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on Development |
| By: | G. M. Arif (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad); Shujaat Farooq (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad) |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:monogr:2012:5&r=dev |
| By: | Ncube, Mthuli; Abebe, Shimeles (African Development Bank); Chouchane, Audrey |
| Date: | 2012–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbw12:391&r=dev |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2012–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbw12:380&r=dev |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2012–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbw12:383&r=dev |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2012–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbw12:376&r=dev |
| By: | Asadullah, Niaz (University of Reading); Chakrabarti, Rupa (University of Reading); Chaudhury, Nazmul (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the determinants of school selection in rural Bangladesh, focusing on the choice between registered Islamic and non-religious schools. We consider a two period framework where children are a source of old age transfers. The amount of old age transfers made by children as adults is influenced both by their schooling and by parental religiosity. Parents also derive utility from educating a proportion of their children in madrasahs in a way that reflects their own religious values. We investigate how household income, religious preferences, schooling costs, and school quality affect the proportion of children sent to each school type. Using a unique dataset on secondary school age children from rural Bangladesh, we find that madrasah enrolment falls as household income increases. At the same time, more religious households, and those that live further away from a non-religious school are more likely to send their children to madrasahs. However, in contrast to the theory, we find that Islamic school demand does not respond to the average quality of schools in the locality. |
| Keywords: | school choice, madrasah education, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | D04 I21 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6883&r=dev |
| By: | Carlo Alcaraz; Daniel Chiquiar; María José Orraca; Alejandrina Salcedo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the causal effect of a large expansion of publicly provided health insurance on children's academic performance using the case of Mexico. In general, access to free health insurance could improve education outcomes directly by making household members healthier or indirectly by raising the amount of resources available for education expenses. Using a panel of municipalities from 2007 to 2009, we find that the expansion of the Mexican public health insurance program, Seguro Popular, had a positive, statistically significant effect on standardized test scores of primary school children. |
| Keywords: | Health insurance, Public health, Seguro Popular, Mexico, Education, Test scores. |
| JEL: | I15 I25 I38 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2012-10&r=dev |
| By: | Rabassa, Mariano; Skoufias, Emmanuel; Jacoby, Hanan G. |
| Abstract: | The effect of weather shocks on children's anthropometrics is investigated using the two most recent rounds of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. For this purpose, climate data for each survey cluster are interpolated using daily weather-station records from the national network. The findings reveal that rainfall shocks have a statistically significant and robust impact on child health in the short run for both weight-for-height and height-for-age, and the incidence of diarrhea. The impacts of weather shocks on health are of considerable magnitude; however, children seem to catch up with their cohort rapidly after experiencing a shock. The paper does not find any evidence of nonlinear impacts of weather variability on children's health, suggesting that a moderate increase in future rainfall variability is not likely to bring additional health costs. Finally, it appears that the impact of these shocks is the same for young boys and girls, which suggests that there is no gender-based discrimination in the allocation of resources within households. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Science of Climate Change,Environmental Economics&Policies,Disease Control&Prevention,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases |
| Date: | 2012–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6214&r=dev |
| By: | Hallegatte, Stephane |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the link between development, economic growth, and the economic losses from natural disasters in a general analytical framework, with an application to hurricane flood risks in New Orleans. It concludes that where capital accumulates through increased density of capital at risk in a given area, and the costs of protection therefore increase more slowly than capital at risk, (i) protection improves over time and the probability of disaster occurrence decreases; (ii) capital at risk -- and thus economic losses in case of disaster -- increases faster than economic growth; (iii) increased risk-taking reinforces economic growth. In this context, average annual losses from disasters grow with income, and they grow faster than income at low levels of development and slower than income at high levels of development. These findings are robust to a broad range of modeling choices and parameter values, and to the inclusion of risk aversion. They show that risk-taking is both a driver and a consequence of economic development, and that the world is very likely to experience fewer but more costly disasters in the future. It is therefore critical to increase economic resilience through the development of stronger recovery and reconstruction support instruments. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Hazard Risk Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Labor Policies,Insurance&Risk Mitigation |
