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on Development |
| By: | Miehe, Caroline; Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Nabwire, Leocardia; Sparrow, Robert; Spielman, David J. |
| Abstract: | To fully benefit from new agricultural technologies like improved seed varieties, significant investment in complementary inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, and practices such as systematic planting, irrigation, and weeding are also required. Farmers may fail to recognize the importance of these complements, leading to unsatisfactory crop yields and outputs and, eventually, dis-adoption of the variety. We provide a simple model of biased expectations, complementary input use and technology adoption and test its predictions using a field experiment among smallholder maize farmers in eastern Uganda. We find that pointing out the importance of complementary investments using a short, engaging video effectively deters some farmers from using commercial improved varieties. Consistent with the theoretical model, we find some evidence that this behavior change emanates from increased knowledge and expectations that are more in line with realized outcomes. |
| Keywords: | UGANDA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; agricultural technologies; seeds; investments; fertilizers; pesticides; planting; irrigation; weeding; farmers; crop yield; outputs; innovation adoption; smallholders; maize; behaviour; knowledge; systematic planting |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2183&r=dev |
| By: | Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri; Andrés Álvarez |
| Abstract: | Inequality in access to high-quality education can hinder the ability of education to promote intergenerational mobility. Looking at the case of Colombia, one of the most unequal and least mobile countries in Latin America, we evaluate whether contemporary differences in access to high-quality education have deep roots in the past. We use several past and contemporary sources to define social status attributes for several historical groups. Assuming that sufficiently rare surnames are part of the same extended family, we trace dynasties of indigenous, encomenderos (Spaniard colonial officers), 19th century slave-owners, and members of different educational, social, and business elites of the 17th, late 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Using microdata from administrative sources, we provide evidence of social segregation in education and test if the historical status of each social group is associated with access to disadvantageous or privileged educational institutions. The results show that the original social status of the historical groups is highly associated with their contemporary performance in educational outcomes. We explore assortative mating as a mechanism for perpetuating segregation in education. We find evidence of homogamy within the historical elites and ethnic surnames. We conclude that the educational system in Colombia reproduces patterns of social exclusion rooted in the past. **** RESUMEN: La desigualdad en el acceso a educación de alta calidad puede obstaculizar el papel de la educación como motor de movilidad social. Estudiando el caso de Colombia, uno de los países más desiguales y menos móviles del América Latina, nuestro objetivo es evaluar si las diferencias contemporáneas en el acceso a educación de alta calidad tienen sus raíces en el pasado. Con fuentes históricas y contemporáneas definimos atributos de estatus social de varios grupos históricos. Asumiendo que los apellidos suficientemente raros son parte de la misma familia extensa, seguimos dinastías de indígenas, encomenderos, due˜nos de esclavos miembros de diferentes élites educativas, sociales y empresariales de los siglos XVII, finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX. Usando fuentes administrativas evaluamos si el estatus histórico de cada grupo social está asociado con el acceso a instituciones educativas privilegiadas. Los resultados muestran que el estatus social original de los grupos históricos predice el acceso a educación de alta calidad. Los grupos étnicos continúan siendo segregados de la educación de alta calidad contemporánea. Mientras que, entre más antigua es la élite más probabilidad hay de que converja a la media en estatus social. Además encontramos evidencia de homogamia contemporánea dentro de las élites históricas y los apellidos étnicos. Los resultados permiten concluir que el sistema educativo en Colombia reproduce patrones de exclusión social que están arraigados en el pasado. |
| Keywords: | Education, Segregation, Persistence, Assortative mating, Colombia, Educación, Segregación, Persistencia, Homogamia |
| JEL: | O15 D63 I24 J15 J12 N36 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:cheedt:58&r=dev |
| By: | Kimsanova, Barchynai; Sanaev, Golib; Herzfeld, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between international migration, labor, remittances, and agricultural commercialization in Kyrgyzstan using nationally representative household panel surveys covering eight years from 2013 to 2020. Unlike other studies, we focus on evaluating the impact of international migration on total farm commercialization, including crop, livestock, and live animals. We use quantile regression via moments and a three-stage least squares method to overcome the potential endogeneity of migration, labor, and remittances. Overall results show that sending household members abroad has a significant labor-loss effect on households with a consequent impact on farm commercialization. Remittances only partially compensate for losses for households with the lowest level of commercialization. Furthermore, the quantile regressions show little heterogeneity between the selected quantiles, except for the number of migrants, which is detrimental to the lowest level of commercialization |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, International Development |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc23:334559&r=dev |
