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on Development |
| By: | Singh, Tejendra Pratap |
| Abstract: | Developing countries have wide geographical differences in access to healthcare services. While programs that aim to improve hospital-supporting institutions might improve access for large swaths of the population that cannot access healthcare, they might have an unintended consequence of substitution away from hospitals or clinics to relying on pharmacies for healthcare. Furthermore, unregulated dispensation of medicines may lead to increased incidence of antibiotic resistance in the population who rely on these pharmacies, bypassing healthcare at a hospital or clinic. In this paper, I study a nationwide program in India that improved access to pharmacies by providing cheap generic medicines. Using a difference-in-differences framework relying on geographic variation in access to these pharmacies, I find that exposed respondents are more likely to report receiving some treatment for acute ailments. This increase in healthcare-seeking behavior, however, leads to a shift away from treatment at a hospital or clinic to treatment at a pharmacy. I also find that economically and socially disadvantaged subgroups are more likely to report this substitution pattern, pointing to worsening inequality in access to quality healthcare. I reflect on potential mechanisms driving the main effect and find evidence for finance as a likely mechanism for the observed healthcare-seeking behavior in the exposed population. My main conclusions are robust to a host of empirical checks. |
| Date: | 2024–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:pjvgd&r= |
| By: | Sutirtha Bandyopadhyay (Indian Institute of Management Indore.); Bipasha Maity (Ashoka University) |
| Abstract: | Using a collective household model and a new structural estimation methodology, we estimate the intrahousehold resource shares of individual members in both rural and urban India. Our findings indicate that men’s and children’s per-capita intra-household resource shares are higher in urban compared to rural areas, while the opposite is true for women. Our results suggest that urbanisation, which is a sign of economic development, is associated with lower child poverty; but significantly higher gender gap in access to consumption within the household for adults. We explore two potential channels that explain our findings. Firstly, urban locations are dominated by upper-caste households, and we find that the gender resource share gap worsens as one moves higher up the caste hierarchy. Secondly, we found that the most favorable intra-household consumption distribution for women occurs in rural areas with clayey soil textures, which traditionally foster women’s participation in agriculture. However, in urban areas, even within clayey soil regions, agriculture is no longer a prominent occupation, and women’s advantage in accessing intra-household consumption resources due to higher potential for labor market participation disappears. Therefore, caste identity and greater relative involvement of women in agriculture on account of exogenously varying soil textures could explain the larger gender gap in within-household resource sharing in urban compared to rural locations. |
| Keywords: | caste; collective households; India; intra-household consumption allocation; resource shares; soil textures; urbanisation |
| Date: | 2023–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ash:wpaper:100&r= |
| By: | Shilpa Aggarwal; Jenny C. Aker; Dahyeon Jeong; Naresh Kumar; David Sungho Park; Jonathan Robinson; Alan Spearot |
| Abstract: | While cash transfers will tautologically increase contemporaneous consumption, it is unclear whether these gains will persist, especially in rural agricultural settings with limited productive investment opportunities. Using bi-monthly survey data from recipients of a large, unconditional cash transfer in Liberia and Malawi, we document sustained food security improvements until 1.5-2 years after disbursement, driven by increased farm investments and production. We additionally document reductions in casual off-farm labor, increases in psychological well-being and, in Liberia, a decline in IPV. We find similar increases in harvest output across different transfer sizes. Those receiving larger transfers spend more on housing and durables. |
| JEL: | I30 O12 O13 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32431&r= |
| By: | Warner, James; Benimana, Gilberthe; Mugabo, Serge; Ingabire, Chantal |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the current levels and participation of crop commercialization by Rwandan smallholder farmers. Our basic unit of analysis is total crop sales divided by the total value of crop production, either at the household or specific crop level. Overall, our findings suggest that approximately 80 percent of farmers participate in crop market sales and sell an average of 33 percent of their total production. However, there is a wide variety of percentage sales by crop and, in general, higher-valued crops are sold by more commercialized farm households. We also find that value of crop production per hectare rises with greater commercialization, suggesting that developing greater market commercialization, particularly with more valuable crops, may increase household incomes and aid in the economic transformation. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; income; surpluses; food crops; cash crops; food security; markets; commercialization; Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Rwanda |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:rsspwp:11&r= |
| By: | Gorgens, Tue (Australian National University); Meng, Xin (Australian National University); Zhao, Guochang (Southwest University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu) |
