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on Development |
| By: | Sievert, Maximiliane |
| Abstract: | Electrification is frequently said to foster women's development and contribute to a modernization of gender roles. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from rural areas in 22 Sub-Saharan countries collected between 1999 and 2014, this paper examines the role of electricity access in reducing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Women in households with electricity report significantly lower acceptance of IPV. This relationship is largely driven by endogeneity, though, and applying matching and region panel approaches cast doubts on the causality of electricity for changes in attitudes towards IPV. The paper also illustrates how inference for a large number of countries is hampered by a lack of local context and observable variation, i.e. the trade-off between internal and external validity in empirical research. |
| Keywords: | rural electrification, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, region fixed effects, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | J12 J16 O13 O18 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:293991&r=dev |
| By: | Verónica Amarante (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Maira Colacce (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Federico Scalese (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | Income-based objective welfare indicators may fail to account for important socio-economic factors that could affect the level of a household’s well- being. This has led to the development of subjective measures of well-being, based on respondent’s self-assessments of welfare questions. In this article, we derive subjective poverty lines for seven Latin American countries (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) based on a Minimum Income Question included in household expenditure surveys. We compare poverty incidence under the subjective and objective approach and find that subjective poverty is larger than objective poverty for all countries. People that are identified as poor are generaly poor by both measures or only subjective poor, although the patterns of overlapping differ between countries. Thus, being income poor does not comletely coincide with feeling poor. We explore the factors associated to considering oneself as poor -that is, being subjectively poor- when the per capita household income is higher than the absolute poverty line. In general terms, unemployment and informality are associated with higher probability of subjective poverty. Other factors not directly involving income but reflecting high economic security, such as having health insurance, home ownership, the quality of housing and an asset index, also tend to reduce the probability of feeling poor. Finally, the welfare stigma effect seems not hold, at least in terms of subjective poverty. |
| Keywords: | poverty lines, subjective poverty, Latin America |
| JEL: | I32 O10 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-01-24&r=dev |
| By: | Salim Chahine (Central Bank of Lebanon & ECGI); Ugo Panizza (Geneva Graduate Institute & CEPR); Guilherme Suedekum (Geneva Graduate Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether IMF programs and their size affect borrowing costs by comparing the coupon of bonds issued around an IMF arrangement. By comparing bonds issued immediately before the inset of the program with bonds issued immediately after the program, we show that, on average, the approval of the program leads to a 72-basis points reduction in borrowing costs and program size matters. Our point estimates indicate that when program size increases by one percent of GDP, borrowing costs decrease by 23 basis points. We also show that program size only matters for ex-post programs (i.e., those implemented during crises). For precautionary ex-ante programs, borrowing costs increase with program size. However, the effect of program size is small and, therefore, ex-ante programs never lead to a statistically significant increase in borrowing costs and in most cases lead to a significant reduction in borrowing costs. |
| Keywords: | IMF programs; Sovereign debt; Bond yields; International financial markets |
| JEL: | F22 F33 F34 G01 G15 |
| Date: | 2024–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp06-2024&r=dev |
| By: | Bassier, Ihsaan; Ranchhod, Vimal |
| Abstract: | What were the effects of a 52 per cent increase in the minimum wage in the agricultural sector in South Africa in 2013? We estimate the short run effects of this policy change on the income, employment, and poverty rate of farmworkers, using individual-level panel data from the Quarterly Labour Force Surveys (QLFS). Before the implementation date, 90 per cent of farmworkers were paid below the new minimum wage level. We find that the wage gain of farmworkers is strongly quadratically related to pre-implementation wages, suggesting lower compliance as the gap between the minimum and the pre-implementation wage increases. We estimate that farmworkers received a median wage increase of 9 per cent as a result of the policy, and we find no evidence of job losses. Overall, farmworkers were 7 per cent less likely to have household income per person below the poverty line. One possible explanation for these outcomes is that endogenous compliance may mitigate against unemployment effects. While the minimum wage literature is large, our paper adds to the small subset of this literature on large increases, partial compliance, and poverty effects. |
