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on Development |
| By: | Maritza Caicedo (Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, UNAM); Edwin van Gameren (El Colegio de México); Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (San Diego State University) |
| Abstract: | We compare unemployed and underemployed immigrants from Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic in the US with people living under similarly precarious employment conditions in the countries of origin, in order to understand better differences in psychological distress. In doing so, we deviate from and add to the literature on the Hispanic Health Paradox, addressing heterogeneity between Hispanics and comparison with people in the sending country instead of the US-based population. We follow a mixed research strategy, performing and analyzing a survey, and by organizing focus groups, allowing for a profound analysis of the importance of both objective and subjective characteristics. We find that a more precarious socioeconomic situation, financial tensions, and a reduced labor satisfaction increase depression and anxiety levels. Mexican immigrants report fewer symptoms than those in Mexico City, but this difference disappears when controlling for differences in labor conditions and the importance respondent give to work. Colombian immigrants, generally in more favorable conditions than other immigrants, report more distress than their counterparts in Colombia. Subjective factors including the intentions of migration appear relevant for the reported distress. Importantly, we encounter ambiguity regarding the connotation respondents have with symptoms of depression and anxiety. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, countries of origin, unemployment, underemployment, psychological distress, depression, anxiety, qualitative research, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic. |
| JEL: | J15 J61 Z13 I14 N36 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emx:ceedoc:2018-07&r=dev |
| By: | Richard Akresh; Daniel Halim; Marieke Kleemans |
| Abstract: | In 1973, the Indonesian government began one of the largest school construction programs ever. We use 2016 nationally representative data to examine the long-term and intergenerational effects of additional schooling as a child. We use a difference-in-differences identification strategy exploiting variation across birth cohorts and regions in the number of schools built. Men and women exposed to the program attain more education, although women’s effects are concentrated in primary school. As adults, men exposed to the program are more likely to be formal workers, work outside agriculture, and migrate. Households with parents exposed to the program have improved living standards and pay more government taxes. Education benefits are transmitted to the next generation. Increased parental education has larger impacts for daughters, particularly if mothers are exposed to school construction. Intergenerational results are driven by changes in the marriage partner’s characteristics, with spouses having more education and improved labor market outcomes. |
| JEL: | I2 J13 J62 O15 O22 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25265&r=dev |
| By: | Stijn van Weezel |
| Abstract: | There is a large empirical literature trying to quantify the potentially adverse affects of climate change on the risk of violent armed conflict, which focuses almost exclusively on linking annual variation in climatic conditions to violence. A major shortcoming of this approach is that it conflates climate variability with climate change, while also implicitly assuming that adverse weather shocks will immediately trigger violent contests over scarce resources. In contrast, this study exploits changes in local climate over a longer time period; using differences in the average standardised deviation of temperature and precipitation levels between 1989-2002 and 2003-2017 across the African continent. Bayesian model averaging is used to test whether variables measuring changes in local climate contribute consistently in explaining conflict risk between 2003-17. Using disaggregated data to account for local dynamics, the reduced-form estimation shows that temperature is robustly linked to violent armed conflict: moving from low to high temperature levels corresponds to a 31% increase in conflict risk. Changes in precipitation have no discernible effect. The results are robust to changing the benchmark period for the climate variables, accounting for conflict prevalence, and considering different types of violent conflict. Examining the predictive power of the models, a leave-one-out cross-validation highlights that including information on changes in local climate improves the predictive performance of the model, as measured by the area under the precision-recall curve, by seven points, from 0.51 to 0.58; 33 points above the baseline. |
| Keywords: | Climate; Civil war; Bayesian model averaging |
| JEL: | D74 N47 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201816&r=dev |
| By: | Valentina Rotondi; Francesco Billari |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of using mobile money technology on children's school participation in low-income societies. We argue that, by reducing transaction costs, and by making it easier and less expensive to receive remittances, mobile money technology reduces the need for coping strategies that are detrimental to child development, such as withdrawing children from school and sending them to work. We test this hypothesis using a set of comparative samples from seven low-income countries. We find that mobile money technology increases the chances of children attending school. This finding is robust to the use of estimation techniques that deal with possible endogeneity issues. We also show that the effect of mobile money is mainly driven by African countries and that, at least for girls, it is significantly higher when the household is living below the poverty line. |
| Keywords: | Mobile money, School, Child Labor, Technology, Digital Revolution |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:109&r=dev |
| By: | Ding, Z. |
