|
on Development |
| By: | Hristos Doucouliagos; Elizabeth Manning |
| Abstract: | The aid allocation literature explores the motives behind development aid assistance. This literature is enormous, yet surprisingly, the extant empirical studies have in the main only focused on the motives of established donors. Consequently, relatively little is known of the motives of new donors. This paper explores the aid allocation motives of three relatively new DAC donors: Greece, Luxembourg, and Portugal. Both OLS and Tobit two-way effects estimators are used to model their aid allocation process. The results indicate that humanitarian concerns are not an important factor for these three donors. Greece contributes aid predominately to its neighbors and to transitional East European nations. Portugal is motivated by commercial interests and former colony status. The bandwagon effect exists in reverse for Portugal. Commercial interests operate also for Luxembourg. Additionally, Luxembourg appears to donate to smaller more developed countries and is less inclined to donate to East European nations. |
| Keywords: | foreign aid allocation, bilateral aid, economic development, humanitarian concerns. |
| JEL: | F35 C23 |
| Date: | 2009–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dkn:econwp:eco_2009_17&r=dev |
| By: | Abdullah, Sabah; Markandya, Anil |
| Abstract: | Developing countries have struggled with low electrification rates in the rural areas. This study investigates one major issue impeding the rural electrification programmes in rural Kenya: high connection payments. The paper uses estimates obtained from a stated preference study, namely a contingent valuation method completed in 2007, to examine the willingness to pay to connect to grid-electricity and photovoltaic services. Expanding rural electrification will need subsidies, but the study shows that some forms of subsidy are more effective than others. The key findings suggest that the government needs to reform the energy subsidies, increase market ownership and performance of private suppliers, establish financial schemes and create markets that vary according to social-economic and demographic groups. |
| Keywords: | Sub-Saharan Africa; willingness to pay (WTP); affordability; energy; rural electrification |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:17069&r=dev |
| By: | Abdullah, Sabah; Jeanty, P.W. |
| Abstract: | A modern form of energy, in particular electricity for household use, is an important vehicle in alleviating poverty in developing countries. However, access and costs of connecting to this service for most poor in these countries is inconceivable. Policies promoting electricity connection in rural areas are known to be beneficial in improving the socio-economic and health well-being for households. This paper examines willingness to pay (WTP) for rural electrification connection in Kisumu district, Kenya, using the contingent valuation method (CVM). A nonparametric and a parametric model are employed to estimate WTP values for two electricity products: grid electricity (GE) and photovoltaic (PV) electricity. The results indicate that respondents are willing to pay more for GE services than PV and households favoured monthly connection payments over a lump sum amount. Some of the policies suggested in this paper include: subsidizing the connection costs for both sources of electricity, adjusting the payment periods, and restructuring the market ownership of providing rural electricity services. |
| Keywords: | Contingent valuation; Double bounded; Electricity connection; Rural; Willingness to pay (WTP) |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:17070&r=dev |
| By: | Giovanni Andrea cornia (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the decline in income inequality that has taken place over 2002-2007 in most Latin American countries against the background of its steady increase over 1980-2002. The paper analyzes then the factors that could explain this trend reversal. It focuses in particular on favorable external conditions, cyclical factors, improvements in the distribution of educational achievements and the subsequent drop in skill-premium, and changes in macroeconomic and social policies introduced in several countries, particularly by a growing number of left-of-centre governments which have come to power during the last decade. An econometric test for the years 1990-2007 indicate that, in addition to a favorable business cycle and external conditions, a decline in skill premium and the new policy model of fiscally prudent social-democracy which is emerging this decade in much of Latin America impacted favorably the distribution of income. If this approach will survive the current crisis, much of the recent inequality decline is likely to become permanent. |
| Keywords: | income inequality, human capital inequality, external conditions, policy regimes, Latin America. |
| JEL: | D31 E6 H53 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2009_16.rdf&r=dev |
| By: | Davide Fiaschi (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università di Pisa); Marzia Romanelli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes a measure of countries' welfare based on individuals' lifetime utility and applies it to a large sample of countries in the period 1960-2000. Even though welfare inequality across countries appeared stable, the distribution dynamics points out the emergence of three clusters. Such tendencies to polarization shall strengthen in the future. In terms of the world population distribution, welfare inequality decreased as the result of the decline in inequality of both per capita GDP and life expectancy, but this downward trend should be reverted hereafter. Finally, a polarization pattern emerged, which is expected to further intensify in the future. |
| Keywords: | distribution of welfare, nonparametric estimation, polarization, distribution dynamics, inequality |
| JEL: | C13 D30 D63 O5 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_724_09&r=dev |
| By: | Ma, Debin |
| Abstract: | This article offers a critical review of recent literature on Chinese legal tradition and argues that some subtle but fundamental differences between the Western and Chinese legal traditions are highly relevant to our explanation of the economic divergence in the modern era. By elucidating the fundamental feature of traditional Chinese legal system within the framework of a disciplinary mode of administrative justice, this article highlights the contrasting growth patterns of legal professions and legal knowledge in China and Western Europe that would ultimately affect property rights, contract enforcement and ultimately long-term growth trajectories. The paper concludes with some preliminary analysis on the inter-linkages between the historical evolution of political institution and legal regimes. |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2009-02&r=dev |
| By: | Allen, Robert C.; Bassino, Jean-Pascal; Ma, Debin; Moll-Murata, Christine; Zanden, Jan Luiten van |
| Abstract: | The paper develops data on the history of wages and prices in Beijing, Canton, Suzhou/Shanghai in China from the eighteenth century to the twentieth and compare them with leading cities in Europe, Japan and India in terms of nominal wages, the cost of living, and the standard of living. In the eighteenth century, the real income of building workers in Asia was similar to that of workers in the backward parts of Europe but far behind that in the leading economies in northwestern Europe. Real wages declined in China in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and rose slowly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth with little cumulative change for two hundred years. The income disparities of the early twentieth century were due to long run stagnation in China combined with industrialization in Japan and Europe. |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2009-03&r=dev |
