rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Do workers' remittances reduce
            the probability of current account reversals
The authors combine the literature on
            financial crises in emerging markets and developing
            economies with that on international migrations by
            investigating whether the increasingly large flows of
            workers' remittances can help reduce the probability of
            current account reversals. The rationale for this stands in
            the great stability and low cyclicality of remittances as
            compared with other private capital flows: these properties,
            combined with the fact that remittances are cheap inflows of
            foreign currencies, might reduce the probability that
            foreign investors suddenly flee out of emerging markets and
            developing economies and trigger a dramatic current account
            adjustment. The authors find that remittances can have such
            a beneficial effect. In particular, they show that a high
            level of remittances, as a ratio of GDP, makes the
            relationship between a decreasing stock of international
            reserves (over GDP) and a higher probability of current
            account crises less stringent. The same occurs, though less
            neatly, for the positive relationship between an increasing
            stock of external debt (over GDP) and the probability of
            current account reversals. The results point also to a
            threshold effect of remittances: the mechanisms just
            described are, in fact, much stronger when remittances are
            above 3 percent of GDP.
China's pattern of growth :
            moving to sustainability and reducing inequality
The authors study the sources and
            pattern of China's impressive economic growth over the
            past 25 years and show that key issues currently of concern
            to policymakers-widening inequality, rural poverty, and
            resource intensity-are to a large extent rooted in
            China's growth strategy, and resolving them requires a
            rebalancing of policies. Using both macroeconomic level and
            sector data and analyses, the authors extend the growth
            accounting framework to decompose the sources of labor
            productivity growth. They find that growth of industrial
            production, led by a massive investment effort that boosted
            the capital/labor ratio, has been the single most important
            factor driving GDP and overall labor productivity growth
            since the early 1990s. The shift of labor from
            low-productivity agriculture has been limited, and, hence,
            contributed only marginally to overall labor productivity
            growth. The productivity gap between agriculture and the
            rest of the economy has continued to widen, leading to
            increased rural-urban income inequality. Looking ahead, the
            authors calibrate two alternative scenarios. They show that
            continuing with the current growth pattern would further
            increase already high investment and saving needs to
            unsustainable levels, lower urban employment growth, and
            widen the rural-urban income gap. Instead, reducing
            subsidies to industry and investment, encouraging the
            development of the services industry, and reducing barriers
            to labor mobility would result in a more balanced growth
            with an investment-to-GDP ratio that is consistent with the
            medium-term saving trend, faster growth in urban employment,
            and a substantial reduction in the income gap between rural
            and urban residents.
Nonperforming loans in Sub-Saharan
            Africa : causal analysis and macroeconomic implications
This paper investigates the leading
            causes of nonperforming loans during the economic and
            banking crises that affected a large number of countries in
            Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s. Empirical analysis shows a
            dramatic increase in these loans and extremely high credit
            risk, with significant differences between the CFA and
            non-CFA countries, and substantially higher financial costs
            for the latter sub-panel of countries. The results also
            highlight a strong causality between these loans and
            economic growth, real exchange rate appreciation, the real
            interest rate, net interest margins, and interbank loans
            consistent with the causality and econometric analysis,
            which reveal the significance of macroeconomic and
            microeconomic factors. The dramatic increase in these loans
            is largely driven by macroeconomic volatility and reflects
            the vulnerability of undiversified African economies, which
            remain heavily exposed to external shocks. Simulated results
            show that macroeconomic stability and economic growth are
            associated with a declining level of nonperforming loans;
            whereas adverse macroeconomic shocks coupled with higher
            cost of capital and lower interest margins are associated
            with a rising scope of nonperforming loans. These results
            are supported by long-term estimates of nonperforming loans
            derived from pseudo panel-based prediction models.
Labor market distortions in Cote
            d'Ivoire : analyses of employer-employee data from the
            manufacturing sector
The authors investigate the extent and
            nature of distortions in the labor market in the Republic of
            Côte d'Ivoire by using quantile regression analysis on
            employer-employee data from the manufacturing sector. They
            find that the labor markets in Côte d'Ivoire do not
            seem to be much distorted. Unions may influence employment
            through tenure but do not seem to influence wages directly
            except for vulnerable minorities that seem protected by
            unions.  Establishment-size wage effects are pronounced and
            highest for white-collar workers. This may be explained by
            the efficiency wage theory, so that, even in the absence of
            unions, segmentation and inefficiencies will still be
            present as long as firms seek to retain their employees by
            paying wages above the market clearing level. The
            inefficiency arising from establishment-size wage effects
            can be mitigated by education. Furthermore, the authors find
            that the premium to education is highly significantly
            positive only for higher education, and not for basic
            education, indicating that educational policies should also
            focus on higher education.