| Abstract: | Fifty years ago, China sent more than 16 million urban youths aged 16–19 to rural villages to work and they spent between 1 and 10 years there. This is known as the 'sent-down youth' (SDY) program. This paper examines how this internal migration impacted rural economic development in the regions that received a larger number of SDY per capita relative to regions that received less. We find a sizeable and persistent impact of the SDY program on real per capita GDP and nighttime light in the years after the program ended. Surprisingly, although our results confirm that the SDY increased education level of relevant cohorts, the variation in the education level of these cohorts does not seem to contribute directly to rural GDP and nighttime lights. We provide suggestive evidence regarding mechanisms through which the SDY influenced rural economic development. |
| Keywords: | economic development, migration, sent-down youth, China |
| JEL: | O18 J61 R23 N00 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16951&r= |
| By: | Janvier Mwisha-Kasiwa (University of Goma, DRC); Cédrick K. Mosengo (University of Kinshasa, DRC); Oasis Kodila-Tedika (University of Kinshasa, DRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a pooled dataset of the 2007 and 2014 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to establish the empirical linkages between infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and children’s nutritional status in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The paper examines all the recommended dimensions of child feeding and builds an index from variables related to breastfeeding, use of bottle-feeding, minimum dietary diversity and number of times child ate solid, semi-solid or soft foods. A series of descriptive analyses and survey-based econometric regressions are carried out while controlling for endogeneity and heterogeneity. The key finding is that infant and young child feeding practices are an important and significant determinant of children’s nutritional status as measured by the height-for-age z-score and the probability of stunting. In particular, an increase in the IYCF practices index by 1 unit increases by 0.47 standard score in the height-for-age z-score while it reduces the probability of child stunting by -0.5 controlling for other covariates. The paper recommends to the DRC’s Ministry of public health to reinforce the parent’s education, especially mothers of children, on the importance of infant and young child feeding practices for the nutrition of their children. |
| Keywords: | Feeding practices, Children’s nutritional outcomes, Instrumental variable, Control functions approach, Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:24/023&r= |
| By: | Bedaso, Fenet Jima |
| Abstract: | Domestic violence against women is a pervasive public health problem in all countries regardless of cultural, economic, and political background. Yet, the prevalence of domestic violence is very high in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, I examine the effect of women's employment on domestic violence using the Demographic and Health Survey in Ethiopia. To address the endogeneity of women's employment decisions due to reverse causality, the study employs an Instrumental Variables approach by exploiting exogenous geographical variation of women's employment rate at the community level. Moreover, the estimation accounts for the characteristics of socioeconomic and climate variations at the community level using external geospatial satellite information. After accounting for the endogeneity issue, the estimation result shows that women's employment significantly reduces the risk of domestic violence. This result holds robust across different dimensions of domestic violence such as physical, sexual, and emotional violence, and for urban and rural places of residence. |
| Keywords: | Domestic violence, women employment, IV estimations, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | J12 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1436&r= |
| By: | Sharan Sharma (National Council of Applied Economic Research); Sonalde Desai (National Council of Applied Economic Research); Debasis Barik (National Council of Applied Economic Research); O.P. Sharma (National Council of Applied Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Fertility histories are subject to measurement errors such as incorrect birth dates, incorrect birth orders, incorrect sex, and omissions. These errors can bias demographic estimates such as fertility rates and child mortality rates. We focus on births missing in fertility histories. We estimate the prevalence of such omissions and study their associated factors. We leverage a panel survey (the India Human Development Survey) where the same women were interviewed in two waves several years apart. We compare data across waves and identify omitted births. Omissions in the second wave are modeled as a function of several child, mother, household, and survey interviewer variables. Models are fit separately to omissions reported alive or dead in the first wave. We conservatively estimate the prevalence of omissions at 4%. A large majority of omitted births are those of dead children, especially infants, with children in poorer households at greater risk of being omitted. For children alive in wave 1, female children are much more likely to be omitted in wave 2 compared to male children. Interviewers can detect respondent behaviors associated with omissions. Omissions in fertility histories are non-ignorable. They do not randomly occur but affect some population sub-groups and some interview contexts more than others. We investigate the understudied but important phenomenon of omitted births in fertility histories. We bring attention to possible biases in demographic estimates. We shed light on the survey process and propose strategies for minimizing the bias through improved survey design |
| Keywords: | Fertility history, Panel data, Measurement error, Missing data, Survey Methodology |
| Date: | 2024–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nca:ncaerw:166&r= |
| By: | Ackah, Charles; Alemayehu Geda Fole; Görg, Holger; Merchan, Federico |