| By: | Martina Miotto |
| Abstract: | I study the impact of European colonialism in Africa on the present status of women. The historical literature suggests that a critical determinant of persistent gender inequality is the colonial cash crop system. This favoured men’s entry into the cash economy and excluded women, whose workload increased as they provided additional labour in their husbands’ cash crop fields. By contrast, contemporary economic literature suggests that raising the status of women in the labour force could improve gender norms. I take districts with different levels of participation in cash crop agriculture during colonial rule and compare outcomes for the contemporary female descendants, using exogenous land suitability as the instrument for cash crop production. My findings show a persistent positive effect of cash crop agriculture on women’s status, measured as higher agency within the household, less willingness to justify husbands’ violence, and higher levels of education. No effect is found for labour force participation. The intergenerational transmission of culture plays a key role in explaining the long-run persistent effect, which is especially prevalent in regions whose cash crops were cocoa and palm oil, as women played a substantial role in producing these crops. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp750&r=dev |
| By: | JOHNSON, Deepak; KUROSAKI, Takashi |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the broad literature on agricultural development and particularly on the contribution of price and non-price factors, this study examines how government support contributes to farm incomes from rice cultivation in two frontier rice-growing regions in Asia: Kerala, southern India and Mekong Delta, Vietnam. We use a detailed case study approach to offer a unique comparison between two best-performing areas that are similar in agroclimatic conditions and institutional trajectories, which is generally wanting in literature. Our farm budget analysis and counterfactual simulations using household-level data show that the local (state-level) price support contributes to more than half of the average crop income per hectare in Kerala. While the per hectare crop income for a single season in Vietnam was significantly lower than in Kerala, the annual incomes were higher due to multiple cropping. We combine these survey-based results with qualitative insights to examine how various factors have led to the observed scenario. This comparative analysis demonstrates the need for specific non-price interventions, particularly in terms of research and extension services, in enhancing incomes for agriculturally advanced regions within developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Farm households, Rice cultivation, Agricultural policy, India, Vietnam, Price support, Infrastructure |
| JEL: | O13 Q12 Q18 Q16 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hituec:741&r=dev |
| By: | Diego Jimenez-Hernandez; Enrique Seira |
| Abstract: | Governments spend considerable resources providing goods directly. We show that such behavior may increase welfare when private suppliers have market power. We do this by studying the staggered rollout of hundreds of government milk “ration stores” in Mexico using a proprietary panel of household food purchases. The rollout lowered the price per liter of privately supplied milk by 2.4% and increased household consumption. To compare direct provision with budget-neutral alternatives, we develop and estimate an equilibrium model of the market that accounts for quality differences. Direct provision generates larger consumer surplus than milk vouchers and unrestricted cash transfers. |
| Keywords: | private provision; public provision; market concentration |
| JEL: | H42 L33 L44 L66 O15 |
| Date: | 2022–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:96204&r=dev |
| By: | Chinh Thi Tuyet Mai; Akira Hibiki |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes an in-depth study of the short- and long-term effects of floods on the cognitive development of school-aged children. Specifically, we exploit individual-level microdata from a longitudinal study of childhood poverty in Vietnam. Our analyses indicate that floods immediately imposed negative impacts on children’s cognitive skills, but these impacts would be mitigated in the long run. Changes in child schooling, time allocation between school and work, and household food consumption (child nutrition) appear to be potential channels behind these impacts. Girls, older children, firstborn children, and children belonging to ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of flooding. Our results suggest that policies to alleviate the credit constraints of households in the above groups could mitigate the damage imposed by natural disasters on human capital accumulation. |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:36&r=dev |
| By: | Ngoudji Tameko, Charlie Yves; Ningaye, Paul |
