Journal of International Development最新文献

{"title":"Industrial Robots and Environmental Pollution: Evidence From Chinese Cities","authors":"Wenjuan Lu,&nbsp;Shenya Mao,&nbsp;Xinfeng Qiu,&nbsp;Chenjing Yan","doi":"10.1002/jid.3989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3989","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We analysed the impact of industrial robots on Chinese cities' environment during 2006–2018, using data on pollution emissions and the stock of industrial robots. Urban usage of industrial robots is linked to reduced environmental pollution emissions. This effect is stronger in cities with pilot emission rights, in cities located in SO2 pollution control zones and in larger metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1 million. Industrial robots help reduce urban pollution emissions by substituting labour, increasing productivity, encouraging green technology innovation and transitioning toward efficient energy consumption. Combining industrial robots and policies in China can incentivize enterprises to reduce environmental pollution and foster balanced economic and environmental development.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"820-833"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143827002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Household Livelihood Strategies and Outcomes in Conflict-Affected Areas of Northeastern Ethiopia","authors":"Dawit Bezabih,&nbsp;Mehretie Belay,&nbsp;Simachew Bantigegn","doi":"10.1002/jid.3987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3987","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study examines household livelihood strategies and outcomes in conflict areas of northeastern Ethiopia. One-way analysis of variance and linear regression models were used to analyze data. The findings revealed that crop incomes of rural households decreased by 47% during the conflict compared to peace times. Income from small-scale employment of households had also decreased by &gt; 74% from the preconflict period. The regression result found that sensitivity to conflict significantly and negatively affected households' livelihood incomes. Governments and battling factions are advised to avoid armed clashes and minimize human sufferings and losses of livelihood assets, strategies, and outcomes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"801-819"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Impact of Women on Corporate Boards on Intellectual Capital Efficiency and Business Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"Musah Mohammed Saeed","doi":"10.1002/jid.3986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3986","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper aims to investigate the impact of women on corporate boards on intellectual capital efficiency and business performance in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ghana. A longitudinal panel data regression analysis was conducted using data from 31 publicly listed companies on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) over the period 2009–2022, yielding a dataset of 434 observations, followed by a two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis to address potential endogeneity issues. The findings indicate that intellectual capital efficiency significantly and positively influences business performance. However, the study found no statistically significant effect of female representation on corporate boards on business performance. These results suggest that policymakers and corporate leaders should prioritize enhancing intellectual capital efficiency by investing in employee training, fostering innovation, and optimizing knowledge management systems, as these have a demonstrated positive impact on performance. Moreover, the study highlights the need to reevaluate diversity initiatives aimed at increasing female representation on corporate boards. Such initiatives should move beyond numeric targets to include structural and cultural changes that empower diverse leadership to contribute meaningfully to organizational success. This underscores the importance of integrated strategies that combine diversity efforts with broader measures to leverage intellectual and human capital for sustainable business growth.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"789-800"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Does Earmarked Foreign Aid Affect Recipient-Country Ownership?","authors":"Bernhard Reinsberg,&nbsp;Jack Taggart","doi":"10.1002/jid.3985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3985","url":null,"abstract":"<p>How does earmarked foreign aid affect country ownership, a central principle of the aid effectiveness agenda? Although earmarking was initially purported to reduce donor fragmentation and enhance aid effectiveness, recent evidence suggests that it may undermine ownership. Despite formal commitments to ownership by multilateral institutions and bilateral donors within the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), earmarking potentially strengthens the responsiveness and accountability of international organizations to donors, thereby undermining recipient countries' ownership in formulating policy objectives, use of country-led results frameworks, and implementation of aid through national systems. We test this expectation through a mixed-methods approach. We first employ latent factor analysis on new data from two monitoring rounds of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, covering 80 donors and 92 recipient countries, to measure ownership by the degree of donor−recipient alignment. Our multivariate regression analysis then demonstrates that earmarked aid significantly reduces recipient-country ownership. Further examination of institutional and DAC donor policies and discourses reveals limited recognition of the adverse effects of earmarked funding on ownership. We find evidence to support the notion that bilateral donors employ earmarking to both enhance their influence within international development organizations and to pursue national interests, inadvertently sidelining ‘old’ concerns about aid effectiveness and ownership. Our findings thus expose a clear disconnect between donor rhetoric and practice, with significant implications for aid effectiveness and aid allocation more broadly.