rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
World Bank project-financed research
            on population, health, and nutrition
This report on World Bank
            project-financed research on population, health and
            nutrition (PHN) is based on a review of 109 staff appraisal
            reports for projects financed in fiscal years 1980-91 and on
            selected interviews with task managers. The report looks at
            only the simplest dimensions of project-financed research
            and examines research outcomes of only a few projects. Among
            conclusions tentatively reached: (1) more than 90 percent of
            PHN projects from fiscal years 1980-91 financed research.
            (2) Bank experience with project-financed research in the
            PHN sector has been extremely variable: quite successful in
            some countries and almost a total failure in others. Even
            so, some striking successes justify continued efforts to
            incorporate research into projects and to encourage use of
            that research to improve both national PHN policy and
            follow-on Bank financed projects. (3) Personalities make a
            difference, both among borrowers and within the Bank. Often
            successes are associated with a particular person within the
            government or the Bank who has taken a continuing personal
            interest in encouraging research. (4) Supervision is crucial
            to good results. Supervision must be frequent enough to keep
            the research component on time and of good quality. For
            quality research to be completed, it is important that those
            responsible for supervision attach a high priority to
            research even if it is not a large part of the project in
            terms of budget. (5) Research that leads to a project
            outcome - such as research needed to justify release of
            funds or for a follow-on project - is more likely to be
            undertaken and completed than is research with a more
            general objective. (6) In countries where the institutional
            capability exists, using a national institution to review
            research proposals and to administer research grants can be
            quite effective. Experience indicates that some sort of
            peer-group review produces better research. (7) There is
            probably room for more best-practices workshops where PHN
            staff can exchange experiences about successful design and
            supervision of project-financed research components. But
            usually it will be necessary to retain experienced
            consultants to help design substantial research components.
            (8) More systematic collection and dissemination of
            project-financed research is justified, given the
            considerable amounts of money and effort devoted to it.
How tax incentives affect decisions
            to invest in developing countries
The authors contend that in evaluating
            and designing investment incentives in developing economies,
            analysts should consider their effect on: the marginal
            effective tax rate (METR).  Even simple tax incentives can
            perversely affect the METR.  Many schemes have relatively
            generous write-offs to begin with, so generous that a
            negative marginal effective tax rate is not uncommon.  In
            these circumstances, tax rate reductions (including tax
            holidays) can discourage investment.  Investment tax credits
            are more likely to be effective.  Loss firms.  Incentives
            that do not have generous loss-offsetting or refundability
            provisions will be of limited use to firms likely to suffer
            losses (including small growing firms and firms in risky
            environments).  Cash flows.  Incentives that improve
            firms' cash flows may be more effective than those that
            do not.  Refundability may be important here. Simply
            adopting cash-flow costing principles with refundability may
            be more effective than reducing tax rates.  Foreign-owned
            firms.  If the value of a tax incentive is fully offset by
            reduced credits for foreign taxes, the incentive effect will
            probably be minimal.  Capital allocation among assets. Some
            measures favor short- over long-lived capital, machinery
            over inventory, some industries over others.  Incentives
            that encourage investment selectively may cause distortions
            in the way capital is allocated. Other factors to be
            considered in designing tax incentives: inflation, which is
            typically high in developing economies.  Incentives should
            offset the effects of inflation; tax evasion, a common
            problem in developing countries; technology transfer; the
            fulfillment of social, environmental, and regional
            non-economic objectives; the effects on firms'
            organization (do the incentives encourage mergers,
            takeovers, or bankruptcy?)
