ALBERT

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adriana Camacho, Emily Conover〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Small-scale farmers in developing countries often make production and sale decisions based on imprecise, informal, and out-of-date sources of information, such as family, neighbors, or tradition. Lack of timely and accurate information on climate and prices can lead to inefficiencies in the production, harvesting, and commercialization of agricultural products, which in turn can affect farmers’ revenues and well-being. We did a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) experiment with 500 small-scale farmers in a rural area of Colombia where there is nearly full mobile phone usage and coverage. Treated farmers received around 8 text messages per week with prices in the main markets for crops grown in the region, and customized weather forecasts. Compared to a control group, we find that treated farmers were more likely to report that text messages provide useful information for planting and selling, and more likely to always read their messages, indicating an increase in appreciation and use of this type of technology. We also found heterogeneous effects by farmer size. Smaller farmers try to make use of the intervention by planting more crops for which they have price information. Larger farmers seek new markets and increase conversations with other producers. Despite these positive effects, we do not find a significant difference in farmers reporting a price, price differential with the market price, or sale prices received. Our results indicate that farmers are amenable to learning and using new technologies, but that the introduction of these technologies do not always translate into short-run welfare improvements for them. Given the increased interest in incorporating information and communication technologies into agriculture, our findings indicate that prior to a large-scale implementation it is necessary to better understand what prevents farmers from more directly profiting from this new information.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Alwin Keil, Archisman Mitra, Amit K. Srivastava, Andrew McDonald〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Sustainable intensification (SI) approaches to agricultural development are urgently needed to meet the growing demand for crop staples while protecting ecosystem services and environmental quality. However, SI initiatives have been criticized for neglecting social welfare outcomes. A recent review found that better-off farmers benefitted disproportionately from SI and highlighted the dearth of studies assessing the equity of outcomes. In this study, we explore the social inclusiveness of zero-tillage (ZT) wheat adoption in Bihar, India. ZT is a proven SI technology for enhancing wheat productivity while boosting profitability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural machinery in the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plains. With an average landholding size of 0.39 ha, most farmers in Bihar depend on custom-hiring services to access the technology. While service provision models should foster inclusive growth by reducing financial barriers to technology adoption, early evidence suggested that smallholders remained at a disadvantage. Building on this previous research, we use a panel dataset from 961 wheat-growing households that spans a six-year period to analyze ZT adoption dynamics over time while accounting for the role of social networks and access to service provision. Using a heckprobit approach to correct for non-exposure bias, we compare determinants of ZT awareness and use in 2012 and 2015. We apply a multinomial logit model to identify determinants of early adoption, recent adoption, non-adoption, and dis-adoption. Furthermore, we explore the quality of ZT services as an additional dimension of socially-inclusive technology access. We find that the strong initial scale bias in ZT use declined substantially as awareness of the technology increased and the service economy expanded. Land fragmentation replaced total landholding size as a significant adoption determinant, which also affected the quality of ZT services received. Hence, farmers with small but contiguous landholdings appear to have gained a significant degree of access over time. We conclude that early-stage assessments of SI may be misleading, and that private sector-based service provision can contribute to socially inclusive development outcomes as markets mature.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chiara Ravetti, Mare Sarr, Daniel Munene, Tim Swanson〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper analyses the ways in which ethnic identity and labour institutions shape favouritism and discrimination among workers. We conduct a lab experiment in the field with South African coal miners from various ethnic groups and with different trade union membership status. Our analysis suggests that union identity and ethnic identity are two social constructs that operate in a distinct and opposite fashion. Unionization acts as a factor of workers solidarity beyond the confine of union membership. Conversely, ethnicity operates as the linchpin through which discrimination among workers is infused not only between ethnic majority and minorities, but also within the majority group itself. We find that the widespread practice of subcontracting in the mining sector exacerbates ethnic discrimination among workers both between and within ethnic groupings.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Vanesa Jordá, Miguel Niño-Zarazúa〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Despite the growing interest in global inequality, assessing inequality trends is a major challenge because individual data on income or consumption is not often available. Nevertheless, the periodic release of certain summary statistics of the income distribution has become increasingly common. Hence, grouped data in form of income shares have been conventionally used to construct inequality trends based on lower bound approximations of inequality measures. This approach introduces two potential sources of measurement error: first, these estimates are constructed under the assumption of equality of incomes within income shares; second, the highest income earners are not included in the household surveys from which grouped data is obtained. In this paper, we propose to deploy a flexible parametric model, which addresses these two issues in order to obtain a reliable representation of the income distribution and accurate estimates of inequality measures. This methodology is used to estimate the recent evolution of global interpersonal inequality from 1990 to 2015 and to examine the effect of survey under-coverage of top incomes on the level and direction of global inequality. Overall, we find that item non-response at the top of the distribution substantially biases global inequality estimates, but, more importantly, it might also affect the direction of the trends.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ben Siegelman, Nora Haenn, Xavier Basurto〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper relates how fishermen in San Evaristo on Mexico’s Baja peninsula employ fabrications to strengthen bonds of trust and navigate the complexities of common pool resource extraction. We argue this trickery complicates notions of social capital in community-based natural resource management, which emphasize communitarianism in the form of trust. Trust, defined as a mutual dependability often rooted in honesty, reliable information, or shared expectations, has long been recognized as essential to common pool resource management. Despite this, research that takes a critical approach to social capital places attention on the activities that foster social networks and their norms by arguing that social capital is a process. A critical approach illuminates San Evaristeño practices of lying and joking across social settings and contextualizes these practices within cultural values of harmony. As San Evaristeños assert somewhat paradoxically, for them “lies build trust.” Importantly, a critical approach to this case study forces consideration of gender, an overlooked topic in social capital research. San Evaristeña women are excluded from the verbal jousting through which men maintain ties supporting their primacy in fishery management. Both men’s joke-telling and San Evaristeños’ aversion to conflict have implications for conservation outcomes. As a result, we use these findings to help explain local resistance to outsiders and external management strategies including land trusts, fishing cooperatives, and marine protected areas.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sara Geenen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉By zooming in on the concept of ‘local content’, this article speaks to the debate on extractive industries and development. It challenges two fundamental assumptions of the mainstream local content literature: that production linkages will develop if an enabling environment is created, and that local content is beneficial for local people. Based on almost 600 interviews and focus groups in four mining concessions in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it focuses on how local content policies are translated into concrete practices – more particularly around the granting of contracts and employment. In doing so it unravels the 〈em〉political〈/em〉 dimensions of local content policies and their 〈em〉structural embeddedness〈/em〉 in large-scale extractivist projects. It is argued that local content policies are implemented in complex political arenas, where the power holders use them as political instruments to enhance profit accumulation and control rents. Moreover they are embedded in the structural dynamics that permeate large-scale extractivist projects, producing (new) patterns of exclusion.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kwabena Krah, Hope Michelson, Emilie Perge, Rohit Jindal〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Though problems related to low and declining soil fertility continue to impede agricultural production and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers in this region – those cultivating two hectares or less – have shown reluctance to adopt practices at scale that help conserve or enhance soil quality. Employing a discrete choice-based experiment, we find evidence that farmers’ propensity to adopt soil fertility management (SFM) practices increases with improved access to mineral fertilizers, and when farmers receive relevant technical training on soil fertility improving technologies. A unique aspect of our study is our focus on understanding how smallholders’ stated SFM preferences relate to their perceptions of recent local climatic variation. We find that farmers who perceive that rainfall amounts are decreasing are less willing to adopt crop rotations to improve soils. Our findings suggest that policies designed to increase adoption of SFM practices are more likely to succeed when they provide farmers with inputs that farmers perceive as complementary to SFM, including mineral fertilizer, and when they are built around an understanding of farmers’ perceptions of climatic variability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Olivier J. Walther, Michel Tenikue, Marie Trémolières〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The objective of this article is to measure the effects of income and gender on informal social networks in the rice value chain. Using primary data collected on 490 entrepreneurs in Benin, Niger and Nigeria, the paper first demonstrates that the monthly profit of entrepreneurs is determined by their structural position within the rice value chain. The most prosperous actors are simultaneously deeply embedded in their community through numerous ties and capable of building connections with other communities outside their own ethnic groups and countries. The paper then analyses to what extent gender is a strong predictor of social ties. An econometric analysis shows that women are less central than men and that their income is much lower after controlling for age, experience, education, religion and matrimonial status.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Khan Islam, Melanie O’Gorman〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉There is now a vast literature investigating the impact of microcredit on poverty in the developing world. Such studies are by and large at the micro-level – investigating the impact of the provision of microcredit loans or a feature of microcredit contracts for a specific microfinance institution (MFI) on measures of well-being such as poverty or female empowerment. While these studies are crucial for understanding the effectiveness of microcredit in various contexts, very little analysis has been at the macroeconomic level with a view to understanding the general equilibrium effects of microfinance. This paper does this, by providing a comprehensive theory that allows the relative importance of the various factors influencing microcredit’s impact to be quantified. We build on Buera et al. (2012) and develop a model of financial intermediation which highlights the roles of credit market imperfections, MFI efficiency and occupational choice. We exploit the large cross-country variation in microcredit features to decipher the important features of microcredit contracts, calibrating the model to data for 21 countries in the early 2000s. We then use the calibrated model to investigate the impact of a number of counterfactual scenarios which may lend insight into microcredit policy, such as training for microcredit clients, credit information-sharing and microcredit itself. We investigate the impact of each policy experiment on poverty, income per capita and entrepreneurship. This paper highlights that the impact of credit policies differs significantly across countries, and therefore that no credit-based policy is a panacea for improving welfare.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pamina Koenig, Sandra Poncet〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper studies the effect of social responsibility scandals on the imports of consumer products, by focusing on an event which generated massive consumer mobilization against neglecting firms, namely the collapse of the Rana Plaza building affecting the textile industry in Bangladesh. We investigate the import repercussions of this major shock in the perceived quality of clothing producers sourcing in Bangladesh. In line with the well-documented home bias in trade and home-country media slant, we assume that consumers’ reaction will be stronger when domestic firms are named and shamed. Our empirical strategy uses a difference-in-difference approach that compares imports from Bangladesh of countries according to whether some of their companies were directly associated with the collapse of the Rana Plaza. Our results are consistent with demand being sensitive to social responsibility scandals. While aggregate imports from Bangladesh continue to increase during the whole period (2010–2016), there is a marked disruption that affects countries whose brands were named and shamed by activists and the media after the disaster. In addition, the decline in imports is all the greater as the number of NGO campaigns on the misbehavior of national textile retailers is high.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Valentina Zuin, Caroline Delaire, Rachel Peletz, Alicea Cock-Esteb, Ranjiv Khush, Jeff Albert〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Worldwide, 892 million people practice open defecation, most of whom live in rural areas of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is the most widely deployed approach to generate demand for, and use of sanitation facilities. CLTS relies on behavioral change and community self-enforcement to end open defecation. Since its genesis in Bangladesh in 1999, CLTS has spread to approximately 60 countries, mostly in Asia and Africa, and is employed by the majority of development organizations operating in rural sanitation. This paper uses a qualitative approach to analyze the reasons and processes that drove the wide diffusion of CLTS. We show that CLTS was embraced because it was perceived as a fast and effective solution to the problem of open defecation, one which was in line with the decentralization and community participation paradigms, at a time when donors and governments were looking for strategies to meet the MDG for sanitation. CLTS spread under the leadership of influential donors, NGOs, persuasive practitioners, and academics. Face-to-face interactions among members of this network and local governments at conferences and workshops played a central role in the diffusion of the approach. The use of experiential learning during study tours and workshop field visits has been crucial to persuade government actors at different levels, NGOs, and donors to use the CLTS approach. Notably, robust scientific evidence played little role in the diffusion of CLTS. We conclude by making suggestions to strengthen the evidence base for rural sanitation policies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Youngwan Kim, Hyuk-Sang Sohn, Bokyeong Park〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A majority of people in developing countries suffer from chronic hunger due to food crises and poverty. This has attracted humanitarian organizations specializing in addressing hunger, food security and poverty to set up efforts aimed at reducing hunger and poverty among vulnerable communities. This study aims to evaluate the achievements of the Saemaul Zero Hunger Communities Project (SZHCP) of the World Food Program (WFP) implemented by Good Neighbors International (GNI) in partnership with Tanzanian and Bangladesh local governments, which ran from 2014 to 2018 in selected local communities in Tanzania and Bangladesh. The project targeted the most vulnerable communities to improve their livelihood and rural development programs in terms of food security, income generation, education, and infrastructure improvement through community-based activities. To collect information and data for evaluation, we conducted field research such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and household surveys in the target villages of the SZHCP in Tanzania and Bangladesh. Using qualitative analysis, difference-in-difference estimation, and linear regression on surveys of 1142 respondents, we show that the SZHCP significantly improved the livelihoods of beneficiaries in relation to zero hunger, and also increased income generation and promoted positive social changes. It has also helped to strengthen the capacity of communities to run development projects themselves. This study provides evidence-based analysis that could allow stakeholders and researchers to more fully engage with future community-based projects.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 20 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Daniel C. Miller, Reem Hajjar〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The role of forests in supporting current consumption and helping people cope with seasonal, climatic, and other stressors is increasingly well understood. But can forests help rural households climb out of poverty? And can forests provide a pathway to prosperity that includes more widely shared economic benefits and improvements in other aspects of human well-being? This introduction to the Special Issue on “Forests as Pathways to Prosperity” reviews the literature on forest livelihoods in developing countries to synthesize evidence relating to these questions. We find that available research primarily examines poverty mitigation aspects of forests rather than the potential role of forest conservation, management, and use in alleviating poverty or promoting broader prosperity. To increase understanding of forest-livelihood relationships we propose a framework based on the concept of prosperity, which draws particular attention to human well-being beyond economic and material dimensions. We argue that explicitly taking a more expansive view can enable better accounting for the diverse ways forests contribute to human welfare, expand the constituency for forests, and inform policies to more sustainably manage forests within wider landscapes. Together, our review and the other articles in this volume advance these objectives by providing new analytical frameworks, empirical insights, and theoretical understanding to build knowledge on linkages between forests, poverty, and broader prosperity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Grant Alan Burrier, Philip Hultquist〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hydroelectric power is the world’s largest source of renewable energy. It can encourage economic development while reducing carbon emissions, but large hydroelectric projects have serious social and environmental consequences. Democratic Developmental and Ecological Modernization theorists counseled the adoption of new regulations and institutions to increase citizen participation and socioenvironmental protection. