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on Development |
| By: | Augustin Kwasi Fosu (Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg; Johannesburg, South Africa; Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) |
| Abstract: | In the light of the increasing importance of institutions in economic development and Africa's desire to catch up, the present paper provides an account of this crucial subject, `Institutions and African Economic Developmentâ€'. First, adopting the usual definition of `institutions' as `rules of the game', the paper shows that improvements in economic institutions, such as economic freedom, had begun by the early 1990s, and accelerated about the mid-1990s, consistent with observed improvements in economic and development outcomes. Also improved are measures of political institutions: an index of electoral competitiveness, constraint on the executive branch of government, and polity 2 as an indicator of the level of democracy, beginning in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Second, based primarily on a review of the extant literature, the paper observes that these improvements in the measures of economic and political institutions are positively associated with the increasing economic development in Africa. Third, indicators of institutional instability, measured by the frequency of civil wars and the incidence of coups d'etat, have been diminishing since the early 1990s, with implications for improved growth and human development. Fourth, some evidence is provided in support of the notion that African countries with better performance on institutional quality during the period of growth resurgence have also exhibited greater progress on poverty reduction. Finally, the paper concludes by flagging the potential risk of African countries backtracking on their respective trajectories toward achieving the democratic consolidation required to sustain the gains in growth and development. |
| JEL: | O11 O15 O43 O55 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:202202&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Guo, Zhe; Arndt, Channing; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | Africa is experiencing a rapid growth in urban population with a billion more people expected to live in cities by 2050. The extent to which urbanization contributes to improvements in the welfare of households and individuals depends on whether it is accompanied by the creation of remunerative employment opportunities and investments on essential infrastructure and services. Specific to child nutrition, urbanization can improve nutrition through its effects on the immediate and underlying determinants that include dietary and nutrient intake, diseases, household food security, environmental sanitation, and access to health services. The direction and strength of the association between urbanization and child undernutrition is therefore an empirical matter that largely depends on the type of urban settlements. This study examines linkages between urbanization and child undernutrition in Burkina Faso. Nutrition data are obtained from the Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) con-ducted in 1998/99, 2003, and 2010. Nutritional outcomes of children 0-59 months old are measured using height-for-age z-score (HAZ), weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), and weight-for-age z-score (WAZ). Instead of relying on a binary urban-rural classification available in the DHS data, we construct two continuous indicators of urbanization based on remotely sensed data ‒ the size of urban area within 10 kilometers radius around the DHS cluster (urban extent) and the distance between the child’s DHS cluster and the boundary of the nearest urban settlement (remoteness). |
| Keywords: | BURKINA FASO, WEST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, poverty, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, urbanization, rural urban relations, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:9&r= |
| By: | Lisa Cameron (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, the University of Melbourne); Claire Chase (World Bank Water Global Practice); Diana Contreras Suarez (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, the University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | Poor household water supply and sanitation can affect maternal and newborn health outcomes through several pathways, including the quality of drinking water consumed by pregnant woman and exposure to harmful fecal pathogens in the environment due to poor quality sanitation. Using data on 14,098 pregnancies across four rounds of the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), we investigate the relationship between water and sanitation and outcomes along the course of a pregnancy - health and complications during pregnancy, probability of a miscarriage, complications during child birth, probability of live birth, and neonatal outcomes including birth weight and newborn survival rates. After controlling for confounding factors, we find that access to at least basic household sanitation is strongly associated with substantially decreased overall risk during pregnancy and birth. Whether or not a household has access to at least basic sanitation is strongly significantly associated with a lower probability of miscarriage and is a strong predictor of high fever during labor (an indicator of infection). We find no systematic association between household access to basic water and maternal and newborn outcomes. We also find no evidence of herd protection resulting from high levels of sanitation within the community. |
| Keywords: | Sanitation, water, maternal health, neonatal health, Indonesia, developing countries |
| JEL: | I15 Q59 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2021n14&r= |
| By: | Yasar Ersan (University of Michigan); Ilhan Can Ozen (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey) |
