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on Development |
| By: | Beuermann, Diether; Ramos Bonilla, Andrea; Stampini, Marco |
| Abstract: | Covering the full population of applicants to the Jamaican Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PATH), we explore whether receiving PATH since childhood altered the academic gains from attending a more preferred public secondary school. To uncover causal associations, we implement a double regression discontinuity design motivated by both the PATH eligibility criteria and the centralized allocation process to public secondary schools. Among girls, receiving PATH benefits did not influence the academic gains from attending a preferred school. However, boys exposed to PATH experienced significantly lower gains from preferred school attendance with respect to comparable peers who did not receive PATH. These results highlight the relevance of considering both the direct effects of conditional cash transfers and the potential indirect effects that such policies could convey through altering the effectiveness of other related policies. |
| Keywords: | Academic Performance;Education;Conditional cash transfers;School Selectivity;Jamaica;human capital |
| JEL: | H52 H75 I21 I26 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13484&r= |
| By: | Biniam Bedasso (Center for Global Development); Justin Sandefur (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | In 2011, the World Bank’s new education strategy stressed the need to shift focus from schooling (access or enrollment) to learning (test scores), and specifically towards foundational skills acquired in primary school. But this shift is not always easy to see in the actual lending data. Coding new details on 25 years of World Bank education loans and grants, we find a decline in the share of financing for primary school over the whole period, and no apparent increase in the share of projects targeting “quality” or “learning” as opposed to “access” since 2011. In contrast, there has been gradual but steady growth in projects targeting early childhood education. These patterns appear to reflect both supply and demand side factors. On the demand side, as primary enrollment increases, countries shift their borrowing toward early childhood education. On the supply side, the World Bank is significantly better at delivering early-childhood education programs compared to projects focused on raising test scores, as judged by independent evaluation scores. Evidence on the long-term learning gains from preschool suggest this may be a more feasible strategy for the World Bank to achieve its goals. |
| Date: | 2024–03–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:685&r= |
| By: | Hayatullah Ahmadzai; Oliver Morrissey |
| Abstract: | The increasing impact of natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, landslides, and avalanches) in Afghanistan, notably flooding and similar climate shocks, poses a growing concern as vulnerability to climate change intensifies the potential severity of these impacts in future. This paper uses two household surveys (2011/12 and 2013/14) combined with other data to assess the effects of climate shocks (especially floods) on the welfare of agricultural households, allowing also for conflict and price shocks. We evaluate the impacts of shocks on several measures of food security, dietary diversity, household food consumption spending, farm revenue and income comparing affected to non-affected households. The analysis is based on endogenous switching regressions (ESR) and propensity score matching (PSM) allowing for selection bias and addressing endogeneity. Floods are the main shock and have significant adverse effects on food security and welfare indicators. For example, the estimated average treatment effect in 2013-14 implies a decrease of about a third in food consumption expenditures, with similar reductions in household income and farm revenue. The findings highlight the need for better disaster risk reduction and planing strategies to support affected populations to respond to and recover from climate shocks.disaster risk management, conflict, Afghanistan |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcre:24/04&r= |
| By: | Eslava, Marcela; Meléndez, Marcela; Ulyssea, Gabriel; Urdaneta, Nicolás; Flores, Ignacio |
| Abstract: | The relationship between firms and inequality has been a focus of recent attention globally. This chapter summarizes basic facts about this relationship for Latin America. Unlike advanced economies where superstar firm growth has prompted concerns over disproportionate income growth at the top, the facts we summarize illustrate that the main concern for Latin America is the extreme prevalence of tiny businesses whose workers and owners tend to populate the bottom income segments. The empirical likelihood that these businesses improve their productivity and grow to hire more workers and pay better wages is also very low. The region displays a deficit of employment generation in SMEs, by contrast to both microbusinesses (including self-employment) and large corporations. While the former tend to remunerate both workers and owners with very low incomes, the latter pay high wages but also exhibit low labor shares. |
| Keywords: | Inequality;Business Development;Latin America;Labor Force and Employment |