Sweetening the carrot : motivating
            public physicians for better performance
It is widely observed that many
            physicians working in public health facilities do not put in
            the required effort and time in their jobs. At the same
            time, many public physicians remain highly motivated,
            working long hours for little financial reward, in providing
            quality health services. This mix of provider-types poses
            fundamental challenges in the design of compensation
            mechanisms and monitoring regime in public facilities, where
            the objective of any reward-control paradigm is to improve
            the inoptimal performance of some physicians without
            compromising the effort of those already motivated. This
            paper presents a model to explain shirking behavior among
            public physicians and explores combinations of monitoring
            and incentive mechanisms that meet the twin objectives of
            inspiring the shirkers without losing the motivated. Drawing
            on the basic Shapiro-Stiglitz shirking model and the theory
            of social custom, the paper develops and presents a design
            of incentive structures that consists of punitive monitoring
            systems accompanied by non-pecuniary rewards. The analysis
            shows that intensive monitoring persuades the shirking
            physicians to improve their performance but may have a
            negative effect on the morale of those already motivated.
            The findings indicate that non-pecuniary rewards and
            recognition for the latter can potentially restore the
            incentives and counter the deleterious effect of increased
            supervision. The policy implications are discussed by
            presenting case studies in the health care context of
            developing countries.
Global logistics indicators, supply
            chain metrics, and bilateral trade patterns
Past research into the determinants of
            international trade highlighted the importance of the basic
            spatial gravity model augmented by additional variables
            representing sources of friction. Studies modeled many
            sources of friction using various proxies, including indices
            based on expert judgment in some cases. This paper focuses
            on logistics friction and draws on a data set recently
            compiled by the World Bank with specific quantitative
            metrics of logistics performance in terms of time, cost, and
            variability in time. It finds that the new variables that
            relate directly to logistics performance have a
            statistically significant relationship with the level of
            bilateral trade. It also finds that a single logistics index
            can capture virtually all of the explanatory power of
            multiple logistics indicators. The findings should spur
            public and private agencies that have direct or indirect
            power over logistics performance to focus attention on
            reducing sources of friction so as to improve their
            country's ability to compete in today's global
            economy. Moreover, since the logistics metrics are directly
            related to operational performance, countries can use these
            metrics to target actions to improve logistics and monitor
            their progress.
Innovation and development around
            the world, 1960-2000
The authors present a database of
            indicators of innovative activity around the world since the
            early 1960s. The data include measures of innovation
            outcomes as well as variables related to innovation effort.
            The main indicator of innovation outputs is patents. The
            main variables related to innovation inputs are investment
            in research and development (R&D) and technical
            personnel (engineers, scientists) working in R&D
            activities. The sources of these data are publicly available
            (OECD, UNESCO, etc.), yet there have been few attempts at
            double checking the consistency of these data and digitizing
            observations dating back to the 1960s. After discussing the
            sources and definitions of the data, the authors examine
            trends and patterns of innovation outputs and inputs by
            looking at the over-time behavior of the relevant series and
            comparing the performance of developing and high-income
            countries. They also provide cross-regional comparisons and
            a detailed examination of trends in selected countries. In
            turn, the authors provide estimates of the impact of
            innovation on long-run development by following an emerging
            empirical literature on the determinants of levels of GDP
            per capita. The econometric results suggest that innovation
            might indeed have strong positive effects on long-run
            development, which might be stronger than the direct effects
            of institutions. The analysis pays close attention to issues
            related to the potential endogeneity of innovation (and
            institutions) with respect to the level of development.
Growth trends in the developing
            world : country forecasts and determinants
The authors present real per capita GDP
            growth forecasts for all developing countries for the period
            2005-14. For 55 of these countries, representing major world
            regions and accounting for close to 80 percent of the
            developing world's GDP, they forecast the growth
            effects of the main forces underpinning growth, assuming
            that these evolve following past trends. The authors find
            that for the average developing country the largest growth
            dividend comes from continued improvement in public
            infrastructure, followed by the growth contributions of
            rising secondary school enrollment, trade openness, and
            financial deepening. The joint contribution of these four
            growth determinants to average, annual per capita GDP growth
            in the next decade is estimated to be 1 percentage point.
            Failure to keep improving public infrastructure alone could
            reduce this growth dividend by 50 percent. The forecasted
            growth contributions differ by country qualitatively and quantitatively.
Health effects and pesticide
            perception as determinants of pesticide use : evidence from Bangladesh
In a recent survey of 820 Boro (winter
            rice), potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane, and mango
            farmers in Bangladesh, over 47 percent of farmers were found
            to be overusing pesticides. With only 4 percent of farmers
            formally trained in pesticide use or handling, and over 87
            percent openly admitting to using little or no protective
            measures while applying pesticides, overuse is potentially a
            threatening problem to farmer health as well as the
            environment. To model pesticide overuse, the authors used a
            3-equation, trivariate probit framework, with health effects
            and misperception of pesticide risk as endogenous dummy
            variables. Health effects (the first equation) were found to
            be strictly a function of the amount of pesticides used in
            production, while misperception of pesticide risk (the
            second equation) was determined by health impairments from
            pesticides and the toxicity of chemicals used. Pesticide
            overuse (the third equation) was significantly determined by
            variation in income, farm ownership, the toxicity of
            chemicals used, crop composition, and geographical location.
