Consulta: subjectFacets:"O1"
Registros recuperados: 70
Data/hora: 11/06/2024 06:28:29

How Effective are Cash Transfer Programs at Improving Nutritional Status?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Manley,   James G.; Gitter,   Seth R.; Slavchevska,   Vanya.
PDF file removed temporarily by authors for revision.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Cash transfers; Nutrition; Child health; International Development; O1.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103157

Malaria and National Income: Examining a Two Way Causal Relationship
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Datta,   Saurabh; Reimer,   Jeffrey J.
Simple plots of data show that malaria has a negative correlation with national income per capita, whether looking across countries at a point in time, or looking at a single country over time.  Some countries have been able to move from an equilibrium characterized by low income and high malaria, to a new equilibrium with higher income and lower rates of malaria.  This study develops and estimates a simultaneous equations model to explain these changes.  We distinguish three potential causal chains: (a) the ability for decreases in malaria to increase income, (b) the ability for increases in income to reduce malaria (reverse causality), and (c) external factors that may lead to both higher income and lower malaria (incidental association).  We find that...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Antipoverty; GDP; Health; Economic growth; Malaria; Simultaneous equations; Health Economics and Policy; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; I1; I3; O1; O2.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61179

BARRIERS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN ZAMBIAN SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZE FARMS: EVIDENCE FROM MICRO-DATA
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Kimhi,   Ayal; Chiwele,   Dennis K.
The objective of this paper is to identify factors which limit the ability of Zambian farmers to increase Maize productivity and/or diversify their crop mix. Both may enable wealth accumulation, investments, and further expansion. Specifically, we link variations in agricultural decisions, practices, and outcomes, to variations in the tightness of the different constraints. We model crop production decisions as having recursive structure. Initially, farmers decide on land allocation among the different crops, based on their information set at planting time. Then, as new information (weather, market conditions) is revealed, farmers can change output by influencing the yield. This recursive structure enables to separate the effects of the constraints on the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Crop Diversification; Maize Productivity; Recursive Decisions; Two-stage Estimation; Censored Dependent Variables; Community/Rural/Urban Development; International Development; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O1; Q1.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21877

A Review of Value-Added Centers: Objectives, Structures, Staffing, and Funding
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Holcomb,   Rodney B.; Johnson,   Aaron J.
Value-added centers have been established in many states. These centers vary greatly in objectives, operational structures, staffing, and funding. This paper uses examples of several centers and programs, with a specific emphasis on three centers, to provide a better understanding of value-added centers and their operations.
Tipo: Journal Article
Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; Multidisciplinary; Planning; Value-added; Agribusiness; L3; O1; Q0.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/6525

The Insurance Role of Remittances on Household Credit Demand
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Richter,   Susan M.
The economic literature has highlighted how in the absence of income insurance risk averse households may voluntarily withdraw from credit markets, since contract terms may transfer too much risk to the household (Boucher, Carter, and Guirkinger, 2007). Therefore, households may forgo activities with higher expected income in favor of activities with less income variability across states of nature (Morduch, 1995). Recent literature has also evaluated how remittances provide households with insurance against income shocks (Yang and Choi, 2007; Rosenzweig and Stark, 1989) and how remittances may help households bypass financial intermediaries (Woodruff and Zenteno, 2001; Taylor, Rozelle, and de Brauw, 2003). There has been minimal attention, however, on how...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Financial Economics; Health Economics and Policy; F22; F24; L14; O1; 015.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/6261

What makes exit from poverty: Investigation of smallholder women livestock farmers in Bangladesh
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Akter,   Shaheen; Farrington,   John.
Shaheen Akter and John Farrington..."What makes exit from poverty ....
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Poverty; Women and livestock; Livelihood Strategies; Asset-base Framework; Bangladesh; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Security and Poverty; International Development; Livestock Production/Industries; O1; O3; Q16.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51165

Intellectual Property Rights and South-North Formation of Global Innovation Networks
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Comune,   Maria; Naghavi,   Alireza; Prarolo,   Giovanni.
Current version uploaded April 2013.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Intellectual property rights; Information Communication Technology (ICT); Innovation; Foreign patenting; R&amp;D linkages; Southern innovation; International Relations/Trade; F2; O1; O3.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/115816

Socioeconomic Determinants of Disease Transmission in Cambodia
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Deolalikar,   Anil B.; Laxminarayan,   Ramanan.
The process of acquiring an infection has two components: first, exposure through proximity to another infected individual, and second, transmission of the disease. Earlier studies of the socioeconomic factors that affect the probability of acquiring an illness assume uniform exposure to infected individuals and may therefore result in biased estimates. This paper develops an empirical model, consistent with epidemiological models of spread of infections, to estimate the impact of socioeconomic variables on the extent of disease transmission within villages in Cambodia. Data from the 1997 Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey are used in this analysis.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Disease transmission; Sanitation; Infection; Public health; Health Economics and Policy; C1; I1; O1.
Ano: 2000
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10695

The Roles of the Environment and Natural Resources in Economic Growth Analysis
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Toman,   Michael.
The primary aim of this paper is pedagogical. We first present and discuss a "wiring diagram" framework in order to elucidate the general links between economic growth and "natural capital." After developing the general framework, we develop parallel frameworks applicable to several specific sectors of the economy (agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing). Two appendices provide a mathematical formulation of the economy-wide framework and a brief historical review of the role of natural resources and the environment in economic growth theory.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Economic growth; Natural resources; Sustainable development; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q00; O1.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10510

The World Bank as an International Financial Institution
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Shams,   Rasul.
The World Bank is a prestigious and large international financial institution. Since its foundation it has widened the scope and the size of its activities. One interpretation of what the World Bank is doing is the provision of public goods. If we take this interpretation seriously the comprehensiveness of the Bank's activity suggests that the Bank is assuming more and more the functions of a world government in the making. An alternative interpretation would look at the World Bank as a huge bureaucratic organization, acting on its own behalf. This interpretation can not be endorsed fully by the available information, but only in the sense of bureau-shaping. The Bank itself is proud of being a knowledge bank. But its actual activity is the popularization...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: International lending; Economic development; Public goods; Interest groups; Financial Economics; F33; F34; G21; O1.
Ano: 2004
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/26380

