodney Wilson from Durham University, UK, Dr. Murad W. Hofmann from Germany and Sheikh Nizam Ya’qubi from Bahrain. Their
presentations were well received by the Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers at
that time, but the law remains unchanged until now.
The last effort was made on 19.12.2011. The Association of Banks of Bosnia and
Herzegovina drafted some amendments to the Draft Law on Amendments to the
Banking Act proposed by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of amendments is: “Banks can in its business use products based on
partnership and the sale with profit margin, but only for the purpose of lendingfinancing banks customers.”

Participation Banking in the Global Finance Industry
Participation banking is relatively small in the global finance industry. Alexander
Lis, managing director at Oliver Wyman, the consultancy, calculates that there is

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$300bn of assets managed according to participation principles, and more than 280
institutions providing participation products (Khalaf, &amp; Tett 2007). Other experts
estimate these numbers to be much higher.

The Future of Participation Banking in Europe
Participation banking today shares only 1% of the global banking industry. However, keeping in mind the great potential of Muslim countries and the annual growth
of the participation banking industry by 15%, there is no doubt that it is going
to play a greater role in the future. In last two decades participation banking has
developed rapidly. This quick and sudden development is an un-believable phenomenon. One of pioneers in the industry and a renowned expert in participation
banking Hussein Hassan from the Dubai Islamic Bank says: “What has happened
has been extraordinary – no one would have believed this growth was possible a
decade or two ago” (Khalaf &amp; Tett, 2007).
This is a growth that is supposed to continue even faster in the foreseeable future
and it will affect the development of the participation banking industry in Europe.
European banks will continue to introduce participation banking17 and more institutions will be involved in this sector. Participation banks from the Gulf will continue
coming to European countries, especially if these countries adapt their laws by skipping double taxation and allowing banks to trade in commodities. European countries
will move in that direction because the market seems to be heading that way.
Because of the huge interest in participation banking, European universities will
open new courses on the subject and postgraduate studies in participation banking will become very popular.18 New centres for participation banking will emerge
outside London, like Luxemburg, Sarajevo, Paris and Vienna.
As the money flows, some existing opposition to participation banking will die
away. The European continent will host new conferences on participation banking
and finance. The liquid savings of Muslims, which are outside of the banking system
at the moment, will be invested through European participation banks and it will
give new incentive to the European economy. In order to meet the expectations of
Muslims and others who support participation banking, participation banks have
to develop more transparency, educate their employees and clients, harmonize their

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products, and improve mechanisms of internal and external control etc. They have
to work on the development of new products, which will meet modern human
needs, like insurance, pension schemes, investment funds etc.

Conclusion
Participation banking is an opportunity rather than a threat to Europe. It revives
European traditions of partnership and cooperation. It opens new dimensions for
the banking industry, diverse responsibility and brings people together. Participation banking will increase competition and bring better services with more competitive prices. Participation banking in Europe will open new opportunities for cooperation with the Muslim world and enable European banks to enter new markets.
The cooperation is the best way for preventing hostilities that are, unfortunately, still
floating in the air between some European countries and the Muslim world. Participation banking is a big opportunity for European banks to activate the savings of
European Muslims that are currently outside of banking system. All that has been
mentioned gives us the right to predict a bright future for the participation banking
industry in Europe.

References
Abu Dawud, S. (2000). Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith Encyclopedia (on compact
disc), Version 2,1 Harf Information Tecnology, Egipat.
Accounting and Auditing Organization for Participation Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) (2002). Sharia Standards, Manama, Bahrain.
Adfero, L. (2006). Brown pledges support for Islamic finance, http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/news/brown-pledges-support-for-islamic-finance-17160286.html.
Archer, S. &amp; Abdel Karim, R. (2002). Participation Finance Innovation and Growth,
Euromoney Books and AAOIFI.
Ayub, M. (2007). Understanding Islamic Finance, John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd, Chichester, England.

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�Business Times, (2008). More non-Muslims trying Islamic banking: OCBC. The
New Straits Times Press Malaysia. http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/
BTIMES/arti cles/20081201152232/Article/.
Chapra, M. (1992). Islam and the Economic Challenge, The Islamic Foundation,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Chapra, M. (1995). Towards a Just Monetary System, the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK.
Doi, A. (1984). Shariah: The Islamic Law, Ta-ha Publishers Ltd. London, United
Kingdom.
Fahey, C. (2011). Churches Came to Terms with Money Lending, Dossier, Volume 14,
5. http://gvanv.com/compass/arch/v1405/fahey.html.
Gamal, M. A. (2006). Islamic Finance Law, Economics, and Practice, Cambrige University Press, Cambrige, UK.
Guia, M. (2011). The morals of money-lending, World Guide. http://www.henciclopedia. org.uy/autores/Laguiadelmundo/Usury.htm.
Hassan, M. K. &amp; Mervyn K. L. (2007). Handbook of Islamic Banking,Published
byEdward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK.
Iqbal, M. &amp; Llewellyn, D. T. (2002). Islamic Banking and Finance - New Perspectives
on Profit-Sharing and Risk,Published byEdward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK.
Izzi Dien, M. (2004). Islamic Law From Historic Foundations to Contemporary Practice, Edinburgh University Press, United Kingdom.
Khalaf, R. &amp; Tett G. (2007). Backwater sector moves into global mainstream, Financial Times, Special Report.
McCarthy, C. (2006). Regulation and Islamic finance, MCBIF and Trade Conference.
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/Speeches/2006/0613_
cm.shtml.
Nairobi, Kenya and the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Hemdon, USA.
Qudama, A. (1367. H). Al-Mugni, Daru-l-Manar, Cairo.Thrd edition.

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�Ramic, S. (2003). Language and the Interpretation of Islamic Law, Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Sarakhsi, M. (1324. H). Al-Mabsut, Matbaatus-saadah, Cairo, First edition.
Taylor, P. (2005). Freedom of Religion, Cambridge University Press, UK.
Thomas, A. (2006). Interest in Islamic Economics-Understanding riba, simultaneously
published 2006 in the USA and Canada by Routledge.
Usmani, M. I. (2002). Meezanbank’s Guide to Islamic Banking, Darul Ishaat, Karachi, Pakistan, First edition.
Usmani, M. T. (2002). An Introduction to Islamic Finance, Maktaba Ma’ariful
Qur’an, Karachi, Pakistan.
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (1984). New World Translation
of the Holy Scriptures, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
Zuhayli, W. (2001). Financial Transactions in Islamic Jurisprudence, Daru-l-fikr, Damascus, Syria.

(Endnotes)
1

First article of Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: “All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards
one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” (Taylor, 2005:353) The Qur’an says: “O mankind! We
have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may
know one another.” (Qur’an, Al-Hujurat: 13)
2 This principal will allow the best ideas to be recognized pursuant to the rule, “The essence of the
things is recognized through their opposites.”
3 The fact is that in secular states of Europe, frequently, on the scene are atheistic, religious or
nationalistic secularisms, where a group has privileges because of its beliefs or national belonging.
The culture and products of that privileged group have advantage and that group is better protected
and enjoys certain privileges in front of the law. All this is done in the name of secularism. The main
condition for having people live in love and peace is to give them equal opportunity in everyday life
and make them feel equal in front of the law. Practices of European courts do not give us impression
that people are always equal and that they have always equal treatment. This assertion is obvious
from examples provided by Taylor in his book Freedom of Religion - UN and European Human
Rights Law and Practice.
4 The products of human beings should be judged according to their usefulness or harm to the society,
not on the cultural background of the product. Therefore, the idea of participation banking should
be discussed on the basis whether it will be working properly in a certain European environment,
whether it will improve economic activities, bring benefits to the society and so forth.

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�5

Because, according to Islam, everyday life is not separated from Sharia. Sharia provides rulings for
every human activity.
6 “Non-Muslims now make up half of the OCBC Al-Amin Bank’s Islamic banking customers, says its
chief executive. ISLAMIC banking is gaining ground with non-Muslims worldwide due to its strict
lending principles, Singapore’s third-largest lender OCBC said today, reflecting industry efforts to
transcend religious beliefs to gain market share.”
(http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20081201152232/Article/ Accesed:
30. 12. 2011.)
7 The CEO of Islamic Bank of Britain was Christian Michael Hanlon, and CEO of Bosna Bank
International in Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina for a period of time was Mr. Andre van Howe, who is
Christian too.
8 Many European banks have such windows: HSBC, Barclays Capital, ANZ Grindlays, Lloyds TSB,
BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro, Mežkobank, UBS,
etc.
9 In my free assessment eighty to ninety percent of European laws are in spirit of Sharia. In other
words, all European laws that aim to establish and upheld justice, protect human lives, dignity,
property, religion and offspring, have the very same goals that Sharia wants to achieve. Indeed,
some of these laws do not always reach the high standards of Sharia, so that they do not protect
enough these categories, but, nonetheless, they represent wonderful efforts on the part of human
beings. These efforts deserve to be praised, because they protect mentioned categories in a great
manner. It can be noticed that recently the European legislature on alcohol, prostitution, tobacco,
is coming closer to Sharia standards, but that process is moving slowly due to the fact that it was not
preceded by spiritual preparation and superstructure, and the fact that the groups behind alcohol,
tobacco and prostitution are very powerful.
10 See: http://www.henciclopedia.org.uy/autores/Laguiadelmundo/Usury.htm,
http://gvanv.com/compass/arch/v1405/fahey.html Accessed: 23. 09. 2011.)
11 See also: Ezekiel 18:8-17; 22:12; Psalms 15:5; and Proverbs 28:8.
12 An extensive article on this subject entitled In the Shadow of Deuteronomy - Approaches to interest and
usury in Judaism and Christianity by Vincent J. Cornell, can be found in the book Interest in Islamic
Economics - Understanding riba p. 13-25 edited by Abdulkader Thomas, simultaneously published
2006 in the USA and Canada by Routledge. Another article ComparingIslamic and Christian
attitudes to usury by Mervyn K. Lewis can be found in the book Handbook of Islamic Banking p.
64-81, published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK &amp; USA.
13 See also: Archer, S. &amp; Abdel Karim, R. (2002:90-97)
14 Due to the fact that banks are normally not interested in those commodities they use parallel salam
very much.
15 Professor Rodney Wilson wrote an interesting article on The interface between Islamic and
conventional banking, published in the book Islamic Banking and Finance - New Perspectives on
Profit-Sharing and Risk, p.196-214. He concludes that: “Islamic banks and conventional banks
should not regard each other as a threat. They of course compete with each other, but not usually
by the pricing of their services. Instead Islamic banks compete by offering differentiated products
that they believe will appeal to Muslim clients given their Shariah compliance.” (Iqbal, 2002:211)
16 In 2005 I was invited by JAK bank to attend a seminar on their operations. In two days they
presented how the Bank operates. I did not have any remarks from the Sharia point of view, as far
as no-interest loans were in question.

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�17 They will do it because it is a world trend. Many leading banks in the world introduced participation
banking like American: Citibank, JP Morgan/Chase,Goldman Sache i UBS Warburg, British: HSBC,
Barclays Capital, ANZ Grindlays, Lloyds TSB, French: BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, German:
Germany’s Commerzbank i Deutsche Bank, Dutch ABN Amro, Russian Mežkobank, Japanese Nomura
Securities, Swiss UBS, etc.
18 The biggest problem which participation banks are facing is lack of employees skilful in this industry.
It is a problem for the banks that are in the industry for quarter of a century, like Abu Dhabi
Islamic bank. In 2002 I visited UAE. The CEO of Abu Dhabi Islamic bank Mr. Abdurrahman
Abdulmalik, raḥmetullahi alayhi, mentioned to me the lack of skilful employees as a big problem
for the Bank. We can imagine the situation of the conventional banks which have been transformed
into participation in the past few years, or transforming itself these days. They are in dear need for
people knowledgeable in participation banking.

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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

Living and working in retirement, a new
paradigm in the US exploring retirees
attitudes and beliefs toward working
Raymond U. Ogums
Associate Director, Investment Operations
13 Christopher Drive
Enfield, CT 06082, U.S.A.
Email: rogums@babsoncapital.com

Abstract
This paper investigates the problem that an increasing number of people
in the United States are financially unprepared for retirement, leading
to a rise in post-retirement employment. The purpose of the study was
to explore attitudes and beliefs toward continued or actual employment
behaviors among a set of retirees who have chosen to continue working
after reaching retirement age. The grounded theory study design was
applied in the efforts to explain, at a broad conceptual level, the
reasons older workers have chosen to continue working after reaching
retirement age. Data gathered from 25 workers age 65 and older were
analyzed. The analysis revealed five work motivators, five inhibitors of
saving, six methods of saving, four lifestyle accommodations, and four
work attitudes. Implications of the research were presented. The results
suggest the new retirement funding structures have not been favorable
to saving. Suggestions for a more positive retirement outlook are offered.

KEYWORDS
Retirement, Retirement Living,
Post-Retirement Employment,
Retirement Funding, Defined
Benefit Pension Plans, Defined
Contribution Pension Plans,
Social Security Benefits
ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 17 February 2012
Resubmitted: 27 March 2012
Resubmitted: 5 April 2012
Accepted: 10 April 2012

JEL Codes: D14, D19, Z00

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�Raymond U. Ogums

Introduction
The post-1960s era was the era of increasing prosperity and conservative retirement
programs in American society, which allowed older workers to retire on time. Recently, the major sources supporting these programs, Social Security, defined-benefit
plans, and savings, have changed significantly. Specifically, Social Security faces a
financial shortage by the middle of 2032 (Cahill, Giandrea and Quinn 2006). This
financial shortage condition will result in reduced benefits, lower rates of replacement, later traditional or early retirement age, including eligibility for benefits and
increases in social security taxes and other government revenues. Defined-contribution (DC) plans like the 401ks that carry substantial investment risks are fast
replacing the traditional pension plans; and the U.S. National Income and Product Accounts recently reported savings have decreased to the lowest levels since the
Great Depression of the 1930s (Cahill et al.). As these income sources continue
to face reductions and create under funding of retirement, many older workers in
America will be faced with two choices: working for more years or enduring a lower
standard of living during retirement (Cahill et al.). While a portion of retirees have
always chosen to remain in the labor market for a variety of reasons, the changing
economics of retirement funding threaten to change both the proportion of working retirees, and the mix of factors that motivate them to work.
The existence of retirement underfunding, resulting primarily from the changing
structures of the retirement funding vehicles and extravagant lifestyle during the
accumulation years by many, and the extent to which the underfunding affects
retirees is fast becoming a problem (Cahill et al. 2006; Robertson 2006). In general,
the U.S. retirement accounts savings are expected to experience a shortage of about
$400 billion between the years 2020 and 2030 (Marquez 2006). Robertson (2006)
reported American spending habits and lack of financial planning the primary reasons for this shortage; suggesting baby boomers who are yet to retire will have to
make a dramatic change in their savings, spending, and investing habits if they wish
to enjoy their retirement. According to U.S. Department of Labor, over 70% of all
workers must now rely on their 401(k) rather than a pension plan (Wasik 2004).
“As 401(k)s have grown from covering 7.5 million workers in 1984 to more than 42
million today, its counterpart—the guaranteed defined benefit pension—has gone
from covering more than half the workforce to only 35 percent” (Wasik 2004, p 6).
The continued shift away from guaranteed defined benefit pension toward 401(k)
plans has precluded some Americans who could afford to retire from doing so (Baker 2007). Persistent erosion of employer-sponsored health benefits is also likely to

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
in the US exploring retirees attitudes and beliefs toward working

continue (Mermin, Johnson and Murphy 2006); adding to this problem; and creating a condition for lifestyle adjustment by retirees.
Continuing to work has been one method used by people to address this condition
(Utkus 2006); but the erosion of Social Security and health benefits have resulted
in a complexity of factors that cause retirees to work. These factors undermine how
retirees feel about working; further complicating the problem this study researched:
that an increasing number of people in the United States are financially unprepared
for retirement; resulting primarily from the changing structures of the retirement
funding vehicles and extravagant lifestyle during the accumulation or working years.
As a result, this study’s purpose was to explore attitudes and beliefs toward continued and actual employment behavior among a set of retirees in Hartford County,
Connecticut, who have chosen to continue working after reaching retirement age.
For purpose of the study, age 65 was designated the retirement age.

Literature Review
Retirement has been redefined, particularly as the first phase of the baby boom
generation (those born in 1946) has reached traditional retirement age (Cahill et
al. 2006). Fundamental changes in retirement funding sources, improved health
among older people, and increased longevity have rendered many Americans unable to finance over 25 years of leisure in later years without reducing their living
standards by more than 40%. Permanent or one-time retirement in America may
have come to an end, as indicated by the trend toward early retirement among older
men (Cahill et al. 2006).

Historical overview
Working to earn money is widely recognized as an important aspect of living in
many societies (Herzberg, 1966). As people approach retirement, they may be motivated by other factors to remain employed. Maslow (1954) noted these factors to
include belongingness, fulfillment and meaning, happiness, and leisure. According
to Maslow, the reason is that satisfying any one need is consequential to that need

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becoming submerged and a new need emerging as the higher need. Recently, the
changing structure of the retirement funding vehicles has resulted in seniors continuing to work, and a different trend toward retirement (Utkus 2006).
During the 20th century, the average retirement age declined dramatically among
men: from 74 years in 1910 to 70 years in 1950, 65 years in 1970, and 62 years
in 1985 (Cahill et al. 2006). In 1880, over 75% of 64-year-old men worked; 65%
worked in 1900; 47% had jobs in 1950; and in 1998, less than 20% of 64-year-old
were working (Gustman and Steinmeier 2009). According to Smith (2001), the
shift in average retirement age was immediately preceded by the Great Depression
and the advent of Social Security; in 1930, 58% of 64-year-old men were employed.
The decline predominantly resulted from increased prosperity during the preceding
century along with growth in public and private retirement programs. Increased
productivity and real wages resulted in workers spending a portion of their wealth
on leisure and early retirement. Since the mid-1980s, the average retirement age for
American men has stabilized because of changes in the retirement landscape. These
changes included the end of mandatory retirement, the displacement of traditional
defined-benefit (DB) pension plans by defined-contribution (DC) plans, increased
longevity, improvements in general health, and the reduction of rigorous physical
requirements in many jobs (Cahill et al. 2006). All these changes have increased
incentives for older Americans to remain in the labor force.
Prior to President Franklin Roosevelt’s establishment of Social Security in 1935,
many Americans participated in the workforce until they could no longer work
(Gallagher 2004). The reason was that private employer-funded pension plans were
rare before the 1930s. Although employer-sponsored retirement plans date back to
the late 19th century (Libecap 2004), during the preindustrial era, few people relied
on employers or the government in saving for their retirement. The elderly continued to work as long as they could. As people’s strength or acuity declined, they
took on less taxing jobs; and they stopped working only when they were physically
unable to continue to work (Munnell and Drucker 2006). Before the 19th century,
three of four elderly Americans still worked and often owned property that provided an income (Munnell and Drucker 2006). Some workers accumulated wealth
through two natural resources, farms and handicraft businesses, which could be sold
or leased to fund retirement needs. Fortunate elderly relied on their children or the
local community for economic support (Munnell and Drucker 2006).
Most government employees did not need to worry about funding their retirement,

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because as with military pensions, public-sector pension plans date back much further in history (Libecap 2004). Between the era of the Roman Empire and the
beginning of the early modern states, rulers and legislatures often provided pensions for public administrators. Prior to the 19th century, and with the exception of
the military, plan offerings were specific to individual cases, because few retirement
systems existed with well-defined rules for qualification and contribution (Libecap 2004). In particular, military pensions were useful for attracting, retaining, and
motivating military personnel. Pensions for retired and disabled military personnel
existed before the signing of the U.S. Constitution (Libecap 2004).
By 1930, public-sector pension coverage became relatively widespread in the United
States; and all federal workers were covered by pension plans. State and local government employees also received pension coverage. In contrast, pension coverage
for private employees remained relatively low in the first three decades of the 20th
century: Only 10% to 12% of the labor force had pension coverage (Libecap 2004).
By the late 1930s, the American labor movement adopted the use of President
Roosevelt’s Social Security program as a strategy for winning contracts, including
private, employer-funded pensions for unionized workers. Those pension contracts,
like Social Security, specified retirees’ benefits at the onset and became generalized
for Americans after World War II (Gallagher 2004).

Impact of the New Retirement Landscape
Up until the 1890s, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) in the United States,
which is calculated as the percentage of the male population age 65 and older who
are employed or unemployed and looking for work, remained relatively high (Lee
1998). The LFPR aligned with the incentives that had been recently created to motivate workers to remain in the labor force. In 1948, the LFPR for older American
males was 70%. By 1993, the LFPR had dropped to 38%, indicating rising wealth
allowed older males to retire earlier.
Consequently, the average retirement age in America fell to 64 in 1993, from 71
in 1960 (“Older Americans” 2005). Since the postwar period, the U.S. LFPR for
people 65 and older has risen modestly but steadily, indicating people continued
to work after they have reached retirement age particularly as the baby boom generation began to enter prime working age (“Labor Force” 2007). In contrast, the

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youngest group’s LFPR dropped about 5%; in particular, the LFPR for ages 24 to
54 has fallen since the recession in 2000 (“Older Americans” 2005).
The rise in the older group’s LFPR resulted primarily due to few Americans having
the advantage that the necessity of saving for retirement has been burned into their
subconscious by society and circumstance; so that even in unfavorable economic
times, or with negative returns in the financial markets, majority of the few continue
to make established contributions into their retirement accounts. Such attitude toward saving results when retirement contributions are made with forgotten money,
which is money that is not relied upon for daily needs. American seniors who failed
to follow the same planning have experienced financial shortages in retirement as
they have been forced to rely on Social Security benefits to pay for living expenses
(Katz 2003). In December 2001, the Social Security Administration reported the
average Social Security retirement benefits payment was $874 per month; and 45.9
million people were paid benefits. Alternate sources, like working, are necessary for
the elderly to pay for life’s necessities, particularly as costs of living and inflation rise
faster than their Social Security benefits (Katz 2003).

Methodology
Qualitative, grounded theory research methods were used to explore the attitudes
and beliefs toward continued and actual employment behavior among a set of retirees in Hartford County, Connecticut. The process involved development of comprehensive theoretical understanding from the perspectives of the social actors engaged
in the phenomenon. Such development and understanding require application of
qualitative, grounded theory research methods because they aim to develop a theory,
as opposed to test one already in existence (Neuman 2005). Secondly, applying an
emergent-grounded theory research design aided the discovery of themes shared by
the study participants, as addressed in the research questions.
The rationale for choosing qualitative grounded theory method for this study stems
from the need to identify and explain the events or occurrences in a social setting,
and focus on the true reality of the situation or interaction under investigation
(Corbin and Strauss 1998). Grounded theory method served to generate a theory
in this study because existing theories did not appropriately address the study’s research problem (Glaser and Strauss 1967). Furthermore, grounding a theory in the

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
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research data provided better explanation than a borrowed theory because it was
fitted for the situation, practical and sensitive to participants in the setting, and accounted for complexities that existed in the process (Creswell 2004). These qualities
of the grounded theory method contrast other research methodologies where the
purpose is either to test a hypothesis or answer a question at the beginning of the
research process.

Research Questions
The research questions presented in this section are qualitative in nature, and were
typically used to narrow the purpose statement into specific questions sought to
be answered in the study. Unlike purpose statements, which are characterized by a
single statement, researchers often apply multiple research questions to fully explore
a topic (Creswell 2004). One justification in case studies is the use of exploratorytype questions. Exploratory questions of how, what, and why are usually concerned
with examining a contemporary phenomenon the researcher cannot influence (Yin
2008). The following qualitative research questions were used to complete this study:
1.

What factors lead retirees to choose to work or not work after retirement?

2.

What factors prevented retirees from accumulating what they believe to be
sufficient resources for retirement, and what are the relative frequencies and
perceived importance of those factors?

3.

What accommodations in lifestyle have retirees had to make as a result of perceived inadequacies in their retirement funding sources?

4.

How do retirees feel about the nature and amount of post-retirement employment in which they engage?

In the context of this study, “sufficient resources” are those that enable maintenance of pre-retirement or pre-planned lifestyle during retirement.

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Population and Sampling Frame
The general population of interest for the study comprised all individuals who continue to remain in the labor market after reaching retirement age. The study focused
specifically on an accessible set of such individuals who happen to reside in Hartford
County, Connecticut. A purposive sample of individuals who have reached retirement age but continue to work was drawn from four Senior Centers in Hartford
County, Connecticut. Purposive sampling is a qualitative procedure that involves
intentional selection of individuals and sites for the purpose of learning and understanding the central phenomenon (Creswell 2004).
The sampling procedure for the study continued until saturation was reached, but
was expected to range between 20 and 30. Based on Creswell (2007), Wicks (2004),
and other researchers, sample size for qualitative grounded theory studies is typically
less than 35. In order to determine if saturation had been reached, the interview data
were analyzed as they were collected rather than at the end of the collection process;
saturation was reached with a sample of 25.1 The sampling strategy for the study
conducted was theoretical. In grounded theory approach, theoretical sampling
means that the researcher draws sample from a list of members of the population of
study—the sampling frame (Creswell 2004). The sampling frame for the study conducted was generated from a list of workers age 65 and older at four Senior Centers
in Bloomfield Connecticut, Enfield Connecticut, and Hartford Connecticut.

Data and Analysis
The study participants consisted of a pilot group of five, and 25 workers age 65 and
older. The two groups are described below. The pilot study participants provided
feedback about the interview questions for effectiveness; no comparisons were made
between the pilot group and the research participants. The pilot participants comprised 3 females and two males. Of the five pilot participants, four (80%) returned
to work after entering retirement, and one (20%) had never retired. Table 1 provides
the demographics of the pilot study participants.

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Table 1. Pilot Study Participant Demographics 2010
1
Gender
Female
Female
Female
Male
Male

2
Age
66
66
70
65
67

3
Retired
Retired prior to current employment
Retired prior to current employment
Did not retire prior to current employment
Retired prior to current employment
Retired prior to current employment

4
Status
Currently employed
Currently employed
Currently employed
Currently employed
Currently employed

Source: Author’s analysis of the pilot study population.

Summary of Pilot Study Feedback
All five pilot study participants affirmed their understanding of the interview questions, and agreed that the information contained in the survey questionnaire provided opportunities to explore attitudes and beliefs about post-retirement employment. Participants also expressed they were comfortable with organization and flow
of the interview questions.

Summary of Study Demographics
The final study demographics collected and tracked included participant gender,
age, whether the participant officially retired or not, job title before retirement,
year returned to work, current job title, and length of time between retirement and
current employment. The only requirement for participation was that participants
be 65 or older, and employed. Table 2 presents the demographic information of the
study participants. Of the 25 participants interviewed, five (20%) had never retired,
three (12%) immediately went back to work after they retired, eight (32%) returned
to work in less than one year after their retirement, six (24%) went back to work
in under three years, and three (12%) returned to work between five and 13 years
following their retirement.

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Table 2. Study Participant Demographics 2010
1

2

Gender Age
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Female
Male
Female
Female
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male
Male

69
74
69
81
70
73
77
75
70
65
74
74
68
70
66
73
69
80
70
66
77
71
70
71
67

3
Officially Retired/Job Title

4
Year Returned
To Work

No
NA
Administrative Assistant
2005
Cook for State Prison
2004
Nutrition Manager
1980
Handicapped Kids Caring
1992
Payroll Supervisor
1991
High School Teacher
2001
Administrative Assistant
1996
Check Clearing Supervisor
2002
Grade School Teacher
2001
Truck Mechanist
1990
Vice President Imaging/Graphics 1998
Construction Equipment Operator NA
Loan Officer
NA
Jewelry Store Owner
NA
Toys Manager
NA
President, Auto Repair Shop
NA
Machine Operator
1992
Retail Manager
2002
Day Care Provider
NA
Elevator Operator
1998
Investment Consultant
1989
MBTA Instructor
1996
Train Supervisor
2002
Psychology Professor
2009

5

6

Job Title

Years
Between
Jobs

Cashier Clerk
0.5
Senior Center Volunteer
5.0
After School Program Teacher
.05
Senior Center Volunteer
0.5
Senior Center Volunteer
0.5
Senior Center Volunteer
0.5
Senior Center Volunteer
2.0
Administrative Clerk
13.0
Senior Center Volunteer
3.0
Senior Citizens Supervisor
8.0
Bowling Alley Manager
0.0
Co-owner Graphics Business
0.0
Construction Equipment Operator 0.0
Loan Officer
0.0
Real Estate Agent
0.0
Grocery Clerk
0.0
Administrator Auto Repair Shop 0.0
Grocery Cashier
0.0
Retail Cashier
0.5
Day Care Provider
0.0
Telephone Operator
1.0
Investment Software Developer 0.5
School Bus Driver
1.0
Supervisor Trolley Museum
1.0
Psychology Professor
0.5

Source: Author’s analysis of the study population

Themes
As suggested by Neuman (2005), and other research methodology authors, the analysis was done to identify emerging themes that aligned with the experiences lived by
the study participants, and focused in five areas: (a) work motivators; (b) inhibitors
of saving; (c) method of saving; (d) lifestyle accommodation; and (e) work attitude.
The first pass through of the coding process (open coding) produced 625 distinct

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
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codes for the 25 interviews. Selective coding was used to sort the codes into five
categories: work motivators, inhibitors of saving, method of saving, lifestyle accommodation, and work attitudes in development of the theory. Figure 1 presents the
procedural analysis for generating the theory.
Figure 1. Procedural Analysis for Generating the Theory

Theory Generation
Open
Coding

Researcher

Participants

Literature

Validity &amp;
Reliability

Axial
Coding

Conditional /
Dimensional Matrix

Selective
Coding

Source: Author’s analysis of the theory generation.
Figure 2 depicts the 24 themes that emerged in each of the five categories. The
themes under each category emerged through analysis of interviews conducted in
small groups. The data were transcribed and coded after interviewing each group
to discover what new themes were emerging. No new theme emerged after 22 interviews, but the process was extended to 25 interviews to ensure non-emergent of
new themes.

