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• The paper investigates the determinants and effects of Communist Party membership in rural Vietnam. • The analysis is based on household- and individual level panel data. • Results show that Communist Party membership leads to higher income and easier access to credit. • Communist Party members have much higher subjective wellbeing than others do. • The positive effects of party membership are much stronger for men than for women. Single-party political systems exist in a number of countries, such as China and Vietnam. In these countries, party membership is potentially an important source of economic and social status. This paper investigates these effects and the mechanisms behind them. In particular, we use household- and individual level panel data to analyze the causes and consequences of Communist Party membership in rural areas of Vietnam. Fixed effects models are employed to control for unobserved differences between party members and others. Results suggest that party membership has a moderate, positive effect on income, on the order of 7 percent, and a large, positive effect on subjective well-being, even after controlling for income. Party membership is closely associated with working for the government but also appears to increase the propensity to use credit and to boost income from farm- and non-farm enterprises. There are strong gender effects: Men are several times more likely to be party members than women are, and the effects of membership on income and subjective well-being are only present among men. Overall, results confirm that in spite of pro-market, economic reforms, Communist Party membership continues to be of high value in rural Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The income inequality effect of infrastructure investment is under-researched despite the fact that the world has been confronted with the formidable challenge of worsening income distribution. This paper addresses this gap by: (i) highlighting deficiencies in conventional inequality modeling, (ii) proposing an empirical framework that entails estimation of both income growth and income inequality effect of infrastructure using one model, and (iii) applying this model to individual-level data from rural China to estimate income growth and income inequality effect of specific public utility infrastructures. Our findings reveal that the usage of telephone and tap water infrastructure fosters rural income growth, particularly benefiting lower-income individuals, indicating benign income inequality effect. These effects are particularly notable in inland China. An investigation into underlying mechanisms shows that public utility infrastructures help improve educational attainment and health status in lower-income rural households, stimulating growth in income and reducing income inequality. These findings imply that development of public utility infrastructure can serve as a powerful policy instrument for government interventions to reduce income inequality and promote growth, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • CDD does not incorporate the emancipatory politics that made PB successful. • KALAHI-CIDDS improved the poor’s income but there is elite control. • No improvement in the poor’s trust, solidarity and access to basic social services. • Failure to sustain participation of the poor casts doubt in the success of CDD. Abstract Community-driven development (CDD) has been identified as a potent vehicle for poverty reduction. Over 105 countries have adopted CDD projects in the hope that citizen empowerment translates to socio-economic development. But existing evidence is mixed, with some scholars arguing that CDD does not benefit the poor. This paper seeks to contribute to this literature by identifying any differentiated impact to the poor attributable to a CDD project in the Philippines. It draws on the literature on participatory budgeting to argue that participation of the socially excluded groups like the poor in the collective planning and budgeting determines the extent to which empowerment and democratization can be sustained. Using panel data collected in 2003 and 2010, the paper finds indications of elite control based on a decomposition of the profile of participants of village assemblies, which is a critical participatory institution in providing equal access to all members of the community to the deliberations and negotiations. The average participant of such village assemblies tend to be the less-poor household of the community with the participation of the poor dwindling over the years. The difference-in-difference impact estimation also reveals disappointing results for the poor. Although the project improved average household income among the poor, the project failed to enhance the social outcomes for the poor households such as participation in planning process, trust in the government and solidarity. This study adds to the existing literature showing that CDD may fail to effectively target the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reestimates global inequality between 1820 and 1980, reappraises the results up to 2013, and presents new inequality estimates for 2018. It shows that historically, global inequality has followed three eras: the first, from 1820 until 1950, characterized by rising income differences both between and within countries; the second, from 1950 to the last decade of the 20th century, with very high global and between-country inequality; and the current one of decreasing inequality thanks to the rise of Asian incomes, and especially so Chinese. The present era has seen the emergence of the global "median" class (people with per capita annual incomes ranging between $PPP 3,000 and $PPP 5,000) and the greatest reshuffling in income positions between the West and China since the Industrial Revolution. Absolute income differences in the past 30 years have however increased, and the income gap between the "core" and the poor "periphery" (if China is excluded) remains large: the ratio between median income in the core and periphery in 2018 exceeds 8 to 1 in PPP terms, and 22 to 1 in nominal dollars. The evolution of global inequality in the future will much more depend on what happens to the growth rates and inequality in India and large African countries than on China, as well as on the negative impact of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study constructs the green business environment index system. • The study analyzes the impact of the green business environment on FDI quality and its spatial spillover effect. The green business environment significantly improves the quality