| Abstract: | It is widely accepted that rural microcredit has the potential to contribute to poverty reduction in developing countries. This paper examines the factors that affect rural residents decisions to participate in different types of microcredit, and how these factors impact on household income and consumption, using cross-sectional data from a survey in China. A multinomial endogenous switching regression model is employed to account for selection bias and treatment effects. The empirical findings indicate that family size, dependency ratio, local casual wage rate, credit information and shocks mainly determine the selection of different credit sources. Furthermore, the estimates reveal that participation in microcredit tends to increase both per capita income and consumption significantly. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276953&r=dev |
| By: | Apsara Karki Nepal; Martin Halla; Steven Stillman |
| Abstract: | We show that the exposure to war-related violence increases the quantity of children temporarily, with permanent negative consequences for the quality of the current and previous cohorts. Our empirical evidence is based on Nepal, which experienced a ten year long civil conflict of varying intensity. We exploit that villages affected by the conflict had the same trend in fertility as non-affected villages prior to the onset of conflict and employ a difference-in-differences estimator. We find that women in affected villages increased their actual and desired fertility during the conflict by 22 percent, while child height-for-age declined by 11 to 13 percent. Supporting evidence suggests that the temporary fertility increase was the main pathway leading to reduced child height, as opposed to direct impacts of the conflict. |
| Keywords: | Conflict, violence, quantity-quality model of fertility, height-for-age, Nepal. |
| JEL: | D74 H56 J13 O10 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2018_15&r=dev |
| By: | Garbero, A.; Songsermsawas, T. |
| Abstract: | Investments in irrigation systems have been shown to substantially improve farmers’ productivity, and thus alleviate poverty. This study provides an example of such an investment: the Participatory Small-Scale Irrigation Development Programme. The project institutionalized water user associations, developed small-scale irrigation schemes, and provided agricultural training activities to smallholder farmers in drought-prone and food-deficit areas in four regions of Ethiopia. Combining a primary household survey with geographical data, this work estimates the project impact on agricultural production and household expenditure using a novel identification strategy. Beneficiaries' gains include improved crop yields and greater diversity of crops cultivated. These gains have the potential to raise revenues and enable a switch from subsistence to purchasing more food from the market. The lessons learned from this study, by highlighting the need to focus on strengthening access to market, in conjunction with the irrigation infrastructural support, have the potential to improve the design and implementation of future small-scale irrigation projects. The added focus on access to markets would provide greater opportunities to projects beneficiaries by maximising farmers' improved productive capacity. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:280080&r=dev |
| By: | Kuijpers, R. |
| Abstract: | Agricultural commercialization is key to the rural development process. It is however poorly understood how commercialization affects the nutritional intake by members of the farm household. This paper studies this relationship using household-level panel data collected in Rwanda, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. Controlling for household fixed effects, we find that the effect of commercialization on the diversity and nutritional adequacy of the farm household s diet is positive, negative, or zero, depending on the country and measure of dietary intake. We also find a large variation between countries when investigating the underlying mechanisms. Depending on the country, commercialization affects dietary intake via higher food expenditure, via the diversity of food produced by the farmer, or directly . Acknowledgement : The authors thank Ferko Bodn r, Joachim de Weerdt, Jo Swinnen, and Anita Bake for the valuable discussions and input. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277083&r=dev |
| By: | Krishna, V.; Vikraman, S.; Aravalath, L. |
| Abstract: | Caste-based social segregation manifests its influence in various spheres of life and perpetuates economic inequality and oppression. The present study, analysing nationally representative data from rural India, shows that differential access to quality information on crop production technologies critically limits the income potential of farmers of socially backward castes. The inter-caste differences in crop income are found arising due to differences in both resource endowment status and access to the public extension networks. Value of public extension services was particularly low in regions where socially backward castes form a majority in the population. Acknowledgement : The authors thank Sukhadeo Thorat, Esther Gehrke, and Sethulekshmy Rajagopal for their constructive comments on previous versions of this manuscript. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276944&r=dev |
| By: | Benfica, R.; Henderson, H. |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between the sectoral composition of economic growth and the rural-urban composition of poverty. To this end, we use a new cross-country panel dataset consisting of 146 rural and urban poverty “spells” for 70 low- and middle-income countries. We find that rural (urban) poverty is highly responsive to agricultural (non-agricultural) productivity growth. The effect of agricultural productivity growth on rural poverty is particularly strong for countries with little dependence on natural resources. We also find that growth in the share of employment in the non-agricultural sector (i.e. structural transformation) reduces rural poverty, most notably for countries at a low initial level of development. These findings are robust to changes in key assumptions, including using alternative poverty lines. Finally, we use our estimates to examine the historical contribution of different sources of economic growth to rural and urban poverty reduction across regions. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:280072&r=dev |
