|
on Development |
| By: | Varun Kumar Das (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the factors affecting on-farm diversification decision. Notwithstanding the influence of farm and household conditions, studies have also highlighted the role of external pull factors on farm diversification. Though appraised in scholarship, this aspect has eluded an empirical scrutiny in literature. Taking India as a case, this study shows that apart from farm and household factors, there is a broader agro-ecological and structural feature which impacts on-farm diversification decision. Correcting for endogeneity in a seemingly unrelated system of ordered probit models, a "three-stage" residual inclusion model is estimated. The findings show that proximity to social infrastructure such as schools, colleges, and access to public transport matters for diversification. Results also show that though urbanization may increase demand for variety of products, it might as well impinge upon farm labor supply as non-farm opportunities also rises with urbanization. Thus, the underlying structure of the local economy also merits attention while understanding on-farm diversification process. |
| Keywords: | Farm diversification; Pull factors; External conditions; Residual inclusion; Economies of density; Agro-ecology; Urbanization; Structural transformation |
| JEL: | Q12 Q18 R23 R53 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2018-023&r=dev |
| By: | Victor Ginsburgh (ECARES, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and CORE, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium); Juan D. Moreno-Ternero (Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide;) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the role of poverty levels on the allocation of international development aid. We estimate “claims" for each recipient, based on the incidence and depth of poverty in its territory, and explore possible reallocations of the current (overall) official development assistance (ODA) based on those claims. We consider four allocation rules rooted in ancient sources: the Aristotelian proportional rule, two constrained egalitarian rules, inspired by Maimonides, and the Talmud rule. Each of them is grounded on different normative principles, which allows assessing claims in different ways. Our results indicate that the current allocation of international development aid cannot be supported by any of those rules, which leads us to conclude that the allocation of ODA is not driven by eradicating world's poverty as a goal. |
| Keywords: | Poverty; Development; Aid; Resource Allocation; Claims |
| JEL: | D63 F35 I30 O10 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpaper:18.15&r=dev |
| By: | Neidhöfer, Guido |
| Abstract: | Countries with high income inequality also show a strong association between parents' and children's economic well-being; i.e. low intergenerational mobility. This study is the first to test this relationship in a between-country and within-country setup; using harmonized micro data from 18 Latin American countries, spanning multiple cohorts. It is shown that experiencing higher income inequality in childhood is associated with lower intergenerational mobility measured in adulthood. Following the same methodology, the influence of economic growth and public education is evaluated: both are positively, significantly, and substantially associated with intergenerational mobility. |
| Keywords: | Inequality,Intergenerational Mobility,Equality of Opportunity,Human Capital,Growth,Development,Public Education,Great Gatsby Curve,Latin America |
| JEL: | D63 I24 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18049&r=dev |
| By: | Dhanushka Thamarapani (Department of Economics, California State University); Marc Rockmore (Department of Economics, Clark University); Willa Friedman (Department of Economics, University of Houston) |
| Abstract: | An emerging literature finds that childhood exposure to adverse events determines adult outcomes and behavior. We extend this research to understand the influence of witnessing a sibling death as a child on subsequent educational and fertility outcomes in Indonesia. Using panel data and a sibling fixed effects model, we identify this relationship based on variation in the age of surviving children within the same family. Our findings strongly support the importance and persistence of adverse childhood experiences. In particular, for surviving sisters, witnessing a sibling death reduces the years of completed education and the likelihood of completing secondary schooling. The effect on surviving brothers is more muted. A potential channel for this result is that women respond by changing their fertility behavior. While surviving the death of a sibling has little effect on desired fertility levels, we find evidence that surviving sisters start a family about 3-4 years earlier. This suggests that interventions targeted at early-life outcomes may have important ripple effects and that the full impact of health interventions may not be visible until decades afterwards |
| Keywords: | Child mortality, Siblings, Education, Fertility |
| JEL: | I10 J13 J16 O53 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:duh:wpaper:1801&r=dev |