of FDI, with different spatial spillovers in different areas. • The test results of driving mechanism and influence path show that: public service, market environment, financial environment, ecological environment, human capital and legal environment are all necessary factors to improve the quality of FDI, and these factors have different impacts on the quality of FDI in different regions. The green business environment improves the quality of FDI by reducing risks. • The heterogeneity test results indicate that the green business environment can enhance FDI quality for cities with varying income and pollution levels. The world's leading recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI), China should pay attention to both the volume and quality of FDI as it seeks to integrate more fully into globalization. At this stage of development, establishing an environmentally friendly business environment has become a critical strategy for improving the quality of FDI. So, this paper constructs the index system of the urban green business environment and the measurement of FDI quality to test the driving mechanism of the urban green business environment on FDI quality. The study draws the following conclusions. Firstly, the green business environment can significantly enhance FDI quality, and this impact exhibits a positive spatial spillover effect overall. However, regionally, only the eastern region demonstrates a positive spillover effect. Secondly, the mechanism test results reveal that public services, financial services, market environment, ecological environment, human resources, and legal environment are the key driving factors of the urban green business environment on FDI quality. Moreover, the intermediary effect test establishes that the urban green business environment enhances FDI quality by mitigating risks. Thirdly, the heterogeneity test results indicate that the green business environment can enhance FDI quality for cities with varying income and pollution levels. The research results provide a new perspective for improving FDI quality and optimizing the green business environment. They hold significant implications for enlightening the coordinated development of the urban green business environment and FDI quality in different regions, as well as for maximizing the influence of the green business environment on FDI quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper addresses one of the major challenges in rural livelihood analysis to quantitatively examine the dynamics of household livelihood strategies. It investigates the interactions between livelihood assets, activities, and outcomes, and captures the dynamics of long-term changes and their underlying factors. The study aims to identify the classification of rural livelihood strategies, their transitions and factors influencing these processes and changes. We employ the dynamic livelihood strategy framework, and use panel data for 2008 and 2012 covering 464 households in 15 villages in Cambodia, for latent class cluster analysis and regression estimation. In this paper, livelihood strategies are quantified based on allocation of available resources, which overcomes the limitations of income-based analysis. Our study identifies five household livelihood strategies pursued in the study areas, and the results show that over 70% of households change livelihood strategies over time in response to evolving pressures, incentives and opportunities. The study identifies covariates that shape the choices of livelihood strategies and affects the households’ access to more remunerative strategies, such as education, ownership of physical assets, and access to infrastructure. These findings suggest policy implications for improving the range of livelihood choices available to lower income groups to move out of poverty trap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper examines the impact of the program Seguro de Capacitación y Empleo (SCE) implemented to provide support in skills upgrading, job seeking, and job placement to eligible beneficiaries of the Argentinian conditional cash transfer program Plan Jefes . The SCE is an example of a growing trend observed in Latin America, where labor activation components have been increasingly included into cash transfers programs to support beneficiaries in finding more stable income opportunities. Despite this growing trend, not enough is known regarding the effectiveness of these components, especially on job quality. In this context, this paper sheds light on whether the provision of a comprehensive package of active labor market measures contributes to a successful labor market integration of cash transfers beneficiaries. Taking advantage of the panel structure of the Permanent Household Survey and exploiting the time variation in the assignment of the program as identification strategy, we apply difference-in-difference estimators to measure the impact on a number of labor market indicators. We find that the program affects positively the job quality of participants by increasing the probability of having a formal job and raising hourly wages. Moreover, the intervention is associated with a lower probability of having a low-paid job and working an excessive number of hours. These effects are, however, not homogeneous across all groups of participants. While the program is more successful among the younger beneficiaries, it does not contribute to an improvement in the labor market conditions of female beneficiaries, who in fact are the majority of SCE participants. Our results suggest that reducing dependency on monetary transfers through programs, such as the SCE, that are rich in activation components is beneficial for participants’ labor market trajectories and therefore, it constitutes a satisfactory exit strategy to more universal cash transfer programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper sets out a systemic account of intertemporal changes in multidimensional poverty using the Alkire–Foster Adjusted Headcount Ratio and its consistent sub-indices. It uses three techniques to assess the pro-poorness of multidimensional poverty reduction. The analysis of changes in multidimensional poverty draws on the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and related destitution measure in 34 countries and 338 sub-national regions, covering 2.5 billion people, for which there is a recent MPI estimation and comparable Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) dataset across time. First, it assesses overall changes in poverty and its incidence and intensity, and compares this with changes in $1.90 poverty. Next, utilizing the property of subgroup