|
on Development |
| By: | Antje Kroeger; Kathryn Anderson |
| Abstract: | The Kyrgyz Republic is one of the largest recipients of international remittances in the world; from a Balance of Payments measure of remittances, it ranked tenth in the world in 2008 in the ratio of remittances to GDP, a rapid increase from 30th place in 2004. Remittances can be used to maintain the household's standard of living by providing income to families with unemployed and underemployed adult members. Remittances can also be used to promote investment not only in businesses and communities but also in people. In this paper, we examine the role that remittances have played in the Kyrgyz Republic in promoting investments in children. Based on the capabilities approach to well-being initiated by Sen (2010), we look at the impact of remittances and domestic transfer payments primarily from internal migration on children's education and health. Our outcomes include enrollment in school and preschool, expenditures, stunting and wasting of preschool children, and health habits of older children. We use unique panel data from the Kyrgyz Republic for 2005-2008 and thus control for some of the biases inherent in cross-sectional studies of remittances and family outcomes. We find that overall remittances and domestic transfers have not promoted investments in the human capital of children. Specifically, preschool enrollments were higher in the urban north but secondary school enrollments were lower in other regions in remittance receiving households; expenditures were also negatively affected in the south and the mountain areas. These negative enrollment results were larger for girls than for boys. We also found evidence of stunting and wasting among young children and worse health habits among boys in remittance or transfer receiving households. In the long run, Kyrgyzstan needs human capital development for growth; our results suggest that remittances are not providing the boost needed in human capital to promote development in the future. |
| Keywords: | Children's education and health, remittances, Central Asia |
| JEL: | C23 F22 I21 R23 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1170&r=dev |
| By: | Álvaro Aguirre |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of contracting institutions on economic development. A growth model is presented with endogenous incomplete markets, where financial frictions generated by the imperfect enforcement of contracts depend on the future growth of the economy, which determines the costs of being excluded from financial markets after defaulting. As the economy approaches its balanced growth path, frictions and their effect on income become more important because the net benefits of honoring contracts decrease. Therefore, as the economy approaches its steady state, the effect of contracting institutions on GDP per capita increases. This effect is due not only to a slower accumulation of capital, but also to a misallocation of resources toward labor-intensive productive sectors, where self-enforcing incentives are stronger. To validate the model empirically, the paper modifies previous specifications of cross-country regressions to estimate the effect of contracting institutions on per capita GDP. In line with the main predictions of the model, the econometric evidence shows that this effect is larger in economies that were relatively close to their steady states in 1950. Unlike contracting institutions, the evidence shows that property-rights institutions, included in an extension to the model, have an effect on income per capita throughout the development process. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chb:bcchwp:643&r=dev |
| By: | Mebratie, Anagaw Derseh (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Bedi, Arjun S. (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | The impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestically owned firms in developing countries has been widely debated in the literature. It has been argued that FDI provides access to advanced technologies and other intangible assets which may spill over to the host country and allow domestic firms to improve their performance. While there is a substantial literature on this issue, for obvious reasons, little is known about the effect of FDI on domestic firms in the African context. Noting this gap, this paper uses two-period (2003 and 2007) firm level panel data from South Africa to examine the impact of foreign direct investment on the labour productivity of domestic firms. A key policy change during this time period was the passage of the broad-based black economic empowerment act (BB-BEE) and we also examine the effect of the interaction between foreign firm ownership and BEE on labour productivity. Regardless of the empirical specification we find no spill over effects and no evidence that a greater degree of BEE compliance by foreign firms influences labour productivity. |
| Keywords: | FDI, spillover, labour productivity, black economic empowerment, firm, South Africa |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6048&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Humayun; Shah, Mir Kalan; Tahir, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | Based on a pilot survey, we analyze the damages caused by floods in Pakistan, 2010, the istribution of aid, and the extent of recovery at he household level. With regard to the nature of damages, we show that flood damages had both between-village and within-village variation, and damages to houses, land (crops), livestock, and other business assets were not highly correlated. In the distribution of aid from outside, we again find substantial between-village and within-village variation - the aid distribution across villages appeared well-targeted toward the severely affected villages, while aid within villages was targeted toward households with larger house damages, but not toward households with larger damages to land, crop, or other assets. The positive aid response to house damages and the negative aid response to the initial wealth level were found but the marginal response of aid to these characteristics was not large. With regard to the recovery from flood damages, we find that aid recipients did not show higher or lower recovery than non-recipients, especially for house damages, which could be due to mixing of a recovery-promoting effect of aid and a selection effect of aid toward households that have more difficulty in recovery. We also show that households who had initially fewer assets and hit by larger flood damages had more difficulty in recovery. |
