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on Development |
| By: | Spolaore, Enrico (Tufts University); Wacziarg, Romain (UCLA, NBER and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | What obstacles prevent the most productive technologies from spreading to less developed economies from the worlds technological frontier? In this paper, we seek to shed light on this question by quantifying the geographic and human barriers to the transmission of technologies. We argue that the intergenerational transmission of human traits, particularly culturally trans- mitted traits, has led to divergence between populations over the course of history. In turn, this divergence has introduced barriers to the di¤usion of technologies across societies. We provide measures of historical and genealogical distances between populations, and document how such distances, relative to the worlds technological frontier, act as barriers to the di¤usion of devel- opment and of speci c innovations. We provide an interpretation of these results in the context of an emerging literature seeking to understand variation in economic development as the result of factors rooted deep in history. |
| Keywords: | Long-run growth, genetic distance, intergenerational transmission, di¤usion of innovations. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:149&r=dev |
| By: | Alesina, Alberto (Harvard University, NBER and IGIER); Michalopoulos, Stelios (Brown University and NBER); Papaioannou, Elias (London Business School, CEPR and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the consequences and origins of between-ethnicity economic inequality both across and within countries. First, combining satellite images of nighttime luminosity with the historical homelands of ethnolinguistic groups we construct measures of ethnic inequality for a large sample of countries and show that the latter is strongly inversely related to comparative development. Second, differences in geographic endowments across ethnic homelands explain a sizable portion of ethnic inequality contributing to its persistence over time. Third, exploiting across-district within-African countries variation using individual-level data on ethnic identification and well-being from the Afrobarometer Surveys we find that between ethnic-group inequality is systematically linked to regional under-development. In this sample we also explore the channels linking ethnic inequality to (under) development, finding that ethnic inequality maps to political inequality, heightened perceptions of discrimination and undersupply of public goods. |
| Keywords: | Ethnicity, Diversity, Inequality, Development, Geography |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:155&r=dev |
| By: | Anna De Paoli (University of Milan Bicocca); Mariapia Mendola: (University of Milan Bicocca, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the labor market effect of international migration on child work in countries of origin. We use an original cross-country survey dataset, which combines information on international migration with detailed individual-level data on child labor at age 5-14 in a wide range of developing countries. By exploiting both within- and cross-country variation and controlling for country fixed effects, we find strong and robust evidence on the role of international mobility of workers in reducing child labor in disadvantaged households through changes in the local labor market. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Child Labor, Factor Mobility, Cross- |
| JEL: | F22 F1 J61 |
| Date: | 2014–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:365&r=dev |
| By: | Michalopoulos, Stelios (Brown University and NBER); Papaioannou, Elias (London Business School, NBER and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of national institutions on subnational African development in a novel framework that accounts both for local geography and cultural-genetic traits. We exploit the fact that the political boundaries in the eve of African independence partitioned more than two hundred ethnic groups across adjacent countries subjecting similar cultures, residing in homogeneous geographic areas, to different formal institutions. Using both a matching-type and a spatial regression discontinuity approach we show that differences in countrywide institutional structures across the national border do not explain within-ethnicity differences in economic performance, as captured by satellite images of light density. The average non-effect of national institutions on ethnic development masks considerable heterogeneity partially driven by the diminishing role of national institutions in areas further from the capital cities. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Borders, Ethnicities, Development, National Institutions, Regression Discontinuity |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:154&r=dev |
| By: | Shonchoy, Abu S.; Kurosaki, Takashi |