decomposability, it examines changes in the MPI and its consistent sub-indices over time across urban–rural regions, sub-national regions and ethnic groups. The decomposition analysis identifies relevant national patterns, including those in which the pace of poverty reduction is higher for the poorest subgroups. Finally, the paper analyzes the dynamics of a strict subset of the poor, who are identified as “destitute” using a more extreme deprivation cutoff vector, and studies relative rates of reduction of destitution and poverty by country and region. This extensive empirical analysis illustrates how to assess the extent and patterns of reduction of multidimensional poverty, as well as whether it is inclusive or whether some people or groups are left behind. Naturally, some further research questions emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper analyzes China’s rural minimum living standard guarantee (dibao) program, one of the largest minimum income cash transfer schemes in the world, and examines possible changes to the program design. Despite its size and central position in China’s current poverty reduction strategy, little is known about the rural dibao program’s performance and targeting effectiveness. Our analysis uses annual household survey data from the China Household Income Project matched with published administrative data for the years 2007–09. We find that the program provides sufficient income to poor beneficiaries but does not substantially reduce the overall level of poverty. Conventional targeting analysis reveals large inclusionary and exclusionary targeting errors; propensity score targeting analysis yields smaller but still large targeting errors. Simulations of possible changes to the program design reveal that expanding coverage can potentially yield greater poverty reduction than increasing transfer amounts. Replacing locally diverse dibao lines and transfer amounts with a nationally uniform dibao threshold and transfer could in theory reduce poverty further, but the potential gains are modest without improvements in targeting. This paper makes several contributions. To our knowledge this is the first household-level empirical analysis of China’s dibao program in rural areas, so the findings provide new, policy-relevant information. Moreover, the literature has not settled the question of whether such programs should be centralized or decentralized. We show that in practice the potential gains of centralizing the eligibility rule and transfer amount are conditional on the efficiency of targeting. By varying the program’s key design parameters our analysis also yields insights into alternative policy recommendations to improve the program performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Existing research show that adverse income or rainfall shocks can lead to an increase in domestic violence. • This paper examines the affect of a public works program (MGNREGS) in rural India on domestic violence. • The paper finds that the MGNREGS acts as a safety net and mediates the effect of rainfall shocks on domestic violence. • The main channel is through risk-mitigation with some improvements in women's mobility. Economic shocks are commonly linked with domestic violence. This paper looks at how India's workfare program mediates the effect of income shocks on domestic violence. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) guarantees 100 days of employment to rural households and acts as a form of insurance. Using the phased implementation of MGNREGS across districts in India from 2006 to 2008, I employ a difference-in-differences strategy to show that the introduction of the MGNREGS mitigates the effect of adverse rainfall shocks on officially reported domestic violence crimes at the district level by 8 to 22 percent. Using complementary household data from the India Human Development Survey, I explore the mediating effect of the MGNREGS on rainfall shocks and possible increases in women's empowerment. There are positive effects of participating in the scheme on women's freedom of mobility but inconclusive evidence on women's say in household decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The study examines the role of co-residing family members in married women's decision to take up non-farm work. • Living in a joint family lowers women's non-farm employment in rural India by around 12% points. • Less autonomy rather than higher family income or elderly care is the main obstacle to join non-farm work. • Adverse impact is higher for women with less education, from higher social status and from Northern India. • Accessibility to jobs and availability of childcare reduce the adverse impact of joint family on women's work. Abstract This paper investigates if residing in a joint family affects non-farm employment for married women in rural India. Our estimates based on a longitudinal survey of over 27,000 women conducted in 2005 and 2012, and using the conditional logistic regression and instrumental variable approach suggest that living in a joint family lowers married women's participation non-farm work by around 12% points. The adverse impact is higher for younger women, for those from families with higher social status, and for those residing in Northern India. We present evidence to suggest that women with higher education are not constrained from cultural and traditional norms since education raises women's decision-making power in a joint family. An increased education level is likely to raise women's earning capacity as well as the quality of jobs which may help in lowering family pressure against work. Public policies that encourage higher education, improve job accessibility along with affordable childcare, will raise non-farm employment, which has increasingly been the main source of new jobs, for women living in a rural India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The Indian trade liberalisation has encouraged the dietary shift from cereals to animal products in rural regions. • This unintended trade outcome is associated with both improved intake in micronutrients and higher rate of obesity. • Apart from income and food prices, food tastes are found to be an important channel of this trade-diet link. • Complementary policies are needed to enhance the coherence between trade policy and nutrition actions. Abstract This paper investigates how trade liberalisation has contributed to a dietary shift from one dominated by traditional staples to one high in animal products, a trend that is associated with both improved intake in micronutrients, and higher rates of obesity and other diet-related diseases in developing countries. In the context of