rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Survival of the fittest using
            network methods to assess the diffusion of project design concepts
About a third of development projects
            fail to achieve satisfactory outcomes, according to
            agencies' independent evaluation units. To a large
            extent, these outcomes appear to be baked into projects at
            their inception due to inadequate project design or
            relevance. This prompts questions about the diffusion of
            project design concepts: To what extent are better-designed
            or better-performing projects more likely to be emulated? Do
            factors of bureaucratic or political attractiveness -- such
            as ease of set-up and rapidity of disbursement -- play a
            role? To address these questions, this paper explores the
            use of methods from network science. It constructs a network
            graph of the relationship among the components of all World
            Bank investment projects initiated from 1996 to 2014, based
            on the semantic similarity of the component descriptions. It
            uses the network to assess the characteristics of projects
            that are more 'prolific' in the sense of having
            closely related followers, and as tool for visualizing
            diffusion of design concepts. This illustrative exercise
            defines a measures of project 'influence' on
            subsequent projects and tests simple, nonexclusive
            hypotheses about the determinants of influence. It finds no
            significant impact of project outcome or quality of entry
            (as independently rated) on 'influence.' Nor does
            ease of project preparation (as proxied by time from concept
            note to effectiveness) have any significant effect. However,
            very small projects (less than $10 million) have markedly
            lower 'influence' on average. This finding may
            have implications for the usefulness of small projects as
            pilots for subsequent scale up.
Unemployment and mortality :
            evidence from the great recession
Did unemployment in the Great Recession
            hurt people's health? The broad answer is no: job
            losses have statistically insignificant impacts on
            mortality. The exogenous sources of job losses in a U.S.
            county is the tradable job losses driven by external demand
            collapses during the Great Recession. The insignificant
            relationship holds for males and females, for all age
            groups, and for almost all categories of mortality. Three
            important exceptions are Alzheimer's, poisoning, and homicide.
Access to finance and job growth :
            firm-level evidence across developing countries
This paper investigates the effect of
            access to finance on job growth in 50,000 firms across 70
            developing countries. Using the introduction of credit
            bureaus as an exogenous shock to the supply of credit, the
            paper finds that increased access to finance results in
            higher employment growth, especially among micro, small, and
            medium enterprises. The results are robust to using firm
            fixed effects, industry measures of external finance
            dependence, and propensity score matching in a complementary
            panel data set of more than four million firms in 29
            developing countries. The findings have implications for
            policy interventions targeted to produce job growth in
            micro, small, and medium enterprises.
Revisiting the impact of the
            Brazilian SIMPLES program on firms' formalization rates
A recent survey of rigorous impact
            evaluations of programs to help small and medium-size firms
            to formalize indicates that the programs do not seem to work
            for most informal firms. One of the few exceptions finds
            large effects of a tax simplification program in Brazil
            called SIMPLES on firms' formalization rates and
            performance indicators. Using the same data set but a
            different identification strategy, another study concludes
            that the program had limited effect on formalization rates.
            The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it revisits the two
            studies to reconcile their conflicting conclusions. Second,
            it investigates the validity of the identification strategy
            of both studies. The findings suggest that the conflicting
            results between the two studies are caused by the dates each
            used to identify when the program was put into effect. A
            robustness check indicates that data heaping and seasonality
            around November cast doubts on the identification strategy
            used in both studies to estimate the effect of this
            particular program.
When measure matters: coresidency,
            truncation bias, and intergenerational mobility in
            developing countries
Biases from truncation caused by
            coresidency restriction have been a challenge for research
            on intergenerational mobility. Estimates of
            intergenerational schooling persistence from two data sets
            show that the intergenerational regression coefficient, the
            most widely used measure, is severely biased downward in
            coresident samples. But the bias in intergenerational
            correlation is much smaller, and is less sensitive to the
            coresidency rate. The paper provides explanations for these
            results. Comparison of intergenerational mobility based on
            the intergenerational regression coefficient across
            countries, gender, and over time can be misleading. Much
            progress on intergenerational mobility in developing
            countries can be made with the available data by focusing on
            intergenerational correlation.