| By: | Desai, Sameeksha (University of Missouri Kansas City); Eklund, Johan E. (Ratio Institute); Högberg, Andreas (Jönköping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | The government of India initiated pro-market reforms in the 1990s, after almost five decades of socialist planning. These and subsequent policy reforms are credited as the drivers of India’s radical economic transformation. Prior to reforms, private investment was strictly regulated and restricted to certain areas and sectors. There have since been numerous changes in sectors important for investment, which should lead to changes in outcomes of firm-level strategic decision making and investment behavior. By most estimates, India will continue to grow. The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes in investment behavior from the introduction of reforms to current conditions. Reforms changed several institutional frameworks for firm operations, allowing firms to pursue more competitive strategies. Given the importance of ownership in determining firm efficiency and access to capital, we examine the effect of ownership on the performance of Indian firms for the period 1991-2006. We also examine industry differences in capital allocation. We compute a measure of investment efficiency derived from the accelerator principle: Elasticity of capital with respect to output. We examine the effect of various ownership structures on investment behavior and the efficiently of capital allocation across different sectors of the economy. We find that the allocation of capital has been slow to respond to reforms, indicating similar pace of firm responses. |
| Keywords: | allocation of capital; India; institutional reforms; ownership |
| JEL: | E22 E23 E44 G18 G20 L50 |
| Date: | 2009–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0146&r=dev |
| By: | Juan Miguel Gallego (Toulouse School of Economics and LdA); Mariapia Mendola (University of Milan Bicocca and LdA) |
| Abstract: | There is a large literature pointing to community participation and social networks as salient components of household well-being in developing settings. Yet, there are few insights into whether people mobility affects incentive problems associated with social networks, or whether labor migration displaces social informal institutions in village economies at origin. This paper directly tests the role of international migration in shaping participation in groups and social networks by migrant sending households in village economies at origin. By using an original household survey from two southern regions in Mozambique, we find that households with successful migrants (i.e. those receiving either remittances or return migration) engage more in community based social networks. Our findings are robust to alternative definitions of social interaction and to endogeneity concerns suggesting that stable migration ties and higher income stability through remittances may decrease participation constraints and increase household commitment in cooperative arrangements in migrant-sending communities. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Social Capital, Networks, Group Participation, Mozambique |
| JEL: | O17 O15 O12 |
| Date: | 2009–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:279&r=dev |
| By: | Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano (Bocconi University); Christian Volpe Martincus (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | There exists a growing body of literature which looks at export decisions made by firms. Most studies focus on developed countries and do not explore whether different behavioral patterns prevail over the firm size distribution. This paper aims at filling this gap in the literature by analyzing the export behavior of a statistically representative sample of 192 Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country, Argentina, over the period 1996-1998. We find that the level of employment, sourcing from abroad, investment in product improvement and average productivity are associated with a higher probability of exporting. Training activities for employees are important to export outside of MERCOSUR. |
| Keywords: | SME, Exports, Argentina |
| JEL: | F10 F14 D21 L60 |
| Date: | 2009–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:283&r=dev |
| By: | Christopher M Gilbert; Francesca Modena |
| Abstract: | Many empirical and theoretical studies explore the effects of ex-ante risk and ex-post shocks on child education. While scholars share the opinion that shocks reduce investment in education, there is no general agreement over the effects of uncertainty on child schooling. This work uses the Indonesian Family Life Survey to explore the effects of ex-ante risk and ex-post shocks on school progression in rural Indonesia. We develop a model of household school transition decisions from elementary to junior education and from junior to senior school considering different sources of uncertainty related both to parental and adult income, and under the assumption that withdrawal from school is permanent. In this way, temporary interruptions in child schooling have long term impacts on the child human capital. We show that there is no simple answer to the question of how uncertainty affects schooling decisions. Econometric results suggest that uncertainty about parental income for the time the child may be potentially at school increases the probability of attending junior school while uncertainty about expected earnings from education has a negative and significant effect only for senior school attendance. Finally, positive (negative) income shocks increase (decrease) the probability of attending junior school. |
| Date: | 2009–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esx:essedp:679&r=dev |
| By: | Masao Nakagawa; Yoshiaki Sugimoto |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a theory in which households prepare for future education by adjusting the number of children they intend to raise. Income inequality lowers output per worker only if the inequality is attributed in some part to unexpected disturbances after childbirth. |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0758&r=dev |
| By: | William Joe |
| Abstract: | Migration decisions to urban areas that are backed by economic rationale and attempts to understand gains accruing to individuals from migration, in terms of poverty outcomes are analysed. The analysis is based on the 55th round survey data on Employment - Unemployment Survey 1999-2000 (EUS) provided by the National Sample Survey Organisation. A broad descriptive socio-economic profiling of the migrant households in urban India and explore the dynamics of poverty among interstate as well as intrastate migrants to urban destinations are undertaken. [WP 414]. |
| Keywords: | migration, urban areas, economic, developing countries individuals, poverty, employment, Unemployment Survey, socio-economic, migrant, households, India, urban, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2287&r=dev |
| By: | Anand Kumar |
| Abstract: | Political sociology of poverty requires an analysis of the relationship between the political, economic and socio-cultural actors, institutions and processes in the context of poverty. It assumes that poverty is a complex and cumulative consequence of power relations over a period of time between groups within a region and between regions in the modern world system. [CPRC Working Paper 3]. |