India's trade liberalisation in 1991, we examine whether the difference in consumption of cereals and animal products across rural regions before and after the reforms can be attributed to their differential degree of exposure to tariff reductions. The estimates reveal that trade reforms have a negative impact on cereal consumption through reducing edible oil prices and a positive effect on the consumption of animal products through enhancing consumer tastes towards these foods. These findings provide evidence for the role of trade in supporting dietary diversity and highlight the need for complementary policies to enhance the coherence between trade policy and nutrition actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Buffer stock savings theories predict that more vulnerable households build up liquid savings in order to cope with income variability. Using data from 1801 marginalized Mexican households, this paper examines how household liquidity levels vary by income level and use of banking. The paper finds strong evidence of buffer stock savings in poor and vulnerable households. It also shows that membership in a financial cooperative is a determinant of higher household liquidity levels. Financial instruments are used more to confront idiosyncratic shocks than systemic shocks. Idiosyncratic shocks and remittances are important determinants of liquidity levels in unbanked households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We find positive effects on prices and income from sale of certified products. • However, we find no change in overall household income and assets. • Wages for workers are not higher in certified production. • Context is crucial in explaining variation in effects. • Impact evaluations on certification need better study design and reporting. Abstract Certification systems (CS) set and monitor voluntary standards to make agricultural production sustainable in socio-economic terms and agricultural trade fairer for producers and workers. They try to achieve a wide range of socio-economic and environmental effects through bundles of interventions that include the process of standard setting and compliance, advocacy among consumers, capacity building for producers, building supply chains, price interventions, and the application of acceptable labour standards, overall to improve the wellbeing of farmers and agricultural workers. This paper presents the results of a mixed-method systematic review that synthesized the literature on socio-economic effects of certification systems on agricultural producers and wage workers in low and middle income countries. The review followed the Campbell Collaboration guidelines for systematic reviews, and included studies published between 1990 and 2016 in different languages, with evidence on low and middle income countries. The review included a quantitative effectiveness question focused on a range of intermediate (e.g. prices, wages) and endpoint outcomes (e.g. household income). It also included a question on barriers, facilitators and contextual factors shaping effectiveness which drew on qualitative or mixed-method studies. Eligible certification systems were based on second- (industry-level) or third-party certifications, and excluded own-company standards. For the effectiveness review, quantitative impact evaluations must use experimental or non-experimental methods demonstrating control for selection bias. With these inclusion criteria, the review includes 43 studies used for analysing quantitative effects, and 136 qualitative studies for synthesizing barriers, enablers and other contextual factors. Most included studies report on initiatives in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa and focus primarily on agricultural producers. The quality of the included studies is mixed, and several studies are weak on a number of methodological fronts, especially on statistical reporting. Overall, there is limited and mixed evidence on the effects of CS on a range of intermediate and final socio-economic outcomes for agricultural producers and wage workers. There are positive effects on prices and income from the sale of produce is higher for certified farmers. However, workers' wages do not seem to benefit from the presence of CS and, further along the causal chain, we find no evidence that total household income improves with certification. The integrated synthesis of quantitative and qualitative studies shows that context matters substantially in all causal chains and multiple factors shape the effectiveness and causal mechanisms that link interventions associated with certification and the wellbeing of producers, workers and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Several recent papers have explored the history of the global income distribution and point to some improvements: a falling global Gini coefficient, a falling poverty rate, and falling poverty headcounts. This paper uses the simple accounting procedure (SAP) discussed by Bhalla [Bhalla, S. S. (2002). Imagine there’s no country: Poverty, inequality and growth in the era of globalization. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics] and the International Futures Model [Hughes, B. B., & Hillebrand, E. E. (2006). Exploring and shaping international futures. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers] to project the global distribution of income in 2015 and 2050. The results suggest that unless the OECD countries start growing more slowly than is now commonly assumed or broad swaths of the developing world substantially improve their economic performance beyond that experienced in the last 25 years, the global income distribution will soon start to worsen again. