rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Azerbaijan's household survey
            data : explaining why inequality is so low
While the Azerbaijan household income
            and expenditure survey (HIES) data satisfy most empirical
            regularities expected in a typical household survey data,
            the inequality measures based on the data are unusually low.
            For example, for the latest three years for which we have
            data (2002 - 2004), the consumption Gini coefficient (the
            commonly used summary measure of inequality) is in the range
            of 16 - 18 percent. This is among the lowest Gini
            coefficients ever observed in any country, and is extremely
            low even with the standard of countries generally considered
            as most equal in the world. Azerbaijan, a transitional
            economy with a significant natural resource base, is
            unlikely to be the most equal country in the world. The
            objective of this paper is to investigate why inequality
            measures are unusually low in the Azerbaijan household
            survey data. The author presents a methodology for
            diagnosing and identifying the potential sources of low
            inequality in the data, including cluster analysis at the
            primary sampling unit level. The main inference from the
            findings of the cluster analysis is that the observed low
            inequality indices are not due to poor supervision of the
            interviewers and the data collection process. The author
            finds that the main culprits for the observed low inequality
            in the HIES data are (1) the low participation rates of
            wealthy households in the household surveys, and (2) the
            widespread availability of well-targeted public and private transfers.
Rural vulnerability in Serbia
In the presence of risk and uncertainty,
            measures such as poverty rates are inadequate to analyze the
            well-being of poor households. The poor are not only
            concerned about the current low levels of their income or
            consumption, but also the likelihood of experiencing
            stressful declines in these levels in the future. Risks to
            livelihood are particularly important in rural areas where
            there is generally high dependence on agriculture and the
            environment. In this study, the author analyzes the nature,
            extent, and causes of rural vulnerability in Serbia using
            panel national household data from the 2002 and 2003 Serbia
            Living Standard Surveys. He measures rural vulnerability as
            a function of nonstochastic determinants of poverty as well
            as exposure to risk. While low levels of consumption
            (poverty) explain about 70 percent of vulnerability, the
            author identifies risk and uncertainty as crucial dimensions
            of rural life in accounting for the remaining 30 percent of
            household vulnerability. Households and regions with a
            greater share of their livelihood depending on agricultural
            activities are more at risk of vulnerability than those with
            a significantly higher share of their income coming from
            nonagricultural sources. Dependence on agricultural income
            is directly associated with higher aggregate risk,
            underscoring the agricultural sector's lopsided
            exposure to covariate shocks in general, and the negative
            impact of the 2003 drought in particular. Rural
            vulnerability to poverty and risk is also strongly
            associated with asset ownership and access to markets to
            mobilize them in time of need.
The role of agriculture in poverty
            reduction an empirical perspective
The relative contribution of a sector to
            poverty reduction is shown to depend on its direct and
            indirect growth effects as well as its participation effect.
            The paper assesses how these effects compare between
            agriculture and non-agriculture by reviewing the literature
            and by analyzing cross-country national accounts and poverty
            data from household surveys. Special attention is given to
            Sub-Saharan Africa. While the direct growth effect of
            agriculture on poverty reduction is likely to be smaller
            than that of non-agriculture (though not because of
            inherently inferior productivity growth), the indirect
            growth effect of agriculture (through its linkages with
            nonagriculture) appears substantial and at least as large as
            the reverse feedback effect. The poor participate much more
            in growth in the agricultural sector, especially in
            low-income countries, resulting in much larger poverty
            reduction impact. Together, these findings support the
            overall premise that enhancing agricultural productivity is
            the critical entry-point in designing effective poverty
            reduction strategies, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet,
            to maximize the poverty reducing effects, the right
            agricultural technology and investments must be pursued,
            underscoring the need for much more country specific
            analysis of the structure and institutional organization of
            the rural economy in designing poverty reduction strategies.
