|
on Development |
| By: | Özge Bilgili; Sonja Fransen; Craig Loschmann; Melissa Siegel |
| Abstract: | This paper studies to what extent and in what ways access to educational services and schooling outcomes of local children are influenced by the presence of a refugee camp in or around their community. Taking the case of Congolese refugees in Rwanda and relying on household survey data collected in 2016, we investigate the availability of schools, schooling rates and access to school-based feeding programs in communities closer to and further away from three refugee camps: Gihembe, Kiziba and Kigeme. Furthermore, we conduct a cohort analysis to compare the years of schooling and primary school completion of Rwandans residing at different distances from each of these camps. Finally, on the basis of focus group discussions conducted among locals, we provide further insights into the ways in which locals perceive the effects of the refugee camp’s presence on their children’s access to schooling and educational outcomes. Our results highlight that living nearby a refugee camp does not have a negative influence on the education of local children. On the contrary, children residing closer to the camps have better schooling outcomes, and locals residing closer to the camps have a wide array of mostly positive views regarding the effects of refugees on local education. These results contribute to the body of literature on the effects of refugees on host communities and inform policies on how refugees need not be a ‘burden’ if long-term investments are made and the voice of the locals are heard to address their needs. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-18&r=dev |
| By: | Alem, Yonas (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Dugoua, Eugenie (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | In order to understand the extent of the information barrier to adoption of a household technology, we designed a randomized controlled trial on willingness to pay (WTP) for solar lanterns in India. We gave high quality solar lanterns to randomly selected `seed' households in a non-electrified region of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Three friends of the seed household were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: control, passive learning and incentivized communication. We elicit WTP from the control group when the seed receives the solar lantern. We elicit WTP from the friends in the passive learning and incentivized communication groups thirty days after the seed receives the solar lantern. We show that passive learning increases WTP by 90% and incentivized communication by 145% relative to the control group. We also show that learning from others is the mechanism that drives the observed WTP by peers. |
| Keywords: | Social Networks; Passive Learning; Active Communication; Solar Lantern |
| JEL: | D83 O33 Q21 Q42 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0723&r=dev |
| By: | M. Shahe, Emran; Asadul, Islam; Forhad, Shilpi |
| Abstract: | In many models of corruption where enforcement is unbiased and the official maximizes her income, the rich are more likely to pay bribes for their children's education, implying that corruption reduces educational inequality. We develop models of bribery that reflect the fact that, in developing countries, anti-corruption enforcement is not unbiased, and higher income of a household is associated with higher bargaining power and better quality of institutions. In models of biased enforcement, the rich are less likely to pay bribes, making bribery regressive. The OLS estimates of the effects of household income are likely to find spurious progressivity in the incidence of bribery in schools. We exploit temporary rainfall shocks to identify the ability to pay effect, while long-term rainfall differences identify the combined `poor people' and `poor area' effects. The IV estimates show that the poor are more likely to pay bribes, and the amount paid does not depend on household income. The evidence rejects the ability to pay and related models based on unbiased enforcement, and is consistent with the ``refusal to pay model'' of bargaining power where the rich decline to pay bribes. ``Free schooling'' is free only for the rich, and corruption makes the playing field skewed against the poor. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Bribes, Schools, Biased Enforcement, Refusal to pay model, deterrence to bribe demand model, Inequality, Income Effect, Bargaining Power, Regressive Effects, Educational Mobility |
| JEL: | H1 I3 O1 |
| Date: | 2018–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84637&r=dev |
| By: | Chloé van Biljon (Department of Economics and ReSEP, Stellenbosch University); Dieter von Fintel (Department of Economics and ReSEP, Stellenbosch University); Atika Pasha (Department of Economics, University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | Female labour supply is an important outcome for measuring gender equality and is therefore regarded as one of the key indicators for women's empowerment. The empowerment of women through greater labour force participation is well documented in the literature. We argue, however, that the relationship between female labour force participation and empowerment is endogenous. We instead turn our attention to understanding whether greater female household autonomy causes participation in the labour market in the first place. Using the roll out of banking cards associated with the South African government cash transfers as an exogenous shock, we show that financial inclusion improves women's decision making power in the household. In response to this redistribution of bargaining power in the household, we provide evidence of increased female labour force participation. Our results show that becoming a primary decision maker leads to a 92 percentage point increase in the probability that women participate in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | Female labour force participation, SASSA cards, female autonomy, non-cooperative household bargaining model, South Africa, NIDS |
| JEL: | C36 C78 D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers297&r=dev |
| By: | Eva-Maria Egger; Julie Litchfield |
| Abstract: | The decision to migrate is often influenced by the experience of earlier migrants from one’s household. Earlier migrants provide information on likely opportunities and potential risks and can offer support at destination to later migrants. We explore patterns of migration within rural households and the impact that these later migrants have on household welfare outcomes. Specifically, we use a household panel survey collected in 2013 and 2015 in rural areas of Ghana. We exploit the panel nature of the data and a weighting method to overcome sources of bias. Welfare is measured with an asset index of housing quality. We find that more recent or ‘new’ migrants are more likely to be from a younger generation, they face lower migration costs, and few of them remit. We find no effect of sending a new migrant on the asset index. We conclude that the different nature of migration of new migrants implies neither an economic gain for the household nor a loss. The reason for the former is that the more recent migrants remit less or not at all compared to earlier waves of migrants and the reason for the latter is that migration becomes less costly with prior experience. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-22&r=dev |