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper introduces a special issue featuring a set of papers on institutional arrangements for reconciling rural poverty reduction with renewable natural resources conservation in the low-income tropics. Collectively, these Papers make four core points. First, synergies do not naturally emerge just because rural poverty reduction and renewable natural resources conservation are each appealing goals with common drivers and some intrinsic interlinkage. Second, it matters less which rules a community or country adopts than how well they monitor and enforce the rules they set. Third, flexibility and adaptability in design are critical to establishing cooperative partnerships that can advance both conservation and development goals. Fourth, multiscalar approaches are commonly desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Convergence of national GDP/capita numbers is a common, but narrow, measure of global success or failure in development. This paper takes a broader range of quality of life variables covering health, education, rights and infrastructure and examines if they are converging across countries. It finds that these measures are converging as a rule and (where we have data) that they have been converging for some time. The paper turns to a discussion of what might be driving convergence in quality of life even as incomes diverge, and what this might mean for the donor community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We explore the potential synergies between working time reduction (WTR) and universal income schemes to reduce income and time-use gender gaps. • We assess the impacts of two policy mixes where WTR is paired either with a universal basic income (BI) or a care income (CI). • WTR with both BI and CI sustains men and women employment, but BI provides a stronger incentive to men employment. • WTR with CI increases women's total income and improves women's position in income distribution, but does not reduce the wage gap. • Despite an overall reduction in the time spent by women in unpaid work, the simulated policy mixes do not close the time-poverty gap. This paper departs from the hypothesis that policies targeting time poverty have the potential to reduce the gender income gap through the redistribution of time use between women and men. To this purpose, we compare two policy mixes and assess the synergies between working time reduction and two universal income schemes: a basic income and care income programme. While the former provides every individual with an equal monetary benefit, the latter ties monetary benefits to the amount of unpaid and care work performed by individuals. We assess the impact of these policy mixes by applying Eurogreen, a macrosimulation model tailored to Italy. Results suggest that while working time reduction directly drives a reduction of the aggregate amount of time spent by women in unpaid work, this does not imply a reduction in time poverty. The universal income schemes – and in particular the care income – promote a reduction of gender inequality in terms of income by sustaining women's total income, but leave the wage gap between women and men unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While poverty reduction remains central in the Post-2015 Agenda, its determinants remain debated in the literature, especially the role of structural conditions related to governance. This paper provides an assessment of two key dimensions: the global adoption of MDGs and state capacity. We do so by studying whether they facilitated convergence in income poverty measures, using cross-section and panel methods, with data on 89 developing economies for the period 1990–2013. We find that poverty headcount and gap measures tended to decrease faster in countries with initially higher income poverty. Such convergence accelerated after 2000, suggesting that MDGs adoption was instrumental to poverty reduction. However, this still leaves unexplained substantial variation in poverty reduction performance across countries. Such variation is explained by state capacity: countries with greater ability to administer their territories in 1990 experienced faster income poverty reduction and were more likely to have achieved the MDG target. This result is insensitive to robust regression methods and to a large set of controls (initial level of income, dependence on natural resources, education and health inputs, dependence on foreign aid, ethnic fractionalization, regional effects and a set of governance variables). As good governance and effective institutions are included in the Sustainable Development Goals, this result provides empirical justification for this move, suggesting that more effective states could be crucial to sustain the development progress achieved so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of existing studies argue that rich people and the residents in high-income countries and regions have stronger willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental protection. Does such a rule hold true for China at the present stage? Previous studies pay little attention to this issue due to the lack of related data. Merging the micro data from the Chinese General Social Survey in 2010 (CGSS2010) with the macro data at the corresponding urban level of China, as well as two types of satellite monitoring data, this paper investigates the effect of income on residents’ WTP for environmental protection at both macro and micro perspectives based on the ordered Logit model. The results show that the rich do have stronger WTP for environmental protection. However, with the increase in residents’ income, the marginal WTP for environmental protection will decline, and a reversal occurs at the top income level. Therefore, the WTP does not always rise with the increase in income, and the middle-income class has the strongest WTP for environmental protection. Moreover, after controlling individual characteristics, residents’ WTP for environmental protection more depends on environmental pollution degree rather than urban average income level measured by both GDP per capita and the nighttime lights data from satellite monitoring. The residents in more polluted cities have stronger WTP for environmental protection. Therefore, it is not reasonable to improve people’s environmental preferences purely through economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the relationship between natural disasters and income inequality in Sri Lanka as the first study of this nature for the country. The analysis uses a unique panel data set constructed for the purpose of this paper. It contains district inequality measures based on household income reported in six waves of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of Sri Lanka during the period between 1990 and 2013, data on disaster affected population and other economic and social indicators. Employing a panel fixed effects estimator, we find that contemporaneous natural disasters and their immediate lags significantly and substantially decrease inequality in per adult equivalent household income as measured by the Theil index. Findings are robust across various inequality metrics, sub-samples and alternative estimators such as Ordinary Least Squares and System GMM. However, natural disasters do not affect household expenditure inequality. Either households behave as if they have a permanent income or all households reduce their expenditure proportionately irrespective of their income level in responding to natural disasters. Natural disasters decrease non-seasonal agricultural and non-agricultural income inequality