rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Pension reform in Bolivia :
            innovative solutions to common problems
Bolivia's bold program of pension
            reform involved the immediate closing down of the old
            pay-as-you-go system and its replacement by a
            defined-contribution system based on individual
            capitalization accounts and managed by the private sector.
            The pensions of the old system will be covered by the
            Bolivian Treasury.  Workers will receive compensatory
            pensions for their contributions to the old system.  These
            will be calculated on the basis of a simple formula that
            could be improved to reduce the cost of transition.  To
            avoid high marketing costs, Bolivia has entrusted management
            of the system to two groups selected through international
            competitive bidding (to minimize fees).  Individual accounts
            have been preallocated to those two groups on a regional
            basis or, in large cities, on the basis of the birthdays of
            affiliated workers.  Competition for individual accounts
            will be allowed in the year 2000 and the market will be
            opened to other private pension-fund administrators (AFPs)
            in 2002.  Proceeds from the  capitalization  program will be
            used to pay an annuity to all Bolivians 65 and older.  Funds
            from the capitalization program will also be managed by the
            two selected AFPs. Custodianship has been entrusted to a
            multinational group offering global custodial services.  AFP
            investments are only subject to upper limits, including
            relatively high limits for foreign assets.  However, they
            must initially purchase a certain quantity of treasury bonds
            to help finance the cost of transition.  Bolivian pension
            reform faces major challenges:  a) To create a competitive
            market for management of pension fund resources and hence
            achieve competitive returns on investment and higher
            pensions;  b) To eliminate the requirement of investment in
            treasury bonds; and c) To insulate the system from attempts
            to use AFP funds and capitalization proceeds for public
            projects.  (One way to achieve this would be to transfer
            ownership of the capitalization proceeds to individual Bolivians.)
Toward better regulation of private
            pension funds
The author analyzes the typical model
            for regulating investments in private pension funds. Pension
            reforms like those pioneered by Chile are being initiated or
            considered in Argentina, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Costa
            Rica, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and elsewhere. Such
            reforms greatly improve fiscal discipline, make social
            security benefits and burdens equitable, and deepen
            financial markets. But they are also typically accompanied
            by: tight restrictions on the investments in pension fund
            portfolios; restrictions on the management of mandated
            retirement savings (to newly created legal entities called
            pension administrators, to the exclusion of such financial
            intermediaries as banks and mutual funds); minimum-return
            guarantees from the state and/or pension funds; and
            commissions based on salary rather than on the volume of
            assets managed. Illustrating his conclusions with case
            studies from Chile and Peru, the author shows that these
            restrictions, though well-meant, are poorly justified by
            financial theory, distort incentives for competition based
            on product choice and efficiency, increase administrative
            costs, and seriously reduce the affiliates' appropriate
            risk-return choices  and returns. And the resulting
            potential losses in retirement income are great. The author
            recommends a significant departure from the Chilean-style
            model of a private pension fund system. He briefly describes
            implementation and transition issues for the alternative
            system that he proposes, which would: permit diverse
            intermediaries -including banks and mutual funds that meet
            appropriate prudential standards- to manage retirement
            savings; allow a greater choice between investment products;
            require that returns be reported on a net basis; and charge
            commissions as a fraction of assets managed.
Poverty comparisons with
            non-compatible data: theory and illustrations
Comparisons of poverty rates are only
            rarely based on identical underlying definitions of welfare.
            The authors examine the sensitivity of poverty rates
            calculated from alternative definitions of consumption.
            They consider what theory can say about the direction of
            bias in comparisons and show that under certain conditions
            robust comparisons are possible.  Data from Ecuador, El
            Salvador, and Pakistan show that the magnitude of biases can
            be substantial.  Their robustness result is used as a
            baseline to explore the tradeoffs involved in aggregating
            noisy expenditure components.  Although nonfood expenditures
            are often thought to be especially poorly measured, the
            authors' data indicate that the more comprehensive is
            the measure of consumption spending, the better it is as a
            measure of welfare.
