| 1. |
- Lidström, Per, et al.
(author)
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Military expenditures in developing countries: a comment on Deger and Sen
- 1988
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878. ; 28:1, s. 105-110
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This note contains a criticism of an article by Deger and Sen (1983) who discuss the causes of military expenditure in less developed countries. It is argued that their utility function is unsuitably specified and that the conclusions drawn may be called into question. Moreover, it is doubtful whether the concept of a benevolent government that maximizes a single utility function is conducive to an understanding of actual decision problems in the majority of LDCs.
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| 2. |
- Allakulov, Umrbek, et al.
(author)
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Transparency, governance, and water and sanitation : Experimental evidence from schools in rural Bangladesh
- 2023
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 163
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Can transparency interventions improve WASH service provision? We use a randomized experiment to evaluate the impacts of a transparency intervention, a deliberative multi-stakeholder workshop initiated with a community scorecard exercise, in schools in rural Bangladesh. To measure impacts, we combine survey data, direct observations, and administrative data. The intervention leads to moderate but consistent improvements in knowledge of WASH standards and practices, and institutions for WASH service management, but does not improve school WASH service provision or change WASH facility use patterns. Drawing on rich descriptive data, we suggest several reasons why the intervention we evaluate did not improve WASH service outcomes and propose ways to improve the design of future interventions.
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| 3. |
- Almas, Ingvild, et al.
(author)
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The macroeconomics of pandemics around the world : Lives versus livelihoods revisited
- 2023
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 163
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic led governments around the world to impose unprecedented restrictions on economic activity. Were these restrictions equally justified in poorer countries with fewer demographic risk factors and less ability to weather economic shocks? We develop and estimate a fully specified model of the macroeconomy with epidemiological dynamics, incorporating subsistence constraints in consumption and allowing preferences over lives versus livelihoodsto vary with income. Poorer countries' demography pushes them unambiguously toward laxer policies. But because both infected and susceptible agents near the subsistence constraint will remain economically active in the face of infection risk and even to some extent under government containment policies, optimal policy in poorer countries pushes in the opposite direction. Moreover, for reasonable income -elasticities of the value of a statistical life, the model can fully rationalize equally strict or stricter policies in poorer countries.
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| 4. |
- Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck, et al.
(author)
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The heavy plow and the agricultural revolution in Medieval Europe
- 2016
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 118, s. 133-149
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This research sheds new light on the much-debated link between agricultural productivity and development. We do so by estimating the causal impact of a large shock to agricultural productivity—the introduction of the heavy plow in the Middle Ages—on long run development. We build on the work of Lynn White, Jr. (1962), who argued that it was impossible to take proper advantage of the fertile clay soils of Northern Europe prior to the invention and widespread adoption of the heavy plow. We implement the test in a difference-in-difference set-up by exploiting regional variation in the presence of fertile clay soils. Using a high quality dataset for Denmark, we find that historical counties with relatively more fertile clay soil experienced higher urbanization after the heavy plow had its breakthrough, which was around AD 1000. We obtain a similar result, when we extend the test to European regions. Our findings substantiate that agricultural productivity can be an important driver of long-run development.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Camilla, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Impacts of the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia on livestock and tree holdings of rural households
- 2011
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 94:1, s. 119-126
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We evaluated the impacts of the Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on rural households' holdings of livestock and forest assets/trees. We found no indication that participation in PSNP induces households to disinvest in livestock or trees. In fact, households that participated in the program increased the number of trees planted, but there was no increase in their livestock holdings. We found no strong evidence that the PSNP protects livestock in times of shock. Shocks appear to lead households to disinvest in livestock, but not in trees. Our results suggest that there is increased forestry activity as a result of PSNP, and that improved credit access encourages households to increase their livestock holdings.
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| 6. |
- Belissa, T., et al.
(author)
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Liquidity constraints, informal institutions, and the adoption of weather insurance: A randomized controlled Trial in Ethiopia
- 2019
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878. ; 140, s. 269-278
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the results of a drought insurance experiment in Ethiopia, and examine whether uptake of index-based insurance is enhanced if we allow farmers to pay after harvest (addressing a liquidity constraint). We also test to what extent uptake can be enhanced by promoting insurance via informal risk-sharing institutions (Iddirs), to reduce trust and information problems. The delayed payment insurance product increases uptake substantially when compared to standard insurance, from 8% to 24%, and leveraging informal institutions results in even greater uptake (43%). We also find suggestive evidence that the delayed premium product is indeed better at targeting the liquidity constrained. However, default rates associated with delayed payments are relatively high and concentrated in a small number of Iddirs – potentially compromising the economic viability of the novel product. We discuss how default rates can be reduced. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.
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| 7. |
- Bengtsson, Niklas
(author)
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Efficient informal trade : Theory and experimental evidence from the Cape Town taxi market
- 2015
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 115, s. 85-98
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Informal sectors in developing countries are often thought of as responses to rigid and cumbersome market regulations. In this paper I study informal trade as a first-best outcome. In the model I propose rigid regulations can be necessary to achieve efficiency even though they are always sidestepped. The key assumption is that the regulations define the trading parties' fall-back position in case the informal bargaining process breaks down. I set up a field experiment to test the model's mechanisms in the Cape Town market for metered taxis. Consistent with the model, I find that sidestepping the regulations increase cost efficiency (taxis take the shortest route). The price is however unaffected, suggesting informal bargaining leads to a Pareto improvement.
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| 8. |
- Bengtsson, Niklas
(author)
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How responsive is body weigth to transitory income changes? Evidence from rural Tanzania
- 2010
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 92:1, s. 53-61
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We use time-series of rainfall to estimate the response of body weight to transitory changes in household income in rural Tanzania. We find that the response of body weight to income changes is positive on average, but that the impact is highest for female children, and lower for adults. For female children, a ten-percent increase in household income implies an increase in body weight by about 0.4 kg. In contrast, the body weight of adolescents and young adults is virtually invariant to income changes.
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| 9. |
- BenYishay, Ariel, et al.
(author)
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The fish is the friend of matriliny: Reef density and matrilineal inheritance
- 2017
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878. ; 127, s. 234-249
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper studies the influence of marine ecology on social institutions of inheritance and descent. In a sample of 79 small-scale horticultural fishing communities in the Solomon Islands, and in samples of 186 to 1,265 societies across the world, we find that coral reef density systematically predicts the prevalence of matrilineal inheritance. Moreover, this result likely reflects adaptation of institutions to ecological conditions, as it holds within ethno-linguistic groups. Reef density explains as much as 10% of the variation in inheritance rules across villages in the Solomon Islands. Explanations based on the sexual division of labor and on inclusive fitness arguments support our results. We also document some of the demographic consequences of matrilineal inheritance, including smaller household and village population size, but find at best weak evidence that matrilineal inheritance translates into higher female economic or political agency.
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| 10. |
- Bertoli, Simone, et al.
(author)
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Can selective immigration policies reduce migrants' quality?
- 2016
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In: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 119, s. 100-109
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Destination countries can adopt selective immigration policies to improve migrants' quality. Screening potential migrants on the basis of observable characteristics also influences their self-selection on unobservables. We propose a model that analyzes the effects of selective immigration policies on migrants' quality, measured by their wages at destination. We show that the prevailing pattern of selection on unobservables influences the effect of an increase in selectivity, which can reduce migrants' quality when migrants are positively self-selected on unobservables. We also demonstrate that, in this case, the quality-maximizing share of educated migrants declines with the scale of migration.
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