| By: | World Bank Group |
| Keywords: | Transport - Transport Economics Policy & Planning Urban Development - National Urban Development Policies & Strategies Urban Development - Regional Urban Development Urban Development - Transport in Urban Areas Urban Development - Urban Economic Development Urban Development - Urban Governance and Management Urban Development - Urban Housing Urban Development - Urban Poverty Urban Development - Urban Services to the Poor |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:30042&r=dev |
| By: | Markus Brueckner; Birgit Hansl |
| Abstract: | During the 2000s PPP GDP per capita growth in the Philippines was modest. Transitional convergence accounted for almost half of the growth in the Philippines during that time period. Reforms to the structure of the economy boosted growth by less than one percentage point per annum. The most significant structural reform was improvements in telecommunication infrastructure that lifted growth by over half a percentage point per annum. The decline of domestic credit to the private sector reduced growth by about one quarter of a percentage point per annum. Successful stabilization policies positively contributed to growth but the effect is small, about one half of a percentage point per annum. The paper discusses the growth performance of the Philippines relative to comparator countries: ASEAN, lower middle income countries, countries where migrant remittances are large relative to GDP, young democracies, structural peers, and regional peers. The main message from the analysis is that structural reforms were not as significant in the Philippines as in comparator countries. The Philippines lagged behind in structural reforms and this significantly contributed to the country's relatively modest growth performance. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:dpaper:702&r=dev |
| By: | Bastianin, Andrea; Lanza, Alessandro; Manera, Matteo |
| Abstract: | El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring phenomenon that affects weather around the world. Past ENSO episodes have had severe impacts on the economy of Colombia. We study the influence of ENSO on Colombian coffee production, exports, and price. Our structural econometric specification is consistent with an economic model of the market for Colombian coffee which, in the short run, is characterized by a downward-sloping demand curve and by a vertical supply curve. We show that El Niño (i.e., positive shocks to ENSO) is beneficial for Colombian production and exports and decreases the real price of Colombian coffee. On the contrary, La Niña (i.e., negative shocks to ENSO) depresses Colombian coffee production and exports and increases price. However, the overall impact of ENSO shocks is small. Both in the short run and in the long run, shocks to international demand for Colombian coffee are more relevant than supply-side shocks in Colombia in explaining the dynamics of the price of Colombian coffee. Our results suggest that a given coffee price shock can have beneficial, detrimental, or negligible effects on the Colombian economy, depending on its underlying cause. As a consequence, policy responses to coffee price shocks should be designed by looking at the causes of the shocks. |
| Keywords: | Coffee; Colombia; El Niño; ENSO; La Niña; Structural VAR |
| JEL: | C32 O13 Q02 Q11 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89984&r=dev |
| By: | Marta-Juanita Villaveces; Jean-Paul Faguet; Fabio Sánchez |
| Abstract: | Over two centuries, Colombia transferred vast quantities of land, equivalent to the entire UK landmass, mainly to landless peasants. And yet Colombia retains one of the highest concentrations of land ownership in the world. Why? We show that land reform’s effects are highly bimodal. Most of Colombia’s 1100+ municipalities lack a landed elite. Here, rural properties grew larger, land inequality fell, and development improved. But where land is concentrated in the hands of a rural elite, distributed land was diverted to bigger farms, resulting in fewer small and more large farms, greater land dispersion, and lower levels of development. We show that these effects – positive and negative – flow through political participation, competition, and policy-making. Landed elites use patron-client ties to distort local and national politics to their benefit. Land reform’s secondary effects, on the distribution of power, are more important than its primary effects on the distribution of land. *** Desde la independencia, Colombia ha transferido una vasta cantidad de tierra, equivalente al área del Reino Unido, principalmente a campesinos desterrados. Sin embargo, Colombia mantiene hoy en día uno de los más altos niveles de concentración de la tenencia de la tierra en el mundo. ¿Por qué? En este artículo mostramos que los efectos de la reforma agraria son bimodales. La mayoría de los más de 1100 municipios no cuentan con una élite terrateniente. En estos municipios, la propiedad rural creció y la desigualdad de la tierra se redujo. Pero, donde la tierra está concentrada en manos de una élite rural, la distribución de la tierra se orientó hacia los beneficios de los grandes terratenientes, con mayor dispersión en la tierra y menor nivel de desarrollo. Mostramos que estos efectos –positivos y negativos- se vinculan a la participación política, la competencia y la implementación de políticas. La élite terrateniente utiliza los vínculos patrón-cliente para distorsionar los beneficios de la política local y nacional. Los efectos secundarios de la reforma agraria en la distribución del poder, son más importantes que los efectos primarios en la distribución de la tierra. |