10 years of transition in Ukraine agriculture: An analysis of productivity and efficiency of enterprises
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lissitsa,   Alexej; Odening,   Martin; Babycheva,   Tamara.
This paper analyzes efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) change of large agricultural enterprises during their transition to a market economy in Ukraine. In this case the efficiency is calculated by data envelopment analysis and the productivity change is measured by the Malmquist Productivity Change Index in the period between 1990 and 1999. On average, TFP declined by 6% annually, dropping a total 42%. The main reason for the observed TFP decline is a decrease in technical efficiency, which is found to be remarkably significant. At the same time there is a high variation among individual enterprises: their distribution of efficiency scores widens, which indicates that the farms diverge with respect to their economic performance. The Tobit...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Эффективность; Общая продуктивность фактора; Анализ оболочки данных; Малмквист-индекс изменения общей продуктивности фактора; Переходный период; Украина; Effizienz; Totale Faktor Produktivität; Data Envelopment Analysis; Malmquist Productivity Change Index; Transition; Ukraine; Efficiency; Total Factor Productivity; Agribusiness; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Industrial Organization; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92168

Abatement and Transaction Costs of Carbon-Sink Projects Involving Smallholders
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Cacho,   Oscar J.; Lipper,   Leslie.
Agroforestry projects have the potential to help mitigate global warming by acting as sinks for greenhouse gasses. However, participation in carbon-sink projects may be constrained by high costs. This problem may be particularly severe for projects involving smallholders in developing countries. Of particular concern are the transaction costs incurred in developing projects, measuring, certifying and selling the carbon-sequestration services generated by such projects. This paper addresses these issues by analysing the implications of transaction and abatement costs in carbon-sequestration projects. A model of project participation is developed, which accounts for the conditions under which both buyers and sellers would be willing to engage in a carbon...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agroforestry; Climate Policy; Carbon Sequestration Costs; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q23; Q57; O1; O13.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/9324

Productivity in Malagasy Rice Systems: Wealth-Differentiated Constraints and Priorities
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Minten,   Bart; Randrianarisoa,   Jean Claude; Barrett,   Christopher B.
This study explores the constraints on agricultural productivity and priorities in boosting productivity in rice, the main staple in Madagascar, using a range of different data sets and analytical methods, integrating qualitative assessments by farmers and quantitative evidence from panel data production function analysis and willingness-to-pay estimates for chemical fertilizer. Nationwide, farmers seek primarily labor productivity enhancing interventions, e.g., improved access to agricultural equipment, cattle and irrigation. Shock mitigation measures, land productivity increasing technologies and improved land tenure are reported to be much less important. Poorer farmers have significantly lower rice yields than richer farmers, as well as significantly...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries; O1; O3; Q12.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25611

Economics, Area Studies and Human Development
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ranis,   Gustav.
This paper suggests that area studies and economics have a better chance to be married successfully if we shift our attention from the exclusive emphasis on economic growth towards improvements in human development, especially the much broadened version of that concept. Different areas are shown to differ substantially in terms of the choices they make among the various independent dimensions of well-being and the various indicators within each dimension.  The particular characteristics of each area play an important role in determining the choices societies make and the extent to which they are constrained by their initial conditions.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Economics; Human Development; Area Studies; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Political Economy; O1; O2; O5.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52333

Job Creation in Italy: Geography, Determinants and Perspectives
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Peri,   Giovanni; Cunat,   Alejandro.
The extremely large disparities in employment rates across Italian regions, and the bad performance of the Italian economy in terms of job creation in the 80´s and early 90´s make job creation a top-priority in the economic policy agenda. This paper uses data on employment from 784 Local Labor Systems (LLS´s) covering the whole Italian territory to analyze job creation and its covariates for the 1981-1996 period. Local agglomeration economies, in particular input-output linkages, social characteristics, in particular the crime rate, and infrastructure growth are found to be important determinants of employment growth across Italian LLS´s. Using these estimates and data relative to 1996, we assess the potential for job creation in the LLS´s for the next...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Local Agglomeration Economies; Employment Growth; Italian Regions; Labor and Human Capital; R0; R3; O1.
Ano: 2001
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/26385

THE ECONOMICS OF POVERTY AND THE POVERTY OF ECONOMICS:  A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.
In this world of plenty, almost half of the world's six billion people live on two dollars a day or less and the number living on less than one dollar a day has increased over the past fifteen years (World Bank 2000). Between one third and one half suffer under nutrition due to insufficient intake of calories, protein or critical micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. More than one child in five lives in acute poverty. Why does such unnecessary injustice continue to disfigure a rich, technologically advanced world and what can be done to care for the poor and thereby to care for and honor God, as the Gospels instruct us?  In attempting to answer those questions, at least partly, this paper offers some insights from recent research in economics,...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Food Security and Poverty; O1; I1; A1.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14747

Mentorship Alliance between South African Farmers: Implication for Sustainable Agriculture Sector Reform
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Femi,   Olubode-Awosola; van Schalkwyk,   Herman D.
South Africa's agricultural sector is characterized by a skewed participation of the population. There are vastly white commercial farmers and black subsistence farmers. This is attributed to the past government's intervention in the economy, which lead to exclusion of and discrimination against the blacks regarding access to land. The new government is committed to redressing this imbalance through agricultural reform and development strategies namely land, agrarian, trade and market reforms. One of the government's primary policy thrusts is to provide access to agricultural land for people not adequately represented in the agricultural sector. However, the government lacks sufficient resources to provide land and support services to the farmers been...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: E6; O1; Q15; P0; L12; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25725

A Typology of Food Security in Developing Countries under High Food Prices
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Yu,   Bingxin; You,   Liangzhi; Fan,   Shenggen.
The recent surge in food prices around the world may reverse the gains of reducing hunger and poverty in the recent years. This paper employs factor and sequential typology analysis using data for 175 countries to identify groups of countries categorized according to four measures of food security: utilization, availability, accessibility and stability. Nine indicators are used for this study: calories intake, protein intake, fat intake, food production, the ratio of total exports to food imports, soil fertility, length of growing period, coefficient of variation of length of growing period and urbanization. The analysis first identifies 5 distinct food security groups characterized by food intake then further split these groups based on similarities and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Food security; Factor analysis; Agricultural potential; Typology; Trade; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; International Development; C0; F0; O1.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51043

GMOs: Prospects for Increased Crop Productivity in Developing Countries
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Evenson,   Robert E.
Genetically Modified Crops (GMO foods) have been widely available to farmers since 1996. The Gene Revolution, based on recombinant DNA (rDNA) genetic engineering techniques, is seen by proponents as both supplanting Green Revolution varieties, based on conventional plant breeding techniques, and potentially enabling “disadvantaged” production environments, unreached by Green Revolution varieties to achieve productivity improvements. This paper argues that the private firms supplying GM crop products have generally had little interest in selling products in disadvantaged production environments. The paper also argues that present rDNA techniques allow only static gains from specific “trait” improvements. But these GM products can be installed on Green...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Genetically modified foods; Genetic engineering; Crop Production/Industries; O1; O4; Q1.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28504

