rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Innovation Patterns and Their
            Effects on Firm-Level Productivity in South Asia
This paper describes and benchmarks
            innovation activities for a sample of countries in the South
            Asia region, as well as the impact of these activities on
            firm-level productivity. The evidence gathered suggests that
            countries in the South Asia region can be divided into two
            groups, in terms of the magnitude and composition of the
            innovation activities: leaders (Bangladesh and India) and
            laggards (Nepal and Pakistan). Leaders present higher rates
            of innovation activities than laggards and focus more on
            process innovation than product innovation. Differences
            across firms within all countries tend to present similar
            patterns when considering leaders and laggards, with the
            acquisition of knowledge capital (for example, research and
            development investments in equipment, and training) highly
            concentrated in a few firms, and mature, exporter, and
            foreign-owned firms as the most innovative of the region.
            The evidence also suggests a positive impact of innovation
            on productivity, primarily via incremental innovation,
            especially in India.
Estimating Poverty in India without
            Expenditure Data : A Survey-to-Survey Imputation Approach
This paper applies an innovative method
            to estimate poverty in India in the absence of recent
            expenditure data. The method utilizes expenditure data from
            2004-05, 2009-10, and 2011-12 to impute household
            expenditure into a survey of durable goods expenditure
            conducted in 2014-15. At the $1.90 per day international
            poverty line, the preferred model predicts a 2014-15 head-
            count poverty rate of 10 percent in urban areas and 16.4
            percent in rural areas, implying a poverty rate of 14.6
            percent nationally. The implied poverty elasticity with
            respect to growth in per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
            is within the range of past experience, and states with
            higher gross domestic product growth saw greater predicted
            poverty reductions. In validation tests, the model's
            predictions perform comparably to the World Bank's
            current adjustment method when predicting for 2011-12 but
            they are far more accurate when predicting for 2004-05.
            Three alternative specifications give moderately higher
            estimates of poverty. The results indicate that
            survey-to-survey imputation, when feasible, is a preferable
            alternative to the current method used to adjust
            survey-based poverty estimates to later years.
The 2019 Update of the Health Equity
            and Financial Protection Indicators Database : An Overview
This paper outlines changes that have
            been made in the 2019 version of the Health Equity and
            Financial Protection Indicators database. On the financial
            protection side, the changes include an increase in the
            number of indicators from five to 14; revisions to several
            previous data points, reflecting the analysis of new surveys
            (or adaptations thereof); and refinements to the estimation
            of out-of-pocket expenditures. On the health equity side,
            the 2019 database includes 198 more data points than the
            9,733 in the 2018 database, reflecting the addition of 535
            new datapoints, and the dropping of 337 previously included
            data points now considered to be substandard.
Impact of the West African Ebola
            Epidemic on Agricultural Production and Rural Welfare :
            Evidence from Liberia
The 2014-15 Ebola epidemic took a
            devastating human and economic toll on three West African
            countries, of which Liberia was perhaps the hardest hit. The
            pathways through which the crisis affected economic activity
            in these largely agrarian societies remain poorly
            understood. To study these mechanisms in the context of
            rural Liberia, this paper links a geographically
            disaggregated indicator of Ebola disease mortality to
            nationally representative household survey data on
            agricultural production and consumption. The paper finds
            that higher Ebola prevalence (as proxied by local mortality)
            led to greater disruption of group labor mobilization for
            planting and harvest, thereby reducing rice area planted as
            well as rice yields. Household welfare, measured by per
            capita expenditures spanning two points before and after the
            crisis, fell by more in Ebola prevalent areas with more
            intensive rice farming, precisely those areas that were more
            adversely affected by agricultural labor shortages.
Monetary Policy in Fossil Fuel
            Exporters : The Curse of Horizons
This paper examines the role of monetary
            policy in fossil fuel exporters at different horizons. The
            main argument is that central banks in these economies need
            to look beyond the horizon of the business cycle. In the
            short run, (independent) monetary policy should flexibly
            target inflation. In the medium run, central banks need to
            coordinate with fiscal authorities to ensure that monetary
            policy operates around a credible and sustainable fiscal
            anchor. In the long run, central banks should beware of the
            existential threats posed by new risks related to stranded assets.