| JEL: | E02 J21 O54 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13480&r= |
| By: | Iyer, Lakshmi (University of Notre Dame); Weir, Coleson (University of Notre Dame) |
| Abstract: | Using updated data, we analyze the long-run effects of two British colonial institutions established in India. Iyer (2010) showed that areas under direct colonial rule had fewer schools, health centers, and roads than areas under indirect colonial rule. Two decades later, we find that these differences have been eliminated. Banerjee and Iyer (2005) found lower agricultural investments and productivity in areas with landlord-based colonial land tenure systems. Our updated data finds that only some of these differences have been eliminated. We conclude that the impact of colonial institutions can eventually fade away under the influence of targeted policies. |
| Keywords: | historical institutions, colonial rule, land tenure, agriculture, public goods, India |
| JEL: | P14 N45 O12 O13 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17051&r= |
| By: | TIEN MANH VU (Faculty of Global Management, Chuo University); Hiroyuki Yamada (Faculty of Economics, Keio University) |
| Abstract: | We examine impacts of improved rural roads on villagers, using panel data of Cambodian villages (2006-2021). We find an association between the wealth of villagers and the improvement of rural roads. A higher minimum price for rice at farm gate may be one of the reasons for the increase in wealth. We also find impacts of improved rural roads on (reducing) illiteracy rates among villagers. However, we do not find any statistically significant impacts on school enrollment rate, structural change, or internal migration. Instead, improved rural roads lead to a higher share of families being subjected to environmental pollution. |
| Keywords: | Improved rural roads, wealth, rice, education, pollution, Cambodia |
| JEL: | O15 R11 R58 R42 |
| Date: | 2024–06–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2024-016&r= |
| By: | Basistha, Ahana (Indian Statistical Institute); Dhillon, Amrita (Kings College and CAGE); Chaudhuri, Arka Roy (Shiv Nadar University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the existence of electoral cycles in infrastructure provision in the context of a large rural road building program in India. We use data covering 150, 000 roads over a decade to demonstrate an increase in road building activity before state elections. These electoral cycles in rural road building do not translate into efficiency losses in terms of quality, cost or delay. However, we find evidence that politicians build roads with a lower stipulated construction time before elections. In line with our model’s predictions, we also find that electoral constituencies with a larger share of uninformed voters display larger electoral cycles. |
| Keywords: | Political Business Cycles, Elections, Public Goods, Rural Infrastructure, India JEL Classification: D72, D73, H41, O18 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:712&r= |
| By: | Nabil Daher (Université Paris Nanterre, EconomiX) |
| Abstract: | Over the past three decades, natural disasters have become increasingly frequent and intense, posing significant risks to economic activity, particularly in developing countries. This paper investigates the impact of natural disasters on economic growth, focusing on the 10th percentile of GDP growth to capture the worst recessions experienced by countries. Using the Quantile Local Projections (QLP) method on a panel of developing countries, we explore whether these disaster shocks worsen economic downturns and delay recoveries. Our findings reveal that natural disasters tend to exacerbate severe economic contractions in developing countries, causing a lasting decrease in the lower tail of GDP growth distribution. This effect is especially pronounced in the agricultural and industrial sectors, with the services sector showing a less persistent response. Moreover, high-income developing countries and those with better political institutions better counteract the adverse effects of natural disasters and exhibit greater resilience when output is extremely low. |
| Keywords: | Natural Disasters, quantile local projections, development economics |
| JEL: | E |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inf:wpaper:2024.8&r= |
| By: | Ruhinduka, Remidius D.; Bensch, Gunther; Selejio, Onesmo; Lokina, Razack Bakari |
| Abstract: | Increasing electricity access remains a challenge, particularly in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines the case of Tanzania, where rural connection rates remain low even among households residing 'under the grid', and this despite substantial government subsidies for household connections. Using data from 1774 rural households living within reach of the electricity grid, we investigate correlates of the low grid electricity uptake. We find that proxies for wealth, including housing characteristics, are positively associated with connection status, while social network variables are less so. Capacity to pay thus appears to remain a major barrier, and in-house wiring costs emerge as a significant expense unaccounted for by the subsidy scheme, exceeding the cost of grid connection by a factor of eight. We also find that similar mechanisms govern choices between grid electricity and traditional or solar energy sources. Together, these findings inform the ongoing policy debate regarding on-grid versus off-grid energy solutions. |
