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on Development |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh (World Bank); Lanjouw, Peter F. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Measuring poverty trends and dynamics is an important undertaking for poverty reduction policies, which is further highlighted by the SDG goal 1 on eradicating poverty by 2030. We provide a broad overview of the pros and cons of poverty imputation in data-scarce environments, update recent review papers, and point to the latest research on the topics. We briefly review two common uses of poverty imputation methods that aim at tracking poverty over time and estimating poverty dynamics. We also discuss new areas for imputation. |
| Keywords: | poverty, imputation, consumption, wealth index, synthetic panels, household survey |
| JEL: | C15 I32 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14631&r= |
| By: | Rabah Arezki; Ana Margarida Fernandes; Federico Merchán; Ha Nguyen; Tristan Reed |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effect of natural resource dependence on market concentration of imports. Using a new panel database for importing firms in developing and emerging market economies, the paper shows that higher natural resource dependence is associated with larger market concentration of imports and with higher tariffs. The effect on the concentration of imports is found to be more pronounced for exporters of ‘point-based’ resources, imports of primary and consumption goods than for capital goods and is associated with higher domestic prices and lower consumption expenditure. Results suggest a novel channel for the resource curse stemming from the “monopolization” of imports. |
| Keywords: | imports, market concentration, natural resources, resource curse |
| JEL: | D20 F10 L10 O10 Q00 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9254&r= |
| By: | Killian Foubert; Ilse Ruyssen (-) |
| Abstract: | Terrorism is a global phenomenon with devastating consequences for the individuals involved and society in general. The adverse impacts of terrorist attacks may act as a driver for migration, both within and across borders. Yet, empirical evidence on the causal impact of terrorism on migration is scarce. The contribution of our paper is twofold. First, we construct various indicators of terrorist activity at a fine level of spatial and temporal granularity, which allow to fairly accurately identify individuals' exposure to terrorist threat. Second, we use these geo- localized indicators to empirically analyse the role played by terrorist attacks in shaping intentions to migrate either internally or internationally. Specifically, we use a multilevel approach combining these indicators with individual survey data on migration intentions in and from 133 countries, spanning the period 2007-2015. Our results indicate that terrorist attacks spur both internal and international migration intentions, though the effect is stronger for the latter. International migration intentions are, however, not necessarily responsive to the frequency of terrorist attacks, but rather to the intensity of these attacks, measured as the number of fatalities and wounded. In addition, the impact on migration intentions is heterogeneous, varying with both individual and country characteristics |
| Keywords: | Migration intentions, Terrorism, International migration |
| JEL: | F22 O15 D74 C23 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:21/1021&r= |
| By: | León, Juan; Guerrero, Gabriela; Cueto, Santiago (Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE)); Glewwe, Paul |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to filling the existing gap in the scarce literature on school effectiveness in secondary education in Peru by addressing the following questions: i) which educational processes within schools are most influential in math and reading comprehension? and in the case of the most effective schools, ii) what is the importance that principals, teachers, and students place on school processes variables in explaining educational outcomes? We use a mixed-method design that follows a sequential explanatory design. First, using the Young Lives secondary school survey in Peru (2017), we estimate a random effects model to explore the effect of teacher and school level variables on math and reading comprehension. Then, we conduct a qualitative case study in two schools identified as high-performance schools (HPS) by the survey, with the aim of explaining the role of school processes variables on educational results. The multivariate analysis shows that among teacher and classroom level variables, feedback provided to students and the satisfaction with his/her relationship with the educational actors were statistically significant. Among school level variables, school principal´s experience, average level of school wealth index, students per classroom and the infrastructure were statistically significant. The analysis of in-depth interviews and focus groups with vice-principals, teachers, and students from the two HPS shows that these two effective schools promote higher student achievement through different policies. At the school level, they have monitoring and constant teacher training policies to improve the quality of teaching. They also have student discipline and teacher collaboration policies to promote a conducive school learning environment. Correspondingly, at the classroom level, these schools are characterized by the quality of their teaching strategies regarding peer-mentoring, feedback and use of materials, and by their positive classroom learning environments based on teachers’ monitoring of students’ progress and teacher-student relations of care and trust. Our results point out the importance of the pedagogical work of the different educational actors inside the school. Educational programs carried out by local and national governments should pay more attention to the dynamics within the school to mitigate the educational inequalities, equalizing upwards the opportunities for children in impoverished public schools. |
| Keywords: | Educación secundaria, Escuela secundaria, Logros académicos, Rendimiento escolar, Secondary education, Secondary school, Academic achievement, Perú, Peru |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gad:doctra:dt114&r= |
| By: | Chiwuzulum Odozi, John (University of Ibadan, Nigeria); Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth (Agnes Scott College) |
| Abstract: | Nigeria has experienced bouts of violent conflict in different regions since its independence leading to significant loss of life. In this paper, we explore the average effect of exposure to violent conflict generally on labor supply in agriculture. Using a nationally representative panel dataset for Nigeria from 2010-2015, in combination with armed conflict data, we estimate the average effect of exposure to violent conflict on a household's farm labor supply. Our findings suggest that on average, exposure to violent conflict significantly reduces total family labor supply hours in agriculture. We also find that the decline in family labor supply is driven by a significant decline in the household head's total number of hours on the farm. |
| Keywords: | ethno-religious conflict, Boko Haram, farm households, farmer-herdsmen conflict, labor supply, Nigeria, Niger-delta conflict, violent conflict |
| JEL: | Q10 Q12 O1 D74 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14579&r= |