| Date: | 2012–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6216&r=dev |
| By: | Witter, Sophie; Somanathan, Aparnaa |
| Abstract: | Demand-side financing approaches have been introduced in a number of low and middle-income countries, with a particular emphasis on sexual and reproductive health. This paper aims to bring together the global evidence on demand-side financing mechanisms, their impact on the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services, and the conditions under which they have been effective. The paper begins with a discussion of modalities for demand-side financing. It then examines 13 existing schemes, including cash incentives, vouchers, and longer term social protection policies. Based on the available literature, it collates evidence of their impact on utilization of services, access for the poor, financial protection, quality of care, and health outcomes. Evidence on costs and cost-effectiveness are examined, along with analysis of funding and sustainability of policies. Finally, the paper discusses the preconditions for effectiveness of demand-side financing schemes and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. It also highlights the extent to which results for sexual and reproductive health services are likely to be generalizable to other types of health care. It is clear that some of these policies can produce impressive results, if the preconditions for effectiveness outlined are met. However, relatively few demand-side financing schemes have benefited from robust evaluation. Investigation of the impact on financial protection, equity, and health outcomes has been limited. Most importantly, cost effectiveness and the relative cost effectiveness of demand-side financing in relation to other strategies for achieving similar goals have not been assessed. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies,Health Systems Development&Reform,Adolescent Health,Housing&Human Habitats |
| Date: | 2012–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6213&r=dev |
| By: | Alfani, Federica; Azzarri, Carlo; d'Errico, Marco; Molini, Vasco |
| Abstract: | This paper has three primary objectives: (i) to investigate potential problems regarding Mozambique's most recent nationally representative household survey on poverty dynamics; (ii) to assess the robustness and reliability of official poverty statistics; and (iii) to provide alternative estimates of poverty and welfare indicators in light of the methodological and analytical issues raised in areas (i) and (ii). It is determined that at least two significant weaknesses affect the official poverty-rate estimates: measurement errors in consumption data and flaws in the methodology used to calculate poverty lines (the cost-of-basic-needs approach based on provincial food bundles with entropy correction). A number of observations appear to be affected by substantial measurement errors, which severely distort the official poverty statistics. The paper provides methods to correct the consumption distribution by recalculating poverty lines based on a single national food basket -- as opposed to the current estimates, which are based on province-specific food baskets. The revised poverty statistics differ considerably from the official estimates of poverty across provinces and are far more consistent with other poverty indicators. In addition, poverty appears to be highly concentrated in certain areas, with dramatically higher rates found in Central and Northern Mozambique, as well as in rural areas overall, compared with relatively low rates in Southern Mozambique and in the country's urban centers. These findings substantially contradict the government's official poverty figures, which appear to systematically overestimate poverty rates in Mozambique's Southern provinces and urban areas while simultaneously underestimating the prevalence of poverty in the country's Central and Northern regions and in rural areas nationwide. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Poverty Lines,Food&Beverage Industry |
| Date: | 2012–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6217&r=dev |
| By: | Paula Pavarina |