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Figure 2. Predominant Codes Arranged by Major Areas of Focus

Work
Motivators
Income
and savings

Healthcare
benefits

Decreasing
benefits

Mortgage
and household
obligations

Psychological
benefits

Spousal
issues

Loss
of job

Inhibitors
of Saving
Children’s
education
and family

Lavish
spending

Home
repairs

Method
of Saving
DB plan
and
Social Security

DC (401k)
plan and
Social Security

Social
Security
alone

Savings,
CDs, bonds,
or IRA

Individual
pension
plan

Other
investments

Lifestyle
Accommodation
Maintain
planned
lifestyle

Maintain
lifestyle prior
to retirement

Lifestyle
matches
funding levels

Need
to
work

Work
Attitude
Enjoy
working

Work
aligns with
planning

Planned
to
Work

Need or desire
to work different
from expectations

Source: Author’s presentation of the study themes.
The category work motivators produced five themes: income and savings with 19
responses, healthcare benefits with 13 responses, decreasing benefits with 14 responses, mortgage and household obligations with three responses, and psychological benefits, such as happiness, healthy lifestyles, leisure and fulfillment, and meaning with 18 responses. Five themes emerged within the inhibitors of saving category:
lavish spending generated five responses, children’s education/family produced 16

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responses, home repairs had 14 responses, spousal issues—divorced/separated generated two responses, while loss of job had no response.
The method of saving category produced six themes: DB plan and social security
with eight responses, DC (401k) plan and social security with 10 responses, social
security alone with seven responses, savings/CDs/bonds/IRAs with nine responses,
individual pension plan with six responses, and other investments with six responses. The lifestyle accommodation category generated four themes: maintain planned
lifestyle had nine responses, maintain lifestyle prior to retirement had 11 responses,
lifestyle matches funding level produced 16 responses, and need to work had 18 responses. Lastly, four themes emerged within the work attitude category, namely, enjoy working with 16 responses, work aligns with needs with 14 responses, planned
to work with 14 responses, and desire or need to work not to expectations with eight
responses. Table 3 provides participants’ responses by themes under each category.
Table 3. Participants’ Responses by Themes under Each Category
1

2

Category 1
Themes referenced
Work Motivators
under each category
/
by number of
number of
responses
responses
Income and saving
Healthcare benefits
Decreasing benefits

19
13
14

Mortgage and
household
obligations

3

Psychological
benefits
Lavish spending

3

4

5

6

Category 2
Inhibitors of
Saving /
number of
responses

Category 3
Method of
Saving /
number of
responses

Category 4
Lifestyle
Accommodation/
number of
responses

Category 5
Work
Attitude /
number of
responses

18
5

Children’s education
and family

16

Home repairs
Spousal issues
Loss of job

14
2
0

DB Plan and Social
Security

8

DC (401k) plan and
Social Security

10

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1

2

Category 1
Themes referenced
Work Motivators
under each category
/
by number of
number of
responses
responses

3

4

5

6

Category 2
Inhibitors of
Saving /
number of
responses

Category 3
Method of
Saving /
number of
responses

Category 4
Lifestyle
Accommodation/
number of
responses

Category 5
Work
Attitude /
number of
responses

Social Security
alone

7

Savings, CDs, bonds,
or IRA

9

Individual pension
plan

6

Other investments

6

Maintain planned
lifestyle

9

Maintain lifestyle
prior to retirement

11

Lifestyle matches
funding levels

16

Need to work
Enjoy working

18
16

Work aligns with
planning

14

Planned to work

14

Need or desire to
work different from
expectations

8

Source: Author’s analysis of participants’ responses.

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Findings and Interpretations
The content analysis involved identification of important structures of the properties of textual and audio-recorded information communicated, that were later organized according to the themes identified in the categories, in alignment with the
research questions. The following sub-sections have been organized based on the
research questions (RQs), and the sequence of the areas of focus (categories).
RQ1—What Factors Lead Retirees to Choose to Work or Not Work After Retirement?
In the category work motivators, the major themes of income and saving, healthcare benefits, decreasing benefits, mortgage and household obligations, and psychological benefits were reviewed with the view of evolving a theory of post-retirement
employment. The data clearly revealed that income and savings, theme one, rank
highly among the reasons seniors commit to various employment engagements after the age of 65. A major emphasis was the changing economics of the retirement
funding structures, such as from the defined benefits (DB) to the defined contribution (DC) model. Some participants blamed the underfunding of their retirement
accounts and their financial shortfalls to the introduction of, or switch to, the DC
structure by their employers. Participants commented on how the devaluing of their
retirement accounts, resulting from of the relationship of the DC model to the stock
markets, has contributed to their decisions to work.
The economic crisis that began in 2008 and spending habits during the accumulation years were also emphasized by participants. The data for themes two and
three, health care benefits and decreasing benefits, are consistent with study finding
that health insurance is among the major reasons Americans continue to work after
reaching retirement age (Block 2008). Between 52% (13) and 56% (14) of the participants interviewed reported they are working for health care benefits or to supplement health care costs, in addition to other reasons. Other studies also reported that
many older Americans extend their working years in order to continue receiving
employer-offered benefits, such as dental, health, disability, and life insurance (Leyes
2008; Mermin et al. 2006).
A new theme emerged in the data: in addition to receiving healthcare and life insurance benefits, rising Medicare costs and deductibles, and decreasing benefits are
forcing even more retirees back to work. Theme four, mortgage and household obligations, was also affirmed as a work motivator. Participants commented on real-

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izing later in their lives they could have saved more for retirement if they had less
mortgage obligations and household expenses. Stein (2007) found that exorbitant
mortgage payments and other household obligations distort the wealth accumulation process during the working years. The data coding process also produced a new
theme: obtaining a mortgage to purchase a home later in life is causing some Americans to retire with substantial amounts of debt, constraining their cash flow and
lifestyle options during retirement. Participants referred to the inability to obtain
a mortgage to purchase a house until late in life, rendering certain obligations, like
mortgage payments, which would be part of life during the accumulations years,
a necessity in retirement. This new theme is centered on the American dream of
owning one’s home. Consistent with Hass (2007), a majority of the participants
(18) referred to psychological needs, such as happiness, healthy lifestyle, leisure and
fulfillment, or meaning as work motivators, in addition to referencing other work
motivators.
RQ2—What Factors Prevented Retirees from Accumulating What They Believe to Be
Sufficient Resources for Retirement and What Are The Relative Frequencies and Perceived Importance of Those Factors?
Five themes constituted the category inhibitors of saving: lavish spending, children’s
education and family, home repairs, spousal issues, and loss of job. Discussions about
the method of saving category with five themes are also presented. Participants were
clear about the impact of extravagant lifestyle as unfavorable to savings, while emphasizing indiscriminate spending, theme one, a hindrance to wealth accumulation
during the working years. Paying for children’s education and caring for one’s family
members, theme two, and theme three—spending to renovate and upgrade homes
during working years were also noted by participants to negatively impact savings. Additionally, spousal issues, such as loss of spouse, through death, divorce, or separation,
theme four, were reported to inhibit savings, but no reference was made about theme
five—job loss in this study under the category inhibitors of saving.
Six predominant methods of saving for retirement (themes) exist for people during
their working years: DB plan and Social Security; DC plan and Social Security;
Social Security alone; Savings, CDs, bonds, or IRA; Pension fund; and other investments. Of the six methods, DC plan, DB plan, and Social Security were mostly
relied upon by participants to fund their retirement. The other methods of saving
were used as supplements. On the surface, the DB plan appears to be preferred to
the DC plan. Participants criticized the voluntary nature of the DC plan and its

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
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relationship with the stock markets, while commending the DB plan for its guaranteed payments. Nevertheless, more of the participants relied on the DC model
to fund their retirement; reflecting statement by Wasik (2008) that the guaranteed
defined benefit plan has gone from covering more than half the workforce to only
35 percent. Participants, who saved with the DB plan and social security, theme
one, were very appreciative of its guaranteed payment nature.
A larger proportion of the participants, 40%, as opposed to 32% with the DB
plan model, relied upon the DC or 401k plans and social security, theme two, to
fund their retirement. The finding is consistent with report by the U.S. Department of Labor that the DC plans have grown from covering 7.5 million workers in
1984 to more than 42 million in 2004, while the guaranteed defined benefit, or the
DB, plan has gone from covering more than half the workforce to less than 35%
(Wasik 2004). Participants who had to depend on Social Security, theme three, as
the primary source of saving for their retirement, blamed the condition on their
employers for not offering retirement plans of any sort. Mermin, Johnson, and Murphy (2006) found that some employers did not have DC plans, such as 401ks and
403bs, because they are not required by law to offer them. Participants commented
that reliance on social security alone has led to the employment of alternate sources,
such as working, to pay for life’s necessities because social security benefits are not
enough, especially when considering out-of-pocket health care expenses. In addition to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans and social security described
above, participants noted they used saving accounts, certificate of deposits (CDs),
bonds, and contributions to individual retirement accounts (IRAs)—theme four to
save for retirement.
In many cases, participants used these retirement funding vehicles to supplement
their DB plans, DC plans, and Social Security. Some remarked they often fell short
keeping up with monetary contribution into these retirement funding vehicles, particularly during difficult financial times. Others commented that trying to save with
CDs or savings account required high levels of discipline which they often lacked
when their families needed additional funds to pay for non-daily needs, such as a
new refrigerator, stove, car, and so on. Individual pension plans—IPPs, theme five,
were also used to save for retirement, but mainly as an alternative to employersponsored plans, and to supplement social security. Even after transferring to new
jobs that offered 401k plans, few participants left funds to grow in pension accounts established at their prior employments, but the financial crisis that began in
2008 raised concerns about deficits in those accounts. There were complaints about

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reduced savings in the pension plan structures as a result of limits placed on the
amount of earnings contribution so that participants can earn tax breaks at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Participants also used other investment vehicles, such
as purchasing stocks, real estate, life insurance, gold, and private business ventures—
theme six to save for their retirement. These investment vehicles were reported to
have lost values rapidly following the economic and financial events which began in
2008. Working was emphasized as the alternative for alleviating perceived reduction
and cuts in the pension accounts.
RQ3— What Accommodations in Lifestyle Have Retirees Had to Make as a Result of
Perceived Inadequacies in Their Retirement Funding Sources?
Four themes were presented for the category lifestyle accommodation: maintain
planned lifestyle, maintain lifestyles prior to retirement, lifestyle matches funding
levels, and need to work. These themes were extracted from responses to questions
about lifestyle adjustments, in relation to funding levels, in retirement.
Nine of the participants reported they were able to maintain the lifestyle they planned
in retirement—theme one, but five of the nine participants noted they could only
partially maintain the lifestyle they planned in retirement. The five participants
remarked that unexpected decreases in their income levels created a condition in
which they have to work to sustain their income; preventing them to fully achieve
the lifestyle they planned in retirement. A majority of the participants could not
maintain the lifestyle they planned in retirement due to lack of proper guidance in
structuring their retirement planning. Eleven of the 25 participants made references
to being able to maintain the same lifestyles as they enjoyed prior to retirement—
theme two. Among the 11 are seven who depended on social security, supplemented
by working, to fund their retirement. The seven participants reported they had not
planned any lifestyle adjustments, but noted that working allowed them to do the
type of things they enjoy doing. Grewal, Nazroo, Bajekal, Blane, and Lewis (2004)
found that an increasing number of retirees need paid work to improve their pension packages, and, or maintain their pre-retirement living standards. A majority of
the participants, including those who have achieved their planned lifestyles, reported living lifestyles that matched their funding levels, theme three. In general, there
were remarks about adjusting living standards to suit funding levels, or lifestyle in
retirement being a function of funding level. Participants highly praised paid work
for enabling them improve their retirement incomes, achieve planned lifestyles, or
maintain pre-retirement lifestyles. Achievement and maintenance of lifestyle as mo-

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tivating factors for post-retirement employment were also emphasized. There were
many references to working as a necessity. On the surface, participants noted working as a way to mitigate shortages resulting from hard economic and financial times,
extend retirement savings, and improve quality of life in retirement. Researchers
identified having wealth and income as one of the influences of quality of life in
retirement (Grewal, Nazroo, Bajekal, Blane and Lewis 2004).2
RQ4—How Do Retirees Feel About the Nature and Amount of Post-Retirement Employment in which They Engage?
Four themes constituted the category of work attitude. The themes were the outcome of responses to the questions used to explore how retirees feel about the nature
and amount of post-retirement employment in which they engage. A summary of
the outcomes provide further clarity. A majority of the participants expressed liking
working in retirement, theme one; some emphasizing the various work motivators
described above. Several comments indicated working for income and savings, leisure
or meaning and fulfillment, or some other combination creates a source for enjoyment
and mental engagement, and adds to retirement asset base. Participants depending
on social security, supplemented by working, to fund their retirement reported they
did not like working in retirement. Fourteen participants reported their work aligned
with their retirement plan—theme two. A majority noted that working for additional
funding, leisure, meaning, and fulfillment were part of their retirement planning;
some remarked engaging in their type of work was pre-planned as well. Participants
reported being aware prior to retiring that they needed to supplement their incomes
doing things they like to do, such as, having an engagement that produced happiness,
or making meaningful contributions to the society. Haas (2007) reported that even
those in our society who are considered to be better positioned financially perceive
continuing to work in retirement as paying substantial dividend.
In general, participants noted that their plan to work, theme three, was inspired by
the possibility of shortages in their retirement benefits due to general economic conditions, the extent of social security benefits, the availability of health insurance, and
the quality and design of employer-sponsored retirement plans. Working for fulfillment and meaning was also reported as part of planning. Working in retirement was
perceived as a way to broadened one’s horizon and enrich life through mingling and
interacting with people. Eight of those interviewed referenced their need or desire to
work has been different from their expectations—theme four, based on work schedules, work structures, need for additional funding, and nature of work.

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Analysis of Early Recollections
Six participants were able to recall specific memories about the stage in their lives
they began to realize their desire and need to work when they retire. Table 4 presents
the themes of early recollections—individual beliefs of each participant. Participant
1’s individual beliefs seem to be centered on loss of spouse, the relationship between
money and the importance of working. The themes seem to reflect beliefs that losing one’s spouse during the accumulation years lead to distortion in the resource
accumulation process, the need for employment in later years, and working as part
of retirement planning. Participant 10’s individual beliefs seem that being in a field
of work that a person likes can encourage extension of one’s working years, and that
can be realized earlier, than later, in that person’s career. Participant 12’s individual
beliefs seem about planning retirement engagement, the level of funding, and the
relationships of funding level to retirement engagement. Participant 14’s individual
beliefs seem that family obligations determine the desire or need to work in retirement.

Table 4. Themes of Early Memory Reflection
1
Participant
1

2
Themes of Early Memory Reflection
Right after I lost my husband 10 years ago I went into the surviving mode.
I knew I will be working through my retirement.
Money became the first priority.

10

I realized my desire, not necessarily need, to work early. I liked to maintain contact with the
children and their parents. Halfway through my career I knew I will teach much later in life.
Working for money came late—when I realized the loss in my investment and retirement
accounts.

12

I always planned to do something I enjoy doing in retirement. I love doing this very much; it
provides us with extra money. It aligns with my planning.

14

I have always known that I would need to supplement my retirement income, as a result of
family obligations. I also knew I can continue to do my type of work as long as I wanted.

15

I knew I would work until my later years because I love what I do; and because I spent lavishly.
As long as I have good health, I will always be employed in real estate.

23

I started saving later in my career; so I knew I had to work later.

Source: Author’s presentation of early recollections.

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
in the US exploring retirees attitudes and beliefs toward working

While overlap of themes, such as being in a field of work that a person likes can encourage extension of one’s working years, seem apparent among participants, no predominant theme emerged. Based on the literature on early recollection, at least five early
memories are required for effective evaluation of patterns and themes within an individual (Mosak and Di Pietro 2006; Clark 2002). Even though participants’ memories
in the study conducted suggested tentative themes, enough data were not collected to
fully highlight the cognitive beliefs of each participant individually or to evaluate all of
the memories so that associated patterns and themes could be determined.
The design of the study allowed participants free expression of their specific examples and any distinct moments. However, asking participants for subsequent explanation about the most vivid part of the examples would have distracted the natural
flow of the discussion and inhibited assessment of their cognitive beliefs, hence
proved invaluable. Rather, coding the specific examples provided a richer understanding of the need and desire to work in retirement. Questions about the most
vivid moments, associated feelings and reasons for the feelings were not answered,
but analysis of early recollections proved valuable.

Discussion of Results
Although questioning participants about content-specific examples and early memories inhibited assessment of their cognitive beliefs, there was value in the information obtained. Fifty-six percent of the participants presented recollections that had
substantial impact on their decision to, or not to, work in retirement. Included in
the 56% are the 40% whose retirement accounts were based on the DC model and
16% that had their accounts switched from the DB to the DC structure. The recollections included recent past awareness of needs or desire to work, or not work, in
retirement based on perceptions about the extent of support from individual retirement accounts; and alignment of those needs, or desire, to participants’ expectations
in terms of levels of finances in retirement.
The fact that 56% of the participants noted late recollections that had substantial
impact on their decisions to remain in the workforce, based on payout expectations
of their retirement accounts, suggests there may be implications about the relationship of the DC plan with the financial markets and the changing economics of the
retirement funding structures. Purcell (2007) found that participation in the labor
force among people age 55 and older has been affected by both the trends toward

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the DC plan and away from the DB plan structures. The U.S. Department of Labor
reported that the DC plan have grown to cover more workers between 1984 and
2004, while coverage by the DB plan continues to decline (Wasik 2004).
Data about the lifestyle accommodation category suggest that a majority of those
interviewed could not maintain the lifestyle they planned in retirement, but participants remarked the security offered by the DB model could have facilitated ability
to estimate their funding levels at retirement. In general, nine participants noted
they were able to maintain their planned lifestyle in retirement. Five of the nine participants reported they could partially maintain the lifestyle they planned in retirement, due to unexpected decreases in their income levels, which led to a condition
in which they have to work to sustain their incomes. The finding suggests existence
of difficulty in estimating income levels at retirement. Cahill et al. (2006) noted that
income levels at retirement could often be estimated prior to replacement of the DB
pension plan with the DC structure in 1986.
Comments about working to mitigate shortages resulting from hard economic times
were mostly associated with participants whose retirement plan structures were based
on the DC model, such as the 401k plan. Some participants remarked that the continued shift away from guaranteed defined benefit pension toward 401k plans precluded
them from retiring. There were also comments about how the devaluing of participants’ retirement accounts, as a result of the relationship between the DC model and
the financial markets, has contributed to their decisions to continue working.
The results suggest that the changing economics of the retirement funding structures
may have forced retirees back to work to mitigate resulting financial shortages in their
retirement accounts; contributing to the increase in the number of employed retirees.
The results also suggest that the three attitudinal responses to bridge employment:
occupational self-efficacy, retirement attitudes, and job satisfaction may affect (a) how
retirees feel about working (Dendinger et al. 2005), and (b) the work-related attitudes of non-retired workers and bridge employees. The changing economics of the
retirement funding structures may also be a contributory factor in extending working
years by older employees. Daugherty (2007) noted that non-retired older workers who
sense the possibility of shortage in their retirement income choose to work longer as a
way to boost the average income for calculating their retirement benefits, and ensure
entitlement of larger Social Security benefits. Implications of the research findings,
significance of the study, and suggestions that may assist interested parties in establishing a more positive outlook of the retirement landscape follow.

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
in the US exploring retirees attitudes and beliefs toward working

Implications of the Research Findings
The current study presented and documented how a set of retirees deal with their
mix of saving, spending, income, and working since replacement of the traditional
DB pension plan with the DC model in 1986 (Cahill et al. 2006).3 The results
showed that retirees are addressing the problem of underfunding, created by the
continued reductions in their retirement accounts, by working longer. Based on
the structure of the study, retirees cited five motives for engaging in post-retirement
employment, in their efforts to cope with the financial shortfall created by the shift
to the DC model from the DB plan structure: income and savings, healthcare benefits, decreasing benefits, mortgage and household obligations, and psychological
benefits. The new theme of obtaining a mortgage in retirement, which emerged in
the data coding process, creates an awareness that can help finance professionals in
tailoring retirement income strategy based on a two-step process: (1) understanding the client’s needs and objectives, and (2) obtaining an appropriate strategic fit
through matching of those needs and objectives with the most appropriate retirement income streams combinations. Understanding a client’s needs can lead to effective determination of spending needs at retirement, what the size of that client’s
portfolio must be at the beginning of his or her retirement in order to fulfill those
needs, and how much the client must save and invest between current period and
the age he or she plans to retire, in order to achieve those financial goals (Lee 2007).
The results indicate that (a) participants who saved under the DB plan structure
could support their retirement living better than those whose retirement plan structure was based on the DC model; (b) the voluntary nature of the DC plan model
has resulted in severe shortages in retirement savings for many older Americans, as
a result of its relationship with the financial markets; (c) the relationship of the DC
plans with the financial markets could warrant that prospective retirees seek the
services of finance professionals to gain the benefits of money management strategies designed to provide needed cash for retirement living; (d) working was more
necessary to retirees who had the DC plans than those with the DB plans; and (e)
working in retirement would be more enjoyable if it extends beyond provision of
economic means to gaining psychological benefits.

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Significance
The results are significant for providing employers, financial services providers, educators, and the government with information needed to determine if relationships exist
between the changing economics of the retirement funding structures and the mix of
factors that motivate retirees to work. Information about the relationships between
post-retirement employment and the changing economics of the retirement funding structures be can useful to finance professionals, and others seeking to educate or
advise individuals about retirement planning. Such information can also help employers, financial planners, financial services providers, and the government to address the
problem of financial shortfall experienced by many retirees in America. Knowledge
about the characteristics of factors that cause retirees to work, and their relationships
to the changing economics of the retirement funding structures, will also affect future
individual retirement planning endeavors and can provide a basis for evaluating the
effectiveness of the current retirement funding structures. Additionally, prospective
retirees can benefit through realizing that services of finance and investment professionals may be necessary to effectively manage their retirement accounts, based on the
relationship with the new (DC) structure and the financial or stock markets.

Suggestions for a More Positive Retirement Outlook
Suggestions are offered in the areas of minimizing income shortage during retirement, handling healthcare costs, managing mortgage expenses, and to encourage
post-retirement employment for psychological and other benefits.4 To minimize income shortages during retirement, financial planning for retirement should start as
early as possible. One initiative may be educative programs that teach about retirement investment management in the schools system. Thus, the necessity of saving
for retirement can be taught to the younger generation’s subconscious through early
education and society. Based on the study’s confirmation that retirement planning
is complex and difficult for many, individuals should be encouraged to seek professional advice at the beginning phase of the planning process. Shad (2006) suggested
that planning for retirement early with the help of a professional can lead to increased savings, revenue, and disposable income, and help people maintain desired
lifestyle in retirement. Employers may offer an option of such services, at subsidized
fees, in their retirement packages to employees.

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
in the US exploring retirees attitudes and beliefs toward working

In an effort to curb rising medical costs and decreasing Medicare benefits for seniors,
employers should consider extending medical benefits for retirees and offer that option in the retirement packages they offer to their employees. Additionally, finance
professionals should offer advice to their clients about incorporating supplemental medical insurance in their retirement planning. If Medicare could not provide
100% coverage or offer the same services for every retired person, as indicated by the
study participants, then a well structured supplemental medical insurance may serve
to fill in any resulting gaps in Medicare coverage. The government may also consider regulating physicians’ care and prescription drugs costs for Medicare recipients.
The trend of entering retirement with a mortgage, which is expected to continue
(Groat, 2005), requires educative initiatives that can help retirees make careful selection of mortgages based on income levels and inclination. Prospective retirees aspiring
to own a mortgage should be advised to consider spending ability based on disposable
income in retirement. For example, a good budget that incorporates housing costs
likely to be forgotten, such as property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, may be helpful. Further, because a retiree’s income is often fixed, use of a fixed-interest mortgage
to secure fixed payments for easier cash flow estimates should be sought by retirement
advisers for their clients. Individuals can also benefit from directives about reviewing
their financial situation to ensure availability of savings needed to pay for any emergencies, such as needed home repairs, accidents, or death in the family.
The finding that working in retirement provides for healthier and happier lifestyles,
including mental fitness (Hass, 2007; Updegrave and Light 2007) leads to recommendation that post-retirement employment is to be encouraged. Working in retirement should also be encouraged due to certain embedded advantages: First, the
economy can be enriched through production of additional goods and services;
especially as the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for people aged 24 to 54 has
fallen since the recession in 2000 (“Older Americans” 2005). Second, working in retirement can lead to growth in a person’s asset base, and increase in his or her annual
social security benefit through withdrawal of funds over a shorter period of time.
Increases in individual retirement asset base can help alleviate longevity risk—the
possibility of people outliving their retirement savings. Third, working in retirement
can help lower social security deficits through delay of benefits payouts. Fourth,
working in retirement can create additional employment tax payments which could
be used to support other government programs.

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Conclusions
With respect to minimizing income shortage during retirement, financial planning
for retirement should start as early as possible. The necessity of saving should also
be taught in schools through educative programs so that the younger generation can
subconsciously become accustomed to saving with little regard to financial conditions. Based on the complex and difficult nature of retirement planning, individuals should seek professional advice at the beginning phase of the planning process.
With respect to rising medical costs and decreasing Medicare benefits, employers
could offer an option for extending medical coverage for retired employees under
the retirement packages they offer their employees. Additionally, finance professionals should advice their clients to incorporate supplemental medical insurance in
their retirement planning, and government may consider regulating physicians’ care
and prescription drugs costs for Medicare recipients. To ease financial burden, retirees who aspire to purchase a home could be advised to do so with due consideration
of their spending ability based on disposable income. Post-retirement employment
could be encouraged as a strategy for allowing seniors to inherit embedded psychological benefits. Post-retirement employment could also be encouraged for other
advantages: production of additional goods and services by retirees while upholding
the labor force participation rate (LFPR), growing personal asset base to ease longevity risk, prevention of social security deficit through delay of benefits payouts, and
creation of additional government revenue through employment taxes.

The Ensuing Grounded Theory
Charmaz (2006) noted: “Grounded theory involves taking comparisons from data
and reaching up to construct abstractions and simultaneously reaching down to
tie these abstractions to data” (p. 181). In the study conducted, the central themes
emerged through data coding focused on the category of work motivators. The consistency of the responses to these themes provided a way to examine the processes
that made the themes central to the study. The creation of abstract interpretation
through the evident themes provided responses to the research questions. Transformation of the data collected into interpretations evidenced as the central themes
formed the foundation of the grounded theory (Charmaz 2006). Constructing a
grounded theory required the integration of process, action, and abstractions into
comprehensive analysis of the data.

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�Living and working in retirement, a new paradigm
in the US exploring retirees attitudes and beliefs toward working

The grounded theory that would have developed from this research study would
suggest the importance of influence of the changing economics of the retirement
funding structures on post-retirement employment. The post-retirement employment theory would clearly present evidence of the effects of the relationship of
the new retirement funding structures, like the DC (401k) plans, with the stock
markets on retirement savings, the proportion of working retirees, and the mix of
factors that motivate retirees to work. However, the sample of 25 concentrated in
the Hartford County Connecticut area may be too small and not a true representative of retirees. Nevertheless, the results of the study proved very useful for further
research in order to develop a more generalized theory that can assist leaders, finance
professionals, and others seeking to educate or advise individuals about retirement
planning in consideration and evaluation of the new retirement landscape.

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�Dendinger, V. M., Adams, G. A., &amp; Jacobson, J. D. (2005). Reasons for working
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NOTES
1. In qualitative research data analysis, saturation is reached when the researcher
subjectively determines that new data no longer provides new insights (Creswell
2004).
2. Leyes (2008) fond that even those thought to be able to afford engaging in traditional retirement (retirement without working) in the American society, are
often seen using paid work to alleviate post-retirement risks, such as longevity risk—outliving one’s assets or investments, inflation, and rising health care
costs.
3. Previous literature comprised documentation about the effect of the underfunding created by the continued reductions in the retirement income sources, but
the current study was the first to explore the characteristics of factors that cause
retirees to work. The current study was also the first to explore what retirees
are doing to cope with the financial shortages experienced in their retirement
accounts.
4. The suggestions are offered as recommendations for leadership and individual
practices in the areas of minimizing income shortage during retirement, handling healthcare costs, managing mortgage expenses, and encouraging postretirement employment for embedded benefits.