| Keywords: | natural disaster, relief distribution, resilience, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O12 D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:12&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi |
| Abstract: | This paper presents estimates for agricultural production data in areas currently in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh from 1901/02 to 2001/02. A salient feature of these estimates is that they correspond to current international borders. The British Empire of India, which was broken up in 1947 (in the so-called “Partition” of the Indian subcontinent), covered areas of what are now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Although a rich accumulation of statistical documents is available from the colonial period, there has been no rigorous attempt to compile statistics corresponding to the current borders during a period that includes years prior to 1947. This is because the Partition broke up the Empire of India not only at the provincial level (for which data are readily available) but also at the district or lower levels of administration. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap, focusing on production in crop farming in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Since neither the states of Pakistan and Bangladesh nor the concept of such nations existed during the early decades of the twentieth century, this exercise is hypothetical to some extent. Nevertheless, because farming activities are carried out on the soil of a region irrespective of its political designation, the estimates presented in this paper could shed new light on agricultural development in the three countries over the long term. |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:6&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the function of various modes of wage payment, focusing on the role of in-kind wages in enhancing household food security when markets are underdeveloped. Historical records from Asian countries, including pre-war Japan and colonial India, demonstrate the importance of in-kind wage payment in the initial phase of economic development. However, there is a paucity of theoretical explanations of in-kind wages in terms of their function and rationale in existing literature. This paper therefore develops a theoretical model that explains labor supply under different labor contracts, by incorporating considerations of food security as the main explanation for in-kind wages. The model predicts that when food security considerations are important for workers, owing to poverty and thin food markets, they tend to work more under contracts where wages are paid in kind (food) than under contracts where wages are paid in cash. This prediction is supported by empirical evidence from rural Myanmar. Estimation results of the reduced-form determinants of labor supply show that workers supply more labor for work paid in kind when the share of staple food in the workers’ household budget is higher and the farmlands on which they produce food themselves are smaller. |
| Keywords: | agrarian contract, in-kind wages, incentive, food security, Myanmar |
| JEL: | J33 Q12 O12 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:11&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi |
| Abstract: | Village-level aggregate shocks such as droughts and floods cannot be perfectly insured by risk sharing within a village. Then, what type of households are more vulnerable in terms of a decline in consumption when a village is hit by such natural disasters? This question is investigated in this study by using two-period panel data for the years 2001 and 2004 from rural Pakistan. We propose a methodology to infer the theoretical mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of households in terms of their vulnerability, and focus on the difference between the across-household-type difference in marginal response to aggregate shocks and that in marginal response to idiosyncratic shocks. The empirical results obtained indicate that the sensitivity of consumption changes to shocks differs across household types, depending on the type of natural disasters. Moreover, land and credit access are effective in mitigating the ill-effects of various types of shocks. Household heads who are educated or elderly and households with a greater number of working members bear a larger burden of the village-level shocks; however, they are not vulnerable to idiosyncratic health shocks. It is revealed that these patterns may be explained by the coexistence of unequal access to credit markets and risk sharing among heterogeneous households in terms of risk tolerance. |
| Keywords: | natural disaster, consumption smoothing, risk sharing, self-insurance, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O12 D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:8&r=dev |
| By: | Khan, Hidayat Ullah; Kurosaki, Takashi; Miura, Ken |
