title: Civil conflict and international migration in Nepal

authors: Sharma, Hari

subjects: Civil conflict

abstract: A growing literature studies the causes and consequences of civil conflict. Several of these studies are of Nepal’s civil conflict that lasted for a decade from 1996. Coincident with this conflict was a surge in work-related emigration, affecting education and human capital investments, labour supply, and local economic activity. While a few prior studies look at the effects of Nepal’s conflict on emigration, many key features of the conflict are ignored. In particular, heterogeneity due to the highly localized nature of the conflict tends to be ignored by the type of data and research designs used in prior studies. In this thesis, I contribute to the literature on the causes and consequences of civil conflict by constructing and using very local indicators of driving forces and intensity of Nepal’s civil conflict.
Contrary to prior literature that suggests there is more conflict in poorer regions, I find poverty is associated with less conflict risk and conflict intensity, partly due to a change in strategy by the rebels in Nepal to target richer middle class and urban areas to win the war. At the same time, inequality and caste-based polarisation at local levels were major contributors that escalated the civil conflict. In order to study conflict escalation and also to study the impact of conflict intensity on migration, I construct a database of conflict deaths, and of poverty, inequality and caste polarization for almost 4000 localities. In contrast, most previous research on Nepal relies on data aggregated to the district level, suppressing detail as there are only 75 districts and there was far more variation in conflict intensity within districts than between districts. Estimated impacts of conflict on emigration are substantially distorted by using district-level conflict data.
The growth in emigration that sees over two million Nepalese working abroad has also given a great boost to remittances, which are now equivalent to about one-third of GDP. The effects of emigration and remittances on human capital investment – particularly child schooling and child labour – remain debated in the literature. I construct a two-wave panel at the locality level to study these issues, with careful attention paid to the endogeneity of emigration and to spatial spillover effects. In localities with a greater increase in emigration, the net enrolment rate in secondary education rises and child labour for older children decreases. A possible channel for this effect is that migration and remittances help credit constrained households to cover extra schooling costs and compensate for the foregone earnings from child labour. In addition to finding an overall positive effect of emigration, I find that the direct (own) effect of emigration increases labour supply of the female labour force but decreases the labour supply in the agriculture sector. There are also positive spatial spillover effects for rural localities, that likely occur through rising local wage rates.
Given these generally positive effects of emigration, the fact that local conflict intensity suppressed the growth in emigration suggests that there is a lasting negative effect of the civil conflict in particular parts of Nepal. These effects would not be apparent in the overly aggregated data on conflict that has been used to date. Thus, one contribution of this thesis is to show the benefit of a very local focus on the causes and consequences of civil conflict.

text: Civil conflict and international migration in Nepal A growing literature studies the causes and consequences of civil conflict. Several of these studies are of Nepal’s civil conflict that lasted for a decade from 1996. Coincident with this conflict was a surge in work-related emigration, affecting education and human capital investments, labour supply, and local economic activity. While a few prior studies look at the effects of Nepal’s conflict on emigration, many key features of the conflict are ignored. In particular, heterogeneity due to the highly localized nature of the conflict tends to be ignored by the type of data and research designs used in prior studies. In this thesis, I contribute to the literature on the causes and consequences of civil conflict by constructing and using very local indicators of driving forces and intensity of Nepal’s civil conflict.
Contrary to prior literature that suggests there is more conflict in poorer regions, I find poverty is associated with less conflict risk and conflict intensity, partly due to a change in strategy by the rebels in Nepal to target richer middle class and urban areas to win the war. At the same time, inequality and caste-based polarisation at local levels were major contributors that escalated the civil conflict. In order to study conflict escalation and also to study the impact of conflict intensity on migration, I construct a database of conflict deaths, and of poverty, inequality and caste polarization for almost 4000 localities. In contrast, most previous research on Nepal relies on data aggregated to the district level, suppressing detail as there are only 75 districts and there was far more variation in conflict intensity within districts than between districts. Estimated impacts of conflict on emigration are substantially distorted by using district-level conflict data.
The growth in emigration that sees over two million Nepalese working abroad has also given a great boost to remittances, which are now equivalent to about one-third of GDP. The effects of emigration and remittances on human capital investment – particularly child schooling and child labour – remain debated in the literature. I construct a two-wave panel at the locality level to study these issues, with careful attention paid to the endogeneity of emigration and to spatial spillover effects. In localities with a greater increase in emigration, the net enrolment rate in secondary education rises and child labour for older children decreases. A possible channel for this effect is that migration and remittances help credit constrained households to cover extra schooling costs and compensate for the foregone earnings from child labour. In addition to finding an overall positive effect of emigration, I find that the direct (own) effect of emigration increases labour supply of the female labour force but decreases the labour supply in the agriculture sector. There are also positive spatial spillover effects for rural localities, that likely occur through rising local wage rates.
Given these generally positive effects of emigration, the fact that local conflict intensity suppressed the growth in emigration suggests that there is a lasting negative effect of the civil conflict in particular parts of Nepal. These effects would not be apparent in the overly aggregated data on conflict that has been used to date. Thus, one contribution of this thesis is to show the benefit of a very local focus on the causes and consequences of civil conflict.

