International Journal of Development Issues最新文献

{"title":"Accurate targeting in social assistance programs in Southern Madagascar","authors":"Fanantenana Raholiarimanana, Akira Ishida","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-04-2024-0101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-04-2024-0101","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000 Social assistance programs have been implemented in Madagascar to assist the most vulnerable and neediest poor in achieving a minimum standard of living during critical times. In the Grand South and Southeast Madagascar, where climate change, price fluctuations and sociopolitical instability threaten the population’s livelihood, the effectiveness of such aid-based programs is uncertain because of possible mistargeting. This study aims to assess the accuracy of the targeting methodology of four different types of social protection programs in Southern Madagascar.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors draw evidence from a national representative data set and use multiple techniques that integrate targeting performance and regression-based analyses.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Results show that cash transfers constitute the only program that effectively reaches the poorest 20% living in drought- and cyclone-affected regions. However, mistargeting is likely to occur in food, seed transfers, and the HIMO public works programs. Social inclusion information related to proximity to urban zones, religious affiliation, and number of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets are significantly associated to all program participation. Nevertheless, a serious under-coverage of the eligible poor is noted for Southern Madagascar.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study is among the first to evaluate the targeting effectiveness of social programs in Madagascar. It introduces a novel approach to evaluating the poverty rate by utilizing a composite-based wealth score. The authors enhance the classic targeting assessment methodology by incorporating geospatial covariates, categorical, geographical and social network information into an econometric model. The study provides a comprehensive view of the main profile of beneficiaries reached by four social assistance programs in Southern Madagascar.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141800108","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":"Impact of government expenditure on unemployment in Asian countries: does institutional quality matter?","authors":"Toan Khanh Tran Pham","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-05-2024-0127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-05-2024-0127","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Asian countries have had persistent unemployment levels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of government spending on unemployment. Furthermore, this paper investigates the moderating role of institutional quality on the government spending–unemployment nexus.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using data from 35 Asian countries from 2000 to 2022, the dynamic ordinary least squares and fully modified ordinary least squares technique is used to tackle with aforementioned issue. In addition, pooled mean group estimation is applied to verify the robustness of the findings.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results show that an increase in government expenditure and better institutions reduce the unemployment rate. Interestingly, the negative impact of government expenditure on unemployment will enhance and intensify with better institutional quality. Furthermore, trade openness and foreign direct investment decrease unemployment in Asian countries. The results are robust to various specifications.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000Findings from this study provide important implications for governments. Governments should use public expenditure efficiently and enhance and improve institutional quality to reduce unemployment.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study pioneers the investigation of the moderating role of institutional quality in the relationship between government expenditure and unemployment in Asian countries.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141803386","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":"Estimating vulnerability to income and multidimensional poverty: a new methodological approach","authors":"Andualem Goshu Mekonnen","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-05-2024-0145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-05-2024-0145","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to propose a new vulnerability to income and multidimensional poverty estimation index (VIMPI). This index is designed to measure the likelihood of individuals falling into and remaining in poverty.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The paper introduces a new methodology that integrates the concepts of the well-being gap, individual and indicator-specific weighting, and vulnerability. This approach is simple to apply and accurately measures vulnerability with less susceptibility to measurement error and outliers. The index satisfies all poverty and vulnerability axioms, including transferability and monotonicity. The newly proposed method has been applied to Namibian and Ghanaian data and compared with similar techniques.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results showed that Ghana's vulnerability to income and multidimensional poverty was 37.9% and 56%, respectively. Of the 37.9% of vulnerable individuals, 23.4% were at risk of falling into poverty, while 14.57% were at risk of remaining in poverty. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of VIMPI in accurately estimating vulnerability to poverty and its potential to inform targeted policies to alleviate poverty.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper proposes a new methodology to estimate vulnerability to income and multidimensional poverty.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808747","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":"Natural resource rent's effect on Ethiopian inequality and manufacturing's moderating role: evidence from dynamic simulated ARDL model","authors":"Dereje Fedasa Hordofa","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-12-2023-0294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-12-2023-0294","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impact of natural resource rents on income inequality in Ethiopia from 1981 to 2022 and investigate whether investments in manufacturing moderate this relationship.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation and Kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) models are used to analyses short- and long-run relationships, as well as the potential moderating role of manufacturing.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The bounds test indicates natural resource rents have a long-run positive effect on inequality but a short-run negative impact. The KRLS model finds manufacturing conditions for this linkage in the short run. In the long run, economic growth decreases inequality following an inverted Kuznets pattern, while government expenditures reduce disparities when directed at priority social services.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The findings provide mixed support for theories while highlighting nuances not fully captured without local analyses. Strategic sectoral investments may help optimize outcomes from resource dependence.