| Abstract: | To assess the targeting performance of community-based development activities and deduce the impact of such activities on poverty reduction, we implemented a survey of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in northwestern Pakistan. A distinct characteristic of this NGO is that it is managed mostly by women and its interventions are conducted through community-based organizations (COs), most of whose members are also female. This characteristic is rather unusual for a male-dominated society like Pakistan. Descriptive analyses of village, CO, and household level data shows that the NGO was able to target poorer villages. Villages with COs are characterized by lower adult literacy rates, lower availability of basic amenities, and higher susceptibility to natural disasters. With regard to household-level welfare indicators - such as consumption, women’s empowerment, children’s school enrolment, and the weight-for-age of infants - we found that the consumption levels of CO member households tended to be lower than that of households in non-CO villages. However, the difference between CO member households and non-member households in CO villages was insignificant, possibly owing to the mixing of the selection effect (i.e., poorer households are served by the NGO) and the causal effect of interventions on poverty reduction. On women’s empowerment and child schooling, CO member households tend to perform better than other households, suggesting the favorable impact of the interventions and/or the self-selection of such households vis-à-vis program participation. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:13&r=dev |
| By: | Arimoto, Yutaka |
| Abstract: | This paper studies an early participatory rural development program implemented during the 1930s in Japan. This program selected several villages each year to draft and implement their own original development plans. I discuss the implications of the features of the program on its effectiveness. A detailed baseline survey conducted by the villagers themselves helped them to objectively diagnose their economic situations and understand their issues. The plans defined clear numerical targets, allowing them to share goals and monitor progress. The implementation of the plan was reinforced by frequent communication and monitoring among neighbors and by an incentive scheme that involved competition within a village. I use a village-level panel dataset from the Hyogo prefecture to examine the effects, under the difference-in-differences strategy. I find suggestive evidence that the program helped foster the adoption of cattle raising and diversify agricultural production. |
| Keywords: | Participatory development, Rural development program, Crop diversification, Great Depression, Japan |
| JEL: | O10 N55 R58 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:14&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Hidayat Ullah |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the repayment behavior of microfinance borrowers in Pakistan using a unique dataset of about 45,000 installments/repayments covering 2,945 microfinance borrower households over the period 1998-2007. In early 2005, the microfinance institution for these borrowers adopted a new system with strict enforcement of punishment against repayment delays/defaults. This reform led to a healthy situation with almost zero default rates, overcoming the previous problem of frequent defaults. We hypothesize that strategic default under the joint liability mechanism-if one group member is hit by a negative shock and faces difficulty in repayment, the other members who are able to repay may decide to default as well, instead of helping the unlucky member-was encouraged by weak enforcement of dynamic incentives and responsible for the pre-reform failure. As evidence for this interpretation, we show that a borrower’s delay in installment repayment was correlated with other group members’ repayment delays, beyond the level explained by possible correlation of project failures due to locally covariate shocks during the pre-reform period. The post-reform period is divided into two sub-periods by an earthquake in October 2005. Analysis of repayment behavior in the post-reform period yields the results that suggest that (1) the relative success under the new system was because of the suppression of strategic behavior among group members, thereby allowing joint liability schemes to function as individual lending schemes de facto and (2) the earthquake only marginally affected the new system in terms of repayment delays. |
| Keywords: | group lending, joint liability, contingent renewal, strategic default, covariate shocks |
| JEL: | O16 G29 D82 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:10&r=dev |
| By: | Laura Munro |
| Abstract: | This report provides a summary of the literature on the relationship between trade and informality in developing countries, with an emphasis on the BRIICS. While main conclusions of the ILO and WTO (2009) literature review are highlighted, the report focuses on additional and more recent literature. The report investigates four key issues in the literature on trade and informal labour markets: (1) theoretical predictions for trade and informality; (2) how trade liberalisation affects informal labour markets; (3) how trade flows affect the informal economy; and (4) what implications informality has for trade and growth. The main conclusion from this review is that empirical evidence on the relationship between trade and informality is complex and context-specific. Several of the empirical analyses reviewed in this report suggest that this variation is due to country-specific characteristics (in particular, labour market rigidity, capital mobility, level of economic development and heterogeneity of the informal workforce). Variation can also be partly explained by the fact that different methodologies are used and different measures of informality are employed across studies. |
| Keywords: | trade, employment, wages, inclusive growth |
| JEL: | F16 |
| Date: | 2011–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:132-en&r=dev |
| By: | Sarah Widmaier; Jean-Christophe Dumont |
