Development Policy Review最新文献

{"title":"Ensuring fertilizer quality in Vietnam's Mekong Delta: The role of government and market initiatives","authors":"Yukichi Mano, Yutaka Arimoto, Nguyen Duy Can, Do Van Hoang, Emi Kojin, Nguyen Thiet, Kazunari Tsukada, Vo Hong Tu","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>If fertilizer is of low quality, farmers can be reluctant to use it, leading to low crop yields and low profitability. Although low-quality fertilizer is often reported in the global south, little is said about how to solve the problem.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We examine how the government, fertilizer manufacturers and dealers, and farmers have dealt with fertilizer quality in Vietnam. We evaluate the quality of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer samples in the Mekong Delta, a hub of rice production.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We conducted in-depth interviews and discussions with stakeholders to understand the mechanisms for ensuring fertilizer quality and their effectiveness.</p>\u0000 \u0000 <p>It became clear that concerns about fertilizer quality were not regarding products from large state enterprises that dominate the market, but rather about fertilizer from smaller, often newer, manufacturers. We collected 141 samples of NPK fertilizers from smaller manufacturers in the Mekong Delta to compare the measured levels of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potassium (K) with their declared levels.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Three complementary strategies for ensuring fertilizer quality have been identified: (1) government regulation and oversight through licensing, mandatory quality labelling, and random inspections; (2) manufacturer initiatives to establish brand reputation through warranties and dealer certification; and (3) farmer observations of fertilizer effectiveness that are communicated back to local dealers. The overall quality of fertilizers in the market was notably high, with the main brands from state enterprises capturing 95% of the market share. However, concerns were raised regarding the quality of lesser-known fertilizer brands from newer manufacturers.</p>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Analysis of 141 fertilizer samples revealed that 48.9% of the minor-brand fertilizers were lacking in at least one nutrient, exceeding the legally allowed deviation of 10%. Samples usually had excessive nitrogen and insufficient potassium.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>These findings highlight the necessity of coordinated government and market efforts to ensure fertilizer quality. Government regulation alone may not eliminate substandard fertilizer from the market, but it can be effective when combined with market initiatives from fertilizer manufacturers, dealers, and farmers.</p>\u0000 ","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143112095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early transition markers, opportunities, and limitations that define pathways into the labour market from adolescence to adulthood in South Africa","authors":"Laura Rossouw,&nbsp;Kathryn Grace Watt,&nbsp;Furzana Timol,&nbsp;Leslie L. Davidson,&nbsp;Chris Desmond","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12829","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The transition from adolescence to adulthood encompasses key social changes. NEET status (<b>N</b>ot in <b>E</b>ducation, <b>E</b>mployment or <b>T</b>raining) during this period disrupts this transition and alters an adolescent's life course. This is of particular concern in South Africa, a middle-income country with one of the world's highest rates of youth unemployment.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The pathway to becoming NEET emerges over time by accumulating risks in early life and adolescence. Early-life adversities can increase the probability of events associated with becoming NEET. We aim to identify early-life and adolescent predictors of events associated with becoming NEET, as well as predictors of NEET status itself.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods and approach</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We analyse four rounds of longitudinal data from a sample of 1,174 adolescents growing up in peri-urban KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using a socioecological life-course model, we create two overlapping analytic cohorts and two NEET vulnerability indices to evaluate whether risks for vulnerability in schooling (early outcomes) are similar to those affecting post-schooling education and labour-market outcomes (later outcomes). We use a linear probability model to analyse the relationship between the vulnerability indices and the range of risk factors in the socioecological life-course model.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A strong predictor of both NEET vulnerability indices includes reporting feeling hopeless about the future. Other significant predictors include behavioural factors (getting pregnant or impregnating someone during adolescence, and drinking alcohol before age 16), family structure (residing with one's biological mother in early adolescence was protective) and demographics (age).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>By deepening our understanding of how individual and contextual characteristics shape the transition into productive adulthood through a life-course approach, we can identify possible early intervention points lost once young people become NEET.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.12829","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143111185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Proxy means test for targeting welfare benefits in Jamaica","authors":"Garfield O. Blake,&nbsp;Godfrey Gibbison","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12828","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12828","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The proxy means test (PMT) has become the predominant targeting mechanism for social assistance schemes in many low- and lower-middle income countries, including Jamaica. It has many powerful advocates amid claims that it can accurately and cost-effectively target the poor. However, recently, there have been concerns expressed by beneficiary groups, government stakeholders, and civil society on the selection of households for benefits under Jamaica's Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>An evaluation of PATH suggests that it covers only about 71% of households ranked in the poorest quintiles, while 23% of programme beneficiaries are from households considered to be non-poor (ranked in the top two quintiles). This study introduces innovations to the current PMT model with the objective of improving targeting of the poor for social protection benefits.