</p>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"773-788"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jid.3985","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143827000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From Conflict to Prosperity: The Economic Impact of the Colombian Peace Agreements","authors":"Fernando Martin Mayoral,&nbsp;Carlos Andrés Rivera Lasso","doi":"10.1002/jid.3981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3981","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The peace negotiations between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government from 2013 to 2016 aimed to end years of violence, loss of life, destruction of infrastructure and social fragmentation. This study uses the synthetic control method to analyse the impact on Colombia's real GDP per capita growth, controlling for economic, demographic and institutional aspects. The main results show that since 2014, Colombia has experienced a higher growth rate than its synthetic counterpart, reflecting a permanent change in the expectations of economic agents since the beginning of the peace process.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"758-772"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Construction and Application of Carbon Performance Evaluation Index System for Chinese Industrial Enterprises From the Perspective of Low-Carbon Transition","authors":"Liping Wang,&nbsp;Longjun Chen,&nbsp;Panpan Gao,&nbsp;Chuang Li","doi":"10.1002/jid.3984","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3984","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The active implementation of low-carbon practices by enterprises is essential for achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality (“dual carbon”). These low-carbon practices are reflected not only in the greening of resource inputs but also in the low-carbon performance at the output level. Therefore, this study uses carbon cost calculations as a link and combines them with the relationship between inputs and outputs to conduct a multidimensional evaluation of the carbon performance of industrial enterprises from the perspective of low-carbon transformation. The findings indicate that: (1) From 2010 to 2021, the carbon performance levels of Chinese industrial enterprises displayed a stable upward trend. (2) Across various dimensions from 2010 to 2021, notable achievements in the low-carbon economic dimension were observed in terms of environmental investment and green invention patents, while there remains considerable room for optimising carbon costs. In the environmental management dimension, a disconnect persists between enterprises' environmental awareness and their low-carbon actions; however, there is a gradual increase in the enthusiasm for environmental certifications, and significant progress has been made in implementing emergency response mechanisms. Regarding low-carbon emission reduction, enterprises have significantly enhanced their pollution prevention capabilities, yet improving the energy consumption structure remains a critical challenge for achieving low-carbon production. In the low-carbon social impact dimension, while media and public oversight, as well as government environmental penalties, exert a deterrent effect on corporate environmental governance, their overall effectiveness is insufficient and requires strengthening. (3) From the overall annual performance of various indicators from 2010 to 2021, environmental investment and the implementation of the “three simultaneous” system received notably high scores of 0.055166667 and 0.0403524, respectively, underscoring their significant roles in enhancing the carbon performance levels of Chinese industrial enterprises. In contrast, the penalty degree received the lowest score of 0.0000939, indicating that the government's environmental penalty mechanisms need further improvement and enforcement. These research findings can provide a decision-making foundation for the national dual carbon strategy and support enterprises in achieving sustainable development goals while offering a Chinese perspective for international emissions reduction.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"736-757"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does FinTech Reduce Gender Asymmetry in Access to Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa? Examining the Role of Digital Inclusion","authors":"Olumide O. Olaoye,&nbsp;Ali Shaddady,&nbsp;Mosab I. Tabash,&nbsp;Samrat Ray","doi":"10.1002/jid.3982","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3982","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study examined whether FinTech reduces gender gap in access to finance in sub-Saharan Africa. The study adopts a battery of econometric techniques in analysing the relationship between the two variables. Specifically, the study adopts the ordinary least square (OLS), the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) to address the issues of endogeneity and simultaneity feedback and Driscoll and Kraay's consistent covariance matrix estimator to control for every form of cross sectional and temporal dependence in panel data. The study finds that FinTech increases gender asymmetry in access to finance in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the study also reveals that reducing the gender gap in digital inclusion can help to reduce the gender gap in access to finance in sub-Saharan Africa. The results also indicate that government quality and education are important determinants of gender access to financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa. One main economic implication of our findings is that the deployment of FinTech alone will not reduce the gender gap in access to finance in sub-Saharan Africa, rather in addition to FinTech, the gender gap in digital inclusion must be adequately addressed. The research and policy implications are discussed.