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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2019‒03‒11
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Abhijit Banerjee; Paul Niehaus; Tavneet Suri |
| Abstract: | Should developing countries give everyone enough money to live on? Interest in this idea has grown enormously in recent years, reflecting both positive results from a number of existing cash transfer programs and also dissatisfaction with the perceived limitations of piecemeal, targeted approaches to reducing extreme poverty. We discuss what we know (and what we do not) about three questions: what recipients would likely do with the incremental income, whether this would unlock further economic growth, and the potential consequences of giving the money to everyone (as opposed to targeting it). |
| JEL: | O1 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25598&r=all |
| By: | Gustavo Fernandes Souza (Cedeplar-UFMG); Ana Flávia Machado (Cedeplar-UFMG); Edson Paulo Domingues (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | Restricted access to consumption of cultural goods and services is one of the major problems faced by this sector in Brazil. To address this issue, the federal government created the Vale-Cultura, a voucher in which individuals receive an income transfer to be used exclusively for purchasing cultural goods and services. The aim of this study is to analyze the impacts of the Vale-Cultura in the cultural sector and in the economy in general. The methodology applied is the Brazilian Recursive Dynamic General Equilibrium model (BRIDGE). Our simulations found that GDP growth is driven mainly by the increase in household consumption. There is a positive variation in welfare, assessed by the equivalent and compensating variations in income for beneficiaries of the vouchers. Finally, a positive growth is projected at the level of activity of cultural sectors and negative growth in others, showing a reallocation of productive factors. |
| Keywords: | Culture, Vale-Cultura, CGE, Impacts, Consumption, Well-being, Sectoral Analysis. |
| JEL: | Z18 R13 I38 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td595&r=all |
| By: | Echeverría, Lucía; Menon, Martina; Perali, Federico; Berges, Miriam |
| Abstract: | Are two parents and single parents allocating household resources to children in the same way? Which factors affect intra-household inequality? Do mothers re-distribute more income to children as they are more empowered? We focus on child welfare in the context of two parent and single parent families, which is relevant for policy recommendation. We model households behavior in a collective framework, which allows us to understand the rule governing the allocation process between adults and children. Using consumption data from Argentina from three consecutive expenditures surveys (1996, 2004 and 2012) we analyze intra-household behavior over three different socio-economic contexts. We estimate a collective quadratic demand system following a structural approach to identify the fraction of total household expenditure that is devoted to children and adults, exploiting the observability of assignable goods. We provide the first evidence of intra-household inequality and individual poverty levels for Argentina. Our results indicate that family structure matters in the intra-household distribution. We find a positive gender bias in expenditure when children are females for both types of families, and we document that children fare better when mothers have a higher bargaining power in the allocation process, measured by their employment status. Further, we find several features of intra-household behavior which are persistent in time. |
| Keywords: | Gasto de los Hogares; Asignación de Recursos; Bienestar; Niños; Argentina; |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3051&r=all |