rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
What makes cities more competitive
            spatial determinants of entrepreneurship in India
Policy makers in both developed and
            developing countries want to make cities more competitive,
            attract entreprepreneurs, boost economic growth, and promote
            job creation. The authors examine the spatial location of
            entrepreneurs in India in manufacturing and services
            sectors, as well as in the formal and informal sectors, in
            630 districts spread across 35 states/union territories.
            They quantify entrepreneurship as young firms that are less
            than three years old, and define entry measures through
            employment in these new establishments. They develop metrics
            that unite the incumbent industrial structures of districts
            with the extent to which industries interact through the
            traditional agglomeration channels. The two most consistent
            factors that predict overall entrepreneurship for a district
            are its education and the quality of local physical
            infrastructure. These patterns are true for manufacturing
            and services. These relationships are much stronger in India
            than those found for the United States. The authors also
            find strong evidence of agglomeration economies in
            India's manufacturing sector. This influence is through
            both traditional Marshallian economies like a suitable labor
            force and proximity to customers and through the Chinitz
            effect that emphasizes small suppliers. India's
            footprints in structural transformation, urbanization, and
            manufacturing sector are still at an early stage.  At such
            an early point and with industrial structures not yet
            entrenched, local policies and traits can have profound and
            lasting impacts by shaping where industries plant their roots.
Migration and the transition to
            adulthood in contemporary Malawi
In many African countries, the timing of
            important life events -- such as school-leaving, first
            marriage, and entry into the labor market -- is thought to
            be strongly tied to migration. This paper investigates the
            relationship between major life events, household
            characteristics, and migration among adolescents and young
            adults in contemporary Malawi. The specific research
            questions are twofold. First, what are the socio-economic
            and demographic determinants of migration? Second, how do
            school attendance, first marriage, and employment-seeking
            relate to migration patterns? The study uses panel data
            collected from a survey designed specifically to explore
            socioeconomic and demographic aspects of youth transitions
            to adulthood and which tracked respondents as they moved to
            new dwellings. Among the sample, they find that moves are
            not uncommon, and the predominant reasons for moves are
            non-economic. Although historically ethnic traditions in
            this area have held that girls and women usually did not
            move upon marrying, the data show that women were more
            likely to move between survey rounds than boys and men, and
            that marriage was the main reason for doing so. Closer ties
            to the head of the household are associated with less
            movement for both women and men.
Evidence-based implementation
            efficiency analysis of the HIV/AIDS national response in Colombia
This study on the implementation
            efficiency of the HIV/AIDS national response in Colombia
            seeks to examine how it has been implemented -- whether it
            has been done according to the available evidence about the
            epidemic and as the response was originally planned. The
            study approaches three specific dimensions of implementation
            efficiency: (i) programmatic; (ii) budgetary; and (iii)
            service delivery. The study uses a range of research
            techniques, including: (i) documentary analysis of key
            policies, official publications and reports; (ii)
            semi-structured interviews with representatives of the
            central government and territorial entities, international
            and community-based organizations, insurers, care providers,
            etc.; and (iii) case-study analysis to visualize the ways in
            which people are cared for in practice. The available data
            suggest that the HIV/AIDS response is succeeding in keeping
            the prevalence low and the epidemic concentrated. In recent
            years, the level of health coverage has increased and the
            quality of care services has improved. The identified
            problems in service delivery (mostly related to coverage and
            access) are linked to system fragmentation and integration,
            and to the nature of the coordination mechanisms, both at
            the national and the territorial level. The effectiveness of
            the response would benefit from re-energized leadership at
            both the national and local levels -- articulated through
            the existing programmatic framework and coordinating
            mechanisms. The complexity of the system and the lack of
            budgetary and expenditure information have impeded the
            evaluation of the budgetary efficiency of the HIV/AIDS response.
