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on Development |
| By: | Christopher Ksoll (Ottawa University); Helene Bie Lilleør (The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Jonas Helth Lønborg (University of Southern Denmark); Ole Dahl Rasmussen (University of Southern Denmark & DanChurchAid) |
| Abstract: | Seventy percent of the world’s poorest live in rural areas in developing countries with poor access to finance. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) have become an increasingly widespread intervention aimed at improving local financial intermediation. Using a cluster randomized trial, we investigate the impact of VSLAs in forty-six villages in Malawi. We find positive and significant intent-to-treat effects on the number of meals consumed per day, total household consumption, and number of rooms in the dwelling over a two-year period. This effect is linked to an increase in savings and credit obtained through the VSLAs, which has increased agricultural investments. |
| Keywords: | Saving groups; Village Savings and Loan Associations; VSLA; Malawi; Impact evaluation; cluster-randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | O16 O13 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rok:spaper:56&r=dev |
| By: | Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (University of Toronto); Kyle Emerick (UC Berkeley); Elisabeth Sadoulet (University of California at Berkeley); Alain de Janvry (University of California at Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | We show that removing the link between active land use and ownership through certification can result in increased outmigration. Using the rollout of the Mexican land certification program from 1993 to 2006 we find that households obtaining land certificates were subsequently 28% more likely to have a migrant member. This response was differentiated by initial land endowments, land quality, outside wages, and initial land security, as predicted by our model. Effects on land under cultivation were heterogeneous: in high land quality regions land under cultivation increased while in low quality ones it declined. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed014:138&r=dev |
| By: | Kleemann, Linda; Nunnenkamp, Peter; Thiele, Rainer |
| Abstract: | The aid allocation literature has neglected gender-specific needs for aid. We assess the hypothesis that gender inequality in education is more likely to affect the aid allocation of donor countries with female leadership in the relevant ministry. We find |
| Keywords: | aid allocation, education, gender inequality, female leadership |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-010&r=dev |
| By: | Sumarto, Sudarno; de Silva, Indunil |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate how the receipt of educational transfers, scholarships and related assistance programmes affects the labour supply of children and the marginal spending behaviour of households on children’s educational goods. We use a nationally representative household survey of unusual scope and richness from Indonesia. We found strong evidence of educational cash transfers and related assistance programmes significantly decreasing the time spent by children on income-generating activities in Indonesia. Households receiving educational transfers, scholarships and assistance were also found to spend more at the margin on voluntary educational goods. These results were stronger on children living in poor families. The findings of this study lend support to the growing view in the literature that educational transfers, scholarships and related assistance can actually have a positive impact on economic development by increasing the level of investment in human capital. Our results are particularly relevant for understanding the role of cash transfers and education assistance in middle-income countries, where enrolment rates are already at satisfactory levels, but the challenge is to keep post-primary students in school. Finally, the principle message that emerges from the study is: there are quantitatively non-negligible, average gains from educational transfers and support programmes on household education spending and child labour, especially for the poor. |
| Keywords: | Cash transfers, child labour, education expenditure, flypaper effect. |
| JEL: | I2 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2013–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57132&r=dev |
| By: | Prakash, Nishith (University of Connecticut); Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)) |
| Abstract: | Illegal trafficking of women is a result of their disadvantageous position in the society that is often reflected in increasing preference for son and neglect for daughters. Multiple reports point to India as country confronted with both higher levels of illegal trafficking of girls and abnormal child sex ratios in favor of boys. In this paper we examine if a skewed sex ratio and shortage of girls is associated with their illegal trafficking in India. Using panel data of 29 Indian states from 1980-2011, we find that 100 unit increase in child sex ratio is associated with 0.635% increase in illegal trafficking of girls. We find the association to be heterogeneous by female empowerment, crime against women and party rule in the state. We find that association between child sex ratio and illegal trafficking of girls is stronger and larger in magnitude in states with greater female empowerment. Overall, it appears that the results are driven by both greater reporting and greater incidence of illegal girls trafficking. Contrary to popular belief, the results do not vary differentially by states with larger share of schedule tribe population or states bordering Nepal and Bangladesh. Our results survive variety of robustness checks. |
| Keywords: | child sex ratio, girls trafficking, India |
| JEL: | J10 O12 R23 Z12 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8293&r=dev |
