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on Development |
| By: | Andreas Freytag (University of Jena, Faculty of Economics); Gernot Pehnelt (University of Jena, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we empirically discuss the question whether or not debt relief in the past fifteen years has been economically rational. Analysing the determinants of debt relief our results suggest that governance quality did not play a role in the decision of creditor countries to forgive debt in the 1990s. Furthermore, even the actual debt burden of highly indebted poor countries had not been crucial for the decision whether or not debt forgiveness was granted. Rather, debt relief followed a strong path dependence: those countries whose debt had been forgiven in the first half of the 1990s have also been granted debt forgiveness in the second half of this decade. However, this allocation pattern changed at the beginning of the 21st century, where the path dependence was less strong and at least some dimensions of governance quality have been taken into account by donor countries. |
| Keywords: | debt relief, HIPC, development, governance, institutional quality |
| JEL: | O17 O19 O29 |
| Date: | 2006–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jen:jenasw:2006-31&r=dev |
| By: | Rui Benfica (Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University); Julieta Zandamela; Arlindo Miguel; Natérica de Sousa |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first output generated with the data collected in that survey. It is a descriptive piece that focuses on identifying and presenting a snapshot of the rural economy in the Zambezi Valley cash cropping economies. It makes it by presenting key statistics on selected representative characteristics of rural households in both cotton and tobacco growing areas. For each of those areas, the tabular and graphical results are broken down into growers versus nongrowers of those key cash crops. Although not analytical, the paper sheds light in a number of issues of concern in cash cropping economies in the region. |
| Keywords: | food security, food policy, tobacco, cotton, household, Zambezi Valley, Mozambique |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msu:icpwrk:mz-minag-rr-59e&r=dev |
| By: | Raghbendra Jha; Raghav Gaiha; Anurag Sharma |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on mean consumption, poverty (all three FGT measures) and inequality during January to June 2004 for rural India using National sample Survey (NSS) data for the 60th Round. Mean consumption at the national level is much higher than the poverty line. However, the Gini coefficient is higher than in recent earlier rounds. The headcount ratio using the thirty day recall is 22.9 per cent and with the seven day recall this stands at 17.9 per cent and, with the combined data, this figure is 20.6 per cent. Mean consumption, all three measures of poverty and the Gini coefficient are computed at the level of 20 states and 63 NSS regions in these 20 states. It is surmised that despite impressive growth rates deprivation is pervasive, pockets of severe poverty persist, and inequality is rampant. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2006-11&r=dev |
| By: | Vivi Alatas; Lisa Cameron; Ananish Chaudhuri; Nisvan Erkal; Lata Gangadharan |
| Abstract: | In recent years, a substantial body of work has emerged in the social sciences exploring differences in the behavior of men and women in various contexts. This paper contributes to this literature by investigating gender differences in attitudes towards corruption. It departs from the previous literature on gender and corruption by using experimental methodology. Attitudes towards corruption play a critical role in the persistence of corruption. Based on experimental data collected in Australia (Melbourne), India (Delhi), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Singapore, we show that while women in Australia are less tolerant of corruption than men in Australia, there are no significant gender differences in attitudes towards corruption in India, Indonesia and Singapore. Hence, our findings suggest that the gender differences found in the previous studies may not be nearly as universal as stated and may be more culture-specific. We also explore behavioral differences by gender across countries and find that there are larger variations in women’s attitudes towards corruption than in men’s across the countries in our sample. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Corruption, Experiments, Punishment, Multicultural Analysis |
| JEL: | C91 J16 K42 O12 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:974&r=dev |
| By: | Vivi Alatas; Lisa Cameron; Ananish Chaudhuri; Nisvan Erkal; Lata Gangadharan |
| Abstract: | We report results from a corruption experiment with Indonesian public servants and Indonesian students. Our results suggest that although both subject pools show a high level of concern with the extent of corruption in Indonesia, the Indonesian public servant subjects have a significantly lower tolerance of corruption than the Indonesian students. We find no evidence that this is due to a selection effect. The reasons given by the public servants for either engaging in or not engaging in corruption suggest that the differences in behavior across the subject pools are driven by their different real life experiences. For example, when abstaining from corruption public servants more often cite the need to reduce the social costs of corruption as a reason for their actions, and when engaging in corruption they cite low government salaries or a belief that corruption is a necessary evil in the current environment. In contrast, students give more simplistic moral reasons. We conclude by arguing that experiments such as the one considered in this paper can be used to measure forward-looking attitudinal change in society and that results obtained from different subject pools can complement each other in the determination of such attitudinal changes. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Experiments, Subject Pool Effects |
| JEL: | C91 D73 O12 K42 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:975&r=dev |