| Abstract: | Increasing international migration and changing immigrant populations in OECD countries make international comparable data on migrant populations essential. These data should be updated regularly to capture a detailed picture of migrant populations. This document presents the first results of the update of the Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC) for the years 2005/06. It describes immigrant and emigrant populations by socio-demographic characteristics and labour market outcomes in the OECD, as well as updated “brain drain” figures.<p> In 2005/06, 10.8% of the population in the OECD was foreign-born, representing 91 million persons. Latin American and African migrant populations increased by more than 30% between 2000 and 2005/06, slightly more than that of Asian migrants (27%). Labour market outcomes of immigrants vary by region and country of origin, but they improved significantly since 2000. In many OECD countries, low-educated foreign-born fare better on the labour market than their native-born counterparts, but high-educated migrants tend to have lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates than their native-born counterparts... |
| Keywords: | education, skills, immigrants, international migration, database, DIOC, migrant stocks, emigration rates, emigrants |
| JEL: | F22 J21 J24 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2011–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:126-en&r=dev |
| By: | Marc Rockmore (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | The micro-conflict literature focuses almost exclusively on direct exposure to violence and post-conflict outcomes. By focusing only on directly exposed households, the literature ignores the effects of risk on households in surrounding areas. This paper presents the first estimates of the economic costs of the risk of violence separate from the costs of the actual experience of violence, and finds that it is a significant mechanism by which conflict influences development. Using representative community and household data from Northern Uganda, I estimate measures of objective and subjective risk using geo-spatial variation in the distribution of violence over time. On average, the risk of violence lowers per capita household expenditure by 2 to 6 percent. Even within households that are attacked, risk alone accounts for a significant share, between 17 and 38 percent, of their losses. On aggregate, half of conflict-related losses are due to risk as opposed to direct exposure to violence, with much of these risk-related losses in households that are not directly attacked. Compounding these losses over the duration of the conflict, the risk of violence has reduced per capita expenditure in the affected region by roughly 70 percent and national GDP by 4.6 to 8.2 percent. Lastly, I find that food aid reduces risk-related losses by 17 to 30 percent. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:109&r=dev |
| By: | Sanne Lise Blauw (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Philip Hans Franses (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of mobile telephone use on economic development of individual households. Unique cross-sectional data were collected in personal interviews with heads of households (N=196) in Uganda. Economic development is measured at the household level by the Progress out of Poverty Index. We find strong support that mobile phone use positively impacts economic development. |
| Keywords: | Economic development; Progress out of poverty index; mobile telephone; mobile banking; mobile search |
| JEL: | I3 |
| Date: | 2011–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110152&r=dev |
| By: | Chen, Xi |
| Abstract: | It has been widely recognized that the poor spends a significant proportion of their income on social spending even at the expense of basic consumption. What are the motives behind the observed lavish social spending among the poor? We attempt to test three competing explanations at the social link level, risk-pooling, peer effect, and status concern, via a uniform framework based on a unique primary dataset. The data set include household information from a three-wave census-type household survey as well as a long-term gift record for all households in three villages in a poor region in rural China. Our dyadic estimations confirm the prevalence of peer influence and the status seeking motive in shaping gift spending and its rapid growth, while risking pooling is not a significant explanatory factor. A 1% increase in peers' gift spending per occasion leads to a 0.13% - 0.34% increase in one's own gift per occasion, depending on whether household fixed effect or pairwise fixed effect dyadic model is estimated. Status seeking for the bottom 25% and the middle 50% groups significantly pushes up gift expenditure. Moreover, large windfall income and marriage market pressure further intensify status competition, escalating gift giving behavior. -- |
| Keywords: | Social Network,Peer Effect,Risk-pooling,Status Seeking,Ceremony |
| JEL: | D63 D85 R20 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iamo11:6&r=dev |
| By: | Henrik Hansen (Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); John Rand (Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Using firm level data from eight Sub-Saharan Africa countries we examine credit constraint differentials between male and female manufacturing entrepreneurs. Enterprises owned by female entrepreneurs are less likely to be credit constrained compared to their male counterparts. The magnitude of this credit constraint gap varies with constraint and ownership definitions but the direction of the gap does not. Using a generalized Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, we investigate if the gap is due to differences in observable characteristics or to unexplained variations in the returns to these characteristics. We find the gap to be associated with the unexplained component. We argue that the finding is mainly due to female gender favoritism in loans to micro and small firms because (i) the gap is reversed for medium size enterprises and, (ii) we find no sign of superior female entrepreneurial performance in terms of capacity utilization, labor productivity or firm size growth. |