Diagonal Cumulation and Sourcing Decisions
Products must fulfill predetermined
            rules of origin to be exported under the preferential access
            granted by a free trade area member. In turn, rules of
            cumulation establish which countries' inputs qualify
            when computing the extent of origin of a product. Recent
            literature shows that restrictive rules of origin affect
            sourcing decision by reducing imports of intermediate goods
            from third countries relative to free trade area partners.
            This paper uses the introduction of the Pan-European
            Cumulation System in 1997 to explore the effects of rules of
            cumulation on trade in intermediate goods. The system
            provided the European Union Free Trade Area's
            peripheral partners (''spokes'') the
            possibility of cumulating stages of production from more
            countries to qualify for preferential access to the European
            Union market. Therefore, the system might have altered the
            organization of production in European Union centric value
            chains. The paper estimates a triple
            difference-in-differences specification and exploits
            different control groups. The results show that the effects
            of rules of cumulation on trade in intermediates are larger,
            with the stricter rules of origin applied to the related
            final good. When switching from bilateral to diagonal
            cumulation, the analysis finds a reduction in spokes'
            imports of intermediates from the rest of the world relative
            to those from spoke, reinforcing value chain connections
            within the cumulation zone. The analysis also finds a
            reduction in spokes' imports from the European Union 15
            relative to the rest of the world and the Spokes. The
            findings suggest that the Pan-European Cumulation System
            allowed a reassessment of sourcing decisions: thanks to the
            possibility to cumulate, peripheral countries re-organized
            global value chain links.
Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence
            from India's GQ Highway Network
This paper uses the construction of
            India's Golden Quadrangle central highway network,
            together with comprehensive loan data from the Reserve Bank
            of India, to investigate the interaction between
            infrastructure development and financial sector depth. The
            paper identifies a disproportionate increase in loan count
            and average loan size in districts along the Golden
            Quadrangle highway network, using stringent specifications
            with industry and district fixed effects. The results hold
            in straight-line instrumental variable frameworks and are
            not present in placebo tests with another highway that was
            planned to be upgraded at the same time as Golden Quadrangle
            but subsequently delayed. Importantly, however, the results
            are concentrated in districts with stronger initial
            financial development, suggesting that although financing
            responds to large infrastructure investments and helps spur
            real economic outcomes, initial financial sector development
            might play an important role in determining where real
            activity will grow.
Measuring the Full Extent of Fiscal
            Losses and Gains
Current measures of fiscal
            impoverishment and gains are not consistent with the law of
            diminishing returns. This paper proposes new measures of
            fiscal impoverishment and gains that are consistent with the
            law of diminishing returns, based on a methodology that
            gives more significance to greater income gaps, and more
            importance to the experience of the poorest individuals
            within the fiscal system. The new indicators are
            decomposable and cover the incidence, intensity, and
            severity of fiscal impoverishment and gains. An empirical
            illustration using the 2014 household consumption data
            reveals that, overall, in Niger the fiscal system is
            improving the welfare of the population: only 33.2 percent
            of the population has become poorer due to the fiscal
            system, while the remaining 66.8 percent has become richer
            because of it. Moreover, the mean relative fiscal loss
            (0.014), is 11 percent lower than the mean relative fiscal
            gain (0.126).
Does Rainfall Matter for Economic
            Growth Evidence from Global Sub-National Data (1990-2014
Much micro-econometric evidence suggests
            that precipitation has wide ranging impacts on vital
            economic indicators such as agricultural yields, human
            capital, and even conflict. And yet paradoxically most
            macro-econometric evidence (especially in the climate
            economy literature) finds that precipitation has no robust
            and significant impact on various measures of aggregate
            economic output. This paper argues that spatial aggregation
            of weather at the country level explains this result. The
            paper uses annual subnational gross domestic product data to
            show a concave relationship between precipitation and local
            gross domestic product growth between 1990 and 2014. It then
            demonstrates that when the data are aggregated at larger
            spatial scales, the impact decreases and eventually
            vanishes.  The impact of precipitation on aggregate economic
            activity is predominantly felt in developing countries; it
            is insignificant in developed countries. Agriculture is
            found to be the dominant pathway. The results have
            significant consequences for measuring the economic impacts
            of climate change.