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and public audiences are considered best practice, but do these new protections and procedures alter government behavior when it makes critical development decisions? We argue scholars have paid too little attention to how bureaucratic hierarchies and weak cross-agency harmonization weaken environmental regimes. To highlight these issues, we provide an in-depth case study of hydroelectric dam construction in India, a country simultaneously confronting widespread underdevelopment and an energy matrix overwhelmingly reliant on carbon-based sources. Our multi-method analysis includes: innovative ArcGIS techniques to create an original database of large hydroelectric projects, field research, and a longitudinal analysis of three distinct periods of dam construction. We find the Indian government gradually shifted from large, multipurpose impoundment dams to smaller run-of-the-river (ROR) projects. ROR dams maintain a smaller footprint by requiring less flooding, but they are less efficient and versatile. Facing greater constitutional protections, concerns about resettlement costs, and past social mobilization, the Indian government is prioritizing smaller projects in remote locations to mitigate the social consequences of dam projects. Nevertheless, environmental concerns have been perfunctory. No fish ladders, exposed riverbeds, compromised waterflow regimes, and minimal riparian rehabilitation mean the environmental consequences of ROR dams remain extremely severe. These findings can be attributed to bureaucratic hierarchies, which limit the power of environmental agencies. Additionally, EIAs have been largely cursory and public audiences have not tangibly improved environmental outcomes because civil society generally prioritizes the social impacts of projects. In conclusion, our study finds India is better reconciling economic development with greater social protection and inclusion. The continued negative environmental externalities of contemporary hydroelectric projects highlight significant space for improving environmental protection.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Thang T. Vo, Pham Hoang Van〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study provides new evidence on the impact of health insurance coverage on household vulnerability using the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Surveys (VARHS) for 2010 and 2012. We apply propensity score matching to address the non-random selection of households into health insurance status. The VARHS data allow us to include risk preference as a predictor of health insurance propensity, an important source of endogeneity between health insurance coverage and vulnerability. We estimate that health insurance helps rural households in Vietnam reduce the idiosyncratic component of utility loss by 81 per cent and the probability of becoming poor by 19 per cent. Our results are robust to alternative statistical specifications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper measuring the impact of health insurance coverage on household 〈em〉ex-ante〈/em〉 vulnerability. Our findings suggest that expanding access, reducing costs and improving efficiency in health care would have big benefits of reducing vulnerability for the poor.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kelvin Mashisia Shikuku, Julius Juma Okello, Stella Wambugu, Kirimi Sindi, Jan W. Low, Margaret McEwan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study examined the nutrition and food security impacts of a project that was designed to improve availability of disease-free planting materials of biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) in rural Tanzania. Difference-in-difference and matching techniques were employed to estimate causal effects using panel data. Participation in the project increased agronomic and nutritional knowledge of households, raised uptake rate for OFSP varieties, and improved food security status. Effects on nutrition are, however, weak. These results suggest that timely access to quality seeds accompanied by a transfer of skills is important to reduce barriers to adoption of biofortified crops with resulting positive effects on the welfare of rural households. Adequate promotion of both agronomic and nutrition aspects of the technologies may enhance nutrition effects.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Guenwoo Lee, Aya Suzuki, Vu Hoang Nam〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In developing countries, social networks play a critical role in the transmission of information about new technologies and influence an individual’s decision to adopt the technology. Thus, this study considered a case of shrimp farmers in Vietnam to identify whether the farmers’ networks have positive effects on diffusing accurate agricultural information to the treated farmers and their neighbors. To explore the effects, we invited farmers selected using network-based targeting to a workshop held in December 2017 and estimated it using data obtained before and after the treatment. We found that: 1) the targeting has a positive effect on the treated farmers’ knowledge level about a good aquaculture practice; 2) The treated farmers selected using the network-based targeting share information with more neighbors when they get new information; and 3) The targeting has a positive spillover effect on untreated farmers' knowledge level, but its effect is lower than other randomly selected. These findings can conclude that network-based targeting appears to be a method to disseminate information to many people. Nevertheless, the methods are less likely to deliver accurate information to a wider group of farmers than random sampling.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Felipe Livert, Xabier Gainza, Jose Acuña〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper analyses the incidence of political factors and social capital on the allocation of public investment in the Santiago Metropolitan Area, Chile. Considering panel data on a decentralized investment program distributed through local governments and a program that is geared directly to citizen organizations, the paper explores whether investment is equally subject to electoral concerns and rent seeking under different program designs. Our estimations show that decentralized investment favours aligned municipalities where competition is stronger, but long-lasting local leaders also seek their own benefits. By contrast, transfers directly channelled to beneficiaries are free from political clout and, additionally, there is no sign of capture by organized interests. Based on these results, the paper discusses the implications for metropolitan governance, highlighting the potential role of the local social capital and a two-tier governance scheme to retain the gains from decentralization, acquire economies of scale in metropolitan service provision and reduce the margin for pork barrelling.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tobias Pfutze〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A large literature on Conditional Cash Transfers programs assesses the effects of becoming a beneficiary. However, the consequences of losing the benefit due to program graduation are largely unstudied. This paper replicates the eligibility score employed over 2010–15 by Mexico’s Oportunidades for a large household survey. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design around the threshold for program graduation, it shows that losing this additional incentive had a negative effect on high school attendance for lower secondary school aged students in urban, and upper secondary school aged ones in rural areas. The results suggest that the graduation thresholds are chosen too low.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gani Aldashev, Elena Vallino〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Participatory conservation projects imply direct involvement of local communities in natural conservation efforts, aiming at combining economic development with protecting the environment. NGOs engaged in both development and conservation massively implement such projects. Numerous field studies document mixed results of such interventions and the persistence of conservation-development tradeoff: better conservation comes at the expense of lowering the livelihoods of community members because they have to abstain from using the conservation area for hunting or agriculture. Economists argue that transferring property rights to relevant stakeholders would provide the right incentives for escaping this tradeoff. We build a simple model explaining why this policy might be insufficient. If the revenue from the conservation project is low and/or volatile, the community members may rationally reject conservation unless the NGO allocates a part of resources to sustaining community livelihoods (e.g. by agricultural extension). Hence, the NGO should deviate from its narrow mission to reach its broader objective. If the NGO is funded by strictly environmentally-oriented donors it may struggle to justify diverting a part of resources to agricultural extension, as such donors obtain little “warm-glow” utility from giving to the NGO that substantially engages in non-core mission activities. Thus, the NGO faces a “size versus efficiency” dilemma: poorly conserving a larger area (with non-cooperating local communities but happier donors) or conserving well a smaller area (with cooperation by local communities but keeping donors unsatisfied).〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Miriam Romero, Meike Wollni, Katrin Rudolf, Rosyani Asnawi, Bambang Irawan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study evaluates the effects of two policy instruments on the adoption of native tree planting in oil palm plantations. The first instrument is an information campaign on tree planting in oil palm. The second instrument combines the information campaign with a structural intervention that provides native tree seedlings for free. We implemented a randomized controlled trial in oil-palm growing villages in Jambi, Indonesia. Our study addresses the underlying mechanisms of behavioral change, by investigating how the policy instruments shape farmers’ perceptions, intentions and actual adoption decisions. The results show that information campaigns and structural interventions can motivate tree planting among smallholder oil palm farmers in Indonesia. While both treatments have a positive and significant effect, the intervention combining information with seedling provision leads to significantly higher adoption rates, indicating that overcoming structural barriers is critical. While changes in perceptions and intentions fully mediate the effect of the information campaign on adoption, they can only partially explain the effect of the combined intervention. Facilitating easy access to high-quality inputs is critical to motivate wider adoption among large numbers of potential users.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 7 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Priya Shyamsundar, Sofia Ahlroth, Patricia Kristjanson, Stefanie Onder〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We develop a framework to conceptualize the multiple ways forests contribute to poverty reduction and inform development interventions in forest landscapes. We identify five key strategies for reducing poverty in forest landscapes: a) improvements in productivity (P) of forest land and labor; b) governance reform to strengthen community, household and women’s rights (R) over forests and land; c) investments (I) in institutions, infrastructure and public services that facilitate forest-based entrepreneurship; d) increased access to markets (M) for timber or non-timber forest products; and e) mechanisms that enhance and enable the flow of benefits from forest ecosystem services (E) to the poor. We test the utility of the framework through a review of the forestry portfolio of the World Bank Group, the largest public investor in forestry. Many of these projects include several, but not all, PRIME components. We devote particular attention to forest-related investments in two contrasting countries, Vietnam and Mexico, to examine synergies among the pathways. Results suggest that each strategy in the PRIME framework may play an important role in alleviating poverty, but pronounced impacts may require multiple pathways to be jointly pursued. The PRIME framework can guide research to address knowledge gaps on pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes, serve as an easily remembered checklist for managers, and nudge forest program designers in government and development organizations, who are interested in poverty reduction, to focus on the importance of both a comprehensive framework and synergies across different pathways.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lewis S. Davis, Claudia R. Williamson〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We argue that individualism promotes gender equality. Individualist values of autonomy and self-determination transcend gender identities and serve to legitimize women’s goals and choices. In contrast, collectivist values may subordinate women’s personal goals to their social obligations, generating greater acceptance of gender inequality. Using individual level data from World Values Surveys, we find that individualism is significantly associated with support for gender equal attitudes regarding employment, income, education, and political leadership. Individualism is also associated with greater levels of female employment and educational attainment, and lower levels of fertility. These results are robust to controlling for income, education, religion, historical plough use, gendered language, and country-time fixed effects. Our within country analysis allows us to isolate the impact of individualism from other confounding effects. Using historical rainfall variation as an instrument for individualism, we find that the exogenous portion of individualism reduces support for patriarchal attitudes and fertility, and it increases female employment and educational attainment. These effects are economically large. We address concerns over instrumental validity by controlling for a variety of factors, including historical plough use, religious affiliation, religiosity, social trust, average rainfall levels, distance from the equator, cool-water conditions, agricultural suitability, historical political and economic development, and the presence of large animals. This paper contributes to a mounting body of evidence suggesting a key role for highly persistent cultural norms and values in determining gender inequality, the gender division of labor, and economic and social outcomes for women.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Miriam Breckner, Uwe Sunde〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper contributes to the debate whether climate change and global warming cause conflicts by providing novel evidence about the role of extreme temperature events for armed conflict based on high-frequency high-resolution data for the entire continent of Africa. The analysis of monthly data for 4826 grid cells of 0.75° latitude × longitude over the period 1997–2015 documents a positive effect of the occurrence of temperature extremes on conflict incidence. These effects are larger the more severe the extremes in terms of duration, and are larger in highly densely populated regions, in regions with lower agricultural productivity, and in regions with more pronounced land degradation. The results also point towards heterogeneity of the effect with respect to the type of violence and the crucial role of population dynamics. Considering the consequences of increases in the frequency of extreme events in a long-differences analysis delivers evidence for a positive effect on conflict.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lindsey Jones, Marco d'Errico〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉As resilience continues its rise to top of the international policy agenda, development funders and practitioners are under mounting pressure to ensure that investments in resilience-building are effective and targeted at those most in need. It is here that robust resilience measurement can make valuable contributions: identifying hotspots; understanding drivers; and inferring impact. To date, resilience measurement has been dominated by objectively-oriented approaches. These rely on external definitions of resilience (often informed by outside ‘experts’, literature reviews or resilience practitioners) and measured through observation or external verification. More recently, the potential for subjective approaches has been proposed. These take a contrasting approach, soliciting people’s judgements of what resilience means to them, and getting them to self-evaluate their own resilience.〈/p〉 〈p〉While both approaches have their strength and weaknesses, little is known about how objective and subjective modes of resilience measurement compare. To shed light on this relationship, we provide like-for-like comparisons of these two approaches using a regionally representative household survey of 2308 households in Northern Uganda. In so doing, we introduce a new measurement approach named the Subjective self-Evaluated Resilience Score (SERS). Outcomes from SERS are directly compared with an objectively-evaluated approach, the Resilience Index Measurement Analysis (RIMA), widely used by resilience practitioners.〈/p〉 〈p〉Findings from the survey suggest a moderate correlation between objectively- and subjectively-evaluated resilience modules. More importantly, both approaches share similar associations with many key socio-economic drivers of resilience. However, there are notable differences between the two. In some case, the approaches differ entirely regarding contributions of important traits, including coping strategies, levels of education and exposure to prior shocks. Our results highlight the need for resilience evaluators to consider a diversity of knowledge sources and seek greater use of evidence in indicator selection. We also investigate the properties of the SERS module itself. We find that characterisations of resilience that mimic various commonly-used frameworks produce similar resilience outcomes, suggesting that debates over the exact composition of resilience-characteristics may matter little. In addition, shorter SERS modules match the performance of the full set of SERS questions, allowing for quicker administration and reduced survey burden. Lastly, we call for evaluators to consider the strengths and weaknesses of subjective and objective measurement approaches, including options for combining both formats.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Anna T. Falentina, Budy P. Resosudarmo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The reliability of electricity supply is one of the most pressing challenges faced by many micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries. MSEs play a pivotal role in generating employment in these countries, yet the productivity of MSEs is relatively low. Little is known about how blackouts affect performance of MSEs. This paper is the first study to estimate the impact of such power blackouts on productivity of manufacturing MSEs and to discuss the role of the government in addressing the problem.