| By: | Hashibul Hassan (Department of Economics, Monash University, Australia); Asad Islam (Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) and Department of Economics, Monash University); Abu Siddique (Economics Group, Technical University of Munich); Liang Choon Wang (Department of Economics, Monash University, Australia) |
| Abstract: | Prolonged school closures due to political unrests, teacher strikes, natural disasters, and public health crises can be detrimental to student learning in developing countries. Using a randomized controlled experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of over-the-phone mentoring and homeschooling support delivered by volunteers on the learning outcomes of primary school children during school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The telementoring program improved the learning outcomes of treated children by 0.75 SD and increased homeschooling involvement of treated mothers by 0.64 SD. The impacts on learning are driven primarily by the direct mentoring of children and to some extent also by the increased homeschooling involvement of mothers. Academically weaker children and households from relatively lower socioeconomic backgrounds benefitted the most from telementoring. These findings suggest that learning crises in low-resource settings can be addressed by simple and very low-cost technology solutions. |
| Keywords: | Telementoring, homeschooling, school closure, primary education, randomized experiment, rural areas. |
| JEL: | C93 I21 I24 P46 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aiw:wpaper:13&r= |
| By: | von Grafenstein, Liza (University of Göttingen); Kumar, Abhijeet (University of Göttingen); Kumar, Santosh (Sam Houston State University); Vollmer, Sebastian (University of Goettingen) |
| Abstract: | Long-term follow-up of early childhood health interventions is important for human capital accumulation. We provide experimental evidence on child health and human capital outcomes from the longer-term follow-up of a school-based nutrition intervention in India. Using panel data, we examine the effectiveness of the use of iron and iodine fortified salt in school lunches to reduce anemia among school children. After four years of treatment, treated children, on average, have higher hemoglobin levels and a lower likelihood of anemia relative to the control group. Interestingly, the intervention did not have any impact on cognitive and educational outcomes. |
| Keywords: | anemia, children, double-fortified salt, cognition, mid-day meal, India |
| JEL: | C93 I15 I18 O12 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14627&r= |
| By: | Colmer, Jonathan (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | To what degree can labor reallocation mitigate the economic consequences of weather-driven agricultural productivity shocks? I estimate that temperature-driven reductions in the demand for agricultural labor in India are associated with increases in non-agricultural employment. This suggests that the ability of non-agricultural sectors to absorb workers may play a key role in attenuating the economic consequences of agricultural productivity shocks. Exploiting firm-level variation in the propensity to absorb workers, I estimate relative expansions in manufacturing output in more flexible labor markets. Estimates suggest that, in the absence of labor reallocation, local economic losses could be up to 69% higher. |
| Keywords: | temperature, labor reallocation, industrial production |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14604&r= |
| By: | Kumar Sur, Pramod |
| Abstract: | Can a domestic policy implemented by the government in the past help explain the puzzling practice of health care usage today? I study this question in the context of India, where households' use of primary health care services presents a paradox. A significant fraction of Indian households uses fee-charging private health care services even though most providers have no formal medical qualifications. The private share of health care use is even higher in markets where qualified doctors offer free care through public clinics. Combining contemporary household-level data with archival records, I examine the aggressive family planning program implemented during the emergency rule in the 1970s and explore whether the coercion, disinformation, and carelessness involved in implementing the program could partly explain the puzzle. Exploiting the timing of the emergency rule, state-level variation in the number of sterilizations, and an instrumental variable approach, I show that the states heavily affected by the sterilization policy have a lower level of public health care usage today. I demonstrate the mechanism for this practice by showing that the states heavily affected by forced sterilizations have a lower level of confidence in government hospitals and doctors and a higher level of confidence in private hospitals and doctors in providing good treatment. |
| Keywords: | Health care market, health care usage, confidence in institutions, sterilization, persistence, India, I11, N35, I12, J13 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:00000186&r= |
| By: | Liepmann, Hannah (ILO International Labour Organization); Pignatti, Clemente (ILO International Labour Organization) |
| Abstract: | We analyze for the first time the welfare effects of unemployment benefits (UBs) in a context of high informality, exploiting matched administrative and survey data with individual-level information on UB receipt, formal and informal employment, wages and consumption. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that dismissal from a formal job causes a large drop in consumption, which is between three to six times larger than estimates for developed economies. This is generated by a permanent shift of UB recipients towards informal employment, where they earn substantially lower wages. We then exploit a kink in benefits and show that more generous UBs delay program exit through a substitution of formal with informal employment. However, the disincentive effects are small and short-lived. Because of the high insurance value and the low efficiency costs, welfare effects from increasing UBs are positive for a range of values of the coefficient of relative risk aversion. |
| Keywords: | unemployment benefits, welfare effects, informal employment |
| JEL: | J46 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14601&r= |
| By: | Pal, Sarmistha (University of Surrey); Chowdhury, Prabal Roy (Indian Statistical Institute); Saher, Zoya (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of legislated land ceiling size on capital investment and industrialisation in the Indian states. India's land ceiling legislations of 1960s and 1970s imposed a ceiling on maximum land holdings and redistributed above-ceiling lands. These ceiling legislations, effectively implemented or not, had increased land fragmentation and increased transactions costs of acquiring land for both strategic and non-strategic reasons. States with smaller ceiling size are thus likely to have (i) lower capital investment; (ii) less factories and lower industrialisation too. Ceteris paribus, estimates of both relative (post-1971 ceiling legislations relative to pre-1971 ones) and aggregate effects of legislated ceiling size lend support to these hypotheses, after eliminating competing explanations. These results offer insights about how to reduce transactions costs of land acquisition, policies that we claim are also applicable beyond India. |
| Keywords: | land reform, land acquisition, land ceiling size, transaction costs of land acquisition, investment in capital, industrialisation, India |
| JEL: | H70 K11 L38 O14 Q15 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14624&r= |