| By: | Hamna Ahmed (Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.); Sahar Amjad (Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.); Masooma Habib (Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.); Syed Ahsan Shah (Lahore School of Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to understand why parents in rural areas choose low-cost private schools when free public schools are available. The study employs data from the Privatization in Education Research Initiative (PERI) School Choice Survey, 2011. The sample under study comprises 5–18-year-old children enrolled in private or public schools at the primary, secondary, or high school level in eight rural tehsils across Punjab, Pakistan. Our methodology entails specifying a probability choice model to understand what determines school choice in a rural setting. The variable of interest is parents’ perceptions of their child’s competence, the quality of the child’s school, and the employment opportunities available to the child. The model also controls for a range of child-, parent-, and household-specific characteristics. Five main factors emerge as important determinants of private school choice. These include the socioeconomic status of the household, the degree of a school’s accessibility, the cost of schooling, parents’ perceptions of school quality, and their perceptions of the available employment opportunities in the region. |
| Keywords: | School choice, private, public, perceptions, school quality, employment opportunities, wealth, access, cost of schooling, Punjab, Pakistan. |
| JEL: | I21 I25 O12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lje:wpaper:1-2013&r=dev |
| By: | Torkelsson, Asa |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is a main contributor to pro-poor growth in Africa, but gender inequalities in the sector hold back agricultural growth and affect household welfare negatively. The sector has been characterized by a lack of gender-disaggregated data and patch |
| Keywords: | poverty reduction, agriculture, gender, markets, Kenya |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-024&r=dev |
| By: | Carolyn Chisadza and Manoel Bittencourt |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the modernisation hypothesis in the sub-Saharan African region. Using a sample of 48 countries from 1960 to 2010 and dynamic panel data analysis, we find a significant and negative relationship between income and democracy, an indication that the hypothesis may not hold in the region. We also investigate further by distinguishing between exogenous and endogenous democracy. The former explains whether external factors, such as the end of the Cold War, as well as regional influence, play a role in the process of democratisation in sub-Saharan Africa. Results indicate that the end of the Cold War has a significant influence on the democratisation process probably because of the pro-democracy policies advocated by international organisations, while regional organisations play no significant role in the region. We also obtain significant results for democracy when we proxy for international organisations with an IMF programme variable. |
| Keywords: | Democracy, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | O10 O55 P16 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:437&r=dev |
| By: | Lall, Priya (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | India is the global epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia. Previous research indicates that the majority of HIV-positive women in India were infected by their husbands, their only sexual partner, which makes them difficult to identify as a high-risk population. This paper assesses social factors associated with the transmission of HIV based on demographic determinants, such as age; sexual risk behavior; and gendered discrimination, such as domestic violence. Bivariate and multivariate analysis of the National Family Health Survey yields the result that women's socioeconomic status could have an association with their serostatus, as HIV-positive women were significantly more likely to have a low level of education than their HIV-negative counterparts. In contrast, female HIV-positive respondents displayed low tendencies toward high-risk sexual behavior, as less than 10% had two or more sexual partners in their lifetime. Finally, they were significantly more likely to have previously experienced domestic violence (45%) and sexual violence (22%) than the general population. Overall, results illustrate that Indian women's vulnerability toward HIV infection may not be the product of their own sexual risk behavior. The most prominent social factors are their socioeconomic status, such as their level of education, and other sociodemographic determinants, including their region of residence. |
| Keywords: | hiv; india; gender; domestic violence; sexual risk behavior; socioeconomic status |
| JEL: | I00 I19 J16 R00 |
| Date: | 2014–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0485&r=dev |
| By: | Canelas, Carla |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates if changes in the minimum wage have influenced changes on the formality and informality rates, and the level of wages in Ecuador. A 12-year panel was built. It allows to overcome the short time span of household data and so to char |
| Keywords: | labor markets, informality, minimum wage |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-006&r=dev |
| By: | Sumarto, Sudarno; de Silva, Indunil |
| Abstract: | This paper decomposes changes in poverty into growth and redistribution components, and employs several pro-poor growth concepts and indices to explore the growth, poverty and inequality nexus in Indonesia over the period 2002-2012. We find a ‘trickle-down’ situation, which the poor have received proportionately less benefits from growth than the non-poor. All pro-poor measures suggest that economic growth in Indonesia was particularly beneficial for those located at the top of the distribution. Regression-based decompositions suggest that variation in expenditure by education characteristics that persist after controlling for other factors to account for around two-fifths of total household expenditure inequality in Indonesia. If poverty reduction is one of the principal objectives of the Indonesian government, it is essential that policies designed to spur growth also take into account the possible impact of growth on inequality. These findings indicate the importance of a set of super pro-poor policies. Namely, policies that increase school enrolment and achievement, effective family planning programmes to reduce the birth rate and dependency load within poor households, facilitating urban-rural migration and labour mobility, connect leading and lagging regions and granting priorities for specific cohorts (such as children, elderly, illiterate, informal workers and agricultural households) in targeted interventions will serve to simultaneously stem rising inequality and accelerate the pace of economic growth and poverty reduction. |
| Keywords: | Key Words: Growth, poverty, inequality, pro-poor, decomposition |
| JEL: | I3 I32 |
| Date: | 2013–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57135&r=dev |