〈/p〉 〈p〉We employed a pseudo-panel dataset covering six firm cohorts within 21 regions the Indonesian national electricity company operates in from 2010 to 2015. Our identification strategy firstly involved examining blackouts determinants and then using these determinants as instruments in an instrumental variable (IV) dynamic panel fixed effects estimation while controlling for factors that potentially affected productivity and correlated with blackouts.〈/p〉 〈p〉We found that electricity blackouts reduced average labor productivity and the resultant losses amounted to approximately IDR 71.5 billion (USD 4.91 million) per year in Indonesia. Therefore, it is crucial to improve electricity supply reliability in developing countries. We found that introducing a captive generator as a way to cope with power outages is positively associated with productivity, and that MSEs that have captive generators benefit when the power supply is poor. Our findings will assist policy makers to prioritize addressing power blackouts relative to other constraints MSEs face.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Weiye Wang, Jinlong Liu, John L. Innes〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉China has built a large Protected Areas (PA) system with more than 2700 PAs. This has occurred in a modern, industrialized economy in a highly populated country, and the designation of PAs has had significant impacts on local people. Equitable sharing of responsibilities and benefits arising from biodiversity conservation with local/indigenous people is important, especially for countries such as China, which has millions of people living in and around PAs. This paper seeks to understand the notion of conservation equity and demonstrate how it works in practice. Perceptions of conservation equity changed over time and across development stages, where variance in the economic activity of locals (agriculture to tourism), state control, degree of input from locals, and local government implementation was observed. In order to achieve conservation equity, policymakers often recognize three aspects of equity: distribution equity, participation equity, and recognition equity. This study examines these notions of equity among the different stakeholders (central government, local government, and local people) during the process of PA establishment and tourism development. It focuses on four villages in Jiuzhaigou Biosphere Reserve (JBR) in China during three different periods of development. Interviews with local residents, village leaders, and government officers were conducted. Distribution equity was identified by participants as the most important of the three equities. Policies created by the central government usually address equity issues, but when these policies are implemented by the local government, equity is sometimes ignored. When local people engage in specific direct actions to improve their livelihood, they are able to better pursue participation equity and recognition equity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pauline Dixon, Anna J. Egalite, Steve Humble, Patrick J. Wolf〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present experimental evidence from a school choice program carried out in a 20-square kilometer, highly urbanized slum area known as Shahdara, which is situated in East Delhi, India. The lottery-based allocation of vouchers allows us to structure an impact evaluation as a randomized controlled trial. We conduct an Intent-to-Treat (ITT) analysis of the impact of the offer of a voucher as well as a Treatment-on-Treated (TOT) analysis of the impact of using a voucher, employing the lottery results as an instrumental variable. Four years after random assignment, we find large positive impacts of voucher use on student test scores in English (0.31σ, p 〈 .05). We find suggestive negative impacts of voucher use on test scores in the native language of Hindi (−0.20σ, p 〈 .10), but this impact is not significant at the standard 95% confidence level. We find no voucher impact on student test scores in mathematics.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adane Hirpa Tufa, Arega D. Alene, Julius Manda, M.G. Akinwale, David Chikoye, Shiferaw Feleke, Tesfamicheal Wossen, Victor Manyong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Soybean constitutes an important component of the maize-based smallholder cropping systems in Malawi and holds considerable potential for countering soil fertility decline, enhancing household food and nutrition security, and raising rural incomes. A number of yield-enhancing improved soybean varieties and agronomic practices (ISVAPs) have been developed and disseminated in Malawi, but there is limited evidence on the adoption and impacts of these technologies. This paper assesses the productivity and income effects of adopting ISVAPs using plot level data collected from a nationally representative sample of 1237 soybean growing households in Malawi. Our results show that over a third of the sampled households have adopted ISVAPs. Furthermore, results from a stochastic dominance analysis showed that soybean yields and net crop incomes for adopters are significantly higher than those of non-adopters over the entire probability distribution of ISVAPs adoption. Endogenous switching regression model results further demonstrated that adoption of ISVAPs is associated with an average of 61% yield gain and 53% income gain for adopters. Overall, the results point to the need for further scaling of ISVAPs for greater adoption and impact on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Malawi.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peter R. Wilshusen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This article critically explores the dynamic, constitutive processes that animate economistic conservation and sustainable development as an expression of governance-beyond-the-state. I focus attention on governance in motion—expanding logics, hybrid practices, diffuse networks, and shifting social technologies that incrementally reshape power dynamics and the institutional domains that enable and constrain them. While the majority of institutional approaches to environmental governance emphasize intentional designs rooted in collective choices, less attention has been focused on dynamic processes of assemblage resulting from differentially coordinated actions across interrelated networks. Building from Foucauldian perspectives on governmentality and biopower, I argue that processes of assemblage help to constitute new techniques of governance aligned with the language and practices of economics. I examine two business and biodiversity initiatives—the Natural Capital Finance Alliance and the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme—in terms of five practices of assemblage: authorizing knowledge, forging alignments, rendering technical, reassembling, and anti-politics. I highlight four dimensions of political performativity associated with business and biodiversity initiatives that exemplify environmental governance in motion: discursive amplification, organizational articulation, institutional re-shaping, and technical instrumentation. Governance in motion reflects the distributed power dynamics of diverse individuals and collectives in generating economistic techniques of governance.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ole Boysen, Kirsten Boysen-Urban, Harvey Bradford, Jean Balié〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The consumption of highly processed food has been singled out as one of the factors responsible for the rapidly increasing prevalence of obesity and its associated non-communicable diseases and costs. While obesity prevalence is still comparatively low in lower-income sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), development prospects in this region render markets especially attractive for these foods, whose consumption is already growing at higher rates than in developed countries. This might be reflected in the massive rise in obesity prevalence growth rates in SSA over the past decade, while many of these countries are simultaneously struggling with high undernutrition prevalence.〈/p〉 〈p〉Using a newly constructed cross-country panel dataset, this study econometrically investigates the effect of higher import tariffs on highly processed 〈em〉vis-à-vis〈/em〉 less-processed foods with respect to their impacts on obesity and underweight prevalence in the adult population. While the analysis is global, the discussion focuses primarily on SSA. The effects of the tariff differences are found to be significant and substantial and to differ by income level of the country as well as by gender. More generally, the results show that policies affecting the consumer price differential between the two food groups are effective in influencing obesity and underweight prevalence and that these two issues cannot be treated separately.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lakshmi Iyer, Anandi Mani〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Using an original survey conducted in India’s largest state, we offer systematic evidence on the gender gaps in a rich set of electoral and non-electoral participation metrics. We find that gender gaps in non-electoral forms of participation (such as involvement in public petitions, interactions with public officials and attendance of village meetings) are larger than those in election-related activities, including political candidacy. These gender gaps in political participation persist even after we account for women’s poorer knowledge of political institutions, self-assessment of leadership skills, literacy rates and asset ownership, as well as constraints on their mobility and voice in household decisions. Using a Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition approach, we find that bringing women on par with men on these attributes would bridge less than half of the gender gap in political participation. This suggests that external factors, such as the roles played by voters, political parties or societal groups, may constitute important barriers to women’s political participation. The presence of a woman leader in the village increases women’s propensity to meet with government officials, but is not enough to close the gender gap in this outcome or others. Our evidence points to the need to consider a wider set of policy tools beyond quotas to encourage women’s civic and political engagement.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): José R. Bucheli, Matías Fontenla, Benjamin James Waddell〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉There is reason to suspect that return migrants can reduce social violence in migrant-prone regions of the world. Taking into account that recent research shows positive effects of return migration, we consider that returners may reduce violence by contributing to social renewal and economic growth in their home communities. We estimate the direct effects of return migration in the context of Mexico, a traditionally migrant country that has suffered record levels of violence in the past decade. Using data on homicide rates from 2456 municipalities for the 2011–2013 period and an instrumental variable bivariate Tobit maximum likelihood approach, we find that higher rates of return migration lead to a decline in local homicide rates. We also show, with a censored quantile instrumental variable (CQIV) model, that municipalities in the bottom quartile of the homicide rate distribution benefit the most from return migration. Our work has important implications for crime reduction policies in developing countries, and specifically in Mexico, where social violence has wreaked havoc on society in recent years.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 116〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Alexander De Juan, Carlo Koos〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cooperative norms and behavior are considered to be essential requirements for sustainable stabilization and development in conflict-affected states. It is therefore particularly important to understand what factors explain their salience in contexts of war, violence and displacement. In this paper, we assess the role of historical political legacies. We argue that precolonial processes of nation-building have strengthened people’s communal bonds to an imagined community, and that these bonds continue to positively impact present-day cooperative norms and behavior. We investigate this argument using the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as an empirical case. We combine historical information on the location and the main features of the precolonial Bushi Kingdom with original georeferenced survey data to investigate variation in cooperative norms 〈em〉within〈/em〉 and 〈em〉outside〈/em〉 of the boundaries of the precolonial “nation.” We exploit information on people’s awareness of proverbs associated with the original foundation myths of the kingdom to assess the role of long-term norm persistence. We find evidence in line with our argument on the historical roots of cooperative behavior.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Meina Cai, Pengfei Liu, Hui Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper examines how political trust across local government levels and risk preferences impact individual support to land-taking compensation policies in China. Land expropriation becomes a touchstone for protests and conflict during China’s urbanization, driving local governments to diversify land-taking compensation from the traditional one-time lump-sum cash payment to multiple payments, notably, in the form of monthly pension payments and yearly dividends. We found that political trust in the county-level government positively correlates with individual support to pension payments; political distrust in the village collective induces villagers to favor the one-time payment to yearly dividends. Both risk-averse and risk-seeking individuals prefer the one-time cash payment to yearly dividends. The findings are developed using two choice experiments embedded in an original survey: we elicit individual policy support by asking villagers to state their preferences over hypothetical alternative compensation policies; we elicit risk preferences using a lottery-choice experiment with varying probability of winning real monetary rewards. The findings highlight the multi-level local government structure under decentralization and offer insight into to what extent the government efforts in innovative compensation policies are effective at quelling rural anger.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Paul Clements〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Learning and accountability in foreign aid require project comparisons, but the dominant framework for aid evaluation institutionalizes inconsistency. Today, most aid evaluations are organized in terms of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. Usually the evaluators determine how to apply each criterion. Also, with donor agencies organizing their own evaluation systems, project monitoring tends to be weak and many evaluations are superficial, positively biased, and/or poorly timed. Logically, the most effective way to improve learning and accountability would be to implement independent and consistent evaluation for cost effectiveness. We substantiate and illustrate this argument by explaining why evaluation should be oriented to cost effectiveness and how this could be accomplished by an evaluation association, and by discussing six evaluations of health projects and several documents that summarize many evaluations.〈/p〉 〈p〉The proposed association would provide a stronger foundation in evidence and incentive environment for aid managers to make decisions that maximize the cost effectiveness of their interventions. This would enhance the professionalism of foreign aid and hasten an end to poverty.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 127〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Naomi Millner, Irune Peñagaricano, Maria Fernandez, Laura K. Snook〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Since the 1970s, Community forestry (CF) initiatives have sought to combine sustainable forestry, community participation and poverty alleviation. Like other community-based forms of natural resource management (CBNRM), CF has been lauded for its potential to involve local people in conservation while opening new opportunities for economic development. However, CF programmes are not always successful, economically or ecologically, and, by devolving new powers and responsibilities to an abstractly defined “community,” they risk exacerbating existing patterns of social exclusion, and creating new conflicts. In this paper we mobilise a relational concept of negotiation within a political ecology framework to explore how the power relations of CF are addressed and transformed in a region where issues of conflict and tenure security have long shaped the social forest. Specifically, we focus on the emergence and consolidation of ACOFOP [〈em〉Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Petén〈/em〉], a Forest Based Association in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Petén region of Guatemala, where CF has been practised for 25 years. Emphasising the importance of longer histories of social movements and organisations to local capacities for CF, we explore the conditions of possibility that enabled ACOFOP to emerge, as well as the strategies it has adopted to make national regulatory frameworks work for local communities. Through qualitative analysis derived from participatory research, interviews and ethnographic data, we trace four key areas of ACOFOP’s model of accompaniment (participatory decision-making; conflict resolution; advocacy and capacity-building) that have been developed in response to the negotiation of political issues pertaining to, and stemming from, the practice of CF. Highlighting ongoing challenges, and key strategies for CBNRM in other contexts, we conclude by emphasising that systems of community management cannot be “equitable,” or indeed sustainable, if political issues of access and tenure are not kept central to questions of participation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fiona Lambe, Ylva Ran, Marie Jürisoo, Stefan Holmlid, Cassilde Muhoza, Oliver Johnson, Matthew Osborne〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Many interventions that aim to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable people in low-income settings fail because the behavior of the people intended to benefit is not well understood and /or not reflected in the design of interventions. Methods for understanding and situating human behavior in the context of development interventions tend to emphasize experimental approaches to objectively isolate key drivers of behavior. However, such methods often do not account for the importance of contextual factors and the wider system. In this paper we propose a conceptual framework to support intervention design that links behavioral insights with service design, a branch of the creative field of design. To develop the framework, we use three case studies conducted in Kenya and Zambia focusing on the uptake of new technologies and services by individuals and households. We demonstrate how the framework can be useful for mapping individuals’ experiences of a new technology or service and, based on this, identify key parameters to support lasting behavior change. The framework reflects how behavior change takes place in the context of complex social-ecological systems – that change over time, and in which a diverse range of actors operate at different levels – with the aim of supporting the design and delivery of more robust development-oriented interventions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Florent Baarsch, Jessie R. Granadillos, William Hare, Maria Knaus, Mario Krapp, Michiel Schaeffer, Hermann Lotze-Campen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Climate change is projected to detrimentally affect African countries’ economic development, while income inequalities across economies is among the highest on the planet. However, it is projected that income levels would converge on the continent. Hitherto there is limited evidence on how climate change could affect projected income convergence, accelerating, slowing down, or even reversing this process. Here, we analyze convergence considering climate-change damages, by employing an economic model embedding the three dimensions of risks at the country-level: exposure, vulnerability and hazards. The results show (1) with historical mean climate-induced losses between 10 and 15 percent of GDP per capita growth, the majority of African economies are poorly adapted to their current climatic conditions, (2) Western and Eastern African countries are projected to be the most affected countries on the continent and (3) As a consequence of these heightened impacts on a number of countries, inequalities between countries are projected to widen in the high warming scenario compared to inequalities in the low and without warming scenarios. To mitigate the impacts of economic development and inequalities across countries, we stress (1) the importance of mitigation ambition and Africa’s leadership in keeping global mean temperature increase below 1.5 °C, (2) the need to address the current adaptation deficit as soon as possible, (3) the necessity to integrate quantitatively climate risks in economic and development planning and finally (4) we advocate for the generalization of a special treatment for the most vulnerable countries to access climate-related finance. The analysis raises issues on the ability of African countries to reach their SDGs targets and the potential increasing risk of instability, migration across African countries, of decreased trade and economic cooperation opportunities as a consequence of climate change – exacerbating its negative consequences.