What are we learning from business
            training and entrepreneurship evaluations around the
            developing world
Business training programs are a popular
            policy option to try to improve the performance of
            enterprises around the world. The last few years have seen
            rapid growth in the number of evaluations of these programs
            in developing countries. This paper undertakes a critical
            review of these studies with the goal of synthesizing the
            emerging lessons and understanding the limitations of the
            existing research and the areas in which more work is
            needed. It finds that there is substantial heterogeneity in
            the length, content, and types of firms participating in the
            training programs evaluated. Many evaluations suffer from
            low statistical power, measure impacts only within a year of
            training, and experience problems with survey attrition and
            measurement of firm profits and revenues. Over these short
            time horizons, there are relatively modest impacts of
            training on survivorship of existing firms, but stronger
            evidence that training programs help prospective owners
            launch new businesses more quickly. Most studies find that
            existing firm owners implement some of the practices taught
            in training, but the magnitudes of these improvements in
            practices are often relatively modest. Few studies find
            significant impacts on profits or sales, although a couple
            of the studies with more statistical power have done so.
            Some studies have also found benefits to microfinance
            organizations of offering training. To date there is little
            evidence to help guide policymakers as to whether any
            impacts found come from trained firms competing away sales
            from other businesses versus through productivity
            improvements, and little evidence to guide the development
            of the provision of training at market prices. The paper
            concludes by summarizing some directions and key questions
            for future studies.
Distortions to agriculture and
            economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
To what extent has Sub-Saharan
            Africa's slow economic growth over the past five
            decades been due to price and trade policies that
            discouraged production of agricultural relative to
            non-agricultural tradables? This paper uses a new set of
            estimates of policy induced distortions to relative
            agricultural prices to address this question
            econometrically. First, the authors test if these policy
            distortions respond to economic growth, using rainfall and
            international commodity price shocks as instrumental
            variables. They find that on impact there is no significant
            response of relative agricultural price distortions to
            changes in real GDP per capita growth. Then, the authors
            test the reverse proposition and find a statistically
            significant and sizable negative effect of relative
            agricultural price distortions on the growth rate of
            Sub-Saharan African countries. The fixed effects estimates
            yield that, during the 1960-2005 period, a ten percentage
            points increase in distortions to relative agricultural
            prices decreased the region's real GDP per capita
            growth rate by about half a percentage point per annum.
India's economic growth and
            environmental sustainability : what are the tradeoffs
One of the key environmental problems
            facing India is that of particle pollution from the
            combustion of fossil fuels. This has serious health
            consequences and with the rapid growth in the economy these
            impacts are increasing. At the same time, economic growth is
            an imperative and policy makers are concerned about the
            possibility that pollution reduction measures could reduce
            growth significantly. This paper addresses the tradeoffs
            involved in controlling local pollutants such as particles.
            Using an established Computable General Equilibrium model,
            it evaluates the impacts of a tax on coal or on emissions of
            particles such that these instruments result in emission
            levels that are respectively 10 percent and 30 percent lower
            than they otherwise would be in 2030. The main findings are
            as follows: (i) A 10 percent particulate emission reduction
            results in a lower gross domestic product but the size of
            the reduction is modest; (ii) losses in gross domestic
            proudct from the tax are partly offset by the health gains
            from lower particle emissions; (iii) the taxes reduce
            emissions of carbon dioxide by about 590 million tons in
            2030 in the case of the 10 percent reduction and 830 million
            tons in the case of the 30 percent reduction; and (iv) taken
            together, the carbon dioxide reduction and the health
            benefits are greater than the loss of gross domestic product
            in both cases.
How firms use domestic and
            international corporate bond markets
This paper provides the first
            comprehensive documentation of how firms use domestic and
            international corporate bond markets. Debt issues in
            domestic and international markets have different
            characteristics, not explained by differences across firms
            or countries. International issues tend to be larger, of
            shorter maturity, denominated in foreign currency, include
            more fixed rate contracts, and entail lower yields. These
            patterns remain when analyzing issues by firms from
            countries with more developed domestic markets and higher
            financial integration, and even when comparing issues
            conducted by the same firm in different markets. These
            findings are consistent with the views that (1) frictions
            limit the ability of investors and firms to enter into
            certain contracts in certain markets, (2) domestic and
            international markets provide distinct financial services
            and firms use them as complements, and (3) firms with access
            to domestic and international markets enjoy advantages
            relative to those that rely solely on domestic markets.