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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

English Language and Economic Growth:
Cross-Country Empirical Evidence
Chew Ging LEE
Nottingham University Business School
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
lee.chew-ging@nottingham.edu.my

Abstract
This paper addresses the effect of English proficiency on economic KEYWORDS
growth empirically with Barro-type cross-sectional growth regression. English Language, Economic
The empirical results provide evidence of positive correlation between Growth
initial English proficiency and economic growth only for the countries ARTICLE HISTORY
in the Asia and Europe. Therefore, countries with higher levels of Submitted: 6 October 2011

English proficiency among the fraction of its population are likely to Resubmitted: 15 November 2011
grow faster. This paper suggests that the ability to absorb knowledge is Resubmitted: 15 February 2012
positively related to the level of English proficiency. It implies that the Accepted: 28 March 2012
level of English proficiency can be viewed as a component of human
capital.
JEL Codes: O10, O50

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Introduction
The accumulation of knowledge is generally recognized as having positive effect
on economic growth, in particular, knowledge creation through the firms’ research
and development activities (Romer, 1990; Grossmann and Helpman, 1991; Aghion
and Howitt, 1992; Jones, 1995). At a given point of time, the stock of knowledge
available to an economy is just a subset of existing stock of knowledge. New ideas
and insights created by a developed economy may not be aware by others, although
Keller (2002) suggests that increasing economic integration and the advent of new
means of telecommunication ensure that people in all countries have access to the
same stock of knowledge. This is because the rate of diffusion of new knowledge to
an economy depends heavily on the economy’s absorptive capabilities and the existence of international knowledge spillovers (Coe and Helpman, 1995; Coe, Helpman, and Hoffmaister, 1997; Falvey et al., 2002; Falvey et al., 2004). Therefore,
the production, diffusion and absorption of knowledge determine the volume of
knowledge that is available to an economy.
It is widely accepted that the majority of new knowledge created by developed countries in which English has enjoyed a special status. Furthermore, it is also recognized
that developing countries enjoy efficiency gains if they adopt the knowledge created
in developed countries (Caselli and Coleman, 2000; Caselli and Coleman, 2001; Hall
and Jones, 1999). Crystal (2003) has provided a lengthy discussion on the growth of
the influence of English language and the evidence of the importance of English language in the modern society. Since knowledge itself is largely intangible, it is difficult
to quantify the stock of knowledge. If the number of internationally accepted journals
and published papers can be used as a proxy for the stock of knowledge, we can conclude easily that English has become an effective means of getting access to knowledge.
This is because English language has been an important medium of academic publications. For instance, German Economic Review, the official publication of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik), and Spanish Economic Review,
the official publication of the Spanish Economic Association (Asociación Española de
Economía), are published in English. After 49 volumes with the majority of articles in
German, the Konjunkturpolitik was relaunched as Applied Economics Quarterly at
the beginning of 2003, and now publishes exclusively in English.
The impact of English on daily activities can also be examined. Machinery usually
comes with instructions or manuals in English. Without a basic understanding of
English, workers are generally unable to use this machinery in productive activities

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Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

effectively. Keller (2002) indicates that the language of communication among
R&amp;D engineers in Germany and Italy are invariably in English in the manufacturing industry level. Based on these examples, we cannot deny that individuals are
more likely to be in touch with new knowledge if they have learned English.
The importance of other languages cannot be denied. But, the importance of the
English language as the international language of communication should be emphasized because knowledge is gained either by experience, learning and perception or
through association and reasoning. Sometimes, important creations and discoveries
in countries where English has no special status are published in a local language.
But, to enable the created knowledge to reach much further around the world and
to obtain a higher recognition, they would have been translated into English. This
does not mean all workers in a country must master English. It just suggests at least
a fraction of workers must be fluent in English. The group of workers who are proficient in English will gain access to the new knowledge and then they can translate
the learned knowledge into the local language to allow the learned knowledge to
reach a wider audience.
To date, no known study in economic growth has been carried out to investigate the
effect of English on growth either empirically or theoretically. A small number of
studies have considered the importance of language for spillovers (Caselli and Coleman, 2001; Keller, 2002). Caselli and Coleman (2001) investigate the determinants
of computer-technology adoption with a large sample of countries between 1970 and
1990. They found that the fraction of the population speaking English is statistically
insignificant. Keller (2002) finds that language skills are important for international
technology diffusion. He shows that speaking the same language facilitates the diffusion of technology. Hall and Jones (1999) argue that the differences in output per
worker across countries can be explained by the differences in social infrastructure of
which is partially determined by language. They show that the fraction of the population speaking one of the five primary Western European languages: English, French,
German, Portuguese and Spanish explains the variation of social infrastructure. This
variable also explains the variation of natural logarithm of output per worker. But, the
fraction of the population speaking English is insignificant in these two equations.
The intention of this paper is to fill the existing gap with empirical evidence. This
paper is organized as follows; the first section describes the data collected and also
presents empirical evidence on the relationship between the level of English proficiency and economic growth and the last section is the conclusion.

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Data
In this study, data is combined from three data sources: Sorensen and WhittaJacobsen (2005, table A, 390-393), TOEFL Test and Score Data Summaries: 19931994 and 1995-1996 Editions (www.ets.org), and Barro and Lee (2000). The description of variables and their sources are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Description of Variables and Their Sources
Variable

Explanation

Source

GROWTH

Average annual growth rate of real GDP per
worker from 1960-2000.

Sorensen and Whitta-Jacobsen,
(2005, Table A, p. 390-393)

INVEST

Average investment rate in physical capital
(investment share of GDP) from 1960-2000.

Sorensen and Whitta-Jacobsen,
(2005, Table A, p. 390-393)

GDP60

Real GDP per worker in 1960

Sorensen and Whitta-Jacobsen,
(2005, Table A, p. 390-393)

ENGLISH93

TOEFL total score mean of examinees who took TOEFL Test and Score Data
TOEFL from July 1993 through June 1995.
Summary 1995-96 Edition

ENGLISH91

TOEFL total score mean of examinees who took TOEFL Test and Score Data
TOEFL from July 1991 through June 1993.
Summary 1993-94 Edition

ASIA

1 if a country is classified as Asia or Middle
East, 0 otherwise by TOEFL.

TOEFL Test and Score Data
Summary 1995-96 Edition

AFRICA

1 if a country is classified as Africa, 0 otherwise
by TOEFL.

TOEFL Test and Score Data
Summary 1995-96 Edition

EUROPE

1 if a country is classified as Europe, 0
otherwise by TOEFL.

TOEFL Test and Score Data
Summary 1995-96 Edition

SCHOOL60

Average schooling years in the group of the
population aged 15 and above in year 1960.

Barro and Lee (2000)

Initially, the fraction of population speaking English compiled by Hall and Jones
(1999) that has been used by Caselli and Coleman (2001) is intended to be utilized
as the proxy for English proficiency. However, on further investigation this data
was found to be unsuitable for this study. Firstly, there are only 35 countries with
positive values; others had a value equal to zero. Secondly, this data contains only information about the fraction of population who use English as the «first» language.
Thirdly, the reliability of this data has been questioned. For instance, the value for
Singapore is 0.089, Sri Lanka 0.009, Philippines 0, India 0 and Malaysia 0 in Hall
and Jones (1999). However, the English language has been widely used in the commercial sector of the above-mentioned five countries. English language is also taught
as a compulsory subject at least at high school level in these five countries. Lastly,
the data of Hall and Jones does not provide a measure of English proficiency for the
fraction of population who know English.

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�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

To determine the suitability of a variable as the proxy for English proficiency, we probably have to go through a heated debate similar to the case for the proxies for human
capital and environmental pollution. Based on the illustration in the Introduction,
it is anticipated that the rate of absorption of knowledge for an economy would be
greater if a larger size of the population has a better command of English. A proxy that
can capture these two dimensions: the fraction of population who know English and
the level of English proficiency of this group of individuals has to be identified. Currently, there is no data source that can capture these two dimensions.
Recognizing that the perfect proxy for English proficiency required by this study may
not be available, this study will look for a close proxy which is widely available in the
public domain. Since TOEFL and IELTS are two of the widely recognized tests of
English proficiency, this study intends to consider the scores of one of the tests as the
measure of English proficiency. Generally, these two tests are used to evaluate the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting. Although
both tests consist of four parts: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, they are assessed differently and have different measure of competence in each part. For instance,
IELTS test is scored on a scale of 0 to 9 and the Internet-based TOEFL test is scored
on a scale of 0 to 120. The mean score of IELTS for a country is not available in the
public domain. The mean score of TOEFL can be downloaded from www.ets.org.
Since the mean score of TOEFL examinees is the only widely recognized measure of
English proficiency that is available in the public domain, it is used as the proxy for
English proficiency of a fraction of the population who can speak English. The mean
score of TOEFL examinees is not a perfect proxy required for this study. It does not
fully capture the fraction of population who can speak English because TOEFL exams
are taken by those who plan to live, work or study abroad, particularly in the US, UK,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, only a small fraction of the individuals in a country enroll in TOEFL exams.
The number of TOEFL examinees also varies considerably from one country to another. The number of TOEFL examinees may reflect the amount of resources allocated in the provision of English teaching and also the fraction of population who have
some competence in the English language. The mean score of TOEFL examinees may
reflect the average proficiency level of the mentioned group of individuals. Creating
a new variable by allowing the mean score of TOEFL examinees to interact with the
data of Hall and Jones (1999) has been avoided because this only generates a sample
with 35 positive values. Although there are limitations associated with the mean score
of TOEFL examinees, it is the only widely available measure for English proficiency.

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English language TOEFL Test and Score Data Summary: 1993-1994 Edition provides the earliest available information on TOEFL scores. The number of examinees
for TOEFL Test and Score Data Summary varies from one country to another. For
instance, in 1993-1994 Edition among the countries where score means are reported, the lowest number of examinees is 34 and highest is 260513. Since outliers can
distort average, countries with low number of examinees are excluded. Only countries with at least 1000 examinees are included. The cut-off point of at least 1000
examinees is chosen arbitrarily. A higher cut-off point is avoided so that a reasonable
sample size can be maintained.
Crystal (2003, pp. 62-65) identifies seventy-five economies in which English has
held or continues to hold a special status as either the primary language or second
language. These economies include New Zealand, United States, Singapore and
others. In these countries, the use of English is high among the general population.
Therefore, this group of countries has been omitted from this study because TOEFL
is designed to measure the English proficiency of people whose native language is
not English. Although this group of countries is the main creators of knowledge in
terms of the aggregate volume of created knowledge, some of them are not major
creators of knowledge individually. High percentage of knowledge is transmitted
from some of these countries to others. Putting these data sources together, the total
number of usable observations is only 43 economies, as reported in Table 2. Some
of the included countries have to be recognized by this study, for example France,
Switzerland and others are major creators of knowledge also.
Table 2. Economies Included in This Study
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Denmark

10

Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Greece
Guatemala
Indonesia
Iran

Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Korea
Mexico
Morocco
Netherlands
Norway
Panama
Peru

Portugal
Romania
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan, China
Thailand
Turkey
Venezuela

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

Dummy variables are created for different regions based on the classifications of TOEFL Test and Score Data Summaries. In this study, countries have been grouped under
the classifications of Middle East and Asia regions into a single regional dummy. The
Asia regions are included in this group because there are only four countries classified
under Middle East region and traditionally the countries under these two TOEFL
classifications are classified as Asian countries in the atlas. All regional dummies are
not used as intercept dummies that are the common approach in existing empirical
studies (Barro, 1991, 1997; Easterly and Levine, 1995; Feng, 2003). They will be used
as slope dummies to interact with either ENGLISH91 or ENGLISH93.

Results
The Barro-type cross-sectional growth regression is utilized in this study. This crosssectional regression captures conditional convergence by introducing the initial GDP
per capita that is measured by real GDP per worker in 1960, GDP60, as an independent variable. GROWTH is the dependent variable used in this study. There is a possibility of the endogeneity problem arising in this research due to the reverse causality
between economic growth and English proficiency. For instance, economic growth
leads to increased demand for English speaking employees and thus to higher English
proficiency. To tackle this issue, initial English proficiency is used as an independent
variable. Mean scores of TOEFL obtained from the TOEFL Test and Score Data Summaries: 1993-1994 and 1995-1996 Editions computed from paper-based TOEFL test
are used as the initial English proficiency level. They are denoted as TOEFL91 and
TOEFL93, respectively. Both TOEFL91 and TOEFL93 are used to represent the
initial English proficiency level in different regression model because in the earlier
cross-country studies related to human capital, it has been observed that the empirical
results are highly sensitive to the choices of proxy and the types of dataset been used.
Since GROWTH is the average annual growth rate of real GDP per worker from
1960-2000 and the year associated with either TOEFL91 or TOEFL91 is within the
whole period, the issue related to endogeneity may not be fully addressed.
The panel data estimation methods, which are commonly used in the estimation growth
equation, for instance the works of Baldacci, Clements, Gupta, and Cui (2008) and
Caselli et al. (1996), was not used in this study because it is not possible to obtain long
enough data for the mean score of TOEFL of each selected country. New TOEFL tests
have been developed over the last decade. Initially, the TOEFL test was paper-based.

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However, in 1998, the computer-based TOEFL test was introduced. Subsequently,
the Internet-based TOEFL test was developed in September 2005. With the introduction of Internet-based TOEFL tests, computer-based TOEFL tests were discontinued
in September 2006. Currently, paper-based TOEFL test is offered on a limited basis to
support the Internet-based TOEFL testing network. The maximum score of each test
is different. For instance, the maximum score of Internet-based TOEFL test is 120,
paper-based TOEFL test is 677 and computer-based TOEFL test is 300.
The regression results are reported in Tables 3, 4 and 5. It has been noted that, in
the existing empirical studies, the significance of one independent variable can be
affected by the choices of data and groups of independent variables used (Levine and
Renelt, 1992; Sala-i-Martin, 1997). Equation (1) is the base model, which captures
common control variables observed in the literature and the proxy for initial English
proficiency is only introduced in the remaining equations. Two control variables
(INVEST and GDP60) were used to keep the regression models simple and to prevent the debate on the suitability of other variables. INVEST and GDP60 are both
statistically significant at 1% level for all equations reported in Table 3. They showed
the expected result. These results are consistent with previous studies.
ENGLISH91 and ENGLISH93 are statistically insignificant in Equation (2) and
Equation (3), respectively. But, they have the expected positive result. The lack of
significance of the coefficient of either ENGLISH91 or ENGLISH93 warrants some
careful analysis. At this stage, it is premature to conclude that English proficiency has
no impact on economic growth because it is assumed that the effects of English proficiency are homogeneous across continents. Whether English proficiency has an effect
on economic growth is a problem of the specification of a model. To overcome this
problem, slope regional dummies were introduced into Equation (4) and Equation
(5) of the study. ENGLISH91 and ENGLISH93 are still statistically insignificant.
The signs for both of them are different. ENGLISH91 has a negative sign which
against the argument that the level of English proficiency has a positive effect on
economic growth. Among the slope regional dummies, only ASIA and EUROPE are
significant. There are only 3 countries associated with AFRICA. The low number of
observations in AFRICA may be the reason why this slope dummy is statistically insignificant. Comparing Equation (4) and Equation (5), each regional dummy has same
sign and similar magnitude. Based on F-test, ENGLISH91 and ENGLISH91xAFRICA are jointly insignificant even at 10% level in Equation (4). ENGLISH93 and
ENGLISH93xAFRICA of Equation (5) are also jointly insignificant at 10% level.
Therefore, these jointly insignificant variables are omitted to estimate Equation (6)
and Equation (7).

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�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

In Equation (6) and Equation (7), all left-hand side variables are significant at 1%
level. The coefficient of each left-hand side variable for these two equations has
a similar magnitude. Both these final equations also have R 2 of slightly above
0.7. All the earlier equations have R 2 lower than both these two final equations
reported in Table 3. Interaction terms between ASIA and either ENGLISH91 or
ENGLISH93 are significant
Table 3. Regression Results: GROWTH as the Dependent Variable
Equation
(1)

(2)

(3)

5.69x10-3
(0.0292)

4.71x10-3
(0.0306)

(4)
0.0135
(0.0265)

(5)

(6)

(7)

0.0137
8.64x10-3
0.0137
(0.0265) (3.76x10-3)a (3.76x10-3)a

INTERCEPT

9.98x10-3
(3.84x10-3)b

GDP60

-1.26x10-6 -1.29x10-6 -1.29x10-6 -1.19x10-6 -1.19x10-6 -1.22x10-6 -1.22x10-6
(1.86x10-7)a (2.33x10-7)a (2.25x10-7)a (1.73x10-7)a (1.67x10-7)a (1.41x10-7)a (1.40x10-7)a

INVEST

0.1400
(0.0170)a

0.1397
(0.0171)a

0.1397
(0.0171)a

ENGLISH91x
AFRICA

8.89x10-6
(1.13x10-5)

ENGLISH91x
ASIA

2.84x10-5
(8.90x10-6)a

2.93x10-5
(8.70x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
ASIA

2.94x10-5
(8.52x10-6)a

ENGLISH91x
EUROPE

2.62x10-5
(6.38x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
EUROPE
2

0.0727
(0.0217)a

8.47x10-6
(1.13x10-5)

ENGLISH93x
AFRICA

R

0.0728
(0.0218)a

6.00x10-6
(4.66x10-5)

1.04x10-5
(5.76x10-5)

ENGLISH93

0.0787
(0.0221)a

-3.11x10-6
(4.79x10-5)

8.52x10-6
(5.58x10-5)

ENGLISH91

0.0783
(0.0223) a

2.82x10-5
(8.79x10-6)a
2.62x10-5
(5.46x10-6)a

2.56x10-5
(6.17x10-6)a
0.5598

0.5487

0.5488

0.6992

0.6994

2.60x10-5
(5.42x10-6)a
0.7096

0.7096

Statistically significant at the 1% level in a two-tailed test.
Statistically significant at the 5% level in a two-tailed test.
c
Statistically significant at the 10% level in a two-tailed test.
Standard errors are in the parentheses and are constructed from White’s (1980)
heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix.
a

b

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at 1% level as reported. The same conclusion also applies to interaction terms between EUROPE and either ENGLISH91 or ENGLISH93. This implies that the
level of English proficiency has a positive impact on the economic growth of Asian
and European economies only. The economies in other regions do not enjoy the
positive effects of English language on growth probably due to internal factors, such
as political instability, market distortion, policy uncertainty and lack of political
freedom. These internal factors may disrupt market activities and threaten the effective use of human capital.
To keep the models simple, the regression models obtained in Table 3 have only two
control variables: INVEST and GDP60. These regression models lack a general education variable, which may lead to misspecification of model. Furthermore, some
researchers may suggest that the results in Table 3 are obtained because the English
language variable has acted as a proxy for general education. To check whether the
results of English language variable are robust to the inclusion of other common
independent variables and to prevent the misspecification of model, initial average
years of schooling, SCHOOL60, is introduced in the regression models reported
in Table 4. Recognizing that the interaction of the dummy variable associated with
African countries and initial English proficiency is insignificant in the earlier results
and there are only three African countries in this sample, ENGLISH91xAFRICA
and ENGLISH93xAFRICA are omitted.

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�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

Table 4. Regression Results: GROWTH as the Dependent Variable
Equation
(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

0.0115
(0.0047)b

0.0109
(0.0333)

0.0107
(0.0354)

0.0338
(0.0321)

0.0295
(0.0332)

GDP60

-1.32x10-6
(2.4x10-7)a

-1.33x10-6
(2.5x10-7)a

-1.33x10-6
(2.43x10-7)a

-1.24x10-6
(1.95x10-7)a

-1.25x10-6
(1.91x10-7)a

INVEST

0.1273
(0.0296)a

0.1273
(0.0309)a

0.1273
(0.0311)a

0.0542
(0.0352)

0.0550
(0.0354)

SCHOOL60

4.5x10-4
(1.1x10-3)

4.4x10-4
(1.2x10-3)

4.4x10-4
(1.2x10-3)

6.6x10-4
(1.0x10-3)

6.2x10-4
(1.1x10-3)

INTERCEPT

-3.57x10-5
(5.6x10-5)

1.05x10-6
(6.18x10-5)

ENGLISH91

-2.73x10-5
(5.72x10-5)

1.46x10-6
(6.5x10-6)

ENGLISH93
ENGLISH91x
ASIA

2.77x10-5
(8.57x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
ASIA

2.78x10-5
(8.44x10-6)a

ENGLISH91x
EUROPE

2.87x10-5
(6.99x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
EUROPE
R

2.82x10-5
(6.82x10-6)a

2

0.5429

0.5302

0.5302

0.7007

0.6998

Statistically significant at the 1% level in a two-tailed test.
Statistically significant at the 5% level in a two-tailed test.
c
Statistically significant at the 10% level in a two-tailed test.
Standard errors are in the parentheses and are constructed from White’s (1980)
heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix.
a

b

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Table 5. Regression Results: GROWTH as the Dependent Variable
Equation
(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

0.0116
(4.8x10-3)b

0.0116
(0.0048)b

0.0254
(4.6x10-3)a

0.0253
(4.6x10-3)a

GDP60

-1.35x10-6
(2.51x10-7)a

-1.35x10-6
(2.5x10-7)a

-1.3x10-6
(2.0x10-7)a

-1.3x10-6
(1.99x10-7)a

INVEST

0.1258
(0.0282)a

0.1259
(0.0281)a

0.0630
(0.0241)b

0.0630
(0.0240)b

ENGLISH91x
SCHOOL60

9.92x10-7
(1.8x10-6)

INTERCEPT

ENGLISH93x
SCHOOL60

-4.82x10-6
(2.0x10-6)b
-4.77x10-6
(1.98x10-6)b

9.7x10-7
(1.79x10-6)

ENGLISH91x
SCHOOL60x
ASIA

7.44x10-6
(2.31x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
SCHOOL60x
ASIA

7.39x10-6
(2.29x10-6)a

ENGLISH91x
SCHOOL60x
EUROPE

6.84x10-6
(1.67x10-6)a

ENGLISH93x
SCHOOL60x
EUROPE
R

2

6.79x10-6
(1.65x10-6)a
0.5442

0.5441

0.7170

0.7166

Statistically significant at the 1% level in a two-tailed test.
Statistically significant at the 5% level in a two-tailed test.
c
Statistically significant at the 10% level in a two-tailed test.
Standard errors are in the parentheses and are constructed from White’s (1980)
heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix.
a

b

Equation (8) is the base model reported in Table 4 with the addition of SCHOOL60
but without any initial English proficiency and the interaction terms of dummy variables. The results associated with GDP60 and INVEST are similar to those obtained
from Equation (1). SCHOOL60 is statistically insignificant but its estimated coefficient has the expected positive sign. The proxies for initial English proficiency are in-

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�English Language and Economic Growth: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

troduced in Equations (9) and (10). SCHOOL60 is still statistically insignificant. The
results for other independent variables are similar to those obtained from Equations
(2) and (3). Interaction terms, ASIAxENGLISH91 and EUROPExENGLISH91, are
introduced into Equation (9) for the estimation of Equation (11). To estimate Equation (12), interaction terms, ASIAxENGLISH93 and EUROPExENGLISH93, are
added to Equation (10). In both Equations (11) and (12), INVEST becomes statistically insignificant. Initial English proficiency variable in both equations is statistically
insignificant with negative sign. The interaction terms of initial English proficiency
with either ASIA or EUROPE are statistically significant at 1% level with sign and
magnitude similar to the earlier estimated equations.
Table 4 has produced surprising results indicating that initial schooling is not correlated with economic growth. Furthermore, investment becomes statistically insignificant when the interaction terms between initial English proficiency and regional
dummy variables have been introduced as additional independent variables. Instead
of analyzing the effects of initial English proficiency and initial schooling separately
in this study, these two variables have been allowed to interact to obtain a new
proxy for initial human capital: ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60 or ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60. Table 5 provides the results of the estimated models where this new
proxy for initial human capital has been introduced as an independent variable.
Equations (13) and (14) are the base models with 3 independent variables: GDP60,
INVEST and either ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60 or ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60.
All these independent variables are significant at 1% level, except ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60 in Equation (13) and ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60 in Equation (14).
These two new proxies for initial human capital are allowed to interact with ASIA
and EUROPE dummy variables in the estimation of Equations (15) and (16). In
both equations, all independent variables are statistically significant at least at 5%
level. All these independent variables have the expected signs with the exception of
the estimated coefficient of either ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60 or ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60. The negative estimated coefficient of the initial human capital in each
estimated equation implies that for Latin American and African countries, this initial
human capital and economic growth are negatively correlated. However, for Asian
and European countries the initial human capital is positively correlated with economic growth because in absolute value the estimated coefficient of ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60 is smaller than that of either ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60xASIA or
ENGLISH91xSCHOOL60xEUROPE and the estimated coefficient of ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60 is smaller than that of either ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60xASIA or ENGLISH93xSCHOOL60xEUROPE.

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�Chew Ging LEE

The empirical results reported in Tables 3, 4 and 5 are unable to find statistically
significant correlation between economic growth and the proxy for initial English
proficiency if the effects of initial English proficiency are treated homogeneously
across continents. With the introduction of interaction terms between continental
dummy variables and initial English proficiency into the regression models, statistically significant correlation between economic growth and the proxy for initial English proficiency can be found for countries in Asia and Europe. Therefore, there is
no unanimous evidence to support the positive contribution of English proficiency
to economic growth across all countries. English proficiency will have a positive
impact on economic growth if the increase in English proficiency is complemented
with a minimum threshold of physical capital, technology, political stability, good
governance and other factors. The improvement in English proficiency without sufficient accumulation of physical capital, technology and social capital will be add
significantly to the economic growth of a country. This probably explains why English proficiency does not contribute to the economic growth of the countries outside
Asia and Europe. Hence, English proficiency can be seen as a necessity but not sufficient condition for economic growth.

Conclusion
The spectacular growth of Asian countries can be attributed to the heavy investment in the creation of human capital that fosters a English-speaking culture and
promotes a climate of the use of English. An increase in English proficiency will
directly accelerate the knowledge absorptive capabilities of workers. A similar argument can be applied to European economies, which also enjoy a positive growth
rate. This study does not find any evidence about the effects of English language on
the economic growth of Latin American and African countries. This indicates that
a satisfactory understanding of the effect of English language on economic growth
requires an appreciation of how the formation of institutions, stability and certainty
can encourage the accumulation of knowledge. It is important not to forget the fact
that even if this study is able to find a positive relationship between the proficiency
level of English and the growth rate in a cross-sectional data, establishing this relationship can be very difficult under different empirical framework and different
measures for the proficiency level of English.

18

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

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19

�Falvey, R., Foster, N. &amp; Greenaway, D. (2002). North-South trade, knowledge spillovers and growth. Journal of Economic Integration, 17, 650-670.
Falvey, R., Foster, N. &amp; Greenaway, D. (2004). Imports, exports, knowledge spillovers and growth. Economics Letters, 85, 209-213.
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Grossmann, G. M., &amp; Helpman, E. (1991). Innovation and Growth in the Global
Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hall, R. E., &amp; Jones, C. I. (1999). Why do some countries produce so much more
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Growth &amp; Business Cycles, McGraw-Hill Companies.
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Sala-I-Martin, X. X. (1997). I just ran two million regressions. AEA Papers and Proceedings American Economic Review, 87, 178-183.
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a direct test for heteroscedasticity. Econometrica, 48, 817-838.