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sonia Quiroga, Cristina Suárez, Juan Diego Solís, Pablo Martinez-Juarez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉This paper analyses coffee producer’s vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change in Nicaragua. By its geographical position, Nicaragua is one of the countries most affected by climate change, and coffee production is expected to vastly shrink in some critical areas, suitability being reduced by up to 40% in the country. This paper analyses farmer’s perceptions and vulnerability indicators to find which indicators are linked to farmers’ perceived capacity to adapt to climate change, paying special attention to the issue of whether farmers perceive they have any capacity at all to adapt.〈/p〉 〈p〉The analysis was conducted through a survey to 212 representative farmers jointly with an analysis of vulnerability indicators. A Heckman selection model was estimated to jointly analyse the probability of being able to cope with climate change and the level of adaptive capacity that farmers perceive. We have simulated different policy scenarios considering the sustainable development goals of United Nations in terms of poverty reduction and education concerns. We also analysed the effects of specific programs on education about climate change awareness. Finally, we extend our analysis to a geographical evaluation of the farmer’s perceived vulnerability.〈/p〉 〈p〉The analysis shows that aspects such as farm size or education levels are relevant for modulating farmers’ perceptions on their own adaptive capacity. Large farm managers find themselves more often able to cope with climate change impacts though they find their capacity to be limited. Farmers that could not rely on rainfall water for their plantations also reported being less able to cope with climate change impacts. Poverty was also found to be correlated to perceptions, as regions lower proportions of inhabitants under poverty levels showed higher levels of confidence in adaptive capacity.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jacqueline D. Lau, Joshua E. Cinner, Michael Fabinyi, Georgina G. Gurney, Christina C. Hicks〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Ecosystem services have become a dominant paradigm for understanding how people derive well-being from ecosystems. However, the framework has been critiqued for over-emphasizing the availability of services as a proxy for benefits, and thus missing the socially-stratified ways that people access ecosystem services. We aim to contribute to ecosystem services’ theoretical treatment of access by drawing on ideas from political ecology (legitimacy) and anthropology (entanglement). We hypothesize that where customary and modern forms of resource management co-exist, changes in customary institutions will also change people’s ability to and means of benefiting from ecosystem services, with implications for well-being. We ask a) what are the constellations of social, economic, and institutional mechanisms that enable or hinder access to a range of provisioning ecosystem services; and b) how are these constellations shifting as different elements of customary institutions gain or lose legitimacy in the process of entanglement with modernity? Through a qualitative mixed-methods case study in a coastal atoll community in Papua New Guinea, we identify key access mechanisms across the value chain of marine provisioning services. Our study finds the legitimacy of customary systems – and thus their power in shaping access – has eroded unevenly for some ecosystem services, and some people within the community (e.g. younger men), and less for others (e.g. women), and that different marine provisioning services are shaped by specific access mechanisms, which vary along the value chain. Our findings suggest that attention to entanglement and legitimacy can help ecosystem services approaches capture the dynamic and relational aspects of power that shape how people navigate access to resources in a changing world. We contend that viewing power as relational illuminates how customary institutions lose or gain legitimacy as they become entangled with modernity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 126〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dorota Węziak-Białowolska, Piotr Białowolski, Eileen McNeely〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Workers’ mistreatment is a serious problem, particularly for disadvantaged populations in the global garment supply chain who are often subjected to human and labor rights violations. Workplace abuses are believed to originate from human resource management practices, which aim to reduce production costs and achieve inflated production targets. Improvements in worker well-being are often perceived as costs rather than investments.〈/p〉 〈p〉Family life might be an equally important contributor to workers’ well-being and factory outcomes, yet its impact often remains completely beyond the scope of interest of local factory management and the leadership of companies at the top of the supply chain.〈/p〉 〈p〉This study addressed the prevalence of workplace harassment (WH) and domestic violence (DV) in the garment industry in Mexico, Sri Lanka, China and Cambodia and the impacts of WH and DV on outcomes related to withdrawal from work (intentions to leave, quitting, and limited abilities to perform usual tasks), work attitudes (work engagement and job satisfaction) and self-reported work quality.〈/p〉 〈p〉Survey data from 5328 garment industry workers from four countries and information from personnel files are used. The relationships are modelled using linear, logistic or Cox proportional hazard regressions. The results from the longitudinal subsample substantiate the robustness of the findings.〈/p〉 〈p〉WH and DV are found to be significant stressors and affect withdrawal from work, work attitudes and work quality. Contrary to common belief, the findings do not reveal that WH and DV contribute to decisions to quit; however, they were found to impact intentions to leave. The results from the longitudinal sample corroborate the influence of WH and DV on work outcomes.〈/p〉 〈p〉The results of this study convey a message to global brands and factory managers to foster worker well-being, which may improve factory performance.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 128〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jenny C. Aker, Melita Sawyer, Markus Goldstein, Michael O'Sullivan, Margaret McConnell〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The welfare impacts of expanding access to new financial services depend upon whether such services better meet households’ financial needs in terms of savings, investment and insurance. We report the results of a randomized control trial in Niger, whereby households were provided with access to a simple savings device – an individual lockbox – or SMS reminders. Overall, take-up and usage of the lockbox was high. Overall savings in the lockbox treatments was higher at endline, although this is not statistically significant at conventional levels. The lockboxes did not affect households’ ceremonial or overall health expenditures, but did partially help households to cope with the negative impacts of a health shock. Overall, there were no additional effects of the SMS reminders. Taken together, these results provide further evidence that simple savings devices can meet an unmet demand for a secure place to save.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: May 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 117〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Belén Fernández Milmanda, Candelaria Garay〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In a context of booming commodity prices, what factors drive subnational authorities to implement forest protection regulations in active agricultural frontiers?. Focusing on one of the world’s deforestation hotspots, the Argentine Chaco Forest, we argue that subnational variation in the implementation of forest protection legislation is driven by governors’ attempts to avoid conflict produced by agricultural expansion. Through process tracing, we show how governors’ implementation decisions—regarding both the design and enforcement of provincial regulations—sought to mitigate pressures from large producers opposed to clearing restrictions and from various groups contesting agricultural expansion. As the power of these actors varies across provinces, governors’ conflict avoidance strategies resulted in markedly different subnational regulations as well as contrasting levels of enforcement and deforestation. We substantiate our argument through an empirical strategy that combines department-level geocoded data on deforestation and levels of forest protection in the Argentine Chaco with extensive fieldwork and interviews in the core provinces in which the forest is located. Our findings aim to contribute to academic debates in political science and environmental science on the determinants of subnational policy and deforestation, respectively, and have the potential to inform both donors and policymakers about the factors shaping the uneven impact of decentralized arrangements to combat climate change.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Raquel Bernal, Sara María Ramírez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The focus in developing countries is shifting from increasing access to early childhood care services to improving its quality. In light of the inclusion of early childhood development in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, there has emerged a global call for early childhood programs that integrate nutrition, health and development components. However, large-scale studies of integrated early childhood interventions are scarce in developing countries, and thus, little is known about its effectiveness and sustainability. In this paper we study the immediate and medium-run effects of a large-scale expansion of an integrated package of services including care, education, health and nutrition on child growth and development, by analyzing the expansion of the Colombian national early childhood strategy known as “〈em〉From Zero to Forever〈/em〉” between 2011 and 2013. The results indicate that the increased access to integrated center-based care had a large immediate effect on vocabulary that persists five years into the intervention, and less robust effects on nutritional status.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ashwini Deshpande, Rajesh Ramachandran〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We compare successive age cohorts of three broad social groups – Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC-STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and “Others” and provide the first disaggregated picture of the evolution of inter-caste disparities in India. The results show that absolute caste gaps in years of schooling and prestigious occupation of white-collar jobs have remained static, whereas log wages below the median have convergence and above the median diverged. Examining extension of job quotas to OBCs in 1993, we find positive effects of affirmative action on probability of holding government jobs, as well as on secondary schooling completion.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Veronica Herrera〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is ambitious and inclusive, but how well are these global aspirations likely to result in implementable policy change for water and sanitation? This article assesses governance challenges at the local level associated with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which pledges to ensure sustainable water and sanitation for all. The majority of developing countries manage services at the subnational level, making the quality of local governance the key ingredient for improvements in the sector. This article first reviews prior shortcomings in global monitoring efforts and how SDG 6 was formulated to address them. The analysis then examines local governance challenges facing SDG 6 and potential barriers to implementation. These barriers manifest as both contradictions within SDG 6 itself as well as contradictions between SDG 6 and the Sustainable Development Agenda more broadly. As SDG monitoring rubrics undergo further reformulations, it may be necessary to prioritize between goals and targets, or otherwise stagger the timing of their promotion and implementation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jeroen Klomp〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study explores whether the public spending provided in response to a natural disaster is influenced by the political ideology of the incumbent government. We use a global panel of about 90 democratic countries. Political parties have different preferences regarding policies that redistribute income within a country after a natural disaster. The estimates of a dynamic panel model clearly indicate that left-wing governments allocate about 2.8 percent more public support per capita in the aftermath of a disaster than right-wing cabinets do. Besides, cabinets that consist of at least one nationalistic political party provide about 0.9 percent more disaster assistance than other coalitions. One explanation is that natural disasters may reinforce the feelings of voters related to the national identity and domestic solidarity. Finally, it turns out that the ideology effect is most visible in political systems with direct elections as it is easier to target affected voters in these systems.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mehtabul Azam〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Using data from the large-scale consumption expenditure surveys collected by Indian National Sample Survey Organization, we examine the urban-rural welfare gap in India in 1983, 1993, 2004, and 2011 across the entire consumption distribution. Our main measure of welfare is spatially adjusted per capita consumption expenditure. Using the unconditional quantile regression decomposition, we find that the majority of the observed gap in each year is explained by the urban advantage in endowments. Difference in educational distributions across urban and rural areas explains a significant part of the gap observed in each year. Over time, there has been a gradual widening of the urban-rural gap. A decomposition of the change in the gap over 1983–2011 suggests that increasing gap between urban and rural areas in the share of tertiary educated population accounts for a significant part of the observed increase in the gap.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): John Aloysius Zinda, Zhiming Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Afforestation efforts are proliferating as states promote tree-planting to accomplish sustainable rural development and combat forest loss and climate change. China’s Returning Farmland to Forest Program (RFFP), one of the world’s most ambitious afforestation programs, has often been presented as a great success. However, research on the RFFP shows substantial unexplained heterogeneity. Case studies reveal divergent outcomes, but the processes behind local variation are poorly understood. This study examines mechanisms differentiating tree cover change across 12 communities. We join narrative histories with formal case comparison using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which applies Boolean analysis to identify combinatorial patterns across cases, to explain variation in remotely sensed land cover change. These analyses identify distinct pathways to vegetation gain and loss linked to livelihood patterns and environmental conditions. The RFFP’s contribution to forest gain depends on how local governance and environmental conditions enable different land use patterns. In particular, whether community officials act in responsive, self-serving, or perfunctory ways shapes options available to other households. Responsive governance does not have a consistent relationship with forest gain; outcomes depend on the particular activities officials enable. Impacts on land cover change of labor outmigration, livestock husbandry, and cash crop expansion are likewise contingent. To make afforestation interventions effective and sustainable, policymakers must be mindful of crosscutting factors that may impede or facilitate forest establishment.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gabrielli do Carmo Martinelli, Madalena Maria Schlindwein, Milton Parron Padovan, Everton Vogel, Clandio Favarini Ruviaro〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Agriculture and land use practices must be significantly improved to satisfy the needs of future generations without placing further pressure on global ecosystems. Agroforestry systems (AFS) have been quoted as one of the best options to mitigate environmental impacts and at the same time, improve smallholders’ livelihoods in agricultural areas. However, studies investigating the environmental aspects and yield of agroforestry systems in rural settlements, established by governmental initiatives, are still uncommon in the literature. Therefore, the goal of this paper was to assess the contribution of five biodiverse AFS, located in the Cerrado biome, to global warming mitigation and the provision of ecosystem services to smallholder farmers. Additionally, the importance of agroforestry projects to family farms in Brazil was discussed. Relying on data from forestry inventory and in-depth interviews with farmers, the crop yield (including fruit) was estimated; and the life cycle assessment method was used to determine the Global Warming Potential (GWP), accounting for all emissions to establish and manage the AFS up until the date of analysis. The results show the significant capacity of AFS sequester carbon, represented by the negative values of GWP, ranging from (−263) to (−496) t CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 equivalents per hectare. Each farmer adopted different tree and crop species at the AFS establishment what influenced yields and GWP. The high number of fruit trees contributed positively to the AFS outputs, allowing farmers to consume and sell a large variety of products. Furthermore, the households also benefit from microclimate and aesthetic benefits provided by the AFSs. Future agroforestry projects in rural settlements can contribute significantly to improve household livelihoods, as well as environmental protection. However, efforts should be taken to provide farmers with sound knowledge, financial support, and access to markets to thrive.