Trader Behaviour and Performance in Live Animal Marketing in Rural Ethiopian Markets
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Jabbar,   Mohammad A.; Benin,   Samuel; Gabre-Madhin,   Eleni Z.; Paulos,   Zelekawork.
In this paper, performance of a sample of 131 livestock traders in 38 rural Ethiopian highland markets was analysed in terms of their costs and margins, how these were influenced by their assets and trading practices, and the implications of the findings for policy were outlined. The paper is divided into three main sections: description of the profiles of traders, their assets, trading behaviour and practices; estimates of costs and margins for a set of recent transactions; and econometric analysis of the factors explaining differences in performance with a particular focus on transaction costs. Most traders used own capital as access to credit, especially formal credit, was limited. The livestock market was characterised by non-standardised products and...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Livestock Production/Industries; Marketing; D4; L1; O1; Q13.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25680

Profit Sharing under the Threat of Nationalization
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Di Corato,   Luca.
A government bargains a mutually convenient agreement with a multinational corporation to extract a natural resource. The corporation bears the initial investment and earns as a return a share on the profits. The host country provides access and guarantee conditions of operation. Being the investment totally sunk, the corporation must account in its plan not only for uncertainty on market conditions but also for the threat of nationalization. In a real options framework where the government holds an American call option on nationalization we show under which conditions a Nash bargaining is feasible and leads to attain a cooperative agreement maximizing the joint venture surplus. We find that the threat of nationalization does not affect the investment time...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Real Options; Nash Bargaining; Expropriation; Natural Resources; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Economics; C7; D8; K3; F2; O1.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/59378

Indian Farmers'  Valuation of Crop Yield Distributions: Will poor farmers value 'pro-poor' seeds?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lybbert,   Travis J.
Potential poverty traps among the rural poor suggest a need to reduce poor farmers' vulnerability by stabilizing crop yields and limiting yield losses. Advances in agricultural biotechnology enable breeders to address this need more directly than ever before with crops that reduce production risk by tolerating climate fluctuation or resisting biotic stresses. Will poor farmers who could benefit most from less vulnerability choose to purchase such risk-reducing seeds? I use data from a household survey and experiment involving farmers in India to infer their valuation of changes in the mean, variance, and skewness of yield distributions. I conclude that these farmers value increases in expected yield in the yield distribution but seem indifferent about...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Poverty; Risk; Biotechnology; Experimental Economics; Farm Management; C9–; D8; O1; Q1.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19160

Livestock based livelihoods and pathways out of poverty: the case of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Akter,   Shaheen.
This paper evaluates livelihoods of smallholder livestock farmers who were beneficiaries of a poverty alleviation programme involving longer term intervention towards building the strength of stakeholders such as government department, NGOs, village organisations and women beneficiaries. Data are drawn from a survey of 400 women farmers in 2006 and 2008. These farmers have been the members of BRAC, a well known NGO in Bangladesh. Poverty profiles, transition matrices and regression analysis drawn from asset-base framework are used to analyze data. A number of key questions related to poverty transition through livestock based activities, heterogeneity in livelihood choice and its impact on household welfare, extent of poverty reduction using different...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Poverty; Women and livestock; Livelihood Strategies; Asset-base Framework; Bangladesh; Food Security and Poverty; O1; O3; Q13; Q55.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108935

Market Performance of Potato Auctions in Bhutan
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: van Tilburg,   Aad; Kuiper,   W. Erno; Swinkels,   Rob.
Market performance with respect to a main horticultural export commodity in Bhutan is the subject of this paper. Imperfections in (market) infrastructure and market structure and conduct may prevent an optimal price for farmers. Market performance is assessed by testing the law of one price for this commodity. This is done by testing three series of auction price data on both long-run and short-run price integration. It is concluded that auction prices were interrelated both in the long and short run with one of the three auctions as the price-leading market. Policy implications are suggested.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Auctions; Bhutan; Law of one price; Market performance; Potato marketing; Marketing; C22; L1; M31; O1; Q13.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25520

Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Karlan,   Dean S.
Questions remain as to whether results from experimental economics games are generalizable to real decisions in non-laboratory settings. Furthermore, important questions persist about whether social capital can help solve seemingly missing credit markets. I conduct two experiments, a Trust game and a Public Goods game, and a survey to measure social capital. I then examine whether behavior in the games predicts repayment of loans to a Peruvian group lending microfinance program. Since the structure of these loans relies heavily on social capital to enforce repayment, this is a relevant and important test of the games, as well as of other measures of social capital. I find that individuals identified as "trustworthy" by the Trust game are in fact less...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Trust game; Experimental economics; Microfinance; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; B4; C9; D8; O1.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28429

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT:  LESSONS FOR CHRISTIAN GROUPS COMBATING PERSISTENT POVERTY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.; Brown,   Douglas R.
Persistent poverty is one of the core challenges faced by Christians and by development scholars and practitioners alike. There is no question that Jesus was concerned about the poor - both materially and spiritually. From his first public address in the Synagogue in Nazareth, His home town, where He concluded by saying that He had come to "preach good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18), Jesus lived the gospel in word and deed. We, as Christian men and women, whether researchers or practitioners, are called to do no less. When Jesus made His parting remarks to His disciples, He said (John 20:21) "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." emphasizing that we are to do likewise. This concern permeates the Old and New Testament, another example being the words...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development; O1; Q12; Q18.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14738

Does Reducing Malaria Improve Household Living Standards?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Laxminarayan,   Ramanan.
Living in malaria-endemic regions places an economic burden on households even if they do not actually suffer an episode of malaria. Households living with endemic malaria are less likely to have access to economic opportunities and may have to modify agricultural practices and other household behavior to adapt to their disease environment. Data from Vietnam demonstrate that reductions in malaria incidence through government-financed malaria control programs can contribute to higher household income for all households living in endemic areas. Empirically, a 10% decrease in malaria cases at the national level translates to a roughly US $30 million annual economic benefit in the form of improved living standards.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Malaria; Living standards; Disease; Health Economics and Policy; D1; O1; I0.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10633

Deposit Collectors
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Ashraf,   Nava; Karlan,   Dean S.; Yin,   Wesley.
Informal lending and savings institutions exist around the world, and often include regular door-to-door deposit collection of cash. Some banks have adopted similar services in order to expand access to banking services in areas that lack physical branches. Using a randomized control trial, we investigate determinants of participation in a deposit collection service and evaluate the impact of offering the service for micro-savers of a rural bank in the Philippines. Of 137 individuals offered the service in the treatment group, 38 agreed to sign-up, and 20 regularly used the service. Take-up is predicted by distance to the bank (a measure of transaction costs of depositing without the service) as well as being married (a suggestion that household bargaining...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Savings behavior; Microfinance; Field experiment; Savings mobilization; Deposit collector; Financial Economics; D1; D9; G1; G2; O1.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28502