20

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�</text>
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                <text>This paper addresses the effect of English proficiency on economic  growth empirically with Barro-type cross-sectional growth regression.  The empirical results provide evidence of positive correlation between  initial English proficiency and economic growth only for the countries  in the Asia and Europe. Therefore, countries with higher levels of  English proficiency among the fraction of its population are likely to  grow faster. This paper suggests that the ability to absorb knowledge is  positively related to the level of English proficiency. It implies that the  level of English proficiency can be viewed as a component of human  capital.</text>
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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

A Simple Model Referring Evasion
Case in Albanian Pension System
Eglantina HYSA
Epoka University
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences
Tirana, Albania
ehysa@epoka.edu.al

ABSTRACT
This study deals with the relationship between underreported earnings, KEYWORDS
savings and old-age pension. The presented model is taken from the Reporting Earnings, Proportional
paper “Underreported Earnings and Old-Age Pension System: An Pension, Basic Pension, MeansElementary System” of Hungarian Academy of Science and is applied tested Pension
to the Albanian data. Three pension systems have been compared: 1the proportional, 2- the proportional plus basic pension and, 3- the
proportional with means testing. The workers are grouped such as, awell-paid who report their full earnings (so-called the evaders), b- wellpaid who report only the minimum earnings and c- the poorly paid. It
is assumed that the evaders have a hidden part of earnings for their old-

ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 16 September 2011
Resubmitted: 4 Spring 2012
Resubmitted: 10 February 2012
Accepted: 27 March 2012

age. The main result of the study is the following: if the evaders can be
recognized and excluded, then the best system is the means-tested one.
JEL Codes: H55, D91

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�Eglantina HYSA

Introduction
As far as global economy is considered, the pension system is found to be one of the
most discussed systems as the main pillar of the life-long expenditure distribution.
Ex-communist countries, such as Albania, are often found face to face with the immediate need of reforms in such systems. Developing countries have difficulties in
choosing the appropriate pension system because of a large gamma of variable that
can be used in the model, different characteristics countries and the lack of a fix “receipt”. Meanwhile, the experience of the developed countries have to be considered
important.
The aim of this paper is to develop a model of pension system by using the Albanian
official Statistical Data and considering general knowledge about this market.
There exist two pure forms of mandatory pension systems: the proportional, which
reflects the life-long contributions, and the basic benefit, which relies in fixed quote
(defined benefit). Proportional pension system transforms the workers’ savings into
pensions proportionally to their earnings, while the flat benefit, is paid independently to the earnings. At the same time there can exist a lot of combinations between these two extrem systems (Disney, 2004). For example, the British system
provides a flat benefit for each individual, whereas additional pensions are taken
into consideration in the mean-testing. Another example can be the case of Hungarian pension system, a combination of proportional and basic system (Augusztinovics and Martos, 1996)
This study is based on the study made by the Institute of Economics, Hungarian
Academy of Science (2008). The Hungarian system is a combination of both systems, the proportional and the basic one. The third system we deal with is that of
means-tested, which take into consideration additional pensions.
There exist a debate to remove the fixed component, which favorize the poorlypaid workes with short contrats. The debates pushed toward proposals such as the
immediate need of a new system combining the fixed component and the proportional one. This study presents the means-tested system which has lower costs and
increases the low pensions only.
The level of the informal economy in the region countries and especially in Albania,
is widely studied but often without coming to a consolidate conclusion. However,
this phenomenon prompted the Albanian government in 2006 and 2007 to un-

144

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�A Simple Model Referring Evasion Case in Albanian Pension System

dertake a more comprehensive survey conducted in the labor market. The aim was
to minimize the underreporting of private sector wages. The Council of Ministers,
in 4th of May, 2007 determined the monthly reference salary to be used for the
calculation of social security contributions and health, and personal income tax, according to the nomenclature of economic activity (for employees in the non-public
performing unskilled jobs).
Self-employed workforce in the agricultural sector is considered poorly-paid (the
minimum legal quota). While those who claim less income than they earn, are the
people who ignore the old-age pension and thus save some of the hidden income for
the period of retirement.

Literature Review
There exist two main forms of mandatory systems. The first one is known to be the
German system. In this system, a benefit proportional to lifetime contributions
which provides a generous relative pension for everybody but requires quite high
mandatory contribution rate. The second one is known to be the original British
system. In this system, a universal flat pension which alleviates old-age poverty with
modest mandatory contribution rate but requires complementary benefits. Another
type of pension system can be considered the means-tested system. The fixed quota
is conditional and if the proportional benefit is lower than the minimum value,
then the benefit is topped up to the minimum. Friedman and Cohen (1972) have
dialed with the comparison of a universal flat pension and the means-tested and
have suggested the reduction of the welfare program size by replacing the former by
the latter.
According to Feldstein (1987), the fact that the optimal choice between a meanstested program and a universal program depends on the character of the working
population has an important general implication for the design of social security
programs. It implies that, if the working population can be subdivided into groups
that differ in the relevant parameters, it may be optimal to have a means-tested
program for some groups and a universal program for others. He found that welfare
is higher in the optimal means-tested system compared to the universal one. In his
model he neglected wage heterogeneity and labor supply flexibility. As a consequence the flat plus benefit reduces to a flat benefit and the means-tested benefit is

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�Eglantina HYSA

zero for the life-cyclers. The study of Augusztinovics (2005) has shown that there
will be considerable differences among cohorts in the wage level and also a large
part of the cohorts retiring in the next decades will have quite low pensions. A later
study of Augusztinovics and Köllő (2008) demonstrated the occurrence of differences through the cohort. As a solution of poverty these studies have suggested: 1- a
significant scaling down of the present proportional benefits and contribution rate
and 2- introducing a universal flat benefit, to be financed from new taxes.
Barr and Diamond (2008) following the analysis of Varian (1980) have strongly
emphasized the insurance provided by the progressive pension system when the
future earnings are uncertain at the start. The insurance function of the pension system has been neglected here. They studied the Chile’s means-tested pension system
where they founded that the lower-paid savings would increase, whereas the others
savings would have a decrease. But the overall situation would slightly improve. In
another study, Fehr and Habermann (2008) have founded that their optimum is a
strong progressive system. They computed a general equilibrium model by taking
into consideration the individual risk of career paths and life spans. They used the
concept of a socially optimal “progressive pension arrangement” by determining the
key parameters. The means-tested was excluded from their analysis.

Models of pension systems
Proportional Pensions
In this study the model of Hungarian Academy of Science is used and applied for
the Albanian case. The population number is taken unchanged, making the assumption that each young is active in the labor market and each old person is in retirement. R is the symbol of working years for a normal worker and S, the years spend
in pension. Dependency ratio defined as the rapport between the pension years and
the working years is µ = S R . The “wage” presents the total wage cost, which is
used as total wage and denoted by w . Contribution of each individual in the pension fond is forcasted to be equal to the rate τ of total reported wage. Fiscal effects
have been eleminated. Another assumption in the model is that the reporting or not
of the exact income will not be directly related the the pension system applied in the
country. Lastly, the system is taken in equilibrium, the incomes equals the expenses.

146

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�wage
cost,aswhich
usedand
as denoted
total wage
by wof
. Contribution
of each
wage cost, which
is used
total is
wage
byand
w . denoted
Contribution
each individual
in theindi
fond
is equal
forcasted
to rate
be equal
thereported
rate τ ofwage.
total reported
wage.have
Fiscal
effec
pension fond is pension
forcasted
to be
to the
τ of to
total
Fiscal effects
been
eleminated.
Another
assumption
thethe
model
is thatorthe
or not
of thewill
exact
eleminated. Another
assumption
in the
model is in
that
reporting
notreporting
of the exact
income
be directly
related the
the pension
applied in
the country.
Lastly,
the sys
not be directly not
related
the the pension
system
applied system
in the country.
Lastly,
the system
is taken
A
Simple
Model
Referring
Evasion
Case
in
Albanian
Pension
System
the incomes
equals the expenses.
in equilibrium, in
theequilibrium,
incomes equals
the expenses.

The rate
of informal
economy
found
to be
the largest
in Albania
compared
The rate of informal
economy
is found
to be isthe
largest
in Albania
compared
to the
other
in the region (approximately
50% is
ofthe
GDP).
is the
reason of
countries in thecountries
region (approximately
50% of GDP). This
mainThis
reason
of main
categorizing
thecate
The rateworkers
of informal
economy
is found
to be the largest in Albania compared to the
in
three
different
types:
workers in three different types:
other countries in the region (approximately 50% of GDP). This is the main reason
of categorizing
the
workers in workers
three different
types:L)
1)
Poorly-paid
(denoted

1)
Poorly-paid workers (denoted L)
2)
Middle or
highly-paid
workers
categorized according to their reporting status:
2) Middle or
categorized
1) highly-paid
Poorly-paidworkers
workers (denoted
L) according to their reporting status:
The workers
reporting
all(R)
their incomes (R)
The workers
reporting
all their
incomes
Theworkers
workers
unrreporting
theirtoincomes
(U). status:
or highly-paid
categorized
according
their reporting
-2) Middle
The workers
unrreporting
their
incomes
(U).
-

The workers reporting all their incomes (R)

and
ƒL , being
positive
The
frequency
each is
type
workerƒ(U).
isƒas
follows:
ƒR, ƒUall
ƒL , being
positives
andallhaving
The frequency
typeunrreporting
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worker
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- per
Theeach
workers
their
incomes
R,
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a sumspecial
of 1. Incase
some
caseeconomies
of developed
economies
whereisfiscal
is pr
a sum of 1. In some
of special
developed
where
fiscal evasion
prettyevasion
nothing,
and ƒL , beingthe
all total
positives
The frequency
per
eachfrequencies
type of worker
is be
as follows:
ƒR,0.ƒUConsidering
one
of
these
can
equal
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work
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as
a
one of these frequencies can be equal to 0. Considering the total work force as a unit, the workeruni
and having a sumisof
1. Intosome
special case of developed economies where fiscal
stated
number is statednumber
to be equal
to 1. be equal to 1.

evasion is pretty nothing, one of these frequencies can be equal to 0. Considering
the totalIn
work
as a unit,the
theproximate
worker
is stated
equal
toalbanian
1.( by focusing
the
attemption
to
aim
of to
thebeactual
system, on
( bythefocu
In the attemption
to force
proximate
aim
of number
the the
actual
albanian
system,
undertaken
reforms), the
it is
supposed
that
in thethe
basic
system
the
individuals
receiv
undertaken
reforms),
it is
supposed
that
in
system
individuals
receive
what they
In the
attemption
to proximate
aim
ofthe
thebasic
actual
albanian
system,
( by focusing


 in
represents
therate
contribution
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thisactual
system
report,
which
is denoted
by *. that
on the is
undertaken
reforms),
supposed
the basic system
the
 it isrepresents
the
contribution
in individuals
this system.
The
report, which
denoted
by *.
∗
 benefits are: b and b
earnings
of
the
workers
are:
and
,
while
their
w

w
w
τ represents
the contribution
they are:
report,
denoted
by U*. their
earningsreceive
of thewhat
workers
benefits
are:
wR which
 wU isand
wL ,R while
b R and b U  b LR. Based U
L

w
=
w
andreported
wL , earnings;
rate in this
system.
The
actual
earnings
of
the
workers
are:
R
U the
on the abovetheassumptions,
the∗benefits are
to
b R    wR andb R
on the above assumptions,
benefits
to proportional
the reported
earnings;
∗
∗are proportional
while
their benefits
are: b R and b U = b L . Based on the above assumptions, the

where  is therate
replacement
rate in the∗ proportional
b U   wisL , the
∗ Some system.
in the
importantSom
bU   benefits
wL , where
b∗ R proportional
= β ∗ wR and bsystem.
are proportional toreplacement
the reported earnings;
U = β wL
such
asL to
thebecase
be legallywage
the
minimum
wage
there
details such
as details
the
ofreplacement
w
legally
minimum
when
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there when
is no the
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andis n
L toproportional
, where
β ∗ case
is the
rateofinwthe
the
system.
Some
fictitious
partial
employment
will
be
simplyfied
in
this
model.
(Kertesi
and
Kollo,
20
fictitiousdetails
partial
employment
will
simplyfied
this model.
Kollo,
wLbe
to be
legally theinminimum
wage(Kertesi
when theand
there
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such
as the case of
Tonin,
2005).
Tonin, 2005).
actual and
fictitious
partial employment will be simplyfied in this model. (Kertesi
and Kollo, 2003 and Tonin, 2005).

and the
Theearnings
total reported
earnings
by actual
( WL ), ones
), and the
are actual
( W ), ones
whichareare( Wequal
The total reported
are denoted
by are
( W denoted
L ), whi
The total reported earnings are denoted byL ( WL ), and the actual ones are (LWL ),
to:
to:
which are equal to:
and
  fand
 f R  fU W
WL  f R wR   fUWL f L fw
wRR  f Lf RwL fU wR  f L wL
Rw
U  f L wL WR 
LR
WL = f R wR + ( fU + f L )wL
and
WR = ( f R + fU )wR + f L wL




the
system
istosupposed
to be in
equilibrium,
Wthe
rela
WL . So
the rela
Since the
system
is supposed
to be
in
equilibrium,
then,
 WL  then,
WL ..So
So
relation
between
Lthe
Since
theSince
system
is supposed
be in
equilibrium,
then,
∗





the
replacement
rate
tion between
the contribution
rate,
the
contribution
the
replacement
 τandand
the contribution
rate,
and therate,
replacement
rate
is
  :   rate
 is  :   
Given that the
replacement
rates
higher,that
it isthose
assumed that
those their
who earnings
report all th
Given that
thethat
replacement
rates
are
it isitare
assumed
Given
the replacement
rateshigher,
are higher,
is assumed
that thosewho
whoreport
reportall
all
will not
money
to consume
in the future.
However,
the
evaders
will save to
prop
will not their
saveearnings
money
to save
consume
in the
future.
However,
the evaders
willthe
save
proportionally
will
not save money
to
consume
in the future.
However,
evaders
what
they
do
not
report
in
order
to
consume
in
the
old-age.
Saving
rate
is
what they
report in order
consume
in theinold-age.
Saving rate
supposed to be:supp
willdo
savenot
proportionally
to whattothey
do not report
order to consume
in theisold-

age. Saving rate is supposed to be: 0  σ  τ ∗ , and annual savings: σ (wR − wL )
. The efficiency ratio is: ρR σS which can be equal to, smaller or greater than 1.

The comparison between “Young-Age Consumption” and “Old-Age Consumption”
is used to have the full picture of the whole life cycle consumption.

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Young-age consumption is:

(

)

(

)

(

)

c∗ R = 1 − τ ∗ wR ; c∗U = 1 − τ ∗ wL + (1 − σ )(w R − wL ) ; c∗ L = 1 − τ ∗ wL
Old-age consumption is:

d ∗ R = b∗ R ;

d ∗U = b∗ L + ρ (wR − wL ) ; d ∗ L = b∗ L

In the proportional system, the actual or reported low earning ensure a low pension
and a low consumption in the old-age.

Basic Pension System
In this system, the contribution rate is supposed to be given as: b0 which is financed
from a consumption tax rate ιˆ . Each individal will pay his/her proportional tax
after each consumption. This kind of reform, the scaling-down of the proportional
system and a simultaneous introduction of a basic pension, has been enspired by
the work done of several authors (Augusztinovics, 2005; Barabas, 2006). The gross
pensions are as follows:

b
bˆR = βˆwR + 0
1 − ιˆ

and

b
bˆU = bˆL = βˆwL + 0
1 − ιˆ

Different from the pension contribution, the payment of the consumption taxes
are assumed to be unavoidable. However, this kind of system can be difficult to be
applied in Albania. The lack of box offices, the problem of tax evasion, indirectly
VAT calulation method, (all included in the informal economy), are some of the
problematic issues making the application of this system difficult.
No saving is assumed to be present in the basic pension system. Total consumption
is equal to total production, being equal to total incomes too. Since µ pensioners
correspond to 1 worker, the tax equation is as follows:

µb0 = ιˆWR
The down-scaled contribution τw finance only the reduced labor pension
βˆw : τˆWL = µβˆWL , so τˆ = µβˆ .
The equation below emphasizes the assumption that all total expenses are unchanged.

148

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�A Simple Model Referring Evasion Case in Albanian Pension System

τˆWL + ιˆWR = τ ∗WL
By replacing ιˆ from old equation to the new one then,

τˆWL + µb0 = τ ∗WL
The reduced contribution can be determined as follows:

τˆ = τ ∗ −

µb0
WL

It is supposed that µb0 ≤ τ WL in order to have positive contribution so,
b0 ≤ τ ∗WL µ .
∗

Young consumption is:

cˆR = (1 − ιˆ )(1 − τˆ )wR ; cˆU = (1 − ιˆ )(1 − τˆ )wL + (1 − σ )(w R − wL ) ;
cˆL = (1 − ιˆ )(1 − τˆ )wL
Old consumption is:

[

]

dˆR = (1 − ιˆ )bˆR ; dˆU = (1 − ιˆ ) bˆL + ρ (w R − wL ) ; dˆL = (1 − ιˆ )bˆL
Benefits and consumption of workers who report lower incomes / or actually have
low incomes, have increased significantly compared to the proportional system. The
benefits of type R have been reduced.

Means-tested Pension System
This is the last type of the pension systems analysed in this paper. The two previous systems can have some evident problems. For example, in the basic system, the
workers reportiong their full earnings, (R), will benefit less than those in the proportional system. Those who do not fully report their earnings, (U), will benefit more
than the part they do not report. The third system, means-tested, will try to enhance
the problematic issues faced in the presented systems. In this case the goverment can
distinguish the needy person (L) and the evader (U).

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Now there are three types of benefits: bR = β wR ; bU = β wU and bL = bˆL where
bˆL = β wL . In this model the benefits of needy persons are the only ones to be financed by the taxes: µf L bˆL − β wL = i WR

(

)

Contributes τ w are financed from the proportional component β w : τ = µβ . By
using the last equation then,

τ WL + i WR = τ ∗WL
τ W + µf LbˆL − f Lτ wL = τ ∗WL
U

The contribution rate in the model of means-tested is:

τ =

τ ∗WL − f L µbˆL
WL − f L wL

It is supposed that τ ∗WL ≥ f L µbˆL in order to have a positive contribution rate. The
only difference between the means-rested system and proportional one is the exclusion of the evaders. By excluding the evaders, the needy pension increases and the
pension of highly-paid persons decreases, without making the distinguish between
fully reported or not.

Albanian Case
Data specification and determination
Based on the the statistical data of average mean for the Albanian population working average years before retiring are R = 35.
35 Substracting the working average years
from average living years, which is found to be 74 years for the albanians, and supposing that the average years of entering to labor market is 20 (taking into account
both qualified and unqualified workers), it is calculated that the average time spend
in retirement is 20 years, denoted by S . The dependency ratio, which is the rapport
0.57
of retirement years to working years, is µ = 0.57.
The calculations related to the revenus are based on employment data of average
salaries according to sectors published by INSTAT (2007). The following assumption have been done because of the lack of detailed data corresponding employment
salaries.

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�A Simple Model Referring Evasion Case in Albanian Pension System

1- All the labor force founded in public institutions or in private sectors (except the
agricultural sector) are categorised as well-paid individuals.
2- The work force founded in the agriculture sector are assumed to be poorly-paid
individuals.
3- The Albanian informal economy, (in year 2004 OECD “measured” that the informal level in Albania to be 30%-60%), is assumed to be 50%.
4- All the individuals working at public institutions report their fully earnings.
Based on the above assumptions and data of INSTAT, employers distributions is as
below:

f R = 0.3 ; fU = 0.12
0.12 and f L = 00.58
.58
The rapport of earning distribution between well-paid and poorly-paid is calculated
to be 4.3 (It is assumed that the average salary in the privat sector is 60.000 ALL, in
the public sector 35.650 ALL and the minimal wage in the privat sector, excluding
agricultiral sector, is 14.000 ALL). Briefly, the earning distribution is wR = 4.3 ,
wL = 1 . The average reported wage is WL = 2 , which is consistend to albanian data
published by the Institute of Statistics, 2x140000=28000 ALL.
In addition, it is assumed also that the basic benefit is equal to the half of the average proportional pension b0 = τWL (2 µ ) and the contribution evander saves half
the money that the Social Security would save from him from his hidden earnings,
σ =τ 2.
Table 1. Main Parameters
Parameter

Population distribution according to their reporting
ƒR

ƒU

ƒL

Saving Rates,
σ

Base Run

0.3

0.12

0.58

0.119

Full Reporting

0.42

0

0.58

0.119

Every low earner evander

0.3

0.7

0

0.119

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Base Run
The distribution is as follows:

f R = 0.3 ; fU = 0.12
0.12 and f L = 00.58
.58
Table 2 presents the parameters and the benefits of the evander in three systems
while table 3 summarises the consumption vectors.
Table 2. Parameters of three pension systems
Contribution Rate

Tax Rate

The Evader’s Benefit

τ

ι

bU

Proportional

0.239

0

0.42

+ Basic Benefit

0.119

0.099

0.674

+ Means-tested Benefit

0.179

0.05

0.314

Type

Contribution rate is founded to be 0.239 for the Albanian case. This is the rate paid
by the employer to the Social Securities. The Albanian system is near to the proportional system analized in this paper.
In the basic benefit system contribution rate is approximately halved, meanwhile a
consumption tax of about 9.9% is added up. This system increases the benefits of
evaders by around 60% but it does not make any distinction between full reports
(R) and underreports (U).
A partial solution for this problem can be found by integrating a component of
tested-means. By this, a considerable increase of contribution rate compared to basic
benefits is found where consumption tax decreses from 9.9% to 5%.
The impact of explained systems in the consumption vectors can be seen in Table 3.
Table 3. Characteristics of three pension systems
Type
Proportional

Young-age Consumption

Old-age Consumption

cR

cU

cL

cR

cU

cL

3.272

3.668

0.761

1.806

0.813

0.420

+ Basic Benefit

3.413

3.701

0.794

1.229

0.999

0.607

+ Means-tested Benefit

3.354

3.687

0.780

1.350

0.811

0.674

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�A Simple Model Referring Evasion Case in Albanian Pension System

The benefits of type R and L, without taking into account the taxes, are equal to
the respective consumption in old-age. Not the same implication happens to the
U type, which saves for consumption during the retirement. Even if the rate of U
is not high enough, there is nothing to worry about U type individual consumption, because as seen in table 3, his consumption is 1.94 times greater than L type
individual.
If the consumption level of young-age and old-age of different systems are compared, then the means-tested system is found to be superior to the basic one because
this system supports the need’s old-age consumption (L) rather than the evander’s
consumption.
Table 3.a. Characteristics of three pension systems in terms of WR
Young-age Consumption

Type
Proportional

Old-age Consumption

cR

cU

cL

cR

cU

cL

1.363

1.528

0.317

0.753

0.339

0.175

+ Basic Benefit

1.422

1.542

0.330

0.512

0.416

0.253

+ Means-tested Benefit

1.397

1.536

0.325

0.563

0.338

0.281

No evaders
Even if the used assumption is non-realistic for the Albanian case, it is important to
present the case when there are no evaders.

f R = 0.42
0.42 and fU = 0
The contribution rate is the same as in the proportional system, τ = 0.239 . Table
4 includes the new parameters, while table 5 presents all the results according to the
last parameters.
Table 4. Parameters of three pension systems (no evaders)
Contribution Rate

Type

Tax Rate

τ

ι

Proportional

0.239

0

+ Basic Benefit

0.119

0.119

+ Means-tested Benefit

0.175

0.064

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Since the evaders disappeared, in the basic system the tax rose from 9.9% to 11.9%
and in means-tested system from 5% to 6.5%, while the contribution rate decreases
from 17.9% to 9%.
Table 5. Characteristics of three pension systems (no evaders)
Type

Young-age Consumption

Old-age Consumption

cR

cU

cL

cR

cU

cL

Proportional

3.272

-

0.761

1.806

-

0.420

+ Basic Benefit

3.337

-

0.776

1.276

-

0.683

+Means-tested Benefit

3.320

-

0.772

1.320

-

0.775

The consumption changes are more complex. In the proportional system there is no
change, while in the basic one the consumption of young-age increases (independently from income level), and the consumption of old-age decreases relating their
income levels. The underlying fact is that these variations in the consumption levels
are very low or insignificant. The means-tested system advantage compared to the
basic one is diminushed insignificantly. Low income elders’ consumption decreases
in both systems.

Every low-paid is evader
This model supposes that low-paid individual is an evader.

f R = 0.3 and fU = 0.7
Based on the definitions, means-tested system is reduced to a proportional system
(since there are no individuals in need), this is the reason why we do not examine
this case. Table 6 represents the new parameters while table 7 gives the results.
Table 6. Parameters of three pension systems (all evaders)
Contribution Rate

Tax Rate

Evader’s Benefits

τ

ι

bU

Proportional

0.239

0.000

0.420

+ Basic Benefit

0.119

0.056

0.653

Type

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�A Simple Model Referring Evasion Case in Albanian Pension System

Here it can be observe just one change comparing to the basic system, the tax rate
decreases from 11.9% to 5.6%.
Table 7. Characteristics of three pension systems (all evaders)
Young-age Consumption

Type

Old-age Consumption

cR

cU

cL

cR

cU

cL

Proportional

3.272

3.668

-

1.806

0.813

-

+ Basic Benefit

3.576

3.738

-

1.267

1.407

-

The changes occured in the pension basic system are as follow: the consumption
of individuals which are no-evader and are high-paid is increased compared to the
basic system. In the same time, the problem of pension basic system are found to be
more evident, in this case the evaders exploit the full contributors.

Conclusion
The aim of this study is to find possible answer to the question: Which of the social
insurance systems is the best for the Albanian case? Three system types have been
analysed by applying the actual albanian values. The findings of this study strongly
support the means-tested system, given that this system has positive impact on the
needy fraction of the population and shows only an increase in the pension of the
low income people compared to basic system.
After all these detailed calculations, it can be concluded that, if all the evaders are
excluded, and without making difference between the pension systems, the government has to choose the means-tested system and not that of basic one. In case the
evaders can not be excluded, the solution is not so simple. Briefly, if the savings
are directly connected to pension system, then the difference between consumption
rates in both, means-tested and basic system are insignificant.
Another important issue to be mentioned is that the lower the part of proportional
component in total pension, the higher the well-paid individuals number which
underreport their wages.

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�References
Albanian Cabinet (2007). Official Bulletin, Decision No. 285, 04.05.2007, No. 59,
18.06.2007
Augusztinovics, M. (2005). The dynamics of retirement saving-Theory and Reality,
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Volume 11, Nos. 1-2, July 2000
Augusztinovics, M. and Kollő, J. (2008). Pension System and Fragmented Labor Market Careers, Gál et al. eds. 154–170.
Augusztinovics, M. and Martos, B. (1996). Pension Reform: Calculations and Conclusions, Acta Oeconomica, 48 (1-2).
Barabas, Gy. (2006). Pension Reform in the Trap of Tax system and Low Employment,
Portfolio Conference: The Hungarian Pension Reform in International Mirror.
Barr, N. and Diamond, P. (2008). Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices,
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Disney, R. (2004). Are Contributions to Public Pension Programs a Tax on Employment?, Economic Policy 39, 267-311.
Fehr, H. and Habermann, C. (2008). Risk Sharing and Efficiency Implications of
Progressive Pension Arrangements, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 110,
419-443.
Feldstein, M. S. (1987). Should Social Security Means be Tested?, Journal of Political
Economy 95, 468-484.
Friedman, M. and Cohen, R. (1972). Social Security: Universal or Selective, Washington DC, American Enterprise Institute.
Kertesi, G. and Kollő, J. (2003). Fighting Low Equilibrium by Doubling the Minimum wage? Hungary’s Experiment, Bonn, IZA’s Discussion Paper.
OECD (2004). The Informal Economy in Albania: Analysis and Policy Recommendations, OECD 2004.
Simonovitas, A. (2008). Underreported Earnings and Old-Age Pension: An Elementary
Model, Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest.

156

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�Tonin, M. (2005). The Effects of the Minimum Wage in the Economy with Tax Evasion,
Stockholm, IIES, Stockholm University.
Varian, H. R. (1980). Redistributive Taxation as Social Insurance, Journal of Public
Economics 14, 49-68.

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157

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                <text>A Simple Model Referring Evasion  Case in Albanian Pension System</text>
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                <text>This study deals with the relationship between underreported earnings,  savings and old-age pension. The presented model is taken from the  paper “Underreported Earnings and Old-Age Pension System: An  Elementary System” of Hungarian Academy of Science and is applied  to the Albanian data. Three pension systems have been compared: 1-  the proportional, 2- the proportional plus basic pension and, 3- the  proportional with means testing. The workers are grouped such as, awell-  paid who report their full earnings (so-called the evaders), b- wellpaid  who report only the minimum earnings and c- the poorly paid. It  is assumed that the evaders have a hidden part of earnings for their oldage.  The main result of the study is the following: if the evaders can be  recognized and excluded, then the best system is the means-tested one.</text>
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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

The Impact of Microcredit Programs
in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring
Livelihoods of the Targeted Populations
in Bosnia And Herzegovina
Mohammad HAMAD
Management Department
International Burch University
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alkuds16@hotmail.com

Abstract
The effective design and delivery of micro-credits is difficult under
all circumstances. However, in conflict-affected societies, the task of
microcredit institutions that seek to provide financial stability to its
most impoverished members is more complicated. This paper aims
to investigate the role and the impact of the microcredit industry in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data for this study were gathered from
both microcredit institutions and recipients of microcredit funds using
both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The research results
show that refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees are less
likely to get loans compared to those with stable incomes, meaning the
population with stable incomes has benefited more from these credits
in improving their living conditions. Most of the targeted populations
of the interest free microcredit foundation (MCF) that was taken as a
case study in this research expressed their satisfactions with the loans
and service provided by the particular MCF. From a policy perspective,
it is important to focus attention on the most affected population
groups, those least able to pull themselves out of poverty. Microcredit
foundations should find a balance between being non-profit based and
achieving their full sustainability.

