rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Aid, service delivery, and the
            millennium development goals in an economy-wide framework
In many developing countries, achieving
            the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 will require
            significant increases in expenditures on social services and
            in foreign assistance. It will also require careful planning
            of the sector allocation and sequencing of public spending.
            Especially for low-income countries, the challenges of the
            MDGs cannot be well understood unless sector issues are seen
            in the context of constraints at the macro level and in
            labor markets. To help countries analyze policies aimed at
            making progress toward the goals, the World Bank has
            developed a new tool, the Maquette for MDG Simulations
            (MAMS). Its originality is to fully integrate government
            services and their impact on the economy within an otherwise
            standard economy-wide dynamic framework. In comparison with
            existing approaches, MAMS offers three main advantages.
            First, the representation of the production of government
            services - such as health or education - takes into account
            demand as well as supply factors and the efficiency of these
            services. It also allows for interactions across the goals,
            and between the goals and economic growth. Second, it shows
            how scaling up these services has economy-wide impacts that
            may change resource allocation in the non-government sector
            and relative prices, including the unit cost of government
            services. Third, it shows the tradeoffs across time,
            including the relative costs and benefits, of front-loading
            expenditures versus back-loading. The present paper
            describes the basic features of MAMS and provides an
            illustration of its applicability for Ethiopia.
Does child labor always decrease
            with income an evaluation in the context of a development
            program in Nicaragua
This paper investigates the relationship
            of household income with child labor. The analysis uses a
            rich dataset obtained in the context of a conditional cash
            transfer program in a poor region of Nicaragua in 2005 and
            2006. The program has a strong productive emphasis and seeks
            to diversify the work portfolio of beneficiaries while
            imposing conditionalities on the household.  The author
            develops a simple model that relates child labor to
            household income, preferences, and production technology.
            It turns out that child labor does not always decrease with
            income; the relationship is complex and exhibits an
            inverted-U shape. Applying the data to the model confirms
            that the relationship is concave when all children (8-15
            years of age) are included in the sample.  Expanding the
            analysis by stratifying the sample by age and gender shows
            that the relationship holds only for older children, both
            genders. The author investigates the effect of the
            conditional cash transfer program on child labor. The
            results show that the program has a decreasing effect on
            total hours of work for the full sample of children.
            Disentangling labor into two types - physically demanding
            labor and non-physical labor -  reveals that the program has
            opposite effects on each type; it decreases physically
            demanding labor while increasing participation in
            non-physical (more intellectually oriented) tasks for children.
Bank competition and financial stability
Under the traditional
            "competition-fragility" view, more bank
            competition erodes market power, decreases profit margins,
            and results in reduced franchise value that encourages bank
            risk taking. Under the alternative
            "competition-stability" view, more market power in
            the loan market may result in greater bank risk as the
            higher interest rates charged to loan customers make it more
            difficult to repay loans and exacerbate moral hazard and
            adverse selection problems. But even if market power in the
            loan market results in riskier loan portfolios, the overall
            risks of banks need not increase if banks protect their
            franchise values by increasing their equity capital or
            engaging in other risk-mitigating techniques. The authors
            test these theories by regressing measures of loan risk,
            bank risk, and bank equity capital on several measures of
            market power, as well as indicators of the business
            environment, using data for 8,235 banks in 23 developed
            nations. The results suggest that - consistent with the
            traditional "competition-fragility" view - banks
            with a greater degree of market power also have less overall
            risk exposure. The data also provide some support for one
            element of the "competition-stability" view - that
            market power increases loan portfolio risk. The authors show
            that this risk may be offset in part by higher equity
            capital ratios.