| Abstract: | Foreign investments bring in not only new employment but also novel technology, managerial skill and know-how, that may also dissipate into the local economy. It is not clear whether this effect differs by the nationality of source countries, in particular between Chinese and non-Chinese firms. Based on a firm level survey on Ethiopia and Ghana, we found that all types of firms are engaged in limited R&D and innovation activity and their transfer to host countries in both countries. There is little difference between Chinese and non-Chinese foreign firms in such technology and managerial skill transfer once controlling for firm size and industry characteristics in the majority of metrices (R&D activities, horizontal & vertical spillover, directly adopting techniques). However, we found for Ghana that Chinese firms have more suppliers but are less likely to transfer technology to them. Chinese firms are more likely to transfer managerial skills than non-Chinese firms in Ghana though not in Ethiopia. Also, there is little evidence that foreign firms transfer technology via horizontal or backward spillovers in either countries. Finally, Chinese firms are much more likely to receive host country policy support than other foreign firms in Ghana but not in Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | Foreign direct investment, China, Africa, technological transfer, Ethiopia, Ghana |
| JEL: | F2 O1 O3 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:295225&r= |
| By: | Sutirtha Bandyopadhyay (Indian Institute of Management, Indore); Pranabes Dutta (The City University of New York); Naveen Hari (Texas A& M University); Bipasha Maity (Ashoka University) |
| Abstract: | We study the causal impact of legislator gender on forest cover growth in India. Exploiting quasi-random variation in close mixed gender electoral races in a regression discontinuity framework, we find that assembly constituencies where a female politician won witnessed an increase in subsequent annual forest cover growth by 6%. However, this result is limited to constituencies that are reserved for historically marginalized communities. Our findings underscore the role of legislator identity in influencing environmental conservation and thereby achieving sustainable development in India. |
| Keywords: | close elections; female legislators; forest; India; regression discontinuity |
| Date: | 2023–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ash:wpaper:104&r= |
| By: | Alex Rivadeneira |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I digitize economic census data to study unconditional convergence in manufacturing labor productivity across Mexican states from 1988 to 2018. I document its existence in three-digit industries at a rate of convergence of 1.22% per year. However, this result does not hold at the aggregate level: I find no unconditional convergence in manufacturing wide labor productivity across states. Shift-sharing analysis reveals that the primary reason is the lack of labor reallocation towards more productive industries and the underperformance of some of the largest ones. Unconditional convergence at all levels only occurred during 19881998. Afterward, the convergence process broke down and was only observed at disaggregated levels. I provide evidence that one possible cause of this breakdown is the so-called "China shock". Additionally, I show that the convergence process, when it happened, tended to exhibit a catching-down feature, where past leaders have seen their labor productivity decline. |
| Keywords: | growth, convergence, manufacturing, Mexico |
| JEL: | O40 O14 O54 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:1186&r= |
| By: | Benimana, Gilberthe; Warner, James; Mugabo, Serge |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the broad spectrum of commercial engagement by Rwandan farmers by grouping farmers according to characteristics of the head of household, the degree of commercialization of their farms, size of livestock holdings and other factors. We use statistical methodologies, including factor and cluster analysis, combined with existing knowledge of the agricultural sector to define five types of Rwandan farmers, separated into two broad groups. The first group (Group A) includes three types broadly classified as less wealthy, less commercialized, with a net negative gross margin. Within this group the three types of farmers include: Type 1—Less commercialized older male headed households with larger families, Type 2—Better educated, youth headed households, who are more market oriented but have smaller land holdings, Type 3—Older female headed households who produce relatively lower agricultural production value relative to their assets owned. The second group (Group B) comprises two types of farmers. This group are wealthier, sell more crops with positive gross margins and larger landholdings. More specifically, farm type 4 is commercialized with higher access to agricultural extension services and inputs and farm type 5, also highly commercialized, but has significant livestock holdings as well. Taken together, these two groups, and five farm types, provide a framework to aid in understanding how commercialization takes place in smallholder Rwandan agriculture. This framework may also help in understanding how potential interventions would be received by various types of Rwanda farmers, thereby facilitating more efficient targeting of agricultural interventions. |
| Keywords: | commercialization; farmers; livestock; farm size; agricultural production; agricultural extension systems; typology; Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Rwanda |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:rsspwp:10&r= |
| By: | Christoph Albert; Paula Bustos; Jacopo Ponticelli |
| Abstract: | Climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity in developing countries. Classic international trade and geography models predict that the optimal adaptation response is a reallocation of capital and labor from agriculture towards sectors and regions gaining comparative advantage. In this paper, we provide evidence on the effects of recent changes in climate in Brazil to understand to what extent factor market frictions constrain this reallocation process. We document that persistent increases in dryness do not generate capital reallocation but a sharp reduction in credit to all sectors in both drying areas and financially integrated regions. In additionn, dryness generates a large reduction in agricultural employment. Workers staying in drying regions reallocate towards manufacturing but climate migrants are allocated to small firms outside of manufacturing in destination regions. The evidence suggests that frictions in the interbank market and spatial labor market frictions constrain the reallocation process from agriculture to manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | droughts, SPEI, Brazil, migration, financial integration |