| Abstract: | This paper applies the standard β-convergence analysis and the log-t test methods to compare the convergence process of life expectancy and per capita GDP, using a sample of 89 countries between 1960-2019 and analyse the interrelation and the dynamics of these phenomena in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) after the international epidemiological transition. We use life expectancy at birth and per capita GDP estimates from respectively the World Bank’s Population Estimates and Projections and the Penn World Table. Our results show evidence of significant catching-up in life expectancy between SSA countries and the rich and the other poor world by 2019 after a slowdown period between 1985 and 2000 in which most SSA countries converge into multiple steady states. Further, we find that the world without SSA is converging economically in 2019 while significant cross-country variations and convergence clubs are noted when taking into consideration the region. Finally, our results indicate that the economic performances of SSA are not the only factors driving the health catch-up, the increasing convergence in the antimalarial policies’ implementation in SSA after 2003 play great role in this process. |
| Keywords: | life expectancy, per capita GDP, convergence, health, economic growth, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | I15 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117265&r=dev |
| By: | Daniel Crisóstomo Wainstock; Oded Galor; Marc Klemp |
| Abstract: | Evidence suggests that the Out of Africa Migration has impacted the degree of intra-population genetic and phenotypic diversity across the globe. This paper provides the first evidence that this migration has shaped cultural diversity. Leveraging a folklore catalogue of 958 oral traditions across the world, we show that ethnic groups further away from East Africa along the migratory routes have lower folkloric diversity. This pattern is consistent with the compression of genetic, phenotypic, and phonemic traits along the Out of Africa migration routes, setting conditions for the emergence and proliferation of differential cultural diversity and economic development across the world. |
| Keywords: | diversity, Out of Africa, culture |
| JEL: | Z10 O10 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10379&r=dev |
| By: | Ambar Lineth Chavez Espinosa; Akira Hibiki |
| Abstract: | Climate change is a significant challenge faced by tropical developing countries. While efforts have been made to support vulnerable socio-economic groups such as farmers and indigenous peoples, little is known about how climate change affects these groups. This paper provides empirical evidence by estimating the impact of weather shocks (high temperature, temperature shock, and flood) on households' total consumption and its components (food and non-food consumption) in Panama. The study aims to explore the heterogeneity of weather shocks' impacts, specifically between households of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and farmers and non-farmers, thus contributing to the literature on the effects of belonging to a minority and indigenous group when facing climate change impacts. By combining repeated cross-sectional data from surveys on 17, 650 households with gridded climate data and flood events information for the years 1997, 2003, and 2008, the study examines if there are differences in the negative impact due to weather shocks between farmers and non-farmers or indigenous and non-indigenous households. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, higher temperature, temperature shock, and flood reduce consumption and their negative impact on food consumption is smaller than non-food consumption. Secondly, there are significant differences in the negative impact of heavy rain shocks between farmers and non-farmers. Furthermore, there are significant differences in the negative impact of weather shocks (higher temperature, temperature shock, and flood) on non-food consumption between indigenous and non-indigenous households, while there is no significant difference in total consumption and food consumption. Thirdly, the negative impacts of weather shocks on the consumption of poor households are less than those on the consumption of non-poor households. Hence, indigenous households are more vulnerable to climate change than farmers and poor households. |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:37&r=dev |
| By: | Amolegbe, Khadijat Busola; Fontep, Eugenie Rose; Ahodode, Bernadin Géraud Comlan; Pagal, Emmanuelle Dorcas Mbanga; Ardelkrim, Araar |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of climate shocks and crop diversification on household food security in Nigeria by focusing on gender-disaggregated effects. We combine historical rainfall and temperature datasets with the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) for Nigeria. Furthermore, we use an adapted version of the crop diversification Weighted Shannon index (WSI) to measure crop diversification. The food security indicators adopted are the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), the reduced Coping Strategy Index (rCSI), and the per capita food expenditures. We use a set of panel and dynamic panel models for our analysis, and our results show that climate shocks have negative effects on food security, especially in households with men plot managers. However, we find that crop diversification is positively linked to food security. Our results show the need to target policies to encourage crop diversification in households and promote crop diversification components in women empowerment programs. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc23:334551&r=dev |