| Keywords: | poverty, regions, power relations, political, sociology, economic, population, rural India, socio-cultural, actors, institutions, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2275&r=dev |
| By: | Akash Acharya |
| Abstract: | The Chiranjeevi Yojna is considered to be a successful PPP model and has also received a prestigious Asian Innovations Award by the Wall Street Journal. It is a flagship scheme of the Gujarat state ministry of health and family welfare and is being recommended for up scaling-up at the national level. It has been claimed by the government that maternal as well as neonatal deaths have been substantially reduced under the scheme. |
| Keywords: | maternal, neonatal deaths, India, scheme, chiranjeevi yojana, PPP model, asian, gujarat, health, family welfare, national level, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2285&r=dev |
| By: | Solomon Benjamin |
| Abstract: | The poor, and the poorest in the most fragile situations, are active political and economic agents. Such “bad government” spur events that push them into chronic poverty. At other times, when poor groups could improve their own situation, this was due to use of influence or power rather than the benefits of a program. Statistics on the poor are collected from an accounting perspective rather than understanding the context within which poor groups struggle. To undertake this research, 8 to 10 families were visited who had been interviewed several years ago to identify and explore processes that reinforced or helped them escape situations of extreme poverty. Cases on street children were included, another vulnerable group. Bangalore is the location of several mega infrastructure development projects and has witnessed a series of ethnic riots in the southern Master Planned areas, and interviews were conducted of families there too. |
| Keywords: | families, Bangalore, India, economic agents, political extreme poverty, statistics, poor, children, megaevents, urban city, income, global settings, infrastructure development, research, vulnerale group, NGO, government, Analytical |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2288&r=dev |
| By: | Miriam Temin |
| Abstract: | Sheds light on the realities of girls' health and wellbeing in developing countries, on the links between the health of girls and the prospects for their families, and on the specific actions that will improve health prospects for millions. This report describes the most prevalent and serious health problems adolescent girls face in developing countries, linking them to a combination of specific public-health risks and social determinants of health. It highlights the diverse ways in which governments and non-governmental organizations have sought—often successfully, albeit on small scale—to break vicious cycles of ill health. It also lays out an ambitious yet feasible agenda for governments, donors, the private sector, and civil society organizations—complete with estimates of indicative costs. [CGD]. |
| Keywords: | global health, girl, health, social, adolescent, private sector, maternal, society, public health risks, developing countries, families, marriage, innovation, secondary school, young women, HIV, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2290&r=dev |
| By: | Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development |
| Abstract: | Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) developed by UNDP need to be recast to realistically capture the gender gaps in development and empowerment in the Third World. These indices have been developed from a northern perspective, and do not incorporate the perspective of the south. How can we recast GDI and GEM to make them meaningful for India within the limitations of data availability? Can GDI and GEM become effective instruments for building gender equity? |
| Keywords: | UNDP, gender, development index, empowerment, index, third world, south, data availability, equity, northern, India, Human Development Index (HDI), Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), economic resources, women, men, resources, child development, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2279&r=dev |
| By: | de Walque, Damien; Kline, Rachel |
| Abstract: | The literature shows that divorced, separated, and widowed individuals in Africa are at significantly increased risk for HIV. Using nationally representative data from 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper confirms that formerly married individuals are at significantly higher risk for HIV. The study goes further by examining individuals who have remarried. The results show that remarried individuals form a large portion of the population - usually larger than the divorced, separated, or widowed - and that they also have higher than average HIV prevalence. This large number of high-risk remarried individuals is an important source of vulnerability and further infection that needs to be acknowledged and taken into account in prevention strategies. |
| Keywords: | Disease Control&Prevention,Population Policies,Gender and Health,HIV AIDS,HIV AIDS and Business |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5118&r=dev |
| By: | Girishankar, Navin |
| Abstract: | As early as 2000, development partners embarked on a decade-long search for"innovative"or alternative sources of Official Development Assistance to help finance achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. For their part, developing countries have sought not only more financial flows but better financial solutions, for example, through partnerships that mobilize private finance for public service delivery, risk mitigation efforts that promote private entry in the productive sectors, and support for carbon trading. This paper offers a framework to organize and understand this heterogeneous mix of innovations in fund-raising and financial solutions for development. It also provides, for the first time, a stocktaking of actual innovations that make up the international landscape and highlights the World Bank Group’s role to date. The stocktaking shows that innovative finance mechanisms have played a more significant role in supporting financial solutions on the ground than in identifying and exploiting"alternative sources of ODA."Innovative fund-raising therefore should be viewed as a complement to - rather than a substitute for - traditional efforts to mobilize official flows, in particular concessional flows. Going forward, innovations need to be tested and evaluated to determine value-added. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Access to Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Emerging Markets,Public Sector Economics |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5111&r=dev |
| By: | Bruhn, Miriam |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the characteristics and performance of female-owned firms in Latin America. Data from firm surveys show that female-owned firms tend to be smaller than male-owned firms in terms of employees, sales, costs, and physical capital. Female-owned firms also have lower profits than male-owned firms, but for larger firms this difference disappears after controlling for labor and capital inputs. Medium-size and large female-owned firms are as productive as male-owned firms of the same size, although micro and small female-owned firms are less productive than male-owned firms. There is no evidence that the differences between female and male-owned firms are due to differences in access to finance or regulatory burdens. However, this paper finds a negative correlation between child care and household obligations and female-owned firm size and performance. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Microfinance,Gender and Health,Gender and Law,E-Business |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5122&r=dev |
