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on Development |
| By: | Neidhöfer, Guido; Ciaschi, Matías; Gasparini, Leonardo; Serrano, Joaquín |
| Abstract: | We explore the role of social mobility as a driver of economic development. First, we map the geography of intergenerational mobility of education for 52 Latin American regions, as well as its evolution over time. Then, through a new weighting procedure that considers the participation of cohorts to the economy in each year, we estimate the impact of changes in mobility on regional economic indicators, such as income per capita, poverty, child mortality, and luminosity. Our findings show that increasing social mobility had a significant and robust effect on the development of Latin American regions. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Mobility,Equality of Opportunity,Development,Growth,Latin America |
| JEL: | D63 I24 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21087&r= |
| By: | Ambler, Kate (IFPRI, International Food Policy Research Institute); Jones, Kelly M. (American University); O’Sullivan, Michael (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Increasing women's empowerment is a key objective of many development programs, both as a principal goal and as a path to economic development. We propose and test a novel economic intervention that relies on intra-household transfers of productive assets to increase women’s empowerment among sugar farmers in Uganda. We document that this intervention increases women's access to resources and agency by a substantial amount. In contrast, a behavior change intervention (training) increases empowerment through agency and achievements, with no impact on access to resources. We use these interventions to test the widely held (but weakly supported) assumption that empowering women generates improvements in child welfare. We find that, contrary to studies examining extra-household transfers, these interventions do not shift food security, health, or educational outcomes. They do, however, improve life satisfaction both for women and their husbands. |
| Keywords: | empowerment, intra-household allocation, family welfare, Uganda, Africa |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J12 O12 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14861&r= |
| By: | Roxana Guti\'errez-Romero |
| Abstract: | Despite the extensive literature on civil conflict, little is known about the medium- and long-term effects of electoral violence on young children and adolescents. This paper shows that electoral violence of low scale yet recursive nature has a detrimental effect on the height of children and adolescents of affected households. Our identification strategy uses the variation of electoral violence across time and space in Kenya during 1992-2013. We find that infants and adolescents exposed to electoral violence are shorter as adults if compared to similar people not exposed to violence during their growing age. We also find inter-generation effects as the children of the victims of electoral violence, particularly boys, also have reduced height-for-age. Higher food prices and changes in diet experienced during outbreaks of violence are important mechanisms. No impact is found on the educational attainment of school-aged pupils as electoral violence has been concentrated during the school holidays. |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2112.13849&r= |
| By: | Raymundo Campos Vázquez; Víctor Delgado Barrera; Roberto Vélez Grajales (Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias) |
| Abstract: | This article documents several measures of intergenerational economic mobility in Mexico. We employ census data available for 1990 to 2015 that provides data on earnings. Since censuses do not link individuals over time, the empirical strategy follows a synthetic approach by matching individuals with synthetic family earnings by the state where they were born and their birth cohort. The aggregate estimate indicates an intergenerational elasticity (IGE) of 0.50 for Mexico, adjusted for cross-country comparison. From this perspective, intergenerational mobility is low in comparison with advanced economies. Results also suggest a higher intergenerational mobility for younger cohorts. For regional comparisons, estimates show that people born in southern Mexico are more likely to have a lesser degree of intergenerational mobility. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auk:ecosoc:2020_08&r= |
| By: | Nicholas Li (Department of Economics, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada) |
| Abstract: | I examine the effect of in-kind staple transfers on agricultural production in a setting where transactions with markets are costly for households and result in interlinked consumption and production decisions. The expansion of India’s Public Distribution system between 1993-2009 led to large variation in the quantity and value of staple grain transfers across households, districts and states. I find that increases in PDS quantities crowds out consumption from home production, decreases staple production, and leads to more market exchange oriented production. Effects are larger for households and districts that initially face higher market transaction costs or have less market-oriented production. |
| Keywords: | in-kind; transfers; food; agriculture; specialization; trade; production; household; India |
| JEL: | O12 O13 H53 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rye:wpaper:wp082&r= |
| By: | Merfeld, Joshua D. (KDI School of Public Policy and Management); Brummund, Peter (University of Alabama) |
| Abstract: | A consistent finding in the development literature is that average non-farm labor productivity is higher than average farm labor productivity. These differences in average productivity are sometimes used to promote policies which advance the non-farm sector. In this paper, we analyze the importance of two specification choices when comparing productivity gaps, using detailed household panel data from Malawi. Importantly, we are able to calculate both average revenue products (ARPLs) – similar to most of the sectoral productivity gap literature – as well as marginal revenue products (MRPLs). We show that the choice of productivity measure combined with the choice of production function specification can lead to different sectoral productivity rankings. MRPLs from translog production functions suggest the household farm sector is more productive than the household non-farm sector, while MRPLs from a Cobb-Douglas and ARPLs from both a translog and a Cobb-Douglas find the opposite ranking. |
| Keywords: | non-farm production, agriculture, labor productivity |