The World Trade Organization and
            antidumping in developing countries
Since the 1995 inception of the World
            Trade Organization (WTO), developing countries have become
            some of the most frequent users of the WTO-sanctioned
            antidumping trade policy instrument. This paper exploits
            newly available data to examine the pattern of actual
            industrial use of antidumping in nine of the major "new
            user" developing countries - Argentina, Brazil,
            Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Turkey and
            Venezuela. For these countries we are able to match data
            from two newly available sources: data on production in 28
            different 3-digit ISIC industries from the Trade, Production
            and Protection Database to data on antidumping
            investigations, outcomes and imports at the 6-digit
            Harmonized System (HS) product level from the Global
            Antidumping Database. Our econometric analysis is to
            estimate a two-stage model of the industry-level decision to
            pursue an antidumping investigation and the national
            government's decision of whether and how much
            antidumping import protection to provide. First, we find
            evidence consistent with the theory of endogenous trade
            policy: larger industries that face substantial import
            competition are more likely to pursue an antidumping
            investigation, and larger and more concentrated industries
            receive greater antidumping protection from imports. Second,
            we find that industries that use antidumping are more likely
            to face the changing economic conditions specified by the
            technical evidentiary criteria of the WTO Antidumping
            Agreement: industries that face rapidly falling import
            prices are more likely to pursue an investigation, and
            industries that are more susceptible to cyclical dumping due
            to greater capital investment expenditures and that face
            rapidly increasing competition from imports receive greater
            antidumping protection.
Governance matters V: aggregate and
            individual governance indicators for 1996 - 2005
The authors report on the latest version
            of the worldwide governance indicators, covering 213
            countries and territories and measuring six dimensions of
            governance from 1996 until end-2005: voice and
            accountability, political stability and absence of violence,
            government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law,
            and control of corruption. The latest indicators are based
            on hundreds of variables and reflect the views of thousands
            of citizen and firm survey respondents and experts
            worldwide. Although global averages of governance display no
            marked trends during 1996-2005, nearly one-third of
            countries exhibit significant changes [for better or for
            worse] on at least one dimension of governance. Three new
            features distinguish this update. (1) The authors have moved
            to annual reporting of governance estimates. This update
            includes new governance estimates for 2003 and 2005, as well
            as minor backward revisions to biannual historical data for
            1996-2004. (2) The authors are, for the first time,
            publishing the individual measures of governance from
            virtually every data source underlying the aggregate
            governance indicators. The ready availability of the
            individual data sources underlying the aggregate governance
            indicators is aimed at further enhancing the transparency of
            the methodology and of the resulting aggregate indicators,
            as well as helping data users and policymakers identify
            specific governance challenges in individual countries. (3)
            The authors present new evidence on the reliability of
            expert assessments of governance which, alongside survey
            responses, form part of the aggregate measures of governance.
Superstition, family planning, and
            human development
Are wanted and unwanted children treated
            equally by their parents? To address this question, the
            authors rely on the observation that, according to
            Vietnamese astrology, dates of birth are believed to be
            determinants of success, luck, character, and good match
            between individuals. They then examine fertility decisions
            made in Vietnam between 1976 and 1996. The authors find that
            birth cohorts in auspicious years are significantly larger
            than in other years. Children born in auspicious years
            moreover do better both in health and education. While
            parental characteristics seem to affect fertility choices
            and human development simultaneously, their analysis
            suggests that family planning is one key mechanism leading
            to the observed differences in outcomes: in a society in
            which superstition is widespread, children born in
            auspicious years are more likely to have been planned by
            their parents, thus benefiting from more favorable
            financial, psychological, or emotional conditions for better
            human development.
Forgone earnings from smoking :
            evidence for a developing country
The authors estimate the economic losses
            related to the negative effect of smoking on wages in a
            context of a developing country. Using data from the 2005
            Albania Living Standards Monitoring Survey, they jointly
            estimate a system of three equations: the smoking decision
            and two separate wage equations for smokers and nonsmokers.