Middle-income growth traps
This paper studies the existence of
            middle-income growth traps in a two-period overlapping
            generations model of economic growth with two types of labor
            and endogenous occupational choices. It also distinguishes
            between "basic" and "advanced"
            infrastructure, with the latter promoting design activities,
            and accounts for a knowledge network externality associated
            with product diversification. Multiple steady-state
            equilibria may emerge, one of them taking the form of a
            low-growth trap characterized by low productivity growth and
            a misallocation of talent -- defined as a relatively low
            share of high-ability workers in design activities. Improved
            access to advanced infrastructure may help escape from that
            trap. The implications of other public policies, including
            the protection of property rights and labor market reforms,
            are also discussed.
Assessing the investment climate for
            climate investments : a comparative framework for clean
            energy investments in South Asia in a global context
One of the strong messages that came out
            of the recent United Nations Climate Change conference in
            Durban was that the private sector has to play an important
            role if we are to globally move toward a low carbon, climate
            resilient -- or "climate compatible" -- future.
            However, private investment will only flow at the scale and
            pace necessary if it is supported by clear, credible, and
            long-term policy frameworks that shift the risk-reward
            balance in favor of less carbon-intensive investment. The
            private sector also needs information on where to invest in
            clean energy in emerging markets, and it needs policy
            support to lower investment risk. Barriers to low carbon
            investments often include unclear and inconsistent energy
            policies, monopoly structures for existing producers,
            stronger incentives for conventional energy than clean
            energy, and a domestic financial sector not experienced in
            new technologies. With the long-term goal of promoting and
            accelerating the implementation of climate mitigation
            technologies, this study aims to facilitate development of a
            policy framework for promoting sustainable investment
            climates for clean energy investments in South Asia and
            elsewhere. A key aspect of the study is also the pilot
            construction of the Climate Investment Readiness Index for
            several countries. The index is a tool to objectively
            evaluate the enabling environment for supporting private
            sector investment in select climate mitigation or low carbon technologies.
Demand-side financing for sexual and
            reproductive health services in low and middle-income
            countries : a review of the evidence
Demand-side financing approaches have
            been introduced in a number of low and middle-income
            countries, with a particular emphasis on sexual and
            reproductive health. This paper aims to bring together the
            global evidence on demand-side financing mechanisms, their
            impact on the delivery of sexual and reproductive health
            services, and the conditions under which they have been
            effective. The paper begins with a discussion of modalities
            for demand-side financing. It then examines 13 existing
            schemes, including cash incentives, vouchers, and longer
            term social protection policies. Based on the available
            literature, it collates evidence of their impact on
            utilization of services, access for the poor, financial
            protection, quality of care, and health outcomes. Evidence
            on costs and cost-effectiveness are examined, along with
            analysis of funding and sustainability of policies. Finally,
            the paper discusses the preconditions for effectiveness of
            demand-side financing schemes and the strengths and
            weaknesses of different approaches. It also highlights the
            extent to which results for sexual and reproductive health
            services are likely to be generalizable to other types of
            health care. It is clear that some of these policies can
            produce impressive results, if the preconditions for
            effectiveness outlined are met. However, relatively few
            demand-side financing schemes have benefited from robust
            evaluation. Investigation of the impact on financial
            protection, equity, and health outcomes has been limited.
            Most importantly, cost effectiveness and the relative cost
            effectiveness of demand-side financing in relation to other
            strategies for achieving similar goals have not been assessed.