| Abstract: | The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) had a significant foothold in the Anatolian geography for the majority of the early 19th century, through their sizeable human capital intervention. Through an extensive archival work, we study the impact of human capital intervention on development outcomes. Using the spatial variation in the built and functional mission stations, we find areas closer to ABCFM missions have presently higher income by 5%-17%, and higher general development index by 0.07-0.12 standard deviation in 10 km proximity. We identify the mission impact by exploiting a placebo set from the group that was conceived but not carried out, and also an exogenous re-partition of the working region as an instrumental variable strategy. The underlying mechanisms are labor productivity in the agriculture sector, which allows for greater skill differentiation and structural transformation. Gender roles in education are also significantly transformed. |
| Keywords: | Middle East, American missionaries, economic development, human capital, persistence |
| JEL: | I25 L16 N35 N55 O10 O43 Z12 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:2201&r= |
| By: | Santiago Pérez-Cardona |
| Abstract: | I study the impact of rebel governance on economic development in rural Colombia. In 1998 the Colombian government created a 42,000 square km demilitarized zone (DMZ) to negotiate with FARC, Colombia's largest and oldest rebel group. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, I exploit the DMZ's border defined by municipalities' pre-existing administrative boundaries to examine the causal effects of rebel based social order on education, living conditions, and agricultural production. I show that rebel governance increased the years of education by 0.1 standard deviations, access to aqueduct systems by 11 percentage points, and agricultural yield by 16 percent. These findings appear to be driven by public goods provision and less exposure to violence during rebels rule. However, I find that the positive gains from rebel governance did not translate into better living standards. |
| Keywords: | Rebel Rule, Violence, Civil War, Development. |
| JEL: | O15 N46 D74 |
| Date: | 2022–01–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:019941&r= |
| By: | Margarita Gáfaro; Ana María Ibáñez; Patricia Justino |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how armed groups affect the organization of local communities during armed conflict in Colombia. We estimate the effect of communities' exposure to armed groups with an econometric specification that takes into account individual and municipality-year fixed effects and an instrumental variable approach that exploits variations in the presence of armed groups in rural communities induced by the peace negotiations with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army. |
| Keywords: | Armed conflict, Institutions, Colombia |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2022-2&r= |
| By: | Inés Berniell (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP); Leonardo Gasparini (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and CONICET); Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and CONICET); Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses gender differences in the effects of adverse conditions at labormarket entry in a developing region. Using harmonized microdata from national household surveys for 15 Latin American countries, we build a synthetic panel of cohorts that potentially transition from school to work and observe their labor market outcomes 10 years later. We find that men who faced higher unemployment rates at ages 18-20 suffer a negative effect on employment at ages 27-30. In contrast, women from those same unlucky cohorts have higher employment rates and earnings. Our results are consistent with women acting as secondary workers in downturns. We also find that women from unlucky cohorts control a larger share of family income and are more likely to be the head of household 10 years after labor market entry, and that adverse initial labor market conditions are correlated to more egalitarian perceptions about gender roles later in life. |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J22 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0294&r= |
| By: | Yuzuka Kashiwagi (Waseda University and National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience); Yasuyuki Todo (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8050, Japan.) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether and how natural disasters affect intergroup perceptions, particularly focusing on subjective expectations for dependability on other groups in emergencies. We conduct a household survey in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, which has experienced religious conflicts and was heavily hit by the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake. Our estimation results from the survey data indicate that individuals who suffered from the earthquake exhibit higher expectations for access to emergency support from other religious groups in the future. As a possible mechanism of this change, we show that the direct and indirect experience of actual cooperation between groups after the earthquake contribute to the higher expectations of sufferers. We also find heterogeneity in the effect of the earthquake on intergroup perception, depending on, for example, the types of damage and past experiences. |
| Keywords: | disasters, subjective expectations, helping networks, weak ties. |
| JEL: | D1 O12 D83 D91 H84 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:2122&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Ru, Yating; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | Despite progresses made over the last several decades, the prevalence of child malnutrition re-mains alarmingly high. About 149 million children under the age of five years old were stunted (too short for their age) in 2018, of which 55% and 39% lived in Asia and Africa, respectively. Malnourished children, especially stunted ones, may never achieve their full cognitive and non-cognitive potential with implications for their educational and labor market performance among other things. Malnutrition results from several interlinked factors operating at child, parental, household, and landscape level such as inadequate maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy and at the time of lactation, suboptimal breastfeeding practices, lack of nutritious complementary foods, and unhealthy living environments. This study analyzes the correlates of child undernutrition in rural Africa South of the Sahara (SSA) – a region with the least progress in tackling undernutrition. |