| Abstract: | The mismatch between credit repayments and income seasonality poses a challenge for microfinance institutions (MFIs) working in developing countries. For instance, in northern Bangladesh, income and consumption downfalls during the lean season after the transplanting of major paddy crops are a serious threat to a household's economy. Poor landless agricultural wage laborers suffer the most owing to this seasonality as they face difficulties in smoothing their consumption. However, in designing microcredit products, MFIs do not usually provide flexibility or seasonal adjustment during the lean season. This is mainly because MFIs are afraid that such flexibility might break the repayment discipline of borrowers, resulting in higher default rates. We thus conducted a randomized controlled trial in 2011-12 in northern Bangladesh to empirically test whether seasonality-adjusted flexible microcredit leads to an increase in repayment problems for MFIs as well as whether it can increase and stabilize consumption of borrower households. Our results suggest no statistically discernible difference among the treatment arms in case of default, overdue amount, or repayment frequency. On the other hand, we find no positive impact of repayment flexibility on immediate food consumption during the period of seasonality, except for in-kind full moratorium treatment group. After a year of initial intervention, however, we see positive changes in food intake during the lean season. Thus, our preliminary results are in favor of seasonality-adjusted flexible microcredit. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, Microfinance, Rural credit, Consumption, Microcredit, Default, Seasonality, Consumption Smoothing |
| JEL: | D12 G21 O16 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper460&r=dev |
| By: | Duangkamon Chotikapanich (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); William E. Griffiths; D. S. Prasada Rao; Wasana Karunarathne |
| Abstract: | Income distributions for developing countries in Asia are modeled using beta-2 distributions, which are estimated by a method of moments procedure applied to grouped data. Estimated parameters of these distributions are used to calculate measures of inequality, poverty, and pro-poor growth in four time periods over 1992–2010. Changes in these measures are examined for 11 countries, with a major focus on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, and Indonesia, which are separated into rural and urban regions. We find that the PRC has grown rapidly with increasing inequality accompanying this growth. India has been relatively stagnant. Indonesia has grown rapidly after suffering an initial set back from the Asian financial crisis in 1997. |
| Keywords: | Income Distribution, developing Asia, Pro-poor Growth, method of moments, Inequality, poverty |
| JEL: | C13 C16 D31 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:24045&r=dev |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Hidayat Ullah |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates whether a community-based development (CBD) approach is effective in mitigating the ill effects of aggregate shocks. The analysis is based on a three-year panel dataset of approximately 600 households in rural Pakistan where a local NGO has implemented CBD interventions. The results show that the mitigating effect was absent when the control group included both non-member households in villages under CBD interventions and households in villages without such interventions. On the other hand, within the former type of villages, a strong spillover effect from member to non-member households was found, mitigating the ill effects of aggregate shocks. Furthermore, CBD interventions accompanied by micro infrastructure construction or microcredit provision were found to be effective in mitigating the ill effects. These results suggest the possibility that whether a CBD approach mitigates aggregate shocks depends on the type of intervention and the nature of market failures. |
| Keywords: | community-based development, consumption smoothing, aggregate shocks, microfinance, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O12 L31 D12 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:54&r=dev |
| By: | Shonchoy, Abu S.; Junankar, P. N. (Raja) |
| Abstract: | The informal economy is a very important sector of the Indian economy. The National Council of Applied Economic Research estimates that the informal sector - "unorganised sector" - generates about 62% of GDP and provides for about 55% of total employment (ILO 2002, p. 14). This paper studies the characteristics of the workers in the informal economy and whether internal migrants treat this sector as a temporary location before moving on to the organised or formal sector to improve their lifetime income and living conditions. We limit our study to the Indian urban (non-agricultural) sector and study the characteristics of the household heads that belong to the informal sector (self-employed and informal wage workers) and the formal sector. We find that household heads that are less educated, come from poorer households, and/or are in lower social groups (castes and religions) are more likely to be in the informal sector. In addition, our results show strong evidence that the longer a rural migrant household head has been working in the urban sector, ceteris paribus, the more likely that individual has moved out of the informal wage sector. These results support the hypothesis that, for internal migrants, the informal wage labour market is a stepping stone to a better and more certain life in the formal sector. |
| Keywords: | Labor market, Informal sector, Migrant labor, Caste, Religion, Informal labour markets, Migrant |