| By: | Bang, James; Mitra, Aniruddha; Abbas, Faisal |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of remittance income on the household decision to send a child to work. Using data from a Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey conducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan in 2014, we isolate the causal impact of remittance income by employing statistical matching to construct counterfactuals that allow us to compare the occurrence in child labor in comparable households that differ solely in their access to remittances. We find that remittances have in general failed to mitigate household reliance on child labor in Punjab. However, the impact depends critically on whether remittances originate from within Pakistan or outside, the age and gender of the child, and on the nature of employment. Specifically, internal remittances increase the labor force participation of the youngest children in the 5-11 age group, with girls being more likely to work in household production and boys being additionally more likely to work as wage labor in nonhazardous occupations. By contrast, international remittances impact the oldest children in the 14-17 age group. While girls in this age group participate more in household and nonhazardous market production, boys are additionally more likely to participate in hazardous activity. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, Migration, Child Labor, Gender |
| JEL: | F24 F22 R23 J13 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1285&r=dev |
| By: | Ghislain B. D. Aihounton (Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Economic and Social Dynamics, University of Parakou, Benin; Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Arne Henningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of organic farming and other sustainability standards is increasing around the globe. While effects of organic farming on productivity, income, and poverty alleviation have been analyzed in numerous empirical studies, its effects on food and nutrition security are not yet understood. Using data from smallholder cotton farmers in Benin, we empirically investigate how adopting organic farming affects their food and nutrition security. Our results indicate that adopting organic farming substantially reduces their food security, while it tends to slightly reduce the nutritional quality of their diets. Evaluating pathways, we find that the decreased food and nutrition security is likely caused by lower household income due to lower income from cotton farming given a smaller land area cultivated with cotton, while a larger land area cultivated with food crops cannot fully compensate for the reduced income from cotton farming. This alarming result illustrates the need for evaluating and eventually improving programs for organic farming in developing countries to ensure that good intentions for more sustainable production practices do not jeopardize the livelihoods of vulnerable smallholder farmers. |
| Keywords: | organic farming, food security, dietary diversity, farm households, treatment effects |
| JEL: | O13 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2023_02&r=dev |
| By: | Cameron, Lisa A. (University of Melbourne); Contreras Suarez, Diana (University of Melbourne); Tseng, Yi-Ping (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Although it is well established that women's labour force participation drops markedly with marriage and childbearing, surprisingly little is known about women's labour market transitions, especially in developing countries. This paper uses the Indonesian Family Life Survey to track the employment histories of over 9, 000 women across a period of more than 20 years, observing them as they get married and have children. The data show that large numbers of Indonesian women drop out of the labour market as a result of marriage and childbearing. The difficulty of maintaining formal sector employment emerges as a key problem. Having worked in the formal sector prior to the birth of a first child reduces the probability of working in the year following the birth by 20 percentage points and reduces the probability of returning to the labour market thereafter by 3.6 percentage points. Further, to the extent that women do return to work, formal sector employment is associated with greater delays in returning - women are more likely to return to work in the formal sector only once their child starts primary school, while in the informal sector they return earlier. We find little evidence of women switching from the formal to the informal sector. Formal sector labour market policies such as flexible work hours; compressed work weeks; part-time work (with the same career opportunities and benefits as full-time work); the ability to work from home; and work-based childcare are likely to boost women's labour force participation, with consequent boosts to economic productivity and prosperity. |
| Keywords: | female labour force participation, labour market transitions, economic development, childbearing |
| JEL: | J20 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16136&r=dev |
| By: | Victoria Tenenbaum (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Andrea Vigorito (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | Several Latin American countries’ social protection systems are increasingly adopting prepaid magnetic cards as a means to promote food consumption and other essential goods. However, little is known about how these transfers affect household spending and consumption patterns or their advantages over cash options in high- and middle-income countries. To contribute to the ongoing discussion, this paper analyzes the effects of Tarjeta Uruguay Social (TUS) on food consumption, dietary diversity, and non-food spending, based on information from the 2016/17-second follow-up survey gathered for the evaluation of Asignaciones Familiares Plan de Equidad (AFAM-PE) and TUS. Based on a fuzzy regression discontinuity design identification strategy, we assess the effects of TUS on food consumption patterns, food expenditure, and a diet diversity index (DDI). We also analyze non-food spending and its