Openness and economic performance in
            sub-Saharan Africa : evidence from time-series cross-country analysis
In a cross-country study for 1967-87,
            the author tests whether the finding that increased openness
            improves performance holds true for sub-Saharan Africa as a
            subgroup among developing countries. Econometric analysis -
            based on the augmented production function that includes
            labor, capital stock, and a measure of openness - shows that
            openness exerts a significant positive impact on economic
            performance of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The
            relationship is especially strong in fixed-effect estimates
            that use annual panel data with country dummies to capture
            unobserved country-specific differences. The author finds
            the evidence of a positive link between openness and
            performance surprisingly robust to different measures of
            openness, to different periods, and to the inclusion of
            other policy variables. All four measures of openness, for
            example, are significant for 1967-87. For the shorter
            period, 1980-87, three are significant. Also, the size and
            significance of the openness coefficients do not change when
            one controls for macroeconomic policy.
Tariff index theory
For a single tariff, the height of the
            tariff is an unambiguous measure of the policy's
            restrictiveness. With more than one tariff, theory has not
            provided an extension that captures the idea of the
            tariff's height, so analysts have used index numbers
            such as the mean and the coefficient of variation (standard
            deviation divided by the mean) of tariffs. By contrast, the
            theoretical literature on the piecemeal reform of tariffs
            shows that efficiency gains from tariff reform depend on
            complex conditions that have little relation to the mean or
            variance of tariffs. But in the absence of a connection
            between theory and empirical measures, it is difficult to
            know whether to discard the measures. Moreover, the
            piecemeal reform question of measuring the welfare gain from
            a tariff is not directly related to the problem of
            evaluating the height of restrictiveness. The problem of
            finding a single number analogous to the height of tariffs
            is the tariff index number problem. The authors have
            developed a solution: the Trade Restrictiveness Index, which
            they define as the uniform tariff factor that is equivalent
            in trade restrictiveness (equivalent in the balance of
            trade) to the actual differentiated tariff structure. Here,
            the author develops the Trade Restrictiveness Index in terms
            of mean and variance-covariance indexes of the tariff
            schedule. There are two payoffs. First, the Trade
            Restrictiveness Index can be decomposed into expressions
            that rescue the commonsense idea that lower mean and lower
            variance of tariffs are both efficient. Second, a special
            case is offered in which the proper weights in the mean and
            variance of tariffs are the observed trade weights. Thus,
            the Trade Restrictiveness Index is superior to traditional
            summary measures such as the average tariff rate and the
            coefficient variation for the tariff schedule. It requires
            only limited additional information on the structure of the
            economy to yield a measure that is preferable on both
            theoretical and practical grounds.
How effective are directed credit
            policies in the United States A literature survey
Schwarz surveys U.S. experience with
            directed credit as background for a larger study of the
            Asian experience. Almost half of net credit lent in the
            United States annually is directly affected by government
            policies - half of net credit covering budget deficits, and
            half falling under various federal credit programs. The main
            difference between U.S. and Asian credit policy is that U.S.
            credit policy is oriented more toward equity than toward
            growth. Different sectors are affected differently by U.S.
            credit policies. Few empirical studies test how U.S. credit
            policy affects growth - perhaps partly because of the
            motives behind those policies. Few enpirical studies even
            test whether the policies edffectively increase credit to
            the target group. Schwarz outlines a method for testing the
            effectiveness of credit policy, then examines existing
            empirical work to see how it fits that methodology. The
            first common empirical technique examines credit allocation
            in the economy.  Schwarz finds that for the largest program,
            housing credit, the effect of credit program on credit
            allocation is very small and may be negative when
            cross-program effects are considered. The second common
            empirical technique examines individual sectors. Results
            here are mixed. In agriculture, much of the credit raises
            the demand for land, providing a gain for landowners rather
            than increasing production. In education, less than a third
            of the students who got government credit would not have
            gone to college without it. So in both cases, the credit has
            a positive impact but at a sizable cost. Schwarz concludes
            that despite its huge volume, directed credit in the United
            States has a limited impact in growth. The credit programs
            have generally succeeded in increasing credit to the
            targeted group, but not necessarily in increasing investment
            by that group.