| By: | Lederman, Daniel; Olarreaga, Marcelo; Payton, Lucy |
| Abstract: | The number of national export promotion agencies has tripled over the past two decades. Although more countries made them part of their export strategy, studies criticized their efficacy in developing countries. The agencies were retooled, partly in response to these critiques. This paper studies the impact of today's export promotion agencies and their strategies, based on new survey data covering 103 developing and developed countries. The results suggest that on average they have a statistically significant effect on exports. The identification strategies highlight the importance of EPA services for overcoming foreign trade barriers and solving asymmetric information problems associated with exports of heterogeneous goods. There are also strong diminishing returns, suggesting that as far as export promotion agencies are concerned, small is beautiful. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets,Trade Policy,Free Trade,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5125&r=dev |
| By: | Borooah, Vani; Do, Quy-Toan; Iyer, Sriya; Joshi, Shareen |
| Abstract: | The authors use recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They find that fertility and mortality vary not only between religious groups, but also across caste groups. These groups also differ with respect to socio-economic status. The central finding of this paper is that despite their socio-economic disadvantages, Muslims have higher fertility than their Hindu counterparts and also exhibit lower levels of infant mortality (particularly female infant mortality). This effect is robust to the inclusion of controls for non-religious factors such as socio-economic status and area of residence. This result has important policy implications because it suggests that India's problem of"missing women"may be concentrated in particular groups. The authors conclude that religion and caste play a key role in determining the demographic characteristics of India. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Gender and Law,Gender and Health,Adolescent Health,Population&Development |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5096&r=dev |
| By: | Bollard, Albert; McKenzie, David; Morten, Melanie; Rapoport, Hillel |
| Abstract: | Two of the most salient trends surrounding the issue of migration and development over the past two decades are the large rise in remittances, and an increased flow of skilled migration. However, recent literature based on cross-country regressions has claimed that more educated migrants remit less, leading to concerns that further increases in skilled migration will hamper remittance growth. This paper revisits the relationship between education and remitting behavior using microdata from surveys of immigrants in 11 major destination countries. The data show a mixed pattern between education and the likelihood of remitting, and a strong positive relationship between education and the amount remitted conditional on remitting. Combining these intensive and extensive margins gives an overall positive effect of education on the amount remitted. The microdata then allow investigation as to why the more educated remit more. The analysis finds that the higher income earned by migrants, rather than characteristics of their family situations, explains much of the higher remittances. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Remittances,Debt Markets,International Migration,Access&Equity in Basic Education |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5113&r=dev |
| By: | Gauri, Varun |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a framework and some hypotheses regarding the impact of local-level, informal legal institutions on three economic outcomes: aggregate growth, inequality, and human capabilities. It presents a set of stylized differences between formal and informal legal justice systems, identifies the pathways through which formal systems promote economic outcomes, reflects on what the stylized differences mean for the potential impact of informal legal institutions on economic outcomes, and looks at extant case studies to examine the plausibility of the arguments presented. The paper concludes that local-level, informal legal institutions can support social substitutes for the enforcement of contracts, although these substitutes tend to be limited in range and scale; they are flexible and could conceivably be adapted to serve the interests of the poor and marginalized if supportive organizational and social resources could be brought to support the legal claims of the disempowered; and they are more likely to support personal integrity rights than the positive liberties that are also constitutive of development as freedom. |
| Keywords: | Legal Products,Children and Youth,Public Institution Analysis&Assessment,Gender and Law,Legal Institutions of the Market Economy |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5108&r=dev |
| By: | Urdal, Henrik; Hoelscher, Kristian |
| Abstract: | By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, and the greatest growth in urban populations will take place in the least developed countries. This presents many governments with considerable challenges related to urban governance and the provision of services and opportunities to a burgeoning urban population. Among the concerns is that large youth bulges in urban centers could be a source of political instability and violence. Here, we assess this claim empirically using newly collected data on city-level urban social disorder, ranging from non-violent actions, such as demonstrations and strikes, to violent political actions, such as riots, terrorism, and armed conflict. The dataset covers 55 major cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa for 1960-2006. The study also utilizes a new United Nations Population Division dataset on urban populations by age and sex. The study further considers factors that could condition the effect of age structure, in particular the level of informal employment, economic growth, education, and gender imbalances. The analysis finds that large male youth bulges aged 15-24 are not generally associated with increased risks of either violent or non-violent social disturbance. Furthermore, the proxy measures of"youth exclusion"do not seem to increase the risk that large urban male youth bulges are associated with either form of disturbance. However, several other factors that may be associated with higher levels of youth exclusion - notably absence of democratic institutions, low economic growth, and low levels of secondary educational attainment - are significantly and robustly associated with increasing levels of urban social disturbance. |
| Keywords: | Youth and Governance,Adolescent Health,Population Policies,Urban Housing and Land Settlements,National Urban Development Policies&Strategies |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5110&r=dev |
