rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the economic impacts
            of climate change on agriculture in Zimbabwe : a ricardian approach
This study uses the Ricardian approach
            to examine the economic impact of climate change on
            agriculture in Zimbabwe. Net farm revenue is regressed
            against various climate, soil, hydrological and
            socio-economic variables to help determine the factors that
            influence variability in net farm revenues. The study is
            based on data from a survey of 700 smallholder farming
            households interviewed across the country. The empirical
            results show that climatic variables (temperature and
            precipitation) have significant effects on net farm revenues
            in Zimbabwe. In addition to the analysis of all farms, the
            study also analyzes the effects on dryland farms and farms
            with irrigation. The analysis indicates that net farm
            revenues are affected negatively by increases in temperature
            and positively by increases in precipitation. The results
            from sensitivity analysis suggest that agricultural
            production in Zimbabwe's smallholder farming system is
            significantly constrained by climatic factors (high
            temperature and low rainfall). The elasticity results show
            that the changes in net revenue are high for dryland farming
            compared to farms with irrigation. The results show that
            farms with irrigation are more resistant to changes in
            climate, indicating that irrigation is an important
            adaptation option to help reduce the impact of further
            changes in climate. An overview of farmer adaptation to
            changing climate indicates that farmers are already using
            some adaptation strategies-such as dry and early planting,
            growing drought resistant crops, changing planting dates,
            and using irrigation-to cushion themselves against further
            anticipated adverse climatic conditions. An important policy
            message from the empirical findings is that there is a need
            to provide adequate extension information services to ensure
            that farmers receive up-to-date information about rainfall
            patterns in the forthcoming season so that they make
            well-informed decisions on their planting dates. Policies
            that increase farmer training and access to credit and aid
            facilities and help farmers acquire livestock and other
            important farm assets can help improve net farm performance.
            Ensuring the availability and accessibility of fertilizers
            and crop seeds before the onset of the next cropping season
            can also significantly improve net farm performance across households.
Assessing the economic impacts of
            climate change on agriculture in Egypt : a ricardian approach
This study employed the Ricardian
            approach to measure the economic impacts of climate change
            on farm net revenue in Egypt. Farm net revenue were
            regressed against climate, soil, socioeconomic and
            hydrological variables to determine which factors influence
            the variability of farm net revenues. 900 households from 20
            governorates were interviewed. The standard Ricardian model
            was applied, in addition to three other models, each
            representing an adaptation option that could be used to
            reduce the harmful effects of temperature stress. A further
            adaptation strategy was tested: raising livestock on the
            farm to cope with the harmful effects of climate change.
            Besides this, the effects of two climate change scenarios
            (using MAGICC/SCENGEN and GCMs-General Circulation Models)
            were considered. The results from the two climate change
            scenarios showed that high temperatures will constrain
            agricultural production in Egypt. Irrigation and technology
            are therefore the recommended adaptation options. However,
            warming may also affect water resources and that would pose
            another problem for agricultural production. A policy should
            be developed to cope with the adverse effects of climate
            change on agriculture. It should focus on three areas: crop
            management, water management, and land management. The
            favored option for adapting to increased temperatures is
            irrigation. Some farmers adjust their crop sowing dates to
            avoid the expected high temperatures. To adjust to shortages
            in rainfall, farmers use crop varieties with high water use
            efficiency and early maturing varieties.
Scarperation : an empirical inquiry
            into the role of scarcity in fostering cooperation between
            international river riparians
The environment and security literature
            has argued that freshwater scarcity often leads to
            inter-state conflict, and possibly acute violence. The
            contention, however, ignores the long history of
            hydro-political cooperation exemplified by hundreds of
            documented agreements. Building on a theory that considers
            the relationship between scarcity and hydro-political
            cooperation, this paper empirically investigates why
            treaties are negotiated for some rivers and between some
            riparians, and not others. The paper suggests that long-term
            water scarcity has a significant influence on levels of
            cooperation. Additional variables considered include trade,
            level of governance among the riparian states, and the
            geography of the river. Findings confirm that cooperation
            and scarcity embody a concave (inverted U curve)
            relationship. Governance has a positive impact on
            cooperation. In addition, riparians may either arrange the
            use of their scarce water resources via a treaty or trade
            (and indirectly exchange [virtual] water). Scarcity,
            governance, and trade were found to be most salient in
            explaining levels of cooperation while geography is
            significant in some of the estimates.