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We draw on data collected by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) regarding the PATH programme to show that an application of the poverty-weighted least squares regression estimation method improves coverage of households ranked in the poorest quintiles. Poverty-weighted least squares places higher weights on the squared errors of poor households, which avoids the tendency of least squares regression to increase the predicted consumption of the poor.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using data compiled by the STATIN through the annual Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions, we showed that the construction of a national model estimated using poverty-weighted least squares, and adjusting predicted consumption to the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval, improves coverage of the poorest households from 71% to over 85%. Achieving this high rate of coverage among the poor came at a cost, in the form of high coverage among the non-poor and, particularly, an increase in inclusion errors.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We believe these results demonstrate that in certain contexts it is possible to improve upon the Basic PMT model and meet the goals the PMT was intended to achieve, efficiently directing social assistance to the poor, minimizing leakage to the non-poor, and maintaining integrity in the overall social assistance mechanism.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143118518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysing regional and sectoral productivity changes in the Indian economy","authors":"Puneet Prakash Kaur,&nbsp;Ravi Kiran","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12830","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Motivation&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Numerous domestic and international studies have shown that India's business environment has shortcomings that have hindered and distorted investment, reducing growth and job creation. There is geographical variation in the distribution of sectoral and regional production in India. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the role geography plays in evaluating the effects of shifts in aggregate and disaggregate productivity.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Purpose&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;This research attempts to build a unified framework to consider regional and sectoral changes as heterogeneous factors affecting productivity in India. It explores whether the fundamental changes in productivity are locational or sectoral.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Approach and Methods&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;This article focuses on three aspects: (1) It identifies variables based on previous literature. The aggregate industry analysis for both Punjab and India is based on independent variables. The study uses the 2SLS-estimator using STATA in a single-step endogeneity problem. (2) For disaggregate or sectoral analysis, it identifies four industries across India and Punjab. We confine our analysis to these four industries since the present study is done at both aggregate and disaggregate levels covering national and state level analysis. (3) It sets out separate interpretations for the aggregate analysis, setting it apart from disaggregate analysis.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Findings&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;For aggregate industry analysis, the results for Indian and Punjab industry adhere to Verdoorn's law which states that in the long run productivity generally grows proportionally to the square root of output. In that value-added growth is a major factor affecting total factor productivity for Indian firms across both regions. The Punjab group shows non-linearity between productivity and concentration. Concentration leads to some increase in productivity but this then declines.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Policy Implications&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Policy-makers should promote the establishment of more medium-sized firms to enhance productivity across all regions in India.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;The skilled-labour ratio emerged as significant for the Punjab group, though this is because the state has a higher proportion of small-scale industries which are more labour intensive than the overall India group. As such, specific policies should be aimed at the manufacturing sector at state level to enhance productivity, taking into consideration unique features of each group.&lt;","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143118519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enforcing contracts: The role of state subsidies as a hybrid enforcement mechanism in contracts between tomato processors and farmers in Algeria","authors":"Sami Assassi,&nbsp;Georgios Kleftodimos,&nbsp;Oualid Benharrat,&nbsp;Aybike Bayraktar","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12827","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Contract farming plays a significant role in the growth of agriculture in many countries. Contracting poses substantial challenges when courts and companies are insufficiently developed, constraining the fulfilment of contracts. Exploring innovative contract enforcement mechanisms could yield valuable insights.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We evaluate the effectiveness of state subsidies as a hybrid enforcement mechanism of the marketing contract developed by the Algerian government for tomato processors and their farmer suppliers.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We examine the delivery decisions of Algerian tomato farmers to honour contracts or to deliver to the spot market. From the findings we evaluated the direct and indirect effects of subsidies on expanding the self-enforcing range of contracts and on encouraging firms to establish private contract enforcement mechanisms. Propensity scoring was used to match farmers. The data come from a comprehensive database of contracted tomato producers and surveys of all tomato canneries in 2021.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Subsidies, by reducing processor costs and raising famer prices, help to make contracts self-enforcing. Subsidies, moreover, encouraged half of the processors to adopt private contract enforcement mechanisms, above all loans to their supplier farmers. These mechanisms have had a positive, albeit moderate, effect on farmer deliveries.