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on Africa |
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Issue of 2006‒09‒23
24 papers chosen by Suzanne McCoskey Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State |
| By: | Diao, Xinshen; Hazell, Peter; Resnick, Danielle; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | "This paper provides a nuanced perspective on debates about the potential for Africa's smallholder agriculture to stimulate growth and alleviate poverty in an increasingly integrated world. In particular, the paper synthesizes both the traditional theoretical literature on agriculture's role in the development process and discusses more recent literature that remains skeptical about agriculture's development potential for Africa. In order to examine in greater detail the relevance for Africa of both the “old” and “new” literatures on agriculture, the paper provides a typology of African countries based on their stage of development, agricultural conditions, natural resources, and geographic location... More broadly, the paper demonstrates that conventional theory on the role of agriculture in the early stage of development remains relevant to Africa. While the continent does face new and different challenges than those encountered by Asian and Latin American countries during their successful transformations, most African countries cannot significantly reduce poverty, increase per capita incomes, and transform into modern economies without focusing on agricultural development." from Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Growth-poverty linkages, Smallholders, Poverty alleviation, Agricultural development Africa, Agriculture Economic aspects, Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:29&r=afr |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi; Buthelezi, Thabani; Velia, Myriam |
| Abstract: | "This paper examines the impact of prime-age adult mortality on the transition from school to the labor market of adolescents and on decisions by female adults to participate in the labor force in South Africa. The analysis focuses on that period—1998–2004—when South Africa experienced excess mortality due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We find, first, that deaths of prime-age adults significantly increase both male and female adolescents' labor force participation because they stop their schooling in order to help support their families. Female school enrollment may also decrease because girls are required to stay at home to take care of the sick. Therefore, the total negative impact on schooling is larger among female adolescents than among male adolescents. Second, we find that female adults tend to join the labor force following the death of prime-age adult males. This change could cause a decrease in the time they spend on housework and child rearing. Combined, these findings imply that excess mortality of prime-age adults disrupts human capital formation." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | South Africa, Gender, Labor supply, Schooling, Prime-age adult mortality, Human capital, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:208&r=afr |
| By: | Thiele, Rainer; Nunnenkamp, Peter; Dreher, Axel |
| Abstract: | We analyze the aid portfolio of various bilateral and multilateral donors, testing whether they have prioritised aid in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In doing so, we combine sectorally disaggregated aid data with indicators reflecting the situation of recipient countries regarding the MDGs. Our results show that donors differ not only in terms of their overall generosity and the general poverty orientation of aid, but also in the extent to which their sectoral aid allocation is conducive to achieving more specific MDGs such as all children completing a full course of primary schooling, reducing child and maternal mortality as well as reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Overall, while some MDGs, e.g., the fight against HIV/AIDS, have shaped the allocation of aid, the sector-specific results reveal that with respect to other MDGs, most notably primary education, there is a considerable gap between donor rhetoric and actual aid allocation. These results invite the conclusion that the current focus on substantially increasing aid in order to turn the tide in trying to achieve the MDGs misses one important point: Unless the targeting of aid is improved, higher aid will not have the desired effects. Our results suggest that at least part of the blame for missing the MDGs falls on insufficient targeting of aid. |
| Keywords: | Aid Allocation, MDGs, Development Aid |
| JEL: | F35 O11 O19 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4744&r=afr |
| By: | Harttgen, Kenneth; Misselhorn, Mark |
| Abstract: | While undernutrition among children is very pervasive both in Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia, child mortality is rather low in South Asia. In contrast to that Sub-Saharan African countries suffer by far the worst from high rates of child mortality. This different pattern of child mortality and undernutrition in both regions is well known, but approaches using aggregated macro data have not been able to explain it appropriately. In this paper we analyze the determinants of child mortality as well as child undernutrition based on DHS data sets for a sample of six developing countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate the effects of individual, household and cluster socioeconomic characteristics using a multilevel model approach and examine their respective influences on both phenomena. We find that the determinants of child mortality and undernutrition differ significantly from each other. Access to health infrastructure is more important for child mortality, whereas the individual characteristics like wealth and educational and nutritional characteristics of mothers play a larger role for anthropometric shortfalls. Although very similar patterns in the determinants of each phenomenon are discernable, there are large differences in the magnitude of the coefficients. Besides regressions using a combined data set of all six countries show, that there are still significant differences between the two regions although taking account of a large set of covariates. |