Economic benefit of tuberculosis control
Tuberculosis is the most important
            infectious cause of adult deaths after HIV/AIDS in low- and
            middle-income countries. This paper evaluates the economic
            benefits of extending the World Health Organization's
            DOTS Strategy (a multi-component approach that includes
            directly observed treatment, short course chemotherapy and
            several other components) as proposed in the Global Plan to
            Stop TB, 2006-2015. The authors use a model-based approach
            that combines epidemiological projections of averted
            mortality and economic benefits measured using value of
            statistical life for the Sub-Saharan Africa region and the
            22 high-burden, tuberculosis-endemic countries in the world.
            The analysis finds that the economic benefits between 2006
            and 2015 of sustaining DOTS at current levels relative to
            having no DOTS coverage are significantly greater than the
            costs in the 22 high-burden, tuberculosis-endemic countries
            and the Africa region. The marginal benefits of implementing
            the Global Plan to Stop TB relative to a no-DOTS scenario
            exceed the marginal costs by a factor of 15 in the 22
            high-burden endemic countries, a factor of 9 (95 CI, 8-9) in
            the Africa region, and a factor of 9 (95 CI, 9-10) in the
            nine high-burden African countries. Uncertainty analysis
            shows that benefit-cost ratios of the Global Plan strategy
            relative to sustained DOTS were unambiguously greater than
            one in all nine high-burden countries in Africa and in
            Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia. Although HIV curtails the
            effect of the tuberculosis programs by lowering the life
            expectancy of those receiving treatment, the benefits of the
            Global Plan are greatest in African countries with high
            levels of HIV.
Big dragon, little dragons :
            China's challenge to the machinery exports of southeast Asia
This paper investigates the extent of
            China's export boom in machinery and analyzes trade in
            components and finished machinery between China and
            Southeast Asia. China has increased its world market share
            in machinery exports. The median relative unit value of its
            finished machinery exports has also risen. Yet the author
            finds no evidence that China's expansion in the world
            machinery market has squeezed the market shares of Southeast
            Asian machinery exports. Instead, components made by
            Southeast Asian countries are increasing in unit value and
            gaining market share in China.
Watching more than the Discovery
            channel : export cycles and diversification in development
This paper examines the export
            performance of 99 countries over 1995-2004 to understand the
            relative roles of export growth through
            "discovery" of new products and growth during
            post-discovery phases of the export product cycle --
            acceleration and maturation -- in existing markets and
            expansion into new geographic markets.  The authors find
            that expanding existing products in existing markets (growth
            at the intensive margin) has greater weight in export growth
            than diversification into new products and new geographic
            markets (growth at the extensive margin).  Moreover, growth
            into new geographic markets appears to be more important
            than discovery of new export products in explaining export
            growth.  Of particular importance is whether an exporting
            country succeeds in reaching more national markets that are
            already importing the product it makes.  This geographic
            index of market penetration is a powerful explanatory
            variable of export performance.  This suggests that
            governments should not focus solely or even primarily on the
            discovery channel, but also seek to identify and address
            market failures that are constraining exporters in
            subsequent phases of the export cycle.
An emerging agricultural problem in
            high-performing Asian economies
Policies to tax farmers in low-income
            countries and policies to subsidize them in high-income
            countries have been identified as a major source of the
            disequilibrium of world agriculture. Recently, as many
            high-performing economies in Asia advanced from the
            low-income to the middle-income stage through successful
            industrialization, they have been confronted with the
            problem of a widening income gap between farm and non-farm
            workers corresponding to rapid shifts in comparative
            advantage from agriculture to manufacturing. In order to
            prevent this disparity from culminating in serious social
            and political instability, policies have been reoriented
            toward supporting the income of farmers. At the same time,
            governments in middle-income countries must continue to
            secure low-cost food for the urban poor who are still large
            in number. The need to achieve the two conflicting goals
            under the still weak fiscal capacity of governments tends to
            make agricultural policies in the middle-income stage
            tinkering and ineffective. Greater research inputs in this
            area are called for in order to prevent the growth momentum
            of high-performing economies in Asia from being disrupted by
            political crises.