| Abstract: | Conflicts and social capital and economic development in Latin America Keywords: social capital, economic development, conflict, cooperation. JEL CLASSIFICATION: O17; 043; O57. Abstract This study aims to discuss the economical behavior of Latin America, considering the importance of the attributes directly related to social capital (interpersonal trust, which leads to association and civic commitment, resulting in what Putnam calls 'civic community') pari passu governance, ie the formal attributes related to the behavior of economic agents in the presence of the state, which make up a 'backdrop' for the establishment of social, political and economic relations. Together, these two dimensions can enable to explain the economical behavior of conflict or cooperation in different countries. This is because the rational decision of cooperating or not is related to two factors: (1) the expected behavior of other agents ('I cooperate if and just if I hope the others will cooperate with me') and (2) the existence of standards, patterns or rules that prevent or hinder opportunism (otherwise the cooperative behavior would seem a 'fool’s choice'). The key question when added together the two dimensions is predictability. In other words, understanding the formal and informal 'rules of the game' and the reluctance in facing the penalties imposed in cases of wrongful conduct. The expected behavior of other agents depends on the trust relationships that are established between them. The more 'general trust' is (replacing the purely interpersonal attributes), it is expected more cooperation. The 'generalized trust' occurs when one recognizes itself in the other or when others are part of 'my group'. Hence the importance of activities that brings together a large and different number of people and groups, named 'bridging' associations, which allow the inter-relationship between 'different' individuals. The more social capital is reflected in the amount of cross-cutting relationships; bigger will be the advantages of economic environment. The lack of confidence or associative participation leads to a 'social isolationism' that is characteristic of places and countries where economic or social fragmentation can be find. This situation can lead to positive results that are appropriated by some groups in private but not by all the collectivity. Conflict occurs when different interests collide: either because they are isolated benefits or privately appropriated ones, gathered in the expense of others groups; or because the benefits are not extended to everybody because of the context of institutional weakness. Using quantitative analysis this paper analyses correlations between social capital and growth in Latin America as well as between GDP per capita and institutional conditions (political and civil liberties, property rights, stability of political power, judicial independence and the rule of law). |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p591&r=dev |
| By: | Sandra Nieto; Raul Ramos; Juan Carlos Duque |
| Abstract: | Although there are hundreds of works using PISA microdata to analyse the determinants of educational outcomes, only a few of them have considered the relevance of geography. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of differences in educational outcomes between students in rural and urban schools. Previous studies on this topic started in the United States during the eighties and they have not arrived to a sound conclusion yet. Some authors do not find significant differences between rural and urban students while others find better outcomes for urban ones. It is not clear if this gap is explained by family characteristics or it is related to lower spending in rural schools. The policy debate on how public spending in education should be distributed between rural and urban areas in developing countries is very intense, although academic studies are scarce. However, during the last decades some studies have focused on some Latinamerican countries (Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Colombia), but again, there is no consensus on the factors behind the rural-urban gap in educational outcomes. Taking into account this background, we use microdata from the 2006 and 2009 PISA waves for Colombia. The Colombian case is particularly interesting from this perspective due to the structural changes suffered by this country during the last years, both in terms of political stability and educational reforms. The descriptive analysis of the data shows that the educational outcomes of urban students are higher than the rural ones in the three subjects covered by the PISA study: Mathematics, Reading and Science in both samples. In order to identify the factors behind this differential, we apply decomposition techniques that have been extensively in Labour Economics but not so much in the context of Economics of Education. In particular, in a first step we use the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and, next, we exploit the time variation of the data using the methodology proposed by Juhn-Murphy-Pierce. The results show that most part of the differential is related to family characteristics more than to school characteristics. From a policy perspective, the obtained evidence support actions addressed to improve family conditions and not so much to positive discrimination of rural schools. Keywords: educational outcomes, PISA, urban-rural differences JEL codes:J24, I25, R58 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p388&r=dev |
| By: | Eiji Ohno; Masafumi Morisugi; Phouphet Kyophilavong; Hiroshi Sao |