| Keywords: | AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:8&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | This document summarizes published and grey literature on conceptual framework on the link between child nutrition and economic growth, determinants of child undernutrition, types of investments to enhance maternal and child nutrition, and linkages between urbanization and child nutrition. Several in-sights emerge from the review. First, and despite progresses over the last several decades, maternal and child malnutrition is still prevalent in developing countries and the progress has been uneven. While the percentage of chronically malnourished (stunted) children declined across the developing world, the number of stunted children in Africa increased due to slower reduction in stunting prevalence and population growth. Many developing countries are experiencing the coexistence of different forms of malnutrition including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition. Second, child undernutrition, especially stunting during the first 1,000 days of life, has several short- and long-term effects on individuals and economies that include impaired cognitive and non-cognitive development, poor educational performance, low productivity and earnings, and higher healthcare costs. Third, the determinants of child undernutrition are broadly classified as the immediate determinants including dietary intake and diseases; the underlying determinants that include household food security, quality of care and household living environment, and access to healthcare; and the basic determinants that include access to productive resources, stock of capital, as well as socioeconomic, political and cultural factors. Investments to enhance child nutrition can target either the immediate determinants (known as nutrition-specific investments) or the underlying determinants (known as nutrition-sensitive investments). Fourth, the effect of urbanization on child nutrition is mostly determined by the extent to which urban settlements offer their residents with better economic opportunities (e.g., better paying jobs and markets for nutritious food) and services (e.g., healthier living environments). Fifth, given the multilayer causes of child undernutrition, a multi-sectoral approach is needed to address the various determinants of undernutrition to improve maternal nutrition, promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices, enhance household food security, as well as improve healthy living environment and access to quality health care. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, investment, poverty, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:6&r= |
| By: | Jacob Shapiro (Princeton University); Oliver Vanden Eynde (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Can tax regimes shape the incentives to engage in armed conflict? Indian mining royalties benefit the States, but are set by the central government. India's Maoist belt is mineral-rich, and States are responsible for counterinsurgency operations. We exploit the introduction of a 10% ad valorem tax on iron ore that increased royalty collections of the affected states by a factor of 10. We find that the royalty hike was followed by a significant intensification of violence in districts with important iron ore deposits. The royalty increase was also followed by an increase in illegal mining activity in iron mines. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resources,Civil Conflict,Counterinsurgency |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-03325898&r= |
| By: | Martin, Will |
| Abstract: | Agricultural development is crucial in developing countries, and particularly in the poorest countries where it accounts for large shares of employment and income and whose poverty is due simply to having a large share of the workforce in low-productivity agriculture. Raising productivity in agriculture is critically important for development, as is smoothly moving workers out of agriculture into more productive employment in other sectors. Raising agricultural productivity helps both to raise incomes and to reduce poverty-both by raising the incomes of poor people working in agriculture and by lowering the prices of foods that make up a disproportionately large share of the expenditures of poor people. In small and open economies, the in-crease in profitability of agriculture following improvements in productivity might tend to retain or even attract workers into agriculture. By contrast, at a global level, or at national level when policy focusses on self-sufficiency, improvements in agricultural productivity will free up labor for employment in other sectors. Incomes are generally much higher in non-agricultural work in developing countries-more than double those in agriculture after careful adjustment for key differences. This raises the possibility of a double dividend from structural transformation as workers move into higher-productivity activities. A key question for development policy is whether it is enough to simply evaluate the gains from higher productivity within agriculture, or whether potential benefits from structural change be included as well. This paper examines the arguments on this question. It concludes that these dividends may be substantial-but whether they are or not depends on the source of the initial differences in productivity and on the direction of movement when agricultural productivity rises. If it results from policy barriers such as restrictions on the transfer of farmland or requirements for residence permits in urban areas, there are likely to be substantial welfare gains when labor moves out of agriculture. They may also be substantial if urban wages are artificially high and attract substantial numbers of job-waiters into unemployment. However, these gains may be illusory if the income gaps arise primarily from differences in skills or from reluctance to move created by asset fixity. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, agricultural productivity, economic growth, income, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:1&r= |