Search for Yield in Large
            International Corporate Bonds : Investor Behavior and Firm Responses
Emerging market corporations have
            significantly increased their borrowing in international
            markets since 2008. This paper shows that this increase was
            driven by large-denomination bond issuances, most of them
            with face value of US$500 million. Large issuances are
            eligible for inclusion in international market indexes,
            which attract institutional investors. Emerging market firms
            were able to cut their cost of funds by roughly 100 basis
            points by issuing large-denomination bonds. Firms face a
            tradeoff: issue large, index-eligible bonds to borrow at a
            lower cost (about 100 basis points) but pay the expense of
            hoarding cash. Because of the "size yield
            discount," many companies issued index-eligible bonds,
            increasing their cash holdings. The willingness to issue
            large bonds and hoard cash was greater for firms in
            countries with high carry trade opportunities. These
            post-2008 behaviors reflected a search for yield by
            institutional investors into higher-risk securities and are
            not apparent in developed economies.
A Framework to Assess Debt
            Sustainability and Fiscal Risks under the Belt and Road Initiative
This paper provides a framework to
            assess the impact of infrastructure investment expected
            under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the debt
            vulnerabilities of countries that are located on BRI
            transport and connectivity corridors in the absence of
            comprehensive and consistent information on investments and
            financing terms. Key assumptions relate to the amount of
            public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt financing and its
            terms, the size and sectoral type of identified BRI
            investment, and the expected impact of growth in the medium
            and long term of that investment. BRI debt financing is
            expected significantly increase PPG debt in a number of
            countries. The paper provides estimates for both the medium
            and the long term. In the medium term, defined as the period
            2019-2023, debt financing of BRI investment is expected to
            be fully disbursed while the full growth impact of BRI
            related infrastructure is not entirely realized. In this
            initial phase, around one-third of assessed BRI-recipient
            countries are estimated to face elevated debt
            vulnerabilities post- BRI, several of which have already
            high debt vulnerabilities. The impact of BRI on public debt
            would improve over the longer term under the assumption of a
            sustained negative interest rate-growth differential and in
            the absence of the materialization of BRI related fiscal
            risks. Still, debt to GDP ratio is expected to remain higher
            in one-third of countries (11 out of 30 with available data).
Full Esteem Ahead Mindset-Oriented
            Business Training in Ethiopia
Is there a mindset gap holding women
            back in business? Can entrepreneurship training instill a
            set of attitudes, behaviors, and strategies that are thought
            to underpin success in business such as motivation,
            perseverance, and self-confidence? This study conducted two
            randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of
            mindset-oriented business trainings on the performance of
            women-owned micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia. The
            trainings were underpinned by psychology with a mission to
            foster self-esteem and entrepreneurial spirit. Despite a
            similar approach, however, the quality of delivery seemed to
            matter as impacts of the trainings on business performance
            were mixed. A key channel for an impact on profits is if the
            training can actually effectuate the mindset change, with
            only one training transferring higher levels of
            entrepreneurial self-efficacy, personal initiative, and
            entrepreneurial locus of control to the women, relative to a
            control group. The study finds suggestive evidence that
            psychological skills and mindset are better inspired by a
            trainer who previously owned a business themselves and
            therefore may have a better understanding of the
            entrepreneurs' specific challenges. The study concludes
            that psychological skills are important for women's
            business success, and these skills can indeed be transferred
            using training, assuming a shared identity match between
            trainer and student. Service delivery appears to be critical
            for inculcating these important skills.
Dollarization Dilemma : Price
            Stability at the Cost of External Competitiveness in Cambodia
Cambodia has recorded both rapid
            economic growth and macroeconomic stability in recent
            decades despite (or thanks to) high levels of dollarization.