| Keywords: | Child mortality, child undernutrition, multilevel modelling |
| JEL: | C40 I12 I31 I32 O57 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4743&r=afr |
| By: | Palaniswamy, Nethra; Birner, Regina |
| Abstract: | Acknowledging that the agricultural sector can play an important role as an engine of pro-poor growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the “political will” of governments to support this sector. The concept of “political resources” from the political science literature is used to guide the analysis, as it combines the insights from state-centered and society-centered approaches to explain agricultural policies. Drawing on panel data covering 14 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1980-2001, we present empirical evidence showing that political factors play an important role in determining government’s commitment to supporting agricultural development. We use a measure of democracy that varies both across countries and within countries over time. Estimates are presented for separate samples of democracies and non-democracies, and for a pooled sample of all countries and years irrespective of the democratic status. Our results suggest that the rural poor do exercise electoral leverage in democracies; larger rural population shares are associated with higher spending on agriculture in democracies but not in authoritarian regimes. We also find evidence consistent with the theoretical prior that larger farmers tend to be better organized in interest groups. Specifically, we find that the share of traditional agricultural exports such as coffee and cocoa in the total value of exports, which may be an indicator for the ability of farmers’ to organize themselves as interest groups, induces greater spending on agriculture. This result holds true for both democracies and nondemocracies. |
| JEL: | H3 H5 O13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4727&r=afr |
| By: | Funke, Norbert; Kißmer, Friedrich; Wagner, Helmut |
| Abstract: | South Africa appears to share some of the characteristics (property price boom, easing of monetary policy, strong domestic demand growth) of asset price booms in industrial countries that were often followed by a period of weak growth. The international experience suggests that a number of practical obstacles need to be overcome before a more proactive role of monetary policy is warranted. However, a larger variety of available mortgage contracts, including longer-term fixed-rate contracts, should allow for a more efficient allocation of interest rate risks. Also, a more systematic nationwide collection of property price data, including data on commercial property price developments, would provide a more representative basis for analysis. |
| Keywords: | Asset Prices, property prices, monetary policy, economic development |
| JEL: | E44 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4750&r=afr |
| By: | Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | "Trade liberalization is a central part of South Africa's post-Apartheid development strategy. However, despite considerable reforms, the country has failed to generate pro-poor growth, with both unemployment and inequality worsening over the last ten years. This has raised concern that trade liberalization may have worked against the country's development objectives. This study uses a dynamic general equilibrium and microsimulation model to assess the effects of trade liberalization on growth, employment and poverty in South Africa. More specifically, it examines how men and women have been affected differently and whether liberalization has contributed to the faster rise in female unemployment and poverty. The results suggest that trade policies have not contributed to increased poverty and that trade-induced technological change has accelerated growth. However, liberalization has changed the sectoral structure of production and has exacerbated income inequality. While male and female workers have benefited from trade-induced growth, it is male-headed households who have benefited more from rising factor incomes. Trade reforms have however contributed to the observed decline in the gender wage gap, but this has been driven by rising employment amongst higher-skilled female workers. As such, the decline in poverty amongst female-headed households has remained small. While further liberalization may increase growth and reduce poverty, it is men and male-headed households who are more likely to benefit. These findings suggest that, while there is no trade-off between trade reform and poverty reduction, the country should not rely on further liberalization to generate pro-poor growth or address the prevailing inequalities between different population groups, such as men and women." Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | trade liberalization, Inequality, Unemployment, General equilibrium model, Microsimulation model, Poverty, Gender issues, Female labor, Income inequality, Trade reform, Pro-poor growth, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:36&r=afr |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi |
| Abstract: | "This paper examines the effects of early childhood nutrition on schooling inputs and outcomes to assess the dynamic nature of human capital production, using panel data from South Africa. Height-for-age Z-score is used as a measure of health and nutritional status in early childhood. Based on a comparison of siblings, this analysis concludes that improving children's health significantly lowers the age when they start school, increases grade attainment, and decreases grade repetition in the early stage of schooling. However, this positive effect diminishes at later stages. The results also show that households allocate more of their resources (such as school fee expenditure) to healthy children at the early stage, although wealthier households may invest more in less well endowed children in an attempt to reduce sibling inequality. However, fewer resources are allocated to healthy children at later stages. By the time of transition from primary to secondary school, the healthy child can increase household income by seeking employment in the labor market. In other words, while health capital augments the efficiency of investment in schooling at the early stage, it may increase opportunity costs at the later stage, which may deter investment in schooling." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Children Nutrition, Health capital, Height-for-age, Schooling, Investments, South Africa, Nutrition Evaluation, Nutritional status, Household resource allocation, Households Economic aspects, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:203&r=afr |
| By: | Mithöfer, Dagmar; Waibel, Hermann; Akinnifesi, Festus |
| Abstract: | Vulnerability to poverty is a major problem in the rural areas of Sub Saharan Africa. Rural Households are confronted with various covariate and idiosyncratic shocks and are often severely constrained in coping with such events. They frequently resort to food from natural resources such as indigenous fruits during times of crisis. The availability of such food sources is increasingly at risk due to deforestation and biodiversity loss. The objective of this paper is to quantify the contribution of indigenous fruit trees towards reducing vulnerability to food insecurity and poverty. The methodology used is a multi-period stochastic household income model. The data were collected in a case study in Zimbabwe using detailed monthly income and expenditure records of a sample of 39 rural households in two areas. The two regions differ in their agricultural system. In one area horticulture, off-farm activities and exotic fruits are a major source of income while in the other area indigenous fruits are a more important source of income. This paper concentrates on the latter area. Model calculations show that rural households in Zimbabwe are highly vulnerable to seasonal fluctuations in income and therefore a critical period where households run high risk of being food insecure can be identified. While indigenous fruits, as a low cost natural resource, can facilitate income smoothing, the role of other sources of income must not be neglected. The paper concludes that diversified season-specific income generating portfolios must be designed of which indigenous fruit trees have a role to play. |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability, poverty, food security, seasonal fluctuations, wild food resources, Zimbabwe |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4751&r=afr |
| By: | Lourdes Diaz Olvera (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Didier Plat (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Pascal Pochet (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]) |
| Abstract: | Major deficiencies in urbanisation and transportation systems are reinforcing patterns of social and urban segregation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. Analysis of the 1993 Human Resources Development Survey shows that there are numerous obstacles to the daily travel of the city's inhabitants, notably the poor. These barriers weigh heavily on schedules, complicate access to services ever further, limit the use of urban space, and place considerable pressure on household budgets. Consequently, the poorest individuals tend to retreat into their neighbourhood where the low-quality urban facilities are unable to assist in the development of human and social capital and economic opportunities, the alleviation of poverty or the prevention of social exclusion. |
| Keywords: | Accessibility ; Unplanned urbanization ; Social exclusion ; Poverty ; Walking trip ; Public transport ; Africa |
| Date: | 2006–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00068249_v1&r=afr |
| By: | Levy, Stephanie |
| Abstract: | "This paper studies the relevance of agricultural policies for avoiding Dutch Disease, which affects many less developed countries experiencing a resource boom. Using a computable general equilibrium model calibrated for Chad, we study the impact of using this country's annual oil revenue for public investment, particularly in the development of road and irrigation infrastructure. Our model takes into account the integration of markets and migration processes. We find that improving water access would reduce Chad's dependence on food aid and entail a substantial improvement in rural household welfare." Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policies, Computable general equilibrium (CGE), infrastructure, Public investment, Rural households, Market integration, trade, Road construction Economic aspects, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:35&r=afr |
| By: | Nkusu, Mwanza; Sayek, Selin |
| Abstract: | With official development assistance (ODA) set to rise as countries strive to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aid effectiveness remains an important area of development policy. An increasing number of studies support the notion that ODA can contribute to growth in a nonlinear relationship. In this paper, we investigate a new hypothesis regarding this relationship: that deeper financial markets in aid-recipient countries facilitate the management of aid flows, thereby enhancing aid effectiveness. An empirical analysis, using a panel data set, finds robust support for the hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Foreig d, economic growth, poverty, and financial development |
| JEL: | F35 I30 O40 O50 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4746&r=afr |
| By: | Carter, Michael R.; Little, Peter D.; Mogues, Tewodaj; Negatu, Workneh |