KEYWORDS
Microcredit program, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Microcredit
Foundations, Microcredit
Institutions, Interest rate, Poverty,
Debt, Borrowing.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 22 February 2011
Resubmitted: 27 March 2011
Resubmitted: 4 May 2011
Accepted: 4 July 2011

Jel Code: G21

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�Mohammad HAMAD

Introduction
This paper explores whether microcredit (MC) programs have any effect on alleviating poverty and restoring livelihoods for the targeted populations in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BH). Doyle, who conducted a comprehensive review on the general
impact of MC in helping refugees, returnees and IDPs in improving their living
conditions and restoring their livelihoods, seems to believe so (Doyle, 1998 &amp;
2008). As a mechanism that has a stated directive and the objective of targeting the
most impoverished groups of society, the role of microfinance in BH deserves much
more attention and serious exploration.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that endured a devastating war from 19921995. The traditional best-practice paradigms of microfinance are inapplicable in
war and conflict-affected situations because of the instability of the governmental
and financial institutions, and the lack of communal and social trust among individuals. Within these post-war environments, refugees, returnees and internally
displaced populations (IDPs) are among the most marginalized and helpless of the
affected groups. Providing microfinance to them is then perhaps the most challenging problem facing practitioners and MC institutions engaged in this kind of relief and development work. Various micro-financial institutions have been active in
Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1996 and struggle with providing services in such a challenging environment. An insight into their work promises to uncover strategies that
may be employed with the problems and successes of such endeavors. Therefore,
this paper will shed light on the work of these organizations and their effectiveness.

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

The following relevant research questions are addressed in this study:
Research question number one: How do micro-credits affect the livelihoods of the targeted groups, and to what extent do refugees, internally displaced persons and
returnees have access to micro-credits in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Research question number two: What are the objectives of the microcredit programs,
and what are the most requested loans in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Research question number three: What are the perspectives of the beneficiaries of
micro-credits in Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding this service and its impact
on them?
There is a big debate and doubts about the certain impact of the MC industry in
BH both at the local and international levels. The reports from the World Bank,
Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and the Association of Microfinance
Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AMFI) show that; among peers in Kosovo
and in the Balkans (Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) in general,
as well as peers similar in size and market outreach from Eastern Europe and Central
Asia (ECA), the Bosnian MFIs are some of the most highly leveraged, more than
70 percent of all funding to MFIs in BH during 2007 came from foreign lenders.
In 2007, most Bosnian MFIs showed high growth rates in active borrowers and
especially loan portfolio. More than half of the non-bank MFIs grew by more than
50 percent in outreach. On the other hand, others like Karnani (2007a) suggested
that governments, businesses and civil society should work together to reallocate
their resources away from microfinance and instead support larger enterprises in
labour intensive industries. A strong critique comes from Bateman (2007a) ‘new
wave commercial microfinance’ where he asks whether microfinance can actually
undermine medium-term economic development because it supports inefficient activities. Bateman found that there is little solid evidence to confirm that commercial
microfinance facilitates sustain economic and social development.
However, this paper might provide some evidence as to whether the MCI in BH,
with it’s both commercial and non-profit institutions, helps in alleviating poverty
and promots economic and social development.

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�Mohammad HAMAD

Literature Review

Origin and Philosophy of Microcredit
Micro-credits, as a viable tool of development, began in 1976 when Bangladeshi
economist and social reformer Muhammad Yunus began lending small amounts of
money to rural poor women of Jobra village to start or expand their businesses. That
initial and modest foray into microcredit eventually culminated in the formal establishment in 1983 of the Grameen Bank based on principles of group-based lending
of small-sized loans with zero collateral. (Yunus, 2004)
Focusing specifically on the agency, entrepreneurial skills and innovation of the
marginalized and poverty-stricken populations in developing countries, the “greatest
triumph of microfinance was the demonstration that poor households could be reliable
bank customers” (Cull, 2008). Moreover, Yunus utilized microfinance to directly
mitigate a significant and core problem in development economics: that the poor
remain poor because they do not have access to productive capital to grow their way
out of poverty (Kanishka, 2009).
Historically, microfinance programs have been developed and targeted to address
the concerns and needs of poor households that markets and governments fail to
adequately confront. More specifically, according to Heen (2004), the client-base
of microfinance institutions includes: female heads of households, pensioners, displaced persons, retrenched workers, small farmers, and micro-entrepreneurs, each
of whom fall into one of four poverty levels: destitute, extreme poor, moderate poor,
and vulnerable non-poor. These programs typically offer a wide range of financial
services such as: deposits, loans, savings, payment services, money transfers, and
insurance to the poor and low-income households and their micro-enterprises who
are excluded from the formal financial systems (Swain, Ranjula, Nguyen, &amp; Vo
Tuan, 2008). According to Legerwood (1999), microfinance institutions may also
provide social intermediation services such as: group formation, development of self
confidence, and training in financial literacy and management capabilities among
members of a group. Thus, microfinance is more than simple banking; it is a development tool as she asserts (Legerwood, 1999, p. 1). In BH a Center for Financial
and Credit Counseling (known by its Bosnian acronym CFKS) opened its doors in
Tuzla in 2010 and aims to offer debt mediation and financial education to borrowers.

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

The most successful of the microfinance development philosophy is evidenced by reports of the top micro lenders which boast repayment rates of 98 percent or higher,
all achieved without securing any collateral for the loans. This success is attributed,
by Cull, Demirguc-Kunt, &amp; Morduch (2008), to “new lending practices, especially
“group lending” (also called “joint liability” lending). Authors described this model in
which customers were typically formed into small groups and required to guarantee
each others’ loan repayments, aligning their incentives with those of the bank. This
practice was rarely used in Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to lack of the trust between
groups and society as a direct consequence of the recent war.
Rhyne (2001) best summarizes the common philosophies and goals driving the
current microfinance movement as follows: using the client’s character rather than
collateral as the primary loan security, streamlining the administrative processes to
lower costs, responding rapidly to late payments, providing positive incentives for
repayment, charging interest rates that approach or cover costs, and emphasizing the
long-term sustainability of the lending organization (Rhyne, 2001, p. 7).
However, this is not to say that microfinance has been credited as an unprecedented
success. Microfinance programs are also weakened by a serious and well-acknowledged lack of comprehensive and tough impact evaluations. Morduch (1998) explained this very fact in his book The Microfinance Promise. In his summary of the
problems confronting the microfinance industry he argued that the promise of microfinance was founded on innovation: new management structures, new contracts,
and new attitudes. The leading programs came about by trial and error. Once the
mechanisms worked reasonably well, standardization and replication became top
priorities, with continued innovation only around the edges. As a result, most programs are not optimally designed nor necessarily offering the most desirable financial products. Such weaknesses and difficulties facing the MC industry in BH are
easily noticed since 2009 till today. Many critics, articles and analysis have been
published locally and overseas tackling issues like: indebtedness of MC clients, high
profit generated by MCFs, lack in pricing transparency regarding interest rates, skyrocketing salaries and privileges of MCF managers. The harshest criticism came
from Milford Bateman during a round table conference in September 2011 when
he concluded that the MC industry in BH is a failed experiment.

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Microfinance in Post-War/Conflict Environments
The fundamental point according to Doyle (1998, 2008) is that of microfinance
being viewed as a tool that can serve multiple goals. Predominantly, it remains an
economic development strategy that focuses on rebuilding and restarting local economies by providing needed financial services for enterprise creation, but there is also
consideration of its use as a relief and survival strategy in the immediate wake of
disaster, and as a tool for peace and reconciliation.
At the same time, Heen (2004) believes that just because microfinance programs
focus on marginalized groups in a given society does not mean that microfinance
automatically avoids the broader problems and risks of development and that microfinance products and programs may, in fact, create conflicts in a number of ways.
According to her, microfinance programs may cause conflicts in two ways; first, by
reinforcing or creating new social divisions through client or geographical targeting,
and second, by causing conflicts among clients especially if group lending mechanisms are used and one member of the group is unable to repay, and the whole
group suffers as a consequence (Heen, 2004, p. 12-13).
Uvin (1999) argues that a purely economic-technical approach to development may
help to lay the groundwork for further inequality and mal-development, as well as
structural, and eventually acute, violence. This point is only further underscored by
Doyle (2008) when she writes that microfinance professionals in conflict-affected
environments must understand the dual imperative of being proactive as well as
careful. While, doing nothing or retreating could result in prolonged human suffering and the need for more extensive, costly, and difficult involvement down the
road, acting hastily or unwisely could create unintended, potentially severe repercussions (Doyle, 2008, p. 1). Most of the above mentioned unfavorable consequences
could occur in BH as well.

Essential and Preferred Conditions of Microfinance in Post-Conflict Areas
Keeping the primacy of good preparation in mind, Doyle lists several essential conditions that must be in place to institute microfinancial activities in a conflict-affected area. She then goes on to list several preferred conditions which while not entirely
necessary, are still entirely desirable (Doyle, 2008, p. 7-11).

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

Essential Conditions include: low intensity of conflict, reopening of markets and
long-term displacement (18 months or longer). In the case of BH the long term repatriation process is one of the biggest concerns for both politicians and individuals,
so this could be considered an important condition to be taken into consideration
by the MC industry.
Preferred Conditions include; relatively dense population, enabling legislation for
microfinance (MF) institutions, a skilled and educated workforce, social capital,
and trust in the local currency and financial institutions. In the case of BH the
legislations for MF started late in 2006 and were officially applied in 2008. This
delay could be one of the root causes of current problems that both clients and MC
industry have been facing since 2009.
However, keeping in mind the obstacles, and the critical need to be careful as well
as proactive, Doyle notes several steps to be undertaken before embarking on microfinance refugee programs. These include; first, investigating the current political
situation to learn whether refugees are likely to be repatriated within the next 12
months. Second, ensuring that there are activities that can gradually integrate refugees into the local markets and in a nonthreatening way. Third, asking refugees what
sort of financial services or non-financial services they need most now, then building
a program around the existing situation. Fourth, instilling confidence in the permanence of the microfinance services as long as refugees are in their current location to
ensure repayment, and implement the program with a longer-term vision.

Microfinance for Refugees, Internally Displaced and Returnees
Even before counting the challenges that would be inevitable to the implementation
of a microfinance program for refugees, returnees and internally displaced populations, it is valuable to discuss some more general constraints on the economic lives
of these groups. Jacobsen (2005), writes in her book that the abilities of refugees
and internally displaced persons in camps to engage in viable economic activities
that go beyond subsistence is determined by their access to productive assets such as
arable land, economic infrastructure such as mills and storage facilities and perhaps
most importantly, credit. Jacobsen goes onto list several factors which restrict access
to these productive assets, one of which being freedom of movement in and out of
camps in order to pursue these economic activities. Moreover, she writes, “refugees in
protracted situations must also cope with shifts in attitude from the host community,

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which can affect both the willingness of authorities to implement restrictions, and
refugees’ economic activities” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 31). This is very true in the case
of returnees in BH, as the unwillingness of the dominant majorities and restrictions
created by authorities are some of the biggest obstacles facing MCFs in targeting this
vulnerable group of the population.
In light of the above, in the world of post-conflict reconstruction and development evaluating, designing and implementing a microfinance program for refugees, returnees and internally displaced populations presents an additional layer of
difficulty and complexity. Bartsch (2005) outlines some of these difficulties. First,
microfinance is oftentimes founded on the notion of group solidarity to replace the
conventional banking requirement of material or monetary collateral. It is exactly
this group solidarity which is most absent from refugee populations. Second, microfinance as an industry is more closely related to the principles of banking than to
relief and will need to seriously review and also perhaps check its measures of success. Third, while the provision of relief is supposed to benefit the poorest and most
affected populations, microfinance in its current form, is bound to benefit only people already endowed with business acumen and, often enough, sufficient resources
to sustain themselves. Fourth, to be successful microfinance must be implemented
as one strategy amoung an entire array of relief and development strategies such as
business training and, most importantly, an enabling environment.
In post-war countries like BH assuring a smooth approach from relief to development strategies in MC is very crucial in order to avoid or minimize the consequences of immediate shifting or jumping from the relief and emergency phase to the
development phase without considering or going through the rehabilitation phase.
The MC industry should apply and adopt a rehabilitation strategy before moving
further in the development phase, and this could be considered one of the main root
causes of the current crisis facing the industry since 2009.

Debt Capacity and Repayment Suspension
One of the reasons for the popularity of micro-credits is the performance on loan recovery where anything below 95 percent is considered unsatisfactory by donor organizations (Harper, 2007a, p. 39). However, loan recovery does not give any indication of
whether people are able to pay back the loans without suffering additional destitution,
something that has become much clearer during the current global economic crisis

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

which has affected the debt recovery of large number of borrowers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In other words, debt recovery relies heavily on the debt capacity of the borrowers which was defined by Von Pischke (1991, p. 177) as follows; lenders are able
to recover loans on schedule only when the repayment capacity of the borrower equals
or exceeds debt services which consist of principal and interest due for payment. Borrowers are able to repay their loans on time without suffering hardship only when
their repayment capacity equals or exceeds the debt service due according to the loan
contract. In order to be consistent with the Microcredit Foundations (MCFs) aim to
serve as a catalyst for economic development, the repayment capacity should exceed
the debt service by a considerable margin. However, according to the available data on
most of MCFs’ websites and reports in BH, this is commonly not the case. And early
warning signals sent by a few local practitioners as a result of their internal surveys and
observations were not taken seriously nor could they prevent the sudden explosion of
the current crisis that the industry is facing since 2009.
In spite of this, the lack of debt capacity, repayment suspension is granted only in very
exceptional circumstances as Rutherford (2002) stated. As Mareen (2008, p. 402)
state: “Even during major disasters, such as the 1998 and 2004 floods in Bangladesh, payments were at best postponed until flood waters had receded”. While in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 2009 global economic crises, the loans reconstructing (rescheduling)
technique was used to overcome the delay on repayments, such approach guaranteed
borrowers longer periods but loaded them with extra interest charges.

MCFs Organizational Structures and Loan Recycling
Organizational Structure; According to Wood and Sharif (1997), and Hulme and
Moseley (1996), in many MCFs the “discretionary power” to grant a stay of payment does not rest with the fieldworker or the branch manager but rather with managers higher up in the hierarchy. This is important as hierarchical decision making
and operational autonomy notably affects the ability of borrowers to cope with and
recover from emergencies both in positive and negative terms. The same could be
said for the MCF that will be used as a case study in this paper as well as all other
MCFs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Loan Recycling; According to Yunus (2002); “once half the outstanding loan is repaid, clients are allowed to take out a second loan to help pay off the previous loan”.
Loan recycling has become a common practice in many MCFs in Bosnia and Her-

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zegovina, as this has been approved by the Federal Banking Agency (FBA) which
controls the activities of all MCFs since June 2008. But in the case of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the practice of loan recycling has been applied regardless of the above
condition mentioned by Yunus. MCFs varied in initiating conditions to secure getting back their money from borrowers; some of them asked borrowers to only have
guarantors who are working in governmental sectors, while others asked for additional interest or offered larger loans and longer repayment periods with conditions
to close the whole amount of the previous loan immediately.

Alleviating Poverty and Pricing Transparency
The extra liquidity was intended for daily expenses during the crisis, as well as for
productive investment. However, handing out more money on credit should never
be a solution in itself as over time it can change attitudes and erode cautiousness
according to Nagarajan (1998), Dichter (2007) and Allen (2007). Microcredit is
generally most appropriate where ongoing economic activity and sufficient household cash flow already exist as explained by (CGAP, 2005, p. 8). In spite of MCFs
having long been highly transparent in some areas, due to the complications of market conditions and lack of regulation, the true price of loan products has never been
accurately measured or reported. This is a serious weakness in the industry, although
there has been a serious effort made since 2008 regarding the transparent pricing
issue, even though this still listed prominently in all consumer protection efforts
currently underway. Elizabeth Littlefield (2009), the former CEO of CGAP, stated:
“MF Transparency aims at giving microfinance institutions information to offer better
value to customers. And it will give investors and others the information they need to put
pressure on those institutions that may be charging unreasonably high fees or hiding the
full cost of their services. We applaud the effort.”

Social and Economic Stagnation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The social and economic situation of many people living in Bosnia and Herzegovina
is difficult, particularly for the IDPs and returnees. Many IDPs still live in collective
accommodation, while the returnees are suffering from an extremely high unemployment rate in majority dominated areas, the loss of a social assurance system, poor
health care, education and infrastructure facilities. Furthermore many families lost
their main breadwinner and are therefore being confronted with poverty that they did

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Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

not know before the war. Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet managed to overcome
economic stagnation. The market is still split because of a federal fragmentation and
non-standardized regulations; there is no uniform economic, tax or legal policy. The
transformation from a socialist to capitalist economy has exacerbated the social situation, which is already precarious in the aftermath of the war. Fifteen years after the
war, many young people are leaving the country to search for work and better living
conditions as they can no longer see their future in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Table 1 and table 2 show general statistics on Bosnia and Herzegovina that reflects
the multi-ethnic composition of the country, and how much it is crucial for those
who offer such services to be very sensitive and careful in regards to neutrality and
impartiality. It is also crucial to target the host community in addition to returnees,
refugees and IDPs. In order for the host community not to feel disadvantaged by the
presence of these vulnerable groups, and in order not to obstruct the services that are
offered to them, it is very crucial that the host community, in one way or another,
gets benefits from the same services that the other target groups are enjoying. The
table also shows that almost more than one million IDPs and refugees have been
resettled in their prewar houses, something which is very important to remember
when comparing this (in the next sections of this study) to the accessibility of these
groups to micro-credits.
Table 1. General statistics on BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA according to 1991
census
Indicators

FBH

Surface area in km2 / %

RS

26.110,5 (%51) 24.605,7 (%48,0)

% of population by territory

%62,1

BD

Total

493 (%1,0)

51.209,2

%2,0

%100

%35,9

Source: Statistics on BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (ISSN 1512-5106)

Table 2. General statistics on BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA according to 1991
census
Ethic Population

Bosniaks

Croats

Serbs

Yugoslavs

Others

Total

Population by ethnicity/%

1.902.956
(%43,5)

760.852
(%17,4)

1.366.104
(%31,2)

242.682
(%5,5)

104439
(%2,4)

4.377.03
(%100)

Returnees from1996-2006

630.730

129.612

249.020

-

8.071

1.017.43

Source: Statistics on BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (ISSN 1512-5106)

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Table 3 shows different human development indicators taken from the UNDP 2009
annual report, which reflects the need for more efforts to improve the quality peoples’ lives. Around 20% of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina are definitely
poor or on the edge of poverty, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked 76th out of
177 countries in human development index. The encouraging figures coming from
life expectancy where Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked 51st and in adult literacy is
ranked 39th with rate of 96.7%.
Table 3. Human Development Indicators of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Human Development Index “HDI” (rank/rate),

76. (out of 182) / %81,2

Life expectancy at birth (rank/year)

51./ 75,1 years

Under 5 mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

18

Adult literacy for ages 15 and above (rank/rate)

39. / %96,7

People not using an improved water source (rank/rate)

27. / %1

GDP per capita (rank/PPP US$)

92. / 7,764

% of Poverty level - definitely poor,
on the edge of poverty, not definitely poor

%11,3, %7,8, %73,9

Population below poverty line during
2009, 2010, 2011( rank/rate)

88. 86. 106 (%25, %25, %18,6)

Conflict Background and History
The signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) in December 1995 ended the
conflict and established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a federal state made up of two
entities: the (mainly Bosnian Serb) Republic of Srpska (RS) and the (mainly Bosniak and Croat) Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBH). According to the
DPA each entity has its own government, president, parliament and police, and until 2005, each had its own army. The north-eastern Brčko district (BD) is a self-governing administrative unit with territory in both (FBH) and (RS). In the aftermath
of the war, the international community set out to establish a peaceful, multi-ethnic
state by: stabilizing the country militarily, promoting the return of displaced people
and by reforming national institutions. The DPA provided for a strong internation-

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

al presence including a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led military
force, and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the civil implementation of the DPA. Specific to refugees and internally displaced people, the
DPA focused on the right of the displaced to return to their homes and reclaim their
properties. As of June 2008, the number of internally displaced persons estimated
by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ministry
of Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) had dropped from 1,200,000 to around
125,000 (UNHCR, June 2008 citing government figures), indicating that over one
million refugees and IDPs had returned to their pre-war residences.

Research Methodology
The research methodology of this paper considered a combination of qualitative and
quantitative research methods and identified the use of content analysis and questionnaires as the most appropriate. The primary data mostly from the questionnaires is
complemented by secondary data from the reports of various institutions in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
The primary was data collected in March 2010 by an interest-free MCF in Bosnia and
Herzegovina that was chosen as a case study in this paper and kept anonymous upon
the request of the organization. In one questionnaire, 458 borrowers expressed their
perspectives about the impact of microcredit on their lives, while 50 borrowers in another questionnaire expressed their perspectives about interest-free and interest-based
loans. The surveys covered 40 towns within five Cantons in the FBH, RS and BD.
The breakdown of these towns according to identities and Cantons is given in Table 4.
Table 4. Survey Region and Towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Regions

Towns

Central Bosnia Canton Vitiz, Travnik, Novi Travnik, Gornji Vakuf, Donji Vakuf Fojnica
Tuzla, Gradacac, Srebernik, Sapna, Teocak, Ugljevik, Zevinica, Teslic, Kalesija, Celic,
Gracanica, Lukavac, Banovic

Tuzla Canton

Zenica-Doboj Canton Doboj-Istok, Tesanj, Kakanj, Zenica, Vares, Visoko, Zavidovic, Zepce
Podrinje Canton:

Gorazde, Ustikolina

Brcko District:

Brcko

Republic of Srpska:

Bijelina, Milici, Zvornic, Bratunac, Srebrenica, Voca, Visegrad, Zepa.

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The primary data also includes: five one-to-one interviews with senior managers of
MCFs and a number of borrowers, many field visits and meetings with loan officers
and the general population, and observations on the microcredit industry in Bosnia
and Herzegovina over the past five years.
Secondary data includes the data and reports of the Association of Microfinance
Institutions (AMFI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, statistics from the “Bureau of Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, websites of MCFs in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, and the 2009 annual report of the MCF that has been taken as
a case study.

Analysis of Results
This analysis aims to outline what has been compiled from data and information
related to the three questions that this paper is addressing. The findings below in
table 5 are related to the first research question and show that only 3% of employment has been created, 89% of borrowers were willing to get another loan, 96%
solved their problems through getting loans, while 41% of them have problems in
making their repayments.
Table 5. Borrowers perspectives about the impact of MICROCREDIT on their lives

Items

Yes (Number/%)

No (Number/%)

Solved problem with loan

441/ 96%

17 / 4%

Improved life standard

443 / 97%

15 / 3%

Created new employment

15 / 3%

443 / 97%

Have problems with repayment

186 / 41%

272 / 59%

Willing to get another loan

406 / 89%

52 / 11%

Total number of questionnaires

458

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The findings in the table below (Table 6) related to the second part of the first
research question show that only 3% of returnees and 2% of IDPs have access to
microcredit, despite the fact that more than one million refugees and IDPs have
managed to return and settle to their pre-war houses.
Table 6. The accessibility of returnees, refugees, and IDPs to microcredit in Bosnia
and Herzegovina
% of loans disbursed to IDPs

% of loans disbursed to returnees

2%

3%

% of loans disbursed to refugees
No evidence

The results of both primary and secondary data show that overall objective of microcredit organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina is alleviating poverty by improving
the livelihoods of the poorest people. Microcredit organizations state that the following are objectively verifiable indicators of achievements: increase in the income
of borrowers; improvements in the standards of living; improvements in housing
standards; improvements in family health; improvements in the overall quality of
life and improvements in the quality of education.
Research results further state that the main purpose of microcredit programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina is to empower and assist returnees and IDPs to return to their
pre-war houses. Other objectives include reconstructing destroyed houses, starting
small businesses, assisting socially disadvantaged persons, improving the living conditions of the poor and assisting poor students to afford a good education.
Microcredit organizations use a number of indicators to measure their achievements.
These include: the number of businesses started and expanded through microcredit
programs, the sustainability and profit level of these businesses, the decline in the
poverty level of beneficiaries, the number of people moving into proper houses, the
number of returnees settled in their pre-war houses, the number of returnees employed, the number of jobs created, and the number of children that continue their
education in communities.
The findings in Table 7 are related to the second part of research question number
two, showing that the following percentages of types of loans have been disbursed:
32% housing loans; provided to help rebuilding and renovating destroyed homes;
37% business loans, helping in establishing of small businesses; 5% orphans loans,
given to families carrying for an orphan; 18% social loans, provided in most cases to
socially endangered population and 8% educational loans, provided to students in
order to assist them to continue their education.
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Table 7. Percentage of the type of loans disbursed in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Business loans

Housing loans

Social loans

Educational loans

Orphans loans

37%

32%

18%

8%

5%

In regards to the interest issue, the findings from the secondary data show that there
are two kinds of loans;
Interest-Based and Interest-Free Loans: There are 25 MCFs in BH, from which
13 are members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (AMFI). Only one of them is interest-free and the others are interest-based.
Interest-Based Loan: Most of the interest based MCFs began their activities in
1996. According to the 2010 first quarterly report of the AMFI these MCFs have
a portfolio of around 825 million BAM, around 325.000 active loans, a gained
amount of 95.535.126 BAM net profit in 2009, while their annual interest rates
differ from 15% up to 36%.
Interest-Free Loans: The interest-free MCFs began their activities in 2001. According to their annual report in 2009 they have portfolio in the amount of around three
million BAM, less than 1800 active loans, gained no profit but did have losses, and
charged up to 7.5% as admin fees for their services.
Finally, the findings from Table 8 show that 88% of borrowers expressed their readiness to seek loans from interest-free MCFs even if they are more expensive than
interest-based ones. When answering the question “Why did you seek a loan from
an interest-free MCF rather than any other MCFs?” 52% said that it was due to its
compliance with Shariah, while 48% said it was due to cheaper cost.
Table 8. Borrowers’ perspectives about interest-free and interest-based loans
Questions

Yes
No
Number (%) Number (%)

1. Were there any other loans available to you when
you received the loan from the interest-free MCF?

45 (90%)

1 (2%)

2. Why did you seek a loan from interest-free rather
than any other MCFs?

-

-

44(88%)

6 (12%)

3. Would you seek loans from interest-free MCF even
if it is more expensive than interest-based loans?
4. Do you feel there is an extra obligation to repay
because Interest-free is in compliance with Shariah?

34 (68%)

Total number of questionnaires

50

84

14(28%)

Other answers
Number (%)
4 no answer (8%)
26 Compliance with
shariah (52%)
24 Low admin costs (48%)

2 no answer (4%)

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Discussion
This section of the paper discusses the overall findings of this study, and determines
the answer to each of the three research questions. In regards to the first question
(How does microcredit affect the livelihoods of the targeted groups, and to what
extent do refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees have access to microcredits in Bosnia and Herzegovina?) the findings are very modest: only 3% of jobs
have been created, the reason could be better understood if one realizes that only
37% of loans were taken for creating or developing businesses, this means that most
of the taken business loans were used for self employment and improving the living
conditions of borrowers, but not for expanding businesses and creating new jobs.
The findings also show that only 3% of returnees and only 2% of IDPs had access to
MC, although more than one million of refugees and IDPs have managed to return
and settle. Obviously, it could be understood that this vulnerable group has benefited
the least from MC programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Regarding the second question (What are the objectives of the microcredit programs, and what are the most
requested loans in Bosnia and Herzegovina?) the findings from the case study carried
by one MCFs (interest-free) operating in more than 64 municipalities in Bosnia and
Herzegovina during 2009, concluded that only 37% of the disbursed loans were used
in a productive manner (business loans), such as livestock/poultry rearing, trading and
farming, agriculture, handicrafts, etc, while 32% have been used for renovating and
reconstructing houses (housing loans), 18% have been used to cover social needs such
as food, medication, etc (social loans), 8% have been used for educational purposes,
such as paying university fees, buying books, computers, etc, (educational loans), and
5% have been used to support families caring for orphans (orphans loans). This shows
that despite the fact that 15 years have passed since the war ended in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is still a need for reconstruction and renovation of devastated houses.
The findings also show that enough funds, from different donors and investors including the World Bank, are available for the interest-based MCFs, as they have
portfolios of around 825 million BAM and around 325.000 BAM in active loans.
While the interest-free ones have limited funds with a portfolio of around 3 million
BAM, as they have no access to banks and international funds and investors due to
Shariah restrictions that forbid taking or giving interest under any circumstances.
On the other hand, the interest-free MCFs seem to have two advantages; the first
one is that they are much cheaper than other MCFs, and the second advantage is the
willingness of the majority of the target population, who are Muslims, to comply
with Shariah in regards to the issue of the interest.
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In relation to the third question (What are the perspectives of the beneficiaries of micro-credits in Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding this service and its impact on them?)
the findings from the previously mentioned case study reflect the need of MCFs to
continue operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as more than 95% expressed that
MCs solved their problems and improved their living standards. On the other hand,
by analyzing the figures of at risk portfolios (9,7%) and write offs loans (9,8%), and
the 41% of borrowers who expressed having problems with their repayments, it seems
that MCFs, in one way or another, had encouraged borrowers to get more loans, thus
burdening them with more debts. Another meaningful finding from the same case
study is that even though 41% of borrowers have problems with repayment, 89%
expressed their willingness to get more loans, something that has a positive side and
a negative side. The positive side reflects the feeling of people that, with the passing
of time, they can rely on getting more loans to develop their business and solve their
financial problems, while the negative side is that they might become overloaded with
loans and find themselves sinking deeper and deeper into poverty.