Measuring the possibilities of
            interfuel substitution
What are the costs of making consumption
            of production activities use less-polluting fuels?  The
            author reviews how the fuel mix used by different industries
            has changed over time and examines 2 techniques for
            estimating the responsiveness of fuel demand to fuel prices:
            econometric models and the engineering approach. With
            econometric models, the elasticity of substitution between
            energy and other inputs determines the costs of making
            activities less energy-intensive, while the elasticity of
            substitution between sources of energy (interfuel
            substitutability) determines the marginal costs of replacing
            one energy source with another. The engineering approach
            uses more detailed technical information and can draw a more
            complete picture, but with less ability to inform about
            activities with a vast number of different economic agents.
            Among the author's main conclusions: There are
            surprisingly large variations in energy and fuel use over
            time and between countries.  Industrial output increased 62
            percent in OECD countries between 1971 and 1988, for
            example, while energy use stayed unchanged. Also, shares of
            energy sources for industry and electricity vary greatly
            with local availablity, indicating that these sectors have
            some flexibility in choice of energy source. A judgment on
            whether this variability indicates that an economy responds
            cheaply if energy prices are changed selectively depends on
            how one reads the more detailed studies in the econometric
            and engineering literature. Lack of data is the biggest
            problem in estimating fuel and energy substitutability in
            non-OECD countries.  Engineering studies of fuel switching
            in industry are rarely available.  They exist, however, for
            the power industry and could be used to estimate the costs
            of alternative fuel-mixes for particular greenfield sites.
            The technique could not be used for assessment of
            economywide policies.  Econometric studies are useful
            inasmuch as they take a sector- or economywide perspective.
            Econometric techniques are challenging, but often represent
            the state of the art in providing reliable estimates for
            elasticies of substitution - particularly when data are
            scarce and the level of aggregation is high.  The issue of
            whether econometrically estimated structural parameters can
            be transferred across borders has not been thoroughly investigated.
Measuring the effects of urban
            transportation policies on the environment : a survey of models
Mandating emission control devices in
            new cars is only one of the most obvious steps to address
            the problem of vehicle emissions.  Others range from taxes
            on gasoline and parking to incentives to scrap old cars or
            move businesses out of the cities.  There are models to
            simulate the engineering implications when changes are made
            to the vehicle fleet (such as the U.S. Environmental
            Protection Agency's MOBILE 4), but other models are
            needed to capture individual behavior, for two reasons.
            First, behavior - for example, using certain vehicles -
            affects emissions, and thereby the effect of policies on
            pollution.  Second, behavioral relations determine how much
            consumer welfare is affected by different policies - through
            other channels than the effect on air pollution.  The author
            reviews existing models of urban transport and evaluates
            their ability to simulate the effects of different policies
            on emissions and on other variables relevant to welfare.  He
            finds that:  Little modeling work is done on developing
            countries, but some stylized facts (the greater importance
            of nonmotorized modes, of mopeds, of old vehicles, and of
            work-related trips, greater growth in urbanization, and
            greater growth in the urban vehicle stock) allow us to
            assess how well models from developed countries apply in
            industrial countries.  Models vary greatly in complexity.
            The central question for users is whether they want detailed
            coverage of the spatial nature of pollution and congestion.
            The most comprehensive and detailed models also require the
            most data. The author proposes eclectic use of several
            models, since a model incorporating long-term responses,
            shorter-term responses, and emission consequences is not
            easily tractable.  The author acknowledges the many complex
            links between policies (on the one hand) and welfare and air
            pollution (on the other), but says that research can often
            be narrowed according to available policy instruments, data
            availability, and the implications considered relevant.
            Often, simple models can improve the basis for policy
            evaluation, particularly when there are limited data and
            resources for research.
