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on Development |
| By: | Paul Pelzl (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Steven (S.) Poelhekke (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Nederlandsche Bank) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the local effect of exogenous shocks to the value of mineral deposits at the district level in Indonesia using a panel of manufacturing plants. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to model and estimate the effect of heterogeneity in natural resource extraction methods. We find that in areas where mineral extraction is relatively capital-intensive, mining booms cause virtually no upward pressure on manufacturing earnings per worker, and both producers of traded and local goods benefit from mining booms in terms of employment. In contrast, labour-intensive mining booms drive up local manufacturing wages such that producers of traded goods reduce employment. This source of heterogeneity helps to explain the mixed evidence for `Dutch disease' effects in the literature. In addition, we find no evidence that fiscal revenue sharing between sub-national districts leads to any spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Dutch disease; natural resources; mining; labour intensity; Indonesia |
| JEL: | L16 L72 O12 O13 Q30 |
| Date: | 2018–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20180073&r=dev |
| By: | Victor Ginsburgh; Juan D. Moreno-Ternero |
| Abstract: | We analyze the role of poverty levels in the allocation of international development aid. We estimate “claims” for each recipient, based on the incidence and depth of poverty in its territory, and explore possible reallocations of the current (overall) official development assistance (ODA) based on those claims. We consider four allocation rules rooted in ancient sources: the Aristotelian proportional rule, two constrained egalitarian rules, inspired by Maimonides, and the Talmud rule. Each of them is grounded on different normative principles, which allows us to assess the recipients’ claims in different ways. Our results indicate that the current allocation of international development aid cannot be supported by any of those rules, which makes us conclude that the allocation of ODA is not truly driven by the goal of eradicating world’s poverty. |
| Keywords: | Poverty; Development; Aid; Resource Allocation; Claims |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/276827&r=dev |
| By: | Patricia I. Ritter (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Increases in soda consumption mirror the increase in obesity rates in many countries of the world. This association, however, might be explained by third factors that are correlated with both trends. This paper exploits a natural experiment in Peru and finds that households without running water at home are especially responsive to changes in the price of soda, which generates not only an important increase in obesity rates but also a reduction in diarrhea prevalence. If the soda companies reach populations before the government can supply clean water, diarrhea prevalence might decrease, but at the cost of increasing obesity prevalence. |
| Keywords: | Obesity, diarrhea, soft drinks, clean water |
| JEL: | I12 I18 H41 O12 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2018-16&r=dev |
| By: | Maximilian Schwefer |
| Abstract: | This is the first study to provide pre- and post-treatment family-level data on the impact of volcano eruptions on domestic violence. I use data from 2,024 families in Indonesia, of which a subset has been exposed to two eruptions. Findings confirm an increase in domestic violence of four percent in the treatment group. The proposed channel is an increase in mental distress. This is supported by lower household expenditures, increased rates of alcohol/drug abuse and lowered emotional wellbeing in affected populations. A subsample of previously displaced families shows higher risk of developing domestic violence. Policymakers should consider the multi-fold non-economic outcomes of natural disasters. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, domestic violence, longitudinal family data |
| JEL: | H12 J12 O12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_263&r=dev |
| By: | Peter Huber (WIFO); Klaus Nowotny (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | We use individual level data covering 30 mostly post-communist and developing countries which account for over a fifth of the worldwide immigrant stock to assess the impact of risk aversion on the willingness to migrate. Consistent with theories of individual level migration decisions, risk aversion has a statistically significant negative impact on both the willingness to migrate within countries as well as abroad. This applies to virtually all countries considered and is robust across various specifications, to alternative measures of risk aversion and to different measures of the willingness to migrate. Differences in the impact of risk aversion on the willingness to migrate are also positively correlated to measures of sending country risks and the missing variable bias of omitting risk aversion from migration regressions is substantial. |
| Keywords: | Migration intentions, Risk Aversion, Former Communist Countries |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2018:i:569&r=dev |
| By: | Tshikala, Sam Kaninda; Fonsah, Esendugue Greg |