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xoco A. Shinbrot, Kate Wilkins, Ulrike Gretzel, Gillian Bowser〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Although it appears that leadership roles in sustainable development have become more androgynous over time, it is unclear whether perceptions of barriers for women leaders in this context have actually changed. Our research examines the perceptions of male and female sustainable development activists regarding existing barriers but also their visions of the unique contributions women leaders bring to sustainable development when these barriers are overcome. During a two-year global study, we interviewed 120 women and men deeply involved in sustainable development from local to supranational levels and active in transnational and autonomous spaces to capture their insights on the topic. Qualitative analyses revealed several themes: First, our results reflect overwhelming concerns with the patriarchal structures that are perceived to continue to constrain women from becoming leaders. Second, our study reveals complex and often hidden issues, such as the lack of self-confidence, which impedes perceived access to leadership positions, and differences among women that make it difficult to find blanket solutions. Finally, we discuss men and masculinity, topics which are often neglected in this context, highlighting the important role that male allies can play for women leaders in sustainable development. Theoretically, we add new perspectives to existing literature on women as sustainable development leaders by focusing on the perceptions of individuals who actively try to change institutions and norms from within. From a practical perspective, our study is an important call to action for global women’s movements and male allies to work together to confront hierarchical domination and oppression and, importantly, not only change structures but also perceptions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Diana Suhardiman, Emma Karki〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper investigates the spatial dimension of power relations and the shaping of local alliances through a hydropower development project in Nepal. It provides a grass-roots illustration on the role of space in shaping and reshaping power relations, and how it manifests in the formation of local strategic alliances. Taking the Upper Karnali hydropower project as a case study, the paper highlights: 1) the role of private sector actor as an ad-hoc decision maker in hydropower development in the country; 2) how hydropower development is perceived by those who will be most affected; and 3) how the two shape the localized dynamics in hydropower decision making, while also sheds light on some of the key gaps in hydropower decision-making landscape and processes. Viewing space as a process and a product of socio-political interface, it shows how local communities living along the Karnali River view the planned hydropower project differently, how these views are rooted in their relationship with the hydropower company, and how such relationship is predetermined by local communities’ bargaining power in relation to the proximity of their respective villages to the planned hydropower dam site, and vice versa. Unpacking the power relations shaping and reshaping spatial politics in hydropower decision making, it presents the concept of spatial alliances as a theoretical underpinning to unpack the question on why and how power relations emerge, are sustained and reproduced.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peter Warr, Lwin Lwin Aung〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉According to national household survey data for Myanmar, spanning the five-year interval 2005–2010, average real household consumption expenditures remained stagnant, but measured poverty incidence and inequality both declined significantly. The distribution of the economic pie shifted in favor of the poor while the overall size of the pie barely changed. This paper examines the possibility that the hitherto unexplained reduction in measured inequality was caused, at least partly, by a natural disaster, Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which devastated parts of Myanmar in May 2008. This hypothesis is supported by a recent historical study which argues that, globally, large reductions in inequality normally occur only through either man-made or natural disasters. The paper develops a method, based on regression analysis of household level data, for isolating the impact of an exogenous natural event like a cyclone. The estimated regression model is used to simulate a counterfactual distribution of expenditures in which, hypothetically, the cyclone did not occur. The estimated impact of the cyclone is the difference between the observed outcome, in which the cyclone happened, and this simulated, counterfactual outcome in which it did not. The findings indicate that the cyclone reduced inequality between regions of Myanmar, because the negatively affected regions were on average better-off than the unaffected regions, both before and after the cyclone. Within the affected regions the negative impact of the cyclone was largest in absolute terms among richer households, but as a proportion of household expenditures, these negative effects were larger among the poorer households. The cyclone therefore increased economic inequality within the affected regions. Overall measured inequality declined because the between-region reduction exceeded the within-region increase.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fenella Carpena〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper investigates the impacts of droughts on food expenditure and macronutrient consumption among rural Indian households. To isolate causal effects, I exploit random year-to-year variation in a dry shock, defined as the absolute deviation of rainfall below its long-run mean. I find that the dry shock has a statistically significant and negative effect on household nutrition. For a median dry shock, I estimate that households spend 1 percent less per capita per month on food and consume up to 1.4 percent fewer calories, protein, and fat. Disaggregating the effects by food group, I demonstrate that household diets become less balanced as a result of droughts: the dry shock leads households to rely primarily on cereals and to purchase less vegetables, fruits, pulses, and animal-sourced foods. Hence, droughts negatively impact not only the quantity but also the quality of rural household diets. Finally, I explore the potential channels for these effects. I argue that rather than higher food prices, a decline in household market and non-market income is the primary reason for lower household food consumption and nutrition during droughts. Taken together, these findings suggest that attaining food security amid extreme weather conditions requires an integrated approach that focuses on food not only for survival but also for leading a healthy and active life.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Thomas Markussen, Quang-Thanh Ngo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Single-party political systems exist in a number of countries, such as China and Vietnam. In these countries, party membership is potentially an important source of economic and social status. This paper investigates these effects and the mechanisms behind them. In particular, we use household- and individual level panel data to analyze the causes and consequences of Communist Party membership in rural areas of Vietnam. Fixed effects models are employed to control for unobserved differences between party members and others. Results suggest that party membership has a moderate, positive effect on income, on the order of 7 percent, and a large, positive effect on subjective well-being, even after controlling for income. Party membership is closely associated with working for the government but also appears to increase the propensity to use credit and to boost income from farm- and non-farm enterprises. There are strong gender effects: Men are several times more likely to be party members than women are, and the effects of membership on income and subjective well-being are only present among men. Overall, results confirm that in spite of pro-market, economic reforms, Communist Party membership continues to be of high value in rural Vietnam.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rose Pritchard, Isla M. Grundy, Dan van der Horst, Casey M. Ryan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Forest and woodland resources can play a key role in rural livelihoods in the Global South, making it critical to understand what forest change could mean for rural wellbeing. Calculating environmental income has become a popular method of highlighting the importance of environmental resources in livelihoods, but few studies have quantified both provisioning ecosystem service availability and environmental income in the same landscape, or disaggregated environmental income by source land cover. This limits our ability to anticipate how forest change could impact rural livelihoods and could result in management interventions detrimental to vulnerable groups. The objective of this study was therefore to explore links between woodland cover, provisioning ecosystem service availability and household environmental income by applying a novel interdisciplinary approach in six villages on a gradient of woodland resource availability in Zimbabwe. We firstly use techniques from quantitative ethnobotany to score the species underpinning six locally important provisioning ecosystem services, and combine these scores with data from 80 tree survey plots to establish provisioning service availability. We then use income data from 91 households to explore relationships between provisioning service availability and household income portfolios. We find that villages with less woodland have lower availability of all studied ecosystem services and also a lower diversity of species underpinning service provision, but that there are no significant relationships between woodland resource availability and environmental income, livelihood diversity or intra-community income inequality in the case study area. We suggest that income portfolios are very resilient to woodland loss because households can still derive significant resources from woodlands which would be considered degraded in ecological terms and can draw upon kin networks which facilitate access to resources beyond village boundaries. The novel combination of approaches used in this study, particularly if applied at greater spatial and temporal scales, can provide valuable insight into the complexities of resource use in forest-agriculture mosaics.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 120〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chris Humphrey, Katharina Michaelowa〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Official development finance from China has risen tremendously in the past two decades across the globe, including in the world’s poorest continent Africa. How has this sudden increase in development resources affected the two major multilateral development banks (MDBs) in the region, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB)? One might expect that the MDBs would compete with China to maintain influence in Africa. This study uses statistical tests and interviews with government officials in three recipient countries to see if this is the case. The results indicate that total MDB finance by country change little over time in response to Chinese activity. The sectoral allocation of concessional lending to the poorer countries does not show any responsiveness either. In contrast, shifts in levels and sector allocation can be observed for non-concessional countries. Overall, the study suggests that while China’s role in African development finance is indeed substantial and growing, it has not had the “game changing” impact on traditional development finance as popular perception might lead one to believe. This may change, however, once more recipient countries develop economically and move to non-concessional lending.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 120〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Elizabeth Baldwin, Sanya Carley, Sean Nicholson-Crotty〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The international environmental community and many donor countries have encouraged developing countries to adopt renewable energy (RE) policies that will encourage low-carbon energy development. While the drivers of RE policy adoption have been well-studied in the U.S. and Europe, we know little about the factors that drive RE policy adoption in developing countries. Both theory and anecdotal evidence suggest that policies often spread when one country emulates another’s policy, but scholars of policy diffusion have tended to focus on emulation of political and ideological peers, overlooking other factors that may be particularly critical for driving RE policy adoption, including emulation of peers with similar electric sector conditions and emulation that is driven by coercive donor-recipient aid relationships. We use a directed dyadic analysis to assess the factors that prompt a country to emulate another’s policies and to determine whether emulation patterns differ across developed and developing countries. We find that both sets of countries tend to emulate the policies of their political peers, and that developing countries tend to emulate the policies of donors. The effect of electric sector similarities varies by policy type. Countries emulate feed-in tariffs of countries with similar electric sector conditions, but they emulate quota policies of countries with dissimilar levels of reliance on renewable energy. Results suggest that different policies may diffuse via different emulation patterns.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 120〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): M.V. Lee Badgett, Kees Waaldijk, Yana van der Meulen Rodgers〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study analyzes the relationship between social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and economic development. It uses legal and economic data for 132 countries from 1966 to 2011. Previous studies and reports provide substantial evidence that LGBT people are limited in their human rights in ways that also create economic harms, such as lost labor time, lost productivity, underinvestment in human capital, and the inefficient allocation of human resources. This analysis uses a fixed effects regression approach and a newly-created dataset – Global Index on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Orientation (GILRHO) – to assess how these detriments are related to the macroeconomy. Our study finds that an additional point on the 8-point GILRHO scale of legal rights for LGB persons is associated with an increase in real GDP per capita of approximately $2000. A series of robustness checks confirm that this index continues to have a positive and statistically significant association with real GDP per capita after controlling for gender equality. In combination with the qualitative evidence from previous studies and reports, our quantitative results suggest that LGBT inclusion and economic development are mutually reinforcing. Also, a back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests that about 6% to 22% of the finding could reflect the costs to GDP of health and labor market stigmatization of LGB people. Results from this study can help to better understand how the fuller enjoyment of human rights by LGBT people can contribute to a country’s economic development.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 119〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maria-Therese Gustafsson, Martin Scurrah〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Weak institutions have been identified as a principal cause of the poor developmental outcomes of many resource-rich states. Research has largely focused on national-level institutions and governance, whereas their subnational equivalents remain understudied. Subnational governments, partially empowered by decentralization reforms, have increasingly sought to use existing institutions to influence mineral resource governance although they have no formal authority over such resources. This article examines the implementation of land-use zoning and planning in three Peruvian regions (2007–2016). It focuses on how and when subnational governments seek to influence mineral governance and under what conditions they succeed in strengthening institutions for inclusive and sustainable development. Theoretically, the article draws on the literature on decentralized forest governance and empirically it is based on extensive ethnographic research carried out in the three regions, written primary sources and 139 semi-structured interviews. Our analysis suggests that, whereas regional governments have strong incentives to use land-use zoning to influence mineral governance, they often lack capacity, accountable representation, and support from the central government. Still, land-use zoning has provided regional governments with information about natural resources that has been used in negotiations with mining companies, but also to improve regional planning. To have durable impacts on development, profound state reform to achieve sectoral integration and political decentralization is, however, needed. Our findings add to debates about extractive governance by showing how subnational governments, without having formal authority over mineral resources, still play an important role in shaping the developmental outcomes of resource extraction. Our paper also provokes important questions regarding how subnational governments could be included in extractive governance and which mechanisms for reconciling different interests are likely to be most effective. All told, a better understanding of how inclusive subnational institutions are effectively enforced and gain stability is crucial for transforming resource wealth into sustainable development.