but increase seasonal agricultural income inequality. Income of richer households is mainly derived from non-agricultural sources such as manufacturing and business activities and non-seasonal agricultural activities. Poorer households have a higher share of agricultural income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper presents the results of a meta-regression analysis of the relationship between government spending and income poverty, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. Through a comprehensive search and screening process, we identify a total of 19 cross-country econometric studies containing 169 estimates of this relationship. We find that the size and direction of the estimated relationship are affected by a range of factors, most notably the composition of the sample used for estimation, the control variables included in the regression model, and the type of government spending. Overall, we find no clear evidence that higher government spending has played a significant role in reducing income poverty in low- and middle-income countries. This is consistent with the view that fiscal policy plays a much more limited redistributive role in developing countries, in comparison with OECD countries. In addition, we find that the relationship between government spending and poverty is on average less negative for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and more negative for countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, compared to other regions. We also find that the relationship is less negative for government consumption spending, in comparison with other sectors. Finally, we find some evidence indicating the possibility of publication bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Research on economic status and adult mortality is often stymied by the reciprocity of this relationship and lack of clarity on which aspect of economic status matters. While financial resources increase access to healthcare and nutrition and reduce mortality, sickness also reduces labor force participation, thereby reducing income. Without longitudinal data, it is difficult to study the linkage between economic status and mortality. Using data from a national sample of 132,116 Indian adults aged 15 years and above, this paper examines their likelihood of death between wave 1 of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), conducted in 2004–05 and wave 2, conducted in 2011–12. The results show that mortality between the two waves is strongly linked to the economic status of the household at wave 1 regardless of the choice of indicator for economic status. However, negative relationship between economic status and mortality for individuals already suffering from cardiovascular and metabolic conditions varies between three markers of economic status—income, consumption, and ownership of consumer durables—reflecting two-way relationship between short- and long-term markers of economic status and morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary It is well known that consumption patterns change with income. Relative price changes would therefore affect rich and poor consumers differently. Yet, the standard price indices are not income-specific, and hence, they cannot account for such differences. In this paper, we study consumption inequality in India, while fully allowing for non-homotheticity. We show that the relative price changes during most of the period from 1993 to 2012 were pro-poor, in the sense that they favored the poor relative to the rich. As a result, we also find that conventional measures significantly overstate the rise in real consumption inequality during this period. The main lesson from our study is the importance of accounting for non-homotheticity when measuring inequality. The price index literature has, as of yet, paid relatively little attention to this. In our application, however, it turns out that the allowance for non-homotheticity is quantitatively much more important than much discussed adjustments, such as those for substitution in consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In the developing world, collective land titling has become an important tool for recognizing the historical presence of ethnic communities and safeguarding their rights to occupy and manage their territories. However, little is known about the average impact of these titling processes on the well-being of these communities. In this paper we attempt to estimate the impact of collective land titling in territories inhabited by Afro-descendent communities in Colombia. We compare rural districts in titled areas with rural districts in untitled areas that are similar in all the relevant observable characteristics. We find that the collective titling process in the Chocó region has caused an increase in average household per capita income, a decrease in extreme poverty, larger investments in housing, higher attendance rates among children in primary education, and a decrease in housing overcrowding. Our results suggest that collective land titling creates a more secure natural resource base and a longer time horizon for households in collective territories, which leads to investment in their private physical and human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The research combines economic, historical and anthropological data on the role of forests in local livelihoods in three South American countries. • Results showed the strong economic importance of forests to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, despite different contexts and histories. • Non-economic values of forests were also remarkably strong among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples inhabiting forests for varied time scales. • The utilitarian notion behind nature valuation is not sufficient to comprehensively understand how local populations benefit from forests. • Development policies should support and leverage non-economic forest values and cosmologies, and provide sustainable economic alternatives. Research on the contribution of forests to local livelihoods has so far had a strong focus on quantifying the monetary value of forest-derived products and services. In this paper, we move beyond monetary valuation and integrate the less tangible and sometimes culturally complex dimensions through which forests support local livelihoods. We look at four local contexts in the Brazilian, Bolivian and Ecuadorian Amazon, which differ markedly in terms of their biophysical, sociocultural and geopolitical settings. Combining economic and anthropological data, we used quantitative and qualitative methods, and measures of the ecological impacts