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on Development |
| By: | Esther Mirjam Girsberger (Economics Discipline Group, University of Technology Sydney); Romuald Meango (Max-Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich); Hillel Rapoport (Paris School of Economics, Universit´e Paris 1 Panth´eon-Sorbonne; CEPII; IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of regional migration on average wages and wage inequality in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). We exploit a unique data from a unified labour force household survey which covers natives and migrants in the seven economic capitals of the region. We estimate the counterfactual wage distributions of UEMOA migrants in absence of migration to evaluate the effect of regional migration. We find that regional migration increases the average wage by 1.8% and it entails a decrease in inequality in the UEMOA region between -1.5% (for the Gini coefficient) and -4.5% (for the interquartile ratio). The decrease in inequality in the UEMOA region is driven by a reduction in inequality between countries, while the migration effect on within-inequality differs across countries and remains overall small. When accounting for possible general equilibrium effects of migration on stayers’ wages, we find a similar or even stronger decrease in inequality, yet a smaller increase in the average wage. With general equilibrium effects, (negatively-) intermediately selected UEMOA migrants depress the average wage of natives in their host country and lead to a slight increase of the average wage among natives in the sending country, with the former effect dominating. Moreover, regional migration in the UEMOA mostly flows from countries with low wages to countries with higher wages. In combination with the general equilibrium effects described above this leads to a larger decrease in between-country inequality than in a setting with exogenous wages. |
| Keywords: | Migration; inequality; Gini index; West Africa |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2019–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uts:ecowps:57&r=all |
| By: | Díaz Serrano, Lluís; Pérez Reynosa, Jessica Helen |
| Abstract: | Using panel data for non-OECD countries covering the period 1970-2012, this paper analyzes the impact of the duration of primary education on school enrollment in secondary education. The empirical results show that in those countries where the duration of primary education is increased, the enrollment rate in secondary education decreases, and the opposite is observed in those countries where the duration of primary education is reduced. These results are in line with the fertility model approach; that is, in developing and underdeveloped countries parents do not have incentive to pursue further education for their children given the high perceived present economic value of children. JEL Classification: I21, I25, I28 Keywords: primary education, secondary education, school enrollment, education policy, developing countries, school duration |
| Keywords: | Educació primària, Educació secundària, Política educativa, Països en vies de desenvolupament, 331 - Treball. Relacions laborals. Ocupació. Organització del treball, 37 - Educació. Ensenyament. Formació. Temps lliure, |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/351582&r=all |
| By: | Chakravorty, Ujjayant; Dar, Manzoor H.; Emerick, Kyle |
| Abstract: | We use two randomized controlled trials in Bangladesh to study a simple water conservation technology for rice production called "Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)." Despite proven results in agronomic trials, our first experiment shows that AWD only saves water and increases profits in villages where farmers pay a marginal price for water, but not when they pay fixed seasonal charges. The second RCT randomly distributed debit cards that can be used to pay volumetric prices for irrigation water. This low-cost, scalable intervention causes farmers to place more value on the water-saving technology. Demand for the technology becomes less price-sensitive. |
| Date: | 2019–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:122864&r=all |
| By: | Masahiro Shoji; Akira Murata |
| Abstract: | Prompt evacuation is essential to survival from natural disasters, but the mechanisms behind individuals?f decisions to evacuate are not well understood. Using unique survey data collected from cyclone-affected households in Bangladesh, we examine the association between social capital and the decision to evacuate. Given the difficulty in controlling for endogeneity of self-reported social capital, we employ the approach of Oster (2017) to assess the severity of omitted variable bias. We find that those with higher social capital are more likely to evacuate. This is because they perceive a lower risk of theft during evacuation, suggesting that social capital compensates for the lack of a well-functioning law enforcement authority. Further, we cannot rule out the possibility that social capital strengthens the effectiveness of an early warning system. These findings could also contribute to our understanding of the interactive roles of communities and institutions during natural disasters. |
| Keywords: | social capital, natural disasters, evacuation, Bangladesh, Cyclone Aila |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:178&r=all |