| Abstract: | "Droughts, hurricanes and other environmental shocks punctuate the lives of poor and vulnerable populations in many parts of the world. The direct impacts can be horrific, but what are the longer-term effects of such shocks on households and their livelihoods? Under what circumstances, and for what types of households, will shocks push households into poverty traps from which recovery is not possible? In an effort to answer these questions, this paper analyses the asset dynamics of Ethiopian and Honduran households in the wake of severe environmental shocks. While the patterns are different across countries, both reveal worlds in which the poorest households struggle most with shocks, adopting coping strategies which are costly in terms of both short term and long term well-being. There is some evidence that shocks threaten long term poverty traps and that they tend to militate against any tendency of the poor to catch up with wealthier households. Policy implications are discussed in terms of access to markets and the design of government safety net programs." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Environmental disasters, Economic situation, Impact evaluation, Droughts, Vulnerability, households, Livelihoods, Poverty, coping strategies, Safety nets, Government policy, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:32&r=afr |
| By: | Benson, Todd |
| Abstract: | "Poverty mapping applies models of household welfare developed from detailed household consumption and expenditure surveys to the extensive but less detailed data from national censuses. A poverty map for Malawi, developed by drawing upon information from the 1997–98 Malawi Integrated Household Survey with the 1998 Malawi Population and Housing Census, provides aggregate estimates of household welfare and poverty at a highly disaggregated level—down to the level of local government wards. Given the close association between welfare and food security in most Malawi households, such a detailed poverty map can be of considerable value to development and relief organizations, as they plan and target activities to improve the ability of poor households to cope with food scarcity. This paper assesses the value of the Malawi poverty map with reference to two activities of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi: the Food for Assets and Development (FFASD) public works program and the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) food insecurity information generation system. First, the poverty targeting efficiency of the FFASD program is evaluated using the poverty map to determine whether the FFASD projects are preferentially located in areas where disproportionate numbers of the poor are found. This is done in part by comparing the poverty targeting efficiency of the WFP program to that of the Malawi Social Action Fund Public Works Programme projects. Second, WFP employs the VAM methodology to determine how and where to employ its resources from year to year. The potential value of the poverty map as a component of the VAM process in Malawi is then considered. The results indicate that the poverty map is an effective and objective way to geographically target projects and programs on a poverty basis in Malawi. In assessing household vulnerability to food insecurity, the poverty map serves as a useful proxy indicator of spatial variability in the ability of the population to cope with food scarcity. Poverty maps, in those countries were they are available, should be a privileged data source for undertaking any national vulnerability analyses. However, the poverty map needs to be used with complementary data to better understand the risks households face that might result in food scarcity and the actual mechanisms households use to cope with such stresses." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Poverty mapping, food security, Malawi, Food relief, Targeting, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:205&r=afr |
| By: | Schindler, Kati |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the use of informal credit as a coping strategy against risk by market women in the city of Tamale, Ghana. Using qualitative research techniques, the analysis reveals that intra-household structure and allocation decisions determine these market-based coping strategies. Market women invest a considerable amount of working hours in maintaining complex credit networks as a safeguard against extreme risks. As a policy implication, this research suggests to provide market women with access to formal, reliable and long-term microfinance institutions, both to improve their ability to cope with risks and to reduce the risks they face. |
| Keywords: | micro-credit, informal markets, networks, coping strategies, intra-household allocation, women, Ghana |
| JEL: | D13 O12 O17 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4761&r=afr |
| By: | Adama Konseiga (African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and IZA Bonn); Eliya Msiyaphazi Zulu (African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)); Yazoumé Yé (African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)) |
| Abstract: | Between one and two million migrants reside in cramped conditions in Nairobi’s slums without proper access to sanitation or affordable clean water. Children in such areas are exposed to enormous risks, health risks in particular. Using longitudinal data collected every four months during the period between 2002 and 2004, we analyze their survival patterns of children under five year of age who resided in two informal settlements (Viwandani and Korogocho). The research question assumes that children born to recent migrant mothers are more likely to die. The assumption is that migrant mothers do not have social network, which translates to a lack of information and lower access to health facilities. In the subsequent event history analysis, childhood mortality is shown to remain very high in the Nairobi informal settlements, especially among new migrants. Given the high degree of rural urban migration, which is bound to increase in the foreseeable future for most African countries, our study raises critical public health concerns. Another important finding in the context of the HIV AIDS pandemic is the risk factor associated to the mortality among children who have lost their mother. Our study also demonstrated a persistent disadvantage of children born to migrant mothers irrespective the length of stay in the receiving zone. The latter seems to point out the difficulties for migrant to develop social network outside their area of origin. |