Specialization and adjustment during
            the growth of China and India : the Latin American experience
This paper examines the extent to which
            the growth of China and India in world markets is affecting
            the patterns of trade specialization in Latin American
            economies. The authors construct Vollrath's measure of
            revealed comparative advantage by 3-digit ISIC sector,
            country, and year. This measure accounts for both imports
            and exports. The empirical analyses explore the correlation
            between the revealed comparative advantage of Latin America
            and the two Asian economies. Econometric estimates suggest
            that the specialization pattern of Latin A-with the
            exception of Mexico-has been moving in opposite direction of
            the trade specialization pattern of China and India.
            Labor-intensive sectors (both unskilled and skilled)
            probably have been negatively affected by the growing
            presence of China and India in world markets, while natural
            resource and scientific knowledge intensive sectors have
            probably benefited from China and India's growth since 1990.
The growth of China and India in
            world trade : opportunity or threat for Latin America and
            the Caribbean
This paper studies the relationship
            between the growth of China and India in world merchandise
            trade and Latin American and Caribbean commercial flows from
            two perspectives. First, the authors focus on the
            opportunity that China and India's markets have offered
            Latin American and Caribbean exporters during 2000-2004.
            Second, empirical analyses examine the partial correlation
            between Chinese and Indian bilateral trade flows and Latin
            American and Caribbean trade with third markets. Both
            analyses rely on the gravity model of international trade.
            Econometric estimations that control for the systematic
            correlation between expected bilateral trade volumes and the
            size of their regression errors, as well as importer and
            exporter fixed effects and year effects, provide consistent
            estimates of the relevant parameters for different groups of
            countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Results
            suggest that the growth of the two Asian markets has
            produced large opportunities for Latin American and
            Caribbean exporters, which nevertheless have not been fully
            exploited. The evidence concerning the effects of Chinese
            and Indian trade with third markets is not robust, but there
            is little evidence of negative effects on Latin American and
            Caribbean exports of non-fuel merchandise. In general,
            China's and to a large extent India's growing
            presence in world trade has been good news for Latin America
            and the Caribbean, but some of the potential benefits remain unexploited.
Strengthening the governance and
            performance of state-owned financial institutions
Corporate governance arrangements define
            the responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities of
            owners, boards of directors, and executive managers of a
            company.  Good corporate governance is as important for
            state financial institutions as for private sector
            companies.  Many of the problems that commonly afflict state
            financial institutions can be associated with, if not
            attributed directly to, weaknesses in corporate governance.
            This note draws on guidelines recently published by the OECD
            and the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision to compile a
            comprehensive corporate governance evaluation framework
            relevant to state-owned commercial and development finance
            institutions.  It highlights aspects of this framework that
            are considered to be of particular importance to state
            financial institutions by citing innovative practices in a
            number of countries.  Finally, it presents a detailed case
            study of the governance arrangements in place at the
            Development Bank of Southern Africa.
Determinants and consequences of
            land sales market participation : panel evidence from India
Although opinions on impacts of land
            market transfers are sharply divided, few studies explore
            the welfare and productivity effects of land markets on a
            larger scale. This paper uses a large Indian panel spanning
            almost 20 years, together with a climatic shock (rainfall)
            indicator, to assess the productivity and equity effects of
            market-mediated land transfers (sale and purchase) compared
            with non-market ones (inheritance). The analysis shows that
            frequent shocks increase land market activity, an effect
            that is mitigated by the presence of safety nets and banks.