of local forest uses. Quantitative analyses drew on datasets from 48 communities, and 510 households, while the qualitative analyses relied on semi-structured interviews with 78 families in 22 communities. Forest-based livelihoods exhibited complex portfolios, diversified production systems, seasonal variation of activities, and different specialization strategies. Beyond a source of subsistence and cash incomes, forests were locally valued by people across all sites in terms of identities, worldviews, territorial attachment, governance, and conservation. Populations with a longer history of interactions with the environment displayed more complex forest-related cultural systems, but even among people who had migrated into the forest in a more recent historical period, forest-based self-cultural identification was evident. At all sites, forests were unanimously recognized as critical to people's health and wellbeing, despite substantial differences in local histories, policy and market environments. The findings underscore the persistent importance of non-economic values of forests as both Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups constantly adapt their forest and land use practices based on transcultural exchange and changing conditions. A focus on economic value as the rationale for forest conservation disregards the striking resilience of cultural values in promoting forest conservation and use by diverse local and Indigenous communities, especially when supported by favorable policies and markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ethnic redistribution helped reduce poverty in Malaysia over the last 50 years. • However, it was not as important as within-group redistribution or mean-income growth. • The absolute gains to poor people from ethnic redistribution were once high, but have faded. Over the last 50 years, Malaysia has seen one of the fastest rates of income-poverty reduction in the world. This came alongside falling overall income inequality, due in large part to a national policy effort to address ethnic inequalities, in the wake of tragic race riots in 1969. The first paper in the two-part series examined various measures of ethnic inequality. This second paper assesses the role that changes in between-group inequality played in Malaysia's success against poverty. To address this question, a new decomposition method is applied to survey data spanning 50 years. The results indicate that ethnic redistribution helped reduce poverty, but it was not as important as within-group redistribution or mean-income growth. A pure ethnic redistribution effect is defined and isolated empirically. Sizable potential gains to the country's poor from ethnic redistribution are revealed in the 1970s, suggesting that the early policy effort made sense. The absolute gains have faded over time and are now small, though the elasticity of national poverty to ethnic redistribution remains quite high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Income diversification continues to be a key strategy for poor rural households, including those that are progressively developing and those operating under increasing distress. The ability of a household to diversify has been shown to depend upon its demographic and economic characteristics and its physical and social context. This paper considers the effects of intra-village social networks on household income diversification in one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse areas of the Indian state of Kerala. Using techniques adapted from spatial econometrics, we find that social connections within a village magnify the impacts of household characteristics such as education and number of adults by a factor of 3.6 times. Models with alternative measures of network centrality (degree and eigenvector) indicate that the number of network connections that a household has is more important than the centrality of those connections. Finally, we use social contact information to calculate assortative mixing based on caste. The results suggest social stratification in these villages, with higher levels of stratification associated with lower levels of income diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• West African trade networks allow numerous actors to coordinate activities over considerable distances. • Prosperous actors in the rice network have established numerous ties within and beyond their community. • Business relations within the rice network impose an unequal division of labour based on gender. • Women are less central in the rice trade network than men. • Women earn less than men even after controlling for age, experience, education, religion, and matrimonial status. The objective of this article is to measure the effects of income and gender on informal social networks in the rice value chain. Using primary data collected on 490 entrepreneurs in Benin, Niger and Nigeria, the paper first demonstrates that the monthly profit of entrepreneurs is determined by their structural position within the rice value chain. The most prosperous actors are simultaneously deeply embedded in their community through numerous ties and capable of building connections with other communities outside their own ethnic groups and countries. The paper then analyses to what extent gender is a strong predictor of social ties. An econometric analysis shows that women are less central than men and that their income is much lower after controlling for age, experience, education, religion and matrimonial status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Female employment is an important vector of economic development. • This paper uses Argentine panel data (1996–2007) and studies how women's labor outcomes react to negative income shocks affecting their partner. • The sudden repeal of convertibility in Jan. 2002 caused an exogenous change in male employment serving as an instrument for their actual job loss. • The female labor supply response is very high: when unemployment hits her partner, a woman is twice as likely to enter the labor market and work. • This effect persists over several years, suggesting that temporary labor supply adjustments can develop an attachment to the labor market. Female employment is an important vector of economic development. Using data on couples in urban Argentina from 1996 to 2007, I show that in the short and medium term necessity shapes female participation and employment at the extensive and intensive margins. More specifically, I study how women's labor supply reacts to negative income shocks affecting their partner. In order to assess the causal impact, I exploit the unexpected evolution of the economic