| Keywords: | migration, informal settlements, childhood mortality, Nairobi |
| JEL: | C24 C41 I12 R23 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2295&r=afr |
| By: | Lourdes Diaz Olvera (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Didier Plat (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Pascal Pochet (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]) |
| Abstract: | La possession de véhicules motorisés, et notamment de voitures, n'est pas chose simple dans les villes subsahariennes marquées par « le manque de moyens » d'autant que la crise économique a fragilisé un peu plus la situation des ménages. Et pourtant, malgré, ou à cause de leur usage sélectif, les modes motorisés demeurent parés de toutes les vertus. Des analyses comparées des données issues d'enquêtes-ménages sur les conditions de déplacement dans trois capitales sahéliennes, Bamako, Ouagadougou et Niamey, permettent de confirmer ce diagnostic d'une hiérarchie modale reflétant implicitement la hiérarchie sociale, d'autant que les pratiques, minoritaires, d'accès élargi à la voiture permet à tout un chacun d'espérer accéder à ce mode, au moins ponctuellement. A l'inverse la bicyclette, bien que fonctionnelle, apparaît marginalisée du fait d'une image sociale très dévalorisée. |
| Keywords: | analyses comparées ; enquêtes ménages ; voiture ; deux-roues moteur ; bicyclette ; attitude ; mobilité ; catégorie sociale ; cycle de vie ; Bamako ; Ouagadougou ; Niamey |
| Date: | 2006–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00080746_v1&r=afr |
| By: | Seebens, Holger |
| Abstract: | The results of the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) reveal that women in Ethiopia prefer fewer children than men, which can be explained by the greater costs that women have to incur from pregnancy, delivery and care for children. In view of differing preferences it is yet not clear which factors determine the final decision. The aim of this study is to shed light on the impact of different bargaining weights on family planning within married couples in rural Ethiopia. Bargaining over fertility can be split into two parts: spacing between births and the number of children. Building on the intrahousehold bargaining framework I investigate both aspects. Applying multistate and count data models I test the hypothesis that women’s bargaining power is negatively related to the number of children and positively to the period length between adjacent births using a detailed data set from rural Ethiopia. Both hypotheses find support from the data. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, intrahousehold bargaining, multistate model, Ethiopia |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4748&r=afr |
| By: | Messer, Ellen; Cohen, Marc J. |
| Abstract: | "We explore how globalization, broadly conceived to include international humanrights norms, humanitarianism, and alternative trade, might influence peaceful and foodsecure outlooks and outcomes. The paper draws on our previous work on conflict as a cause and effect of hunger and also looks at agricultural exports as war commodities. We review studies on the relationships between (1) conflict and food insecurity, (2) conflict and globalization, and (3) globalization and food insecurity. Next, we analyze countrylevel, historical contexts where export crops, such as coffee and cotton, have been implicated in triggering and perpetuating conflict. These cases suggest that it is not export cropping per se, but production and trade structures and food and financial policy contexts that determine peaceful or belligerent outcomes. Export cropping appears to contribute to conflict when fluctuating prices destabilize household and national incomes and when revenues fund hostilities. Also, in these scenarios, governments have not taken steps to progressively realize the right to adequate food or to reduce hunger and poverty. We conclude by exploring implications for agricultural development, trade, and human rights policies." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Hunger, Conflict, war, Globalization, Crops, exports, coffee, Cotton, Human rights, Right to food, Fair trade, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:206&r=afr |
| By: | Mogues, Tewodaj |
| Abstract: | "This paper uses household survey panel data of 416 rural households to study livestock asset dynamics in the north-east of Ethiopia. The period under examination (1996-2003) was marked by severe environmental shocks, including a series of droughts. Using as point of departure the literature on the evolution of productive assets in the presence of risk, which relates asset paths to initial endowments, we test the hypothesis of wealth divergence and the existence of asset poverty traps. Results indicate rather that livestock asset dynamics are marked by convergence over time. Examining the role of social capital in recovery and growth of households' endowments, both local social relationships as well as ‘bridging' social capital seem to have a positive effect on asset holdings directly, as well as indirectly by mitigating the impact of income shocks on livestock capital." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | livestock, Household surveys, Environmental disasters, Poverty, assets, Social capital, Droughts, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:38&r=afr |