Conclusion
As a conclusion, the findings reflect the meaningful objectives that were set out by
MCFs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the direct impact of MC on the population’s
life, as most of them expressed their satisfaction with getting loans as a solution to their
daily problems. In practice, it seems that MC in Bosnia and Herzegovina has contributed mostly by helping people who have regular income to cover their loans, more
than helping those without stable income. The findings also suggest that despite the
long existence and wide availability of micro-credits in Bosnia and Herzegovina, many
people do not generate enough income to become self-sufficient, and the number of
jobs created is very modest. The statement of a senior manager in one MCF is insightful in this respect: “Even though microfinance may meet the varied and immediate
needs of many people, meeting those needs does not mean that microfinance is lifting
them out of poverty”. Therefore many clients often fail to break out of income poverty
and many even get caught up in an increasing debt-burden syndrome and slide further
into poverty. While interviewing a number of borrowers, many of them stated that
they had been encouraged and facilitated to get many loans from same MCF; one of
them admitted that he/she got more than 20 active loans from only one MCF.
The demographic of returnees, refugees, and IDPs have the least access to MC,
and those who do have access are those who have the greatest difficulties with their

86

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�The Impact of Microcredit Programs in Alleviating Poverty and Restoring Livelihoods of the Targeted
Populations in Bosnia And Herzegovina

repayments. This emphasizes that these categories should be much more targeted,
with much better facilities, which current MCFs in Bosnia and Herzegovina may
not be able to offer. Most of MCFs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are interest-based
and have qualified human resources and adequate financial resources as well, something that led some of them to consider transitioning to banking institutions. Also,
some of them have won international awards, confirming that it is possible for MC
in Bosnia to record its contribution to the development of this industry at the international level. In contrast, there are very few interest-free MCFs, with very limited
human and financial resources. However, this study has shown that these types of
institutions have the acceptance of a large segment of the Bosnian Muslim society,
as the findings affirm the willingness of the target population to adhere to Islamic
rules related to the interest issue. But in order for these kinds of institutions to attract more donors and investors and to deliver a better service, they should: allocate
much more funds, advocate on behalf of the poorest population and initiate new
techniques to reach and target them, end suspicions as whether charging administration fees on a percentage basis is compliant with Shariah or not, have a qualified
shariah board, or shariah consultant to supervise and give directions to the work in
the field, and adopt new techniques “even if they are not fully lawful by shariah” to
secure their funds and to avoid the delay issue in repayments. It is wise to remember
and adopt the Shariah principle that rules: Choosing the lesser of two evils.
The findings also show that the MC industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to not
be cheap enough, as the interest rates in most of MCFs are pretty high and might not
be transparent enough; while advertizing relatively lower rates, extra expenses will be
paid by the client in many other forms, such as: application fees, loan monitoring, etc.
During one-to-one interviews and discussions with several senior managers of MCFs,
one of them admitted that the annual interest rate comes up to 36%. Another senior
manager explained the success of his/her organization, where the annual net profit exceeded one million Euros. The findings also reflect that despite the fact that more than
15 years have passed since the war ended, there is still a need for the reconstruction and
renovation of devastated houses, as large scale of loans have been taken for this purpose.
Finally, the limitation of this paper is that it mostly reflects the perceptions of the
clients of only one interest free MCF which was taken as a case study in this research. This confirms the need for more comprehensive future studies on the MC
industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina; particularly the interest based ones, in order to
explore the real impact of these institutions on the local economy and peoples’ lives,
and to serve as a guide and reference for the industry.

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�References
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Von Pischke, J.D. (1991). Finance at the Frontier: Debt Capacity and the Role of
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Wood, G.D. &amp; Sharif, I.A. (Eds). (1997). Who Needs Credit? Poverty and Finance
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Yunus, M. (2002). Grameen Bank At a Glance. Retrieved from http://www.grameen
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info.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=26&amp;Itemid=0

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�</text>
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                <text>The effective design and delivery of micro-credits is difficult under  all circumstances. However, in conflict-affected societies, the task of  microcredit institutions that seek to provide financial stability to its  most impoverished members is more complicated. This paper aims  to investigate the role and the impact of the microcredit industry in  Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data for this study were gathered from  both microcredit institutions and recipients of microcredit funds using  both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The research results  show that refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees are less  likely to get loans compared to those with stable incomes, meaning the  population with stable incomes has benefited more from these credits  in improving their living conditions. Most of the targeted populations  of the interest free microcredit foundation (MCF) that was taken as a  case study in this research expressed their satisfactions with the loans  and service provided by the particular MCF. From a policy perspective,  it is important to focus attention on the most affected population  groups, those least able to pull themselves out of poverty. Microcredit  foundations should find a balance between being non-profit based and  achieving their full sustainability.</text>
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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

Stock Return and Trading Volume
Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market
Abderrazak DHAOUI
Department of Econometrics and Finance
University of Sousse –Tunisia
Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management
abderrazak.dhaoui@yahoo.fr
Ramzi FARHANI
Department of Economics
University of Sousse –Tunisia
Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management
ramzy.farhani@gmail.com
Riadh GARFATTA
Department of Econometrics and Finance
University of Sousse –Tunisia
Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management
garfatta_riadh@yahoo.fr
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the behavior of stock returns and trading
volume across the-day-of-the-week in the context of the Japanese
Market. Several hypotheses are used to explain the day-of-the-week
effect. Results indicate that Mondays have abnormal losses and low
trading volume. Over other days the returns and the trading volume
increase significantly once the market thickens, prices become more
informative and the information effect diminishes. Our results do not
support the outliers’ hypothesis, the half-of-the-month hypothesis and
the autocorrelation hypothesis. They are, however, consistent with the
adverse selection and the overconfidence hypotheses.
JEL Codes: G1, G14.

Volume 2

Number 1

KEYWORDS
Stock Return, Trading Volume,
Day-of-the-week, half-of-the-month,
overconfidence, Japanese market.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 21 June 2011
Resubmitted: 27 September 2011
Resubmitted: 4 October 2011
Accepted:16 November 2011

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Introduction
Earlier studies on financial framework support widely the efficient market hypothesis
of which one implication “is that the expected returns on assets should be evenly
distributed across the days, weeks, months, years, or any other unit of time” (Tripathy,
2010). However, observations in the international market context (see Cross (1973)
and French (1980) for the US market, Jaffe and Westerfield (1985) for the Japanese
and the Australian markets, Syed and Sadorsky, 2006 for the context of emerging
markets, Agathee (2008) for the Mauritius market, Ulussever, Guranyumusak and
Kar (2011) for the Saudi Arabian market) show that significant variances in assets
returns are associated with the unit of time. The day-of-the-week effect is especially
common and can be observed in the majority of the aforementioned markets. This
specific anomaly constitutes one of several arguments opposing the efficient market
hypothesis.
Several hypotheses are given in theoretical and empirical studies to explain the dayof-the-week influence on stock returns and on trading volume. However, in spite
of the importance of these hypotheses, the investor’s sentiment plays a pivotal role
in the decision process. Overconfidence particularly leads investors with greater
information to make aggressive decisions and to increase their trading volume on
Mondays since they overestimate their knowledge and their judgment skills and
underestimate public information and the skills of those with less information. On
the contrary, these latter act in a more rational way and delay trades until the market
thickens and prices become more informative. Consequently, operations end with
abnormal losses and trading volume decreases on Mondays.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the day-of-the-week effect on the stock return
in the context of the Japanese market. We chose the specific case of the Japanese
market since the Asian population is the most exposed to the overconfidence bias1.
Different hypotheses, of which the overconfidence hypothesis is one, are examined
to explain the day-of-the-week influence on stock returns and trading volume. In
this vein, one question that could have greater importance is:
What explains the influence of the day-of-the-week effect on stock returns and trading
volume?
To find some response to this question we used a sample including returns and
trading volume of the Nikkei 225 index over the period from June 06, 2002 to Mai
10, 2011. Results show that stock returns and trading volume diminish dramatically

52

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

on Mondays and increase abnormally over the other days. Results do not support
in any special way the outliers’ hypothesis, the half-of-the-month hypothesis and the
autocorrelation hypothesis. They are, however, consistent with the adverse selection
and the overconfidence hypotheses.
The remainder of the paper proceeds as follows. Section 1 presents the literature
review on the day-of-the-week influence on the stock returns and gives theoretical
explanations. Section 2 summarizes the relationship between the investor’s sentiment
and the distribution of returns and trading volume. Section 3 provides the sources
of the data and a sample selection as well as estimated models. Section 4 contains
empirical results. Concluding remarks are provided in the last section.

The day-of-the-week effect on return and trading volume
Earlier studies concerning major international markets show that returns on assets and
trading volume are not evenly distributed across days, weeks, months or years. This
report is not consistent with the implication of the efficient market hypothesis. In
this vein, Foster and Viswanathan (1993) show that in the context of the US market
Mondays have abnormal losses, high return volatility and low trading volume.
Mondays’ abnormal losses can also be seen in different international markets.
Particularly, empirical studies show that Mondays have abnormally low returns
and Fridays have significantly high returns (see Lakonishok and Smidt (1988) for
the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the period from 1887 to 1986, Keim and
Stambaugh (1984) for the S&amp;P500 returns for the period from 1928 to 1982,
Schwert (1990) using different sources for the period from 1802 to 1987).
Several other authors find that the lowest average returns are observed on Tuesdays
(Solnik and Bousqet (1990) in the French stock market, Athanassakos and Robinson
(1994) in the Canadian market). Similar results are found in the context of Asian
countries (Aggarwal and Rivoli (1989) in the stock markets of Hong Kong, Malaysia
and Philippines, Wong, Hui and Chan (1992) in the markets of Singapore, Malaysia,
Hong Kong, and Thailand, or Kim (1988) in the stock markets of Japan and Korea).
Tuesdays’ low returns are observed also on the Istanbul stock exchange (Balaban,
1995; Bildik, 1997), and several other stock markets such as those of Australia,

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Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippine, Singapore, Taiwan
and Thailand (Ho, 1990). The same results are observed in Wong et al. (1992) in
the context of the markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand or in
Dubois and Louvert (1996) for the stock markets of Japan and Australia.
For the Turkish stock market, Balaban (1995) investigated the day-of-the-week effect
over a period dating from January 1988 to August 1994. Results show that Fridays
have high returns and low standard deviations. The day with second highest return
and second lowest standard deviation is Wednesday. Low returns are, oppositely,
observed on Tuesday and high standard deviations on Mondays.
Kiymaz and Berument (2003) examined the trading volume in the Japan, the United
Kingdom and the United States. They found that trading volume on Mondays and
Fridays is on average lower than on other days.
Several hypotheses are used to explain the variability in stock return across the days
the week. Theoretical and empirical studies argue, first of all, that low returns on
Mondays are due to isolated rare events that can be detected using a robust regression
test (see Conolly, 1989). This hypothesis is known as the outliers’ hypothesis.
Moreover, authors Wang, Li and Erickson (1997) distinguish between days of the
first and of the latter half of the month. They consider that the day-of-the-week
effect on the stock return changes according to whether the day comes in the first
or the latter half of the month. Mondays’ low returns are observed especially in the
latter half-of-the-month. This hypothesis is known as the latter-half-of-the-month
hypothesis.
Theoretical and empirical studies argue also that abnormal losses are linked to
the frequency of short sales. They document, moreover, that short sales are more
frequently observed on Mondays. In this sense, Chen and Signal (2003) have
documented that “Monday losses are caused, at least in part, by short sellers unwinding
short positions prior to the weekend and reestablishing short positions on Monday”2.
These authors find in the US market particularly that Monday losses and Friday
abnormal returns increase significantly when stocks have greater short interest.
Moreover several authors such as Bessembinder and Hertzel (1993) have documented
that the autocorrelation between Monday’s return with the prior Friday’s return has
been unusually higher for several decades. This hypothesis is widely confirmed in
empirical studies. Particularly, Boynton, Oppenheimer and Reid (2009) find in the
Japanese market that Mondays have higher AR (1) than other days of the week.

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�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

Investors’ sentiment, returns and trading volume
On the other hand and in the same vein of explanation as the day-of-the-week
influence on stock returns, several studies deal with the relationship between stock
returns and the trading volume. A point of view commonly shared in financial
literature is that there exists a positive correlation between trading volume and prior
stock returns.
Researches in behavior economics and behavioral finance provide some explanation
for this relation. Authors argue that an investor’s sentiment plays a pivotal role in the
stock market. Sentiment beliefs particularly influence the decision process. In this
sense, Chuang, Ouyang and Lo (2010) argue that “investors have a tendency to adjust
their beliefs to the most recent data and to make decisions based on information they have
at the present time. They also extrapolate past experiences into future”.
Investors increase their trading volume when they consider companies to be good
investments. Oppositely, they stop trading when they foresee companies as bad
investments. In this way, past trading volume reflects the investors’ expectations.
According to Chuang et al (2010), “investors would buy securities with good prospects.
If more and more investors extrapolate good news into future, they tend to overvalue these
firms and to invest in them. Their irrational beliefs thus increase trading volume.”
These authors also examined the effect of investor sentiment on stock prices in the
specific context of the Taiwanese stock market. They found that investors usually
observe past trading volume to make future investment decisions. Considering this
result, trading volume can be used as a proxy for measuring investors’ expectations.
In the same line, several authors such as Lee and Swaminathan (2000) have
documented that not only return but also trading volumes are influenced by investor
expectations. Behavioral theory argues, especially, that more informed investors are
more exposed to the overconfidence bias than less informed ones. They overestimate
the precision of their private information and their skills and underestimate public
information and the skills of less informed investors. Consequently, they trade
irrationally and their irrational trading can lead to abnormal variability in trading
volume and consequently on returns. In this vein, “many empirical results show that
the irrational investor behavior not only exist in the stock market but also has significant
influences on the formation of prices” (Chuang et al., 2010).
Taken together these arguments indicate that investors’ sentiments, especially

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overconfidence, play a pivotal role in the decision process. They lead investors to
make irrational and aggressive decisions thus increasing trading volume. Since
less informed investor expects this irrational behavior they delay trading, which
dramatically influences the result of the operation.
Data and methodology
The data we used includes daily returns and trading volume on the “Nikkei 225”
index over the period from June 06, 2002 to May 10, 2011. We include all data
corresponding to every trading day. Final sample includes 2176 daily observations.
In order to investigate the influence of the day-of-the-week on the stock returns we
regress returns on each of the day of the week. The estimated equation is:
N

Rt =
α 0 + ∑ α i di + ε t

(1)

i =1

with i = 1, …, 5 (1 : Monday, 2 : Tuesday, 3 : Wednesday, 4 : Thursday, 5 : Friday).

Rt = ln( I[ N ]t ) − ln( I[ N ](t −1) )  ×100 with IN : the Nikkei Index.
ɛt : is the error term.

To investigate the effect of the day of the week on trading volume, we regress this
latter on each of the day of the week. The estimated equation is:
N

Vt =
α 0 + ∑ α i di + ε t

(2)

i =1

With: Vt: the logarithm of the daily trading volume.
We estimate, first of all, both equation (1) and equation (2) using the whole of the
data with daily classification and half-of-the-month classification. This allows us to
test the latter-half-of-the-month hypothesis. To test the outliers’ hypothesis we use,
in a second step, robust regression for the two equations.
The test for the short-sales hypothesis will be, however, withdrawn since there is no
short-sale interest in the Japan.
In the third step we test the autocorrelation hypothesis. In order to do this, we

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�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

investigate the relation below:

Rt= α + βt R(t −1) + ε t

(3)

With Rt: the return in the day t.

Equation 3 can be presented as follow:

 RMo ( t ) 
R

 Tu ( t ) 
 RWe

=
(t )


 RTh ( t ) 
 RFr ( t ) 



 α Fr (0)
α
 Mo (0)
 α Tu (0)

αWe (0)
 α Th (0)


β Fr ( t )   RFr ( t −1)   ε Fr ( t ) 
β Mo ( t )   RMo ( t −1)  ε Mo ( t ) 
βTu ( t )  ×  RTu ( t −1)  +  ε Tu ( t ) 

 
 
βWe ( t )   RWe ( t −1)   ε We ( t ) 
βTh ( t )   RTh ( t −1)   ε Th ( t ) 

With: Mo : Monday, Tu : Tuesday, We : Wednesday, Th : Thursday, Fr : Friday.
We test, in the final stage, the adverse selection and the investor’s sentiment
hypothesis (investor’s beliefs and overconfidence sentiment). We investigate,
especially, the impact of investors’ beliefs on the variability of trading volume across
the days of the week. Using the return in the day (t-1) as a proxy, we regress trading
volume across every day (t) on the return of the day (t-1). The estimated equation is:

Vt= α + βt R(t −1) + ε t

(4)

With Vt : the trading volume in the day t.
Equation (4) can be presented as follow:

VMo ( t ) 
V

 Tu ( t ) 
VWe

=
(t )


 VTh ( t ) 
 VFr ( t ) 



 α Fr ( 0)
α
 Mo ( 0)
 α Tu ( 0)

αWe ( 0)
 α Th ( 0)


β Fr ( t )   RFr ( t −1)   ε Fr ( t ) 

 

β Mo ( t ) 
  RMo ( t −1)  ε Mo ( t ) 
βTu ( t )  ×  RTu ( t −1)  +  ε Tu ( t ) 

 
 
βWe ( t )   RWe ( t −1)   ε We ( t ) 


 
βTh ( t ) 
  RTh ( t −1)   ε Th ( t ) 

With: Mo : Monday, Tu : Tuesday, We : Wednesday, Th : Thursday, Fr : Friday.

Volume 2

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Spring 2012

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�Abderrazak DHAOUI &amp; Ramzi FARHANI &amp; Riadh GARFATTA

Results and discussion
Figures 1 to 5 show the time series of day-of-the-week Return Distribution. The
X-axis gives the time series (day of the week over the analysis period). The Y-axis
gives, however, the distribution of the returns on the day of the week across the time.
Figure 1. Monday Return Distribution

Figure 2. Tuesday Return Distribution

Mondays Return Distibution

0.06

Tuesday Return Distribution

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.04

0.02
0.02

Return

Return

0
0

-0.02
-0.02

-0.04

-0.04

-0.06

-0.08

-0.06

0

50

100

150

200
Date

250

300

350

-0.08

400

Figure 3. Monday Return Distribution

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

450

Figure 4. Tuesday Return Distribution

Mondays Return Distibution

0.06

0

Tuesday Return Distribution

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.04
0.02
0.02

Return

Return

0
0

-0.02
-0.02
-0.04

-0.04

-0.06

-0.06

0

50

100

150

200
Date

250

300

350

-0.08

400

0

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

450

Figure 5. Friday Return Distribution
Friday Return Distribution

0.06

0.04

0.02

0

Return

-0.08

-0.02

-0.04

-0.06

-0.08

-0.1

-0.12

0

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

450

Figures 1 to 5 show that the volatility of stock returns changes significantly over
the days of the week. The volatility is very high on Mondays and becomes much
lower on Thursdays. Moderate volatility is observed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Fridays. High volatility across all days is observed during the period from December
2007 to October 2008.

58

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

Figures 6 to 10 present the time series of Trading Volume by day of the week
respectively, starting from Monday until Friday. The X-axis gives the time series
evolution. The Y-axis gives the distribution of the trading volume across the days of
the week from January 2002 to March 2011.
Figure 6. Monday Trading Volume Distribution
13

12.5

12.5

12

12

11.5

11

10.5

Tuesday Trading Volume Distribution

13

Trading Volume

Trading volume

Figure 7. Tuesday Trading Volume Distribution

Mondays Trading volume Distribution

11.5

11

0

50

100

200
Date

150

250

300

350

10.5

400

Figure 8. Wednesday Trading Volume Distribution

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

450

Figure 9. Thursday Trading Volume Distribution

Wednesday Trading Volume Distribution

13

0

Thursday Trading Volume Distribution

13

12.5

12.5

Trading Volume

11.5

11.5

11

11

10.5

10.5

0

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

10

450

0

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

Figure 10. Friday Trading Volume Distribution
Friday Trading Volume Distribution

13

12.5

Trading Volume

Trading Volume

12

12

12

11.5

11

10.5

0

50

100

150

200

Date

250

300

350

400

450

Figures 6 to 10 show that the volatility of the trading volume changes significantly
over the course of the week. Trading volume volatility is very high on Fridays and
then on Tuesdays and Mondays. Thursdays have, however, lower volatility of trading
volume.

Volume 2

Number 1

Spring 2012

59

450

�Abderrazak DHAOUI &amp; Ramzi FARHANI &amp; Riadh GARFATTA

Taken together, these results indicate that both stock return volatility and trading
volume volatility remain lower on Tuesdays. Over the other days, the volatility of
both returns and trading volume changes dramatically.
Table 1 presents results for the regression of the return on the day of the week.
Table 1. Day-of-the-week Returns regression (overall, first and latter half-of-themonth)
Overall

Returns
First half-of-the-month

Latter half-of-the-month

Mo

-0,001039
(-1,84)*

-0,0010162
(-3,07)**

-0,0007256
(-1,81)*

Tu

-0,004554
(-1,24)ns

-0,0002864
(-1,54)ns

-0,0005789
(-1,74)*

We

-0,002016
(-0,857)ns

-0,0008466
(-0,83)ns

0,0003819
(1,67)*

Th

0,004116
(1,73)*

-0,001614
(-1,54)ns

0,0027343
(1,97)*

Fr

0,007390
(2,17)**

0,0013137
(1,68)*

0,0003445
(2,86) ***

Cons_

0,000944
(6,49)***

0,0004478
(4,18)***

-0,0004353
(-1,42)ns

R-Square
Adjusted R-Square

0,2796
0,2782

0,3871
0,3859

0,1367
0,1351

Variables

*** Significant at 1% level, ** Significant at 5% level, * Significant at 10% level.

Results in table 1 indicate a significant negative effect of Mondays
(α Mo =
− 0, 001039; tMo =
− 1,84) .
On
the
on
stock
returns
other hand, Thursdays and Fridays have significantly positive effects
=
(αTh 0,=
004116; tTh 1,
=
73 and α Fr 0,=
007390; tTh 2,17) . Tuesdays and
Wednesdays have non-significant effects on stock returns. This indicates that stock
returns are not evenly distributed across the days of the week. They are consistent
with the results observed in several international markets such as those of French
(1980), Aggrawal and Rivoli (1989) Barbee, Jeong and Mukherji (2008) Tripathy
(2010) and Ulussever et al. (2011) according to which the average return on
Mondays is significantly less than the average of the other days of the week.
Considering the half-of-the-month classification, results remain similar whether the
days are in the first or the last half of the month. Whichever the half of the month,

60

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

returns decrease significantly on Mondays and increase abnormally starting from
Thursdays. Fridays have a higher positive effect on the stock returns. Abnormal losses
are especially observed on Mondays during the first half of the month. Similarly,
higher Friday returns are observed during the first half of the month. These results
are not consistent with the latter-half-of the-month hypothesis according to which
Mondays’ abnormal losses are shown in the latter half of the month.
Table 2 presents results for the regression of the trading volume on the day-of-theweek.
Table 2. Day-of-the-week Trading volume regression (overall, first and latter halfof-the-month
Overall

Trading volume (ln)
First half-of-the-month

Latter half-of-the-month

Mo

-0,115013
(-1,93)*

-0,1435844
(-2,84)***

-0,0906864
(-1,94)*

Tu

0,0623029
(1,84)**

0,0831203
(1,73)*

0,0442832
(1,94)*

We

0,1163678
(1,63)ns

0,1319225
(1,86)*

0,1035988
(1,27)ns

Th

0,1180755
(2,16) **

0,1251352
(1,98)*

0,1120267
(2,48)**

Fr

0,1631291
(1,98)**

0,2343976
(1,84)*

0,1019931
(3,17)***

Cons_

0,390471
(3,17)***

1,433481
(2,96)***

1,263122
(2,83)***

R-Square
Adjusted R-Square

0,3851
0,3839

0,4408
0,4397

0,2642
0,2628

Variables

*** Significant at 1% level, ** Significant at 5% level, * Significant at 10% level.
Results in table 2 indicate that trading volume decreases abnormally on Mondays and
increase significantly over the other days. Higher effects of the day of the week on
trading volume are, however, observed on Fridays. These results are consistent with the
adverse selection hypothesis. In this sense, individual investors expect that on Mondays
institutional investors, as more informed investors, have greater information and will
exploit their information advantage in trades. Consequently, they (i.e. individual
investors) postpone trades as a best strategy until the market thickens and the prices
become more informative. The delay of trade induces a decrease in trading volume on
Mondays. Starting from Tuesday, the information effect diminishes and prices start to
become more informative. Consequently both institutional and individual investors
trade together which induces an increase in trading volume.

Volume 2

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Spring 2012

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�Abderrazak DHAOUI &amp; Ramzi FARHANI &amp; Riadh GARFATTA

Results for the robust regressions of returns and trading volume on the day of the
week are given in table 3.

Table 3. Return distribution and trading volume (Robust regression)
Variables

Return Distribution (robust
regression)

Trading Volume Distribution
(robust regression)

Mo

-0,0000944
(1,74)*

-0,1150134
(-2,37)**

Tu

-0,0004554
(-1,14)ns

0,0623029
(1,62)ns

We

-0,0002016
(-1,48)ns

0,1163678
(1,19)ns

Th

0,0007116
(1,36)ns

0,1180755
(2,08)*

Fr

0,000439
(2,58)**

0,1631291
(2,36)*

Cons_

-0,0001039
(3,17)***

1,27545
(4,12)***

R-Square
Root MSE

0,1207
0,01623

0,1738
2.3847

*** Significant at 1% level, ** Significant at 5% level, * Significant at 10% level.
Results in table 3 indicate the persistence of low returns on Mondays even using a
robust regression test. These results challenge the outliers hypothesis according to
which low returns on Mondays are due to isolated rare events that can be detected
using a robust regression test.
Taken together, results associated with the latter-half-of-the-month and with the
outliers hypothesis are consistent with those of Boynton et al (2009), who did not
confirm the two hypotheses.
Table 4 presents results associated with the autocorrelation hypothesis and those
testing the effect of the investors’ expectation on returns and on trading volume.

62

Journal of Economic and Social Studies

�Stock Return and Trading Volume Distribution across the Day-of-the-week:
Evidence from the Japanese Stock Market

Table 4. Results on autocorrelation and overconfidance hypothesis tests
Model
(Days relation)
Tu/Mo

We/Tu

Th/We

Fr/Th

Mo/Fr

N

Endogenous
Variable

Exogenous
Variables

T-statistic

R-squared
Adj. R-squared

RTu(t)

RMo(t-1) = -0,1137036
Cons_ = -0,0004668

-2,42 (0.016)***
-0,66 (0.513)ns

R2 =0,2204
Adj. R2 = 0,2141

VTu(t)

RMo(t-1) = -0,12992
Cons_ = 2,50003

-1,74 (0.083)*
7,36 (0.000)***

R2 = 0,1174
Adj. R2 = 0,1103

RWe(t)

RTu(t-1) = -0,0186290
Cons_ = -0,0001872

-0,43 (0.667)ns
-0,26 (0.798)ns

R2 = 0,0814
Adj. R2 = -0,0771

VWe(t)

RTu(t-1) = 0,3085539
Cons_ = 2,40007

0,05 (0.964)**
8,10 (0.000)***

R2 = 0,1623
Adj. R2 = 0,1584

RTh(t)

RWe(t-1) = -0,0280665
Cons_ = 0,0006791

-0,55 (0.585)ns
0,87 (0.384)ns

R2 = 0,0951
Adj. R2 = 0,0909

VTh(t)

RWe(t-1) = 1.40344
Cons_ = 2,40132

2,04 (0.042)**
8,36 (0.000)*

R2 = 0,1358
Adj. R2 = 0,1318

RFr(t)

RTh(t-1) = -0,0530225
Cons_ = 0,0010738

-0,64 (0.524)ns
1,03 (0.307)ns

R2 = 0,0816
Adj. R2 = 0,0689

VFr(t)

RTh(t-1) = 2,99868
Cons_ = 3,64075

1,06 (0.292)ns
4,34 (0.000)***

R2 = 0,0507
Adj. R2 = 0,0376

RMo(t)

RFr(t-1) = 0,0671137
Cons_ = -0,0011966

0,93 (0.355)ns
-1,24 (0.216)ns

R2 = 0,0934
Adj. R2 = 0,0861

VMo(t)

RFr(t-1) = -0,754204
Cons_ =2,53782

-0,65 (0.517)ns
6,79 (0.000)***

R2 = 0,1017
Adj. R2 = 0,0944

257

434

439

148

252

*** Significant at 1% level, ** Significant at 5% level, * Significant at 10% level.

Results in table 4 indicate that only Tuesdays have a significant
AR(1). Mondays’ returns have negative effects on those of Tuesdays
(α RMo ( t −1) / RTh ( t ) =
− 0,1137036; t RMo ( t −1) / RTh ( t ) =
− 2, 42) . These results challenge the
autocorrelation hypothesis according to which Mondays have higher AR(1) than
other days and which is confirmed in the context of the Japanese market by Boynton
et al. (2009).
These results can be explained considering the investor’s sentiment (investor’s
beliefs and the overconfidence hypothesis). On Mondays the overconfident
investors overestimate the precision of their knowledge and their judgment skills.
They underestimate, at the same time, the public information and the skills of less
informed investors. They make, consequently, aggressive decisions and increase their
trading volume. Since the less informed investors act in a rational way, they delay
trading and the operation ends with abnormal losses. Once the prices become more
informative, the less informed investors change their strategy and increase their
trading volume. Operations end, consequently, with higher gains.