The evolution of poverty and welfare
            in Nigeria, 1985-92
The authors profile Nigerian poverty,
            showing its evolution from 1985 to 1992.  This paper is
            divided into 6 sections, beginning with an overview.
            Section 2 looks at the sources of data used.  Section 3
            examines household income and expenditure distribution,
            interprets poverty indices, and calculates relative poverty
            lines for Nigeria.  Section 4, the paper's core,
            presents the spatial characteristics of poverty in Nigeria
            and their evolution over the seven-year period, indicating
            in which regions and states the poor are located and the
            extent and severity of their poverty; lays out the
            poor's basic demographic characteristics including time
            use and employment patterns, detailing how these have
            evolved; features the roles the poor play in various sectors
            of the economy; and discuss how changes in poverty could be
            explained by growth-related and redistribution factors.
            Section 5 discusses the evolution of expenditures and
            explains how expenditure patterns correspond to poverty.
            Section 6 presents conclusions, among them: the extremely
            poor -who dominate the ranks of the uneducated- became
            poorer, while all other income groups had a higher standard
            of living; an increase in mean per capita household spending
            reduced the proportion of the population in poverty but
            different regions did not share equally in the benefits of
            growth; household spending grew faster in southern and
            central Nigeria and slower in the north; and poverty was
            overwhelmingly rural and regional, but also greatly
            influenced by age, educaton, and the nature of employment.
Is economic analysis of projects
            still useful
The author argues for a shift in the
            focus of economic analysis of projects.  First, project
            analysts need to make full use of project information,
            especially identifying the source of the divergence between
            market prices and economic costs as well as the source of
            the divergence between economic and private flows, and the
            group that pays the cost or enjoys the benefits. This
            information identifies gainers, and losers, likely project
            supporters and detractors, and fiscal impact.  Second,
            project analysts need to look at the project from the
            perspective of the main stakeholders, principally the
            implementing agency, the government, and the country. Third,
            they should also assess whether all of the main actors have
            the economic and financial incentives to implement the
            project as designed.  Fourth, they should take advantage of
            advances in technology and attempt to identify and measure
            any external effects of projects, as well as the benefits of
            education and health projects. Finally, they should take
            advantage of the advances in personal computing to provide a
            more systematic assessment of risk.
Financial development and economic
            growth : views and agenda
The author argues that the preponderance
            of theoretical reasoning and empirical evidence suggests a
            positive first order relationship between financial
            development and economic growth.  There is evidence that the
            financial development level is a good predictor of future
            rates of economic growth, capital accumulation, and
            technological change.  Moreover, cross-country, case-style,
            industry level and firm-level analysis document extensive
            periods when financial development crucially affects the
            speed and pattern of economic development.  The author
            explains what the financial system does and how it affects,
            and is affected by, economic growth.  Theory suggests that
            financial instruments, markets and institutions arise to
            mitigate the effects of information and transaction costs.
            A growing literature shows that differences in how well
            financial systems reduce information and transaction costs
            influence savings rates, investment decisions, technological
            innovation, and long-run growth rates.  A less developed
            theoretical literature shows how changes in economic
            activity can influence financial systems.  The author
            advocates a functional approach to understanding the role of
            financial systems in economic growth.  This approach focuses
            on the ties between growth and the quality of the functions
            provided by the financial systems.  The author discourages a
            narrow focus on one financial instrument, or a particular
            institution.  Instead, the author addresses the more
            comprehensive question: What is the relationship between
            financial structure and the functioning of the financial system?
Determinants of public expenditure
            on infrastructure : transportation and communication
The authors empirically study factors
            that influence public investment in transportation and
            communication infrastructure.  Using data for 1980-86 for 27
            economies, they assess the influence of government
            objectives, the nature of the domestic economy, and the
            external assistance flow on public infrastructure spending.