| Abstract: | Diarrhea mortality risk due to water pollution is one of serious problems that threaten human life in Asian developing countries. This study aims to provide basic data for the cost benefit analysis of countermeasures against diarrhea in Laos and Vietnam, and measures the value of statistical life (VSL) concerning diarrhea mortality risk by using the contingent valuation method (CVM). In this study, we have conducted interview survey in Laos and Vietnam in 2011 and 2010. The content of questionnaire sheet is to ask the willingness to pay (WTP) of residents to have a right to obtain improved water resources in their daily usages and avoid diarrhea mortality risk due to water pollution. By using the data set, we can know how much the residents want to pay for risk reduction, and know how much they evaluate their own life in monetary term, which is the VSL. Also, by summing up the WTP and comparing with the implementation cost, we can know whether or not they will agree to implement some policies or infrastructures. This kind of methodology, the CVM, is directly linked to context of cost-benefit analysis under uncertainty. The outputs of this study are our first attempt to approach the water resource conflict problem of Mekong River. It is apparent that consistent effort to find out certificate values of water resource for each region is urgent and necessary matter, and as an extension of it, we hope to collect the guideline at last to avoid such the worst catastrophic situation. As a result, we have derived the damage cost function of diarrhea, which includes the mortality risk change as its variable. By using the function, the WTP for reducing diarrhea mortality risk, where 20, 40, 60 and 80 persons will be saved every 100,000 population annually, has been measured 9.580, 11.131, 12.038 and 12.682 US$ per year in Laos and 41.932, 47.256, 50.371 and 52.581 US$ per year in Vietnam, respectively. And the VSL has been measured 47,898, 27,827, 20,064 and 15,853 US$ in Laos and 209,660, 118,141, 83,952 and 65,726 US$ in Vietnam, respectively. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p595&r=dev |
| By: | Kassie, Menale; Ndiritu, Simon Wagura; Shiferaw, Bekele A. |
| Abstract: | The paper contributes to an understanding of the determinants of food security with a bias on the link between gender of household head and food security using detailed farm household and plot level survey data from 30 divisions in rural Kenya. Both parametric and non-parametric econometric techniques are used to ensure robustness of the results from the econometric analyses. Since the assumption of pooled regression is rejected, we run separate food security regressions at plot level both for Male Headed Households (MHHs) and Female Headed Households (FHHs). Both descriptive and econometrics results shows that FHHs in general are more likely to be food insecure compared to their male counterparts. The analysis further reveals that Female Headed Households‘ food security increases with quality of extension workers; land quality, farm size while distance to the market reduces the probability of food security. For the quality of extension staff, policy makers should focus on improving the skill of extension staff for efficient and effective dissemination of technologies and other important information that has impact on food security. Since area expansion is infeasible due to land scarcity in Kenya, policy makers focusing on land augmenting practices can help farm households to escape food insecurity. |
| Keywords: | food security, gender, parametric and non-parametric methods, Kenya, Food Security and Poverty, O13, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc12:135124&r=dev |
| By: | Pangaribowo, Evita Hanie |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of the ‘Rice for the Poor’ program – an almost universal program of Indonesian Social Safety Net Program in the time of economic crisis. The program aimed to protect poor households from the negative effects of economic crisis through providing highly subsidized rice price. To assess the impact of the ‘Rice for the Poor’ program, this study utilizes matching estimator approach combined with difference in difference method. The rich longitudinal dataset used in this study enables matching estimator and difference in difference approach to provide accurate estimate of the program’s impact on its beneficiaries. Heterogeneous impact of the program shows that the program has a limited impact on the neediest group. It is found that the ‘Rice for the Poor’ program has a limited impact on the bottom income households. The program has only enabled the poorest households to increase their meat and dairy products expenditures though the treatment effect is very large. The ‘Rice for the Poor’ program has also led to an unintended impact where non targeted households have gained more from the program. The findings suggest that applying conditionality might reduce the errors of inclusion and give more desirable effects for the poor. |
| Keywords: | Impact evaluation, ‘Rice for the Poor’, nutrient-rich food, Food Security and Poverty, I38, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc12:134755&r=dev |
| By: | Zanello, Giacomo; Shankar, Bhavani; Srinivasan, Chittur S. |