DECOMPOSING PRODUCER PRICE RISK: A POLICY ANALYSIS TOOL WITH AN APPLICATION TO NORTHERN KENYAN LIVESTOCK MARKETS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.; Luseno,   Winnie K.
This paper introduces a simple method of price risk decomposition that determines the extent to which producer price risk is attributable to volatile inter-market margins, intra-day variation, intra-week (day of week) variation, or terminal market price variability. We apply the method to livestock markets in northern Kenya, a setting of dramatic price volatility where price stabilization is a live policy issue. In this particular application, we find that large, variable inter-market basis is the most important factor in explaining producer price risk in animals typically traded between markets.  Local market conditions explain most price risk in other markets, in which traded animals rarely exit the region.  Variability in terminal market prices accounts...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; O1; Q13; Q18.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14753

Idle Chatter or Learning? Evidence from Rural Tanzania of Social Learning about Clinicians and the Health System
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Adelman,   Sarah W.; Essam,   Timothy M.; Leonard,   Kenneth L.
We examine data from rural Arusha region in Tanzania in which households are asked to recall the illness episodes of randomly chosen other households in their village. We analyze the probability that a household would be able to recall another illness episode as a function of the characteristics of the illness, the location and type of health care chosen and the outcome experienced. Households are more likely to recall severe illnesses and illnesses for which good quality care is important, illnesses that resulted in visits to hospitals or when the patient was not cured. In addition, households are more likely to recall illnesses that resulted in a visit to a facility where the average tenure of clinicians is less than two years old. The results are...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Learning; Health care; Trust; Social networks; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Health Economics and Policy; I1; O1; O2.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42884

BAYES' ESTIMATES OF THE DOUBLE HURDLE MODEL IN THE PRESENCE OF FIXED COSTS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Holloway,   Garth J.; Barrett,   Christopher B.; Ehui,   Simeon K.
We present a model of market adoption (participation) where the presence of non-negligible fixed costs leads to non-zero censoring of the traditional double-hurdle regression.  Fixed costs arise due to household resources that must be devoted a priori to the decision to participate in the market.  These costs-usually a cost of time-motivate two-step decision-making and focus attentions on the minimum-efficient scale of operations (the minimum amount of milk sales) at which market entry becomes viable.  This focus, in turn, motivates a non-zero-censored Tobit regression estimated through routine application of Markov chain Monte Carlo Methods.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Market participation; Fixed costs; Double-hurdle model; Censored regression.; Financial Economics; O1; O11; C34; O13; Q16; D1.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14741

The Historical Fertility Transition: A Guide for Economists
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Guinnane,   Timothy W.
The historical fertility transition is the process by which much of Europe and North America went from high to low fertility in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This transformation is central to recent accounts of long-run economic growth. Prior to the transition, women bore as many as eight children each, and the elasticity of fertility with respect to incomes was positive.  Today, many women have no children at all, and the elasticity of fertility with respect to incomes is zero or even negative. This paper discusses the large literature on the historical fertility transition, focusing on what we do and do not know about the process. I stress some possible misunderstandings of the demographic literature, and discuss an agenda for future work.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Fertility transition; Long-run growth; Malthusian models; Quantity-quality trade-off; Consumer/Household Economics; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; N3; O1; O4.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95271

ZUR WETTBEWERBSFAHIGKEIT DER OSTDEUTSCHEN LANDWIRTSCHAFT - EINE EFFIZIENZANALYSE LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHER UNTERNEHMEN SACHSEN-ANHALTS UND DER TSCHECHISCHEN REPUBLIK
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Rothe,   Andrea; Lissitsa,   Alexej.
COMPETITIVE ABILITY OF EAST GERMAN AGRICULTURE – AN EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF FARMS IN SAXONY-ANHALT AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC  The main focus of this Discussion Paper the analysis of the efficiency of agricultural enterprises in Sachsen-Anhalt and the Czech Republic. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis, a nonparametric, based on linear programming approach of efficiency measurement the technical, pure technical and scale efficiency of agricultural enterprises on verge of the eastern enlargement has been analysed. The object was to identify significant differences between enterprises of various legal forms, specialisation and farm size, to draw conclusions to the competitiveness of the agricultural sector of Eastern Germany. It has appeared, that there occurred...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Productivity; Transition; Data Envelopment Analysis; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14868

ECONOMIC SITUATION OF MOLDAVIANS FARM ENTERPRISES
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Cimpoies,   Dragos; Schulze,   Eberhard.
The given Discussion Paper represents the results of a questionnaire, conducted in 2003, on basic economic questions in 104 Moldavian farm enterprises. The received results continue the cycle of research activities concerning the privatization and restructuring of farm enterprises in different countries of Central and Eastern Europe, are written on a similar structure, allowing to carry out a comparative analysis between the countries of the region. To some extent, the given paper can be regarded as a continuation of the Discussion Paper 60. As the base for the analysis "the standardized questionnaire" has been put forward, developed by IAMO, being advanced and adapted by the authors to local conditions. Study of the activity of farm enterprises of...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Consolidation; Land lease; Production factors; Buy-sell; Work force; Legal forms; Moldova; Konsolidierung; Verpachtung; Produktionsfaktoren; Kauf und Verkauf; Arbeitskräfte; Rechtsformen; Консолидация; Аренда; Производственные ресурсы; Купля-продажа; Трудовые ресурсы; Организационно-правовые формы; Молдова.; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Industrial Organization; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; Productivity Analysis; С 81; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92020

BAYESIAN HERDERS: ASYMMETRIC UPDATING OF RAINFALL BELIEFS IN RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL FORECASTS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lybbert,   Travis J.; Barrett,   Christopher B.; McPeak,   John G.; Luseno,   Winnie K.
Temporal climate risk weighs heavily on many of the world's poor. Recent advances in model-based climate forecasting have expanded the range, timeliness and accuracy of forecasts available to decision-makers whose welfare depends on stochastic climate outcomes. There has consequently been considerable recent investment in improved climate forecasting for the developing world. Yet, in cultures that have long used indigenous climate forecasting methods, forecasts generated and disseminated by outsiders using unfamiliar methods may not readily gain the acceptance necessary to induce behavioral change.  The value of model-based climate forecasts depends critically on the premise that forecast recipients actually use external forecast information to update...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; O1; D1; Q12.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14762