| JEL: | J24 J43 O13 Q12 R23 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14864&r= |
| By: | Aritri Chakravarty (BASE University, Bengaluru) |
| Abstract: | This paper tries to estimate the impact of information use on technical efficiency of agricultural production in India using propensity score matching method. The study utilises cross-sectional data from the 70th Round of NSSO on Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers (2012-13). Technical efficiency is calculated using a novel technique by Cherchye, et.al. (2013) that acknowledges the presence of multiple outputs, output-specific inputs and joint inputs in the data. The results of propensity score matching method show that users of information have a slightly higher efficiency than non-users but the impacts vary largely across different sources of information. The findings hint at a source effect working at large that tends to dampen the true effect of information. Using information from private sources has the largest impact while media has a smaller impact. Public sources don’t show a statistically significant impact, may be due to constraints like lack of infrastructure, manpower and monitoring. Nevertheless, it does not undermine their importance but suggests that they might work through indirect channels that require further exploration. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Information Use, Technical Efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Propensity Score Matching JEL Classification- D24, Q12, Q16 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:alj:wpaper:14/2022&r= |
| By: | Giorgio Chiovelli; Stelios Michalopoulos; Elias Papaioannou; Sandra Sequeira |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of conflict-driven displacement on human capital. We focus on the Mozambican civil war (1977–1992), during which more than four million civilians fled to the countryside, cities, and refugee camps and settlements in neighboring countries. We leverage the full post-war census to compare siblings separated during the war, using those who stayed behind as a counterfactual to one’s displacement path. Uprooted children register higher investments in education. Second, we quantify the relative importance of place-based and displacement effects. The latter increases education and decreases attachment to agriculture by the same rate as being exposed to an environment approximately one standard deviation more developed than one’s birthplace. Third, we conduct a survey in Nampula, whose population doubled during the civil war. Those who fled to the city have significantly higher education than their siblings who remained in the countryside and they converged to the levels of schooling of non-mover urban-born individuals. However, those displaced exhibit significantly lower social/civic capital and have worse mental health, even three decades after the war. These findings reveal that displacement shocks can trigger human capital investments, breaking links with subsistence agriculture, but at the cost of long-lasting, social, and psychological traumas. |
| JEL: | J10 J15 J20 O1 O15 O18 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29589&r= |
| By: | Morsy, Hanan (African Development Bank); Shimeles, Abebe (African Development Bank); Nabassaga, Tiguene (HEC Montreal) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how inequality could be tackled through structural transformation using unit record data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Africa. Results suggest inequality between countries tends to be higher when the share of labor employed or value-added in the agriculture sector is higher, while no effect is seen for industry and services sectors' contributions to employment or value-added of the gross domestic product (GDP). On the other hand, within-country inequality tends to be strongly affected by structural change. A one standard deviation growth in the movement of labor from low- to high-productivity sectors could decrease overall inequality by 0.5 percent and inequality of opportunity by 1.1 percent. Results from other data sources strongly support these findings suggesting that rapid structural transformation could lead to sustained reduction in inequality in Africa. Other factors correlated strongly with inequality reduction include human capital which tend to have large and significant income or asset equalizing effect in Africa, particularly at higher level of education. Growth in urbanization and high initial per capita GDP tend to worsen inequality, while initial inequality tended to stem the rise in inequality. |
| Keywords: | structural transformation, inequality, labor productivity growth |
| JEL: | D30 D31 J2 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14878&r= |
| By: | Faran, Mahvish (University of Sheffield); Taylor, Karl (University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a novel firm level data set to investigate the impact of a unique quality management practice on the production and productivity of a large-scale garments manufacturer in Pakistan. The analysis provides evidence that production complexity is an important element in determining the impact of management practices, as there are sizeable differences in the effects between complex and basic lines of assembly. Most specifications show that the implementation of the new quality management practice has a negative impact on lines at the extreme ends of the complexity spectrum, while conversely it has a positive impact on those basic lines which exhibit the highest levels of complexity. We find evidence consistent with a quantity-quality trade off, in that whilst the implementation of the new management practice generally adversely impacted upon productivity it had the desired effect of reducing the number of daily quality defects observed after the intervention. |
| Keywords: | quality management practice, productivity, production complexity |
| JEL: | L2 M2 O14 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14875&r= |
| By: | Javed, Rashid; Mughal, Mazhar |
| Abstract: | Using data from two representative Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the change in son preference over the past three decades and its effects on Pakistani women’s fertility. We analyse a number of indicators and employ different empirical methods to come up with strong and persistent evidence for both the revealed and stated preference for sons. This disproportionate preference for boys is visible in increasing desired sex ratio and worsening sex ratio at last birth. Reliance over differential birth-stopping has significantly increased over time as couples are more likely to stop childbearing once the desired number of boys is achieved. |