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bibhas Saha, Navjot Sangwan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We utilise primary data collected from a North Indian village to examine the impact of women’s empowerment on their creditworthiness, as measured by their total annual loan amounts. Our key explanatory variable – an empowerment index – has been constructed using four factors – economic, social, interpersonal and political. We find that more empowered women received greater cumulative loans. We have instrumented empowerment by the sex of the borrower’s first child being male. It seems that in the male-dominated environment of North India, the ‘luck’ of giving birth to first child as a son helps a woman seize opportunities for empowerment. These village-level findings regarding empowerment are consistent with the results we obtain for the whole of North India using a separate and national dataset. We also show that for the rest of India, it is education and not empowerment, that is a more important determinant of loan volumes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Michael Otoara Ha'apio, Ricardo Gonzalez, Morgan Wairiu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Our paper analyses the patterns and factors that explain households’ responses to extreme environmental events (EEEs) in two case studies of indigenous communities in the Solomon Islands. We used the ethnographic approach to describe the case studies and carried out thematic analysis to disentangle the factors that explain such responses. The first case was that of a rural community from Ranogha Island in the Western Province that was hit by the Tsunami of April 2007; the second was of a community settled in an informal development on a flood-prone area in peri-urban Honiara that was hit by a flash flood in April 2014. Drawing from the villagers’ experiences, we found that aid and support from family and community, referred to by the respondents as the “〈em〉wantok〈/em〉” system, was key to recovering from the disasters. Many respondents identified climate change as one leading factor that explained such catastrophic events. The social cooperation system, the government’s role in responding to catastrophes and household net worth were identified among the main components of household responses. These constitute an effective engine to build palliative and preventive responses against catastrophic events and climate change risks. In spite of the extreme poverty observed, and the lack of government assistance, we conclude that amenities obtained from the community (through the 〈em〉wantok〈/em〉 system) and household net worth (including the availability of common pool resources) enabled them to cope with the catastrophes. These factors are critical for long-term adaptation to EEEs and climate change risks. The community responses analysed with thematic analysis showed to be consistent with the conceptualization led by a farm-household model, and the household net worth as a source of income appears to be the correct measure of wealth instead the level of income in these less monetarised communities. Learning from how these communities and households responded to such EEEs provides evidence on how other communities could successfully adapt to increasing climate change risks.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): E. Fouksman, E. Klein〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Universal basic income – the idea of guaranteeing a minimum level of income for all – has a long history of been framed as a radical proposal, a way to address issues ranging from wealth distribution and economic justice through to degrowth and gender equality. Yet an increasing number of proponents, especially in international development and public policy circles, see basic income as an efficient technological solution to poverty and economic insecurity. Critical development studies scholars have overwhelmingly problematized such ‘rendering technical’ of complex social, economic and political issues. In this paper, we use a critical development lens to point to two areas of particular danger to the transformative potential of basic income: coloniality and class relations. We do so through two case studies: a proposed basic income for Indigenous Australians and the support of UBI by high-net-worth individuals in California’s Silicon Valley. Using these two cases, we argue that despite best intentions, without critical engagement and nuance around questions of power, the radical potential of basic income may be jeopardized, with basic income becoming another technological quick-fix of development and policy interventions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sami Bensassi, Joachim Jarreau〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉What factors explain the persistence and pervasiveness of corruption in certain parts of the world? In West Africa, many day-to-day transactions require the payment of bribes. Quantitative evidence on these bribes and their determinants is scarce. This paper sheds light on the level and the frequency of bribe payments in informal coss-border trade. It examines how bribes depend on the trade regime and on market structure. We rely on data from a survey of traders in Benin to estimate the determinants of bribe payments. We exploit variations in the trade regime across Benin’s borders, as well as changes in trade restrictions over time and variations in route availability across space and time. We find that reductions in trade barriers help to lower bribes, but do not eliminate them, with bribes remaining frequent in liberalized trade regimes. These results suggest that collusive corruption – used to circumvent regulations and taxes – coexists with coercive corruption, where officials use their monopoly power to extract transfers from traders.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Michael Brennan, Janeet Rondón-Sulbarán〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉How to understand impact, recognise different types of knowledge and assess quality in a transdisciplinary project? The authors were faced with these questions at the start of a four-year project created to address aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of clean water and sanitation. The decision by a project consortium to adopt a transdisciplinary approach – i.e. research that emphasises the need to include both scientific and societal stakeholders – raised a number of practical issues. In particular, issues relating to an understanding of research impact; the existence of alternative knowledge typologies in transdisciplinary research; and uncertainty regarding an assessment of research quality – given the involvement of multiple discipline paradigms. The aim of this paper is to present and evaluate a novel analytical framework that addresses issues relating to impact, knowledge and quality in transdisciplinary research. The purpose of developing the framework was to address some of the inherent problems of transdisciplinary research – in particular how to structure the different perceptions and expectations of project consortium partners. The framework was constructed through an iterative process of data collection and qualitative analysis in the initial phase of the project. This process enabled the authors to structure, in a meaningful way, the perceptions of different scientific and societal actors in the project consortium. The framing exercise raised wider issues concerning how to assess the quality of transdisciplinary research. The importance of the study is that it presents new ways by which academics and practitioners can address some of the inherent problems involved in undertaking transdisciplinary research.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): E.C. Lentz, H. Michelson, K. Baylis, Y. Zhou〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Globally, over 800 million people are food insecure. Current methods for identifying food insecurity crises are not based on statistical models and fail to systematically incorporate readily available data on prices, weather, and demographics. As a result, policymakers cannot rapidly identify food insecure populations. These problems delay responses to mitigate hunger. We develop a replicable, near real-time model incorporating spatially and temporally granular market data, remotely-sensed rainfall and geographic data, and demographic characteristics. We train the model on 2010–2011 data from Malawi and forecast 2013 food security. Our model correctly identifies the food security status of 83 to 99% of the most food insecure village clusters in 2013, depending on the food security measure, while the prevailing approach correctly identifies between 0 and 10%. Our results show the power of modeling food insecurity to provide early warning and suggest model-driven approaches could dramatically improve food insecurity crisis response.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Barbara Bruns, Isabel Harbaugh Macdonald, Ben Ross Schneider〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Understanding the politics of education reform is crucial to assess the challenges facing the SDG of quality education. This article surveys the small academic literature on the politics of reform as well as a wide range of empirical research on reform experiences across the world, with an emphasis on recent reforms in Latin America. We focus on teacher policy reforms, which play a central role in raising learning in primary and secondary schools, but pose three special challenges. First, they are 〈em〉contentious〈/em〉, often threatening the institutional interests of well-organized and politically powerful teacher unions. Second, implementation is 〈em〉opaque,〈/em〉 as impact depends on classroom-level change that is difficult for reformers to monitor. And, third, benefits are 〈em〉long-term〈/em〉, usually well beyond the political tenure of reform champions. A close review of all major stakeholders – teacher unions, business, NGOs, religious authorities, international development agencies, and others – is a crucial first step to understanding potential sources of opposition and support. Strategic issues in policy design and implementation include: consultation, sequencing, compensation, negotiation, communication, and sustaining reforms.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 120〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Goytom Abraha Kahsay, Erwin Bulte〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A small literature investigates the co-evolution of culture and institutions (formal regulation). We present new micro-level evidence on the relationship between culture and institutions in forest resource management. Using data on forest user groups in Ethiopia, we document a negative correlation between various measures of trust and the degree of formalization of forest monitoring and extraction. Additional analysis suggests the nature of this relation is causal: groups with low level of trust implement more extensive rules to govern monitoring and extraction of their forest resource. This is consistent with the idea that trust and rules are substitutes in natural resource management.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 120〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Truly Santika, Kerrie A. Wilson, Sugeng Budiharta, Elizabeth A. Law, Tun Min Poh, Marc Ancrenaz, Matthew J. Struebig, Erik Meijaard〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Palm oil producing countries regularly promote the positive impact of oil palm agriculture on poverty alleviation, despite limited evidence about the contribution of this crop on village well-being. Past evaluations that quantify the social impact of oil palm are dominated by localized studies, which complicate the detection of generalizable findings. Moreover, only a few of these evaluations are based on rigorous case-control studies, which limits the robustness of the conclusions. Here we examined the association between the development of oil palm plantations and change in objective or material well-being between 2000 and 2014 across villages in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. We applied a matching method to evaluate the impacts of oil palm plantations across different aspects of well-being, accounting for varying time delays in the accrual and realization of benefits after plantation development. Our study reveals that the social impacts of oil-palm plantations are not uniformly positive, nor negative, and have varied systematically with biophysical locations and baseline socioeconomic conditions of nearby communities prior to oil palm development. Plantations developed in villages with low to moderate forest cover, in which the majority of communities already relied on market-oriented livelihoods, were associated with improved socioeconomic well-being compared to villages without oil palm development. However, we found the opposite for plantations developed in remote villages with higher forest cover, in which the majority of communities previously relied on subsistence-based livelihoods. Overall, oil palm growing villages were more associated with reduced rate of improvement of social and environmental well-being compared to villages without oil palm development, regardless of location and baseline community livelihoods. Our findings highlight an urgent need for careful evaluation and planning in the development of oil palm agriculture in remote forested areas. For oil palm regions that have been developed, our study shows that unsustainable livelihoods, increased socioeconomic disparity, and environmental issues remain major challenges.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lulu He〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This study uses the perspectives of disaster-affected people to examine local recovery needs. The household resettlement and early reconstruction practices in Barpak VDC following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal provide a case study. A qualitative approach is employed to collect and process data consisting of 114 semi-structured interviews with resettled households, six focus group discussions with villagers, interviews with community leaders, meetings with local government officials, and participant observations. Data suggest that resettled households want to stay at their temporary shelter site and make it a permanent residence. Despite the severe damage on properties, local recovery needs are diverse rather than simplistic in focusing on reconstruction. People prefer sustainable solutions to their needs: resettling to a safe location permanently, obtaining ownership of the land before building new houses, and having farmland and cash jobs that lead towards a productive lifestyle. Recovery needs in local communities are shaped by the actions that people can accomplish on their own, the resources that they anticipate will be provided, and the attainability of such resources. Increasing accountability of the domestic government for the earthquake-affected population is a significant measure to address local needs and promote recovery proceedings. This study demonstrates a consultative approach which is effective in assessing recovery needs in communities where stakeholder participation is limited.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: June 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 118〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sabaheta Ramcilovic-Suominen, Marko Lovric, Irmeli Mustalahti〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper maps the policy actors and their networks in the European Union’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It analyzes power relations in the FLEGT VPA process, as well as actors’ preferences in relation to a number of policy issues dealt with in the FLEGT VPA. To provide contextual understanding, the paper explores pathways of policy influence along which international actors influence domestic decision-making processes within the FLEGT VPA. We find that in the Lao FLEGT VPA policy process, power is held by the traditionally most powerful policy actors, the central governmental agencies, donor community and international development partners, while the private sector, civil society organizations and actors from subnational levels are substantially less powerful. Strong policy preferences were noted for all aspects of timber legality, except for the legality of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Similarly, strong preferences were observed for considerations of transparency and accountability, while preferences were comparatively weaker for issues concerning i) forest communities' rights to forest and land, ii) livelihood impacts on small-scale operators and family businesses as well as those of forest communities, and iii) the involvement of civil society organizations in the VPA process. The most dominant pathways through which VPA influences domestic policy-making is the 〈em〉direct access to domestic policy-making〈/em〉, followed by the 〈em〉international rules〈/em〉 pathway of influence. Based on our analysis, we argue that imbalance in distribution of power and in representation of actors in the VPA policy network may obstruct the intended outcomes and progress on important policy issues, despite the stated policy goals and resources provided by the donor community. This in turn fosters perpetual dominance of the traditionally powerful policy actors, which is likely to lead to further marginalization and disempowerment of the less powerful actors, such as forest communities and informal operators.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bernard Manyena, Fortunate Machingura, Phil O'Keefe〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Despite the heightened interest in resilience over the past decade, theorising and operationalising resilience across sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change and adaptation realms remains a challenge. The frameworks that have been developed to theorise and operationalise resilience tend to be vague, and, in some cases, theoretically weak. The major challenge, we believe, is the lack of clarity on the resilience capacities required to deal with the destabilising events. In this article, we provide a chronology of resilience, on a decade basis, from 1970 to 2016 in order to establish the connections between resilience and capacity literatures, and how these literatures affect the operationalisation of resilience. Based on the resilience and capacity literature review, a new approach to resilience termed Disaster Resilience Integrated Framework for Transformation (DRIFT) is presented, which advances the notion of capacity, as one of the principal bridges between the resilience theory and practice. DRIFT outlines the linkages between context, risk drivers, capacities and processes that are required to deal with the risk in order to achieve positive outcomes. We present the preventive, anticipative, absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities as distinct elements, although in practice there are overlaps between these capacities. Presenting the capacities as distinct elements allows us to unpack the elements and the processes that may be critical in both theorising and operationalising resilience. Looking to the future, DRIFT is a first step towards developing a global resilience index, to be applied at various scales, including global, regional and local levels.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Andrew Hook〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Proponents of formalization argue that bringing artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) into the legal sphere represents the best way of enabling social and economic development. Critics counter that formalization policies can be a source of exclusion for smaller producers, as new properties become difficult and expensive to access, and new regulatory standards prove beyond the technical and financial capacity of smaller operators. Guyana’s long-formalized ASM gold mining sector offers a useful lens through which to examine these arguments. This article finds that Guyana’s relatively established and egalitarian ASM sector has become the site of various complex exclusionary dynamics. On the one hand, the impacts of increasingly restrictive state-led forms appear to support contentions about how formal mining environments tend towards the exclusion of smaller operators. On the other hand, evidence shows that it is not merely state policies that are responsible for exclusion, but further social and ecological factors, such as landlord-tenant relations and the depth and scarcity of mineral deposits. Overall, these findings offer new perspectives on ASM dynamics within formalized institutional environments. They suggest that understanding exclusion can be aided by adopting an analytical lens capable of capturing the complex interactions between a range of social and ecological phenomena.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hazel Malapit, Agnes Quisumbing, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Greg Seymour, Elena M. Martinez, Jessica Heckert, Deborah Rubin, Ana Vaz, Kathryn M. Yount, Gender Agriculture Assets Project Phase 2 (GAAP2) Study Team〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉With growing commitment to women’s empowerment by agricultural development agencies, sound methods and indicators to measure women’s empowerment are needed to learn which types of projects or project-implementation strategies do and do not work to empower women. The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which has been widely used, requires adaptation to meet the need for monitoring projects and assessing their impacts.