CreaM Working paper n.1/2018

POP

Population, total. Log transformation

Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values are midyear estimates.

1975-2013

UN-PD

REMOTE

Distance from main world markets - adjusted for landlockedness

Remoteness is measured as a weighted average of the distance to the main world markets. Weights are given by the minimum average distance to a significant fraction of the world market and choose the threshold of one third. The minimum distance is the minimum average distance to reach a given size of the world markets. It fits requirements, because it is an exogenous measure and weights differ for each country. Guillaumont (2007b)

1975-2013

CEPII; UNSD-NA

EXPCON

Concentration and diversification indices of merchandise exports and imports by country

Export concentration measures the degree of market concentration. We use the standardized Herfindahl-Hirschmann index published by UNCTAD. Values vary between 0 and 1, with 0 corresponding to absence of concentration (maximum diversification), 1 corresponding to maximum concentration.

1975-2013

UNCTAD Stat

AGRSH

Share of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing in GDP

Calculated dividing the value added of agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing by the total gross value added of all sectors in the economy

1975-2013

UNSD-NA

COAST

Share of population in low elevated coastal zones

Calculated by dividing the number of people living in areas contiguous to the coast with an elevation of less than five meters by the total population of the country

1990-2013

CIESIN

VICTIMS

Population affected by natural disasters

Total affected are people that have been injured, affected and left homeless after a disaster are included in this category.

1979-2013

EM-DAT

AGRINST

Instability of agricultural productions

Calculated by estimating the trend of agricultural production by a mixed-trend linear regression and using the standard deviation of the difference between trend and actual values as a measure of instability

1980-2013

FAOSTAT

EXPINST

Instability of total exports

Instability of total exports measures the volatility of total exports of goods and services. It is a proxy for the risk of shocks in the exports revenues. Calculated by estimating the trend of export earnings by a mixed-trend linear regression and using the standard deviation of the difference between trend and actual values as a measure of instability

1990-2013

UNSD-NA

SURFACE

Surface area (sq. km). Logs

Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. Following the procedure in Feindouno-Goujon (2015) we chose a lower bound for surface at 1000sq.km, and an upper bound at 2.5 million sq.km. The final index is obtained from
SURFACE = 100*(max(X)-X)/(max(X)-min(X))
where X is the log of the bounded surface, so that largest countries have a value of zero, and smallest countries a value of 100

1960-2016

WB-WDI

IMPCONC

Concentration index for imports

Import concentration measures the degree of market concentration. We use the standardized Herfindahl-Hirschmann index published by UNCTAD. Values vary between 0 and 1, with 0 corresponding to absence of concentration (maximum diversification), 1 corresponding to maximum concentration.

1995-2016

UNCTAD Stat

FDI

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)

Incoming FDI may help finance investment and growth, but reliance on FDI may increase the probability of being hit by an adverse financial shock. When net incoming FDI were negative, they have been set to zero. We assume that FDI affect both exposure and resilience

1970-2016

WB-WDI

AID

Official Development Assistance and Official Aid (% of GDP)

Net official development assistance (ODA) consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 percent).
Net official aid refers to aid flows (net of repayments) from official donors to countries and territories in part II of the DAC list of recipients: more advanced countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the countries of the former Soviet Union, and certain advanced developing countries and territories. Official aid is provided under terms and conditions similar to those for ODA. We assume that AID affect both exposure and resilience

1960-2015

WB-WDI

FDEBT

Net flows on external debt, public and publicly guaranteed (% of GDP)

Public and publicly guaranteed long-term debt are aggregated. Public debt is an external obligation of a public debtor, including the national government, a political subdivision (or an agency of either), and autonomous public bodies. Publicly guaranteed debt is an external obligation of a private debtor that is guaranteed for repayment by a public entity. Net flows (or net lending or net disbursements) received by the borrower during the year are disbursements minus principal repayments. Long-term external debt is defined as debt that has an original or extended maturity of more than one year and that is owed to nonresidents by residents of an economy and repayable in currency, goods, or services. Data are in current U.S. dollars, scaled by GDP in current U.S. dollars. We set to zero negative values, before computing the index.

1970-2016

WB-WDI

DEBTS

Debt service on external debt, public and publicly guaranteed (% of GDP)

Public and publicly guaranteed debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in currency, goods, or services on long-term obligations of public debtors and long-term private obligations guaranteed by a public entity. Data are in current U.S. dollars, scaled by GDP in current U.S. dollars. We chose to apply an upper bound to 200 percent of GDP

1970-2016

WB-WDI

GFCF

Gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP)

Gross fixed capital formation includes land improvements (fences, ditches, drains, and so on); plant, machinery, and equipment purchases; and the construction of roads, railways, and the like, including schools, offices, hospitals, private residential dwellings, and commercial and industrial buildings. According to the 1993 SNA, net acquisitions of valuables are also considered capital formation. Data are in current U.S. dollars, scaled by GDP in current U.S. dollars.

1970-2016

WB-WDI

CC

Control of corruption

Control of Corruption captures perceptions of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by elites and private interests. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI

GE

Government effectiveness

Government Effectiveness captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government's commitment to such policies. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI

PS

Political stability

Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism captures perceptions of the likelihood that the government will be destabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including politically-motivated violence and terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI

RL

Rule of Law

Rule of Law captures perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI

RQ

Regulatory Quality

Regulatory Quality captures perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI

VA

Voice and Accountability

Voice and Accountability captures perceptions of the extent to which a country's citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

1996-2016

WB-WGI