</p>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Farmers still deliver only half of their contracts owing to weakening self-enforcement as the subsidy can be accessed in the spot market.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Public subsidies can help enforce contracts in agricultural value chains, especially where legal systems are fragile. Strict control of access to subsidies and incentives is crucial to ensure that the contract price provides sufficient incentive to farmers and to encourage processors to provide additional incentives.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143115664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring climate change investment initiatives and funding challenges among faith-based organizations in Ghana","authors":"Kelvin Omari Mintah,&nbsp;Solomon Nborkan Nakouwo,&nbsp;Albert Ahenkan,&nbsp;Justice Nyigmah Bawole","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12826","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have a significant role to play at a time of environmental upheavals, but their ability to mobilize climate funds in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Ghana, remains under question.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study asked three questions: (1) What spectrum of climate change investment opportunities are FBOs seeking? (2) What are the untapped climate change investment opportunities that FBOs can pursue? (3) What are the constraints that hinder FBOs in mobilizing funds to finance these opportunities?</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study and 18 FBOs in Ghana were purposively selected as a sample for the study.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study uncovered the spectrum of climate change investment opportunities pursued by FBOs in the areas of agriculture and waste. However, there are untapped climate change investment opportunities in the energy and transport sectors. The constraints associated with mobilizing climate finance are ideological differences, knowledge gaps, limited institutional capacity, and bureaucratic bottlenecks.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Climate action funders need to reduce complications surrounding the means of obtaining funding and streamline their funding requirements to suit FBOs. They should also reassess their credibility evaluation standards to help FBOs from being sidestepped due to limited funding track records, despite the promising adaptation and mitigation initiatives they may have to offer. FBOs must upgrade their skills in the climate finance landscape by taking advantage of capacity-building programmes and training that seek to increase their understanding of the climate finance opportunities and requirements of climate funders.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143114910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implications for Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN) implementation in forced migration context: A collaborative governance approach","authors":"J. M. Cho,&nbsp;Minji Ju,&nbsp;Hyun Jung Cha,&nbsp;Minah Kang","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12825","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12825","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN) approach emphasizes the importance of collaboration. However, there is little exploration of HDPN from a collaborative governance perspective.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study aims to analyse how the HDPN approach is applied in settings of forced migration and evaluate the application of Emerson et al.'s (2012) Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance in these contexts. The focus is on how the four components of collaborative governance are covered in HDPN settings.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approaches and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study examines 12 empirical HDPN studies in situations of forced migration. It uses the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance to evaluate the components of principled engagement, shared motivation, capacity for joint action and impact/adaptation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The findings indicate that the framework is suitable for and relevant to the HDPN approach. Collaborative governance is shown to be necessary to improve cross-sectoral co-ordination, deal with complex and protracted crises, and achieve collective outcomes. The study also identified knowledge gaps and difficulties in implementing collaborative governance within HDPN.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy Implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study sets the groundwork for future research to develop comprehensive guidelines and best practices to implement the HDPN approach. It highlights the need for collaborative governance to improve the effectiveness of the HDPN approach in addressing the challenges of forced migration.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143115284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Magic concepts” and USAID: Framing food systems reform to support the status quo","authors":"Lia R. Kelinsky-Jones,&nbsp;Kim L. Niewolny,&nbsp;Max O. Stephenson Jr.","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12823","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Motivation&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;International development policy is increasingly a contested site of agricultural politics. Many civil society organizations actively engage with alternative frameworks including sustainability, sovereignty, and self-reliance to challenge the prevailing neoliberal construct of food systems. Recently, development policy actors have used the term “self-reliance” in international development policy discourse, but its meaning, purpose, and underlying political ideology vary. Understanding how development actors define self-reliance is critical for understanding whether the term is being used to maintain the neoliberal status quo or to support food systems change.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Purpose&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;In 2018 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released its “The Journey to Self-Reliance” policy framework. This article explores how USAID represented self-reliance by examining the vocabularies, discourses, and ideologies the agency drew upon to conceptualize self-reliance.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Approach and methods&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We analysed a corpus of USAID policy documents published between 2018 and 2020, using critical discourse analysis (CDA), and triangulated CDA findings with corpus linguistics. We then presented our analysis to focus groups of US university scholar-practitioners funded by USAID who responded to the findings.