〈/p〉 〈p〉In this paper, the authors describe the adaptation and validation of a project-level WEAI (or pro-WEAI) that agricultural development projects can use to identify key areas of women’s (and men’s) disempowerment, design appropriate strategies to address identified deficiencies, and monitor project outcomes related to women’s empowerment. The 12 pro-WEAI indicators are mapped to three domains: intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with). A gender parity index compares the empowerment scores of men and women in the same household. The authors describe the development of pro-WEAI, including: (1) pro-WEAI’s distinctiveness from other versions of the WEAI; (2) the process of piloting pro-WEAI in 13 agricultural development projects during the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project, phase 2 (GAAP2); (3) analysis of quantitative data from the GAAP2 projects, including intrahousehold patterns of empowerment/disempowerment; and (4) a summary of the findings from the qualitative work exploring concepts of women’s empowerment in the project sites. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned from pro-WEAI and possibilities for further development of empowerment metrics.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Thomas Calvo, Mireille Razafindrakoto, François Roubaud〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The need to collect data on governance-related issues has been growing since the 1990s. Demand gained momentum in 2015 with the adoption of SDG16 worldwide and Agenda 2063 in Africa. African countries played a key role in the adoption of SDG16 and are now leading the process of collecting harmonised household data on Governance, Peace and Security (GPS). Yet the possibility has recently been raised that sensitive survey data collected by government institutions are potentially biased due to self-censorship by respondents. This paper studies the potential bias in responses to what are seen as sensitive questions, here governance issues, in surveys conducted by public organisations. We compare Afrobarometer (AB) survey data, collected in eight African countries by self-professed independent institutions, with first-hand harmonised GPS survey data collected by National Statistics Offices (NSOs). We identify over 20 similarly worded questions on democracy, trust in institutions and perceived corruption. We first compare responses from AB survey respondents based on who they believe the survey sponsor to be. No systematic response bias is found between respondents who believe the government to be behind the AB survey and those who consider it to be conducted by an independent institution. Our estimations suggest that the observed residual differences are due to a selection bias on the observables, which is mitigated by propensity score matching procedures. The absence of a systematic self-censorship or attenuation bias is further evidenced by means of an experimental design, whereby responses from GPS surveys conducted by NSOs (the treatment) are compared with AB surveys sponsored by reportedly independent bodies. Our results provide evidence, at much higher levels of precision than other existing data sources, of the capacity and legitimacy of government-related organisations to collect data on governance as a matter of national interest and sovereignty.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Robbin Jan van Duijne〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the developing world, processes of urbanization sometimes remain hidden in official statistics and urban populations are thought to be substantially misread. This article aims to better understand why that happens in urbanizing rural India. It situates hidden urban growth within a framework of agrarian transformation and distress-driven employment shifts out of agriculture. The analysis is based on mixed methods research: I draw on geospatial approaches that visualize population concentration and shifts in the economic profiles of villages, and on local fieldwork in rural Bihar, northeastern India. I find that hidden urbanization in Bihar mainly occurs around rapidly growing secondary cities that have spilled over into surrounding villages. Livelihoods in these villages are now for the most part based in secondary and tertiary economic sectors, but for a (declining) number of households farming still remains part of their livelihood portfolios. I show how village leaders, 〈em〉mukhiyas〈/em〉, actively hold on to the “rural” status of these villages even when urban growth has been substantial. Rural-to-urban settlement reclassification has consequences for village residents in terms of cost of living, land-ownership, access to rural development funding, and democratic and inclusive participation in local governance. These findings have a theoretical bearing on urbanizing India, and have direct implications for our understanding of allegedly underdeveloped rural states like Bihar.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sneha Thapliyal, Arnab Mukherji, Deepak Malghan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Economic inequality determines collective goods provisioning as well as common pool resources outcomes. However, there is little theoretical or empirical understanding of how (if) inequality influences loss of commons. Using a comprehensive nationally representative dataset from India, we show why this relationship is ambiguous when local commons are governed under an incomplete decentralization regime where higher levels of government retain substantial residuary powers. We establish a non-monotonic relationship between economic inequality and local privatization of the commons within villages. However, economic inequality increases the likelihood of state-facilitated leasing of commons to private interests. We also delineate the role of social heterogeneity in alienation of commons. We use several empirical strategies to establish the robustness of our findings and mitigate possible endogeneity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sarah A. Kopper, Thomas S. Jayne〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉While Boserupian intensification processes have been documented in many parts of Africa, there is regional variation in the trends in relative prices of land, labor, and capital inputs such as fertilizer. Some rural areas are experiencing unprecedented spikes in land values associated with growing land scarcity, improved market access, and agricultural commercialization potential, while others remain economically isolated and less influenced by the transformational changes occurring elsewhere in the region. This study uses a panel spanning 13 years of 1208 smallholders in Kenya to assess whether households’ response to changes in relative factor prices varies by agro-ecological potential and market access. In areas of low agro-ecological potential, households respond to rising land prices by cultivating less land and applying fertilizer more intensively but do not appear to adjust fertilizer use in response to changing fertilizer prices. By contrast, households in areas of high agro-ecological potential do not appear to adjust the quantity of land under cultivation in response to changing input prices but increase fertilizer use as land prices rise and fertilizer prices fall. Finally, households with better market access conditions appear slightly more responsive to land price changes than do those with poor market access. Given anticipated trends in factor price ratios, this heterogeneity suggests that sustainable forms of agricultural productivity growth will require anticipating the kinds of farm management technologies that will be suitable for farmers in different conditions. This highlights the need for agricultural technology generation and diffusion programs that assist smallholders to overcome the constraints that may prevent them from adapting sufficiently on their own.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lisa Bagnoli〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper assesses whether health insurance is successful in improving health. More specifically, it investigates whether a same health insurance scheme has differentiated impacts on children depending on the way it is implemented and on the characteristics of the beneficiaries. To do so, I analyze the case of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme that provides free coverage for children and has decentralized operations. I exploit the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2011 and I use propensity score matching to account for selection in the scheme. The study finds that, even though the NHIS is successful in improving health outcomes among insured children in Ghana, gains are not shared equally across regions. To understand this regional heterogeneity, mechanisms are investigated. The positive impact of health insurance is concentrated among the lower-income households in regions with a high quality of public health care. Further evidence points to the importance of health care utilization to explain these results. This paper sheds a new light on the mixed results of the literature on the impact of health insurance on health outcomes. It provides an understanding of the sources of the heterogeneous impact of a National Health Insurance Scheme and highlights the importance of context and implementation as drivers of its effectiveness. Such evidence is relevant for both the evaluation and monitoring of existing health care schemes and for the implementation of new large-scale public policies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kanika Mahajan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In India, role of women as farm managers has been veiled behind image of men as primary decision makers on farms. Data shows that approximately 8% farm households had women farm managers in India in 2004, and this number increased to 11% in 2011. This rising phenomenon of farm management by women begets an in depth understanding about these farms, including, differentials in productivity levels across men and women managers. This paper uses three measures to capture productivity – production value, profit value and crop specific yields. Results show that total farm production and profits are lower by approximately 11% in households where women manage farms. This falls to 7% when controls for crop choice, input usage, location and farmer characteristics are included. The main mediating factors in explaining the productivity gap are crop choice and input usage, explaining almost 45% of the productivity gap. Further, the paper provides suggestive evidence on mechanisms contributing to the remaining productivity difference that cannot be explained by differences in observed characteristics. It shows that inadequate experience of women farm managers in agricultural production processes can be an important factor behind the remaining gap. The study makes two contributions to the literature – one, it is the first quantitative study in the Indian context on gender differentials in farm productivity and second, it applies semi-parametric decomposition techniques to look at the productivity differentials along the entire distribution.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Paul Howe〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The United Nations and its member states are currently engaged in extensive discussions about how best to support countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Recognizing the strong interrelationship between humanitarian, development, and peace efforts, they have increasingly emphasized the importance of working at the ‘triple nexus’ where these dimensions intersect. However, to date, there has been significant confusion over what the triple nexus means in both conceptual and practical terms and how this approach concretely contributes to progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper attempts to address this gap. It proposes and schematically presents a conceptual framework that identifies the range of potential nexus relationships that actions can support, including the triple nexus, double nexuses, and nexus-sensitivity. It then illustrates what each of these types of actions looks like in practice, drawing on examples from Afghanistan. Based on the framework and practical examples, it explains how the triple nexus can be used to more effectively support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, but also highlights the very real risks associated with a simplistic application of the approach. By bringing greater clarity to the critical interrelationship between humanitarian, development and peace issues in both theory and practice, and demonstrating the opportunities and challenges of the triple nexus approach, it is hoped that this paper will support broader efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, especially in countries affected by conflict.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cara Holland, Anu Rammohan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Women’s empowerment and child stunting remain key development challenges in Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to analyse the influence of female empowerment in agriculture, on child food security. This study uses household survey data from two waves of the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS), a rich panel dataset of over 6500 households in rural Bangladesh which includes detailed child anthropometric measurements of children under five years old. We adopt a multidimensional approach to female empowerment by analysing five key empowerment indicators from the 〈em〉Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index〈/em〉 (WEAI). The multivariate regression analysis explores the relationship between five key empowerment indicators and child stunting, a proxy for child food security. Our empirical analysis finds that women’s autonomy in household productive decisions and confidence in public speaking are associated with significantly higher children’s height-for-age z-scores (〈em〉haz)〈/em〉 and a decreased probability of stunting in this sample. These results suggest expanding women’s empowerment is likely to complement nutritional interventions to reduce stunting in Bangladesh, while making progress towards other social and development goals.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 124〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pritam Singh, Nadia Singh〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Occupying an important place in the sustainable development discourse, bioenergy was widely touted as the ‘fuel of the future’ at the beginning of the 21st century. However, in recent years, many adverse impacts of commercial bioenergy projects have come to the forefront. These include limited ecological benefits, heightened food insecurity across many developing countries as well as exploitation of local residents by bioenergy producers. There remains a dearth of empirical evidence devoted to investigating bioenergy’s potential as a sustainable energy alternative in developing countries.〈/p〉 〈p〉It is against this background that our paper is aimed at making two contributions: one, to provide a ground level empirical data on bioenergy initiatives in the Indian Punjab region and, two, to examine the theoretical contribution of eco-socialist perspective to assess the sustainability potentials of bioenergy in developing economies. The eco-socialist perspective treats environmental degradation as a ‘systemic issue’ and considers the power and class structures in capitalism as the central explanatory parameters in explaining the process of environmental degradation. As a part of the transition from capitalism to eco-socialism, the eco-socialists advocate for a participatory approach to environmental decision making to ensure that ecological justice emerges as the central parameter of sustainable development.〈/p〉 〈p〉The theoretical framing of the case study research on bioenergy projects in the region of Punjab, India was informed by the eco-socialist vision. The case study employed a ‘multiple stakeholder’ approach to explore the opportunities and contestations surrounding bioenergy projects in Punjab. Identifying key flaws as well as the promises of bioenergy in Punjab that were investigated, our research revealed that in order to be a sustainable energy alternative that meets the objective of ecological and social justice, bioenergy policies need to address the needs of local communities and be cognizant of the inherent socio-economic embeddedness of these initiatives.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nik Stoop, Marijke Verpoorten, Peter van der Windt〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Existing research suggests a strong link between mining and local conflict but makes no distinction between artisanal and industrial mining. We exploit variation in mineral prices and the granting of industrial mining concessions to investigate how the mode of extraction affects conflict in Eastern Congo. Rising mineral prices increase battles over artisanal mines, indicating competition between armed groups. This effect is much less pronounced for industrial mining. Moreover, the expansion of industrial mining decreases battles, suggesting that companies can secure their concessions. Such expansion does, however, trigger riots, and, when it crowds out artisanal mining, also increases violence against civilians and looting. In line with case-study evidence, these negative effects only materialize when industrial mining companies expand their activities from the research to the production phase.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Julius Manda, Arega D. Alene, Adane H. Tufa, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Tesfamicheal Wossen, David Chikoye, Victor Manyong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Adoption of improved agricultural technologies has long been recognized as critical for reducing poverty through increased productivity, incomes, and asset accumulation. Using a nationally representative survey data from a sample of over 1500 households in Nigeria, this paper evaluates the impacts of adoption of improved cowpea varieties on income and asset poverty reduction using an endogenous switching regression model. The results showed that adoption of improved cowpea varieties increased per capita household income and asset ownership by 17 and 24 percentage points, respectively. The results based on the observed and counterfactual income and asset distributions further showed that adoption reduced both income poverty and asset poverty by 5 percentage points. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy options for increasing adoption and impacts of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lalita Joshi, Deepak Choudhary, Praveen Kumar, Jayendran Venkateswaran, Chetan S. Solanki〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies offer a sustainable solution to energy-poor communities. Adoption and sustained use of solar PV merit participation of local communities in planning and implementation. The literature on off-grid solar PV interventions that do not take the approach of involving communities point towards the difficulties experienced in reaching the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) communities as wells as in supply chain and after-sales service. Similarly, there is a gap in scientific literature that explores community inclusive initiatives to foster sustained uptake of solar PV technologies. Our study fills this gap, and discusses: 1) pathways to engage with rural poor communities to promote solar off-grid access, and 2) the impact of engaging with these communities particularly women, on their energy security and livelihood opportunities. We study a two-phased intervention in rural poor setting in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan state in India. The intervention can be broadly classified into two phases: (i) the distribution of solar study lamps to rural school students and mothers, wherein the lamps were assembled and maintained by the local community (self-help group networks), (ii) the entrepreneurship development of local community members towards continued livelihood through solar. We adopted mixed methods approach to collect and analyze the quantitative data from beneficiary households, while qualitative data were collected from SHG members. Our findings demonstrate the utility of localized intervention and the significance and challenges of engaging local communities. The consumers used these solar lamps for multiple activities and prefer solar over grid electricity for basic lighting. The voltage fluctuations or poor quality of electricity supply influences the preference to solar over the conventional grid. Local services enabled continued functioning of lamps, thereby increasing consumer confidence. The intervention built capacity of and created continued livelihood opportunities for local women in these communities, resulting in their economic and social growth. Appropriate capacity building and support to the SHG federations can channelize clean energy interventions at required speed, quality, and coverage. In the context of energy poor BoP communities of the Global South, our research provides key determinants impacting development of community-centered renewable energy interventions, crucial for the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 7.