rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Telecommunications performance,
            reforms, and governance
The authors assess the effects of
            private capital and independent regulatory agencies on
            telecommunications performance by using cross-country panel
            data from 1990 to 2003. In general, they find that having
            independent regulatory agencies positively affects
            affordability and labor productivity, but negatively affects
            quality. Having private capital positively affects access,
            quality, and labor productivity, but negatively affects
            affordability. However, reform policies affect industrial
            and developing countries differently in some cases. The
            authors also find that governance plays an important role as
            it affects performance and interacts with reform policies.
Financial performance and outreach :
            a global analysis of leading microbanks
Microfinance contracts have proven able
            to secure high rates of loan repayment in the face of
            limited liability and information asymmetries, but high
            repayment rates have not translated easily into profits for
            most microbanks. Profitability, though, is at the heart of
            the promise that microfinance can deliver poverty reduction
            while not relying on ongoing subsidy. The authors examine
            why this promise remains unmet for most institutions. Using
            a data set with unusually high quality financial information
            on 124 institutions in 49 countries, they explore the
            patterns of profitability, loan repayment, and cost
            reduction. The authors find that institutional design and
            orientation matter substantially. Lenders that do not use
            group-based methods to overcome incentive problems
            experience weaker portfolio quality and lower profit rates
            when interest rates are raised substantially. For these
            individual-based lenders, one key to achieving profitability
            is investing more heavily in staff costs-a finding
            consistent with the economics of information but contrary to
            the conventional wisdom that profitability is largely a
            function of minimizing cost.
Can guest worker schemes reduce
            illegal migration
The authors analyze recent efforts at
            international cooperation to limit illegal migration,
            particularly through the use of legal migration avenues like
            guest worker schemes. They show that while guest worker
            schemes may be desirable as an avenue of international
            migration, they are an inefficient instrument to induce
            cooperation on illegal migration. On the one hand, guest
            worker schemes suffer from a negative selection problem
            relative to illegal migration, which tends to erode their
            attractiveness to source countries. On the other hand, guest
            worker schemes increase total (legal and illegal) migration
            which make them a costly compensating device for the host
            country. Moreover, guest worker schemes create additional
            pressure on host countries to implement tough laws against
            illegal immigration even when the host finds such laws
            undesirable. Thus, less favorable treatment of illegal
            immigrants, as in California Proposition 187, may be an
            inevitable rather than incidental outcome of reliance on
            guest worker schemes. In contrast, countries that are
            willing to use transfers and other forms of economic
            assistance to induce source countries to cooperate can
            afford relatively liberal treatment of illegal immigrants.
Forecasting investment needs in
            South Africa's electricity and telecommunications sectors
The authors use a panel-data set for the
            period 1980-2002 to estimate demand for electricity and
            telecommunications services and project investment needs in
            South Africa through 2010 for two growth scenarios.
            Projections of average annual investment needs in
            electricity and telecommunications for the current growth
            scenario (3.6 percent a year) are of the order of 0.2
            percent and 0.75 percent of GDP, respectively.  An
            alternative, accelerated growth scenario (6 percent a year)
            implies approximate doubling of investment needs in these sectors.
Exploring the linkages between
            poverty, marine protected area management, and the use of
            destructive fishing gear in Tanzania
Coastal resources in Tanzania have come
            under increasing pressure over the past three decades, which
            has led to a significant decline in the biodiversity and
            productivity of coastal ecosystems. The livelihoods of
            coastal communities that directly depend on these resources
            are consequently under increasing threat and vulnerability.
            Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one tool for managing
            coastal and marine resources that have been increasingly
            used in Tanzania. Promotion of alternative income generating
            activities (AIGAs) is often a component of MPA management
            strategies to reduce fishing pressure and address poverty
            concerns. However, empirical evidence on whether these AIGAs
            are successful in reducing pressure on fisheries, or their
            impact on poverty, is scarce and inconclusive. This paper
            seeks to contribute to this debate by investigating the
            linkages between household characteristics, MPA activities,
            and household choice of fishing gear. The empirical analysis
            is based on household survey data from a sample of villages
            located along the coast of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
            The author finds that some aspects of poverty increase the
            likelihood of using destructive fishing gear. MPAs do not
            directly affect household choice of fishing gear. However,
            households participating in AIGAs are less likely to use
            destructive fishing gear, suggesting that MPA support to
            these activities in Tanzania has a positive influence on
            household choice of fishing gear. The author also finds the
            use of destructive fishing gear is associated with higher
            consumption levels, whereas participation in AIGAs does not
            significantly affect household consumption levels.
Structural change and poverty
            reduction in Brazil : the impact of the Doha Round
Over the medium time horizon, skill
            upgrading, differentials in sectoral technological progress,
            and migration of labor out of farming activities are some of
            the major structural adjustment factors shaping the
            evolution of an economy and its connected poverty trends.
            The main focus of the authors is understanding, for the case
            of Brazil, how a trade shock interacts with these structural
            forces and ascertaining whether it enhances or hinders
            medium-term poverty reduction. In particular, they consider
            the interactions between the migration of labor out of
            agriculture, a potentially important poverty reduction
            factor, and trade liberalization, which increases the price
            incentives to stay in agriculture. A recursive-dynamic
            computable general equilibrium model simulates Doha
            scenarios and compares them against a business as usual
            scenario. The authors estimate the poverty effects using a
            microsimulation model that primarily takes into account
            individuals' labor supply decisions. Their analysis
            shows that trade liberalization does contribute to
            structural poverty reduction. But unless increased
            productivity and stronger growth rates are attributed to
            trade reform, its contribution to medium-term poverty
            reduction is rather small.
The urban unbanked in Mexico and the
            United States
This paper examines the ways in which
            lower-income households obtain basic financial services in
            urban communities in Mexico and the United States. And it
            discusses the efforts that private sector and government
            organizations are making to lower the cost or improve the
            quality of those services. The paper summarizes available
            information on these issues and assesses the rationale and
            challenges facing the strategies that both countries are
            using to improve the financial services available to
            lower-income households, giving particular attention to
            "unbanked" households, meaning households that do
            not have deposit accounts with any regulated deposit-taking
            institution, and also to lower-income households in large
            urban areas.  In comparing the experiences of the two
            countries, the paper reviews the extent to which
            lower-income households are unbanked, their use of non-bank
            financial services, and strategies for improving financial
            services to the unbanked. The underlying differences between
            the countries' typical household incomes-national
            income per capita in Mexico in 2002 was US$8,540, compared
            with $35,060 in the United States (World Bank 2003)-may also
            influence the difference in percentage of unbanked-9.1
            percent of families in the United States compared with 76.4
            percent found in a recent study in Mexico City.
Trade, inequality, and the political
            economy of institutions
The authors analyze the relationship
            between international trade and the quality of economic
            institutions such as contract enforcement, rule of law, or
            property rights. The literature on institutions has argued,
            both empirically and theoretically, that larger firms care
            less about good institutions and that higher inequality
            leads to worse institutions. Recent literature on
            international trade enables the authors to analyze economies
            with heterogeneous firms, and argue that trade opening leads
            to a reallocation of production in which large firms grow
            larger, while small firms become smaller or disappear.
            Combining these two strands of literature, the authors build
            a model that has two key features. First, preferences over
            institutional quality differ across firms and depend on firm
            size. Second, institutional quality is endogenously
            determined in a political economy framework. They show that
            trade opening can worsen institutions when it increases the
            political power of a small elite of large exporters that
            prefer to maintain bad institutions. The detrimental effect
            of trade on institutions is most likely to occur when a
            small country captures a sufficiently large share of world
            exports in sectors characterized by economic profits.
The impact of regional trade
            agreements and trade facilitation in the Middle East and
            North Africa region
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
            region's trade performance over the past two decades
            has been disappointing. Efforts to boost trade through a
            plethora of regional trade agreements (RTAs) are underway.
