Development Economics eJournal最新文献

{"title":"Inner Crises: Globalization and the Development of Africa","authors":"Tarnell S Brown","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1943816","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1943816","url":null,"abstract":"In this era of increased globalization, Africa seems to the continent that gets left behind. Rich in natural resources but poor in terms of infrastructure and stable institutions, it represents a region that is both intriguing to and toxic for potential investors. While it is a vast region peopled by many tribes and clans, scholars tend to attempt to paint the area with a single brush. This paper seeks to determine both the effects of and the potential for globalization by presenting three states, South Africa, Somalia and Zambia as microcosmic of African nations in three different stages of development.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130347388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Combating Poverty Through an Attack on Calorie Deficits: A Mechanism Design Approach","authors":"S. Mitra","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1943303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1943303","url":null,"abstract":"This article tries to add some more value to the discussions on food security taken up by Jean Dreze and recently by Reetika Khera and other authors such as Indira Hirway and Madhura Swaminathan through a series of articles. It marshals information on availability and requirements for food grain with emphasis on the ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) households and ‘Vulnerable but Above Poverty Line’ households. The latter are those below the World Bank’s $2 at PPP (purchasing power parity) per capita per day threshold but above the poverty line of $1.25 PPP per capita per day threshold when the reference year is 2005 (or in other words earning an income in India inadequate for buying a consumption bundle that $2 would have bought in the United States in 2005 but more than adequate for purchasing a reference consumption basket that $1.25 would have bought). The mentioned information is supplemented by that on diversion of food grain from the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in India at the national as well as state level; errors in targeting the poor through the TPDS, as revealed by region specific studies; the design of various public distribution programmes at the state level; the national income distribution which has important implications for the potential magnitude of fiscal resources that can be generated for running a Public Distribution System (PDS) which offers greater food security for the poor and vulnerable; and finally the difference in the nature of urban and rural poverty with its implications for food subsidy policy. It reveals that the nation produces enough food grains to meet the food grain requirements of the country’s entire population and the problem is therefore essentially one of improper distribution and leakage rather than of inadequate production. It then goes on to point out that while the use of the TPDS to provide subsidized rations to certified BPL card holders and unsubsidized rations to others might be well intentioned and meant to target scarce fiscal resources and essential calories to the needy, such targeting has left much to be desired with a large number of BPL cards being appropriated by the APL population (and we have no way of knowing whether these families belong to the vulnerable category or non-vulnerable category) to compound the large physical diversions which can be largely be attributed to corrupt practices by transporters and dealers of TPDS outlets. However, there is hope as certain states have shown reasonable success in implementing the public distribution system – one primary example is Tamil Nadu which has universalized the system to overcome the problems of wrong identification of the poor, intentional or otherwise, and at the same time minimized diversions. The above information is collated and analysed to recommend a very simple solution: entitling every household to subsidized rations on the basis of its ration card but almost ensuring that the rich and the affluent, without any need f","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129964620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Institutional Change and Economic Development in Siberia and the Russian Far East","authors":"J. Thornton","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1943814","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1943814","url":null,"abstract":"This paper studies the institutions for exercise of property rights in forestry, fisheries, and mining in Siberia and the Russian Far East, linking current arrangements with the administrative structures of the command era. It describes production, income, and structural change in Asian Russia arguing that if Russia hopes to rely on the rapid growth of Asia as a locomotive for Russian growth, then then the government will need to develop a legal framework for long-run property rights in resources and to establish stronger links for business cooperation with all of the countries of Asia and, particularly, with China, Japan, and South Korea.