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on Development |
| By: | Sujarwoto; Gindo Tampubolon |
| Abstract: | Social capital has been shown to be positively associated with a range of health outcomes, yet few studies have explored the association between mothers’ social capital and child health. We examine the relationship between mothers' access to social capital via participations in community activities and their children's health. Instrumental variable estimator is used to deal with reverse causality. Data come from the Indonesian Family Life Surveys (IFLS) of 1997, 2000, and 2007. We find strong evidence for the association between mother's social capital and child health before and after the Asian financial crisis. In contrast, there is no relation between mother's social capital and child health during the crisis. The results suggest that the link between mother's social capital and child health is severely ruptured during the period of the crisis, possibly by reducing the number of available community activities and the ability of mothers to participate in such activities. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:14911&r=dev |
| By: | Titeca, Kristof; Samson Omwa, Samuel |
| Abstract: | In response to the orphan crisis, a number of community initiatives have proliferated to enhance service delivery to OVCs (Orphans and other Vulnerable Children). Part of the literature paints a bleak and pessimistic picture: it believes that community based support interventions anchored on the family are faltering under the weight of increasing number of orphans; while others argue that communities are innovative and resilient to the extent that they have devised new coping strategies. The paper shows how OVC community responses in Northern Uganda are under severe pressure from a range of factors; but how these community initiatives are not collapsing – as the ‘social rupture’ thesis predicts. Instead, these community initiatives are dynamic and constantly evolving through various mechanisms to respond to the challenges of meeting the needs of the orphans. The paper shows how some of these initiatives are more successful than others in doing so. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:dpaper:2011003&r=dev |
| By: | Holvoet, Nathalie; Inberg, Liesbeth |
| Abstract: | With the aim to promote aid effectiveness that ultimately contributes to development, changes in aid policies and instruments have been propagated over the last decade. The 2005 Paris Declaration (PD) and the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), which set out a reform agenda around the principles of ownership, harmonisation, alignment, results-orientation and mutual accountability, are illustrations of the growing consensus in this respect. While the rationale for a gender sensitive PD may easily be built upon equality, effectiveness and efficiency arguments, gender is hardly mainstreamed into the PD and its implementation. In a previous study (see Holvoet and Inberg 2009) we explored how the changing aid architecture unfolds opportunities and challenges for gender mainstreaming policies and gender equality and empowerment objectives. This paper zooms in on the case of Tanzania, one of the donor darlings, and studies how opportunities and challenges materialise on the ground. It analyses how various actors, including government, civil society and donors, are handling gender mainstreaming in the realm of ongoing changes in aid policies and instruments. |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:wpaper:2011003&r=dev |
| By: | José Irineu Rangel Rigotti (Cedeplar-UFMG); Renato Moreira Hadad (PUC-Minas) |
| Abstract: | Demographic censuses usually contain information about a graded education system, i.e. age and grade declarations. This information can be used to estimate a series of indicators, useful for diagnostics and prognostics of the educational system. One of the principal goals of this paper is to provide a new technical framework to forecast population by levels of schooling, in a country or region. It follows in the tradition of formal demographic methodologies used in analyzing and projecting population, such as Life Tables. Thus, one could study the probable social consequences of the implementation of any educational policies related to promotion and retention practices, over the medium and long runs. The methodological procedures were applied to the five Brazilian Regions, although it could be applied to other countries or regions that have the information of grades concluded by age. |
| Keywords: | Demographic analysis, trends and forecast of educational indicators, regional inequalities. |
| JEL: | J11 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td422&r=dev |
| By: | Florence Kondylis; Marco Manacorda |
| Abstract: | Is improved school accessibility an effective policy tool for reducing child labor in developing countries? We address this question using micro data from rural Tanzania and a regression strategy that attempts to control for non-random location of households around schools as well as classical and non-classical measurement error in self-reported distance to school. Consistent with a simple model of child labor supply, but contrary to what appears to be a widespread perception, our analysis shows that school proximity leads to a rise in school attendance but no fall in child labor. |
| Keywords: | Distance to school, child labor, school enrolment |
| JEL: | J22 J82 O12 O55 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1035&r=dev |
| By: | Theodore Palivos (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia); Jianpo Xue (School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing); Chong K. Yip (Department of Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a growth model with illegal immigration in which there exist two types of domestic labor, skilled and unskilled. These two types enter the production via a CES aggregator. In a similar manner, the paper also allows for the possibility of imperfect substitution between native and immigrant labor. Within such a framework it analyzes the eects of an increase in immigration on the average capital stock, individual wages, asset holdings and the distribution of wealth. Contrary to previous results in the literature, the paper shows that illegal immigration may not necessarily make the distribution of wealth more unequal and unskilled labor worse o. This is so because the end results depend on the elasticities of substitution between dierent types of labor. Thus, assuming erroneously that immigrants and natives are perfect substitutes could lead to results that are not only over-estimated but also of the wrong sign. |
| Keywords: | Illegal Immigration, Economic Growth, Income Distribution, Factor Sub- stitution. |
| JEL: | O41 F22 E25 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2011_10&r=dev |