Professionalism, Latent Professionalism and Organizational Demands for Health Care Quality in a Developing Country
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Leonard,   Kenneth L.; Masatu,   Melkiory C.
Medicine is a professional pursuit, and even in developing countries professionalism should lead at least some practitioners to care for their patients despite the absence of direct incentives to do so. Even if practitioners do not behave as professionals, what is the extent of latent professionalism, in which socialization in the profession conditions health workers to respond to a demand for professionalism even if they do not normally act as professionals? How many health care workers in developing countries act as professionals all the time and what will happen if health services turn toward remuneration schemes in which health workers are paid by the output or outcome? We examine the behavior of 80 practitioners from Arusha region of Tanzania for...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Incentives; Quality; Health care; Professionalism; Tanzania; Health Economics and Policy; I1; O1; O2.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42883

Regional Integration in Developing Countries: Some Lessons Based on Case Studies
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Shams,   Rasul.
The main focus of this paper is the question if the success of regional integration organisation in developing countries is, in fact, dependent on factors like similarity of their economic structure, market size or lack of commitment. It is shown that there are also other more important institutional and politico-economical reasons to explain the functioning of such organisations in developing countries. Case studies of ECOWAS and SADC will be used to discuss this question. It is also very often argued that southsouth integration is inferior to north-south integration. This will be discussed considering the case of MERCOSUR as an example.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Regional integration; Economic development; Africa; Latin America; Political economy; International Relations/Trade; F15; O1; P16.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/26272

Does Privatization Deliver? Access to Telephone Services and Household Income in Poor Rural Areas Using a Quasi-Natural Experiment for Peru
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Chong,   Alberto E.; Galdo,   Virgilio; Torero,   Maximo.
We take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment in Peru by which the privatized telecommunications company was required by government to randomly install and operate public pay phones on small rural towns along the national territory. Using a especially designed household survey for a representative sample of rural towns we are able to link access to telephone services with household income. We find, that regardless of the income measurement, most characteristics of public telephone are positively linked with income. Remarkably, the benefits are given at both non-farm and farm income levels. Not only do the findings hold when using instrumental variables but they are further confirmed when using propensity scores matching methods.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Privatization; Institutions; Rural; Poverty; Telecommunications; Consumer/Household Economics; G32; H10; J45; O1.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25691

Microfinance Institutions: Does Capital Structure Matter?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Bogan,   Vicki.
Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have risen to the forefront as invaluable institutions in the development process. Nevertheless, capital constraints have hindered the expansion of microfinance programs such that the demand for financial services still far exceeds the currently available supply. Moreover, it is observed that microfinance organizations have had various degrees of sustainability. Thus, the question of how best to fund these programs is a key issue. Recognizing the potential of microfinance in the development process, this paper examines the existing sources of funding for MFIs by geographic region, and explores how changes in capital structure could facilitate future growth and improve the efficiency and financial sustainability of MFIs....
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Microfinance Institutions; Capital structure; Financial Economics; F3; G21; G32; O1.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51125

Does Composition of Government Spending Matter to Economic Growth?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Yu,   Bingxin; Fan,   Shenggen; Saurkar,   Anuja.
This paper assesses the impact of the composition of government spending on economic growth in developing countries. We use a dynamic GMM model and a panel data set for 44 developing countries between 1980 and 2004. We find that the various types of government spending have different impact on economic growth. In Africa, human capital spending contributes to economic growth whereas in Asia, capital formation, agriculture and education has strong growth promoting effect. In Latin America, none of government spending items has significant impact on economic growth. Our results are robust regardless of model specifications and instruments chosen.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Government expenditure; Growth; GMM; Agricultural and Food Policy; Financial Economics; International Development; H5; O1; C232.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51684

STOCHASTIC WEALTH DYNAMICS AND RISK MANAGEMENT AMONG A POOR POPULATION
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lybbert,   Travis J.; Barrett,   Christopher B.; Desta,   Solomon; Coppock,   D. Layne.
The literature on economic growth and development has focused considerable attention on questions of risk management and the possibility of multiple equilibria associated with poverty traps. We use herd history data collected among pastoralists in southern Ethiopia to study stochastic wealth dynamics among a very poor population.  These data yield several novel findings.  Although covariate rainfall shocks plainly matter, household-specific factors, including own herd size, account for most observed variability in wealth dynamics.  Despite longstanding conventional wisdom about common property grazing lands, we find no statistical support for the tragedy of the commons hypothesis. It appears that past studies may have conflated costly self-insurance with...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Common property; Covariate risk; Ethiopia; Idiosyncratic risk; Poverty traps; Social insurance; Risk and Uncertainty; O1; Q12.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14736

Human Capital Investment and the Gender Division of Labor in a Brawn-Based Economy
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Pitt,   Mark M.; Rosenzweig,   Mark R.; Hassan,   Md. Nazmul.
﻿We use a model of human capital investment and activity choice to explain facts describing gender differentials in the levels and returns to human capital investments. These include the higher return to and level of schooling, the small effect of healthiness on wages, and the large effect of healthiness on schooling for females relative to males. The model incorporates gender differences in the level and responsiveness of brawn to nutrition in a Roy-economy setting in which activities reward skill and brawn differentially. Empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh provides support for the model and the importance of the distribution of brawn.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Brawn; Health; Schooling; Gender; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; O1; J1; J2.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93916

EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTS IN A SPATIALLY VARIED ECONOMY
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Mude,   Andrew G.; Barrett,   Christopher B.; McPeak,   John G.; Doss,   Cheryl R.
This paper presents a simple two-period, dual economy model in which migration options may affect the informal financing of educational investments.  When credit contracts are universally available and perfectly enforceable, spatially varied returns to human capital have no effect on educational investment patterns.  But when financial markets are incomplete and informal mechanisms subject to imperfect contract enforcement must fill the breach, spatial inequality in infrastructure or other attributes that affect the returns to education create spatial differentiation in educational lending and consequently, in educational attainment.  Although migration options can increase the returns to education, they can also choke off the informal finance on which...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession; O1; I1.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14737

Elasticities of Demand for Consumer Credit
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Karlan,   Dean S.; Zinman,   Jonathan.
The price elasticity of demand for credit has major implications for macroeconomics, finance, and development. We present estimates of this parameter derived from a randomized trial. The experiment was implemented by a consumer microfinance lender in South Africa and identifies demand curves that, while downward-sloping with respect to price, are flatter than recent estimates in both developing and developed countries throughout most of a wide price range. However, demand becomes highly price sensitive at higher-than-normal rates. We discuss several interpretations of this kink and present some related evidence. We also find that loan size is far more responsive to changes in loan maturity than to changes in interest rate. This pattern is more pronounced...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Credit markets; Microfinance; Demand elasticity; Development finance; Maturity elasticity; Consumer credit; Liquidity constraints; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; D1; D9; E2; G2; O1.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28485