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The results imply Ethiopia should prudently govern resources, productively invest revenues and prioritize social spending to equitably manage industrialization and uphold stability.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000Reducing disparities through inclusive development aligned with empirical evidence could help Ethiopia sustain peace amid transformation and realize its goals of shared prosperity.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study applies innovative econometrics to provide novel insights into Ethiopia's experience, resolving inconsistencies in the literature on relationships between key determinants and inequality.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141810685","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":"Trade, gender equality and institutional quality: Evidence from the gravitational approach","authors":"D. Le, Nam Khanh Pham","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-02-2024-0029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-02-2024-0029","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The contributions of gender equality to trade and the moderating impact of institutional quality on the trade-gender link have been understudied in contemporary literature. Therefore, this paper aims to use the augmented gravity model to investigate the impacts of gender equality and institutional quality on trade, and the moderating impact of institutional quality on the trade-gender link.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The panel data is comprised of bilateral trade flows of Vietnam and 40 major trading partners in the 2002–2021 period. Estimation methods include combined fixed effect, random effect, system generalized method of moments two-step (SGMM-II) and Poisson-pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) which allow the treatment of heterogeneity, endogeneity and heteroskedasticity in the research models.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The exporting country’s gender equality has an inconclusive impact on trade in SGMM-II and PPML estimations. However, female labor force participation in the exporting country increases trade. Importing country’s gender equality and female labor force participation increase trade. The direct impact of institutional quality on trade is inconclusive, which is dependent on estimation methods. Most noticeably, the institutional quality of exporting and importing countries facilitates the hampering effects of gender equality and female labor force participation on trade.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000Future research should apply the framework of this paper to sectoral trade, which allows more sector-specific policy implications to be delivered. Moreover, gender development, gender inequality and institutional quality should be included in the SGMM estimations as endogenous variables for robustness checking purposes in future research.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The paper has justified the integration of gender-specific issues in trade policies, which aligns trade with sustainable development agenda. The explored moderating impact of institutional quality of the exporting country has implied the trade-off relationship between gender equality and export growth in the effort to improve institutional quality. Reversely, in the case of importing countries with higher institutional quality, improved gender equality may mitigate the trade deficit by hampering import growth.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Investigating the impact of gender equality on trade is the prominent contribution of this paper. Gender equality is considered by three component indicators which include gender development, gender inequality and female labor force participation. New measurement approach to the institutional quality level is also introduced. Furthermore, the explored moderating impacts of institutional quality on the trade-gender link are novel in the literature on sustainable development.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141822079","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":"Trade–aid link: does the Western aid promote Asian exports to Sri Lanka?","authors":"T. Bhavan","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-12-2023-0301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-12-2023-0301","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of foreign aid in terms of trade in Sri Lanka. This study aims to analyze whether foreign aid from the Western countries to Sri Lanka promotes exports to the donor countries and encourages imports from Asian countries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results derived from the analysis suggest that there is no significant relationship between aid and trade in the long run whereas foreign aid marginally causes only the imports in the short run. Overall, the study finds that foreign aid does not significantly affect trade in Sri Lanka.\u0000\u0000\u0000Methodology\u0000The auto regressive distributed lag bounds testing approach is used to examine the long- and short-run relations between foreign aid and trade using the annual time series data during the period from 1977 to 2019.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000Sri Lanka has been one of the aid recipients among Asian countries since 1960. At the same time, Sri Lanka has been experiencing trade deficit since its independence and has to find all the ways to improve the trade. Because foreign aid has promoted trade in a numerous countries, it is high time for Sri Lanka to negotiate with the donor countries and agencies to design aid for trade promotion.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality\u0000The nexus between the trade–aid link of Sri Lanka with Western and Asian country’s perspectives has not so far been investigated. The findings of this study would be a new knowledge added to the literature on the trade–aid link and be useful to the policymakers for decision-making and future researchers to cope up with further analysis.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141645982","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":"Climate change and income inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): effects and transmission channels","authors":"Fabrice Ewolo Bitoto, Cerapis Nchinda Mbognou, Romuald Justin Amougou Manga","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-01-2024-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-01-2024-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to assess the direct effect of climate change on income inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the channels through which it spreads.\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a sample of 38 countries, the authors specify and estimate a panel data model using the generalized least squares method over the period 1991–2020. Robustness is achieved through the generalized moment method-system.\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results show that an increase in vulnerability to climate change is positively and significantly associated with an increase in income inequality. The results also show that the effects of climate change are mediated by gross domestic product/capita, population and agriculture at the 15%, 17% and 24% thresholds, respectively.\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The authors suggest the implementation of inclusive development policies consistent with climate mitigation and adaptation objectives; the creation of financial spaces from various sources to finance the social security of the most vulnerable; and the strengthening of agricultural resilience to climate-related adverse events, including financing for greenhouse agriculture.