| Keywords: | Credit, Entrepreneurship, Gender, Private Sector, SMEs |
| JEL: | G21 J16 L25 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2011_14&r=dev |
| By: | Charles Yuji Horioka; Akiko Terada-Hagiwara |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present data on trends over time in domestic saving rates in twelve economies in developing Asia during the 1966-2007 period and analyze the determinants of these trends. We find that domestic saving rates in developing Asia have, in general, been high and rising but that there have been substantial differences from economy to economy and that the main determinants of these trends appear to have been the age structure of the population (especially the aged dependency ratio), income levels, and the level of financial sector development. We then project future trends in domestic saving rates in developing Asia for the 2011-2030 period based on our estimation results and find that the domestic saving rate in developing Asia as a whole will remain roughly constant during the next two decades despite rapid population aging in some economies in developing Asia because population aging will occur much later in other economies and because the negative impact of population aging on the domestic saving rate will be largely offset by the positive impact of higher income levels. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0821&r=dev |
| By: | Kym Anderson (School of Economics, University of Adelaide); Markus Bruckner (School of Economics, University of Adelaide) |
| Abstract: | To what extent has Sub-Saharan Africa's slow economic growth over the past five decades been due to price and trade policies that have discouraged production of agricultural relative to non-agricultural tradables? This paper uses a new set of estimates of policy distortions to relative prices to address this question econometrically. We first test if these policy distortions respond to economic growth, using rainfall and international commodity price shocks as instrumental variables. We find that on impact there is no significant response of relative price distortions to changes in real GDP per capita. We then test the reverse proposition and find a statistically significant and sizable negative effect of relative price distortions on the growth rate of Sub-Saharan African countries. Our fixed effects estimates suggest that, during 1960-2005, a one standard deviation increase in distortions to relative prices reduced the region's real GDP per capita growth rate by about half a percentage point per annum. |
| Keywords: | Economic growth, Trade restrictions, Agricultural incentives |
| JEL: | F14 F43 N17 O13 O55 Q18 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adl:wpaper:2011-32&r=dev |
| By: | Rodolfo Manuelli (Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a model of human capital accumulation that allows for feedback effects between the consequences and the likelihood of suffering from particular diseases and the decisions to invest in knowledge, both in the form of schooling and on-the-job training. I use a calibrated version of the model to estimate the long run impact of eradicating HIV/AIDS and malaria for a number of Sub- Saharan African countries. I find that the effect on output per worker can be substantial. |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2011-008&r=dev |
| By: | Olivier Bargain (Aix-Marseille Université and IZA); Olivier Donni (Université de Cergy-Pontoise); Prudence Kwenda (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Poverty measures in developing countries often ignore the distribution of resources within families and the gains from joint consumption. In this paper, we extend the collective model of household consumption to recover mother's, father's and children's shares together with economies of scale, using the observation of adult-specific goods and an extended version of the Rothbarth method. The application on data from Côte d'Ivoire shows that children command a reasonable fraction of household resources, though not enough to avoid a very large extent of child poverty compared to what is found in traditional measures based on per capita expenditure. We find no significant evidence of discrimination against girls, and educated mothers have more command over household resources. Baseline results on children's shares are robust to using alternative identifying assumptions, which consolidates a general approach grounded on a flexible version of the Rothbarth method. Individual measures of poverty show that parents are highly compensated by the scale economies due to joint consumption. |
| Keywords: | Collective Model, Consumer Demand, Engel Curves, Rothbarth Method, Cost of Children, Bargaining Power, Sharing rule, Scale Economies, Equivalence Scales, Indifference Scales |
| JEL: | D11 D12 D31 I31 J12 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2011-031&r=dev |
| By: | Adrienne M. Lucas (Department of Economics,University of Delaware) |
| Abstract: | The malaria eradication campaign that started in Sri Lanka in the late 1940s virtually eliminated malaria transmission on the island. I use the pre-eradication differences in malaria endemicity within Sri Lanka to identify the effect of malaria eradication on fertility and child survival. Malaria eradication increased the number of live births through increasing age specific fertility and causing an earlier first birth. The effect of malaria on the transition time to higher order births is inconclusive. Malaria could directly or indirectly affect survival probabilities of live births. I exploit the particular epidemiology of malaria that causes more severe sequelae during an initial pregnancy. I find differential changes in survival probabilities by birth order that are most likely due to the direct in utero effects of malaria. The increase in population growth after malaria eradication reconciles the contradictory findings in the macroeconomic and microeconomic literatures: the increased productivity and education from malaria eradication will only appear in aggregate measures like GDP per capita after a delay because of the initial increase in the population size. |