| By: | Garbero, A.; Marion, P. |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the impact of agricultural research, specifically improved maize seeds varieties, on agricultural productivity and welfare in Uganda using a three-wave panel survey. First, it looks at the determinants of technology adoption are examined in a dynamic setting that allows for state dependence, in the adoption decision process. The analysis shows that previous adoption is very important in explaining contemporary adoption. Then, it examines the impact of improved maize seeds adoption on welfare, notably consumption-expenditure, poverty, and agricultural outcomes such as yields. Findings show that the magnitude of impacts is fairly similar across the different models. Estimates for the daily per adult equivalent expenditure increased by a range of 5-16% as a result of agricultural technology (total agricultural production increased by a range of 5-13%) and the proportion poor set with the daily 2 US $PPP per capita poverty threshold decreased by a range of 4-12%. In addition, poverty reduction occurred through a rise in maize yields, where adoption of improved maize seeds increases the value of production and supports the achievement of poverty reduction outcomes. One major policy recommendation arising from this study is that extension services need to be better suited to address the volatility of the agricultural context where smallholders operate. Such extension support needs to be timely and tailored to the local context and the needs of rural smallholders in order to properly address their vulnerability and liquidity constraints, which prevent them from fully making a long-term profit from the substantial benefits of this technology. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:280077&r=dev |
| By: | Patrick Asuming; Hyuncheol Bryant Kim; Armand Sim |
| Abstract: | We study long-run selection and treatment effects of a health insurance subsidy in Ghana, where mandates are not enforceable. We randomly provide different levels of subsidy (1/3, 2/3, and full), with follow-up surveys seven months and three years after the initial intervention. We find that a one-time subsidy promotes and sustains insurance enrollment for all treatment groups, but long-run health care service utilization increases only for the partial subsidy (1/3 and 2/3) groups. We find evidence that selection explains this pattern: those who were enrolled due to the subsidy, especially the partial subsidy, are more ill and have greater health care utilization. |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1811.09004&r=dev |
| By: | Winters, P.; Kafle, K.; Benfica, R. |
| Abstract: | This paper challenges the traditional view that portrays income maximization as the main driver of migration and tests whether relative deprivation and social inequality lead to migration in sub-Saharan Africa. Examining data from the Living Standards Measurements Study – Integrated Surveys in Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, the paper finds that a household’s migration decision is based not only on its well-being status, but also on the position of the household relative to the wealth distribution in the local community. Results indicate that relative deprivation of wealth was positively associated with migration, implying a need to renew the discussion of relative deprivation and social inequality as a cause of migration in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:280070&r=dev |
| By: | Sakib Mahmud; Gazi M Hassan |
| Abstract: | We model household responses to storm protection actions in an endogenous risk framework and then test the predictions based on a recently concluded survey from southern Bangladesh hit by the category-5 Cyclone-Sidr in 2007. Households decide on the margin how to finance private adaptive expenditures and foreign remittances come into play a pivotal role in shaping private adaptive behaviour. For our empirical analysis, we use IV method to harness a random assignment of treatment of remittances by exploiting a natural shock wherein some households suffered damages from another second Cyclone-Roanu in the same area just prior to the survey period in 2016. Using natural experiment as an identification strategy, we find that for every 1,000 Taka increase in remittances receipts, private adaptive expenditures increase by 20.95 Taka. The IV results are generalizable because the control and treatment groups do not differ in their pretreatment observable characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, private adaptive expenditure, endogenous risk, storm protection behavior, Cyclone Sidr, Cyclone Roanu, climate change, Bangladesh. |
| JEL: | O12 D03 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2018-61&r=dev |
| By: | Benfica, R.; Squarcina, M.; De la Fuente, A. |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify the main drivers of poverty reduction in Malawi. Using an augmented poverty decomposition methodology, it explores in what way the different farm and non-farm economic activities contribute to poverty reduction and income growth. The analysis also examines how household occupation and spatial mobility support both poverty reduction and household welfare improvements. Findings show that the increase in non-farm self-employment is the most significant contributor to poverty reduction overall, even though agriculture still exerts a considerable and positive influence, especially due to the size of the population involved and the observance of agricultural growth. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:280074&r=dev |
| By: | Ciaian, P.; Guri, F.; Rajcaniova, M.; Drabik, D.; Gomez Y Paloma, S. |
| Abstract: | We analyze land fragmentation and its implications for production diversification in rural Albania. We find that land fragmentation stimulates significantly more diversification for households which use a larger proportion of agricultural production for self-consumption than for more market-oriented households. Our results indicate that the land fragmentation contributed to food security improvement by increasing the variety of on-farm produced foods for household self-consumption, thus ensuring a higher likelihood of meeting nutrient requirements that can promote good health of rural population in Albania. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277093&r=dev |