            This study examines the potential contribution of regional
            trade agreements, as well as trade facilitation
            improvements, in enhancing the development prospects of the
            region. Using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model
            and database, both intra-regional integration and
            integration with the European Union are observed to have a
            favorable impact on welfare in the MENA region. The welfare
            gains from integrating with the European Union are observed
            to be at least twice as much as intra-regional integration.
            Furthermore, these welfare gains are observed to at least
            triple when the implementation of the RTAs is complemented
            with trade facilitation improvements.
Access to financial services in
            Colombia : the "unbanked" in Bogota
The authors look at the depth of the
            financial sector in Bogota in terms of the "financial
            exclusion" of those, particularly poorer citizens, who
            operate without accounts in formal financial
            institutions-the unbanked. They begin with a review of the
            overall decline in financial intermediation from 1998 to
            2003, which explains, in part, the high percentage of
            unbanked-61 percent in a recent household survey in Bogota.
            The authors next look at the banking system today,
            concluding that the present challenge is to increase
            financial intermediation overall, especially with the poor.
            Their analysis shows that Colombia's banks provide
            costly services mainly catered toward high-income clients.
            Existing fees and costs of checking, savings, and loan
            services average 5-10 percent of a monthly minimum wage,
            making them hard to afford for low-income clients. The
            authors also explore the characteristics and impacts of
            financial exclusion associated with lower and more uncertain
            incomes, lower education, and closer links to the informal
            sector. They cite the household survey conducted in Bogota,
            showing that 70 percent of the unbanked earn less than one
            minimum wage per month, are three times more likely to be
            unemployed than the banked, and have lower education levels.
            The unbanked save and borrow largely in the informal sector,
            at greater risk and greater cost. At the same time, however,
            high home ownership rates show that the unbanked have the
            capacity to build assets, demonstrating that they have
            "bankable" characteristics. The authors conclude
            with recommendations for government and for the financial
            sector to broaden access for the benefit of public and
            private sectors, and for the unbanked.
Access to financial services in
            Colombia : the "unbanked" in Bogota
WPS3834

# **Access to Financial Services in Colombia**

## The “Unbanked” in Bogotá

_Tova Maria Solo and Astrid Manroth_<sup>_*_</sup>

### World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3834, February 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._

**.**

> * Tova Maria Solo is a Senior Urban Specialist in the Urban and Water Group of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region and.  Astrid Manroth was a Young Professional in the Finance Group of the Latin America and the Caribbean region of the World Bank at the time this report was written. Questions and comments on this report should be addressed to Tsolo@worldbank.org
Remittances and poverty in Ghana
The author uses a large, nationally
            representative household survey to analyze the impact of
            internal remittances (from Ghana) and international
            remittances (from African and other countries) on poverty in
            Ghana. With only one exception, he finds that both types of
            remittances reduce the level, depth, and severity of poverty
            in Ghana. But the size of the poverty reduction depends on
            how poverty is being measured. The author finds that poverty
            is reduced more when international, as opposed to internal,
            remittances are included in household income, and when
            poverty is measured by the more sensitive poverty
            measures-poverty gap and squared poverty gap. For example,
            the squared poverty gap measure shows that including
            international remittances in household expenditure (income)
            reduces the severity of poverty by 34.8 percent, while
            including internal remittances in such income reduces the
            severity of poverty by only 4.1 percent. International
            remittances reduce the severity of poverty more than
            internal remittances because of the differential impact of
            these two types of remittances on poor households.
            Households in the poorest decile group receive 22.7 percent
            of their total household expenditure (income) from
            international remittances, as opposed to only 13.8 percent
            of such income from internal remittances. When these
            "poorest of the poor" households receive
            international remittances, their income status changes
            dramatically and this in turn has a large effect on any
            poverty measure-like the squared poverty gap-that considers
            both the number and distance of poor households beneath the
            poverty line.