Land Distributional and Income Effects of the Chinese Land Rental Market
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Wu,   Ziping.
Using panel data of 450 farm households for the period of 1996-2001 in Zhejiang, China, we measured land distributional effect and income effect of the land rental market. It is found that the rental market had contributed for a less equal land distribution among the households, and for the concentration of land to households with higher efficiency. With a land rental market in a dynamic economic development process, improvements in overall production efficiency of the households, however, mainly come from the reduction of land abandonment and the contribution from land changing hands is very limited.
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Land rental market; Distribution; Efficiency; Land abandonment; Land Economics/Use; Q12; O1; Q15.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25294

The Regional and Multilateral Dilemna: Institutions Do Matter
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Soliman,   Marwan.
The world trade has been p olitically framed towards liberalism and "openness". It is evident that this openness has its own grades and interests that command it. Developing countries have been directed, and pushed towards a playing ground they fear and ignore. But some would argue that even developed countries have to go through such stages. The whole difference here is the gap between where the latter stood when they decided to move toward openness and where developing countries do stand today. A simple and obvious proof of that is the increasing number of regional trade agreements (RTAs in following papers for convenience) that most countries have adopted. If we agree that regional networking should serve coordinating interests, RTAs came to answer a...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Institutional and Behavioral Economics; F13; O1.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25401

The Long-Term Impacts of Orphanhood on Education Attainment and Land Inheritance among Adults in Rural Kenya
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Yamano,   Takashi.
The long-term economic impacts of the AIDS epidemic on orphans have been major concerns in countries hit by the epidemic. Responding to these concerns, previous studies have investigated the schooling of orphans. Yet, few studies have investigated the impacts of orphan status into adulthood. Therefore, this paper examines the education attainment and land inheritance of former orphans, who have lost at least one parent before reaching 15, by using a survey of 889 households in Kenya in 2004. In the survey, we have asked the ages of household members when they lost their parents, if they have suffered such a loss, and identified former orphans. Among individuals who started schooling before the Free Education Program introduced in 1974, we find about a one...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: HIV/AIDS; Orphans; Land Inheritance; Schooling; Kenya; Labor and Human Capital; I0; I3; J1; O1; Q15.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25263

Impact of rural poverty reduction strategies: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Sammeth,   Frank; Lakoh,   Alpha; Michel,   Baudouin; Hites,   Gisele; Gomez y Paloma,   Sergio.
The present analysis, which exploits one of the first empirical data collected from smallholders in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war, compares the impact of two poverty reduction strategies targeting smallholders in Sierra Leone: support to rice production is compared with support to coffee and cocoa production in terms of sustainable income generation and contributing to macroeconomic stability and growth. Supporting rice production is intended to help the country regain self-sufficiency in its traditional principle staple. This will help towards improving food security and reducing dependency on volatile world market prices which, for example, with respect to the recent global spike has had dramatic effects on the lowest incomes.  Support to...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Poverty; Official Development Assistance; Sierra Leone; Food Security and Poverty; O1; Q1.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/113211

THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF SMALLHOLDER TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION:  THE CASE OF SRI IN MADAGASCAR
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Moser,   Christine M.; Barrett,   Christopher B.
This paper explores the dynamics of smallholder technology adoption, with particular reference to a high-yielding, low-external input rice production method in Madagascar.  We present a simple model of technology adoption by farm households in an environment of incomplete financial and land markets.  We then use a probit model and a symmetrically trimmed least squares estimation of a dynamic Tobit model to analyze the decisions to adopt, expand and disadopt the method.  We find that seasonal liquidity constraints discourage adoption by poorer farmers.  Learning effects – both from extension agents and from other farmers– exert significant influence over adoption decisions.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Technology adoption; Learning; The System of Rice Intensification; Conformity effects; Farm Management; O0; O1; Q0; Q16; Q12; Q18.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14735

Women’s Rights and Development
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Fernandez,   Raquel.
Why has the expansion of women’s economic and political rights coincided with economic development? This paper investigates this question, focusing on a key economic right for women: property rights. The basic hypothesis is that the process of development (i.e., capital accumulation and declining fertility) exacerbated the tension in men’s conflicting interests as husbands versus fathers, ultimately resolving them in favor of the latter. As husbands, men stood to gain from their privileged position in a patriarchal world whereas, as fathers, they were hurt by a system that afforded few rights to their daughters. The model predicts that declining fertility would hasten reform of women’s property rights whereas legal systems that were initially more...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Women’s Rights; Property Rights; Economic Development; Labor and Human Capital; D1; O1; Z13.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90943

FOOD AID EFFECTIVENESS: "IT'S THE TARGETING, STUPID!"
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.
In the 1992 United States presidential campaign, Bill Clinton and his staff regularly invoked the forceful reminder "It's the economy, stupid!" in order to maintain a tight focus on the core issue that would ultimately decide their electoral success or failure.  This initially seemed reductionist to many observers, because a presidential campaign is a complex affair, with myriad issues and pressures confronting the candidate every day.  But Clinton and his staff were ultimately proved correct.  Most of the important issues that could ignite or derail their campaign did boil down to the economy, and their famous, ruthless focus proved highly successful.    This paper advances the argument that similar focus on issues of targeting are essential if food aid...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Food Security and Poverty; Q18; O1; I1.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14754

Information and Firms’ Search Behavior
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Aker,   Jenny; Tack,   Jesse B.
Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have spread rapidly over the past decade.  There has been considerable interest in the effect of such technology on search costs, search behavior and welfare outcomes, particularly in developing countries.  This paper investigates the impact of a new search technology, mobile phones, on traders’ search and marketing behavior in Niger.  We construct a novel theoretical model of sequential search, in which traders engage in optimal search for the maximum sales price, net transport costs. The model predicts that the introduction of a new search technology, such as mobile telephones, will increase traders’ reservation sales prices and the number of markets over which they search. To test the predictions of the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Africa; Information; Information Technology; Search Costs; Niger; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Security and Poverty; International Development; Marketing; O1; O3; Q13.
Ano: 2011
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103404

Profit Sharing under the Threat of Nationalization
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Di Corato,   Luca.
A multinational corporation engages in foreign direct investment for the extraction of a natural resource in a developing country. The corporation bears the initial investment and earns as a return a share of the profits. The host country provides access and guarantees conditions of operation. Since the investment is totally sunk, the corporation must account in its plan not only for uncertainty in market conditions but also for the threat of nationalization. In a real options framework, where the government holds an American call option on nationalization, we show under which conditions a Nash bargaining leads to a profit distribution maximizing the joint venture surplus. We find that the threat of nationalization does not affect the investment threshold...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Real Options; Nash Bargaining; Expropriation; Natural Resources; Foreign Direct Investment; International Relations/Trade; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; C7; D8; K3; F2; O1.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/58292