| By: | Almeida, Rita; Carneiro, Pedro |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of enforcing labor regulation in an economy with a dual labor market. The analysis uses data from Brazil, a country with a large informal sector and strict labor law, where enforcement affects mainly the degree of compliance with mandated benefits (severance pay and health and safety conditions) in the formal sector, and the registration of informal workers. The authors find that stricter enforcement leads to higher unemployment but lower income inequality. They also show that, at the top of the formal wage distribution, workers bear the cost of mandated benefits by receiving lower wages. Wage rigidity (due, say, to the minimum wage) prevents this downward adjustment at the bottom of the income distribution. As a result, formal sector jobs at the bottom of the wage distribution become more attractive, inducing the low-skilled self-employed to search for formal jobs. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Transport Economics Policy&Planning |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5119&r=dev |
| By: | Luo, Xubei |
| Abstract: | The Philippine economy has been growing rapidly, at an annual growth rate of 5 percent over the past five years. Such decent growth in gross domestic product, however, did not translate into an increase in household income. Wage income declined in real terms. The poverty headcount increased slightly. The fruits of economic growth were not shared equally across the country. Challenges remain to create more jobs to keep pace with the rapidly growing active population. Using the Philippines Labor Force Survey data (2003-2007), this paper reviews the disparities in labor market performance and examines the contribution of regional and individual characteristics. The results show that real wages declined and disparities widened between the National Capital Region and other islands. The youth, less educated, and women face more challenges in finding employment with a decent salary, other things being equal. Disparities in labor market performance are largely associated with the difference in regional structure and human capital endowment. Individual characteristics account for roughly one-third of the difference in wages between the National Capital Region and other regions; regional structures and other unobservable factors account for two-thirds of the difference. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Youth and Governance,Population Policies,Regional Economic Development |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5124&r=dev |
| By: | Ahmed , Syud Amer; Diffenbaugh, Noah S.; Hertel , Thomas W.; Lobell, David B.; Ramankutty, Navin; Rios, Ana R.; Rowhani, Pedram |
| Abstract: | Climate models generally indicate that climate volatility may rise in the future, severely affecting agricultural productivity through greater frequency of yield-diminishing climate extremes, such as droughts. For Tanzania, where agricultural production is sensitive to climate, changes in climate volatility could have significant implications for poverty. This study assesses the vulnerability of Tanzania’s population to poverty to changes in climate variability between the late 20th century and early this century. Future climate scenarios with the largest increases in climate volatility are projected to make Tanzanians increasingly vulnerable to poverty through its impacts on the production of staple grains, with as many as 90,000 additional people, representing 0.26 percent of the population, entering poverty in the median case. Extreme poverty-increasing outcomes are also found to be greater in the future under certain climate scenarios. In the 20th century, the greatest predicted increase in poverty was equal to 880,000 people, while in the 21st century, the highest possible poverty increase was equal to 1.17 million people (approximately 3.4 percent of the population). The results suggest that the potential impacts of changes in climate volatility and climate extremes can be significant for poverty in Sub-Saharan African countries like Tanzania. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Science of Climate Change,Regional Economic Development,Climate Change Economics |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5117&r=dev |
| By: | Kousky, Carolyn; Rostapshova, Olga; Toman, Michael; Zeckhauser, Richard |
| Abstract: | There is a low but uncertain probability that climate change could trigger"mega-catastrophes,"severe and at least partly irreversible adverse effects across broad regions. This paper first discusses the state of current knowledge and the defining characteristics of potential climate change mega-catastrophes. While some of these characteristics present difficulties for using standard rational choice methods to evaluate response options, there is still a need to balance the benefits and costs of different possible responses with appropriate attention to the uncertainties. To that end, the authors present a qualitative analysis of three options for mitigating the risk of climate mega-catastrophes - drastic abatement of greenhouse gas emissions, development and implementation of geoengineering, and large-scale ex ante adaptation - against the criteria of efficacy, cost, robustness, and flexibility. They discuss the composition of a sound portfolio of initial investments in reducing the risk of climate change mega-catastrophes. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change Economics,Science of Climate Change,Hazard Risk Management,Transport and Environment |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5127&r=dev |
| By: | Gauri, Varun |
| Abstract: | Public interest litigation has historically been an innovative judicial procedure for enhancing the social and economic rights of disadvantaged and marginalized groups in India. In recent years, however, a number of criticisms of public interest litigation have emerged, including concerns related to separation of powers, judicial capacity, and inequality. These criticisms have tended to abstraction, and the sheer number of cases has complicated empirical assessments. This paper finds that public interest litigation cases constitute less than 1 percent of the overall case load. The paper argues that complaints related to concerns having to do with separation of powers are better understood as criticisms of the impact of judicial interventions on sector governance. On the issue of inequality, the analysis finds that win rates for fundamental rights claims are significantly higher when the claimant is from an advantaged social group than when he or she is from a marginalized group, which constitutes a social reversal, both from the original objective of public interest litigation and from the relative win rates in the 1980s. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Law,Judicial System Reform,Human Rights,Information Security&Privacy,Legal Institutions of the Market Economy |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5109&r=dev |
| By: | Luo, Xubei; Terada, Takanobu |
| Abstract: | In the Philippines, an important part of income inequality is associated with the wage difference between the less educated and the better educated. The majority of the least educated are employed in low-paid services jobs and the agricultural sector. Tertiary education is to a large extent a prerequisite for high-paid occupations. Using the Labor Force Survey 2003-2007, this paper examines disparities in human capital endowment, returns to education, and the role of education in wage differentials in the Philippines. The empirical results show that returns to education monotonically increase - workers with elementary education, secondary education, and tertiary education earn 10 percent, 40 percent, and 100 percent more than those with no education. The results also show that education is the single most important factor that contributes to wage differentials. At the national level, education accounts for about 30 percent of the difference in wages. It accounts for a higher percentage of the difference for female workers (37 percent) than male workers (24 percent). There are also differences across regions and sectors. As an economy develops, the demand for skills increases. In the Philippines, efforts to improve education to increase the supply of highly educated people are important not only for long-term growth, but also for helping to translate growth into more equal opportunities for the children of the current generation. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Education For All,Tertiary Education,Labor Policies,Regional Economic Development |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5120&r=dev |