When measure matters: coresidency,
            truncation bias, and intergenerational mobility in
            developing countries
WPS7608 Policy Research Working Paper 7608

# When Measure Matters

Coresidency, Truncation Bias, and Intergenerational Mobility in Developing Countries _M. Shahe Emran William Greene Forhad Shilpi_ Development Research Group Environment and Energy Team March 2016
Robustness of shared prosperity
            estimates : how different methodological choices matter
This paper is the first to
            systematically test the robustness of shared prosperity
            estimates to different methodological choices using a sample
            of countries from all regions in the world. The tests that
            are conducted include grouped versus microdata, nominal
            welfare aggregate versus adjustment for spatial price
            variation, and different treatment of income with negative
            and zero values. The empirical results reveal an only
            minimal impact of the proposed tests on shared prosperity
            estimates. Nevertheless, there are important caveats. First,
            spatial adjustment can change the ranking of households,
            affecting the distribution of the population in the bottom
            40 percent. Second, the negligible impact of spatial
            deflation holds only if price adjustments are carried out
            consistently over time. Finally, the treatment of negative
            and zero income numbers can potentially lead to substantial
            differences in shared prosperity, depending on the magnitude
            of negative income and the share of households with negative
            and zero numbers across years.
Robustness of shared prosperity
            estimates : how different methodological choices matter
WPS7611 Policy Research Working Paper 7611 Robustness of Shared Prosperity Estimates How Different Methodological Choices Matter _Aziz Atamanov Christina Wieser Hiroki Uematsu Nobuo Yoshida Minh Cong Nguyen Joao Pedro Wagner De Azevedo Reno Dewina_ Poverty and Equity Global Practice Group March 2016
When do gender wage differences
            emerge a study of Azerbaijan's labor market
Building on recent analyses that find a
            sizeable overall gender wage gap in Azerbaijan's
            workforce, this paper uses data on young workers in their
            early years in the labor market to understand how gender
            wage gaps evolve over time, if at all. The paper uses a
            unique database from a survey of young people ages 15–29
            years. The analysis provides evidence that new labor market
            entrants begin with little or no gender differences in
            earnings, but a wage gap gradually emerges over time closer
            to the childbearing years. The gender wage gap grows from
            virtually zero, or even a small, positive gap in favor of
            women, until age 20 years, to about 20 percent two years
            later and even more than 30 percent at age 29 years. The gap
            in labor supply rises from almost zero to about 20 percent
            during the years from 19 to 22, while the gap in hours
            worked falls from positive (up to six hours per week more
            than their male counterparts) to negative (up to five hours
            per week less) over the same period in the life cycle. When
            decomposing the gap at different deciles of the wage
            distribution, it appears that most of it is at the lower and
            upper ends of the distribution, among young adults and
            prime-age workers. Selection of women into employment is
            strong and strongly skill-based: when controlling for sample
            selection bias, the gender gap becomes positive.
MENA export performance and
            specialization -- the role of financial sector development
            and governance
Industry and financial profiles of MENA
            firms may underpin the observation that MENA country exports
            are below potential and skewed toward low value-added goods
            that are unable to spur rapid job creation and inclusive
            growth. To assess this link, the paper combines analysis
            highlighting external financing as a determinant of export
            performance, and analysis highlighting sector asset
            tangibility and governance. Why? Because high value-added
            sectors tend to have higher shares of intangible assets and
            to create innovative products requiring substantial research
            and development or investments, thereby making these sectors
            more dependent on external financing. Using sector- and
            firm-level export data with country-level indicators, the
            results indicate that countries with more developed
            financial sectors and stronger governance tend to have
            higher exports from sectors that are more reliant on finance
            external to the firm, and lower exports from sectors with
            higher shares of tangible assets. Interestingly, financial
            sector development boosts exports less in MENA than in
            non-MENA countries. To foster expansion of higher value
            exports, the results suggest a critical need for: (i) deeper
            financial sector development that strengthens market-based
            systems, such as asset registries and credit reporting
            agencies, and (ii) strengthening of legal and governance frameworks.