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Findings&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We found that USAID's construction of self-reliance simultaneously sought to reproduce neoliberal ideological outcomes while, at least formally, embracing localization in terms of community self-reliance. We also found that USAID placed market actors as active leaders and presented local governments in passive roles. Focus group respondents agreed on the importance of localization but differed as to the primacy USAID afforded market organizations.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Policy implications&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We identified three major policy implications. First, the primacy of the neoliberal conception of self-reliance limits self-directed development among the targeted countries. Second, framing self-reliance as market driven is likely to deepen consolidated power in agricultural development. Third, at a global policy level, we observe a lack of solidarity with civil society organizations addressing agricultural development efforts, which seek greater representation in development policy deliberations.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 ","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.12823","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142868859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Value for money in humanitarian assistance: How does cost efficiency vary across cash and voucher programmes?","authors":"Caitlin Tulloch,&nbsp;Kayla Hoyer,&nbsp;Joel Chrisco","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12821","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Motivation&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Cash and voucher assistance has become a key part of humanitarian response over the last decade as it is able to meet people's basic needs during a crisis and it has high cost efficiency relative to traditional in-kind assistance.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Donors have been introducing cost-efficiency benchmarks—set as cost-transfer ratios, the ratio of costs of delivery to the value of cash or goods provided to beneficiaries—for cash and voucher programmes. These benchmarks function as price ceilings for humanitarian agencies providing cash and voucher assistance. The welfare effects of these price ceilings, however, are unclear. They could induce greater efficiency, depending on the cost function for cash and voucher assistance programmes, but they could also have widely different consequences across contexts and could even undermine equity.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Purpose&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We ask what determines the cost-transfer ratios of cash and voucher assistance programs? How do cost-transfer ratios vary by size of benefit delivered, local cost levels, scale of programme, and region? What do the results imply for setting cost-efficiency benchmarks and humanitarian programming?&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Approach and methods&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We use a novel set of cost-efficiency data for 31 humanitarian cash and voucher assistance programmes to examine the variation in delivery costs for humanitarian cash and voucher programmes, and to understand what causes these delivery costs to vary. Regression analysis is used to see the impacts of different characteristics of the programmes on their cost-transfer ratios.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Findings&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;We find substantial variation in cost-transfer ratio efficiency across cash and voucher assistance programmes based on their design and context. Programme scale and local price levels explain the largest fraction of variation: larger programmes and contexts with high local prices tend to push down cost-transfer ratios.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Policy implications&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Benchmarks for cost-efficiency should be specific to context. Global price ceilings for cash and voucher assistance are likely to undermine quality delivery in contexts where local price levels are low and programmes are small, without fully capturing possible efficiency gains in other contexts. This finding, intuitive to economists familiar with economies of scale, runs counter to views common within humanitarian agencies, where limited budgets—budgets insufficient to meet needs—are th","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142868703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in population literacy and numeracy in Ghana after three decades of free basic education","authors":"Pearl S. Kyei,&nbsp;Fred Mawunyo Dzanku,&nbsp;Samuel Kobina Annim","doi":"10.1111/dpr.12824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12824","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Despite increases in school enrolment, the world is facing a global learning crisis that suggests a trade-off between the quantity and quality of education.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This case study from Ghana examines whether there has been a long-term change in educational outcomes, measured by population literacy and numeracy rates, in the decades following the implementation of a national free compulsory basic education policy. It further determines whether there are variations by level of education in the changes over time.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study used nationally representative repeated cross-sectional data from two Ghana Living Standards Surveys (2006 and 2017) to estimate basic literacy and numeracy.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>At the same level of education for the primary and lower secondary school levels, literacy and numeracy were lower in the latter period than a decade previously. These findings suggest that the expansion in gross enrolment at the primary and lower secondary school levels has been associated with a long-term decline in the quality of education.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Considering these findings, it is crucial to consider the long-term implications of expanding access to education on the quality of the education provided. These findings highlight the need for increased investment in quality education to complement the increase in access. This would ensure that children acquire foundational skills at the basic education level. Failure to maintain quality alongside expanded access could negatively impact workforce productivity, economic growth, and social equality.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142868704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}