Augier

Publications

Regulatory harmonization with the European Union: opportunity or threat to Moroccan firms?Journal articlePatricia Augier, Olivier Cadot and Marion Dovis, Review of World Economics, Volume 160, pp. 813-841, 2023

This paper combines a database on non-tariff measures (NTMs) with Morocco’s firm-level census to explore the effect of regulatory harmonization with the E.U. on firms’ outcomes. Exploiting cross-sectoral variation in the timing and extent of regulatory harmonization, we find that harmonization waves correlate with rises in productivity, with higher markups and with greater numbers of exporting firms. These effects were reinforced by an induced market-structure change: harmonization temporarily protected the Moroccan market from competition from low-end producers in other developing countries, who took time to adapt. We identify these effects through changes in both trade patterns and firm-level outcomes.

Labor Market Shocks and Youths’ Time Allocation in Egypt: Where Does Women’s Empowerment Come In?Journal articleMarion Dovis, Patricia Augier and Clémentine Sadania, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Volume 69, Issue 4, pp. 1501-1540, 2021

This paper investigates how large shocks on the Egyptian labor market following the 2011 uprising impacted youths’ time allocation. We estimate the effects of reported changes in the father’s working conditions on youths’ work participation and school enrollment in bivariate probit models, using the 2012 round of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey. Our contribution lies in exploring the association between mother’s empowerment and shock transmission. We find that reported positive changes reduce daughters’ participation in intensive domestic work but only when the mother has a high level of bargaining power. This suggests that a woman’s say in household decisions can affect the reallocation of resources following a change in the family income.

Better Access to Water, Better Children's Health: A Mirage?Journal articlePatricia Augier, Marion Dovis and Charles Lai-Tong, Oxford Development Studies, Volume 44, Issue 1, pp. 70-92, 2016

In Egypt, diarrhoeal diseases remain the main cause of mortality among young children, although the percentage of households with an “improved” access to water, according to the definition used by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is very high. This article seeks to shed light on this paradox, by better identifying the populations affected by problems of access to water, taking into account three dimensions—the time it takes to access a source of water, daily cut-offs and behaviour with respect to storage—and by applying alternative matching estimators to estimate the effects of defective water access on child diarrhoea. It is found that children whose families are identified as having a water access problem through the use of broader-based definitions have a greater likelihood of contracting diarrhoeal diseases. This article, thus, shows that the mortality of children in Egypt could be further reduced by improving households' access to water.

Non-tariff measures: Regional cooperation and competitiveness through regulatory governanceBook chapterPatricia Augier, Olivier Cadot, Julien Gourdon and Mariem Malouche, In: The Arab Spring: Implications for Economic Integration, Michael Gasiorek (Eds.), 2013, Femise - VoxEU, 2013
Does export-market participation improve productivity? Evidence from Spanish manufacturing firmsJournal articlePatricia Augier and Marion Dovis, The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Volume 22, Issue 7, pp. 1059-1087, 2013

This article has a dual aim. First, it sets out to underline a learning-by-exporting effect in Spanish firms between 1991 and 2002. It further seeks to outline the conditions allowing firms to benefit from these spillover effects. Using a propensity score matching method, a group of firms having entered the export market (treatment group) is compared with a similar group of non-exporting firms (control group), and difference-in-differences regressions are carried out. The results show a cumulative productivity differential of 32% for the first four years of exporting, with continuous improvement in productivity. After three years of exporting, productivity gain is still approximately 10%. This study shows that increases in capacity utilisation and competitive pressure from foreign markets are insufficient to explain this causal link between exporting and total factor productivity (TFP). It is thus possible to deduce the presence of a learning-by-exporting effect, benefiting firms with sufficiently qualified employees and which are already engaged in international relations (due to foreign suppliers and/or foreign equity participation).

Imports and TFP at the firm level: the role of absorptive capacityJournal articlePatricia Augier, Olivier Cadot and Marion Dovis, Canadian Journal of Economics, Volume 46, Issue 3, pp. 956-981, 2013

This paper estimates the effect of the decision to import intermediate goods and capital equipment on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) at the firm level on a panel of Spanish firms (19912002). We use two alternative approaches. In the first, we estimate TFP and apply a diffindiff estimator with a control group constructed by propensityscore matching. In the second, direct method, we estimate TFP with imported inputs as a state variable in one stage. Both approaches show that the effect of a firm's decision to source intermediates and capital equipment abroad on its TFP depends critically on its capacity to absorb technology, measured by the proportion of skilled labour.

The business environment and Moroccan firm productivityJournal articlePatricia Augier, Marion Dovis and Michael Gasiorek, Economics of Transition, Volume 20, Issue 2, pp. 369-399, 2012

No abstract is available for this item.

“The Non-Tariff Measure Inventory Exercice for Lebanon: An Overview”Book chapterPatricia Augier and Nicolas Péridy, In: Trade and Development Newsletter, 2010, Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade, 2010
Multilateralizing regionalism: essons from the EU experience in relaxing rules of originBook chapterPatricia Augier, Michael Gasiorek and Charles Lai-Tong, In: Multilateralizing Regionalism: Challenges for the Global Trading System, Richard Baldwin and Patrick Low (Eds.), 2009, World Trade Organization and Cambridge University Press, 2009
L'agriculture libanaise, diagnostic et pistes d'action. Etude pour le forum interlibanais des partis politiquesReportPierre Blanc and Patricia Augier, pp. 72, 2008