| Keywords: | minimum wages; South Africa; poverty |
| JEL: | I32 J08 J38 |
| Date: | 2024–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:122711&r=dev |
| By: | António Afonso; M. Carmen Blanco-Arana |
| Abstract: | Financial inclusion is a key factor for economic growth in most developing countries. This paper examines the relationship between financial inclusion and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) using panel data for the period 1990-2021. The empirical evidence suggests that financial inclusion is indeed related to economic growth in the LDCs. We consider different dimensions of financial inclusion: usability (% of bank credit to bank deposits), accessibility (commercial bank branches), concentration (% of concentration of banks) and availability (depositors with commercial banks) to determine which has a greater effect on economic growth in the countries analyzed. Therefore, we assess which dimensions of financial inclusion are a better tool to improve the economic situation in the poorest countries in the world. While we conclude that all dimensions of financial inclusion have a positive effect on economic growth, in the expected direction, we find that not all dimensions affect economic growth similarly. The dimensions ‘accessibility’ and ‘concentration’ are robustly associated with economic growth, while ‘usability’ and ‘availability’ produce a significant but relatively lesser effect in the LDCs. |
| Keywords: | financial inclusion, GDP per capita, panel data, LDCs |
| JEL: | O40 O47 C33 F30 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11054&r=dev |
| By: | Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Lambrecht, Isabel; Akramov, Kamiljon; Ergasheva, Tanzila |
| Abstract: | Nutrition-sensitive agricultural diversification continues to receive interest among developing country stakeholders as a viable option for achieving dual goals of poverty reduction and food/nutrition security improvements. Assessing the effectiveness of this strategy is also essential in countries like Tajikistan. We attempt to enrich the evidence base in this regard. We assess the linkages between household-level agricultural diversification and dietary diversity (both household- and individual-levels) using unique panel samples of households and individual women of reproductive ages in the Khatlon province. Using difference-in-difference propensity-score methods and panel fixed-effects instrumental variable regressions, we show that higher agricultural diversification together with greater overall production per worker and land at the household level leads to higher dietary diversity, particularly in areas with poor food market access. Typology analyses and crop-specific analyses suggest that vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, dairy products and eggs are particularly important commodities for which a farmer’s own production contributes to dietary diversity improvement. Furthermore, decomposition exercises within the subsistence farming framework suggest that nutritional returns and costs of agricultural diversification vary across households, and expected nutritional returns may be partly driving the adoption of agricultural diversification. In other words, households’ decisions to diversify agriculture may be partly driven by potential nutritional benefits associated with enhanced direct on-farm access to diverse food items rather than farm income growth alone. Our findings underscore the importance of supporting household farm diversification in Tajikistan to support improved nutrition intake, especially among those living in remote areas. In a low-income setting with limited local employment opportunities that is vulnerable to a wide range of external shocks, this will likely continue to be one of the most straightforward and realistic paths to improving household’s nutrition resilience. |
| Keywords: | dietary diversity; food security; nutrition; propensity score matching; agriculture; modelling; Asia; Central Asia; Tajikistan |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2249&r=dev |
| By: | Rana, Sohel; Faye, Amy; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Temporary migration is a widely observed phenomenon among poor rural households, mostly related to agricultural seasonality. However, household preferences for temporary migration in comparison to longer-term migration, and the differential effects of these migrations on household livelihoods are not yet well understood. Here, we use survey data collected in northern rural Bangladesh to analyze determinants of households’ choice between temporary and longer-term migration, and their comparative effects on various livelihood indicators, with a particular focus on agricultural lean periods. Issues of selection bias and endogeneity are addressed with Heckman selection models and instrumental variables. We show that temporary migration is more common than longer-term migration, partly determined by family demographic and farm-labor constraints. Although longer-term migration has larger positive effects on household income, temporary migration has larger positive effects on food consumption and dietary quality during lean periods. These results suggest that temporary migration is an important mechanism for the rural poor to smooth consumption and deserves more attention by researchers and policy-makers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2024–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:342297&r=dev |