| By: | Menzie D. Chinn (University of Wisconsin, and NBER); Robert W. Fairlie (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | Computer and Internet use, especially in developing countries, has expanded rapidly in recent years. Even in light of this expansion in technology adoption rates, penetration rates differ markedly between developed and developing countries and across developing countries. To identify the determinants of cross-country disparities in personal computer and Internet penetration, both currently and over time, we examine panel data for 161 countries over the 1999-2004 period. We explore the role of a comprehensive set of economic, demographic, infrastructure, institutional and financial factors in contributing to the global digital divide. We find evidence indicating that income, human capital, the youth dependency ratio, telephone density, legal quality and banking sector development are associated with technology penetration rates. Overall, the factors associated with computer and Internet penetration do not differ substantially between developed and developing countries. Estimates from Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions reveal that the main factors responsible for low rates of technology penetration rates in developing countries are disparities in income, telephone density, legal quality and human capital. In terms of dynamics, our results indicate fairly rapid reversion to long run equilibrium for Internet use, and somewhat slower reversion for computer use, particularly in developed economies. Financial development, either measured as bank lending or the value of stocks traded, is also important to the growth rate of Internet use. |
| JEL: | O30 L96 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0603&r=dev |
| By: | Jake Kendall (University of California, Santa Cruz); Nirvikar Singh (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate an example of a very widely applied model for the delivery of IT services to rural and poor populations. The model is one where limited intervention to support infrastructure and coordinate resources is combined with market-based delivery of IT services to the end user (what we call here the “sustainable franchise model”). Though this model has been deployed world-wide by governments, NGOs, and development institutions in the past few years, few researchers have studied the determinants of success in such a model. In this paper we examine the example of n-Logue, a franchise of over 1000 locally-owned, internet kiosks in rural villages in India. We seek to assess how this new sustainable franchise model has worked in practice by analyzing data from 74 of n-Logue’s kiosks. Among other things, we find that gender and education do not affect success, while location and other measures of social standing (age and caste) do. We also find that the uses that villagers have for IT services are not so different from those which first world users have. The lessons we draw from this example are that while local customs and practices must be taken into account (e.g. the caste system), it is not a foregone conclusion that social biases (e.g. against women) cannot be mitigated by good program design. |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:0605&r=dev |
| By: | Simtowe, Franklin; Zeller, Manfred |
| Abstract: | Moral hazard is widely reported as a problem in credit and insurance markets, mainly arising from information asymmetry. Although theorists have attempted to explain how group lending with joint liability can be an important tool for mitigating moral hazard among the poor, empirical studies are rare and sometimes give mixed results. In Malawi, for example, although, group lending with joint liability has been practiced for nearly four decades, the unwillingness to repay loans remains the single major cause of default. This paper examines the extent of occurrence of moral hazard and investigates its determinants of occurrence among joint liability lending programs from Malawi, using group level data from 99 farm and non-farm credit groups. Results reveal that peer selection, peer monitoring, peer pressure, dynamic incentives and variables capturing the extent of matching problems explain most of the variation in the incidence of moral hazard among credit groups. The implications are that joint liability lending institutions will continue to rely on social cohesion and dynamic incentives as a means to enhancing their performance which has a direct implication on their outreach, impact and sustainability. |
| Keywords: | moral hazard; joint liability; dynamic incentives; group lending; Malawi |
| JEL: | M21 M20 |
| Date: | 2006–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:461&r=dev |
| By: | Law, Siong Hook; Azman-saini, W.N.W.; Smith, Peter |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to the debate on financial development and economic growth in Malaysia using quarterly observations for a sample period from 1980 to 2002. It utilises a battery of financial indicators. Based on multivariate framework which takes real interest rate and capital stock into account, the findings are suggestive that finance does play a crucial role in promoting economic growth. Policymakers should, therefore, focus their attention on the creation and promotion of modern financial institutions including banks, non-banks, and stock markets in delivering both short- and long-run economic benefits. |
| Keywords: | financial development; economic growth; Malaysia |
| JEL: | O40 G20 O16 O11 G10 |
| Date: | 2006–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:715&r=dev |
| By: | Djavad Salehi-Isfahani; Russell D. Murphy |
| Abstract: | We consider the effect of labor market rigidities on human capital accumulation and economic growth when some human capital is difficult to observe prior to employment. We distinguish between two types of human capital, those that formal schooling and test scores can measure (``knowledge") and those that can be observed by employers only after a period of employment (``creativity"). We build a simple model to show when employers have limited discretion to set wages or terminate employment they favor the more reliable signals of ``knowledge'', such as years of schooling and class rank, at the expense ``creativity'', which stands for non-testable skills. Individuals in rigid labor markets will therefore favor greater acquisition of knowledge at the expense of creativity, which results in distorted accumulation of human capital and lower growth. We explore the implications of our model for the relevant debates in the empirical growth literature, returns to education literature, and education policy. Our model suggests a possible reason why the social return to education appears low in cross country regressions. These regressions treat years of schooling in countries with more and less flexible labor markets as the same. We show that distinguishing empirically between countries with rigid and flexible labor markets can help reveal the greater productivity of schooling in the latter. Schooling in the latter is correlated with greater investment in non-observable skills. |
| Keywords: | Labor Market flexibility, investment in human capital, schooling, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, cross country regressions |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vpi:wpaper:e06-5&r=dev |