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131530722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the Odds of Achieving the Mdgs","authors":"D. Go, J. A. Quijada","doi":"10.1596/1813-9450-5825","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5825","url":null,"abstract":"How many countries are on target to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015? How many countries are off target, and how far are they from the goals? And what factors are essential for improving the odds that off-target countries can reach the goals? This paper examines these questions and takes a closer look at the diversity of country progress. The authors argue that the answers from the available data are surprisingly hopeful. In particular, two-thirds of developing countries are on target or close to being on target for all the Millennium Development Goals. Among developing countries that are falling short, the average gap of the top half is about 10 percent. For those countries that are on target, or close to it, solid economic growth and good policies and institutions have been the key factors in their success. With improved policies and faster growth, many countries that are close to becoming on target could still achieve the targets in 2015 or soon after.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130200415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can Islands of Effectiveness Thrive in Difficult Governance Settings? The Political Economy of Local-Level Collaborative Governance","authors":"B. Levy","doi":"10.1596/1813-9450-5842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5842","url":null,"abstract":"Many low-income countries contend with a governance syndrome characterized by a difficult combination of seeming openness, weak institutions, and strong inter-elite contestation for power and resources. In such countries, neither broad-based policy nor public management reforms are likely to be feasible. But are broad-based approaches necessary? Theory and evidence suggest that in such settings progress could be driven by\"islands of effectiveness\"-- narrowly-focused initiatives that combine high-quality institutional arrangements at the micro-level, plus supportive, narrowly-targeted policy reforms. This paper explores whether and how local-level collaborative governance can provide a platform for these islands of effectiveness. Drawing on the analytical framework developed by the Nobel-prize winning social scientist Elinor Ostrom, the paper reviews the underpinnings of successful collaborative governance. It introduces a simple model for exploring the interactions between collaborative governance and political economy. The model highlights the conditions under which coordination is capable of countering threats from predators seeking to capture the returns from collaborative governance for themselves. The relative strength in the broader environment of two opposing networks emerges as key --\"threat networks\"to which predators have access, and countervailing\"trumping networks\"on which protagonists of effective collaborative governance can draw. The paper illustrates the potential practical relevance of the approach with three heuristic examples: the governance of schools, fisheries, and road construction and maintenance. It concludes by laying out an agenda for further empirical research, and suggesting what might be the implications of the approach for future operational practice.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125657053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is There a Cost Associated with an Increase in Family Size Beyond Child Investment? Evidence from Developing Countries","authors":"Julio Cáceres-Delpiano","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1935286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1935286","url":null,"abstract":"Using multiple births as an Instrumental Variable (IV) for family size and data for 43 developing countries, I find evidence that a shock in fertility has a cost for a family as a whole. Mothers are more likely to live under less stable family arrangements and they are more likely to use contraceptives. Children are less likely to receive some vaccines, attend school, live their mother and there is an increase in odds of mortality. The analysis by level of development reveals the cost of fertility comes from those countries with lower level of development.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130584232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Dynamic Rent-Seeking Theory: A Response to Critics","authors":"T. Otáhal","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1949073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1949073","url":null,"abstract":"Why is rent-seeking highly relevant for recent economic theory? In this paper, I argue that the common criticism of rent seeking theory is not new and relevant. First, I explain the basis of rent seeking and the main contributions to this theory including the theory of bureaucracy. Then, I explain the criticism of this approach, which attacks the static grounds of this theory stemming from the perfect competition equilibrium model and the normative concretizing of rent-seeking actions. I argue that the rent-seeking theory had already abandoned the static perfect competition model in the 1980s and that arguments using dynamic rent-seeking theory remain normative until they explain the institutional causes of economic development, which has been the centre of the economic profession for centuries.