| By: | Cattaneo, Olivier |
| Abstract: | This study summarizes the existing knowledge and relevant abstracts and case-studies on the design of health and/or trade reforms and policies. The study aims to contribute to the understanding of the potential benefits and risks - and ways to maximize the former and minimize the latter - of trade in the health sector. It is designed for non-trade (health) experts to understand how trade can help to improve health systems and access to health services, and for trade specialists to understand the specific characteristics of the health sector. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Health Law,Disease Control&Prevention,Health Economics&Finance |
| Date: | 2009–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5115&r=dev |
| By: | Ssewanyana, Sarah |
| Abstract: | Since the 1990's, Uganda system has undergone various reforms. However, both tax policies and reforms have been formulated without clearly indication the channels through which gender impacts on these policies/reforms. Using the national household survey of 2005/06, this paper provided insight into how tax policies and reforms on indirect taxes impact differently on women and men. The incidence rate of tax gender-based household typologies controlled by expenditure quintile brings out interesting findings. teh incidence rate of indirect tax is significantly greater on households headed by male compared to their female counterparts regardless of income level. This also holds after controlling for the presence of children. More importantly, the impact on different households typologies is largely influenced by differences in consumption patterns. future tax reforms should take these gender differences in account as a means of improving the social welfare of every Ugandan... |
| Keywords: | Tax policies, Tax reforms, Household expenditures, Ssewanyana, Economic policy research center, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54939&r=dev |
| By: | Matovu, John; Twimukye, Evarist; Nabiddo, Winnie; Guloba, Madina |
| Abstract: | The Uganda government has since 1987 initiated a sequence of tax reforms to address the fiscal challenges facing the country. This paper uses a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the welfare effects of tax reforms on households and the impact of these challenges on production and firm activities. The findings are consistent with previous studies which found that the introduction of VAT was indeed a progressive policy reform. Zero rating all food items and agricultural products mainly benefit the low income households whose consumption basket is mainly food items. In a quest for further sources of revenue by overtaxing the rich, this could generate further revenues albeit lower savings and investments by this group. Finally, over-reliance on excise duties especially on petroleum and alcohol drinks affects the transportation sectors which are also used by the poor. In our results we find that taxation of petrol and rising excise duties indeed is a regressive policy stance. |
| Keywords: | Computable General Equilibrium (CGE), Twimukye, Nabiddo, Taxation, Tax base, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54801&r=dev |
| By: | Twimukye, Evarist; Matovu, John Mary |
| Abstract: | The current wave of volatile international oil process coupled with the low hydro-energy generation continues to exert negative impacts on the Ugandan economy. This paper analyzes the extent to which changes in energy prices affect the economy and examines policy options that can be udertaken to curculate the negative effetcs. The imapct of higher oil prices takes a large toll on all sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and services. with the existing loses in productivity of generating hydro electricity, this has exacerbated the energy crisis. The combined output loss for the manufacturing sector due to increase in fuel prices and a shortage of electricity is estimated at 2 percent on annual basis. While the government has title control on the international prices of oil, further private and public investments in the energy sector are called for to alleviate the shortages of energy. |
| Keywords: | Oil, Energy, Hydro-electricity, Public investment, Twimukye, Matovu, EPRC, Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54803&r=dev |
| By: | Sennoga, Edward; Matovu, John M.; Twimukye, Evarist |
| Abstract: | Uganda still lags behind in its tax collections at the domestic level. For most of the commodities the tax collection effort is not more than 5 percent relative to the statutory rate of 18 percent. This results into a situation where the government has to rely a lot on foreign financing. From the analysis, there is a lot of improvement where URA can be able to increase its tax effort. this could be achieved by targeting commodities that are under-taxed and excluding food items for equity purposes. Increasing domestic collection would also result into less over reliance on taxing a few commodities especially fuel which is interlinked with a lot of other sectors and could indeed harm growth in the long-run. We also find that the tax effort on imports is sufficient. However, import duties on fuel remain very high and this could be a symptom of the poor domestic tax collection. |
| Keywords: | Taxation, Tax base, Domestic taxes, import duty, Sennoga, Twimukye, Matovu, EPRC, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54802&r=dev |
| By: | Bategeka, Lawrence; Guloba, Madina; Kiiza, Julius |
| Abstract: | the paper examines the gender dimensions of personal income tax (PIT) in Uganda with an eye on the possible gender biases that may be embedded in the tax system. It further addresses the issues of Uganda achievement of substantive gender equality rather than formal equality as regards the impact of taxes from a gender perspective. This is in line with Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against all people as if they are the same and synonymous with equality of opportunity... we find that PIT paid by different household earning types increases gender inequality. We also find that some tax systems only worsens gender gaps and hardly is a useful tool that could be used to close the gender gaps. This paper proposes how PIT could be reformed with a view to using taxation as a tool for the realization of substantive gender equality. |
| Keywords: | Gender equality, CEDAW, Taxation, Income tax, Kiiza, Bategeka, Guloba, Economic policy research center, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54938&r=dev |