| Keywords: | malaria, fertility, disease eradication |
| JEL: | I18 J13 O15 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:11-20.&r=dev |
| By: | Yamada, Miwa |
| Abstract: | Since the year 2000 when the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, human trafficking has been regarded as one of the egregious violations of human rights, and global efforts have been made to eradicate it. The anti-trafficking framework has multiple dimensions, and the way the anti-trafficking framework is constructed influences its impact on the victims and non-trafficked migrants. This paper will analyze the impact of the anti-trafficking framework on the experiences of Burmese victims and non-trafficked migrants in Thailand. I will question the conventional framework of anti-trafficking, and seek to construct a framework more appropriate for addressing victims' actual needs. In conclusion, the anti-trafficking framework should serve the best interest of the victim; still, it should not be one which might adversely affect the interest of the would-be victim who is not identified as a victim according to the law. |
| Keywords: | Myanmar, Thailand, International crime, Legal system, Human rights, Migration, Human trafficking, Anti-trafficking, Framework, Law |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper289&r=dev |
| By: | Ishizuka, Futaba |
| Abstract: | The change in the ownership structure of enterprises was one of the major features of the Vietnamese economy in the 2000s. Of the three sectors of state, private and FDI, the state sector, which employed the majority of enterprise workers at the beginning of the 2000s, became the smallest by the end of the decade. One of the factors contributing to such phenomenon was SOE restructuring. Earlier SOE restructuring in the early 1990s is said to have resulted in increased economic inequality among provinces. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the impact of the SOE restructuring and related changes in the ownership structure of enterprises on the regional distribution of economic activities in the 2000s. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, Government enterprises, Industrial management, State owned enterprise, Enterprise |
| JEL: | P31 L32 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper293&r=dev |
| By: | Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Tsubota, Kenmei |
| Abstract: | Unlike most existing studies, this paper examines the location choices of MNEs in developing countries. Specifically, we investigate the location choices of Japanese MNEs among East Asian developing countries by estimating a four-stage nested logit model at the province level. Noteworthy results of location elements are as follows. As is consistent with the mechanics of cheap labor-seeking FDI, Japanese MNEs are more likely to invest in locations with low income and low tariff rates on products from Japan. Also, accessibility to other locations and/or ports matters in attracting Japanese MNEs because it is crucial in importing materials and exporting their products. In addition, WTO membership and bilateral investment treaties are important because these contribute to the settlement of trade and investment disputes, which is more likely to be necessary in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Foreign investments, Industrial management, Location Choice, Multinational Firms, Nested-logit Model |
| JEL: | F15 F21 F23 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper301&r=dev |
| By: | Dissanayake, Kumudinei |
| Abstract: | Sri Lanka as a developing economy that achieved gender equity in education and a higher literacy rate (both adult and youth) in the South Asian region still records a low labor force participation and high unemployment rate of females when compared to their male counterparts. With the suggestion of existing literature on the non-conventional models of careers those adopted by young and female populations at the working age, this paper discusses the role of work organizations in absorbing more females (and even minority groups) into the workforce. It mainly focuses on the need of designing appropriate human resource strategies and reforming the existing organizational structures in order for contributing to the national development in the post-war Sri Lanka economy. |
| Keywords: | Sri Lanka, Female labor, Labor market, Labor policy, Work force, Female, Educated, Work organization, Role, Non-conventional models of career |
| JEL: | J21 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper307&r=dev |
| By: | Inoue, Takeshi; Hamori, Shigeyuki |
| Abstract: | This article is distinct in its application of the logit transformation to the poverty ratio for the purpose of empirically examining whether the financial sector helps improve standards of living for low-income people. We propose the term financial permeation to describe how financial networks expand to spread money among the poor. We measure financial permeation by three indicators related to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and then examine its effect on poverty reduction at the macro level using panel data for 90 developing countries from 1995 to 2008. We find that financial permeation has a statistically significant and robust effect on decreasing the poverty ratio. |
| Keywords: | Developing countries, Microfinance, Poverty, Poverty reduction, Financial permeation, Microfinance, Panel Data |
| JEL: | G21 O16 O50 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper299&r=dev |
| By: | Shonchoy, Abu S; Ito, Seiro |