components, and three potential explanatory channels: the infra /extra-marginality of the transfer; labour market attachment of the beneficiaries; and self-reported consumption decisions within the household. We find scarce effects regarding food expenditure and the DDI, which could be mainly associated with the infra-marginality of the transfer concerning household food expenditure. However, the analysis of heterogeneous effects indicates that, although weak, in those poorer households that receive doubled TUS amounts, positive changes are registered in the DDI and fruits and legumes consumption. At the same time, there are no major changes in the rest of the consumption items, although there is an increase in expenditure in housing, personal hygiene and cleaning material and an imprecise effect on education and recreation expenses, as well as a decrease in indebtedness. The above elements suggest that the TUS behaves like a purely monetary transfer. |
| Keywords: | expenditure, dietary diversity, food consumption, public transfers, Regression Discontinuity, Tarjeta Uruguay Social, Uruguay |
| JEL: | D12 I38 |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-03-23&r=dev |
| By: | Rozo, Sandra V. (World Bank); Quintana, Alejandra (Columbia University); Urbina, Maria José (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | How does easing the economic integration of forced migrants affect native voting behaviors in the Global South? This paper assesses how the regularization of half a million Venezuelan forced migrants affected the electoral choices of Colombian natives by comparing election results in municipalities with higher and lower take-up rates for a program that supports forced migrants. The findings show negligible impacts on native voting behavior. The study then conducted a survey experiment to investigate the lack of voter response. Even after receiving information about the program, Colombian voters showed no changes in voting intentions or prosocial views toward migrants. This suggests that their indifference did not stem from a lack of awareness about the program. In contrast, the electoral indifference of natives may be explained by the fact that the program did not change labor and crime outcomes for native Colombians, and most migrants remained in the informal sector despite benefiting from the program through improvements in labor conditions and better access to public services. |
| Keywords: | refugees, amnesties, electoral outcomes |
| JEL: | D72 F02 F22 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16171&r=dev |
| By: | Muricho, Geoffrey; Lokossou, Jourdain; Odhiambo, Collins; Ojiewo, Chris |
| Abstract: | Poverty among rural farming households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is associated with low adoption of modern farming technologies, especially improved crop varieties. Most studies that investigated adoption and impacts of improved crop varieties in SSA are based on farmers’ selfreported adoption status and average treatment effects. However, farmers self-reported adoption status is susceptible to errors and assessing adoption impacts using average treatment effects do not account for farmers’ heterogeneity. To address these challenges, we used DNA-fingerprinting data and Marginal Treatment Effect (MTE) framework to analyze adoption and impacts of adopting improved groundnut varieties (IGVs) in Northern Nigeria. DNA-fingerprinting results showed 57% adoption rate compared to 45% self-reported by farmers. About 29% of the sampled farmers made type I error (mistaking local varieties for improved varieties) while 44% made type II error (mistaking improved varieties for local varieties). Formal sources of seed information and empowering agricultural extension to reach more farmers was significant in ensuring accurate variety identification. Further, adopting IGV significantly reduced poverty gap and poverty severity, especially among households headed by females, older persons, lowly educated and those with limited access to credit. Therefore, policy options that enhance adoption of IGVs will significantly help in reducing poverty. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc23:334554&r=dev |
| By: | Isaac K. Ofori (Department of Economics, University of Insubria, Italy); Andreas Freytag (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, University of Stellenbosch, CESifo Research Network, STIAS.); Simplice A. Asongu (Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the contingency and threshold effects of economic freedom in the economic globalisation (EG) and inclusive green growth (IGG) relationship in Africa. Based on macro data for 22 African countries and the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors with fixed effects instrumental variable regression, the following findings are established. First, Africa’s mostly unfree economic setting, conditions EG to reduce IGG. Second, when we disaggregate EG into its financial and trade globalisation components, we find that the IGG-impeding net effect of the latter is rather striking. Third evidence from our threshold analysis suggests that by improving Africa’s mostly unfree economic architecture to 60% (moderately free) or 80% (free), the IGG-deteriorating net effects of EG are mitigated (but not nullified). We conclude that unless effort is made to improve Africa’s economic architecture level, the envisaged IGG gains of economic globalisation might prove elusive. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Economic freedom, Economic globalisation, Inclusive green growth |
| JEL: | F14 F4 O56 Q01 |
| Date: | 2023–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2023-004&r=dev |
| By: | Francisco B. Galarza; Joanna Kámiche Zegarra; Rosario Gómez |