            The results show that, after controlling for observed
            characteristics and taking into account unobserved
            heterogeneity in personal characteristics, smoking has a
            substantial negative impact on wages. On average
            smokers' wages are 20 percent lower than the wages of
            similar nonsmokers, providing strong evidence for the
            potential policy relevance of tobacco control initiatives
            for developing countries.
Bank efficiency, ownership, and
            market structure : why are interest spreads so high in Uganda
Using a unique bank-level data set on
            the Ugandan banking system during 1999-2005, the authors
            explore the factors behind consistently high interest rate
            spreads and margins. While foreign banks charge lower
            interest rate spreads, they do not find a robust and
            economically significant relationship between privatization,
            foreign bank entry, market structure, and banking
            efficiency. Similarly, macroeconomic variables can explain
            little of the over-time variation in bank spreads.
            Bank-level characteristics, on the other hand, such as bank
            size, operating costs, and composition of loan portfolio
            explain a large proportion of cross-bank, cross-time
            variation in spreads and margins. However, time-invariant
            bank-level fixed effects explain the largest part of bank
            variation in spreads and margins. Further, the authors find
            tentative evidence that banks targeting the low end of the
            market incur higher costs and therefore higher margins.
Bank efficiency, ownership, and
            market structure : why are interest spreads so high in Uganda
WPS4027

# **Bank Efficiency, Ownership and Market Structure Why Are Interest Spreads So High in Uganda?**

## **Thorsten Beck and Heiko Hesse** *

**Abstract:** Using a unique bank-level dataset on the Ugandan banking system over the period 1999 to 2005, we explore the factors behind consistently high interest rate spreads and margins.  While foreign banks charge lower interest rate spreads, we do not find a robust and economically significant relationship between privatization, foreign bank entry, market structure and banking efficiency. Similarly, macroeconomic variables can explain little of the over-time variation in bank spreads.  Bank-level characteristics, on the other hand, such as bank size, operating costs, and composition of loan portfolio, explain a large proportion of cross-bank, cross-time variation in spreads and margins. However, time-invariant bank-level fixed effects explain the largest part of bank variation in spreads and margins.  Further, we find tentative evidence that banks targeting the low end of the market incur higher costs and therefore higher margins.

JEL Classifications: G21, G30, O16 Keywords: Foreign Bank Entry; Financial Sector Reform; Bank Efficiency; Financial Intermediation; Uganda World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4027, October 2006 _The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Policy Research Working Papers are available online at http://econ.worldbank.org._

* Beck: World Bank, <u>TBeck@worldbank.org. Hesse: Nuffield College, University of</u> Oxford, <u>heiko.hesse@nuffield.ox.ac.uk. We would like to thank Alexander Al-Haschimi,</u> Steve Bond, Martin Cihak, Robert Cull, Michael Fuchs, Dino Merotto, Richard Podpiera, Rachel Sebudde and seminar participants at Oxford for useful comments and suggestions and are grateful to the Bank of Uganda for sharing the data with us and to Edward AlHussainy for help with the data. Also, funding from the ESRC under grant number PTA051-2004-00004 is gratefully acknowledged by Heiko Hesse.
A profile of the world's young
            developing country migrants
The paper uses individual level census
            and household survey data to present a rich profile of the
            young developing migrants around the world. Youth are found
            to comprise a large share of all migrants, particularly in
            migration to other developing countries, with the
            probability of migration peaking in the late teens or early
            twenties. The paper examines in detail the age and gender
            composition of migrants, whether young migrants move alone
            or with a parent or spouse, their participation in schooling
            and work in the destination country, the types of jobs they
            do, and the age of return migration. The results suggest a
            high degree of commonality in the youth migrant experience
            across a number of destination countries. In particular,
            developing country youth tend to work in similar occupations
            all around the world, and are more concentrated in these
            occupations than older migrants or native youth.
            Nevertheless, there is also considerable heterogeneity among
            youth migrants: 29 percent of 18 to 24 year olds are
            attending school in their destination country, but another
            29 percent are not working or in school. This illustrates
            both the potential of migration for building human capital,
            and the fear that lack of integration prevents it from being used.