| By: | Julia Cage (Département d'économie); Valeria Rueda |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the long-term historical impact of missionary activity on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were among the first to invest in modern medicine in a number of countries. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as their health investments. Using a number of different empirical strategies to address selection in missionary locations and into health investments, we show that missionary presence has conflicting effects on HIV today. Regions close to historical mission stations exhibit higher HIV prevalence. This negative impact is robust to multiple specifications accounting for urbanization, and we provide evidence that it is specific to STDs. Less knowledge about condom use is a likely channel. On the contrary, among regions historically close to missionary settlements, proximity to a mission with a health investment is associated with lower HIV prevalence nowadays. Safer sexual behaviors around these missions are a possible explanatory channel. |
| Keywords: | Historical persistence; Missions; Health investments; HIV/AIDS; Sexual behavior |
| JEL: | D72 N37 N77 O33 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/76npisrda99aop75h6fmi4vduu&r=all |
| By: | Luis Garcia (Departamento de Economía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú); Erika Collantes |
| Abstract: | In recent years, Peru has expanded its social programs aimed at combating poverty, with new initiatives including the Cuna Más childcare program and the Qali Warma school meals program. The goal of this paper is to determine whether these social programs have made any impact on the working hours of men and women belonging to the beneficiary households. According to time-allocation approaches and gender-based household roles, a different impact on each of these two groups might be expected. In econometric terms, it is well known that hours worked are the result of a sample selection process that could bias ordinary least square estimations, and even (within- group) fixed effect estimations, which control for unobserved heterogeneity bias but not selection bias. We use Kyriazidou’s (1997) method to estimate a model of determinants of hours worked, and find gender-differentiated impacts; the Qali Warma breakfast program fosters female labor supply among those aged below 25 and above 40, while Cuna Más does so only for those below the age of 25. In the case of men, the Qali Warma breakfast program also seems to increase hours worked (albeit to a lesser extent than for women), while the school lunches version of the same program reduces hours worked, especially for men over the age of 40. JEL Classification-JEL: I38, J13, J16, J22 |
| Keywords: | Food programs, daycare programs, labor supply, selection bias. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pcp:pucwps:wp00471&r=all |
| By: | Cilliers, Jacobus (Georgetown University); Mbiti, Isaac M. (University of Virginia); Zeitlin, Andrew (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | In 2013, Tanzania introduced "Big Results Now in Education", a low-stakes accountability program that published both nationwide and within-district school rankings. Using data from the universe of school performance from 2011-2016, we identify the impacts of the reform using a difference-in-differences estimator that exploits the differential pressure exerted on schools at the top and bottom of their respective district rankings. We find that BRN improved learning outcomes for schools in the bottom two deciles of their districts. However, the program also led schools to strategically exclude students from the terminal year of primary school. |
| Keywords: | school accountability, school rankings, education policy in developing countries, Tanzania |
| JEL: | I21 I25 I28 O15 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12172&r=all |
| By: | Augustin Kwasi Fosu (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Faculty of economic and Management Sciences (FEMS), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; and Research Associate, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.); Abdul Fatawu Abass (Department of Economics, and Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon) |
| Abstract: | As open economies, African countries need to diversify their exports for economic transformation, sustained growth, and development. Meanwhile, there has been increasing importance of development financing. Following the discussion of theoretical issues on the importance of domestic credit as a potential instrument for overcoming the liquidity constraint of developing countries, as in the case of Africa, this paper empirically explores the determinants of export diversification, with particular attention to domestic credit. The estimation is based on a five-year panel regression analysis for the 1962-2010 period involving 80 countries around the world, of which 62 are developing and 29 African countries, using as covariates variables that are traditionally viewed as affecting export diversification. System GMM estimates provide robust evidence supporting the importance of domestic credit for African countries, while its role in other countries seems rather marginal. In addition, human capital in the form of schooling, governance as measured by constraint on the chief executive of government, and being land-locked, all exert significant effects, as anticipated, on export diversification among African countries. However, except for governance, appropriately controlling for the interactive effect of domestic credit with ‘Africa’ yields generally insignificant impacts of these variables, together with domestic credit, on export diversification in non-African countries. These results point to the dominant role of domestic credit in Africa vis-à-vis other countries globally. |