The case for industrial policy : a
            critical survey
What are the underlying rationales for
            industrial policy? Does empirical evidence support the use
            of industrial policy for correcting market failures that
            plague the process of industrialization? To address these
            questions, the authors provide a critical survey of the
            analytical literature on industrial policy. They also review
            some recent industry successes and argue that only a limited
            role was played by public interventions. Moreover, the
            recent ascendance of international industrial networks,
            which dominate the sectors in which less developed countries
            have in the past had considerable success, implies a further
            limitation on the potential role of industrial policies as
            traditionally understood. Overall, there appears to be
            little empirical support for an activist government policy
            even though market failures exist that can, in principle,
            justify the use of industrial policy.
Estimating trade restrictiveness indices
The objective of this paper is to
            provide indicators of trade restrictiveness that include
            both measures of tariff and nontariff barriers for 91
            developing and industrial countries. For each country, the
            authors estimate three trade restrictiveness indices. The
            first one summarizes the degree of trade distortions that
            each country imposes on itself through its own trade
            policies. The second one focuses on the trade distortions
            imposed by each country on its import bundle. The last index
            focuses on market access and summarizes the trade
            distortions imposed by the rest of the world on each
            country's export bundle. All indices are estimated for
            the broad aggregates of manufacturing and agriculture
            products. Results suggest that poor countries (and those
            with the highest poverty headcount) tend to be more
            restrictive, but they also face the highest trade barriers
            on their export bundle. This is partly explained by the fact
            that agriculture protection is generally larger than
            manufacturing protection. Nontariff barriers contribute more
            than 70 percent on average to world protection, underlying
            their importance for any study on trade protection.
Regional subsidies and industrial
            prospects of lagging regions
Large and sustained differences in
            economic performance across regions of developing countries
            have long provided motivation for fiscal incentives designed
            to encourage firm entry in lagging areas. But empirical
            evidence in support of these policies has been weak at best.
            The authors undertake a direct evaluation of the most
            prominent fiscal incentive policy in Brazil, the Fundos
            Constitucionais de Financiamento (Constitutional Funds). In
            doing so, they exploit valuable features of the Brazilian
            Ministry of Labor's RAIS data set to address two
            important elements of firm location decisions that have the
            potential to bias an assessment of the funds: (1) firm
            "family structure" (in particular, proximity to
            headquarters for vertically integrated firms), and (2)
            unobserved spatial heterogeneity (with the potential to
            confound the effects of the funds). The authors find that
            the pull of firm headquarters is very strong relative to the
            constitutional funds for vertically integrated firms, but
            that, with nonparametric controls for time invariant spatial
            heterogeneity, the funds provide significant incentives for
            firms in many of the targeted industries.
Access to finance by Chilean corporations
The author assesses the extent to which
            Chilean firms have access to sufficient and adequate sources
            of funds. Access to finance has become an important issue
            for policymakers in Latin America. Small and medium
            enterprises (SMEs), in particular, complain that their lack
            of access to adequate sources of financing is an obstacle to
            their growth. Chile represents an interesting case study
            since it has one of the most developed financial markets in
            the continent, and thus great potential for using products
            suited to the needs and risk characteristics of SMEs. The
            author concludes that the largest firms have access to the
            whole range of financial instruments available in Chile. All
            smaller firms face financing constraints. She then analyzes
            the obstacles to downsizing access to the capital market and
            further increasing the penetration of banks in smaller segments.
The return to firm investment in
            human capital
In this paper the authors estimate the
            rate of return to firm investments in human capital in the
            form of formal job training. They use a panel of large firms
            with unusually detailed information on the duration of
            training, the direct costs of training, and several firm
            characteristics such as their output, workforce
            characteristics, and capital stock. Their estimates of the
            return to training vary substantially across firms. On
            average it is -7 percent for firms not providing training
            and 24 percent for those providing training. Formal job
            training is a good investment for many firms and the
            economy, possibly yielding higher returns than either
            investments in physical capital or investments in schooling.
            In spite of this, observed amounts of formal training are small.