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on Development |
| By: | Parker, Susan |
| Abstract: | Mexico’s pioneering conditional cash transfer program—originally Progresa, later renamed Prospera—operated over two decades in a shifting educational landscape. We exploit the program’s sudden and unexpected rollback to estimate whether, two decades after rollout studies documented its initial impacts on schooling and labor, the program was still effective at raising enrollment and reducing work in children and youth. Comparing areas with high and low program penetration before and after rollback, we find that rollback immediately reduced school enrollment, especially at high school ages and especially in boys. Effects on enrollment were as large at rollback as they were at rollout, albeit shifted from middle-school ages to high school ages. Rising work mirrored falling enrollment in boys of high school age. Our results suggest the program successfully adapted to the rise of high school, but Mexico’s poor were unable to protect their children from the its unexpected rollback. |
| Date: | 2024–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:h9qmc |
| By: | Dorgyles C.M. Kouakou (Univ Rennes, CNRS, CREM – UMR6211, F-35000 Rennes France) |
| Abstract: | Using a large firm-level dataset from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, which covers 134 countries from 2006 to 2023 and includes over 134, 000 observations, we examine whether past informality affects the credit constraints of registered firms. Estimations, based on the entropy balancing method, indicate that registered firms that began operations informally are more likely to be credit-constrained than those that started in the formal sector. This finding is extremely robust to a variety of robustness tests, including instrumental variables, propensity score matching, potential omitted variables, restricted samples, alternative measures of credit constraints, different specifications such as Linear Probability, Logit, and Probit models, and clustering standard errors at the country level. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the detrimental impact of past informality lessens with firm size, firm age, and better structural factors like regulatory quality, trade openness, entrepreneurial dynamism, and public spending. Productivity, competition from the informal sector, and the quality of financial statements are key channels through which past informality increases credit constraints for registered firms. |
| Keywords: | Past informality status; Credit constraints; Entropy balancing |
| JEL: | G20 O12 O16 O17 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:2024-08 |
| By: | Yashodhan Ghorpade |
| Abstract: | I study the effect of the 2019-21 desert locust outbreak on the intention to migrate among rural households and individuals in Yemen, as an illustration of the human mobility impacts of climate change-related shocks in a complex emergency setting. Using the first systematic household survey conducted in southern Yemen since the beginning of the ongoing conflict, I find that a one standard-deviation increase in exposure to desert locusts increases the individual willingness to migrate (internally or abroad) by 12 percentage points among rural residents. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Climate change, Yemen, Natural disasters, Shocks |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-51 |
| By: | Andrea Vaccaro; Rachel M. Gisselquist |
| Abstract: | Supporting state capacity is a priority for the international community, yet the record of internationally supported statebuilding to date has been mixed at best. A key question for continuing research concerns the factors influencing more versus less successful interventions. We show that the quality of past 'stateness' is crucial in understanding contemporary state fragility and statebuilding. |
| Keywords: | Fragile states, Statebuilding, Violence, Bureaucracy, State capacity, State fragility |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-49 |
| By: | Kunal Sen |
| Abstract: | An important stylized fact about African economic development is the phenomenon of urbanization without structural transformation. This paper provides a political economy analysis of the lack of structural transformation in African cities, drawing on the Deals and Development framework. |
| Keywords: | Structural transformation, Deals & Development, Political economy, Africa, Urbanization |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-50 |
| By: | Vashold, Lukas; Pirich, Gustav; Heinze, Maximilian; Kuschnig, Nikolas |
| Abstract: | Minerals are essential to fuel the green transition, can foster local employment and facilitate economic development. However, their extraction is linked to several negative social and environmental externalities. These are particularly poorly understood in a development context, undermining efforts to address and internalize them. In this paper, we exploit the discontinuous locations of mines along rivers and their basins to identify causal effects on agricultural yields in Africa. We find considerable impacts on vegetation and yields downstream, which are mediated by water pollution and only dissipate slowly with distance. Our findings suggest that pollution from mines may play a role in the limited adoption of intensive agriculture. They underscore an urgent need for domestic regulations and international governance to limit negative externalities from mining in vulnerable regions. |
| Keywords: | pollution; agriculture; river basin; mining; earth observation |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:67404185 |
| By: | Megan Borole (Firdale Consulting); Maxine Schaefer (Click Learning); Heleen Hofmeyr (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Bruce McDougall (Firdale Consulting) |
| Abstract: | We explore the relationship between literacy and the time learners spend using individualised educational technology for South African primary school learners in 2019 and 2022. Cross-sectional analysis of the data shows that learners' target annual time (18 hours) is associated with a 0.14 standard deviation increase in Grade 3 literacy scores in 2019 and a 0.42 standard deviation increase in 2022. Similar effect sizes were found for other grades. These effect sizes are large for education interventions. The programme is relatively cost-effective and has demonstrated scalability. Our results are important in the context of South Africa's literacy crisis and the paucity of educational technology evaluations. |