            They find: a) per capita spending on infrastructure responds
            most strongly to changes in development level, urbanization
            rate, and labor force participation rate; b) spending is
            greater in countries with large foreign sectors and is
            positively influenced by sectoral imbalances between rural
            and urban areas; c) if total foreign savings flows increase,
            there is a small positive per capita spending response; d)
            with higher population densities, consolidated government
            spending declines although it rises initially; e) central
            budget spending is positively associated with improved
            institutional development, while consolidated budget is
            negatively associated; f) budget deficit size appears not to
            influence central budget spending but is positively
            associated with consolidated budget spending; g) greater
            outward orientation is positively associated with increased
            consolidated budget spending but seems to bear no
            relationship to central budget spending on infrastructure;
            and h) governments that are either not at all or extremely
            committed to alleviating poverty spend less on
            infrastructure. Governments with a limited commitment to
            poverty alleviation adopt strategies to increase the
            poor's productivity by investing in infrastructure.  As
            the commitment intensifies, their strategy shifts to
            improving human capital or strengthening the social safety
            net, and funding for those social programs competes with
            funding for developing infrastructure.
Grants and debt forgiveness in
            Africa : a descriptive analysis
The authors analyze the effects of
            bilateral debt forgiveness on 32 low-income countries in
            Africa (1984-93).  Asking whether it makes a difference for
            recipient countries to receive pure grants rather that
            official development assistance (ODA) debt relief, they
            focus on how one form of aid or the other affects the
            countries' import capacity.  They conclude that: a)
            grants allowed recipient countries to significantly expand
            their import capacity for 1984-93 as grants and import
            capacity have been increasing since 1984.  But the
            increasing share of concessional lending and debt relief in
            recent years has not allowed these countries to reduce total
            indebtedness nor solve debt overhang.  b) the biggest
            recipients of debt relief also received the lion's
            share of the pure grants increase.  Debt forgiveness and
            pure grants were allocated not entirely consistent with
            standard economic hierarchies.  c) bilateral ODA debt
            forgiveness appears to be neutral in the sense of not having
            any significant impact on import capacity.  During 1989-93,
            multilateral lending replaced the bilateral lending decrease
            caused by an increase in grants.  d) private creditors have
            typically withdrawn money as grants increased.  And debt
            relief has had a crowding-out effect on new lending.
            Bilateral donors are switching their development finance to
            Africa from concessional and non-concessional lending to a
            combination of pure grants and ODA relief.
Picking the poor : indicators for
            geographic targeting in Peru
Geographic targeting is perhaps the most
            popular mechanism used to direct social programs to the poor
            in Latin America. The author empirically compares geographic
            targeting indicators available in Peru. He combines
            household-level information from the 1994 and 1997 Peru
            Living Standards Measurement Surveys and district-level
            information from the 1993 Peru Population and Housing
            Census. He then conducts a series of simulations that
            estimate leakage rates; concentration curves; the impact of
            transfers on poverty as measured by the headcount index,
            poverty gap, and [poverty] measures of the
            Foster-Greer-Thorbecke family; and nonparametric (kernal)
            densities when transfers are based on alternative
            indicators. He concludes that there is substantial potential
            for geographic targeting in Peru. The differences in
            outcomes across geographic targeting indicators are small
            and not statistically significant.
Monetary policy under flexible
            exchange rates - an introduction to inflation targeting
In the past few years, a number of
            central banks have adopted inflation targeting for monetary
            policy. The author provides an introduction to inflation
            targeting, with an emphasis on analytical issues, and the
            recent experience of middle- and high-income developing
            countries (which have relatively low inflation to begin
            with, and reasonably well-functioning financial markets).