Second-stage sampling for conflict
            areas : methods and implications
The collection of survey data from war
            zones or other unstable security situations is vulnerable to
            error because conflict often limits the implementation
            options. Although there are elevated risks throughout the
            process, this paper focuses specifically on challenges to
            frame construction and sample selection. The paper uses
            simulations based on data from the Mogadishu High Frequency
            Survey Pilot to examine the implications of the choice of
            second-stage selection methodology on bias and variance.
            Among the other findings, the simulations show the bias
            introduced by a random walk design leads to the
            underestimation of the poverty headcount by more than 10
            percent.  The paper also discusses the experience of the
            authors in the time required and technical complexity of the
            associated back-office preparation work and weight
            calculations for each method. Finally, as the simulations
            assume perfect implementation of the design, the paper also
            discusses practicality, including the ease of implementation
            and options for remote verification, and outlines areas for
            future research and pilot testing.
Impacts of sovereign rating on
            sub-sovereign bond ratings in emerging and developing economies
This paper explores factors that affect
            the distance between sovereign credit ratings and the
            ratings assigned to new foreign-currency bonds issued by
            sub-sovereign entities (such as private non-financial
            corporations, financial firms, and public sector
            enterprises) in 47 emerging markets and developing
            economies. Censored and double-hurdle regression models are
            used to estimate the relative contributions of bond-level,
            issuer-level, and macroeconomic factors that determine this
            distance, separately for those rated at or below the
            sovereign rating and those rated above. For the
            three-quarters or more of sub-sovereign bond ratings that
            are constrained by the sovereign rating ceiling, a Tobit
            regression model shows a smaller distance—suggesting
            stronger sovereign-corporate linkages—for public sector
            enterprises and financial firms relative to other firms.
            Riskier global financial conditions are also associated with
            sub-sovereign bonds being rated closer to the sovereign
            rating. For the small number of sub-sovereign bonds rated
            higher than the sovereign rating, a double-hurdle model
            shows that certain debt features—such as bonds backed by
            future-flow receivables or other collateral, or structured
            as Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV)—significantly raise the
            likelihood of piercing the sovereign rating ceiling and also
            increase the distance above the sovereign ceiling.
Deal or no deal : strictly business
            for China in Kenya
Existing work on China's economic
            influence in Africa refers to Africa in broad terms, thereby
            generalizing the results to an extent that is unhelpful for
            policy-makers in a specific country. Moreover, the emphasis
            is on oil exporters. This paper remedies this by focusing on
            a single, oil-importing country: Kenya. The paper examines
            China's economic presence in Kenya and some of the
            popular myths surrounding Chinese economic activity. The
            first myth is that Chinese companies do not employ local
            workers. In fact, 78 percent of full-time and 95 percent of
            part-time employees in Chinese companies are locals. Second,
            although China represents a large potential market for local
            exporters, the study finds that China has a better chance of
            expanding its exports to Kenya than Kenya does to China
            based on existing specializations. This may change with
            recent oil discoveries in Kenya, increasing the space for
            Kenyan exports to China, as well as from China's shift
            to a consumption-driven economy which will increase demand
            for services, a growing strength of Kenya's economy
            (World Bank Country Economic Memorandum 2016). The paper
            emphasizes that Kenyan policy makers should be less
            concerned about bilateral trade imbalances and worry about
            Kenya's overall trade balance. However, the Standard
            Gauge Railway and Thika superhighway experiences suggest
            that Chinese firms offer relatively few technology transfer
            or supplier opportunities for local firms and academia.
            Third, the popular focus of Chinese competition is on the
            impact on well-organized Kenyan producers and not on
            consumers, thereby underestimating the benefits Kenyan
            consumer derive from the availability of more affordable
            Chinese goods. The paper concludes with policy directions
            for improving export competitiveness and transparency in
            infrastructure projects, and local content.
Inventor diasporas and the
            internationalization of technology
This paper documents the influence of
            diaspora networks of highly-skilled individuals -- that is,
            inventors -- on international technological collaborations.