Aggregate economic shocks, child
            schooling and child health
Do aggregate economic shocks, such as
            those caused by macroeconomic crises or droughts, reduce
            child human capital? The answer to this question has
            important implications for public policy. If shocks reduce
            investments in children, they may transmit poverty from one
            generation to the next. This paper uses a simple framework
            to analyze the effects of aggregate economic shocks on child
            schooling and health. It shows that the expected effects are
            ambiguous, because of a tension between income and
            substitution effects. The paper then reviews the recent
            empirical literature on the subject. In richer countries,
            like the United States, child health and education outcomes
            are counter-cyclical: they improve during recessions. In
            poorer countries, mostly in Africa and low-income Asia, the
            outcomes are pro-cyclical: infant mortality rises, and
            school enrollment and nutrition fall during recessions. In
            the middle-income countries of Latin America, the picture is
            more nuanced: health outcomes are generally pro-cyclical,
            and education outcomes counter-cyclical. Each of these
            findings is consistent with the simple conceptual framework.
            The paper discusses possible implications for expenditure allocation.
A road to trust
The authors explore the relationship
            between transaction costs and generalized trust. Using panel
            data from 2,100 households in 135 rural communities of the
            Philippines, the paper shows that where transaction costs
            are reduced (proxied by road construction), there is an
            increase in generalized trust. Consistent with the argument
            that generalized trust is built through repeated
            interactions, the authors find that the individuals most
            likely to engage in exchange exhibit an increase in trust
            after road construction. These results suggest that, rather
            than being an input to economic growth, trust might be a
            product of reduced transaction costs (which also favors growth).
Technology adoption and the
            investment climate : firm-level evidence for Eastern Europe
            and Central Asia
The international diffusion of
            technology presents an opportunity for developing economies
            distant from the world technological frontier to reduce
            their income gap relative to advanced economies. It is
            therefore crucial to understand why, when faced with similar
            technological alternatives different firms in different
            countries choose to adopt different vintages of capital.
            This paper examines technology adoption across firms in
            Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings show that
            access to complementary inputs - managerial capacity,
            skilled labor, finance, and good infrastructure - and to
            international knowledge - through foreign direct investment
            or exports - is an important correlate of technology
            adoption. The link between market incentives and technology
            adoption is more nuanced. Although consumer pressure results
            in technology adoption, competitor pressure does not,
            suggesting that only firms with rents are able to adopt
            technology given substantial resource constraints.
            Privatized firms exhibit better technology adoption outcomes
            but only when a clear private owner with a profit incentive
            is present. Better governance is associated with technology
            adoption only in the countries that joined the European
            Union in 2004. Future increases in technology adoption by
            firms in the region will require complementary reforms of
            the investment climate.
Mainstreaming climate adaptation
            into development assistance in Mozambique: Institutional
            barriers and opportunities
Based on a literature review and expert
            interviews, this paper analyzes the most important climate
            impacts on development goals and explores relevant
            institutions in the context of mainstreaming climate
            adaptation into development assistance in Mozambique.
            Climate variability and change can significantly hinder
            progress toward attaining the Millennium Development Goals
            and poverty aggravates the country's climate
            vulnerability. Because Mozambique is one of the major
            recipients of official development assistance in the world,
            there is a clear interest in ensuring that the risks of
            climate impacts are incorporated into the country's
            development investments. A screening of donor activities at
            the sub-national level shows that a high share of
            development assistance is invested in climate-sensitive
            sectors, partly in areas that are particularly exposed to
            droughts, floods, and cyclones. The authors find that
            Mozambique has a supportive legislative environment and
            donors have a high awareness of climate risks. However,
            limited individual, organizational, networking, and
            financial capacity constrain mainstreaming initiatives.
            Given strong limitations at the national level, bilateral
            and multilateral donors can play a key role in fostering
            institutional capacity in Mozambique.