| Keywords: | Literacy; educational technology; early grade reading; South Africa |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers385 |
| By: | Hazrana, Jaweriah; Mishra, Ashok K. |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of droughts on intra-household food consumption, diet diversity, and nutrition. The study provides a unique and nuanced understanding of how droughts affect the food consumption and nutrition of men, women, and children within a household. We use panel data from a nationally representative survey in Bangladesh. Findings show that after a drought, individuals spend 4.6% less on food and consume 3.4% fewer calories, 3.3% less protein, and 4.7% less fat. However, the effect is not homogeneous across all household members. Women and children, the most vulnerable groups, experience a greater shortfall in food consumption and nutrients than men. Furthermore, droughts lead to a less balanced household diet, characterized by reduced consumption of nutrient-rich animal-source and plant-based foods and increased reliance on cereals. Policymakers could support targeted interventions for vulnerable individuals to access adequate nutrition during climatic stress. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2024–07–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea22:345099 |
| By: | Jyotsna Rosario (Assistant Professor, Vidyashilp University, Bangalore); K.R. Shanmugam ((Corresponding Author) Director and Professor, Madras School of Economics, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Chennai) |
| Abstract: | This study uses the generalized stochastic frontier approach to estimate the technical efficiency of Indian States in providing elementary education from 2009-10 to 2018-19. Mean efficiency was estimated at 85 percent and it varied between 67 percent to 97 percent. Considerable inter- state disparity is observed in elementary education outcome and 96 percent of the disparity is explained by inefficiency. Kerala is the most efficient State followed by Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is the least efficient state, followed by Sikkim and Tripura. Efficiency estimates were observed to change across States over the study period. Proportion of government schools, rural population and Schedule caste and Schedule Tribe children are the major determinants of inefficiency. Finally, the study identifies best practices and helps in separating the resource poor States from the inefficient ones. The study is useful for designing public policy that would help in removing regional imbalances in elementary education outcome. |
| Keywords: | technical efficiency, public expenditure, elementary education outcome, stochastic frontier analysis, Ray frontier |
| JEL: | C14 D24 I21 I28 H52 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2024-264 |
| By: | Astha Kushwaha (Research Assistant, IIM Ahmedabad (Corresponding Author)); Brinda Viswanathan (Professor, Madras School of Economics, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Chennai) |
| Abstract: | Inequality is typically assessed using a single dimension measured in monetary values such as income or wages. As many women in developing countries lack access to onetary resources, various indicators must be used to comprehend inequality among women. Since women are the cornerstone of any household and are solely responsible for raising their children and inequality perpetuates itself across generations, it is crucial to study how one woman is unequal compared to another. In this study, we utilized data from NFHS 4 (2015-16) and NFHS 5 (2019-21) to examine the trend of inequality over time, taking into account covariates such as age, educational attainment of partner/husband at the individual level, and caste and religion of the women at the household level. We also investigated regional and statelevel inequality. The findings suggest that although there was an overall decrease in inequality from 2015-16 to 2019-21, several groups of women continue to face significant inequality. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Multidimensional inequality, Health, Education, Domestic Violence |
| JEL: | D63 I14 I24 J1 J12 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2024-258 |
| By: | Joseph I. Uduji (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Elda N. Okolo-Obasi (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Justitia O. Nnabuko (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Geraldine E. Ugwuonah (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Josaphat U. Onwumere (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) using global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on mitigating the resurgence of inter-communal violence in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Using explanatory research design, the study adopted mixed methods to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses of the study. Primary data were generated from a sample of 1200 respondents selected form all the nine states of the region using multiple sampling techniques. We carried out both survey with structured questionnaire and key informant interview to ascertain the effect of CSR on the resurgence of inter-communal violence in the region. Results from the use of a logit model and use of propensity score matching to determine the mean difference between variables in the treatment and control shows that a bantam but significant CSR interventions have been made by the MOCs in the areas that will discourage people from engaging in inter-communal violence. The findings suggest that an increase in CSR targeted at improving access to cultivatable land, enhanced fishing space, reducing multi-dimensional poverty, as well as reducing frustration and indignation; will dissuade local people from involvement in inter-communal violence. |
| Keywords: | Oil extraction communities, inter-communal violence, corporate social responsibility, Nigeria’s Niger Delta |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:24/010 |