The Greening of Development Economics: A Survey
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Blackman,   Allen; Mathis,   Mitchell; Nelson,   Peter.
Although ignored for decades, environmental issues now attract considerable attention in the literature on economic development. This paper describes research on environmental issues in seven topic areas that historically have been at the heart of development economics: the role of the state, economic growth, trade and industrialization, relations between rich and poor countries, structural adjustment and stabilization, population change, and the objectives and strategies of development.
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Environment; Development; Economics; Literature review; International Development; B20; N01; O1; O13; Q20.
Ano: 2001
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10662

Economics of Biofortification
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Qaim,   Matin; Stein,   Alexander J.; Meenakshi,   J.V.
Micronutrient malnutrition affects billions of people world-wide, causing serious health problems. Different micronutrient interventions are currently being used, but their overall coverage is relatively limited. Biofortification – that is, breeding staple food crops for higher micronutrient contents – has been proposed as a new agriculture-based approach. Yet, as biofortified crops are still under development, relatively little is known about their economic impacts and wider ramifications. In this article, the main factors that will influence their future success are discussed, and a methodology for economic impact assessment is presented, combining agricultural, nutrition, and health aspects. Ex ante studies from India and other developing countries...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Micronutrient malnutrition; Public health; Biofortification; Agricultural technology; Impact analysis; Developing countries; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; I1; I3; O1; O3; Q1.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25584

Long Term Structural Changes in the EU Countries (1970-2000): Convergence or Divergence in the Agri-Food System?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Peroni,   Marco; Brasili,   Cristina; Fanfani,   Roberto.
The main objective of this paper is to analyse the structural changes in European Agri-food systems in the last 30 years in order to verify the presence of a convergence process towards a more homogeneous structure among EU countries. This analysis considers the relative importance of the main components of Agri-food systems (agriculture, food industry and food consumption) and how they change over time. The analysis of convergence utilise the European National Accounting Data (from the SEC2 Data Base of Eurostat) from 1970 to 2000 for twelve EU countries. We use tests of convergence on cross section data by countries, but also stochastic kernel methodologies to verify the dynamic evolution of groups of countries inside the EU. The results show there are...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agro-food System; Structural Changes; EU countries; Convergence; Industrial Organization; A1; C23; O1; Q10; Q17.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25659

Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Karlan,   Dean S.; Zinman,   Jonathan.
Microcredit seeks to promote business growth and improve well-being by expanding access to credit. We use a field experiment and follow-up survey to measure impacts of a credit expansion for microentrepreneurs in Manila. The effects are diffuse, heterogeneous, and surprising. Although there is some evidence that profits increase, the mechanism seems to be that businesses shrink by shedding unproductive workers. Overall, borrowing households substitute away from labor (in both family and outside businesses), and into education. We also find substitution away from formal insurance, along with increases in access to informal risk-sharing mechanisms. Our treatment effects are stronger for groups that are not typically targeted by microlenders: male and...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Microfinance; Microcredit; Microentrepreneurship; Risk sharing; Formal and informal finance; Financial Economics; O1; D1; D2 G2.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/52600

MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS, HUMAN CAPITAL AND PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY:  EVIDENCE FROM WEST AFRICAN FARMERS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.; Sherlund,   Shane M.; Adesina,   Akinwumi A.
Little empirical work has quantified the transitory effects of macroeconomic shocks on farm-level production behavior. We develop a simple analytical model to explain how macroeconomic shocks might temporarily divert managerial attention, thereby affecting farm-level productivity, but perhaps to different degrees and for different durations across production units. We then successfully test hypotheses from that model using panel data bracketing massive currency devaluation in the west African nation of Cote d'Ivoire. We find a transitory increase in mean plot-level technical inefficiency among Ivorien rice producers and considerable variation in the magnitude and persistence of this effect, attributable largely to ex ante complexity of operations, and the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Labor and Human Capital; O1; Q12; Q18.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14744

Evaluation of rural development programs after Poland’s accession to the EU: regional CGE approach
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Zawalinska,   Katarzyna.
rural policy, pillar 2, Poland
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Rural development policy; Regional computable general equilibrium model; Poland; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q18; R13; H43; O1.
Ano: 2009
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51342

A mosaic type of development - the Agri-food Districts experience in Italy
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Brasili,   Cristina; Fanfani,   Roberto.
The Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) are now considered in the national and international literature as one of the main factors of the successful and rapid industrial development of Italy after the Second World War. In this paper we outline the general characteristics of the IDs approach and then the distinctive figures of the agrifood districts. A mosaic type of development characterised the geographical distribution of the different agrifood districts in the Italian experience. The different origins of agrifood districts often determines their production and structural characteristics of firms, with a relevant role of SMEs. In many cases, these districts originated from handcraft traditions and specific local demand. Their specialized production is...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agri-Food Districts; Italian Industrial Districts (IDs); Technical efficiency of a panel of firms; Economic Development; International Development; A1; C23; O1; Q10; Q17.
Ano: 2007
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/9404

The Agrifood Districts in the New Millennium
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Brasili,   Cristina; Fanfani,   Roberto.
The Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) are considered to be one of the main reasons for the rapid industrial development and success of Italy since the Second World War. The SME's have also played an important role in this. In this paper we outline the general characteristics of the ID approach and the main structural changes in the new millennium, due to them facing the process of globalization. The distinctive figures of the agrifood districts and their mosaic style of development are than analysed to highlight the similarities and differences between them and the other IDs. First show that they are more relevant and that their geographical distribution is more important than those of other recently analysed Italian ID's. The different zones of origin of...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Economic Development; Agrifood Districts; Industrial Districts (IDs); SME’s role; Efficiency of firms; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; A1; C23; O1; Q10; Q17.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/100456

Market Access and Rural Poverty in Tanzania
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Minot,   Nicholas.
Economic reforms in Tanzania have resulted in low inflation and solid economic growth, but many observers question whether the standard of living of ordinary Tanzanians has improved. Furthermore, there is a strong suspicion that the benefits have been concentrated among the urban population and among rural households with good market access, leaving remote rural households behind. In this paper, we demonstrate a new approach to measuring poverty trends over time. First, the relationship between poverty and household characteristics is estimated using household budget survey data. Second, this relationship is applied to the same characteristics in Demographic and Health Surveys, four of which have been carried out in Tanzania. The results suggest that the...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Poverty; Market access; Tanzania; Economic reforms; Food Security and Poverty; C0; I3; O1; Q13; R0.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25603