            Previous studies on dollarization in Cambodia have largely
            focused on examining its causes and estimating seigniorage
            losses. As an attempt to further explore the effects of
            dollarization in Cambodia, this paper examines its impact on
            the competitiveness of the export sector. The main results,
            based on a vector autoregression estimation of quarterly
            data over 1994Q4-2016Q4, indicate that a positive US
            interest rate shock has a negative impact on Cambodia's
            trade balance with the European Union, its main trading
            partner, as it leads to appreciation of the US dollar.
            Furthermore, this shock also leads to a significant decrease
            in Cambodia's international reserve levels during the
            first two quarters following the shock. The surrendering of
            monetary and exchange rate independence seems to affect the
            competitiveness of the tradable sector negatively as well as
            exacerbate financial sector vulnerability to solvency and
            liquidity risks.
Resilient Infrastructure for
            Thriving Firms : A Review of The Evidence
This review examines the literature on
            the role of infrastructure in determining the productivity
            and competitiveness of firms. It shows that the existing
            evidence base is clear in concluding that reliable and
            high-quality infrastructure is a crucial foundation for
            enabling businesses to thrive. It demonstrates that the
            provision of electricity, transport, water, and
            telecommunications systems increases firm-level
            productivity. It also shows that providing infrastructure
            per se is not enough to boost productivity, unless it offers
            reliable service. Disruptions and irregular service have
            substantial adverse effects on firms, not least due to
            disrupted supply chains, underutilization of production
            capacity, and costly adaptation measures.
Strengthening New Infrastructure
            Assets : A Cost-Benefit Analysis
This paper explores the benefits and the
            costs of strengthening infrastructure assets to make them
            more resilient, reducing the repair costs and infrastructure
            disruptions caused by natural hazards. Strengthening
            infrastructure assets in low- and middle-income countries
            would increase investment needs in power, transport, and
            water and sanitation by between $11 billion and $65 billion
            a year, i.e. 3 percent of baseline infrastructure investment
            needs. The uncertainty pertaining to the costs and benefits
            of infrastructure resilience makes it difficult to provide a
            single estimate for the benefit-cost ratio of strengthening
            exposed infrastructure assets. To manage this uncertainty,
            this paper explores the benefit-cost ratio in 3,000
            scenarios, combining uncertainties in all parameters of the
            analysis. The benefit-cost ratio is higher than 1 in 96
            percent of the scenarios, larger than 2 in 77 percent of
            them, and higher than 4 in half of them. The net present
            value of these investments over the lifetime of new
            infrastructure assets -- or, equivalently, the cost of
            inaction -- exceeds $2 trillion in 75 percent of the
            scenarios and $4.2 trillion in half of them. Moreover,
            climate change makes the strengthening of infrastructure
            assets even more important, doubling the median benefit-cost ratio.
Candle in The Wind Energy System
            Resilience to Natural Shocks
This study finds that natural shocks --
            storms in particular -- are a significant and often leading
            cause for power supply disruptions. This finding is based on
            20 years of high frequency (i.e. daily) data on power
            outages and climate variables in 28 countries -- Bangladesh,
            the United States and 26 European countries. More
            specifically: (1) Natural shocks are the most important
            cause of power outages in developed economies. On average,
            they account for more than 50 of annual outage duration in
            both the US and Europe. In contrast, natural shocks are
            responsible for a small share of outages in Bangladesh,
            where disruptions occur on a daily basis for a variety of
            reasons. (2) Outages due to natural shocks are found to last
            significantly longer than those due to non-natural shocks in
            -- e.g. more than 4.5 times in Europe. Reasons include the
            challenge of locating wide-spread damages, and the sustained
            duration of storms. (3) Several factors can reinforce the
            adverse effect of natural shocks on power supply. In the US,
            forest cover is shown to significantly increase the risk of
            power outages when storms occur. (4) There are significant
            differences in network fragility. For instance, wind speeds
            above 35 km/h are found to be 12 times more likely to cause
            an outage in Bangladesh than in the US. This difference may
            be explained by a range of factors, including investments in
            infrastructure resilience and maintenance.