\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000On the positive side, it contributes to the literature on the analysis of the direct and indirect effects (transmission channels) of climate change on income inequality in SSA. Methodologically, the study goes beyond previous work as it adopts a stepwise methodology, dealing with the endogeneity issue. At the logical level, it offers some non-exhaustive suggestions of potentially interesting economic policies to guide policymakers in their common commitment to “reduce income inequality” (Sustainable Development Goal 10, target 10.1).\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141673338","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":"Do foreign direct investment and foreign aid accelerate economic growth in developing countries?","authors":"Yong-Jae Choi, Seung-Nyeon Kim","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-02-2024-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-02-2024-0039","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to study the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA) on the economic growth of developing countries. This paper classifies sample countries into two groups (low- and high-income developing countries) based on income level and investigates whether the two sources of foreign capital have different effects on the economic development of each subgroup of countries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors analyze panel data on 93 countries from 1981 to 2020 using a two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation. The 2SLS method is used to overcome the endogeneity problem between economic growth and FDI. The sources of the data are World Bank and OECD.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000First, FDI inflows tend to accelerate per capita GDP growth in both total sample countries and within both groups of countries. Second, ODA has a significant impact on per capita GDP growth only for low-income developing countries. This result indicates that ODA seems to be particularly important for low-income developing countries.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This paper suggests policy implications that low-income developing countries should create an environment for more ODA funds to flow into themselves with efforts such as improving the credibility and effectiveness of the government related to ODA programs. It also provides implications for donors of ODA to focus their ODA resources on low-income developing countries to more effectively achieve the goal of helping developing countries’ economic growth.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper investigates whether FDI and ODA have different effects on the economic development of low- and high-income developing countries. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this point is not addressed in existing studies.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141265760","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":"FDI impact: catalyzing digital capabilities in host nations","authors":"Lan Dang, Fernando Merino","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-03-2023-0085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-03-2023-0085","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on national digital capability, specifically differentiating the impact between FDI greenfield and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The research also investigates factors shaping digital capabilities, encompassing government transparency and absorptive capability, while exploring the mediating influence of absorptive capability in the FDI–digital capability relationship.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000An econometric model has been developed to examine the interrelationship between national digital capability, FDI inflows, national absorptive capability and government transparency. The data set encompasses 55 countries over a period of nine years (2013–2021). National digital capability data is derived from the well-established index published by the World Competitive Centre (WCC). The sources of the explanatory variables align with standard practices, drawing from reputable institutions (UNCTAD and the World Bank, among others).\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings reveal a significant positive impact of FDI, particularly in greenfield investments, on national digital capability. Government transparency and research and development (R&D) investment are crucial factors contributing to digital capabilities. Additionally, the absorptive capacity, reflected by R&D investment, also emerges as a potential moderating factor, influencing the impact of FDI inflows on digital capabilities.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The results recommend that policymakers and stakeholders should carefully consider the role of FDI, especially in greenfield investments, as a catalyst for enhancing national digital capability. The findings also underscore the significance of promoting government transparency and directing investments towards R&D to nurture digital capabilities. Moreover, understanding the mediating role of absorptive capability can inform strategies aimed at optimizing the impact of FDI on digital capabilities.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This study contributes uniquely to the existing literature by being the first to systematically explore the influence of FDI on national digital capability. Furthermore, it presents innovative empirical findings on the role of absorptive capability in enhancing the FDI impact on national digital capability, an area that remains relatively uncharted in current literature.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140998094","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":"Does participation in self-help group affect the psychological empowerment of tribal women? Evidence from India","authors":"Tanushree Mahato, Manish Kumar Jha","doi":"10.1108/ijdi-11-2023-0265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijdi-11-2023-0265","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to assess the impact of participation in self-help group (SHG) on the psychological empowerment of rural tribal women.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Primary data was collected using multistage random sampling from the rural women of Jharkhand, India. The propensity score matching method was adopted using the psmatch2 command in STATA.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results show a significant positive change in women’s self-esteem, self-confidence, self-efficacy, autonomy, knowledge and skills, reduction in agony and quality of life after participation in SHG. This reveals that participation in SHG has a significant positive impact on the psychological empowerment of rural tribal women.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Despite the numerous studies on rural women’s empowerment, there is little evidence of literature focusing on the impact of participation in SHG on psychological empowerment, specifically in the tribal context. This study primarily focuses on women belonging to the scheduled tribe category of Jharkhand, one of the poorest states of India.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37830,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Development Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140698445","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}