            The results highlight the necessity for policymakers to
            design effective and targeted outreach programs that deal
            specifically with pesticide risk, safe handling, and
            averting behavior. Ideally, the approach would be
            participatory in nature to address key informational gaps,
            as well as increasing a farmers' awareness retention.
            The results also point to specific crops and locations
            experiencing a higher prevalence of overuse-bean and
            eggplant in general-and overall production in the districts
            of Chapainawabganj, Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore,
            Narshingdi, Rajshahi, and Rangpur. Focusing efforts in these
            crop and geographical areas may have the most measurable
            effects on pesticide overuse.
Pesticide traders' perception
            of health risks : evidence from Bangladesh
As pesticide traders are important
            sources of information about the health impacts of
            pesticides, a crucial understanding of their perception is
            necessary to guide further pesticide information
            dissemination efforts through this channel. To this end, a
            2003 survey of 110 Bangladeshi pesticide traders was
            conducted with questions on the pesticides in stock,
            knowledge and training in pesticide use and handling,
            sources of information, protective measures, and health
            effects. A two-equation bivariate probit model was initially
            estimated for health impairment and trader perception with
            health effects as an endogenous regressor in the perception
            equation. Results indicate that pesticide toxicity, exposure
            in terms of number of years spent in the pesticide business,
            trader's age (experience), and the interaction between
            the most harmful pesticides and training received in
            pesticide use and handling were the significant determinants
            of health impairment status. Risk perception was determined
            by actual health impairment status, pesticide toxicity, the
            average number of hours spent in the shop per day, training,
            and the interaction term between highly toxic substances and
            training. The evidence suggests that the current information
            content may not be effective, and thus training programs
            should be revised with a greater emphasis on health hazards
            and averting behavior.
The creation of the rule of law and
            the legitimacy of property rights : the political and
            economic consequences of a corrupt privatization
How does the lack of legitimacy of
            property rights affect the dynamics of the creation of the
            rule of law? The authors investigate the demand for the rule
            of law in post-communist economies after privatization under
            the assumption that theft is possible, that those who have
            "stolen" assets cannot be fully protected under a
            change in the legal regime toward rule of law, and that the
            number of agents with control rights over assets is large.
            They show that a demand for broadly beneficial legal reform
            may not emerge because the expectation of weak legal
            institutions increases the expected relative return to
            stripping assets, and strippers may gain from a weak and
            corrupt state. The outcome can be inefficient even from the
            narrow perspective of the asset-strippers.
Who cares about relative deprivation
Theories of relative deprivation predict
            negative welfare effects when friends and neighbors become
            better-off. Other theories point to likely positive
            benefits. The authors encompass both views within a single
            model, which motivates their tests using a survey for Malawi
            that collected data on satisfaction with life, own economic
            welfare, and the perceived welfare of friends and neighbors.
            Their methods help address likely biases in past tests found
            in the literature. In marked contrast to research for
            industrial countries, the authors find that relative
            deprivation is generally not a concern for most of their
            sample, although it does appear to matter to the
            comparatively well off. Their results provide a welfarist
            explanation for the priority given to absolute poverty in
            poor countries. The pattern of externalities also suggests
            that there will be too much poverty and inequality in this
            economy, even judged solely from the point of view of
            aggregate efficiency.
Paper walls are easier to tear down
            : passport costs and legal barriers to emigration
Increased attention to the development
            potential of international migration has led to calls for
            greater global cooperation and for industrial countries to
            consider temporary worker programs and other options for
            increasing the number of immigrants admitted. But less
            attention has been devoted to policies that migrant-sending
            countries pursue that impact on the ability of people to
            emigrate under the existing system. This paper documents the
            existence and impact of two such policies: passport costs
            and legal restrictions on emigration. New data collected on
            passport costs in 127 countries reveals enormous variation
            in the cost of a passport from one country to the next. One
            in every 10 countries in the sample is found to have
            passport costs exceeding 10 percent of annual per capita
            income. High passport costs are found to be associated with
            poor governance, especially in terms of the quality of the
            bureaucracy, and with lower levels of migration. Countries
            that place legal restrictions on the rights of women to
            emigrate are also found to have lower migration rates than
            countries with similar income and population levels. These
            findings suggest there is scope for some developing
            countries to receive greater benefits from migration by
            tearing down the paper walls they place around their own citizens.
Trade costs, export development, and
            poverty in Rwanda
For Rwanda, one of the poorest countries
            in the world, trade offers the most effective route for
            substantial poverty reduction. But the poor in Rwanda, most
            of whom are subsistence farmers in rural areas, are
            currently disconnected from markets and commercial
            activities by extremely high transport costs and by severe
            constraints on their ability to shift out of subsistence
            farming. The constraints include lack of access to credit
            and lack of access to information on the skills and
            techniques required to produce commercial crops. The paper
            is based on information from the household survey and a
            recent diagnostic study of constraints to trade in Rwanda.
            It provides a number of indicative simulations that show the
            potential for substantial reductions in poverty from
            initiatives that reduce trade costs, enhance the quality of
            exportable goods, and facilitate movement out of subsistence
            into commercial activities.