Controlling tropical deforestation :
            an analysis of alternative policies
After discussing ownership issues
            related to tropical forests, the author develops a simple
            general equilibrium model to represent - at least in a
            stylized way - the salient aspects of the deforestation
            process.  He uses the model to generate first- and
            second-best policy options for controlling deforestation
            and, later, to assess the environmental consequences of
            government policies often cited in the literature on
            deforestation.  Property rights, though important for
            understanding the process of tropical deforestation, do not
            necessarily point to a simple or straightfoward fix for
            environmental problems, particularly in developing
            countries.  The sheer size, communal nature of service
            flows, and pervasiveness of individual access to tropical
            forests make monitoring and enforcement costly in some
            situations and unimaginable in others.  Redefining nominal
            rights in ways that appear to correct inefficiencies may
            yield gains in some cases, but an approach to environmental
            protection that leans heavily on this prescription seems
            aimed more at symptoms than at causes, says the author.
            Moreover, policy approaches based on the use of Pigovian
            taxes or marketable permit schemes may yield efficiency
            gains in some cases, but such approaches generally involve
            the same monitoring and enforcement problems that prevent
            the market from solving allocation problems. Simple, direct
            solutions to deforestation and other environmental problems
            are unavailable, but an ability to understand the
            environmental and welfare consequences of policies adopted
            for other reasons is useful - if only to help policymakers
            avoid mistakes that would otherwise go unrecognized.  The
            model the author develops for this purpose is highly
            stylized and intended primarily to provide a systematic way
            of thinking about the environmental and welfare effects of
            government policy - for example, by considering patterns of
            substitution among inputs and outputs, in cases where an
            environmental resource to which people have free access is
            exploited.  If the use of first-best policies is infeasible
            - whether because of monitoring costs, transboundary
            effects, or other reasons - then it becomes important to
            have detailed knowledge of patterns of substitution and
            complementarity among ordinary inputs and environmental
            resources, and information on the use of various
            environmental resources in the production of specific goods
            and services.  Knowledge of such factors can permit
            policymakers to pursue policy goals in situations where
            first-best instruments are unavailable.
Socioeconomic and ethnic
            determinants of grade repetition in Bolivia and Guatemala
After reviewing the literature on
            repetition (students repeating grades in schools) in
            developing countries, the authors examine factors related to
            repetition in Bolivia and Guatemala.  They develop a model
            to estimate the incidence and determinants of repetition.
            The use multivariate logistic regression analysis to
            estimate the determinants of repetition, using the results
            in simulations to determine probabilities of who is more
            likely to repeat.  Their empirical analysis shows that
            certain populations are more likely to repeat a grade:
            children from less wealthy households and children of
            indigenous origins.  This suggests that any targeting
            activities could be directed to the poor and could have an
            indigenous component, such as bilingual education.
The impact of Mexico's
            retraining program on employment and wages
The authors evaluated how Mexico's
            Labor Retraining Program (PROBECAT) affected unemployment
            and displaced workers.  As part of the World Bank supported
            Manpower Training project, PROBECAT has provided short-term
            vocational training to more than 250,000 unemployed people.
            Their evaluation was based on new longitudinal data on
            PROBECAT trainees developed for this purpose, and includes
            data on a control group of unemployed people who did not
            join PROBECAT. Their main findings were as follows:  On
            average, the trainees found jobs more quickly than the
            control group.  But training does not shorten the term of
            unemployment for those without work experience.  Male
            trainees are more likely to be employed three and six months
            after training than are the controls.  Female trainees with
            work experience are more likely to be employed three, six,
            and twelve months after training than are the controls.
            Male trainees are more likely to find employment in large
            firms than are comparable controls.  Training increases the
            monthly earnings of male trainees, but this effect varies
            systematically depending on the person's level of
            schooling attainment.  The monetary benefits of training
            outweigh the costs of the PROBECAT program for certain
            groups of trainees.  For male trainees over 25 with prior
            work experience, the benefits outweigh the costs of training
            within three months of starting work. For all other males
            except those with no prior work experience, the benefits
            outweigh the costs within one year.  Men with no prior work
            experience spend the longest time job hunting after training
            (8 months, compared with the trainee mean of 4.4 months) and
            benefit less from training in terms of monthly earnings (128
            thousand pesos compared with the average benefit of 152
            thousand pesos).  For this group, the costs of training are
            offset only after 17 months of higher earnings.