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125049500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Financial Inclusion Strategies for Inclusive Growth in India","authors":"Dr. Sarath Chandran","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1930980","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1930980","url":null,"abstract":"The two decades of post reform period in India witnessed transformation of the economy in to a higher growth plane signaling the arrival of the country in the global stage. But this robust growth failed to translate the economic well being of the large number of marginalized and excluded sections due to structural rigidities. For economic growth of a nation to be sustainable, it requires all sections of the society included and participates in the growth process. One of the many alternative strategies available for Inclusive Growth is through developing an Inclusive Financial System. Financial inclusion is useful to facilitate economic transaction, manage day today resources, improve quality of life, protect against vulnerability, make productivity enhancing investments and leverage assets. But the indicators of financial use in the country are very poor and there is wide inequality among different sections of the society, between rural and urban areas and between geographical areas. In this context, the paper builds the case for developing inclusive financial system for achieving inclusive economic growth in India. The rationale for inclusive financial system, taking banking services to the vulnerable sections, role of micro finance institutions in spreading financial literacy and the role of technology in taking financial services available & affordable to the poor are discussed in the paper.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132251552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chinese Culture and Modernization: Testing the Value Shift Hypothesis","authors":"Manli Gu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1924109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1924109","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing upon the most recent wave of the World Values Survey (WVS) data, this study empirically investigates the phenomenon of modernization and values change for China. Classic modernization theorists argue that the process of societal modernization is characterized by a significant value shift from traditionalism to more liberal thinking. Results from OLS regressions indicate that socio-economic development, measured by provincial GDP per capita and HDI (Human development Index), has a strong positive impact on the support of self-expression values. Our findings also reveal that respondents from the industrial coastal areas tend to be more self-expressive than people from the less developed inland regions. Meanwhile, a Confucian cultural heritage also contributes to explain values significantly, after controlling for socio-economic factors. This lends support to the culturalist theory that historical heritage and cultural traditions have an enduring influence on people’s value systems. At an individual level, education is significantly and positively associated with a rational and self-expressive value orientation. Interestingly, we find that people with a higher income level tend to be more traditionally oriented. We interpret this finding in the context of Chinese culture, specifically, in relation to Confucian ethics.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"653 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134101483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"India’s Gender Bias in Child Population, Female Education and Growing Prosperity: 1951-2011 with Projections to 2026","authors":"D. P. Chaudhri, R. Jha","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1924008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1924008","url":null,"abstract":"Using Census and NSS data this paper studies the evolution of Gender Bias (GB) in the age group 0–6 in India and its association with education and higher prosperity. GB is pervasive and has grown over time with higher prosperity and resultant demographic transition and enhanced education. The number of children in the age group 0–14 peaked in 2001 and has, since, been falling. Even as the under 5 mortality rate has fallen from 240.1 per thousand in the 1961 census to 65.6 in 2011, the total fertility rate (TFR) has experienced an equally sharp decline from 6.1 in 1961 to 2.6 in 2011. That large household size (associated with high fertility rates and low Monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE)) is linked with low GB comes as no surprise. However, with higher prosperity and lower TFR GB rises sharply. The percentage difference in GB in successive time periods fell from 0.3 in 1951 to 0.1 in 1961 but accelerated to 1.9 in 2011. GB is higher in the age group 0–4 than in the 0–6 group. GB has actually improved for the age group 10–14 but this fact is irrelevant for the evolution of GB in children since children in that age group will soon be adults. Hence, the outlook for GB in the age group 0–6 appears bleak at least until 2026. The paper also demonstrates that there are wide variations in GB across various states, even districts, of India. In 2011 child population is still high in the EAG states whereas the growth of child population has come down substantially in some states, particularly some southern states and Himachal Pradesh. At the district level we discover that the education of girls is an important determinant of GB. At the household level both improved education of females in the age group 15–49 and higher prosperity lead to worsening of GB. However, at high values of the interaction of these two variables there could be a turnaround in the trend of worsening GB. At present trends, however, this is unlikely to happen at least until 2026. More positive outcomes require social engineering through multidimentional, orchestrated policies, especially in relation to enhanced prosperity and education of women in the child bearing age group. Improvements in GB are discernable in some districts, states and households. In 55 districts GB declined and proportion of girls attending schools increased. Kerala and Tamil Nadu did not have any worsening of GB while GB declined in Himachal Pradesh. Finally, prosperity improved GB among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims, and households having women in child bearing age group with graduate degrees.","PeriodicalId":355227,"journal":{"name":"Development Economics eJournal","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114261900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}