CORRUPTION AND OPENNESS
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Neeman,   Zvika; Paserman,   Daniele; Simhon,   Avi.
We consider a neoclassical growth model with endogenous corruption.  Corruption and wealth, which are co-determined in equilibrium, are shown to be negatively correlated.  Richer countries tend to be less corrupt, and corrupt economies tend to be poorer.  This observation gives rise to the following puzzle: If poorer countries do indeed experience higher levels of corruption, and if indeed as suggested by a number of empirical studies corruption hampers growth, then how did rich countries, who were poor once, become rich?  Our answer is simple.  In the past, economies were mostly "closed" in the sense that it was difficult to transfer illicit money outside of the economy.  In contrast, today's economies are mostly open.  In the relatively closed economies...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Corruption; Growth; Openness; International Development; F2; H0; O1; O4.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14977

Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries with a Consumer Credit Field Experiment
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Karlan,   Dean S.; Zinman,   Jonathan.
Information asymmetries are important in theory but difficult to identify in practice. We estimate the empirical importance of adverse selection and moral hazard in a consumer credit market using a new field experiment methodology. We randomized 58,000 direct mail offers issued by a major South African lender along three dimensions: 1) the initial "offer interest rate" appearing on direct mail solicitations; 2) a "contract interest rate" equal to or less than the offer interest rate and revealed to the over 4,000 borrowers who agreed to the initial offer rate; and 3) a dynamic repayment incentive that extends preferential pricing on future loans to borrowers who remain in good standing. These three randomizations, combined with complete knowledge of the...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Information asymmetries; Field experiment; Adverse selection; Moral hazard; Development finance; Credit markets; Microfinance; Financial Economics; C9; D8; G2; G3; O1.
Ano: 2005
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28482

Using the Hawthorne Effect to Examine the Gap Between a Doctor's Best Possible Practice and Actual Performance
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Leonard,   Kenneth L.; Masatu,   Melkiory C.
Many doctors in developing countries provide considerably lower levels of quality to their patients than they have been trained to provide. The gap between best practice and actual performance is difficult to measure for individual doctors who differ in levels of training and experience and who face very different types of patients. We exploit the Hawthorne effect—in which doctors change their behavior when a researcher comes to observe their practices—to measure the gap between best and actual performance. We analyze this gap for a sample of doctors, examining the impact of the organization for which doctors work on the performance of doctors, after controlling for their ability. We find that some organizations succeed in motivating doctors to work at...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Motivation; Practice quality; Health care; Tanzania; Hawthorne effect; Health Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; I1; O1; O2.
Ano: 2008
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/36693

Community-based Adaptation: Lessons from the Development Marketplace 2009 on Adaptation to Climate Change
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Heltberg,   Rasmus; Prabhu,   Radhika; Gitay,   Habiba.
The Development Marketplace 2009 focused on adaptation to climate change. This paper identifies lessons from the Marketplace and assesses their implications for adaptation support. Our findings are based on: statistical tabulation of all proposals; in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 346 semi-finalists; and interviews with finalists and assessors. Proposals were fuelled by deep concerns that ongoing climate change and its impacts undermine development and exacerbate poverty, migration and food insecurity. Proposals addressed both local poverty and climate change challenges, and offered a wide range of approaches to render local development more resilient to current climate variability. Therefore, support to community-based adaptation...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Community-based Adaptation; Development Marketplace; Adaptation; Climate Change; Environmental Economics and Policy; O1; Q5.
Ano: 2010
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92711

The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for determining the efficiency of a production
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Lissitsa,   Alexej; Babitcheva,   Tamara.
The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a relatively new method to measure Technical Efficiency (TE). TE of a Decision Making Unit (DMU) is defined as a ratio of the produced goods and services (Outputs) to the used resources (Inputs). Efficiency comparison become more complicated when market values of the Inputs and Outputs are not available and the figures are expressed in the different measurement units. So, aggregation of the figures into cost or revenue groups become impossible. Such efficiency analysis is especially important for the enterprises in the transformation process. In DEA the Linear Programming (LP) is used to determine relative efficiency of the analysed enterprises. The basic principles of the DEA are introduced in this Discussion Paper...
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Produktivity; Data Envelopment Analysis; Effizienz; Produktivität; Эффективность; Продуктивность; Анализ Оболочки Данных.; Agribusiness; Industrial Organization; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92169

FOOD-FOR-WORK FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE LAND USE: CAN IT WORK?
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Holden,   Stein T.; Barrett,   Christopher B.; Hagos,   Fitsum.
Food-for-work (FFW) programs are commonly used both for short-term relief and long-term development purposes.  In the latter capacity, they are increasingly used for natural resources management projects. Barrett, Holden and Clay (forthcoming) assess the suitability of FFW programs as insurance to cushion the poor against short-term, adverse shocks that could, in the absence of a safety net, have permanent repercussions. In this paper we explore the complementary question of FFW programs' potential to reduce poverty and promote sustainable land use in the longer run through induced changes in investment patterns.   FFW programs commonly aim to produce or maintain potentially valuable public goods necessary to stimulate productivity and thus income growth....
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: Food Security and Poverty; Q18; O1; Q2; I1.
Ano: 2003
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14759

FOOD AID AND COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL FOOD TRADE
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Barrett,   Christopher B.
1. This paper was commissioned by the Trade and Markets Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address the relationship between food aid and commercial international food trade as background to an anticipated OECD study on the export competition aspects of food aid.  The terms of reference for this study call for "a critical review of the existing literature on the potential use of food aid as an export support policy or, alternatively, the potential that food aid bears implications similar to those of export supporting policies."     2. This paper can be summarized as follows.  Food aid has multiple objectives, modalities and effects and there has been significant movement over time in each of these areas....
Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade; O1; Q17; F1; Q18.
Ano: 2002
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14742

A Mosaic Type of Development: The Agri-Food Districts Experience in Italy
Provedor de dados: 31
Autores: Brasili,   Cristina; Fanfani,   Roberto.
The Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) are now considered in the national and international literature as one of the main factors of the successful and rapid industrial development of Italy after the Second World War. In this paper we outline the general characteristics of the IDs approach and then the distinctive figures of the agrifood districts. A mosaic type of development characterised the geographical distribution of the different agrifood districts in the Italian experience. The different origins of agrifood districts often determines their production and structural characteristics of firms, with a relevant role of SMEs. In many cases, these districts originated from handcraft traditions and specific local demand. Their specialized production is...
Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation
Palavras-chave: Agri-Food Districts; Italian Industrial Districts (IDs); Technical efficiency of a panel of firms; Economic Development.; International Development; A1; C23; O1; Q10; Q17.
Ano: 2006
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25405