| Keywords: | Son preference,Fertility,parity progression,Pakistan |
| JEL: | D13 J13 O15 C13 Z13 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:248643&r= |
| By: | Inés Berniell (CEDLAS/UNLP); Lucila Berniell (CAF); Dolores de la Mata (CAF); María Edo (Universidad de San Andrés); Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS/CONICET) |
| Abstract: | We study the causal effect of motherhood on labour market outcomes in Latin America. We adopt an event study approach around the birth of the first child based on panel data from national household surveys for Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. Our main contributions are: (i)providing new and comparable evidence on the effects of motherhood on labour outcomes in developing countries; (ii) exploring the possible mechanisms driving these outcomes; (iii) discussing the potential links between these outcomes and the prevailing gender norms and family policies in the region. We find that motherhood reduces women’s labour supply in the extensive and intensive margins and influences female occupational structure towards flexible occupations— part-time work, self-employment, and informal jobs—needed for family–work balance. Furthermore, countries with more conservative gender norms and less generous family policies are associated with larger differences between mothers’ and non-mothers’ labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | child penalty, event study, female labour supply, self-employment, labour informality, developing countries, Latin America |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J22 J46 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:93&r= |
| By: | Krubnik, Alicja |
| Abstract: | Successive debt crises that have affected Latin America since the late 1970s had unique and substantial consequences on women in the areas of, education, health, as well as political and economic participation that exacerbated gender inequalities. During this period, demand increased for social programmes that had the potential to mitigate decreases in women’s welfare. National policy responses to the crises were, however, largely driven by International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditional lending agreements. Though conditionality was primarily motivated by conditionality fiscal austerity, liberalization, deregulation, and privatization, conditions pertaining to redistribution and social policy also existed. This dissertation has two main aims: the first is to determine what effects conditions in different issue areas had on the prevalence of social programmes in Latin America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and the second is to understand how changes to social programmes have affected women’s welfare in relation to the welfare of men. Building off Kentikelenis et al.’s categorisation of different conditionality issue areas,1 the first analysis makes use of instrumental variable two-stage last-squared (IV 2SLS) estimation to understand the relationship between specific conditions and social programmes. Next, fixed-effects (FE) estimation was leveraged in order to examine the impact of various social programmes on women’s welfare. The findings conclude that while conditionality had mixed effects on social programmes, it diminished those which were determined to positively impact women’s welfare in relation to that of men. |
| Keywords: | debt crises; Latin America; IMF; conditionality; government social expenditure; women's welfare; gender inequality |
| JEL: | N0 E6 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112939&r= |
| By: | Nikolova, Elena; Polansky, Jakub |
| Abstract: | Although a large body of literature has argued that motherhood has a profound and long-lasting negative effect on the employment and earnings of women, there is little evidence focusing on the post-communist region. This paper exploits the latest round of the EBRD-World Bank Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) and of the Mongolian National Statistics Office Household Socio- Economic Survey (HSES) to examine the correlation between the presence of children of different age categories in a family and female employment in Mongolia in 2016. We examine the availability of childcare, social norms and attitudes towards women, as well as household decision-making as potential explanations. We find that small children decrease the probability of female employment relative to women with no small children. In particular, women with two children aged one to six years are 21.5 percentage points less likely to be employed. Our results also suggest that cultural biases against women may be - at least partially - responsible for the low female employment levels which we uncovered. These results are unlikely to be driven by omitted variable bias. |
| Keywords: | children,female employment,Mongolia,women |
| JEL: | J16 J13 J20 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1015&r= |
| By: | Juneyoung Lee; Keun Lee |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the three-way relationship of economic growth and the two aspects of income distribution, namely, functional income distribution (labor income share) and household income distribution (Gini coefficient). It reveals the more serious nature of inequality in developing countries with a lower value of labor share but a higher Gini coefficient in comparison with developed countries, although both groups show a sharp decline of labor share but stable Gini coefficients over time. The study confirms the same three-way relationship in two groups of countries but with several different determinants and the different trends of the key variables. One contribution of such three-way analysis is to find the ¡®decoupling¡¯ pattern of the growth-equity nexus, namely decoupling between functional income distribution and household income distribution, as it finds that economic growth tends to increase labor income share but worsen household income inequality. Moreover, for both groups, higher labor income shares and household income inequality lead to a higher rate of economic growth. These findings are indicative of the common growth mechanism driven by skill-biased technical changes. The study also confirms the different determinants of equity. That is, declining labor share and stable Gini coefficients seem to be caused by the slow growth and increasing years of schooling in developed countries, whereas by sharp decreases in fertility rates and government expenditure in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Income Distribution; Economic Growth; Simultaneous Equations System; Gini Coefficient; Labor Income Share; Kuznets; |
| JEL: | O11 O15 O47 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snu:ioerwp:no146&r= |