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on Development |
| By: | Christian D. Mina (Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the Philippines); Katsushi S. Imai (School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK) and RIEB, Kobe University (Japan)) |
| Abstract: | Using the panel data for the Philippines in 2003-2009, we estimate a three-level random coefficient model to measure household vulnerability and to decompose it into idiosyncratic and covariate components. We correct heterogeneity bias using Bell and Jones’s (2015) ‘within-between’ formulation. A majority of the poor and 18 percent of the non-poor are found to be vulnerable to unobservable shocks, while both groups of households are more susceptible to idiosyncratic shocks than to covariate shocks. Adequate safety nets should be provided for vulnerable households that lack access to infrastructure, or are larger in size with more dependents and less-educated heads. The JEL codes: C23, I32, O15 Key Words: Vulnerability, Poverty, Multilevel Model, Panel Data, |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability, Poverty, Multilevel model, Panel data, The Philippines |
| JEL: | C23 I32 O15 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2016-16&r=dev |
| By: | Idrissa Diabata (INSTAT, Mali); Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (IRD) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate how powerful a mechanism migration is in the transmission of social norms, taking Mali and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a case study. Mali has a strong FGM culture and a long-standing history of migration. We use an original household-level database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which girls living in villages with high rates of return migrants are less prone to FGM. Malians migrate predominantly to other African countries where female circumcision is uncommon (e.g. Côte d’Ivoire) and to countries where FGM is totally banned (France and other developed countries) and where anti-FGM information campaigns frequently target African migrants. Taking a two-step instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration decisions, we show that return migrants have a negative and significant influence on FGM. We also show that adults living in villages with return migrants are more in favor of legislation against FGM. |
| Keywords: | Mali |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cmgdev:1501e&r=dev |
| By: | Pastore,Francesco; Sattar,Sarosh; Sinha,Nistha; Tiongson,Erwin H. R. |
| Abstract: | Building on recent analyses that find a sizeable overall gender wage gap in Azerbaijan's workforce, this paper uses data on young workers in their early years in the labor market to understand how gender wage gaps evolve over time, if at all. The paper uses a unique database from a survey of young people ages 15?29 years. The analysis provides evidence that new labor market entrants begin with little or no gender differences in earnings, but a wage gap gradually emerges over time closer to the childbearing years. The gender wage gap grows from virtually zero, or even a small, positive gap in favor of women, until age 20 years, to about 20 percent two years later and even more than 30 percent at age 29 years. The gap in labor supply rises from almost zero to about 20 percent during the years from 19 to 22, while the gap in hours worked falls from positive (up to six hours per week more than their male counterparts) to negative (up to five hours per week less) over the same period in the life cycle. When decomposing the gap at different deciles of the wage distribution, it appears that most of it is at the lower and upper ends of the distribution, among young adults and prime-age workers. Selection of women into employment is strong and strongly skill-based: when controlling for sample selection bias, the gender gap becomes positive. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Development,Population&Development,Youth and Government,Labor Markets,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2016–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7613&r=dev |
| By: | Donaubauer, Julian; Nunnenkamp, Peter |
| Abstract: | The effects of foreign aid on the endowment of recipient countries with infrastructure have received surprisingly little attention in the empirical literature. This paper addresses this question by performing difference-in-difference-in-differences estimations, with the treatment defined as steep increases in aid for infrastructure since a distinct change in donor behavior in 2005. Mitigating endogeneity concerns in this way, we consistently find aid for infrastructure to be ineffective in improving the recipient countries' endowment with infrastructure. This finding holds not only for an encompassing index of economic infrastructure, but also for sub-indices of infrastructure in transportation, communication, energy, and finance. |
| Keywords: | sector-specific aid,aid effectiveness,infrastructure,difference-in-difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | F35 O18 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2034&r=dev |
| By: | Jean-Marie Baland (CRED, University of Namur, BREAD and CEPR); François Libois (CRED, University of Namur); Dilip Mookherjee (Boston University and BREAD) |
| Abstract: | A household panel data set is used to investigate the effects of economic growth on firewood collection in Nepal between 1995 and 2010. Results from preceding crosssectional analyses are found to be robust: (a) rising consumptions for all but the top decile were associated with increased firewood collections, contrary to the PovertyEnvironment hypothesis; (b) sources of growth matter: increased livestock was associated with increased collections, and falling household size, increased education, non-farm business assets and road connectivity with reduced collections. Nepal households collected 25% less firewood over this period, mostly explained by falling livestock, and rising education, connectivity and out-migration |
| Keywords: | deforestation, growth, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Nepal |
| JEL: | D12 O1 Q2 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:befdwp:5&r=dev |