| Abstract: | In 2000, Ramadan school vacation coincided with the original annual exam period of December in Bangladesh. This forced schools to pre-pone their final exam schedules in November, which was the month before the harvest begins. 'Ramadan 2000' is a natural experiment that reduced the labor demand for children during the exam period. Using household level panel data of 2000 and 2003, and after controlling for various unobservable variations including individual fixed effects, aggregate year effects, and subdistrict-level year effects, this paper finds evidence of statistically significant impact of seasonal labor demand on school dropout in Bangladesh among the children from agricultural households. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, Child labor, Schools, Labor market, Drop out, Seasonal labor demand, School calendar |
| JEL: | I28 J24 O13 O15 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper295&r=dev |
| By: | Oka, Natsuko |
| Abstract: | The June 2010 conflict between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in southern Kyrgyzstan once again demonstrated the complexity of the ethnic question in Central Asia. Little is known, however, about the Uzbeks in Kazakhstan, whose settlements are concentrated in the south of the republic, in areas adjacent to Uzbekistan. What problems did the Kazakhstani Uzbeks face after the collapse of the Soviet Union and how did they seek to address these issues? This paper examines the attempts of Uzbek leaders to secure their share of power in their compact settlements and how they were co-opted or marginalized under the Nazarbaev administration. This paper shows that loyalty to the regime, not migration to the ethnic homeland or political mobilization, is an option available, and also preferable, for this ethnic minority in Kazakhstan. |
| Keywords: | Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Minority ethnic group problems, Immigrants' community, Ethnic minority, Mobilization, Co-optation, Uzbeks |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper286&r=dev |
| By: | Mawuli Gaddah; Alistair Munro (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the incidence of public education subsidies in Ghana. Since the late 1990s, Ghana’s government has increasingly recognised human capital as a cornerstone to alleviating poverty and income inequality, causing dramatic increases of government expenditures to the education sector. At the same time user fees have been introduced in higher education while basic education is being made progressively free. The question then is, whether these spending increases have been effective in reaching the poor and to what extent? What factors influence the poor’s participation in the public school system? We attempt to address these issues, employing the standard benefit incidence methods and the willingness-to-pay method using a nested multinomial logit model. The results give a clear evidence of progressivity with consistent ordering: pre- schooling and primary schooling are the most progressive, followed by secondary, and then tertiary. The poorest quintile gains 14.8% of total education benefts in 2005 compared to the richest quintile benefit of 26.3%. Own price and income elasticities are higher for private schools than public schools and for secondary than basic schools. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:11-12&r=dev |
| By: | He, Qichun |
| Abstract: | Following Miguel et al. (2004), we use temperature and hours of sunshine variations as instrumental variables for economic growth in 27 Chinese provinces during 1981--98. Our 2SLS (Two-stage least squares) regression finds that growth has no significant effect on financial deregulation after controlling for predetermined home-bias political variable, population size, and time and province effects. Moreover, the home-bias political variable has a significant effect on financial deregulation, which shows that political and cultural factors are important driving forces in determining the path and logic of Chinese financial deregulation. The results hold up when we use GMM (Generalized method of moments) to deal with heteroskedasticity. The results are also robust in LIML (Limited information maximum likelihood) estimation that deals with weak instruments. |
| Keywords: | Financial Deregulation; Growth; Causality |
| JEL: | O43 C23 |
| Date: | 2011–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34449&r=dev |
| By: | Aaron Weisbrod; John Whalley |
| Abstract: | In the 3 years before the 2008 Financial Crisis, GDP growth in sub Saharan Africa (averaged over individual economies) was around 6%, or 2 percentage points above mean growth rates for the preceding 10 years. This period also coincided with significant Chinese FDI flows into these countries, accounting for up to 10% of total inward FDI flows for certain countries in these years. We use growth accounting methods to assess what portion of this elevated growth can be attributed to Chinese inward FDI. We follow Solow (1957), Dennison (1962), and others and use data for individual economies between 1990 and 2008 to calculate Solow residuals for these years for individual economies. We use capital stock data, workforce, and factor share data by country. Capital stock data is unavailable directly, and so we use perpetual inventory methods to construct the data. Factor shares come from UN National Accounts data. We then run counterfactual growth accounting experiments for thirteen Sub-Saharan African countries excluding Chinese FDI inflows for 2005-2007 and also 2003-2009. Our individual results vary by year and country, but there are several year/country combinations where Chinese FDI contributed to an additional one half of a percentage point or above to GDP growth. These results suggest that a significant, even if in some cases small, portion of the elevated growth in sub Saharan Africa in the three years before the Financial Crisis and also in the two years afterwards (2008-2009) can be attributed to Chinese inward investment. |
| JEL: | F21 F43 O4 O47 O55 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17544&r=dev |