The sub prime crisis : implications
            for emerging markets
This paper discusses some of the key
            characteristics of the U.S. subprime mortgage boom and bust,
            contrasts them with characteristics of emerging mortgage
            markets, and makes recommendations for emerging market
            policy makers. The crisis has raised questions in the minds
            of many as to the wisdom of extending mortgage lending to
            low and moderate income households. It is important to note,
            however, that prior to the growth of subprime lending in the
            1990s, U.S. mortgage markets already reached low and
            moderate-income households without taking large risks or
            suffering large losses. In contrast, in most emerging
            markets, mortgage finance is a luxury good, restricted to
            upper income households. As policy makers in emerging market
            seek to move lenders down market, they should adopt policies
            that include a variety of financing methods and should allow
            for rental or purchase as a function of the financial
            capacity of the household. Securitization remains a useful
            tool when developed in the context of well-aligned
            incentives and oversight. It is possible to extend mortgage
            lending down market without repeating the mistakes of the
            subprime boom and bust.
The impact of remittances on poverty
            and inequality in Ghana
This paper uses a new, 2005/06
            nationally-representative household survey to analyze the
            impact of internal remittances (from Ghana) and
            international remittances (from African and other countries)
            on poverty and inequality in Ghana. To control for selection
            and endogeneity, it uses a two-stage multinomial logit model
            with instrumental variables focusing on variations in
            migration networks and remittances among various
            ethno-religious groups in Ghana. The paper finds that both
            internal and international remittances reduce the level,
            depth, and severity of poverty in Ghana. However, the size
            of the poverty reduction depends on the type of remittances
            received. In general, poverty in Ghana is reduced more by
            international than internal remittances. For households
            receiving international remittances, the level of poverty
            falls by 88.1 percent with the inclusion of remittances; for
            households receiving internal remittances, poverty falls by
            69.4 percent with the inclusion of remittances. The paper
            also finds that both types of remittances increase income
            inequality in Ghana. For households with internal
            remittances, the inclusion of remittances causes the Gini
            coefficient to rise by 4 percent, and for households with
            international remittances, the inclusion of remittances
            causes the Gini to increase by 17.4 percent.
Rising food prices in Sub-Saharan
            Africa : poverty impact and policy responses
The increase in food prices represents a
            major crisis for the world's poor. This paper aims to
            review the evidence on the potential impact of higher food
            prices on poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and examines the
            extent to which policy responses will benefit the poor. The
            paper shows that rising food prices are likely to lead to
            higher poverty in sub-Saharan Africa as the negative impact
            on net poor consumers outweighs the benefits to poor
            producers. A recent survey shows that the most common policy
            response in sub-Saharan African countries is reducing taxes
            on food while outside the region price controls or targeted
            consumer subsidies are the most popular measure. Sub-Saharan
            African countries also have a higher prevalence of
            food-based safety net programs which are being scaled up to
            respond to rising prices. The review suggests that the
            benefits from reducing import tariffs on staples may accrue
            largely to the non-poor. Social protection programs show
            more promise, but geographic targeting is likely to be
            crucial in ensuring that benefits reach the neediest. The
            paper also argues that anti-poverty interventions ought to
            retain their focus on rural areas where poverty remains
            highest even after taking into account the adverse impact on
            the urban poor due to the rise in food prices.
Assessing the potential impact on
            poverty of rising cereals prices : the case of Ghana
Concerns have been raised about the
            impact of rising food prices worldwide on the poor. To
            assess the (short term) impact of rising food prices in any
            particular country it is necessary to look at both the
            impact on food producers (who benefit from an increase in
            prices) and food consumers (who loose out when the price
            increases), with a focus on poor producers and consumers.
            In Ghana, the impact of a change in the price of rice is not
            ambiguous because a large share of the rice consumed is
            imported, so that the negative impact for consumers is much
            larger than the positive impact for producers.  For maize by
            contrast, the impact is ambiguous since much of the
            consumption is locally produced.  Using a recent and
            comprehensive household survey, this paper provides an
            assessment of the potential impact of higher food prices on
            the poor in Ghana using both simple statistical analysis and
            non-parametric methods. The paper finds that rising food
            prices for rice, maize, and other cereals would together
            lead to an increase in poverty, but that by contrast to a
            number of other countries, this increase, while not
            negligible, may not be as large as feared.