year: 2020

title: Legal rights to minerals in geothermal fluids

authors: Barton, Barry

abstract: This report is a discussion document which forms part of research into the commercial potential in New Zealand for the extraction of minerals from geothermal fluids. It undertakes a legal analysis of rights to the minerals and materials that may be obtained from such fluids. 
Geothermal fluids are extracted for the purposes of electricity generation and process heat, predominantly in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, but also in other parts of the country. The mineralization of the fluid varies from system to system, and, although the concentrations of minerals are not high, in some instances the quantities of fluid extracted are large. Silica is found in all high temperature geothermal fluid. It has some commercial value, depending on its character and grade, but its main significance is that it causes a build-up of scale in equipment and can make it more difficult to re-inject fluid into a subsurface system after use. Other materials that may be commercially viable for extraction are salts of boron and lithium. 
That the costs of extraction from the ground have already been met suggests that the commercial viability of producing minerals from the flow of fluid in a power station or other facility is greater than it would be otherwise. Where silica must be removed to facilitate re-injection or more efficient electricity generation, another step in an extraction process may also have been paid for. It might therefore be possible that geothermal minerals operations can produce by-products and income flows in association with the use of geothermal resources for energy purposes.

text: Legal rights to minerals in geothermal fluids This report is a discussion document which forms part of research into the commercial potential in New Zealand for the extraction of minerals from geothermal fluids. It undertakes a legal analysis of rights to the minerals and materials that may be obtained from such fluids. 
Geothermal fluids are extracted for the purposes of electricity generation and process heat, predominantly in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, but also in other parts of the country. The mineralization of the fluid varies from system to system, and, although the concentrations of minerals are not high, in some instances the quantities of fluid extracted are large. Silica is found in all high temperature geothermal fluid. It has some commercial value, depending on its character and grade, but its main significance is that it causes a build-up of scale in equipment and can make it more difficult to re-inject fluid into a subsurface system after use. Other materials that may be commercially viable for extraction are salts of boron and lithium. 
That the costs of extraction from the ground have already been met suggests that the commercial viability of producing minerals from the flow of fluid in a power station or other facility is greater than it would be otherwise. Where silica must be removed to facilitate re-injection or more efficient electricity generation, another step in an extraction process may also have been paid for. It might therefore be possible that geothermal minerals operations can produce by-products and income flows in association with the use of geothermal resources for energy purposes.

year: 2015

title: Waiwhakareke Restoration Plantings: Establishment of Monitoring Plots 2005-06

authors: Grove, E.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is being developed to reconstruct native lowland and wetland ecosystems as were once widespread in the Waikato Region. The 60ha Natural Heritage Park is located on the north-west outskirts of Hamilton City and includes a peat lake (Horseshoe Lake) which is surrounded by introduced willow trees. There is some native marginal vegetation around the lake, including rushes and sedges, and an extensive area of gently sloping pasture completes the catchment. The restoration and recreation of the native plant and animal communities is being lead by the Hamilton City Council in partnership with The University of Waikato, Wintec, Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa Limited Resource Management and Cultural Consultants and Tui 2000 (McQueen 2005; McQueen & Clarkson 2003).

text: Waiwhakareke Restoration Plantings: Establishment of Monitoring Plots 2005-06 Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is being developed to reconstruct native lowland and wetland ecosystems as were once widespread in the Waikato Region. The 60ha Natural Heritage Park is located on the north-west outskirts of Hamilton City and includes a peat lake (Horseshoe Lake) which is surrounded by introduced willow trees. There is some native marginal vegetation around the lake, including rushes and sedges, and an extensive area of gently sloping pasture completes the catchment. The restoration and recreation of the native plant and animal communities is being lead by the Hamilton City Council in partnership with The University of Waikato, Wintec, Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa Limited Resource Management and Cultural Consultants and Tui 2000 (McQueen 2005; McQueen & Clarkson 2003).

year: 2006