Volume 2

Number 1

Spring 2012

63

�Conclusion
We can conclude from our analysis that stock returns and trading volume are not
evenly distributed across time. Mondays have abnormal losses and Fridays have
higher returns. Trading volume decreases abnormally on Mondays and increases
significantly over the other days.
Results, using the NIKKEI 225 data for return and trading volume over a period
from June 06, 2002 to May 10, 2011 show that stock returns and trading volume
diminish dramatically on Mondays and increase abnormally over the other days.
Results do not support, particularly, the outliers’ hypothesis, the half-of-the-month
hypothesis and the autocorrelation hypothesis. They are, however, consistent with
the adverse selection and the overconfidence hypotheses. In this sense, information
plays a pivotal role in the decision process. More informed investors overestimate
the precision of their knowledge and their judgment skills and underestimate public
information and the skills of the less informed investors. They therefore make
aggressive decisions and increase their trading volume. On the other hand, less
informed investors postpone trades since they know that on Mondays the more
informed investors will exploit their information advantage in trades. The delay of
trade driven by the less informed investors’ behavior induces a decrease in returns
on Mondays.

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(Endnotes)
1 In this sense, psychologists have demonstrated that the Asian population exhibits overconfidence
in general knowledge (see Yates, Lee and Shinotsuka (1996) and Yates, Lee and Bush (1997) for
more details). This specifically implies, among other things, that Asian investors may suffer from
psychological biases of which one is the overconfidence bias.
2 For more details see Boynton et al. (2009).

Volume 2

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Journal of Economic and Social Studies
67

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                    <text>Journal of Economic and Social Studies

Participatory Approach
to Development in Pakistan
Iqtidar Ali Shah
Faculty, College of Applied Sciences, Salalah
Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman
ias85@hotmail.com
Neeta Baporikar
Faculty, College of Applied Sciences, Salalah
Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman
neetajb@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT
The concept of people’s participation in development is well defined
but its meaning is different to different development organizations
and social scientists. The objective of the paper is to unpack the
concept of participation by looking at its various aspects including
types, forms and stages. The paper focuses on research questions such
as what kinds of participation are used worldwide with special
reference to Pakistan; how the importance of people’s participation
is realized and incorporated in development projects worldwide and
more so in Pakistan. The paper provides the rationale for conceptual
understanding of participatory approach and enables to deepen the
knowledge about participatory approach for development. Thus,
this paper contributes to the existing theory in terms of exploring the
conceptual understanding of participation, realizing the importance
of participation in development. The paper is descriptive in nature,
based on secondary materials (research papers and various project
documents), case studies and examples.
JEL Codes: O53, P49

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KEYWORDS
People’s Participation, Pakistan,
Development, Community,
Participatory Approach
ARTICLE HISTORY
Submitted: 27 July 2011
Resubmitted: 11 Spring 2012
Resubmitted: 12 March 2012
Accepted: 27 March 2012

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Introduction
In response to the failure of development projects in 1950s, social activists and fieldworkers observed that the populations concerned were not included in project’s
design and implementation. Failure was linked to the lack of local people’s involvement in developmental projects. It was assumed that if local people were involved,
projects would have been more successful (AWARD, 2008). Similarly, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) also pointed out that the traditional top-down approach of many developing and developed countries failed to
reach and benefit the rural poor (FAO, 1991). The reason for this failure, identified
by the international community in the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and
Rural Development (WCARRD), held in Rome in 1979, is the lack of active participation of the poor in development programmes (FAO, 1990). As an alternative
approach, the concept of participatory development gained significance in development debates and programmes.
Adopting a people oriented approach rather than a government outlook will bring
in more peace and development. The recent people protest in Arabs called “Arab
Spring” is more an outcome of young generation demanding participation in the
country’s governance and resource allocation processes. Such human turmoil can be
minimized if not totally eliminated by adopting people participatory approach to
crucial projects at least. This will have a twofold effect – strengthen the community
and second bring in the better citizenship. Thus, involving people in development,
governance and decision making becomes need of the day as it ensures confidence
of the people. It also helps in providing equality, justice and smooth delivery of
services. The low level of participation can be one of the reasons behind the recent
“Arab Spring” started in 2010. The people in these countries have stood up for more
freedom, equality, justice, better future prospects, employment, economic and social development and participation in the decision making process.
The phenomenon of participatory or bottom-up development has become very
popular, interesting and attractive in the context of urban and regional development
and has recently become virtually indispensable in the discussion on development.
According to Masanyiwa and Kinyashi (2008, p 3) “participation has now become
an established orthodoxy in development thinking and practice.” Participation is
widely accepted by many governments and international agencies including the
World Bank (World Bank, 1996; World Bank, 1998; World Bank, 2000), United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 1997), US Agency for International

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Development (USAID, 1999), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA,
1995), Food Agriculture Organization (FAO, 1990, FAO; 1991, FAO; 1994 and
FAO, 1997), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB, 1996) as an important element in development projects and programmes, and have involved people/GROs/
NGOs in their development programmes/activities in order to achieve sustainable
development. On the other hand, in the so-called top-down approach to development, the entire process of formulating and implementing polices and projects are
carried out under the direction of government and people were put in a passive
position and were rarely consulted in development and usually have no active role
in development activities. This government-led approach to development remained
intact or even increased deep-rooted problems including economic and social disparities between social classes, genders, regions, and between urban and rural areas.
Participatory development arose from consciousness of these inadequacies.
According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, 1995), participatory development is not an attempt to replace the top-down development approach
with local community-led approach but it attempts to compensate for or overcome
the limitations and shortcomings of the top-down development approach by adopting a bottom-up style of development. Participatory approach enables local people
to acquire the skills needed to implement and coordinate the management of development projects themselves and thus reap more returns. For example, three years
after the completion of the People’s Participatory Programme (PPP) project at Sierra
Leone, a FAO consultant reported after his visit to the project action area “The PPP
villages have undertaken a number of community development projects, raising
money to build schools, bridges and grain stores. Some groups have branched out
into palm oil, groundnut and vegetable production.” The visitor found that while
the group no longer had regular access to credit, they continued to save, investing
their capital in construction projects and in small businesses. The groups still kept
record books and had adopted a participatory monitoring and evaluation system.
Two former Group Promoters had formed Rural Workers’ Association that meets
regularly with government representatives and local leaders to discuss project ideas
and to coordinate the delivery of farm inputs (FAO, 1990). Thus, participation is
more than an instrument of development; it ensures sustainability and makes development efficient.
All the governments, developmental agencies and NGOs have recognized that the
top-down approach possessing convention development strategies has largely failed
to reach and benefit the rural poor. For example, an evaluation found that half of

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the rural development projects funded by the World Bank in Africa out rightly
failed to reach the poor as the top-down approaches were used (FAO, 1990). A
review of assistance to agriculture cooperatives by the World Bank reported similar
results (FAO, 1990). On the other hand, an examination of 25 agriculture and rural development projects financed by the World Bank found that participation by
beneficiaries was a key factor for the 12 projects that achieved long-term economic
sustainability (World Resource Institute, 1992).
Similarly, a study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) of 40 “poverty
oriented” projects worldwide showed that the poorest were excluded from activities and benefits (FAO, 1990). UNDP in its Human Development Report, 1990,
emphasizes that the participatory approach is crucial to any strategy for a successful
human development (FAO, 1991).
The literature review, to a greater extent, confirms the results of effective participation in the form of empowerment of communities, social capital and sustainability
of the projects (World Bank, 2000a). However, the same approach is also criticized
for being slow and complex process (Mansuri and Rao, 2004). Thus, the potential
benefits attached with participatory approach are controversial (Khan, 2006).
Research questions to be explored are: what kind of participation is used in the development projects worldwide and in Kyber Pukhtoon Khwa (KPK), Pakistan and
how the importance of people’s participation is realized and incorporated in development projects and programme worldwide and in Pakistan. Moreover the meaning of people’s participation in development, types and classification, importance,
need, ways, principles and demerits of people’s participation has been reviewed and
analyzed with the aim to provide the conceptual understanding of people’s participation which will help to enhance the knowledge about participation.
This paper is descriptive in nature and based on secondary materials (research papers
and various project documents), case studies and examples.
This paper has been organized as: after introduction, a literature review followed
by various kinds of people’s participation in Pakistan. Next the methods of how to
promote people’s participation in development have been explained followed by the
basis / principles of participation. People’s participation and argument against people’s participation is mentioned in next section. The paper ends with a conclusion.

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Literature Review

Evolution / History of Participation
The concept of participation in the context of economic development is not entirely
new. Its origin can be found in ancient Greek. According to Aristotle, participation
in the affairs of the state as a citizen is essential to the development and fulfillment
of human personality and the best state is one where there is broad participation,
with no class dominating the others. At Aristotle’s time, participation was a matter
of voting, holding office, attending public meetings, paying taxes and defending the
state. In those days there was very little consideration of participation in development. People worked and hoped for prosperity through agriculture, trade and art
and craft manufacturing (Cohn &amp; Uphoff, 1980).
After World War II, the US and other industrialized countries focused on the technological gap between developing and developed countries and foreign assistance
was given to the underdeveloped countries to manage the gap. The people’s participation was to adopt the new technologies. By the 1960s this theory changed into a
resource gap between government revenue and expenditure, between export import
and between saving and investment and the people’s participation was to pay taxes,
consume domestic products, produce more for export, save and invest and hold
down the consumption (Cohen &amp; Uphoff, 1980).
In 1950s and 1960, the community development gained momentum, particularly
in Africa and Asia. National programmes were announced to build community infrastructure and to break down communities’ exclusion from development activities (UNDP, 1997a). Thus, two important approaches to rural development were
introduced in a number of countries, particularly in Africa and Asia - community
development and “animation rurale” (in West Africa) which aimed at local people’s
participation. However, Cohen &amp; Uphoff had a narrow view of participatory activities and felt they were largely ineffective in transforming rural communities (Cohen
&amp; Uphoff, 1980).
Participation has increased its popularity since the 1970s, when concern was felt
for meeting basic needs and reaching the poorest of the poor (Michener, 1998). According to White, Nasir and Ascroft the euphoric word ‘participation’ has become a
part of development jargon (1994). In the late 1970s and 1980s, the development

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programmes were analyzed, examined the cause of underdevelopment and poverty,
and came to the conclusion that the poor were excluded and marginalized both
from broader societal participation and from direct involvement in development
initiatives. As a result, the number of poor people rose to 900 million worldwide. In
the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD),
held in Rome in 1979, the international community identified the reason for this
failure - the lack of active participation of the poor in programming, designing, to
assist them (FAO, 1990). After WCARRD, and throughout the 1980s and 90s,
participation in rural development – as well as in development at large – gradually
became more established among governments, donors and international organizations (UN, 2008). Thus, the long journey of top-down and non participatory practice broke down and the bottom-up approach to development came into existence.
There are many bilateral and multilateral donors, development agencies, and governments which have involved people in some aspects of planning, implementation,
management and evaluation of development projects because of the fact/philosophy
that sustainability cannot be achieved without the involvement of beneficiaries in
the project life cycle.

Meaning of People’s Participation in Development
In the existing literature, the term people’s participation has been defined by various
social scientists, researchers and developmental organizations such as World Bank,
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), InterAmerican Foundation (IFA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
etc. They defined people’s participation from their own point of view, experience
and priority. Some of the definitions are:

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Participation in the Eyes of World Developmental Agencies

The World Bank
“Participation is a process through which stakeholders influence and partly control the development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them”
(World Bank, 1996).

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
“The active engagement of partners and customers in sharing ideas, committing
timing and resources, making decisions and taking action to bring about a desired
development objective. Participation describes both the ends and the means; both
the kind of results we seek, and the way we, as providers of development and humanitarian assistance, must nurture those results” (USAID, 1999).

United Nation Development Programme (UNDP)
“Participation means that people are closely involved in the economic, social, cultural and political processes that affect their lives” (UNDP, 1997a).

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
“…for development to succeed, the people of the countries concerned must be the
“owner” of their development policies and programs” (USAID, 1999).

International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD)
“…a democratic process in which people, particularly the weak and the poor, are not
passive receivers of a developmental project at the end of top-down approach, but
are requested to identify their needs, voice their demands, and organize themselves
so as to improve their livelihood with the help of financial, technical, and human
resources offered by the development project as well as their own” (USAID, 1999).

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Inter-American Foundation (IFA)
“Institutional style and modus operandi which facilitate accountability to members and clients; broad participation in decision-making; availability of information about the management of resources; and equitable distribution of benefits”
(USAID, 1999).

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
“A process whereby individual and community are actively involved in all phases of
development. It therefore involves greater equity in economic and political power”
(USAID, 1999).

Food Agriculture Organization (FAO)
“An active process in which people take initiative and action that is stimulated
by their own thinking and deliberation and which they can effectively influence”
(FAO, 1991).

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
Participation in development can be defined in broad terms as the pprocess through
which people with a legitimate interest (stakeholders) influence and control developmental initiatives, and the decisions and resources which affect them, thus,
participation often comprise:
•

the involvement of stakeholders in any or all phases of the project life cycle;

•

promotion of the role of civil society in the development process;

•

specially designed facilitation methodologies and techniques;

•

decentralized or devolved decision-making; or

•

the institutionalization of decentralized or devolved decision-making such that
broad stakeholder involvement becomes a normal, expected part of the development process (IADB, 1996).

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Participation in the Eyes of Researchers and Social Scientists

Cohen and Uphoff
“With regard to rural development.…participation includes people’s involvement
in decision-making process, in implementing programmes, sharing the benefits of
development programmes and their involvement in the efforts to evaluate such programmes” (Cohen and Uphoff, 1977).

Cernea, M. (ed.)
“Empowering people to mobilize their own capacities, be social actors rather than
passive subjects, manage the resources, make decisions, and control the activities
that affect their lives” (Cernea, 1985).

Wolfe and Marshall
Participation designates “The organized efforts to increase control over resources and
regulative institutions in given social situations, on the part of groups and movements hitherto excluded from such control” (Wolfe, 1983).

N.C. Saxena
“Participatory is a voluntary process by which people, including the disadvantaged
(in income, gender, caste, or education), influence or control the decisions that affect them” (Saxena, 1998).

Sam Joseph
“The invitations to people to take part as beneficiaries in a programme designed
exclusively by a development agency in which the beneficiaries have had no input
or a situation where local people have had the responsibility and the authority to
analyze, plan and implement the solutions to local problems or a situation where

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local people have had control of all stages of finding solutions to a local problem”
(Joseph, 1996).

Angelo Bonfiglioli
“A complex social, technical and institutional process through which communities
may become more fully involved in their own development, more particularly taking an active part in the design, implementation and evaluation of specific development initiatives” (Bonfiglioli, 1997).
The main crux and theme of the above definitions can be summarized as:
•

the voluntary involvement of the poor, weak and needy, beneficiaries and stakeholders to share, participate and control all economic, social, cultural and political initiatives,

• to actively participate in the decisions, resources and benefits of developmental
activities,
• to take part in the design, implementation and evaluation of specific development initiative,
•

to involve people in all phases of development programme and policy, because:
participation is a means and end,
in order to achieve desired objectives,
to become owner of the project/ activities / programmes and
to improve their livelihood.

Pretty has pointed out that there are two overlapping schools of thought and practice. According to them: (a) participation as a means to increase the efficiency, the
central notion being that if people are involved, then they are more likely to agree
with and support the new development or service (Pretty, 1995). According to
UNDP,
Participation is seen as a process whereby local people cooperate or collaborate with
externally introduced development programmes or projects. In this way participation becomes the means whereby such initiatives can be more effectively imple-

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mented. People’s participation is sponsored by external agency and it is seen as a
technique to support the progress of the programme or project. The term ‘participatory development’ is more commonly used to describe this approach and it implies
externally designed development activities implemented in a participatory manner.
This approach would appear to be quite widespread and essentially promotes participation as a means of ensuring the successful outcome of the activities undertaken
(UNDP, 1997a).
(b) Participation as a fundamental right, in which the main aim is to initiate mobilize for collective action, empowerment and institution building (Pretty, 1995).
UNDP named this fundamental right as an end (goal) of participation. According
to UNDP,
Participation as an end (goal) which can be expressed as the empowering of people
in terms of their acquiring the skills, knowledge and experience to take greater responsibility for their development. People’s poverty can often be explained in terms
of their exclusion and lack of access to and control of the resources which they need
to sustain and improve their lives. Participation is an instrument of change and it
can help to break that exclusion and to provide poor people with the basis for their
more direct involvement in development initiatives (UNDP, 1997a).
So, very simply, the term participation or participatory approach can be defined
as The active involvement of local people/community or their representatives, local organizations, ideas, skills, knowledge and priorities in all the phases of any local project/
programs,, developmental activities and developmental policies, in order to increase the
efficiency or to ensure sustainability and equitability, as it is the fundamental right of
poor /local beneficiaries or because the local people know more than the government and
external professional experts what problems they face and how best to resolve them.
The importance of this definition is that it covers three aspects of human life i.e. economic, social and political. According to this definition people are involved in the
development process to ensure sustainability, to achieve equitability and to prevail
social justice in society.

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Need of People’s Participation in Development
Traditional development theory holds that development is primarily a function of
capital investment and that the greater the flow of capital from wealthy countries
to poor countries, the more rapid the development of the latter (Korten, 1987).
However, overcoming rural poverty is not simply a matter of more investment, more
aid or more technology. Poverty will persist until development reaches and benefits
the world’s 800 million underprivileged, undernourished and under-educated rural
people. The rural poor must be given the opportunity to participate in development
(FAO, 1997a). Similarly, Cohen and Uphoff (1980) found that more and more
economists have come to challenge the prevailing view that capital was the prime
mover in development. According to them, in this theoretical and practical context, people’s participation becomes important to the same extent as it was peripheral when capital formation was considered as the primary factor. According to the
World Bank (2000), “economic growth is essential to poverty reduction. However,
development requires more than just a focus on macroeconomic and financial issues. Experience shows that looking at both sides-macroeconomic and financial aspects on the one side and structural, social and human considerations on the otheris essential to adequately support a country’s future development.” Thus, to provide
the opportunity to local and poor people to participate in development is the only
solution for overcoming rural poverty and securing sustainable development.
According to Saxena, people’s participation (as an input or an independent variable)
can contribute to the achievement of four main objectives: efficiency; effectiveness;
empowerment; and equity (Saxena, 1998). Experience has shown that participation
improves the quality, effectiveness and sustainability of development actions. By
placing people at the center of such actions, development efforts have a much greater potential to empower and to lead to ownership of the results (UNDP, 1997a).
“Development is a complex process. It cannot be left in the hands of centralized power. Even latter-day communists such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping have
come to realize this and tried to open up their societies, to provide more room and
more opportunities to the people to be more participative, creative and productive”
(Cleveland and Lubic, 1992). The failure of conventional, top-down and non-participatory approach in many development and developed countries led to the foundation
of an alternate approach i.e. community participation, which contains the qualities
of sustainability, empowerment, self-reliance, and equity. The need of a bottom-up
approach was not only felt by the governments of underdeveloped and developed

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countries but also all the donors, international development agencies and NGOs and
was incorporated in their development programmes and activities for their successful
implementation. The main characteristic of the bottom-up strategy is the community
involvement in developmental activities. The question and issue is why people should
be consulted, and how to link institutions and people to jointly accelerate the process
of development. There are three reasons which justify people’s participation:
•

When people/community participates in the identification of problems and
come up with their own solutions, the results can be both spectacular and
sustainable.

•

Participation allows communities to discover their own wealth of knowledge
and capacity for problem identification and problem solving.

•

The solutions that are identified by communities are more likely to be feasible
and implementable than those formulated by outsiders.

Linking institutions and communities poses a twofold problem: for the institution it is very difficult to involve the isolated and uneducated people in the main
stream of development. It is a problem how to access them to increase their productivity and income and to make development activities more sustainable. The same
is also faced by the poor population as they are neither connected with the political
system nor with the general economy. They are often isolated, with limited access to
newspapers and other forms of communication. They don’t know how to approach
the government and other institutions and vice-a-versa, for their rights and own
development. Though they know better their own problems and the solutions, the
difficulty is to organize them and make their local knowledge effective. So, there is
a need of a two ways communication between the two groups. To link the two is
mostly done by local NGOs.

Importance and Role of Participation in Development
The importance and role of people’s participation in development has been highlighted in various papers and documents of projects. It is the most important approach
to enable communities to help themselves and sustain efforts in development work.
Participation is important because it makes projects efficient, effective, and sustainable

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in a variety of ways. According to Katsumoto, participation clarifies project goals,
reduces project cost, prevents/reduces management conflicts (that may be caused
between development workers and local people), promotes the technology transfer to the people and encourages a culture of self-help and a commitment among
the people (Katsumoto, 2007). Participation increases sustainability, productivity,
efficiency, reduces cost and builds democratic organizations (FAO, 1997b). Participation improves the status of women by providing them the opportunity to play a
part in development activities (UNDP, 1997a). Participation creates the sense of
responsibility and ownership in the beneficiaries which leads to sustainability (FAO,
1991). Participation breaks the mentality of dependence and promotes self-awareness and confidence (Mefenguza, 2007). Participation helps to build local capacity
and develop the abilities of local people to manage and to negotiate development
activities (UNDP, 1997a). Participation improves the efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and coverage of projects and programmes and promoting stakeholder
capacity, self-reliance and empowerment (FAO, 2000). Participation provides equitable development and creates a sense of self-determination, community development and self-development (CPA, 2009).

Classification of Participation
Pretty, Satterthwaite, Adnan, Alam &amp; Brustnow and Hart have classified participation on the basis of why and how people participate in development (Pretty, 1995).
They provide a complete cycle of people’s participation in development. In the first
part of their cycle, manipulative participation, passive participation, participation
by consultation, and participation for material incentives, are the weak levels of participation and people have no power to plan or decide for their own development.
In these levels of participation, the whole development programme is controlled and
managed by external agents. The second part of the project cycle includes functional
participation, interactive participation, and self-mobilization participation which
are comparatively the stronger levels of participation. At these levels of participation,
beneficiaries are in a better position to control planning, decisions and resources.
Pretty (1995) indicated that for the best results, the people should be involved in
all stages of a project, from design to maintenance. If they are just involved in information sharing and consultation then, the result will be poor.

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Another way of distinguishing different forms of participation is presented by
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNDP, 1997). According to this
typology, participation has been classified on the basis of levels or degrees. This
typology can be divided into two levels/stages. Level one contains manipulation,
information, consultation and consensus building. This level is a very weak level
of participation because at this stage all the beneficiaries are just manipulated,
informed and consulted. However, this is a basic level and necessary for future
participatory development of a project. The second stage of participation consists
of decision-making, risk-sharing, partnership and self-management. This is the actual level where the beneficiaries are responsible to control, manage and share the
decisions, risk, partnership and self-management of a development project. This
typology of participation seems similar to the typology given by Pretty (1994).
However, the difference is that this typology provides various levels/stages of participation while the previous one given by Pretty (1994) indicates various forms/
kinds of participation.
Deshler and Sock (1985) also presented participatory levels ranging from pseudoparticipation, (or the manipulation of beneficiaries by development professionals to
meet the needs of elites) to genuine participation in which participation is empowered by having control over programme policy and management. This classification
is also carried out on the basis of level. They divided the people’s participation into
two main levels i.e. Genuine and Pseudo Participation. At the genuine participatory level, the community is empowered and gains control over project planning,
decisions and resources. Community partnership is more strengthened with the external agents of development projects. Thus, it is a very strong level of participation
where people/community and project implementers have strong cooperation and
share all project activities. At this level, communities are delegated more powers to
become the owners of the development projects. At the pseudo participatory level,
the beneficiaries are just invited, informed, consulted and manipulated with regard
to project activities. There is one-way communication. All the project activities are
controlled and managed by the project staff. The beneficiaries’ suggestions and advice with regard to project activities are just heard. The pseudo participation seems
to be a weak and less important level of participation. But, in fact, this level of participation provides a basis for future genuine participation.
White classified participation on the basis of interest of stakeholders (planners and
beneficiaries). At each of the first three levels (Nominal, Instrumental and Representative), planners and beneficiaries have different interest. However, only at the

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ultimate level (transformative) both groups are interested in the empowerment of
beneficiaries (White, 1996). White describes four types of stakeholders’ participation. According to him each type is characterized by the divergent interests of
different stakeholders. Planners are identified as having top-down interests versus
the bottom-up interests of project beneficiaries. Participation ranges from nominal
to transformative. White’s classification is important because it demonstrates that
stakeholders do not share the same expectations of participation in development
projects. At each of the first three levels, planners and beneficiaries employ concurrently conflicting definitions of participation. Only at the ultimate level (transformative), both groups of stakeholders are interested in the empowerment of beneficiaries (Michener, 1998).
Cohen and Uphoff (1980) presented a more comprehensive typology of participation by examining the various dimensions of participation. Their typology not only
includes different type/kinds of participation but also who participates and how.
The type/kind of participation has been classified with regard to the project cycle
i.e. Participation in decision making, implementation, benefits and evaluation and
“who” dimension divides the actors or stakeholders involved and they are for example, local residents, local leaders, government personnel and foreign personnel. Similarly, the “how” dimension describes the mechanisms by which participation takes
place. For example, its basis, form, extent and effect/impact. Cohen and Uphoff’s
typology of participation is more comprehensive. It has an applied focus with less
attention to theoretical divisions. This classification provides a complete framework
for the analysis of participatory component of any rural development project. The
Cohen and Uphoff dimensions of participation concerns the kind of participation
which is taking place, the sets of individuals who are involved in the participatory
process and the various features of how that process is occurring. Basically these
dimensions provide answer to the questions: what kinds of participation take place;
who participates in them; and how the process of participation takes place.
Pretty (1995) presented a participatory continuum laying out different forms of
participation, from the least participatory to the most participatory. Pretty’s participatory continuum is different from the all other aforementioned typologies. This
typology lays down different forms of participation, from the least participatory to
the most participatory. It indicates how people are involved in the project activities
and how they are mobilized to carry out their own developmental activities in the
absence of external initiators and facilitators.

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Form of People’s Participation in Pakistan
After a comprehensive overview of the participations’ classification in the above section, it can be concluded that participation is classified on the basis level, degree,
interest and dimensions etc. However, participation can be classified on the basis of
mobilization, origins/sources, sector/activities and beneficiaries. A quick view of this
classification is given below.
Classification on the Basis of Mobilization: Classification on the basis of mobilization is shown in table 1.1.
Table 1. Classification on the basis of mobilization: Participation by “Which”
Mobilization
1. Self/Internal
Mobilization
(Bottom-up
Participation)
2. External
Mobilization
(Top-bottom
Participation)

Forces for Participation
1. Crises /
threat to community
2. Funding fromdonors
3. Inspiration and
awareness from other
community
1.NGOs Mobilization
2.Government
Mobilization

Kind of Participation

Effect of Participation

1. Short period
participation
2. Long period
Participation

More effective,
sustainable and
genuine if supported

1.Obligatory
Participation
2.Non Obligatory
Participation

Less effective

Source: Self-developed
Participation may originate from below (beneficiaries) in that case it can be called
bottom-up participation. This type of participation is usually generated during crises, or in response to some threat to community’s identity, survival or values. So
community mobilizes itself to protect or resist (Goulet, 1989). Self-mobilization
may cast for a short time and end when the threat or crises to the community is
over. However, in some cases it takes the shape of a strong platform in the form of
grass-root organization that takes the responsibility of community’s welfare and development oriented activities. For example, in response to the construction of Ghazi
Baroota Hydral Development Project in Pakistan, the affected local people belonging to Swabi district of KPK and other adjoining areas were self mobilized and
made platforms in the shape of NGOs and GROs to demand from the government
compensation for their affected agriculture land, houses etc. which were damaged
due to the dam’s construction. Some of the NGOs have now opened windows for
other developmental activities.
Bottom-up participation is more genuine and can be further strengthened if external

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agents provide an enabling framework of support. Take the example of Shewa Educated Social Welfare Association (SESWA) of village Shewa, District Swabi, KPK,
Pakistan. It is a self motivated organization developed by the youth of village Shewa
for the welfare oriented activities of their village. However, the scope of activities
of the SESWA increased by extending its development activities to other villages of
the district as a result of the support provided by the Germen assisted “Pak-German
Integrated Rural Development Project” (IRDP) of the provincial government of
KPK. With the passage of time SESWA became a development platform for people
of the whole Swabi district. Other villages/communities of the surrounding areas
are replicating in order to establish their own organization in the style of SESWA.
Communities may also be mobilized from top i.e. by external agents for their specific objectives. There are two types of external forces which generate mobilization/
participation, the public sector and the external NGO working at the location.
Participation as a result of these external agents is of two types, obligatory and non
obligatory. Sometimes the external forces put condition(s) on the community to
participate in the projects by providing some inputs. For example, the community
may provide land or material or some percentage of the total cost or compulsory
maintenance and repair cost. For example in Pakistan, for the construction of a
water supply scheme, a basic health center and a primary school etc. the land must
be provided by the beneficiaries. Otherwise the activity is shifted to another area
where the people can provide the land for construction. Similarly, the Community
Infrastructure Project (CIP) at KPK, Pakistan invited the community to participate
in their development programme by providing any land required and compulsory
share of 20% of the total cost. (CIP, undated) The main aim behind this obligatory
approach was to reduce the cost of the project and to raise the sense of responsibility and ownership among the beneficiaries. In the non obligatory approaches, the
communities are mobilized / involved in their activities without putting any conditions on them. The mechanism used for mobilization is through employed agents
of change (field workers extension workers, community organizers or animators)
and local institutions. The success of external mobilization depends upon the nature
of project, social, cultural and economic conditions of the beneficiaries and on the
mechanism and technique used for mobilization. The best mobilization approach
is that which produces sense of responsibility and ownership in the community for
their projects; otherwise the participation will end when project activities are withdrawn from the community.