| By: | Shigute, Zemzem (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Mebratie, Anagaw Derseh (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Sparrow, Robert (Wageningen University); Yilma, Zelalem (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Alemu, Getnet (University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); Bedi, Arjun S. (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Due to lack of well-developed insurance, credit and labor markets, rural families in Ethiopia are exposed to a range of covariate and idiosyncratic risks. In 2005, to deal with the consequences of covariate risks, the government implemented the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) - an active labor market program to build rural assets, and in 2011, to mitigate the financial consequences of ill-health, the government introduced a pilot Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Scheme. This paper explores whether scheme uptake and retention is affected by access to the PSNP. Based on several rounds of household level panel data and qualitative information, the analysis shows that participating in the PSNP increases the probability of CBHI uptake by 24 percentage points and enhances scheme retention by 10 percentage points. Analysis of the channels through which the PSNP influences CBHI uptake indicates that the bulk of the effect may be attributed to explicit and implicit pressure applied by government officials on PSNP beneficiaries. Whether this is a desirable approach is debatable. Nevertheless, the results suggest that membership in existing social protection programs may be leveraged to spread new schemes and potentially accelerate poverty reduction efforts. |
| Keywords: | productive safety net program, active labor market program, Ethiopia, community based health insurance, uptake of health insurance |
| JEL: | J65 J48 I13 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9833&r=dev |
| By: | Anja Sautmann; Samuel Brown; Mark Dean |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of subsidies (which remove cost barriers) and healthworker visits (which remove informational barriers) on over- and underuse of primary care, using a randomized control trial across 1532 children in Mali. Providing children with access to primary healthcare is an important development goal. Yet the subsidies needed to achieve this may lead to inefficient overuse, particularly if parents have difficulty assessing their child’s need for care. For the treatment of acute illness, price elasticities cannot be used to determine welfare effects, because they do not provide information on whether care is used effectively, which in turn depends on when it is sought. We propose a dynamic model of healthcare timing and define over- and underuse as seeking care too early or too late during an illness spell. We then use nine weeks of daily health records to identify misuse in our sample relative to WHO standards of care. Hazard estimates of care seeking show substantial underuse, but almost no overuse in our population. The primary barrier to the optimal timing of care seeking is cost, not information: subsidies increase care seeking by about 250%, and only 18% of this increase constitutes overuse. In contrast, healthworkers do little to reduce (already minimal) overuse, and may increase underuse when not paired with free care, as we predict in our dynamic model. Free care increases the value of care consumed without crowding out private spending, and it reduces mothers’ concern and average illness duration. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2016-2&r=dev |
| By: | Stefania Lovo |
| Abstract: | This article contributes to the debate on the role of land in reducing poverty in rural South Africa. It uses the year of arrival in the former homelands as an instrument for land access and size. This identification strategy is based on the fact that African households were forcibly relocated to the homelands during the apartheid. Due to increasing population pressure, later arrivals were less likely to be assigned land. The results show that land has a large positive effect on household welfare. Because the homelands are relatively disadvantaged areas, these results provide a lower bound for the positive effects of land on household welfare. |
| Keywords: | land; household welfare; asset index forced removals; homelands; South Africa |
| JEL: | O12 Q12 Q15 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:63355&r=dev |
| By: | Wako, Hassen (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Aid effectiveness has been a subject of long-sustained debate. This study contributes to this debate using panel data from 43 Sub-Saharan African countries. Its novelty lies in assessing the intermediary role of institutional quality between aid and growth, and in taking a disaggregated view of aid (at the level of a donor). Using estimation techniques which allow for recipient-specific (slope) parameters and suit the context of non-stationary and cross-sectionally dependent panels, the study finds that the relationship between aid and growth is characterised by heterogeneous (or recipient-specific) short-run parameters but a shared long-run coefficients. In the long-run, the direct growth effect of (aggregate) aid from 'traditional' donors is robustly non-positive, and the indirect effect is negative and robust to different specifications. Disaggregation reveals that there is heterogeneity in aid-effectiveness from the donor side as well: there are cases of 'good' aid (four donors), 'bad' aid (ten donors), 'neutral' aid (three donors) as well as cases where the total effect of aid is 'indeterminate' (four donors). With a lesser confidence, attributed to smaller sample size and less reliable quality of data, Chinese aid to Sub-Saharan Africa has a positive direct growth effect, a negative institutional effect, and thus an indeterminate total effect. The short-run relationships are generally not robust to alternative specifications. Comparison of the behaviour of donors with differing degrees of aid-effectiveness suggests that the future of aid would benefit more from focusing on its quality than quantity. In particular, two quality aspects - reduced fragmentation (or better specialisation) and better donor alignment (with recipient country's policy and system) - deserve much more attention. |
| Keywords: | aid, development aid, economic development, economic growth, institutions, donor countries, recipient countries, beneficiaries, heterogeneity, donor/recipient heterogeneity, aid effectiveness |
| JEL: | F35 O43 F43 |
| Date: | 2016–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2016009&r=dev |
| By: | Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Koru, Bethlehem; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum |
| Abstract: | A large proportion of Ethiopians derive their livelihood from smallholder agriculture. This has provided the impetus for the smallholder agriculture focused policies that have guided agricultural development efforts in Ethiopia over the past two decades. This work studies smallholder teff producers. Teff is an important crop in terms of cultivated area, share of food expenditure, and contribution to gross domestic product. Despite the remarkable growth in teff production in the last decade, the drivers of this growth are not well understood. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on the contribution of improvements in productivity to this growth and the link between farm size and productivity. More-over, doubts exist on whether it is possible to sustain such growth on landholdings that are declining in size. This study employs data envelopment analysis on a recently collected large-scale farm household survey dataset to measure and explain the relative productivity and efficiency of smallholder teff producers. |
| Keywords: | teff, smallholders, productivity, efficiency, households, food production, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:79&r=dev |
| By: | Parinduri, Rasyad |
| Abstract: | I examine whether education increases voter turnout and makes better voters using an exogenous variation in education induced by an extension of Indonesia's school term length, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. The longer school year increases education, but I do not find evidence that education makes people more likely to vote in elections or changes whether they consider political candidates' religion, ethnicity, or gender important when they vote. If anything, education seems to make voters more likely to think candidates' development programs are important. |
| Keywords: | education, political participation, regression discontinuity design, Asia, Indonesia |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70326&r=dev |
| By: | Diana Lopez-Avila (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at shedding light on the relationship between women's empowerment and domestic violence. For this, we explore different ways to measure women's empowerment and domestic violence, and analyze whether the relation depends on the definitions used. We take advantage of a rich data set collected in rural Colombia, including several measures of self-esteem, disagreement towards domestic violence, participation in household decisions and social capital; and analyze the relationship with both aggressive and controlling ways of domestic violence. The results indicate that the different measures of women's empowerment help explain much better the aggressive ways of domestic violence than the controlling ones. Our results show a positive correlation between women's empowerment and domestic violence. This goes in line with the theories that argue that men use violence as a way to leverage their power within the household. Among the different latent measures of women's empowerment we used, we found that social capital and self-esteem are significantly correlated with aggressive domestic violence. We do not find that more common proxies, such as women's participation in household decisions, are significantly correlated to domestic violence. |
| Keywords: | Gender,Domestic Violence,Household bargaining models,Social Capital,D13, I15, J12, J16, O12 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01294565&r=dev |
| By: | kenneth L. Leonard; Melkiory C. Masatu; Christopher H. Herbst; Christophe Lemiere |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a simple framework for understanding the dimensions and determinants of health worker performance based on the idea that there can be three different gaps affecting performance: a knowledge gap, the knowledge-capacity gap and the capacity-performance gap. The paper argues that performance is determined by a combination of competence, capacity and effort, and that any of these elements may lead to poor performance, and applies this framework to the measurement of health worker performance in Tanzania. Whilst discussing and highlighting key findings related to the assessment of health worker performance in Tanzania, the overarching objective of the paper is to offer a systematic way to analyze health worker performance through primary data collection and analysis to benefit researchers and countries beyond Tanzania. |
| Keywords: | pharmacy, health care providers, infant mortality rates, sutures, determinants of health, access to health care, employment, treatment, health service delivery, diagnosis ... See More + deaths, income, quality of health care, drug supply, public sector, doctors, health economics, health research, health care, drugs, health care workers, effects, health care facilities, incentives, health, health workers, breast cancer, prescriptions, health facilities, symptom, public health, quality of health, health sector, knowledge, choice, animal health, workplace, diseases, costs, voluntary sector, patients, patient, life, demand for health services, intervention, probability, health systems, health centers, medication, nurses, observation, medical care, health care quality, medical officers, symptoms, work environment, outpatient services, health care outcomes, hiv/aids, health services research, interview, mortality, health care system, medical service providers, cancer, availability of drugs, infant mortality, diagnoses, health care sector, clinician, emergency medicine, health specialist, workers, fever, quality of care, patient satisfaction, amodiaquine, basic needs, care, health policy, medicine, demand, diarrhea, std, preventive health services, income countries, adequate care, medical personnel, malnutrition, private sector, measurement, nutrition, medical officer, syringes, malaria, rest, primary health care, pneumonia, internet, exposure, health system, outpatient care, low income, health care delivery, children, malaria symptoms, clinicians, clinics, evaluation, bandages, human resources, demand for health, illness, infants, all, population, medical doctors, child deaths, fees, families, medicines, forceps, hospitals, certification, illnesses, health service, health services, private sectors, demand for services, financial incentives, visits, nursing, medical training |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hnpdps:104096&r=dev |
| By: | Ulrik Beck; Saurabh Singhal; Finn Tarp |
| Abstract: | Volatility in commodity markets poses an acute risk to farmers in developing countries who rely on cash crop agriculture. We combine a time series of international coffee prices with a long-running panel on coffee-growing households in Viet Nam to investigate coping mechanisms employed by farmers in a transitioning economy. We find that households cope with lower coffee prices by increasing wage labour of adults with children and adolescents substituting for adults on the farm and in home production. Account should be taken of this finding in formulating and implementing social protection and inclusive growth policies. |
| Keywords: | intra-household allocation, commodity prices, income shocks, labour supply |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-0016&r=dev |