Education and HIV/AIDS prevention :
            evidence from a randomized evaluation in Western Kenya
The authors report results from a
            randomized evaluation comparing three school-based HIV/AIDS
            interventions in Kenya: (1) training teachers in the Kenyan
            Government's HIV/AIDS-education curriculum; (2)
            encouraging students to debate the role of condoms and to
            write essays on how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS;
            and (3) reducing the cost of education. Their primary
            measure of the effectiveness of these interventions is
            teenage childbearing, which is associated with unprotected
            sex. The authors also collected measures of knowledge,
            attitudes, and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS. After two years,
            girls in schools where teachers had been trained were more
            likely to be married in the event of a pregnancy. The
            program had little other impact on students' knowledge,
            attitudes, and behavior, or on the incidence of teen
            childbearing. The condom debates and essays increased
            practical knowledge and self-reported use of condoms without
            increasing self-reported sexual activity. Reducing the cost
            of education by paying for school uniforms reduced dropout
            rates, teen marriage, and childbearing.
Takeover laws and financial development
The issue of "an appropriate"
            legal framework, especially in the case of the takeover
            market, has been poorly studied in the case of emerging
            markets, yet it is of immediate relevance and practical
            policymaker interest. The study makes a first attempt to
            analyze takeover regulations in a comparative context across
            50 countries. It proposes a methodology to create a detailed
            index on the most salient features of capital market laws,
            and illustrates the approach on the case of takeover
            legislation. The methodology allows better understanding of
            the impact of laws on markets and development, allows a
            detailed quantification of a given regulation, in this case
            takeover market rules, and helps determine relevant policy
            implications. Specifically, the framework permits the
            exploration of the effects of individual regulations, their
            substitutability and interplay, as well as the overall
            extent of friendliness of the laws to investors, or
            particular groups thereof (such as minority shareholders),
            and the links of specialized regulation with the overall
            legal system. Finally, the study explores the effect of the
            investor-friendliness of takeover laws on stock market development.
Liberalizing trade in services : a survey
Since the mid 1980s a substantial amount
            of research has been undertaken on trade in services. Much
            of this is inspired by the World Trade Organization or
            regional trade agreements, especially the European Union,
            but an increasing number of papers focus on the impacts of
            services sector liberalization. This paper surveys the
            literature, focusing on contributions that investigate the
            determinants of international trade and investment in
            services, the potential gains from greater trade (and
            liberalization), and efforts to cooperate to achieve such
            liberalization through trade agreements. It concludes that
            there is increasing evidence that services liberalization is
            an important source of potential welfare gains, but
            relatively little research has been done that can inform the
            design of international cooperation-both trade agreements
            and development assistance-so as to more effectively promote
            development objectives.
Duration of unemployment benefits
            and quality of post-unemployment jobs : evidence from a
            natural experiment
This paper investigates how the
            potential duration of unemployment benefits affects the
            quality of post-unemployment jobs. It takes advantage of a
            natural experiment introduced by a change in Slovenia's
            unemployment insurance law that substantially reduced the
            potential benefit duration. Although this reduction strongly
            increased job finding rates, the quality of the
            post-unemployment jobs remained unaffected. The paper finds
            that the law change had no effect on the type of contract
            (temporary versus permanent), the duration of the
            post-unemployment job, or the wage earned in the job.
Do institutions matter more for services
Recent empirical research has focused on
            the role of institutions in overall economic performance.
            This paper examines the impact of institutions on the
            relative performance of the service sector. Through
            cross-country level and growth regressions it establishes
            the following stylized fact: countries with better
            institutions have relatively larger and more dynamic service
            sectors. It suggests that regulatory and contract enforcing
            institutions play a key role in the development of service
            sectors because these sectors enter into a more complex web
            of transactions with the rest of the economy and are more
            prone to market failure due to asymmetric information.