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Classification on the Basis of Origin: On the basis of origins / sources of participation, the classification model is presented in table 1.2.
Table2. Classification on the basis of sources: Participation through “whom”
Origins / Sources of
Participation

Kinds of Institutions for Participation

1. Informal Institutions
or Invisible Institutions

Informal social, cultural, welfare, self-help, regional, religious institutions at
grass root level.

2. Formal Institutions

Multi sector institutions registered with government like Social Welfare
Societies, Village Organizations etc.

3. Individual

Elders, religious and influential people of the community.

Source: Self-developed
There are many informal village or community organizations in every part of the world
which are the main origins / sources of participation. Informal organizations vary according to region, level, society, culture, economic situation and religion. For example,
in a rich religion society there will be many informal religion oriented mosque and
church committees for the welfare, as well as some missionary activities. Rich sociocultural communities consist of many informal institutions such as Panchayat in India
(Gent, 1992) and in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, Hujra and Jarga are informal
institutions in the KPK (Czech, 1996) and Balochistan Province (Bonfigolioli, 1997)
of Pakistan. Many social welfare and self-help institutions are available in the agro
based communities which are the main sources of participation and can be effectively
involved in any development effort. Most of the institutions such as Jarga and Hujra
are “invisible” and can be mobilized for any developmental activity.
The other sources for community participation are some formal community based
institutions existing in the society. Such institutions are developed and formally
registered with the government for some social, welfare, environmental and development oriented activities. For example in KPK, Pakistan, there are 1485 formal
community based institutions out of which 509 have been registered with the government (NGO Directory, 1998-99). Most of the NGOs and government sponsored community based projects are utilizing their knowledge and have involved
them in their activities.
Almost all formal and informal institutions are self-mobilized. However, in the category of formal institutions, there are some organizations which are created by the government or large scale NGOs for carrying out developmental activities through them.

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The third important source of participation in the rural communities is elders (white
bearded), religious scholars (like Ulluma* in Pakistan), and other influential people.
Here a question arises that these elders or ulluma may be few or single at village or
community so how will they participate in the development activities. But actually
they are highly regarded and have a status in rural communities. They have a very deep
rooted impact on the rural community. For example, in Pakistani rural communities,
a youth cannot speak before the elder of the community and a man, young or old,
cannot speak before Allim* (religious scholar). So the participation of an elder, or an
Allim accounts for the participation of the whole community. The NGO crises in Pakistan (1999-2000) happened because of the Ulluma. The Ullima were not consulted
and were not taken into confidence. Therefore, NGOs activities were stopped in various locations of the country. NGOs are blamed for pursuing women’s freedom and
other non Islamic activities (Frontier Post, 2001). On the other hand, Pak-German
Integrated Rural Development Project at Mardan, Pakistan, adopted a new approach
(Czech, 1996) by consulting and taking up the confidence of all the formal and non
formal institutions as well as the elders and Ulluma. As a result of this approach, the
project activities were run very successfully (Interview with Community Development
Coordinator, IRDP, Mardan, and KPK at Pakistan).
Classification on the Basis of Sectors / Activities: Classification of the people’s
participation on the basis of sectors / activities is provided in table 1.3.
Table3. Classification on the basis of sector/activities: Participation for “what”
Sector

Activities

Political

Participation for political activities like peace, democracy, human rights, gender equity,
women rights. Legal aid, humanitarian relief, child right, and labor right etc.

Economic

Participation for Poverty alleviation, Environmental protection, integrated rural and
urban development projects, Women in development, gender and development,
community development, economic research, family planning, small scale enterprise,
employment/income generation, credit and savings, and basic job training etc.

Participation for welfare oriented activities like help to the poor and orphan students,
Social Welfare and
providing food and clothes to the poor, sports and recreations, social research,
Religious.
rehabilitation of drug addicts, and culture arts and heritage etc.

Source: Self-developed
There are three main fields for the people to participate i.e. political, economic
and social welfare/religious. Under these sectors people perform and participate in
various activities, individually or through their formal or informal organizations.
Some organizations are specific to only one sector or activity. For example in

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agrarian communities most people are participating for agriculture based activities
through their farmers’ associations. Some people or their organizations have a multisectoral focus such as political, economic and welfare oriented activities.
In the KPK, 727 people’s organizations have multi-sectoral focus, 473 focus on agriculture, 456 participate for credit and saving, 350 are busy in welfare oriented activities, 96 in human rights and 73 in humanitarian relief (NGOs Directory, 1998-99).
Classification on the Basis of Beneficiaries: On the basis of beneficiaries, a classification model for people’s participation has been developed and shown in table 1.4.

Table 4. Classification on the basis of beneficiaries: Participation for “whom”
Beneficiaries

Participatory activity(es)

Community

Participation in the project(s)/ Programme (s)/activity (es) for community development.

Religious Minorities

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) designed for the development
of minorities.

Members only

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which serve members of the
project only.

Non –Members

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) whose beneficiaries are non
members.

Elders

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which have been designed
for the welfare of elder people.

Students

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which provide benefit to the
students community.

Youth

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which is useful for the youth
and young generation.

Children

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which focus on the
development of children.

Men

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which serve only men of the
community.

Women

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) which serve only women of
the community.

Disabled

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) design for the welfare and
development of disabled people of the community.

Drug Addicts

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) designed for the welfare of
drug addicts.

Patients

Participation in the project(s) / programme (s) / activity (es) to help all kinds of patients.

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In the beneficiaries based classification, the focus is on the various individuals or
groups getting benefits as well as participants in the projects. Some people participate and develop an organization for the welfare or development of a specific group.
Their focus is a particular group of the community and not a sector or activity. They
design various programmes/ projects/activities just for the welfare/development of
particular group(s). For example, there are many people’s organizations which are
designed to develop or benefit women or children.
In the KPK, there are 836 people organizations which serve the whole community,
710 for women development, 606 for students’ welfare and 536 for patients (NGOs
Directory, 1998-99).

How to Promote People’s Participation In Development
People’s participation is a very complex process and there is no single recipe for its
promotions. Different countries have taken different approaches, techniques and
methods. It is not possible to present some specific guidelines that can be used for
the promotion of people’s participation in development because the issues are different in each setting. It all depends upon people’s behavior, their social customs,
traditions, religions, norms etc.
The main issues in the promotion of popular participation are: a) how to locate the
deprived, b) how to enter in the circle of a poor community, c) how to give them
voice and d) how to enhance their capacity of skill and knowledge. According to Picciotto (1999), poor are weak, too numerous, too dispersed and too diverse in their
interest to form effective coalitions. How to give voice to the voiceless poor; how to
give them a seat at the table when development programmes are debated and policy
priorities are set; how to channel their scattered energies and extraordinary skills
into productive pursuits is the fundamental challenge of development assistance.
To locate the poorest in the programme area one needs to understand the development profile of the area and to find out various dimensions of poverty (economic,
social or human development dimensions etc.) that exists in the community and the
target groups. Once we find out the poorest, their problems and the target groups,
then the next important issue is how to reach and enter in the community of the
poor. This is not an easy job because in this regard we have to study their social,

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cultural and religious norms and values. Violation of their norms and values will
lead to the failure of the programme. In this regard it is very important to locate the
influential individual(s) like political persons, teachers, religious leaders or elders of
the community and take them into confidence. Moreover, it is important to contact
the formal and informal institutions if already existing in the community. Once the
influential individuals and local institutions are consulted and taken into confidence
it becomes easy to mobilize the poor and carry out the progamme activities in a sustainable and equitable manner. In case there are no such institutions, then a united
platform of the poor in the form of formal grass-root organization is necessary to
be formed first.
The third issue is how to give voice to the poor, to mobilize them in order to participate in the programme activities and to build their capacity to act. In this regard
we need to raise their level of consciousness and to organize, gather and unite them
under one platform by the formation of their own organization (if not available) or
by strengthening the existing one. The poor need to be aware of the socio-economic
realities around them, of the forces that keep them in poverty, and of the possibilities for bringing about changes in their conditions through their own reflections
and collective activities. According to Wignaraja (1992), this constitutes a process of
self- transformation through people’s praxis when they grow and mature as human
beings. Similarly, it is very difficult for the poor to break away from the vicious circle
of dependence and poverty individually. It is only group effort organization that can
reduce dependence and initiate a course of participatory, self-reliant development.
In this way, the voice of the poor for their development and empowerment will
arise. To mobilize the poor and to build their capacity to act, the World Bank (1996)
has suggested the following steps:
•

Keep the primary objective of the project which is to learn from poor and collaborate with the poor. This will build the confidence, knowledge and capacity
of the poor for action.

•

Strengthen the organization and financial capacity of the people so that they
can act for themselves.

•

Organize community; provide them training and one-way flows of resource
through grant. The provision of benefits delivered to people is not sustainable
in the long term and may not improve the ability of people to act for self.

•

When the capacity of poor people is strengthened and their voices begin to be

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heard and they start demanding and paying for goods and services from government and private agencies, they become “clients”. In such a situation move
away from welfare oriented approach and focus on things such as building sustainable market based financial systems, decentralizing authority and resources
and strengthening local institutions.
•

Now, when clients ultimately become the owners and managers of the assets
and activities, this is the highest stage or rank in terms of intensity of participation. In this stage, then, involve poor in the planning and decision processes.

However, in many countries there are policy constraints in the organization
and involvement of the poor. Therefore, a suitable policy environment is required to
allow all stakeholders, especially poor and disadvantageous groups.

Basis or Principles of Participation
It is very important to establish the basis or the set of principles for any development
project to be adopted. Without such principles it will be very difficult to build an
appropriate strategy or to determine how the project is to be implemented. According to the UNDP (1997a), pparticipatory development is not ‘blue-print’ development but it is a strategy which constructs its approach in relation to the demands
of the project context. There is a need of some principles or it requires some basis
which helps planners to determine what the participatory approach should be in
their development projects and programmes. UNDP (1997a) has developed the
following principles which are considered to be more important:
Target Group: The first principle of participation is to keep the poorest of the
poor as a target group in the development of projects and strategies. Techniques
and methods should be adopted to identify the poorest and then how to reach and
involve them in the projects’ activities.
Decision Making Process: People must be the decision makers of the whole development process. Their decisions should be made at all stages of project cycle and an
equal importance and weightage should be given to all groups of the community. A
free environment should be provided in which each individual can participate in the
decision making process and people are encouraged to participate.

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People Capabilities: People’s knowledge, skill and capabilities must be kept in the
strategies and should be incorporated in the planning, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation. People’s knowledge and expertise should be build, strengthened and
encouraged to reduce their dependency on external assistance.
Sense of Responsibility, Ownership and Control: The most important principle
to be kept in any project’s strategy is to produce a sense of responsibility and ownership among the beneficiaries. This principle is important for sustainability. Encourage people to gain control over project activities and outcome. According to the UN
report, people should be involved so that they rather act as “contributors” than mere
“beneficiaries” of development.
Women Empowerment: The gender component is also important and should be
incorporated in development projects. Usually, there are various cultural and social
barriers for women to participate in the activities. They are not allowed to participate in the developmental activities. Therefore, social and cultural changes should
be created so that voice of women could be heard and their participation be secured.
Ways of People’s Participation
There are numerous ways world over for people’s participation in development projects and programmes. However, their participation depends upon the nature and
policy of projects to be executed in their area and the social, cultural, religious,
educational and financial capabilities of the people and community. Below are some
ways of people’s participation adopted by the government and various NGOs in
their respective projects and programmes in Pakistan.
Land Provision: There are some developmental projects for which community provides land without cost. For example, in Pakistan, land for schools and water supply
schemes as provided by the communities.
Labor provision: In some development projects, people participate by providing
free labour. For example, in construction of rural access roads in Pakistan, people
participate by working themselves as laborers.
Material Support: People some time participate by providing material to the projects and other expenditures are undertaken by the project implementers. For example, in Pakistan, people participate in the construction of road/street by providing
materials such as sand, mud, crush stones etc.

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Technical and Professional Support: Every community has some technical and
professional people such as doctors, engineers, teachers, carpenters, painters etc.
These people voluntarily provide their services in the planning and implementation
activities.
Financial Support: In many cases, people participate by providing financial support to the projects. Sometimes the projects policy makes it compulsory for the
people to provide some percentage of the project cost. So, the people contribute in
the form of money. In some cases, people participation starts after the completion of
the project. In such cases, the completed project is handed over to the communities
and all the Operation and Maintenance (O&amp;M) cost is passed onto them.

Arguments against Participation
Despite various benefits and arguments in favour of people’s participation, few arguments against participation are found in the literature. According to the UNDP
(1997a) participation costs more time and money, process of participation is irrelevant and luxury in situations of poverty, participation can imbalance existing
socio-political relationships and threaten the continuity of development work, pparticipation can result in the shifting of the burden onto the poor and the relinquishing by national governments of their responsibilities to promote development with
equity. Similarly, the Inter-American Development Bank also criticized participation. According to Bank (IADB, 2000) pparticipation generates important benefits
for many activities, but not necessarily for every type of activity or project, and is
no substitute for technical competence at any stage of the project cycle. Moreover,
participation generally requires more time and increased costs, particularly in the
stages of project identification and design. High requirements of time and resources
are strong disincentives to participation for executing agencies, stakeholders and the
Bank itself. Most important is the opportunity cost that participation imposes on
the poor for whom time is a valuable resource.
As far as high financial cost is concerned, FAO (1990), on the basis of experience
from the participatory development project indicated that “the poor’s contribution
to project planning and implementation represents savings that reduces project
costs. The poor also contribute their knowledge of local conditions, facilitating the
diagnosis of environmental, social and institutional constraints, as well as the search
of solutions.”

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�Growth rate of Motor Vehicles in India - Impact of Demographic and Economic Development

Similarly, two case studies (Shahzada, 1998 and Ali, 1999) regarding participatory forestry and infrastructure projects at Pakistan, found that the cost of the forestry project
decreased by 38% and infrastructure project by 33% using participatory approach.

Conclusion
People’s participation in development used worldwide including Pakistan is an optimum way to achieve sustainable development. The paper reflects that participation
is an alternative to the bottom-up approach. Various approaches to involve people
in development projects and programmes have been developed and adopted in various countries. Similarly, various methods, level, degree and forms of participation
have evolved indicating the quality and extent of participation. The paper helps in
establishing the degree to the extent people’s participatory approach stands in term
of need, results and level of success in literature and practice.

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st

World Bank (2000a). Entering the 21 century. World development report 19992000.

(Endnotes)
*

Ulluma (singular Allim) means religious scholars of Muslims in Pakistan. They are also called
Immam or Mullah. Usually their activities are limited to Mosque and Muslims pray behind them.
They also serve at death and marriage occasions.

Volume 2

Number 1

Spring 2012

141

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                <text>The concept of people’s participation in development is well defined  but its meaning is different to different development organizations  and social scientists. The objective of the paper is to unpack the  concept of participation by looking at its various aspects including  types, forms and stages. The paper focuses on research questions such  as what kinds of participation are used worldwide with special  reference to Pakistan; how the importance of people’s participation  is realized and incorporated in development projects worldwide and  more so in Pakistan. The paper provides the rationale for conceptual  understanding of participatory approach and enables to deepen the  knowledge about participatory approach for development. Thus,  this paper contributes to the existing theory in terms of exploring the  conceptual understanding of participation, realizing the importance  of participation in development. The paper is descriptive in nature,  based on secondary materials (research papers and various project  documents), case studies and examples.</text>
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                    <text>Araştırma Yöntemleri
SPSS Uygulamalı

IBU Publications

�Araştırma Yöntemleri

SPSS Uygulamalı

Authors:
Prof. Dr. Hüseyin PADEM
hpadem@ibu.edu.ba

Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ali GÖKSU
agoksu@ibu.edu.ba

Arş. Gör. Zafer KONAKLI
zkonakli@ibu.edu.ba

Publisher:
International Burch University
Editor in Chief:
Prof.Dr. Hüseyin PADEM
Reviewed by:
Prof. Dr. İbrahim GÜNGÖR, Akdeniz University
Prof. Dr. Akif KUTLU, Süleyman Demirel University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teoman DUMAN, International Burch University
DTP &amp; Design:
Suhejb Djemaili
DTP and Prepress:
International Burch University
Printed by:
Circulation: 500 copies
Place of Publication: Sarajevo
Copyright: International Burch University, 2012
International Burch University Publication No: 13
Reproduction of this Publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without
prior permission from the copyright holder. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, contained in
this publication, International Burch University will not assume liability for writing and any use made of
the proceedings, and the presentation of the participating organizations concerning the legal status of any
country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
------------------------------------------------CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji
Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka
Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo
004.42:311.2](075.8)
PADEM, Hüseyin
Araştırma yöntemler¡ : SPSS uygulamali / Hüseyin Padem, Ali Göksu, Zafer Konakli. - Sarajevo : International Burch University, 2012. –
181 str. : ilustr. ; 24 cm
Bibliografija: str. 175-180.
ISBN 978-9958-834-04-2
1. Göksu, Ali 2. Konakli, Zafer
COBISS.BH-ID 19416326
--------------------------------------------------------

�Prof. Dr. Hüseyin PADEM
Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ali GÖKSU
Arş. Gör. Zafer KONAKLI

Araştırma Yöntemleri
SPSS Uygulamalı

IBU Publications

Sarajevo, 2012.

��5

İ Ç İ NDEKİLER
İÇİNDEKİLER..................................................................................... 5
ÖNSÖZ............................................................................................. 11

1. BÖLÜM
BİLGİ, BİLİM VE BİLİMSEL YÖNTEM
BİLGİ, BİLİM VE BİLİMSEL YÖNTEM ......................................... 13
BİLGİ KAYNAKLARI VE BİLGİYE ULAŞMA ................................ 14
BİLİM VE ÖZELLİKLERİ ................................................................. 17
Bilimin Tanımı.................................................................................. 17
Bilimin Amacı .................................................................................. 18
1- Varlığı keşfetme.............................................................................. 20
2 - İnsanı keşfetme ............................................................................ 22
3 - Olayları çözme............................................................................... 23

BİLİMİN ÖZELLİKLERİ .................................................................. 24
BİLİM TARİHİ ................................................................................ 25
Nobel Ödülleri .................................................................................. 29

BİLİMİN FARKLI AMAÇLA KULLANIMI...................................... 30
BİLİM VE TOPLUM ........................................................................ 34
1- Bilgisizlik ...................................................................................... 35
2 -Fakirlik.......................................................................................... 36
3 - İhtilaf ........................................................................................... 36

BİLİMİN SINIFLANDIRILMASI .................................................... 37
BİLİM VE KÜLTÜR ........................................................................ 39
Sürdürülebilir Bilim ........................................................................ 39

�6

2. BÖLÜM
ARAŞTIRMA KONUSUNUN
BELİRLENMESİ VE KARAR VERME
ARAŞTIRMA KONUSUNUN SEÇİMİ ........................................... 41
HİPOTEZ VE ARAŞTIRMA SORULARININ BELİRLENMESİ ..... 44
KARAR VERME .............................................................................. 45
Araştırma Çalışmalarında Karar Verme ........................................ 47

3. BÖLÜM
LİTERATÜR TARAMASI
VE ARAŞTIRMA ÖNERİSİ
LİTERATÜR TARAMASI ................................................................ 49
ARAŞTIRMA ÖNERİSİ NASIL HAZIRLANIR ............................... 51
Araştırma önerilerinde en çok yapılan hatalar............................. 56

4. BÖLÜM
METODOLOJİ
GİRİŞ................................................................................................ 57
NİTEL ARAŞTIRMA (QUALITATIVE RESEARCH)....................... 57
NİCEL ARAŞTIRMA (QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH) ................... 58
KARMA ARAŞTIRMA..................................................................... 58

�7

5. BÖLÜM
ARAŞTIRMA METOTLARI VE VERİ TOPLAMA
VERİ TOPLAMA SÜRECİ ............................................................... 61
Ana Kitle (Population).....................................................................
Örneklem (Sample)..........................................................................
Geçerlilik (Validity) ..........................................................................
Güvenilirlik (Reliability)..................................................................

62
63
63
64

VERİ TOPLAMA YÖNTEMLERİ..................................................... 64
Tarama ..............................................................................................
Görüşme............................................................................................
Deney.................................................................................................
Gözlem...............................................................................................
Anket .................................................................................................

65
66
67
68
68

Metodolojinin Belirlenmesi ...............................................................
Soru Tiplerine Karar Verilmesi..........................................................
Soruların İçeriklerine Göre Sınıflandırılması ..................................
Soruların Cevaplarına Göre Sınıflandırılması .................................
Anket Hazırlarken Yapılan Başlıca Hata Türleri .............................
Anketin Dizayn Edilmesi....................................................................
Pilot Uygulama ...................................................................................
Hedef Gruba (Örneklem) Uygulama ................................................
Olasılıklı Örnekleme Yöntemleri.......................................................
Olasılıksız Örnekleme Yöntemleri ....................................................

69
73
74
76
80
85
86
86
87
89

6. BÖLÜM
VERİLERİN ANALİZİ,
DEĞERLENDİRME VE SONUÇ
VERİ ANALİZİ ................................................................................. 91
Sürekli ve Ayrık Değişken ............................................................... 93

ÖLÇME............................................................................................. 93

�8

ÖLÇEK VE ÖLÇEK GELİŞTİRME.................................................... 96
İkili Karşılaştırma ............................................................................... 97

Karşılaştırmalı Olmayan Ölçekler .................................................. 98
Çoklu Ölçekler..................................................................................... 98
Tekli Ölçekler..................................................................................... 100
Sürekli Ölçekler................................................................................. 102

SONUÇ VE DEĞERLENDİRME ................................................... 103

7. BÖLÜM
BİLİMSEL ARAŞTIRMALARIN YAZIM KURALLARI
ARAŞTIRMANIN YAZILMASI ..................................................... 105
Başlık ...............................................................................................
Kapak Sayfası .................................................................................
Teşekkür Sayfası.............................................................................
Özet..................................................................................................
İçindekiler .......................................................................................
Tablo Listesi ....................................................................................
Şekiller Listesi.................................................................................
Kısaltmalar......................................................................................
Giriş .................................................................................................
Metotlar (Yöntemler).....................................................................
Sonuç...............................................................................................
Tartışma ..........................................................................................
Kaynaklar ........................................................................................
Ekler.................................................................................................

107
107
107
108
109
109
110
110
110
111
113
113
114
118

8. BÖLÜM
BİLİMSEL YAYINLAR VE YAYINA GÖNDERME
BİLİMSEL YAYINLAR ................................................................... 119
ISI (Institute For Scientific Information) Tarafından Taranan
Dergiler............................................................................................ 119

�9

Alan İndeksli Dergiler....................................................................
Ulusal Hakemli Dergiler................................................................
Hakemli Dergiler (Peer-Reviewed Journals)................................
Açık Girişli Dergiler (Open Access) ..............................................
Birden Çok Hakemli Dergiler (Double Blind)..............................
Bildiri Kitapları (Proceedings) ......................................................
Diğerleri ..........................................................................................

121
122
122
122
123
123
123

YAYINA GÖNDERME ................................................................... 124
Dergi Seçiminde İpuçları ve Dikkat Edilmesi Gereken Hususlar 128

9. BÖLÜM
ARAŞTIRMACI VE ETİK KURALLAR
ETİK NEDİR?................................................................................. 131
ETİK KURALLAR........................................................................... 131
ETİK KURALLARA AYKIRI DAVRANIŞLAR................................ 133
Aşırma (Plagiarism).......................................................................
Uydurma (Fabrication)..................................................................
Çarpıtma (Falsification).................................................................
Duplikasyon (Duplication)............................................................
Dilimleme (Salami Slicing) ...........................................................
Haksız Yazarlık...............................................................................
Diğer ................................................................................................

133
134
135
135
136
136
136

10.BÖLÜM
TEMEL İSTATİSTİKİ METOTLAR
TEMEL İSTATİSTİKİ KAVRAMLAR ............................................. 139
DEĞİŞKEN TİPLERİ ...................................................................... 140

�HİPOTEZ TESTİ ............................................................................ 141
1.Tip ve 2.Tip Hatalar ..................................................................... 142
Bir-Kuyruklu ve İki Kuyruklu Testler........................................... 143

VERİLERİ ÖZETLEME: TANIMLAYICI İSTATİSTİKLER............. 143
Temel Kavramlar ............................................................................ 144

İSTATİSTİKİ TESTLERİN SINIFLANDIRILMASI ........................ 151
FARKLILIKLARI İNCELEME TEKNİKLERİ: TEK GRUP VE İKİ GRUP
T-TESTİ ......................................................................................... 152
Temel Kavramlar ............................................................................ 152

ORTALAMALARIN KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI: VARYANS ANALİZİ
(ANOVA)........................................................................................ 163
Temel Kavramlar ............................................................................ 164
Temel Kavramlar ........................................................................... 174
Ki-kare Bağımsızlık testi .............................................................. 174

KORELASYON ANALİZİ .............................................................. 178
Temel Kavramlar ............................................................................ 179
Kısmi Korelasyon (Partial Correlation)........................................ 183

ÇOKLU REGRESYON .................................................................. 184
Temel Kavramlar ............................................................................ 184
Hiyerarşik Regresyon (Hierarchical Regression)........................ 191

FAKTÖR ANALİZİ ......................................................................... 192
KAYNAKÇA.................................................................................... 203

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ÖNSÖZ
Bu kitap, Üniversitelerde eğitim gören lisans ve lisansüstü öğrencilerinin araştırma metotları ile ilgili kaynak ihtiyaçlarının karşılanmasına yardımcı olmak amacı ile hazırlanmıştır. Üzerinde durulan konular mümkün
olduğunca basit bir anlatım dili kullanılarak sunulmaya çalışılmıştır.
Araştırma metotları ile ilintili hazırlanan birçok kitap, kısaca bilim
ve özelliklerinden sonra veri toplama ve istatistik metotların uygulaması
yörüngesinde yoğunlaşmıştır. Yenilik olarak bu kitapta örnekler verilerek
insanlığın karşılaştığı temel sorunlar ve bunların çözümünde bilimin etkinliği vurgulanmıştır. Bilim tarihine kısaca değinilmiş ve bilim insanlarının topluma karşı sorumlulukları üzerinde durulmuştur.
Kitap, hem sosyal bilimler, hem de fen ve sağlık bilimlerinde çalışan
araştırıcıların kullanabileceği niteliktedir. Kitabı orijinal kılan hususlardan
birisi de insan, varlık ve olayların araştırılmasını kapsayan bilim anlayışında, bilimi anlama ve kavramada maddenin metafizik boyutunun da vurgulanmasıdır.
Teknolojik olarak gelişmiş toplumların göze çarpan en önemli özellikleri bilgi üretimi, kullanımı ve bunu teknolojiye dönüştürmedeki araştırma kararlılığı ve ciddiyetleridir.
Bilimsel bilgi üretme sürecinin belli bir sistematik ile yapılması gereklidir. Araştırma sırasında bazı sorunlar çıkabilir. Ortaya çıkabilecek sorunların azaltılması, önceden tahmin edilmesi veya bu sırada çözülmesi
veyahut da etkisinin en aza indirgenmesi gereklidir. Bu sistematik kurallar
çerçevesinde elde edilen bilginin tez, makale, rapor veya sunum şeklinde

�12

Araştırma Yöntemleri

yazıya dökülmesiyle hatalar azalacaktır. Üretilen bilginin güvenilirliği daha
çok bu bilginin hangi metotlarla elde edildiği ve test edildiği ile ilgilidir.
Kitabın öğrencilerimize, öncelikle bilimsel düşünme ihtiyacı hissettirmesi, sonrasında da araştırma isteği uyandırması ve her seviyede araştırmaya yönlendirmesi oranında amacına ulaşacağını ümit ediyoruz.
29 Şubat 2012, Bosna Hersek
Prof. Dr. Hüseyin PADEM
Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ali GÖKSU
Arş. Gör. Zafer KONAKLI

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