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"718-735"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding Temptation Spending and Saving Behaviour Among Malian Farming Households","authors":"Tim Ölkers,&nbsp;Annkathrin Wahbi,&nbsp;Oliver Mußhoff","doi":"10.1002/jid.3979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3979","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In low-income and food-insecure households, impulsive purchases of nonessential items, known as temptation spending, can create a cycle of persistent poverty. Using machine learning techniques, we examine the statistical associations between the saving channel and such temptation spending, employing primary data from Malian smallholder farmers. Our findings show that saving with mobile money statistically significantly reduces the probability of temptation spending, while saving with family, friends, or at home increases the probability statistically significantly. Given the rapid expansion of mobile money services in general and in Mali in particular, these results offer crucial insights into how the utilization of mobile money influences an individual's spending behaviour and might contribute to rural resilience and food security.</p>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"697-717"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jid.3979","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic Drivers of China's Declining Fertility: The Role of Digital Inclusive Finance and Household Debt","authors":"Fei Yang,&nbsp;Zhenlin Zhang","doi":"10.1002/jid.3983","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3983","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The declining birth rate in China has resulted in a decrease in the labour force, increased ageing of the population and constrained economic growth potential, making the increase in the birth rate a priority. This study explores the connections among digital inclusive finance, household debt and fertility rates using microdata from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) for the years 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, along with data on digital financial inclusion in China. The baseline study finds that both digital inclusive finance and household debt are negatively correlated with fertility rates, though there exists a positive association between digital inclusive finance and household debt. Heterogeneity studies show that the impacts of household debt and digital inclusive finance on fertility rates vary by region and household income level. In both the eastern and central-western regions, digital inclusive finance significantly affects family fertility decisions, whereas household debt significantly negatively affects family fertility decisions in central-western areas. High-income families are more positively influenced by digital inclusive finance, whereas low-income families are primarily negatively affected by household debt. Specific types of debt, such as housing and education, have a significant negative impact on fertility rates. Policy research also found that targeted reserve requirement ratio policies for inclusive finance are beneficial for increasing the birth rate. This paper provides empirical evidence for policymakers, helping them design more effective policies to reduce the economic burden on families, enhance family welfare and promote an increase in birth rates.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"675-696"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attention Versus Handshakes: Pathways of Influence in China's Foreign Aid and Loans","authors":"Lucie Lu,&nbsp;Miles Williams","doi":"10.1002/jid.3980","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3980","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Numerous studies show that China uses its ODA-like overseas development financing to promote soft power and improve its international image. In this study, we seek to understand how. We examine the role of Chinese state-sponsored media and diplomacy as complements to Chinese foreign aid. We propose that the coverage of aid recipients in <i>Xinhua</i> articles targeted at foreign audiences, as well as the number of diplomatic visits from Beijing hosted by a recipient government, increase in proportion to the amount of aid these countries receive from China. In contrast, we propose either a null or reverse relationship in the case of OOF-like flows from China, which tend to be more associated with loans and business-oriented interests. To test these hypotheses, we use AidData's Chinese development finance dataset and its recently released diplomacy dataset, along with meta-data from millions of Xinhua news articles between 2002 and 2017. The analysis provides partial support for our argument, but the results deviate from our expectations in interesting ways. First, while aid (ODA) recipients receive more coverage in <i>Xinhua</i>, they are not disproportionately more likely to host missions from Beijing. Conversely, while loan (OOF) recipients are not more likely to receive coverage in <i>Xinhua</i>, they are more likely to host diplomatic visits. These results suggest that China likes to publicize its role as a donor for image building, but seeks closer ties with its debtors to further bilateral relationships.</p>","PeriodicalId":47986,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Development","volume":"37 3","pages":"655-674"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jid.3980","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}