| By: | Gebrehiwot , Tagel (Ethiopian Climate Research Center, Policy Studies Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); Hassen, Sied (World Bank, Washington, DC) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the impact of electricity on household food consumption and the nutritional status of children under the age of five, with attention to female-headed households, and discuss possible channels of causation. Using three rounds of the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Survey and a Difference in Difference approach, we found that access to electricity increased households’ calorie consumption by 153 Kcal per day in 2013 and by 187 Kcal in 2016. Further, children in households with access to electricity are less stunted than children in households without access to electricity. The findings imply that the channel of causation may be related to the greater convenience of electricity as a cooking fuel compared to firewood or other biomass. In terms of policy, expansion of electricity, in addition to providing lighting and other end use services, has an impact in improving households’ calorie intake and reducing children’s stunted growth. |
| Keywords: | electricity; energy; nutrition; wasting; stunting |
| JEL: | D10 D12 Q40 |
| Date: | 2022–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunefd:2022_011&r=dev |
| By: | Velez, Maria (Los Andes University); Rueda, Ximena (University of Los Andes); Henao, Juan Pablo (Chair group of Agricultural Production and Resource Economics, Technical Un); Monroy, Dayron (Los Andes University); Tobin, Danny (Duke University); Maldonado, Jorge Higinio (Universidad de los Andes); Pfaff, Alexander (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | Artisanal and small-scale gold mining employs millions of poor people, globally, yet also significantly degrades the environment. Support from conscientious buyers, based on the information within certifications, could lower environmental impacts and raise incomes, leading miners to be willing to incur costs to participate in sustainable supply chains. As supply-chain certification may require formalization, we explore miners’ motivations for and the barriers to formalization within a choice experiment in two Community Councils in Afro-descendent areas of Colombia’s Pacific Region: Yurumangui, in Valle del Cauca and San Juan, in Choco. Community Councils have collective land rights—which might make them more willing to engage in collective action often required for formalization. We find that, while all miners prefer to leave the status quo, views of miners in the two Councils differed with regard to formalization. Yurumangui expressed more interest overall in the options we offered, perhaps due to past formalization experiences in San Juan. Yurumangui miners were also more willing to form or join an association to formalize, very likely due to positive past outcomes from organization. We find no consistent effect of gender regarding preferences, though prior voluntary restoration correlates with individual miners’ willingness to restore sites, one requisite of formalization. Our results inform interventions to support formalization in small-scale gold mining communities, as we find miners are willing to try formalization but raise issues related to costs that can hinder adoption and in ways that vary with the past legacies of each Council. |
| Keywords: | sustainability; supply chains; mercury; mining; Afro-descendant communities; formalization; common property resources; motivations; choice experiment; Colombia |
| JEL: | C25 D04 D71 Q31 Q32 Q38 |
| Date: | 2024–03–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunefd:2024_005&r=dev |
| By: | Owoo, Nkechi Srodah (University of Ghana); Lambon-Quayefio, Monica Puoma (University of Ghana); Amaechina, Ebele (REPRC, University of Nigeria, Nsukka) |
| Abstract: | Soil erosion is one of the most devastating issues that farmers face in Nigeria and in many rural communities in the Global South. Studies on factors that affect soil conservation may, however, be biased in the absence of consideration of spatial effects, particularly over time. In this paper, we use data from three waves of the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Survey for Nigeria to explore spatiotemporal patterns in farmers’ soil conservation adoption practices (i.e., mixed cropping and cover crop farming with legumes) and determine whether current soil conservation behaviours are affected by earlier adoption behaviours of neighbours. We begin with exploratory spatial data analyses to identify significant spatial clustering in the relationship between farmers’ soil conservation practices in 2015 and neighbours’ practices in earlier periods (2010 and 2012). The findings suggest the presence of inward diffusion – that is, conservation behaviours in 2015 are positively and significantly correlated with the conservation behaviours of neighbours in 2010 and 2012. Although the strength of the relationship lessens unless we control for farm and farmer characteristics, the effects persist once we control for these factors. Evidence of sustained neighbourhood effects forms a basis for policies to promote the most effective information diffusion methods among farmers. |
| Keywords: | spatiotemporal analyses; instrumental variable technique; soil conservation; agriculture; poverty; Nigeria |