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ana Maria Tribin Uribe, Carmiña O. Vargas, Natalia Ramírez Bustamante〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We estimate the impact on female labor outcomes of the extension in maternity leave period from 12 to 14 weeks, an amendment to the Colombian labor law in 2011. To identify this impact, we compare labor market outcomes of different groups of individuals with women of child-bearing age. First we compared two groups of women with different fertility rates (low elasticity of substitution), finding that, as result of the extension, women in the high-fertility age group experience an increase in inactivity, informality, and self-employment. When comparing high-fertility age women with men in the same age group (high elasticity of substitution), we find that the extension increases the probability of unemployment, informality and self-employment and decreases wages of women compared with men.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Geoff Goodwin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Interest in coproduction has continued to grow since Elinor Ostrom introduced the concept to the development scholarship two decades ago. The idea that multiple actors often interact to coproduce public goods and services helped shift development thinking away from one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions based on free market principles to a more nuanced position that recognizes organizational and institutional diversity. However, while Ostrom’s concept of coproduction provides a useful starting point to think about how states and societies interact to deliver public goods and services, it fails to capture the complexity and significance of the process. The diverse scholarship that has extended and critiqued her work has provided a fuller picture. Yet, important gaps remain. The principal aim of this article is to fill some of these gaps and expand the boundaries of coproduction research and analysis. Drawing on qualitative research on water services and management in Ecuador, it focuses on two interrelated issues that are overlooked or underdeveloped in the existing literature. The first relates to the history of coproduction. The article shows that coproduction is more deeply rooted in capitalist development than commonly believed, and historical events have a significant bearing on contemporary politics. The second concerns autonomy. The essay shows that coproduction simultaneously promotes engagement with and autonomy from the state, and that this tension generates political struggle and change. More broadly, the article casts fresh light on the politics of public goods and services in the Global South, especially on the political impact of collective social participation in the process.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): McKenzie F. Johnson〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Over the last two decades, the international community has focused on building green institutional capacity in the Global South to foster human security across societies marked by rapid environmental change. Numerous nation-states have consequently institutionalized global models that have helped build administrative, fiscal, and regulatory capacity, as well as promote social and environmental protections. The emergence of strong (green) institutions, however, has not translated into the kind of social or environmental change expected; informal extractive activity (e.g., “illegal” mining), violent natural resource conflict, and environmental degradation remain enduring challenges. To understand why green governance reform has been unable to contribute to broader forms of human security, I analyze the process of institutional reform in the Global South, drawing specifically on minerals governance in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Building from multi-method fieldwork conducted between 2014 and 2016, I contend that a persistent focus on institutional design has obscured the ways in which green institution building reconfigures cross-scalar power relations that mediate governance-security linkages. In particular, the reform process has channeled power to transnational networks, which constitute what I call the 〈em〉green regulatory state,〈/em〉 that 〈em〉produce〈/em〉 and 〈em〉reproduce〈/em〉 insecurity by reorienting social relations around global standards of natural resource conduct that 1) limit options for domestic political engagement and 2) exacerbate institutional pluralism and conflict. This argument challenges scholarship that perceives insecurity as a function of weak governance capacity by repositioning it as a direct consequence of the growth of green governance. This article contributes to an emerging body of work that questions the growing enthusiasm for green governance as a mechanism to mitigate conflict and improve social and environmental justice. It simultaneously posits that achieving sustainability and security within the context of the Anthropocene requires a more intensive focus on constructing 〈em〉inclusive〈/em〉 – rather than strong – governance institutions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Enlinson Mattos, Debora Mazetto〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper aimed to assess the short term effects of the More Doctors Program, launched by the Brazilian federal government in 2013. Using a differences-in-differences approach with municipal data collected between 2010 and 2015, we confirmed that MDP has two correlated impacts. First, it has increased health service attendance in treated municipalities. We documented that appointments, consults, referrals, and home visits have increased by 5.9%, 9.4%, 12.3%, and 29.7%, respectively. Second, we found a negative impact on hospitalization. We argue that intensification of health service access has reduced general hospitalization (4.6%). However, it does not seem to have been able to reduce mortality in the municipalities, in line with the previous literature. We believe that increases in referrals and appointments with specialists can be interpreted as a quality improvement, since a more precise diagnosis can reduce hospitalization due to faster health recovery but without any impact on mortality.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jorge H. Maldonado, Rocio Moreno-Sanchez, Juan P. Henao-Henao, Aaron Bruner〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Payments for environmental services (PES) constitute a growing approach to achieve the sustainability of ecosystems and the benefits they provide to people. However, informal tenure and lack of capacity to enforce property rights impede implementation of PES initiatives. Such challenges are common for local communities in coastal and marine areas who overexploit Common-Pool Resources (CPR) under open access. Assigning property rights to organized users has been implemented as a solution, transforming a public good into a club good. Nevertheless, the nature of CPR makes it difficult to define and enforce use rights based on territorial criteria, which might generate equity concerns between organized users and their peers who lose rights. This paper investigates, using a choice experiment, the willingness of Ecuadorian mangrove resource users to accept a conservation policy that combines a concession for sustainable extraction and an economic incentive. Given that a collective concession for the sustainable use and management of CPR implies exclusion of other communities, we specifically analyze two different access levels: i. total exclusion, where the agreement defines that no one other than the concessionaires can access and extract the resources, and ii. discretionary exclusion, where the concessionaires can establish their own rules and conditions for allowing access and use of the resources by third parties. Our interest is to identify how externally imposed rules around exclusion prevent or motivate organized users from participating in approaches to CPR management based on allocation of property rights. We find that having the discretion to choose the level of exclusion matters to resource users when deciding whether to accept the proposed mangrove management strategy. Moreover, we show that preferences for accepting the conservation policy exhibits heterogeneity among users. We contribute to the discussion on the determinants of participation in incentive-based conservation programs.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Reshmi Sengupta, Debasis Rooj〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The Indian healthcare sector is growing at a rapid pace; nevertheless, inequality in healthcare consumption and catastrophic healthcare expenditure is also increasing at an alarming rate. In addition to socioeconomic differences, poor healthcare infrastructure, and inadequate risk-pooling mechanisms; asymmetric information in the healthcare market is also a potential contributor to this inequity and increasing costs. The consequences of information asymmetry are adverse selection (AS) and moral hazard (MH). AS occurs if people with health risks (high-risk individuals) are more prone to buying health insurance as compared to low-risk individuals. MH occurs when insured individuals are more likely to use healthcare than the uninsured individuals, inflating insurance premiums and medical care costs. Empirically, AS and MH lead to endogeneity due to unobserved heterogeneity. In practice, endogeneity is often addressed by using the instrumental variable estimation technique; however, this approach suffers from identification problems. Therefore, in this paper, we use an instrument-free semi-parametric copula regression technique to examine how health insurance status affects hospitalization using a sample of individuals from a large nationally representative survey for India. Our results suggest the presence of AS and potential MH in the Indian healthcare market. We observe that chronically ill individuals are probable sources of AS, which leads to possible MH. A spline regression analysis suggests nonlinearity in health insurance choice and healthcare utilization across age, education, family size, and household consumption expenditure. We find chronically ill women in India exhibit less insurance coverage and lower hospital care usage. We also identify the vulnerable groups, such as older adults and rural residents, who have low insurance participation and high healthcare consumption. Our results indicate toward the need for evidence-based health care policy to manage the healthcare system and support the disadvantaged population of India.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 122〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Camila Cociña, Alexandre Apsan Frediani, Michele Acuto, Caren Levy〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The relationship between planning research and practice plays a key role in shaping global commitments related to urban development. Arguably, this is the case for a ‘global urban agenda’ being articulated at an international scale via frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. These multilateral commitments have been shaped by power relationships and assumptions about what kind of knowledge is valuable at different historical moments, a recognition of the local and global impacts of urban development and what sort of urban development is desirable at specific historical junctures. The pathways that have led to the present global attention to cities are as telling as the frameworks themselves. In this paper, we explore the history of multilateral and international networks that have shaped today’s global urban agenda. We focus on the three United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat I, II and III) as milestones in the evolution of this agenda. Drawing on Southern urban theory and current debates on the interaction of practitioners and academics, we discuss the paradigms that have shaped the ways in which knowledge has been articulated, circulated and valued in those historical moments via the concept of ‘knowledge translation’. We discuss the way in which ‘urban equality’ has been approached and explored in the praxis of these agendas. To do so, the paper discusses community-based cases that can highlight the different knowledge paradigms, and the power dynamics behind them, opening up questions about the challenges of including diverse voices and knowledges in the ‘global’ conversation on urban agendas.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Naureen Fatema〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The broad aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of land reform policy as a sustainable tool for averting low-intensity local conflict and protecting vulnerable households in conflict and post-conflict societies from adverse consequences of conflict. Empirical studies on micro-level conflict have been limited on two fronts - the difficulty of collecting survey data from conflict prone societies, and a general lack of attention to the consequences of low-intensity local conflict. This paper attempts to address both these limitations. Using a survey on violent and non-violent conflict experiences of 1582 farming households from the postwar society of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I explore whether land title can i) lower the probability of low-intensity conflict between households; and ii) lower the damages for households in the event of a conflict. To address concerns of potential selection bias, I employ the quasi-experimental estimation technique of propensity score matching (PSM). A rigorous set of tests and sensitivity analyses ensures both the quality of matching and reliability of estimates. These findings show that land title reduces a household’s probability of experiencing low-intensity interhousehold conflict roughly between 10 and 18 percentage points. However, I find no evidence that households with land title are subject to lower damages in the event of a conflict. These findings suggest that in vulnerable societies with high exposure to conflict, land reform programs that just grant title to households may reduce conflict to some extent but will not necessarily reduce the adverse consequences associated with conflict. Thus, land title is not a panacea for all conflict related adversities and cannot serve as a stand-alone tool for reducing adversities associated with conflict. Further research is required on whether supplementing land reform programs with policies such as promoting good governance and strengthening local institutions can sustainably promote peaceful societies.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rana Jawad〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper advocates for a new generation of social protection (SP) research that takes seriously the analysis of political and policy-making processes in the Global South. Based on qualitative research funded by the ESRC and Carnegie Corporation, it combines theoretical insights from social policy and critical policy analysis to highlight the importance of policy framing in shaping development and social welfare outcomes. Empirically, the broader research upon which the paper is based covers the broad range of social policy changes that have happened in the Middle East and North Africa region over the last decade. The critical policy approach adopted in this paper is important because of the endurance of SP as a global orientation in international development interventions at a time when its operationalisation in policy terms appears to be narrower than its professed goals. The paper categorises SP according to three orders of discourse: social risk management, social justice/social contracts, (“〈em〉ex ante〈/em〉”) institutionalisation of social protection (specifically social assistance), in order to address areas of “discourse closure” (Veit-Wilson, 2000) in the conceptualisation of SP. On the basis of this categorisation, the paper proposes a framework for analysing SP that highlights the importance of three elements to aid SP policy operationalisation: (1) state-civil society relations in the provision of services; (2) the ethical and not only legal parameters of SP; (3) the enhancement of social cohesion as a final SP outcome. These three elements support a process-oriented analysis of SP encompassing policy actors, principles and goals that can better ascertain the long-term impact of SP on social policy agendas in the Global South.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Beschreibung: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 World Development, Volume 123〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Erdem Yörük, İbrahim Öker, Lara Şarlak〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Is social assistance being used to contain ethnic and racial unrest in developing countries? There is a growing literature on social assistance policies in the Global South, but this literature largely focuses on economic and demographic factors, underestimating the importance of contentious politics. The case of Mexico shows that social assistance programs are disproportionately directed to indigenous populations, leading to diminished protest participation. Drawing on data from the 2010, 2012 and 2014 rounds of the Latin American Public Opinion Project, we apply multivariate regression analysis to examine the determinants of social assistance program participation in Mexico. Our study finds that after controlling for income, household size, age, education, and employment status, indigenous ethnic identity is a key determinant in who benefits from social assistance in Mexico. Our results show that high ethnic disparity in social assistance is not only due to higher poverty rates among the indigenous population. Rather, indigenous people receive more social assistance mainly because of their ethnic identity. In addition, this study demonstrates that indigenous people who benefit from social assistance programs are less likely to join anti-government protests. We argue that this ethnic targeting in social assistance is a result of the fact that indigenous unrest has become a political threat for Mexican governments since the 1990s. These results yield substantive support in arguing that the Mexican government uses social assistance to contain indigenous unrest. The existing literature, which is dominated by structuralist explanations, needs to strongly consider the contentious political drivers of social assistance provision in the Global South for a full grasp of the phenomenon. Social assistance in Mexico is driven by social unrest and this suggests that similar ethnic, racial, religious and contentious political factors should be examined in other developing countries to understand social assistance provisions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