| Keywords: | Land reform, inequality, development, latifundia, political competition, Colombia |
| JEL: | Q15 D63 O1 D72 |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000178:017015&r=dev |
| By: | Lahsen, Amina. A; Piper, Alan T. |
| Abstract: | A central argument for increased protections of property rights (PR) is the role they play in encouraging economic transactions, investment and economic growth. Likewise, the utilitarian justification of intellectual property laws is that such rights promote creative inventions and innovation, and thus can make a nation better off. A further argument is psychological: it has also been argued (though rarely tested) that enhanced rights contribute to increases in well-being enjoyed by a county’s citizens. Many Latin American countries have made efforts to improve property rights (and their enforcement) in the recent past, with varying success. Using three data sources (the Latinobarometer, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index), this investigation considers the relationship between property rights and intellectual property protection, economic growth, and well-being. The results, which are heterogeneous with respect to labour force status, suggest that policy makers in Latin America should pursue improvements in property rights if they wish to improve citizen well-being while also promoting economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Property rights; Intellectual property protection; Economic Growth; Latin America; Life Satisfaction; Latinobarometer |
| JEL: | D23 I31 N36 O34 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:90034&r=dev |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroon); Vanessa S. Tchamyou (Yaoundé, Cameroon); Ndemaze Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon); Nina Tchamyou (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the comparative economics of governance in fighting terrorism in 53 African countries for period 1996-2012. Four terrorism variables are used, namely: domestic, transnational, unclear and total terrorism dynamics. Nine bundled and unbundled governance variables are employed, notably: political stability/no violence, voice & accountability, political governance, government effectiveness, regulation quality, economic governance, corruption-control, the rule of law and institutional governance. The empirical evidence is based on Fixed Effects regressions. In the analytical procedure, we first bundle governance indicators by means of principal component analysis before engaging the empirical exercise with the full sample. In the final step, specifications are based on a decomposed full sample in order to articulate the fundamental characteristics for comparative purposes. The following broad findings are established. First, good governance is an appealing tool in fighting terrorism. Second, the relevance of the good governance dynamics is as follows in order of increasing relevance: economic governance, institutional governance and political governance. The findings are presented in increasing order of magnitude to emphasise fundamental features in which governance dynamics have the highest effect in mitigating terrorism. |
| Keywords: | Terrorism; Governance; Africa |
| JEL: | C52 D74 F42 O38 P37 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:18/055&r=dev |
| By: | Borooah, Vani |
| Abstract: | Launched in October 1975, India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program is its largest national program for promoting the health and development of mothers and their children. This chapter examines an aspect of the ICDS program that has been neglected, namely who are its beneficiaries? Are they persons from deprived groups who, but for the program, might not have received such services? Or are they persons from more privileged groups who have the resources to acquire them from other sources? In both cases the ICDS program adds value but, in the latter situation, it does so by displacing existing services. This evaluation of the ICDS program is particularly important in the light of the Government of India’s view, as articulated in its Eleventh Five Year Plan, that growth is not perceived as “sufficiently inclusive for many groups, especially Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Minorities”. The chapter presents econometric estimates regarding the relative strength of the personal and household circumstances of persons in determining the likelihood of utilising ICDS services. Lastly, the chapter suggests a trade-off between quality and utilisation by hypothesising that the poor quality of services leads upper-caste mothers to exit the ICDS market and seek these services elsewhere. |
| Keywords: | Child Development, Social Groups, Exit, Voice |
| JEL: | I38 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:90421&r=dev |