Weather and child health in rural Nigeria
The effect of weather shocks on
            children's anthropometrics is investigated using the
            two most recent rounds of the Nigeria Demographic and Health
            Survey. For this purpose, climate data for each survey
            cluster are interpolated using daily weather-station records
            from the national network. The findings reveal that rainfall
            shocks have a statistically significant and robust impact on
            child health in the short run for both weight-for-height and
            height-for-age, and the incidence of diarrhea. The impacts
            of weather shocks on health are of considerable magnitude;
            however, children seem to catch up with their cohort rapidly
            after experiencing a shock. The paper does not find any
            evidence of nonlinear impacts of weather variability on
            children's health, suggesting that a moderate increase
            in future rainfall variability is not likely to bring
            additional health costs. Finally, it appears that the impact
            of these shocks is the same for young boys and girls, which
            suggests that there is no gender-based discrimination in the
            allocation of resources within households.
Conditional cash transfers,
            political participation, and voting behavior
This paper estimates the effect of
            enrollment in a large scale anti-poverty program in
            Colombia, Familias en Accion, on intent to vote, turnout and
            electoral choice. For identification the analysis uses
            discontinuities in program eligibility and variation in
            program enrollment across voting booths. It finds that
            Familias en Accion had a positive effect on political
            participation in the 2010 presidential elections by
            increasing the probability that program beneficiaries
            registered to vote and cast a ballot, particularly among
            women. Regarding voter's choice, the authors find that
            program participants expressed a stronger preference for the
            official party that implemented and expanded the program.
            Overall, the findings show that voters respond to targeted
            transfers and that these transfers can foster support for
            incumbents, thus making the case for designing political and
            legislative mechanisms, as the laws recently passed by the
            Colombian government, that avoid successful anti-poverty
            schemes from being captured by political patronage.
Poverty in Mozambique : new evidence
            from recent household surveys
This paper has three primary objectives:
            (i) to investigate potential problems regarding
            Mozambique's most recent nationally representative
            household survey on poverty dynamics; (ii) to assess the
            robustness and reliability of official poverty statistics;
            and (iii) to provide alternative estimates of poverty and
            welfare indicators in light of the methodological and
            analytical issues raised in areas (i) and (ii). It is
            determined that at least two significant weaknesses affect
            the official poverty-rate estimates: measurement errors in
            consumption data and flaws in the methodology used to
            calculate poverty lines (the cost-of-basic-needs approach
            based on provincial food bundles with entropy correction). A
            number of observations appear to be affected by substantial
            measurement errors, which severely distort the official
            poverty statistics. The paper provides methods to correct
            the consumption distribution by recalculating poverty lines
            based on a single national food basket -- as opposed to the
            current estimates, which are based on province-specific food
            baskets. The revised poverty statistics differ considerably
            from the official estimates of poverty across provinces and
            are far more consistent with other poverty indicators. In
            addition, poverty appears to be highly concentrated in
            certain areas, with dramatically higher rates found in
            Central and Northern Mozambique, as well as in rural areas
            overall, compared with relatively low rates in Southern
            Mozambique and in the country's urban centers. These
            findings substantially contradict the government's
            official poverty figures, which appear to systematically
            overestimate poverty rates in Mozambique's Southern
            provinces and urban areas while simultaneously
            underestimating the prevalence of poverty in the
            country's Central and Northern regions and in rural
            areas nationwide.
Sovereign defaults and
            expropriations : empirical regularities
This paper uses a large cross-country
            dataset to empirically examine factors associated with
            sovereign defaults on external private creditors and
            expropriation of foreign direct investments in developing
            countries since the 1970s. In the long run, sovereign
            defaults and expropriations are likely to occur in the same
            countries. In the short run, however, these events are
            uncorrelated. Defaults are more likely to occur following
            periods of rapid debt accumulation, when growth is low, and
            in countries with weak policy performance, and defaults are
            not strongly persistent over time. In contrast,
            expropriations are not systematically related to the level
            of foreign direct investment, to growth, or to policy
            performance. Expropriations are however less likely under
            right-wing governments, and are strongly persistent over
            time. There is also little evidence that a history of recent
            defaults is associated with expropriations, and vice versa.
            The paper discusses the implications of these findings for
            models that emphasize retaliation as means for sustaining
            sovereign borrowing and foreign investment in equilibrium,
            as well as the implications for political risk insurance
            against the two types of events.