| By: | Matovu, John M.; Twimukye, Evarist P. |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the potential impact of the recent world food prices on the Ugandan economy and possible policy options to respond to it. Uganda is largely a net exporter of some cereals whose prices increasing considerably especially maize. Using a recursive dynamic CGE model, we attempt to answer questions on who are the beneficiaries and losers after the surge in food prices. The rural producers of maize tend to benefit considerably with their poverty levels reducing. On the other hand, the urban purchasers of cereals are affected owing to the higher prices of food. this therefore suggests that the Ugandan government should take advantage of the increasing food prices by stimulating and undertaking policies that would enhance productivity especially for crops where on the urban population, the government could design targeted programs for the urban poor. |
| Keywords: | Urban poor, Food prices, CGE model, Food security, Matovu, Twimukye, Economic Policy Research centre, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54804&r=dev |
| By: | Sennoga, Edward; Matovu, John; Twimukye, Evarist |
| Abstract: | This paper mainly focuses on the various ways through which a social cash transfer program can be be designed and financed. We identify four types of households which are considered to be vulnerable to be targeted with cash transfers. This includes households with orphans, old individuals, young and labor constrained. Extending a cash transfer to these households would lead to less poverty over the simulation period. these programs which would be constrained to less than 0.5 percent of GDP would have a small impact on the overall economy. By increasing taxes to finance the program this would wipe out the potential benefits of the cash transfer program of reducing poverty. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, Cash transfers, Vulnerable groups, Sennoga, Twimukye, Matovu, EPRC, Poor people, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:54935&r=dev |
| By: | Lerman, Zvi; Sedik, David |
| Abstract: | The paper examines agricultural production and productivity growth in two Central Asian countries â Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Both countries are characterized by a significant shift of resources from the traditional Soviet model of collective agriculture to more market-compliant individual and family farming. In both countries, the beginning of the policy-driven switch to family farming around 1997 coincided with the beginning of recovery in agriculture, namely resumption of agricultural growth after a phase of transition decline since 1991. In addition to growth in total agricultural production, we also observe significant increases in productivity of both land and labor since 1997. These observations suggest that productivity growth may be attributable to the changes in farming structure in Central Asia. To check this conjecture we assess the sources of growth by applying the standard Solow growth accounting methodology. Using time series of country statistics for farms of different organizational forms, we decompose the growth in output into growth in the resource base (extensive growth) and growth in productivity (intensive growth). Solow growth accounting clearly shows that, first, much of the growth at the country level is attributable to increases in productivity rather than increases in resources and, second, the increases in productivity in family farms (especially household plots) outstrip the increases in productivity in former collective and state farms. These findings confirm that the recovery of agricultural production in Central Asia has been driven largely by productivity increases, and it is the individual farms that are the main source of agricultural productivity increases. |
| Keywords: | agricultural productivity, agricultural growth, family farms, corporate farms, comparative performance, agrarian reforms, transition countries, Central Asia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, P27, P31, P32, Q15, R14, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:54713&r=dev |
| By: | Lerman, Zvi; Sedik, David |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, International Development, |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:54712&r=dev |
| By: | Soohyung Lee; Benjamin A. Malin |
| Abstract: | We explore education's role in improving the allocation of labor between China's agricultural and nonagricultural sectors and measure the portion of China's recent growth attributable to this channel. Building from micro-level estimates, we find that education's impact on labor reallocation between sectors accounts for about 9 percent of Chinese growth, whereas its impact on within-sector human capital growth explains only 2 percent. Our findings suggest that, when frictions cause large productivity gaps across sectors and returns to education are greater in higher-productivity sectors, education policy may be a useful tool for increasing efficiency. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2009-41&r=dev |
| By: | Sylvie Démurger (University of Lyon; CNRS, UMR 5824, GATE, France); Martin Fournier (University of Lyon; CNRS, UMR 5824, GATE, France); Weiyong Yang (University of International Business & Economics, Beijing, China) |
| Abstract: | Economic reforms in rural China have brought opportunities to diversify both within-farm activities and off-farm activities. Participation in these activities plays an important role in increasing rural households’ income. This paper analyzes the factors that drive rural households and individuals in their income-source diversification choices for ten villages in Northern China. At the household level, we distinguish three types of diversification as opposed to grain production only : within farm (non- grain production) activities, local off-farm activities, and migration. At the individual level, we analyze the determinants of participation in three different types of jobs as compared to agricultural work : local off-farm employment, local self-employment and migration. At the household level, we find that land and labor availability stimulates on-farm diversification. Local off-farm activities are mostly driven by household wealth and credit constraints, while migration decisions strongly depend on the household age and composition. At the individual level, we find a clear gender and age bias in access to off-farm activities that are mostly undertaken by male and by young people. More surprisingly, education is found to play a role for accessing local wage employment but not in migration decision. As at the household level, the household assets position is found to strongly affect participation in any off-farm activity. |
| Keywords: | income-source diversification, agricultural households, off-farm employment, China |
| JEL: | J2 R2 Q1 O53 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:0923&r=dev |
| By: | Lena Edlund (Columbia University - Department of Economics); Chulhee Lee (Seoul National University - Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Motivated by high and rising sex ratios in countries such as India and China, we formulate a theoretical framework for analyzing the impact of economic development on parental sex choice when sons are culturally prized and children provide old age support. Two key assumptions drive our model. First, the cultural valuation of children vary not only with gender but also with marital status. In particular, while a married son is preferred to a married daughter, the latter is preferred to an unmarried son. Second, we assume that faced with a shortage of brides, poor parents will have a harder time marrying their sons than rich parents. Our model predicts male sex ratios at low levels of development, where the surplus sons are chosen by the poorest who forego grand-children for old age support. With development, incomes and the bride price rise, allowing the poorest reproductive children. Consequently, sex ratios fall, and the relationship between parental income and offspring maleness turns positive. We also present corroborative evidence from South Korea, a now developed country which shares with India and China a strong patriarchal culture and a recent past of poverty. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clu:wpaper:0910-04&r=dev |