| Abstract: | Relatively little evidence is available on the importance of information and the role of Information Communication Technologies (mobiles and radios) in the key aspects of marketing behaviours of developing country farmers. We included the concept of proportional and fixed transactions costs within a household framework to investigate market participation decisions of farm households with a marketable surplus of food crops. Differently to previous studies, we also modelled the behaviour of farm gale buyers. We use a novel dataset from Ghanaian farmers, which contains detailed information fro individual selling transaction that is seldom available in other household surveys. We found that larger transactions occur at the farmgale, where farmgale buyers are prepared to pay a premium price because of lower fixed transaction costs they incur. The knowledge of market information has a contrasting effect on the decision of the marketplace. In some cases, farmers use the information on prices in specific marketplaces to travel farther, in other cases they sell their commodity in closer market where they may strenghening their bargaining power. Finally we only found weak evidence on the impact of using mobile phones in reducing searching costs and attract farm gate buyers. |
| Keywords: | market behaviour, transaction costs, information technologies, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, D82, D83, D84, O12, 055, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc12:134740&r=dev |
| By: | Asma Hyder (Karachi School for Business and Leadership, Pakistan); Jere R. Behrman (Population Studies Center, Sociology Department, University of Pennsylvania); Hans-Peter Kohler (Population Studies Center, Sociology Department, University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impacts of negative economic shocks on child schooling in households of rural Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Two waves of household panel data for years 2006 and 2008 from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) are used to examine the impact of negative shocks on child schooling. Both individually-reported and community-level shocks are investigated. A priori the impact of negative shocks on schooling may be negative (if income effects dominate) or positive (if price effects dominate). Also the effects may be larger for measures of idiosyncratic shocks (if there is considerable within-community variation in experiencing shocks) or for aggregate shocks (if community support networks buffer better idiosyncratic than aggregate shocks). Finally there may be gender differences in the relevance for child schooling of shocks reported by men versus those reported by women with, for example, the former having larger effects if resource constraints have strong effects on schooling and if because of gender roles men perceive better than women shocks that affect household resources. The study finds that negative economic shocks have significant negative impacts on child school enrollment and grade attainment, with the estimated effects of the community shocks larger and more pervasive than the estimated effects of idiosyncratic shocks and with the estimated effects of shocks reported by men as large or larger than the estimated effects of shocks reported by women. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Economic Shocks, Child Schooling |
| JEL: | N37 E30 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pen:papers:12-039&r=dev |
| By: | Carlos Chiapa (Colegio de Mexico); Laura Juarez (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM)) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the schooling repayment motive for the private transfers that adult children give to their parents using data from the Mexican conditional cash transfer program PROGRESA/Oportunidades, which pays a transfer to parents for sending their children to school. We exploit the exogenous variation in the schooling grants received by the parental household, induced by the age of the child in 1997 and the year of treatment. Our results suggest that (i) there exists a repayment motive and (ii) that PROGRESA/Oportunidades is causing adult children to transfer less resources to their parents. |
| Keywords: | Schooling repayment hypothesis, intergenerational transfers, PROGRESA/Oportunidades |
| JEL: | D19 J18 J19 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cie:wpaper:1201&r=dev |
| By: | Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (Department of Economics, San Diego State University); Laura Juarez (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM)) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the crowding out of private transfers caused by 70 y Más, a public assistance program for the rural elderly in Mexico for whom private support is an important source of income. Using data from the Mexican Income and Expenditure Survey and a triple differences approach, we find that the program partially crowds out private giftsby reducing the probability of receiving domestic remittances. As a result, the non-labor income of the program beneficiaries increases by 30 percent less than the expected increase in government transfers resulting from the program. Therefore, reduced domestic transfers dampen the effect of the program and, thus, the public transfer originally targeted to the elderly ends up partially benefiting their donors within Mexico, but not those abroad. |
| Keywords: | Old-age governemnt transfers, crwoding-out, remittances, Mexico |
| JEL: | H2 H3 H5 I3 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cie:wpaper:1205&r=dev |