| Abstract: | We study the role of subnational institutions in forest conservation in a context in which areas near roads are prone to deforestation. We develop an index of institutionalism to examine the extent to which local institutions can contribute to mitigate the road infrastructure’s adverse effect on deforestation. Using a large dataset from Peru, home to the second largest portion of the Amazon rainforest, we find that a higher value of our index of local institutions is significantly correlated with lower deforestation. However, the effect of our institutions index is not sufficiently large to offset the deforesting effect that closeness to roads has, at least not for relatively short distances to road. These results are robust to different specifications of our institutions index and to the inclusion of a large set of control variables. |
| Keywords: | Environment and development, deforestation, infrastructure, institutions |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apc:wpaper:192&r=dev |
| By: | Rilwan Sakariyahu (Business School, Edinburgh Napier University); Olayinka Oyekola (Department of Economics, University of Exeter); Rasheed Adigun (JPMorgan Chase); Temitope Fagbemi (Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University); Oluwagbenga Seyingbo (Business School, University of Winchester); Rodiat Lawal (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) |
| Abstract: | Climate change, one of the world's existential problems, has sparked widespread concern at national and multinational levels. In this study, we deviate from the existing scores of academic literature by investigating heterogenous and time-varying effects of climate change on quality of life at the continent and regional levels in Africa. Towards this end, we utilise carbon emissions and ecological footprint as our climate change variables and human development index to proxy quality of life for 31 African countries over the period 2000 to 2018. Several econometric techniques are then employed to account for cross-sectional dependence, panel unit root, long-term cointegration with structural break, and heterogeneous panel causality, whilst we also present results based on Bayesian panel VAR impulse response functions. The results indicate cross-sectional dependence due to spill-over effects from common factors in Africa, while the panel cointegration test affirms that climate change variables have long-term consequences for quality of life only in sub-Saharan African region. Moreover, our results reveal a uni-directional causality between climate change variables and quality of life at both the continent and sub-Saharan African region levels. However, the test shows a bi-directional causality between these variables in North Africa. This differential impacts of climate change variables on quality of life between Northern and sub-Saharan Africa suggests that policy initiatives toward mitigating the effects of climate crises should consider regional dynamics of the continent. |
| Keywords: | climate change, carbon emissions, ecological footprints, quality of life, SDGs 3 and 13, Africa |
| JEL: | Q5 I3 R11 |
| Date: | 2023–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exe:wpaper:2308&r=dev |
| By: | Chiplunkar, Gaurav (University of Virginia); Weaver, Jeffrey (University of Southern California) |
| Abstract: | Dowry payments are common in many marriage markets. This paper uses data on over 74, 000 marriages in rural India over the last century to explain why the institution of dowry emerges and how it evolves over time. We find that the proportion of Indian marriages including dowry payments doubled between 1930 and 1975, and the average real value of payments tripled. We empirically test whether four prominent theories of dowry can explain this rise, and find support for only one: increased differentiation in groom quality as a result of modernization. We also find a decline in the average real value of dowry payments after 1975 and demonstrate that this could be rationalized within a search model of marriage markets. |
| Keywords: | dowry, marriage markets, India |
| JEL: | J12 N35 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16135&r=dev |
| By: | Nguyen, Trung Thanh; Do, Manh Hung; Rahut, Dil; Nguyen, Viet Hung; Chhay, Panharoth |
| Abstract: | Supporting agricultural cooperatives might contribute to the livelihood improvement of many small-scale farmers in developing countries. This research examined the factors affecting the internet use of agricultural cooperatives with a focus on female leadership, its effects on cooperatives’ economic, social, and innovative performance, and the distributional effects of internet use on economic performance. Our analysis relied on the data of 3, 512 agricultural cooperatives collected in 2021 from Vietnam. We addressed the endogeneity issue of internet use in impact assessment by employing an instrumental variable approach. Our results showed that female leadership was positively and significantly associated with internet use and that internet use had a positive and significant effect on returns on assets, returns on equity, labour productivity, payment per labourer, contribution to labour union and insurance per labourer, and innovation in products of agricultural cooperatives. In addition, unconditional quantile regressions showed that internet use in agricultural cooperatives exacerbated income inequality. Enhancing female leadership and promoting rural education were recommended to improve agricultural cooperatives’ performance. |
| Keywords: | internet use; performance; endogeneity; heterogeneity; instrumental variable |
| JEL: | D60 Q1 R2 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117274&r=dev |