| JEL: | J15 J42 J61 O17 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper461&r=dev |
| By: | Welander, Anna (Lund University); Lyttkens, Carl Hampus (Lund University); Nilsson, Therese (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Good health is crucial for human and economic development. In particular poor health in childhood seems to be of utmost concern since it causes irreversible damage and have implications later in life. Recent research suggests globalization is a strong force affecting adult and child health outcomes. Yet, there is much unexplained variation with respect to the globalization effect on child health, in particular in low- and middle-income countries. One factor that could explain such variation across countries is the quality of democracy. Using panel data for 70 developing countries between 1970 and 2009 this paper disentangles the relationship between globalization, democracy, and child health. Specifically the paper examines how globalization and a country's democratic status and historical experience with democracy, respectively, affect infant mortality. In line with previous economic research, results suggest that globalization reduces infant mortality and that the level of democracy in a country generally improves child health outcomes. We also find that democracy matters for the size of the globalization effect on child health. If e.g. Côte d'Ivoire was a democracy in the 2000–2009 period, this effect would translate into 1,200 fewer infant deaths in an average year compared to the situation without democracy. |
| Keywords: | Globalization; Democracy; Health; Developing Countries |
| JEL: | I15 P16 |
| Date: | 2014–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1016&r=dev |
| By: | Mariapia Mendola (University of Milan Bicocca, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano and IZA); Franklin Simtowe (African Centre for Social research and Economic Development, Nairobi) |
| Abstract: | Even though land reform may be an effective means of reducing poverty, evidence on its causal effects is scant. This paper uses household panel data combined with a quasi-experimental program to assess the impact of a joint Malawi/World Bank land redistribution project on households’ productivity and well-being in southern Malawi. Double difference and matching methods are used to address sources of bias in identifying impacts. Results point to average positive effects of the land program on land holdings, agricultural output, income, food security and asset ownership of beneficiary households, while the latter do not see an improvement in access to social services such as schools and health care facilities. There is also evidence of heterogeneous effects by gender and inheritance systems. Overall, our findings suggest that there is scope for reducing poverty and inequality in developing countries by implementing a market- and community-based approach to land reform through the provision of land to land-poor households. |
| Keywords: | Land Reform, Program Evaluation, Community Based Rural Land Development Program, Malawi |
| JEL: | O13 Q15 |
| Date: | 2014–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:366&r=dev |
| By: | Cristina Elisa Orso (Dipartimento di Economia, Università Ca' Foscari); Enrico Fabrizi (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (2004) to explore the relationship between participation in microcredit programs and women's empowerment using a structural equation model with categorical observed variables. A MCMC-based Bayesian approach is adopted for estimation. Along with participation in microcredit, we consider a variety of socio-cultural aspects as potential predictors of empowerment in the Bangladeshi context including men's perceptions about women's status. We conclude that gender community norms are strongly rooted in women's minds regardless of the partners' perceptions of women's status, and microcredit interventions may actually contribute to change gender beliefs and social attitudes. |
| Keywords: | Microcredit programs, Women's empowerment, Gender relations, Asia, Bangladesh, Bayesian approach. |
| JEL: | J10 O15 O19 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1396&r=dev |
| By: | López-Videla, Bruno; Machuca, Carlos Emilio |
| Abstract: | In the last few years, Bolivia has experienced a growing migration phenomenon. Many household members migrate from their homes in order to look for better opportunities and to improve their household income. In this paper, we aim to explore the effects of remittances on Bolivian household poverty levels. We use micro data from the 2008 Household Survey, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). We calculate propensity score matching estimators in order to address the potential bias due to heterogeneous factors in the sample. Then, we estimate the average treatment effect on the treated to compare the poverty level between households which receive and do not receive remittances. Results show that remittances have a positive effect on reducing urban households’ poverty level, whereas there is no effect on rural households’ poverty. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, poverty, propensity score matching, Bolivia. |
| JEL: | E0 |
| Date: | 2014–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55201&r=dev |