| By: | Evan Borkum (Columbia University - Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The charging of school user fees is a much-debated policy issue in developing countries. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of a South African fee elimination program that was targeted at the poorest two quintiles of schools based on a community poverty score. Fixed effects estimates find that the program increased enrollment by almost 2% in treated secondary schools, an increase concentrated in earlier secondary grades. There is substantial heterogeneity in the estimated secondary school effect: it is driven entirely by an increase of around 3.5% in the poorer of the two treated quintiles. Regression discontinuity estimates confirm that the relatively wealthy schools near the treatment cutoff did not experience any effects on enrollment. Overall, the abolition of fees seems to have been reasonably effective in increasing secondary school enrollment in particularly poor communities. This is despite the fact that the eliminated fees were relatively low, comprising only around 1.5% of annual household income (per child) in these communities. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clu:wpaper:0910-06&r=dev |
| By: | Cavalcanti, T.V.V.; Mohaddes, K.; Raissi, M. |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether natural resource abundance is a curse or a blessing. In order to do so, we firstly develop a theory consistent econometric model, in which we show that there is a long run relationship between real income, the investment rate, and the real value of oil production. Secondly, we investigate the long-run (level) effects of natural resource abundance on domestic output as well as the short-run (growth) effects. Thirdly, we make use of a non-stationary panel approach which explicitly es- timates the long-run relationships from annual data as opposed to the dynamic and static panel approaches which might in fact estimate the high-frequency relationships. Fourthly, we account for cross-country dependencies that arise potentially from oil price shocks and other unobserved common factors, and allow countries to respond differently to these shocks. Finally, we explicitly recognize that there is a substantial heterogeneity in our sample, consisting of 53 oil exporting and importing countries with annual data between 1980-2006, and adopt the methodology developed by Pesaran (2006) for estimation. This approach considers different dynamics for each country and is consistent under both cross-sectional dependence and cross-country heterogeneity. We also check the robustness of these results by using the fully modified OLS method of Pedroni (2000). Our non-stationary approach also allows for country-specific unobserved factors, such as social and human capital, to be captured in the fixed effects and the heterogeneous trends together with any omitted factors. Our estimation results, using the real value of oil production, rent or reserves as a proxy for resource endowment, indicate that oil abundance is in fact a blessing and not a curse, exhibited through both the long-run and the short-run effects. |
| Keywords: | Growth models, natural resource curse, cointegration, cross sectional dependence, common correlated effects, and oil. |
| JEL: | C23 O13 O40 Q32 |
| Date: | 2009–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0946&r=dev |
| By: | Rao, B. Bhaskara; Hassan, Gazi |
| Abstract: | Development economists believe that migrant workers’ remittances are an important source of funds for long run growth. Therefore, recent studies have investigated the growth effects of remittances and reached different conclusions. In many such studies the growth of output is simply regressed on both remittances and the channels through which remittances affect growth. Thus there is no distinction between the indirect and direct growth effects of remittances and such specifications may give unreliable estimates because of the correlation between the channels and remittances. In this paper we make a distinction between the indirect and direct effects of remittances. Our model is estimated with panel data of 40 high remittance recipient countries and a system GMM panel data estimation method. |
| Keywords: | Remittances; Growth; Panel Data; System GMM |
| JEL: | F22 O16 F43 |
| Date: | 2009–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18641&r=dev |
| By: | James B. Davies; Susanna Sandström; Anthony B. Shorrocks; Edward N. Wolff |
| Abstract: | We estimate the level and distribution of global household wealth. The levels of assets and debts for 39 countries are measured using household balance sheet and survey data centred on the year 2000. The determinants of mean financial assets, non-financial assets, and liabilities are studied empirically, and the results used to estimate average wealth holdings for countries lacking direct evidence. Data on the pattern of household distribution of wealth are assembled for 20 countries, which together account for 59 per cent of the global population and 75 per cent of global wealth. The observed relation between wealth and income distribution in these 20 countries allows estimates of wealth inequality to be produced for many other nations. Combining the figures for individual countries reveals that net worth averaged US$44,024 per adult in PPP terms across the globe. Wealth of US$8,635 was needed to be in the top half of the global distribution, and US$518,364 to be in the top one per cent. The top 10 per cent owned 71 per cent of world wealth, and the Gini coefficient for the global distribution of wealth is estimated to be 0.802, indicating greater inequality than that observed in the global distribution of consumption or income. |
| JEL: | D31 E01 E21 O10 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15508&r=dev |
| By: | Haizheng Li; Barbara M. Fraumeni; Zhiqiang Liu; Xiaojun Wang |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate China’s human capital stock from 1985 to 2007 based on the Jorgenson-Fraumeni lifetime income approach. An individual’s human capital stock is equal to the discounted present value of all future incomes he or she can generate. In our model, human capital accumulates through formal education as well as on-the-job training. The value of human capital is assumed to be zero upon reaching the mandatory retirement ages. China’s total real human capital increased from 26.98 billion yuan in 1985 (i.e., the base year) to 118.75 billion yuan in 2007, implying an average annual growth rate of 6.78%. The annual growth rate increased from 5.11% during 1985-1994 to 7.86% during 1995-2007. Per capita real human capital increased from 28,044 yuan in 1985 to 106,462 yuan in 2007, implying an average annual growth rate of 6.25%. The annual growth rate also increased from 3.9% during 1985-1994 to 7.5% during 1995-2007. Therefore, although population growth contributed significantly to the total human capital accumulation before 1994, per capita human capital growth was primary driving force after 1995. The substantial increase in educational attainment during 1985-2007 contributed significantly to the growth in total and per capita real human capital. |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15500&r=dev |