| By: | Mark Weisbrot; Rebecca Ray |
| Abstract: | This paper examines data on economic growth and various social indicators for 193 countries over the past 50 years, divided into three periods: 1960-1980, 1980-2000, and 2000-2010. The paper finds that after a sharp slowdown in economic growth and in progress on social indicators during the second (1980-2000) period, there has been a recovery on both economic growth and, for many countries, a rebound in progress on social indicators (including life expectancy, adult, infant, and child mortality, and education) during the past decade. The paper discusses some of the economic and policy changes that might explain the slowdown and rebound. |
| Keywords: | economic development, growth, social indicators, growth failure, recovery, developing countries, education, health |
| JEL: | O10 O40 O11 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:106&r=dev |
| By: | Mehtabul Azam (The World Bank and IZA.); Geeta Kingdon (Institute of Education, University of London.) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the issue of the intra-household allocation of education expenditure with the recently available India Human Development Survey which refers to 2005 and covers both urban and rural areas. In addition to the traditional Engel method, the paper utilizes a Hurdle model to disentangle the decision to enroll (incur any educational expenditure) and the decision of how much to spend on education, conditional on enrolling. Finally the paper also uses household fixed effects to examine whether any gender bias is a within-household phenomenon. The paper finds that the traditional Engel method often fails to pick up gender bias where it exists not only because of the aggregation of data at the household-level but also because of aggregation of the two decisions in which gender can have opposite signs. It is found that pro-male gender bias exists in the primary school age group for several states but that the incidence of gender bias increases with age – it is greater in the middle school age group (10-14 years) and greater still in the secondary school age group (15-19 years). However, gender discrimination in the secondary school age group 15-19 takes place mainly through the decision to enroll boys and not girls, and not through differential expenditure on girls and boys. The results also suggest that the extent of pro-male gender bias in educational expenditure is substantially greater in rural than in urban areas. Finally, our results suggest that an important mechanism through which households spend less on girls than boys is by sending sons to fee-charging private schools and daughters to the fee-free government-funded schools. |
| Keywords: | Gender bias, educational expenditure, Engel curve, Hurdle model, India |
| JEL: | I21 J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1103&r=dev |
| By: | Souza, André Portela; Ponczek, Vladimir Pinheiro |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence of the causal e ect of family size on child quality in adeveloping-country context. We estimate the impact of family size on child labor and educationaloutcomes among Brazilian children and young adults by exploring the exogenous variation offamily size driven by the presence of twins in the family. Using the Brazilian Census datafor 1991, we nd that the exogenous increase in family size is positively related to labor forceparticipation for boys and girls and to household chores for young women. We also nd negativee ects on educational outcomes for boys and girls and negative impacts on human capitalformation for young female adults. Moreover, we obtain suggestive evidence that credit andtime constraints faced by poor families may explain the findings |
| Date: | 2011–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:03&r=dev |
| By: | Mussa, Richard |
| Abstract: | The paper looks at how inequality in household expenditure components affects total inequality and poverty in Malawi. Total household expenditure is disaggregated into four mutually exclusive and exhaustive expenditure items namely; expenditure on food, expenditure on health, expenditure on education, and expenditure on non food and non human capital items. Using data from the second integrated household survey (IHS2), we find that the elasticities of poverty with respect to within-component and between-component inequality are positive, suggesting that an increase within-component and between-component inequality increases overall poverty in Malawi. The results also show that the elasticities of poverty, as measured by the poverty gap and poverty indices, with respect to inequalities in expenditure on food and health are positive and are about the same in magnitude. The results vindicate the exemptions and zero rating of some food, health, and education related goods and services under the Value Added Tax (VAT) system. More importantly, they also suggest that expanding the coverage of zero rating and exemption would have a poverty reducing effect. These findings hold at the national level, as well as when rural and urban areas are treated separately. Additionally, the results are insensitive to choice of poverty line. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; poverty; Malawi |
| JEL: | D30 |
| Date: | 2011–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31225&r=dev |
| By: | Ugur, Mehmet; Dasgupta, Nandini |
| Abstract: | Corruption is a symptom and outcome of institutional deficiency, with potentially adverse effects on economic growth. This paper aims to provide a synthesis of the existing evidence on the relationship between corruption and economic growth - controlling for effect type, data sources, and country groupings. Using 32 key search terms and 43 low-income country names, we searched in 20 electronic databases and obtained 1,002 studies. Initial screening on the basis of PIOS (Population-Independent Variable-Outcome-Study Design) criteria and critical evaluation on the basis VRA (Validity-Reliability-Applicability) criteria led to inclusion of 115 studies for analysis. We conduct a meta-analysis of the empirical findings in 72 empirical studies, using fixed-effect and random-effect weighted means and testing for significance through precision-effect tests (PETs). Our findings indicate that corruption has a negative effect on per-capita GDP growth overall. We also report that corruption is relatively more detrimental in mixed countries as opposed to low-income countries only and that indirect effects of corruption on growth (through the human capital and public finance channels) are larger than its direct effects. |
| Keywords: | Corruption; institutions; governance; economic growth; meta-analysis; systematic reviews |
| JEL: | O11 O47 O43 |
| Date: | 2011–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31226&r=dev |