            Using gravity models, it studies the determinants of the
            internationalization of inventive activity between a group
            of industrialized countries and a sample of developing and
            emerging economies. The paper examines the influence exerted
            by skilled diasporas in fostering cross-country
            co-inventorship as well as R&D offshoring. The study
            finds a strong and robust relationship between inventor
            diasporas and different forms of international co-patenting.
            However, the effect decreases with the level of formality of
            the interactions. Interestingly, some of the most successful
            diasporas recently documented -- namely, Chinese and Indian
            ones -- do not govern the results.
The empirical landscape of trade policy
This paper surveys empirically the broad
            features of trade policy in goods for 31 major economies
            that collectively represented 83 percent of the world's
            population and 91 percent of the world's GDP in 2013.
            It addresses the following five questions: Do some countries
            have more liberal trading regimes than others? Within
            countries, which industries receive the most import
            protection? How do trade policies change over time? Do
            countries discriminate among their trading partners when
            setting trade policy? Finally, how liberalized is world
            trade? The analysis documents the extent of cross-sectional
            heterogeneity in applied commercial policy across countries,
            their economic sectors, and their trading partners, over
            time. It concludes that substantial trade policy barriers
            remain as an important feature of the world economy.
Measuring poverty in Latin America
            and the Caribbean : methodological considerations when
            estimating an empirical regional poverty line
This paper contributes to the
            methodological literature on the estimation of poverty lines
            for country poverty comparisons in Latin America and the
            Caribbean. The paper exploits a unique, comprehensive data
            set of 86 up-to-date urban official extreme and moderate
            poverty lines across 18 countries in Latin America and the
            Caribbean, as well as the recent values of the national
            purchasing power parity conversion factors from the 2011
            International Comparison Program and a set of harmonized
            household surveys that are part of the Socio-Economic
            Database for Latin America and the Caribbean project.
            Because of the dispersion of country-specific poverty lines,
            the paper concludes that the value of a regional poverty
            line largely depends on the selected aggregation method,
            which ends up having a direct impact on the estimation of
            regional extreme and moderate poverty headcounts.
Absent laws and missing women: can
            domestic violence legislation reduce female mortality
This study contributes to the literature
            on legal institutions and determinants of adult mortality.
            The paper explores the relationship between the presence of
            domestic violence legislation and women-to-men adult
            mortality rates. Using panel data for about 95 economies
            between 1990 and 2012, the analysis finds that having
            domestic violence legislation leads to lower women-to-men
            adult mortality rates. According to conservative
            estimations, domestic violence legislation would have saved
            about 33 million women between 1990 and 2012. The negative
            relationship between domestic violence legislation and
            women-to-men adult mortality rates is robust to several
            checks and also confirmed using the instrumental variables approach.
School grants and education quality
            : experimental evidence from Senegal
The effect of increasing school
            resources on educational outcomes is a central issue in the
            debate on improving school quality. This paper uses a
            randomized experiment to analyze the impact of a school
            grants program in Senegal, which allowed schools to apply
            for funding for improvements of their own choice. The
            analysis finds positive effects on test scores at lower
            grades that persist at least two years. These effects are
            concentrated among schools that focused funds on human
            resource improvements rather than school materials,
            suggesting that teachers and principals may be a central
            determinant of school quality.
The use of detailed statistical data
            in customs reform : the case of Madagascar
To carry out their various missions
            (collecting revenue, facilitating trade, and ensuring
            security), many customs administrations have established a
            risk management unit. In developing countries, however,
            because of the lack of dedicated human and material
            resources, intelligence and risk analysis remain
            insufficiently developed. In view of the lack of resources,
            this paper proposes a simple methodology aiming at detecting
            risky import operations. The mirror analysis first helps to
            identify and target products or sectors with the greatest
            risk. Based on the examination of customs declarations
            patterns (data mining), it is possible to identify and
            target higher risk economic operators (importers and customs
            brokers). When implemented in Madagascar, this method has
            helped to reveal probable fraud cases in the present context
            of customs reform. Estimates suggest that, in 2014, customs
            fraud reduced non-oil customs revenues (duties and import
            value-added tax) by at least 30 percent.