| JEL: | C55 Q18 Q24 |
| Date: | 2022–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunefd:2022_008&r=dev |
| By: | De Groote, Olivier; Gazmuri, Ana |
| Abstract: | We propose a novel method to estimate education production functions on observational data in a context of school choice. We exploit panel data of schools and estimate heteroge-neous effects, while allowing for unobserved school, student, and teacher characteristics to be correlated with observed inputs. We then use this model to study the channels behind changes in observed test scores following a voucher reform in Chile. After the reform, many students left public schools, leading to a passive decrease in class size. We show that this can explain part of the policy effects as we find large class size effects for several schools, especially those that saw a decrease after the policy change. |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:129301&r=dev |
| By: | Kien Ngoc Do (FTU - Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam); Huong Nguyen Giang (FTU - Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam); Le Huy (FTU - Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam); Nguyen Kim Phuong Thuy (FTU - Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam) |
| Abstract: | This study disentangles the relationship between GVC participation and the technical efficiency of SMEs in Vietnam. We combine panel data obtained from the GSO Enterprise Census survey of SMEs in Vietnam including 567, 866 enterprises observations from 2015 to 2018. Regarding global value chain participation (GVC), TiVA databases by OECD are used to track GVC integration at sectoral level. We employ Stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to gauge the relationship between a firm's technical efficiency and GVC participation in two modes of participation: backward integration and forward integration. The findings show the positive impacts of backward participation in rising technical efficiency levels. However, SMEs in sectors with deeper forward participation tend to have low technical efficiency. We find the heterogeneity in firm efficiency regarding firm-specific factors and location. |
| Keywords: | GVC participation, SMEs, Technical efficiency |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04528712&r=dev |
| By: | Sangwan, Nikita; Sharma, Swati |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities women encounter in labor markets worldwide. We investigate the potential of social protection measures in mitigating declines in women's labor market participation. Specifically, we look at the Indian context, where lockdowns spurred a reverse migration of male workers from urban to rural areas, exerting pressure on rural labor markets. Despite a 6% rise in reliance on India's largest demand driven employment guarantee scheme, our analysis reveals a 0.4% decrease in women's participation during the pandemic, equivalent to a loss of 11, 500 person-days of work. However, a gender quota provision helped sustain women's employment status. In districts where the reservation quotas had not been exhausted pre pandemic, women's share in public works increased by 2.7%. Our findings underscore the need for mandated provisions and targeted programs for women to counteract labor market withdrawals and bolster overall labor market participation in times of crisis. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, Rural labor market, Gender, Reverse migration, MGNREGA, GKRA |
| JEL: | J08 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qmsrps:202404&r=dev |
| By: | Dang, Hoa Le (Faculty of Economics, Nong Lam University); Pham, Thuyen Thi (Nong Lam University); Pham, Nhung Thi Hong (Nong Lam University); Nam, Pham Khanh (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates gender-differentiated determinants of rice farm households’ adaptive measures to salinity intrusion in three rice-producing provinces in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The sample covered 430 farm households (274 male-headed and 156 female-headed). A multivariate probit model was used to identify factors affecting male and female farmers’ choices of adaptive measures. The six adaptive measures most commonly used by these households were: changing from rice to other crops, saving rainwater for daily use, digging ponds for water storage in the garden, reducing the number of rice crops per year, seeking other income sources, and purchasing agricultural inputs on credit. We found that demographic, socioeconomic, and farming characteristics, as well as institutional conditions and salinity related variables, influenced female farmers’ adaptation choices. Female farmers have to overcome more barriers to undertaking adaptive measures than male farmers. They are also less likely to seek other income sources due to limited access to education and training. Attending agricultural extension services increases the probability that female farmers will change from rice to other crops or will seek other income sources. Therefore, extension services, educational opportunities, training on adaptation strategies, and income-generating opportunities should be made accessible for all farmers, especially women, to increase their resilience to climate change and salinity intrusion. |
| Keywords: | adaptation; farmers; gender; Mekong Delta; salinity intrusion; Vietnam |
| JEL: | Q15 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunefd:2022_009&r=dev |