| JEL: | O1 Q54 O16 J61 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1887&r= |
| By: | Kulshreshtha, Shobhit |
| Abstract: | In this study, I delve into the factors shaping the adoption of new farming practices among Indian farmers, with a particular focus on the role of information access and its diverse sources. Leveraging nationally representative data on rural households from the National Sample Survey Office, Government of India for the year 2019, I employ logistic regression to gauge the likelihood of farmers adopting new agricultural techniques based on the information they receive from various channels. Additionally, I undertake spatial linear regression analysis to unravel the dynamics of information spillovers pertaining to new farming practices across districts. The results highlight the significance of the information source in driving adoption decisions, with progressive farmers and input dealers emerging as influential sources. Moreover, the spatial analysis provides compelling evidence of information diffusion across district boundaries, highlighting the varying efficacy of different information channels. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers aiming to craft targeted interventions aimed at shaping farmers' decision-making processes regarding the adoption of innovative farming practices. |
| Keywords: | Farming Practices, Information Access, Technology Adoption, Spatial Spillovers |
| JEL: | Q15 Q16 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1435&r= |
| By: | Pubali Chakraborty (Bates College, USA); Kanika Mahajan (Ashoka University) |
| Abstract: | Using firm and household-level data from India, we establish a positive association between relative female employment and firm size. We find that the proportion of female workers is higher in firms with a larger number of total workers (elasticity of 0.47) and greater output (elasticity of 0.1). We show that higher benefits and amenities offered by larger firms, like maternity benefits and paid leave, which are likely to be valued more by female workers, with no accompanying increase in the gender wage gap, is a plausible mechanism behind our findings. We then exploit a natural experiment in the amendment of labor laws across the Indian states, which increased the firm size thresholds for the applicability of regulatory compliances. Using a difference-in-difference estimation that accounts for the staggered amendments, we find an increase in the proportion of female workers by 13% in treated states vs. control states. One of the channels behind this increase is the accompanying increase in firm size by around 5% and welfare expenses per employee by 13%. At the same time, there is no change in the gender wage gap. Theoretically, we propose a task-based explanation that leads to greater relative demand for women in bigger firms and, consequently, higher investment by them in amenities valued by women leading to ambiguous effects on the gender wage gap. Our results show that policies that increase firm growth, which in turn increase the provision of amenities valued by women (without employer backlash), are likely to increase female employment. |
| Keywords: | Employment; Firm Size; Gender; labor laws |
| Date: | 2023–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ash:wpaper:103&r= |
| By: | Alexander Cuntz; Frank Mueller-Langer; Alessio Muscarnera; Prince C. Oguguo; Marc Scheufen |
| Abstract: | TWe examine the implications of lowering barriers to online access to scientific publications for science and innovation in developing countries. We investigate whether and how free or low-cost access to scientific publications through the UN-led Research For Life (R4L) initiative leads to more scientific publications and clinical trials of authors affiliated with research institutions in developing countries. We find that free or reduced-fee access to the health science literature through Hinari (WHO-led subprogramme) increases the scientific publication output and clinical trials output of institutions in developing countries. In contrast, once we control for selection bias, we do not find empirical support for a positive Hinari effect on knowledge spillovers and local institutions’ research input into global patenting, as measured by paper citations in patent documents. Main findings can be generalized to other R4L subprogrammes and are likely to also apply to the WIPO-led Access to Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) programme. |
| Keywords: | Scientific publications, Science, Innovation |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wip:wpaper:78&r= |
| By: | Bode, Eckhardt |
| Abstract: | This paper is one of the first to show systematically that the motives for sovereign lending to African countries differed considerably between China and Western countries during the last two decades. While Chinese lending mainly served its own economic or geopolitical objectives, which is well-known from the existing literature, Western countries' lending also pursued objectives that appear to be at odds with their self-interests but whose precise nature is not yet well-understood. While China lent to African countries with richer resources, lower risk of default and higher willingness to pay for credit, Western countries lent preferably to less resource-rich and more indebted African countries. Using a new, dataset on loans from China, Western countries and multilateral organizations to African countries, I empirically examine a broad variety of potential motives, aim at separating the motives pursued by the national governments from those pursued by their lending agencies, and employ an estimation strategy with increasingly complex fixed effects that yields additional interesting insights into the specificities of the motives. |
| Keywords: | Sovereign lending, Economic motives, Geopolitical motives, Africa, China, Western countries |
| JEL: | F21 F34 F35 F55 H63 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:295226&r= |