            After presenting a formal analytical framework, the author
            discusses the basic requirements for inflation targeting,
            and how such a regime differs from money, and exchange rate
            targeting regimes. After discussing the operational
            framework for inflation targeting (including the price index
            to monitor the time horizon, the forecasting procedures, and
            the role of asset prices), he examines recent experiences
            with inflation targets, providing new evidence on the
            convexity of the Phillips curve for six developing
            countries. His conclusions: Inflation targeting is a
            flexible policy framework that allows a country's
            central bank to exercise some degree of discretion, without
            putting in jeopardy its main objective of maintaining stable
            prices. In middle- and high-income developing economies that
            can refrain from implicit exchange rate targeting, it can
            improve the design, and performance of monetary policy,
            compared with other policy approaches that central banks may
            follow. Not all countries may be able to satisfy the
            technical requirements (such as adequate price data,
            adequate understanding of the links between instruments, and
            targets of monetary policy, and adequate forecasting
            capabilities), but such requirements should not be
            overstated. Forecasting capability can never be perfect, and
            sensible projections always involve qualitative judgment.
            More important, and often more difficult, is the task of
            designing, or improving an institutional framework that
            would allow the central bank to pursue the goal of low,
            stable inflation, while maintaining the ability to stabilize
            fluctuations in output.
Trade in international maritime
            services : how much does policy matter
Maritime transport costs significantly
            impede international trade. The authors examine why these
            costs are so high in some countries, and, quantify the
            importance of two explanations: restrictive trade policies,
            and private anti-competitive practices. Both matter, they
            find, but private anti-competitive practices have the
            greater impact. Trade liberalization, and the breakup of
            private carrier agreements, would lead to a reduction in
            average liner transport prices of a third, and cost savings
            of up to $ 3 billion on goods carried to the United States
            alone. The policy implications are clear: not only should
            government policy be further liberalized, but there should
            be stronger international disciplines on restrictive
            business practices. The authors propose developing such
            disciplines in the current round of services negotiations at
            the World Trade Organization.
Regulatory reform in Mexico's
            natural gas industry : liberalization in the context of a
            dominant upstream incumbent
The natural gas industry combines
            activities with natural monopoly characterisitics with those
            that are potentially competitive. Pipeline transport and
            distribution, which have natural monopoly characterisitcs,
            require regulation of price and non-price behavior.
            Production is a contestable activity, but in a few countries
            (including Mexico) it remains a state monopoly. Gas
            marketing is also contestable, but the presence of a
            dominant, upstream, vertically integrated incumbent may pose
            significant barriers to entry. Market architecture
            decisions--such as horizontal structure, regional
            development, and the degree of vertical integration--are
            also crucial. The authors report that Mexico has undertaken
            structural reform in the energy sector more slowly than many
            other countries, but it has introduced changes to attract
            private investment in natural gas transport and
            distribution. These changes were a response to the rapid
            growth in demand for natural gas (about 10 percent a year)
            in Mexico, which was in turn a response to economic
            development and the enforcement of environmental
            regulations. The new regulatory framework provides
            incentives for firms to invest and operate efficiently and
            to bear much much of the risk associated with new projects.
            It also protects captive consumers and improves general
            economic welfare. The continued vertical integration of the
            state-owned company Pemex and its statutory monopoly in
            domestic production posed a challenge to regulators. Their
            response in liberalizing trade, setting first-hand sales
            prices, and regulating natural gas distribution makes the
            Mexican case an interesting example of regulatory design. As
            the first phase of investment mobilization and competition
            for the market in Mexican distribution project concludes,
            remaining challenges include consistently and transparently
            enforcing regulations, coordinating tasks among government
            agencies, and ensuring expansion of gas transport services
            and domestic production. A key challenge in the near term
            will be fostering competition in the market. In
            strengthening the role of market forces, one issue is
            Pemex's discretionary discounts on domestic gas and
            access to transport services, made possible by its monopoly
            in domestic production and marketing activities and its
            overwhelming dominance in transport. The main instrument
            available to the regulator is proscribing Pemex contract
            pricing, but more durable and tractable instruments should
            be considered.