Potential impact of higher food
            prices on poverty : summary estimates for a dozen west and
            central African countries
Concerns have been raised about the
            impact of rising food prices worldwide on the poor. To
            assess the impact of rising food prices in any particular
            country it is necessary to look at both the impact on food
            producers who are poor or near-poor and could benefit from
            an increase in prices and food consumers who are poor or
            near-poor and would loose out when the price increases. In
            most West and Central African countries, the sign (positive
            or negative) of the impact is not ambiguous because a
            substantial share of food consumption is imported, so that
            the negative impact for consumers is larger than the
            positive impact for net sellers of locally produced foods.
            Yet even if the sign of the impact is clear, its magnitude
            is not. Using a set of recent and comprehensive household
            surveys, this paper summarizes findings from an assessment
            of the potential impact of higher food prices on the poor in
            a dozen countries. Rising food prices for rice, wheat,
            maize, and other cereals as well as for milk, sugar and
            vegetable oils could lead to a substantial increase in
            poverty in many of the countries. At the same time, the data
            suggest that the magnitude of the increase in poverty
            between different countries is likely to be different.
            Finally, the data suggest that a large share of the increase
            in poverty will consist of deeper levels of poverty among
            households who are already poor, even if there will also be
            a larger number of poor households in the various countries.
Potential impact of higher food
            prices on poverty : summary estimates for a dozen west and
            central African countries
WPS4745 Policy ReseaRch WoRking PaPeR 4745 Potential Impact of Higher Food Prices on Poverty: Summary Estimates for a Dozen West and Central African Countries _Quentin Wodon Clarence Tsimpo Prospere Backiny-Yetna George Joseph Franck Adoho Harold Coulombe_ The World Bank Human Development Network Development Dialogue on Values and Ethics October 2008
Assessing the potential impact on
            poverty of rising cereals prices : the case of Mali
Concerns have been raised about the
            impact of rising food prices worldwide on the poor. To
            assess the (short term) impact of rising food prices in any
            particular country it is necessary to look at both the
            impact on food producers (who benefit from an increase in
            prices) and food consumers (who loose out when the price
            increases), with a focus on poor producers and consumers. In
            Mali the impact of a change in the price of rice is not
            ambiguous because about half of the rice consumed in the
            country is imported, so that the negative impact for
            consumers is much larger than the positive impact for
            producers. By contrast, for millet and sorghum, as well as
            corn, the impact is more ambiguous since much of the
            consumption is locally produced. Using a recent and
            comprehensive household survey, this paper provides an
            assessment of the potential impact of higher food prices on
            the poor in Mali using both simple statistical analysis and
            non-parametric methods. The paper finds that rising food
            prices for rice, millet and sorghum, corn, as well as wheat
            and bread could together lead to a substantial increase in
            poverty, with the increase in the price of rice having by
            far the largest negative impact.
Political alternation as a restraint
            on investing in influence : evidence from the post-communist transition
The authors develop and implement a
            method for measuring the frequency of changes in power among
            distinct leaders and ideologically distinct parties that is
            comparable across political systems. The authors find that
            more frequent alternation in power is associated with the
            emergence of better governance in post communist countries.
            The results are consistent with the hypothesis that firms
            seek durable protection from the state, which implies that
            expected political alternation is relevant to the decision
            whether to invest in influence with the governing party or,
            alternatively, to demand institutions that apply predictable
            rules, with equality of treatment, regardless of the party
            in power.
Political alternation as a restraint
            on investing in influence : evidence from the post-communist transition
WPS4747 Policy ReseaRch WoRking PaPeR 4747 Political Alternation as a Restraint on Investing in Influence Evidence from the Post-Communist Transition _Branko Milanovic Karla Hoff Shale Horowitz_ The World Bank Development Research Group Macroeconomics and Growth Team October 2008