| Abstract: | Die Verbesserung des Zugangs zu Elektrizität stellt nach wie vor eine Herausforderung dar, insbesondere in den ländlichen Gebieten in Afrika südlich der Sahara. Diese Studie untersucht die Situation in Tansania, wo Anschlussquoten in ländlichen Gebieten selbst bei den Haushalten, die "unter dem Netz" wohnen, auf niedrigen Niveaus verharren- und dies trotz erheblicher staatlicher Subventionen für Haushaltsanschlüsse. Mittels Daten von 1774 ländlichen Haushalten, die innerhalb der Reichweite des Stromnetzes leben, untersuchen wir Faktoren, die mit der geringen Netzstromnutzung korrelieren. Wir stellen fest, dass Indikatoren für Wohlstand, einschließlich Wohnungsmerkmale, positiv mit dem Anschlussstatus im Zusammenhang stehen, während dies weniger stark auf Variablen zum sozialen Umfeld zutrifft. Die Zahlungsfähigkeit scheint somit weiterhin ein großes Hindernis darzustellen. In diesem Zusammenhang erweisen sich die Kosten für die hausinterne Verkabelung als erhebliche, durch das Subventionsprogramm nicht abgedeckte Ausgaben, die die Kosten für den Netzanschluss um das Achtfache übersteigen. Wir stellen auch fest, dass ähnliche Mechanismen die Wahl zwischen Netzstrom und traditionellen oder solaren Energiequellen bestimmen. Diese Ergebnisse liefern Informationen für die laufende politische Debatte über netzgebundene und netzunabhängige Energielösungen. |
| Keywords: | Electrification, household decision, electricity access, Tanzania, energy transition |
| JEL: | D12 O13 O33 Q41 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:299233&r= |
| By: | Amal Ahmad |
| Abstract: | In democracies with widespread poverty, what is the impact of programmatic transfers on voting and on incumbent power? This paper provides the first village-level quasiexperimental evidence on this for India, in the context of the Hindu-nationalist party in power. First, I provide a novel method for linking Indian villages to polling booths and for obtaining village-level electoral data. Second, focusing on a program which transfers development funds to villages with a high share of disadvantaged castes, I use a discontinuity design to identify the effects of both past and promised transfers on voting in India’s largest state. Promised transfers increase village turnout slightly but neither treatment impact the villages’ vote share for the Hindu-nationalist incumbent, which is high across the board. The results suggest that political competition limits the impact of programmatic transfers on voting behavior, and they shed light on the recent slide to ethnic nationalism in the world’s largest democracy. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notnic:2024-08&r= |
| By: | Verpoorten, Marijke; Stoop, Nik |
| Abstract: | Can job creation help decrease violence in conflict-affected regions? We study this question in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the construction of three hydropower stations in North-Kivu generated nearly 60, 000 one-month labor contracts for residents of the hosting chiefdoms. To quantify the impact on violence, we analyze close to 9, 000 conflict events from 2009 to 2022 across 21 chiefdoms in North-Kivu, comparing trends and patterns of violence between ‘treated’ and ‘comparison’ chiefdoms. Our findings indicate that the labor-intensive construction program significantly reduced violence, with effects lasting up to 18 months after program end. We observe a 93% decline in the number of monthly conflict events in chiefdoms where the program was implemented. The reduction in violence was most pronounced in chiefdoms with the highest per capita wage injection. In the most remote, rebel-controlled chiefdom, the reduction in violence against civilians was preceded by a temporary surge in battles between the military and armed groups, likely representing the 'clear' phase of the 'clear, hold, build' counterinsurgency strategy. |
| Keywords: | DR Congo, violence, job creation |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:apbrfs:2024003&r= |
| By: | Ryan B. Edwards |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the proliferation of palm oil factories across Indonesia’s undeveloped hinterland to study industrial onset and estimate spillovers from agricultural processing. The main finding is signs of urbanization and structural change around factories: more non-agricultural employment, higher incomes, and more people, firms, and other economic and social organizations. These patterns are largely explained by economic linkages, infrastructure and other public goods, and economies of scale in production. By focusing on subsistence rural regions in a large developing economy, this paper adds a globally- significant new case to a growing literature emphasizing the importance of agglomeration externalities for understanding the birth of new towns, the spatial distribution of economic activity, and structural transformation. |
| JEL: | F14 F23 F63 J43 O13 O14 O19 O53 Q17 R11 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2024-6&r= |