| Keywords: | Export diversification, domestic credit, Africa, global perspective |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201924&r=all |
| By: | Sai Amulya Nyathikala (Durham University Business School, Durham University - Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, MANIT-Bhopal, India Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, MANITBhop); Tooraj Jamasb (Durham University Business School, Durham University.); Manuel Llorca (Durham University Business School, Durham University.); Mukul Kulshrestha (Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, MANIT-Bhopal, India.) |
| Keywords: | Governance and regulation; socioeconomic and environmental performance; stochastic frontier analysis; sustainability; urban water supply in India. |
| JEL: | L97 L95 L51 L43 R52 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg1832&r=all |
| By: | Suzuki, Ken (Asian Development Bank Institute); Paul, Saumik (Asian Development Bank Institute); Maru, Takeshi (Asian Development Bank Institute); Kusadokoro, Motoi (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of the recent influx of Syrian refugees on the Turkish labor market. Exploiting this natural experiment, we estimated the causal impacts of involuntary migration on labor market outcomes. We selected the five refugee-hosting regions with the highest number of refugees as treatment regions and four comparable regions with a low refugee-to-population ratio as control regions. Using a difference-in-differences estimation, we found that informal Turkish workers in the refugee-hosting regions were about 4% more likely to leave their job than workers in regions that did not widely host refugees. Such negative impacts on labor market outcomes became larger in 2014–2015 compared with 2012–2013. Furthermore, while females and older workers withdrew themselves from the labor market, males and younger workers become unemployed after the refugee influx. |
| Keywords: | refugee; migration; Syria; Turkey; difference-in-differences estimation |
| JEL: | F22 J00 |
| Date: | 2019–03–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0935&r=all |
| By: | Enerelt Murakami; Eiji Yamada; Erica Sioson |
| Abstract: | major labor migrant sending and remittance dependent country in Central Asia. We contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we effectively address the common methodological issues that result in biased estimates in analyses of migration and remittances. Our empirical work accounts for the endogeneity of migration and remittances with respect to the labor supply decisions of household members left at home, and for the self-selection of migrants and remittance senders through the application of a control function approach. Second, we apply our empirical model to unique high-frequency household panel data that further helps to remedy methodological problems present in cross-sectional studies. The findings suggest that having a migrant member and receiving remittances increases the reservation wages of the household members left at home, thereby reducing their labor supply and economic activity rate. This result is robust to different model specifications and definitions of migration and remittances. |
| Keywords: | Migration, remittances, labor market participation, economic activity rate, endogenous switching, Tajikistan |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:181&r=all |
| By: | Canavire-Bacarreza, Gustavo; Díaz Serrano, Lluís; Corrales-Espinosa, Alejandro |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between public libraries and school achievement. Medellin counts on a system of public libraries. However, public library parks are part of a separate system. The library parks are understood as cultural centers for social development that seek to encourage the meeting of citizens and to develop educational activities that involve the digital culture. The project began in 2004 and was consolidated until 2011 with the introduction of 9 different library parks. Using an approach of differences-in-differences and matching techniques, we explore the effect of the library parks in Medellin on school performance. We found a significant effect on the performance of the language test in the students treated, especially in the long-term specification. Key Words: Public libraries, school achievement, impact evaluation, public investment. JEL Classification: C33, H54, H76, I2, I26. |
| Keywords: | Biblioteques públiques, Rendiment escolar, Inversions públiques, Colòmbia, 37 - Educació. Ensenyament. Formació. Temps lliure, |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/351580&r=all |
| By: | Tooraj Jamasb (Durham University Business School, Durham University); Manuel Llorca (Durham University Business School, Durham University); Pavan Khetrapal (Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, MANIT-Bhopal, India); Tripta Thakur (Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, MANIT-Bhopal, India) |
| Keywords: | Quality of state institutions; electricity distribution in India; heteroscedastic stochastic frontier models; inefficiency determinants. |
| JEL: | D22 L51 L94 O43 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg1809&r=all |