| By: | Michael P. Keane (UNSW Sydney); Ramna Thakur (Indian Institute of Technology Mandi) |
| Abstract: | India has a high level of out-of-pocket (OOP) health care spending, and lacks well developed health insurance markets. As a result, official measures of poverty and inequality that treat medical spending symmetrically with consumption goods can be misleading. We argue that OOP medical costs should be treated as necessary expenses for the treatment of illness, not as part of consumption. Adopting this perspective, we construct poverty and inequality measures for India that account for impoverishment induced by OOP medical costs. For 2011/12 we estimate that 4.1% of the population, or 50 million people, are in a state of “hidden poverty” due to medical expenses. Furthermore, while poverty in India fell substantially from 1999/00 to 2011/12, the fraction of the remaining poverty that is due to medical costs has risen substantially. Economic growth appears less “pro-poor” if one accounts for OOP medical costs, especially since 2004/05, and especially in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, Consumption, Healthcare, Medical Costs, Inequality, Growth |
| JEL: | I14 I32 O15 O53 N35 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:swe:wpaper:2018-02&r=dev |
| By: | Hamed Sambo (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - USPC - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of remittances on undernourishment in Sub-Saharan Africa using panel data from 35 countries spanning the years 2001-2011. The panel Spatial Error Model (SEM) was used after taking into account the spatial interaction between countries. We find that remittances contribute to the reduction of undernourishment in Sub-Saharan African. However, the elasticity of calorie consumption to remittances is narrow. Moreover, the impact of remittances is more pronounced in intermediate income deciles countries than in the countries in lower income deciles and higher income deciles. Abstract This paper investigates the impact of remittances on undernourishment in Sub-Saharan Africa using panel data from 35 countries spanning the years 2001-2011. The panel Spatial Error Model (SEM) was used after taking into account the spatial interaction between countries. We find that remittances contribute to the reduction of undernourishment in Sub-Saharan African. However, the elasticity of calorie consumption to remittances is narrow. Moreover, the impact of remittances is more pronounced in intermediate income deciles countries than in the countries in lower income deciles and higher income deciles. |
| Keywords: | Remittances, Undernourishment, Spatial Error Model, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2018–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cepnwp:hal-01691436&r=dev |
| By: | Carlos Gradín |
| Abstract: | Despite the relevance of geographical disparities in India, earnings inequality occurs mostly within states, but with a broad range of variability in its levels. We investigate the sources of such variability using RIF decompositions of the inequality gaps between most populous states and India. Our results point to substantial compositional effects associated with cross-state variability in the extent of high-skilled formal employment outside the farm and construction sectors, and along the degree of urbanization and some demographic factors. Cross-state differences in conditional earnings structures, however, turn out to be crucial, especially regarding the different degree of earnings stratification by caste in each state. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-24&r=dev |
| By: | Lujala, Päivi; Brunnschweiler, Christa; Edjekumhene, Ishmael |
| Abstract: | This article examines how Ghanaians access information about national and local issues in general and, in particular, how and to what extent they receive information about national and local natural resource revenue management. It also studies how the likelihood of having heard about resource revenue governance depends on individual, household, and geographical characteristics. The article uses descriptive and multivariate analysis based on a unique survey of over 3500 participants from 2016. The study finds that less than 10% of respondents knew how natural resource revenues (NRR) are managed locally, even in areas with mining activity or petroleum production; less than one-third had heard about NRR management in Ghana. Common citizens, those in remote rural areas, and those with limited English skills were least likely to have heard about NRR management, compared to elected duty bearers, traditional authorities, and other opinion leaders. Generally, people have few reliable information sources. |
| Keywords: | Developing countries, Ghana, information seeking behavior, information sources, media, mining, natural resource revenues, petroleum, survey, transparency |
| JEL: | O13 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84788&r=dev |
| By: | Gatskova, Kseniia; Kozlov, Vladimir |
| Abstract: | Previous literature suggests that households may react to wealth fluctuations by increasing or decreasing the number of members sharing the same residence. We use a unique three-wave household panel data from Tajikistan to explore the change in household size as a response to income shifts related to international labor migration. In addition, we analyze the interaction between effects of idiosyncratic income increase resulted from a successful migration episode and the one of an aggregate shock – the global financial crisis – and show how different households adjust their family size during times of financial hardship. The empirical evidence indicates that the successful migration episode two years before the interview was associated with a decrease in family size due to some of the family members’ moving out. At the same time, people were more likely to live in larger households during the crisis year than before and after the crisis. Empirical analysis yields that migrant families were not different from non-migrant families with respect to the doubling up as response to financial crisis, which suggests that labor migration in Tajikistan does not insure against economic shocks in the long run. |
| Keywords: | migration, remittances, household size, living arrangements, Tajikistan |
| JEL: | F22 D1 J1 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2017-6&r=dev |