| By: | Chauvin, Juan Pablo |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of changes in local public education budgets on individual schooling attainment and migration, as well as on local labor market outcomes. I leverage the introduction of FUNDEF, a large federal program that redistributed public education finance across Brazilian municipalities in the late 1990s, as a source of exogenous variation. Using a cohort-exposure design, I find that, at the individual level, doubling the program-related public education budget led to a 1.4 percentage point increase in the likelihood of completing primary school, and a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the likelihood of staying in the local labor market among exposed cohorts, on average. The mobility effects are concentrated among individuals educated in municipalities that received a positive budget shock as a result of the program, which were also characterized by relatively worse local labor market conditions. At the local labor market level, difference-in-differences estimates suggest that higher public education budgets were associated with lower employment rates and average wages, suggesting that the “brain drain” effect depressed local labor demand in the long run. |
| Keywords: | school spending;schooling attainment;Migration |
| JEL: | I20 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13497&r= |
| By: | Nkechi S. Owoo (University of Ghana; World Bank Development Economics Research Group; Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | The research paper adopts a mixed methods approach to understanding climate shock and consequences in the Ghanaian context. The nationally representative Ghana Living Standards Household Survey (GLSS) is merged with district-level geocoded information on climate events to quantitatively explore associations between climate shocks and farm inputs demand. Results show commercial purchases of inputs as a potential coping strategy among agricultural households. The remainder of the paper uses qualitative methods to better understand other adaptation strategies. Interviews with women shine more light on their housework adjustments and implications for leisure. Adaptation is, however, not a universal response to climate change and disaster events. Despite observed mental health associations, the paper highlights the role of religion in passive dispositions when it is believed that disaster events are divine and do not merit an adaptation response. The study improves understanding of individuals’ adaptation, and non-adaptation, responses to climate shocks in Ghana. |
| Keywords: | climate change fatalism, farm input demand, gender roles, mental health, mixed methods, Ghana |
| JEL: | Q12 Q54 I15 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–04–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:692&r= |
| By: | Hanna M. Schwank (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Millions of families migrate every year in search of better opportunities. Whether these opportunities materialize for the children brought with them depends on the quality of the destination that their parents selected. Exploiting variation in the age of migration, I analyze the impact of destination quality on the educational outcomes of childhood internal migrants in Indonesia. Using Population Census microdata from 2000 and 2010, I show that children who spend more time growing up in districts characterized by higher average educational attainment among permanent residents tend to exhibit greater probabilities of completing primary and secondary schooling. Moreover, educational outcomes of migrants converge with those of permanent residents at an average rate of 1.7 to 2.2 percent annually, with children from less educated households benefiting more from additional exposure. My findings suggest substantial heterogeneity of returns to childhood migration with respect to destination. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, education, development, Indonesia |
| JEL: | I25 O15 D64 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:313&r= |
| By: | SAWADA Yasuyuki; TANAKA Mari |
| Abstract: | In developing economies where business owners suffer from agency problems with workers, kinship may serve as an enforcement device for producing high-quality products. Using unique data collected from handwoven textile micro-enterprises in Lao PDR, we examine the effect of family workforce size-the number of the owner's relatives who can work for the business-on business performance. For identification, we exploit an exogenous variation in the gender composition of the owner's relatives, which determines family workforce size. We confirm that a larger family workforce significantly increases the share of family workers in the business, positively affecting labor productivity and value-added per product. As a potential channel, having a larger family workforce seems to enable owners to produce high-price products that they design by themselves rather than low-price products with standard designs, owing to strong trust between family workers and owners. This supports the hypothesis that working with family labor helps owners overcome design infringements. We also obtained suggestive experimental evidence that owners who design products by themselves have a lower labor demand for external workers. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:24061&r= |