| By: | Lourdes Diaz Olvera (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Didier Plat (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Pascal Pochet (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]) |
| Abstract: | Si les capitales sont, en Afrique francophone, comme ailleurs, le lieu d'une concentration relative de richesses, il demeure qu'une bonne part de la population dispose de faibles revenus et montre des difficultés à assurer le coût élevé de la mobilité. Les difficultés de déplacement sont renforcées du fait d'une croissance urbaine rapide, d'un étalement urbain prononcé et d'un sous-équipement des quartiers périphériques. N'y a-t-il pas alors un risque de limitation de l'espace fréquenté aux alentours immédiats du domicile, de repli sur le quartier ? L'analyse d'une enquête auprès des ménages sur leurs déplacements quotidiens, réalisée à Niamey, permet d'apporter des éléments de réponse à cette question. |
| Keywords: | étalement urbain ; mobilité quotidienne ; pauvreté ; disparités sociales ; disparités spatiales ; Afrique subsaharienne ; enquête ménages |
| Date: | 2006–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00080453_v1&r=afr |
| By: | Simler, Kenneth R. |
| Abstract: | "For effective decisionmaking, policymakers and program managers often need detailed information about the welfare of the population, including knowledge about which specific areas are most affected by poverty and undernutrition. Household sample surveys are an important source of information, yet because the typical sample size is only a few thousand observations, the information is only useful for inferences at high levels of aggregation, such as the nation or large regional units. In contrast, data sources with wider coverage, such as national censuses, rarely capture detailed information on welfare levels. Recently small-area estimation techniques have been applied to the study of poverty to produce estimates of poverty, or poverty maps, for small geographic units. This paper uses household survey and unit record census data from Tanzania to explore the possibility of applying small-area estimation methods to the study of children's nutritional status as measured by anthropometry. Overall, undernutrition models have had lower explanatory power than poverty models, which has important implications for the precision of the small-area estimates. The analysis finds that applying small-area estimation techniques to anthropometric data is feasible, although the relatively low explanatory power of the regressions does limit both the degree of disaggregation possible and the power to detect significant differences in undernutrition prevalence between districts and subdistricts. In the case of Tanzania, the nutrition mapping approach reveals considerable heterogeneity in nutritional status within regions and within districts. The most striking finding is the much lower levels of undernutrition in areas classified as urban, including relatively small district centers." Authors' Abstract |
| Keywords: | Nutrition mapping, malnutrition, Anthropometry, Small area estimation, Tanzania, |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:204&r=afr |
| By: | Adelegan, Olatundun |
| Abstract: | The study sets out to measure how the taxation of dividend and debt affects firm value. Tax hypothesis predicts that firm value is negatively related to dividends and positively related to debt. The study covered 1197 firm-year observations of manufacturing firms in Nigeria from 1984 to 2000. To achieve the objective, the study estimated the model on the average values for each firm and tested for industry effects using the ordinary least square (OLS) method. We found the opposite of tax hypotheses predictions from the regression results. We hypothesized that the relationship between dividends, debt and firm value will be affected by the size of the firm. We therefore partitioned the firms into two on the basis of size measured as market capitalization. We estimated separate equations for each sub-sample and found positive relationship between dividend and firm value and negative relationship between debt and firm value in both small-sized firms and big firms’ sub-sample. The study concludes that dividend and debt convey information about profitability of firms. This information about firms’ profitability obscures any tax effect of financing decisions. However, we found that earnings and investment are key determinants of firm value in Nigeria. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:gdec06:4724&r=afr |
| By: | Lourdes Diaz Olvera (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Didier Plat (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]); Pascal Pochet (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - [CNRS : UMR5593] - [Université Lumière - Lyon II] - [Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat]) |
| Abstract: | L'objectif de cette communication est de montrer que les pratiques et les besoins des femmes en termes de transport différent sensiblement de ceux des hommes mais aussi que des différences marquées peuvent également être relevées entre femmes. Pour ce faire, les auteurs utilisent les données recueillies lors de trois enquêtes-ménages réalisées à Ouagadougou, Bamako et Niamey dans les années 90. Les schémas d'activité apparaissent dans l'ensemble assez contraints, et les conditions de déplacement des femmes, difficiles. Les inactives utilisent peu les modes motorisés et sortent assez peu de leur quartier. Les transports collectifs sont mal adaptés aux besoins des actives non salariées (commerçantes). Les mobilités des actives salariées (du secteur structuré) et des étudiantes tendent, en revanche, à se rapprocher des mobilités masculines. |
| Keywords: | mobilité quotidienne ; enquête ménages ; inégalité sociale ; conditions de vie ; mode de transport ; genre ; activité ; analyse factorielle ; Afrique Subsaharienne |
| Date: | 2006–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00080361_v1&r=afr |