| Abstract: | Income diversification constitutes an important livelihood strategy for rural households in developing countries in general and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Using data collected by the World Bank in rural Kenya, the estimated results from the bivariate and 2SLS models show that the average partial effects of remittances on activity choices indicate that household propensity to seek non-cropping income was higher for households with external remittances than those with internal remittances. In addition, poor households diversified less than better-off households, implying that diversification is viewed more as a means of wealth accumulation than a survival strategy in this part of Kenya. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266703&r=dev |
| By: | Machina, Henry; Ngoma, Hambulo; Kuteya, Aukland |
| Abstract: | Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have been implementing agricultural subsidy programs aimed to raise productivity and promote household food security, among other things. Despite positing some gains in raising productivity, subsidies through the conventional or traditional Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) have been found to crowd out demand for commercial fertilizer. This paper asks if subsidies can reduce the gendered productivity gaps in agriculture. Applying panel data methods to the two-wave Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Surveys data collected in 2012 and 2015, the study found that male-managed plots had an average 34 kg/ha yield advantage over female-managed plots, suggesting gendered productivity gaps. The main empirical results suggest that access to FISP does not disproportionately raise crop productivity for female-managed plots. Thus, FISP is insufficient to address the male-female productivity gaps. While improving access to productive inputs for women is important to address gender productivity gaps, this will need to be complemented with deliberate measures to address the social-cultural norms that tip the balance of power dynamics, rights and entitlements towards men. |
| Keywords: | FISP, Productivity gap, gender, Zambia |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:87099&r=dev |
| By: | Garcia-Fuentes, Pablo A.; Fukasawa, Fukasawa; Rodriguez Martinez, Edgar A.; Vargas, Conney; Mireles, Rodrigo |
| Abstract: | This research uses survey data to assess the effect of oxen as draft animals on agricultural productivity and farm agricultural income in Nicaragua. The results show that farms that use oxen to plow the land have higher productivity of beans than farms that use stick to plant crops. On average, using oxen increases farm’s beans output by 7.75 100-pound bags of beans, and hiring oxen increases farm’s beans output by 8.5 100-pound bags of beans. Farms that use oxen or hire oxen to plow the land have more planted area. The impact of using oxen to plow the land through farm planted area on farm agricultural gross income is 18.13 percent, and the impact of hiring oxen to plow the land through farm planted area on farm agricultural gross income is 25.55 percent. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266599&r=dev |
| By: | Owusu-Amankwah, Georgette |
| Abstract: | Conventional school feeding programs in developing economies have often been operated using international food aid to improve nutritional and educational outcomes of the most vulnerable school-age children. Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programs on the other hand, refer to a framework in which the school feeding is administered using food that is locally grown by smallholder farmers; this mechanism is designed to link school feeding with local agricultural production, with a two-fold objective of increasing children’s well-being as well as promoting local agricultural production and development by generating demand for small-holder farmers’ output. Using survey data from 150 households in rural and peri-urban communities in Ghana, this study examines the binding constraints facing smallholder farmer when deciding to participate in a school feeding farming contract. The study elicits responses from both the male household head and a secondary respondent, typically a woman farmer to examine whether cash flow or market risk constraints are binding. The research uses preliminary descriptive results to assess whether farmers who receive an initial payment are more willing to participate in the school feeding program contract, than farmers who receive no initial payments and how these differ by gender. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266714&r=dev |
| By: | Wenzel, Daniela (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Natural disasters are a challenge for good governance - this is the result of recent research investiga- ting the effects of natural disasters on one important antagonistic force to good governance, public corruption. However, a specific analysis of droughts is so far neglected in this young strand of the literature. This paper fills that gap by analysing the short- and long-term influence of droughts on cor- ruption within a unified panel estimation approach for 122 countries during the years 1985 to 2013. Relying on a meteorological drought index, we show that higher drought exposure is followed by increases in corruption. This effect holds true for subgroups of poor and rich countries although its ti- ming and intensity is different. In addition, we identify drought-induced corruption as a phenomenon of countries yielding high per capita income in the agricultural sector. |
| Keywords: | Drought; Natural Disasters; Public Sector Corruption; Institutions; Economic Development |
| JEL: | D73 E02 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2018–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:vhsuwp:2018_181&r=dev |