            Land sales markets improved productivity and helped
            purchasers, many of whom were formerly landless, to
            accumulate non-land assets and significantly enhance their welfare.
Innovative experiences in access to
            finance : market friendly roles for the visible hand
Interest in access to finance has
            increased significantly in recent years, as growing evidence
            suggests that lack of access to credit prevents lower-income
            households and small firms from financing high return
            investment projects, having an adverse effect on growth and
            poverty alleviation. This study describes some recent
            innovative experiences to broaden access to credit. These
            experiences are consistent with an emerging new view that
            recognizes a limited role for the public sector in financial
            markets, but contends that there might be room for
            well-designed, restricted interventions in collaboration
            with the private sector to foster financial development and
            broaden access. The authors illustrate this view with
            several recent experiences in Latin America and then discuss
            some open policy questions about the role of the public and
            private sectors in driving these financial innovations.
Does IDA engage in defensive lending
Multilateral development banks are
            frequently accused of "defensive lending," the
            practice of extending new loans purely in order to ensure
            that existing loans are repaid.  This paper empirically
            examine this hypothesis using data on lending by and
            repayments to the International Development Association
            (IDA), which is the largest provider of concessional
            development loans to low-income countries.  The authors
            argue that key institutional features of IDA both (i)
            potentially create incentives for defensive lending, and
            (ii) enable particularly sharp tests of the defensive
            lending hypothesis.  The authors find that there is a
            surprisingly robust partial correlation between
            disbursements on new IDA loans and repayments on existing
            loans.  However, a closer look at the evidence suggests that
            defensive lending is unlikely to be a major explanation for
            this partial correlation.
Investing in Indonesia's
            education : allocation, equity, and efficiency of public expenditures
What are the current trends and main
            characteristics of public education spending in Indonesia?
            Is education spending insufficient? Are expenditures in
            education efficient and equitable? This study reports the
            first account of Indonesia's aggregated (national and
            sub-national) spending on education, as well as the economic
            composition of education spending and its breakdown by
            programs. It presents estimations of the expected (average)
            level of education spending for a country with its economic
            and social characteristics. This analysis sheds light on the
            efficiency and equity of education spending by presenting
            social rates of return by level of education, by assessing
            the adequacy of current teacher earnings relative to other
            paid workers and the distribution of teachers across urban,
            rural, and remote regions, and by identifying the main
            determinants of education enrollment. It concludes that the
            current challenges in Indonesia are no longer defined by the
            need of additional spending, but rather the need to improve
            the quality of education services, and to improve the
            efficiency of education expenditures by re-allocating
            teachers to undersupplied regions and re-adjusting the
            spending mix within and between education programs for
            future additional spending in the sector. The study finds
            that poverty and student-aged labor are also significant
            constraints to education enrollment, stressing the
            importance of policies aimed at addressing demand-side factors.
Big bad banks the impact of U.S.
            branch deregulation on income distribution
Policymakers and economists disagree
            about the impact of bank regulations on the distribution of
            income.  Exploiting cross-state and cross-time variation,
            the authors test whether liberalizing restrictions on
            intra-state branching in the United States intensified,
            ameliorated, or had no effect on income distribution.  The
            analysis finds that branch deregulation lowered income
            inequality by affecting labor market conditions, not by
            boosting the business income of the poor, nor by enhancing
            educational attainment.  Reductions in the earnings gap
            between men and women and between skilled and unskilled
            workers account for the bulk of the explained drop in income inequality.
Infrastructure governance and
            corruption : where next
Governance is central to development
            outcomes in infrastructure, not least because corruption (a
            symptom of failed governance) can have significantly
            negative impact on returns to infrastructure investment.
            This conclusion holds whether infrastructure is in private
            or public hands.  This paper looks at what has been learned
            about the role of governance in infrastructure, provides
            some recent examples of reform efforts and project
            approaches, and suggests an agenda for greater engagement -
            primarily at the sector level - to improve governance and
            reduce the development impact of corruption.  The discussion
            covers market structure, regulation, state-owned enterprise
            reform, planning and budgeting, and project design.