environment triggered by the repeal of the convertibility law in January 2002 to instrument men's job loss. I find that women's probability of participating and finding a job is multiplied by 2 upon their partner's displacement. Turning to the dynamics of their labor supply, contrary to expectations, however, women do not symmetrically withdraw from the labor market once their partner finds a job. Evidence on repeated cross-sections confirms that the labor supply response persists long after the economic recovery. My findings are among the first attempts to evaluate the participation effects of temporary shocks in the medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In 2015 the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China was completed. For more than two decades, the 1.13 million people it displaced have been rebuilding their livelihoods. To assist, the Chinese government used policy and incentives to stimulate the local economy. Whether the resettlers benefited from such initiatives is not yet understood. This paper offers the first longitudinal analysis of the resettlers’ livelihoods. The study follows up with 521 households that participated in a survey in 2003. The initial survey, conducted within five years of their displacement, found that despite improvements to infrastructure and housing, incomes generally declined, livelihoods were dismantled, and permanent employment was replaced by more temporary employment. Resettlers were struggling to meet even their basic needs. However, eight years on from the original survey, this study finds the gains to be substantial. Within the sample groups, income inequality has declined, food is more secure and wellbeing is improved on 2003 levels. What is more, incomes have generally grown and are positively correlated to employment in an enterprise. It appears that the Chinese government’s resolve to stimulate the regional economy and to turn the crank on enterprise investment has paid off in this region of the Three Gorges Dam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Many rural poor in developing countries live in areas far away from markets and isolation is a key limiting factor to their livelihood. In this paper, we use four waves of a primary panel household survey conducted in 17 remote natural villages in China to study how road access shapes farmers’ production patterns, input use, and rural poverty. We adopt a difference-in-difference approach by comparing the outcomes of the households in villages with and without road access, before and after the introduction of each road. Our results show that access to roads facilitates specialization in agricultural production. In natural villages with better road access, farmers plant fewer numbers of crops, purchase more fertilizer, and hire more labor. Consequently, road connections improve household agricultural income and reduce poverty. In addition, road access significantly increases local nonfarm income for the relatively poor households, but not the rich. Overall, our research provides empirical justification on the importance of rural road on agricultural specialization and poverty reduction, especially in isolated and impoverished regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper examines the sources of income growth for major ethnic groups in Malaysia. An input–output structural decomposition analysis is extended and applied to the social accounting matrices of 1970 and 2000. The results indicate that the expansion of exports and the changes in the compensation of labor and capital inputs are the main determinants for the income changes. The effects differ largely between rural and urban areas, between skilled and unskilled workers, and between the major ethnic groups. The combination of these two determinants, however, is a dominant factor in explaining the increase in income inequality in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Trade openness has ambiguous implications for son preference in a traditional society. While it can work in favor of girls by improving relative female wages or average household income, it can worsen the relative preference for girls by changing marriage payments. This paper exploits an exogenous policy shock in India to study the impact of trade openness on son preference, as reflected in the sex-ratio. Survival chances of girls worsened in regions experiencing high trade openness, particularly for Hindus belonging to traditionally higher castes. I argue that Dowry inflation is a possible channel through which trade liberalization affected sex-ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper summarizes a study of changes in per-capita income, monetary poverty, and income distribution in 9,045 subnational administrative units of nine Latin American countries between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. The results largely support spatial convergence of mean household incomes, although the estimates indicate it has been slow. Territorial inequality is found to be persistent and reduces the pro-poor effect of local income growth. Although national-context specific, the estimates also indicate that territorial development dynamics are influenced by the structural features of the territories. In view of the evidence, territorial development policies in Latin America seem well warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• I study the impact of SHGs to cope with weather shocks in East Indian villages. • SHGs are very robust credit sources, even under covariate shocks. • Households in SHG villages enjoy half less seasonal variation in food consumption after a drought. • Households in SHG villages increase seasonal migration to mitigate expected income shocks. • Credit plays an important role, together with other SHG aspects such as peer networks. Combining seven years of household data from an original field experiment in villages of Jharkand, East India, with meteorological data, this paper investigates how Indian Self-Help Groups (SHGs) enable households to withstand rainfall shocks. I show that SHGs operate remarkably well under large covariate shocks. While credit access dries up in control villages one year after a bad monsoon, reflecting strong credit rationing from informal lenders, credit flows are counter-cyclical in treated villages. Treated households experience substantially higher food security during the lean season following a drought and increase their seasonal migration to mitigate expected income shocks. Credit access plays an important role, together with other SHG aspects such as peer networks. These findings indicate that local self-help and financial associations can help poor farmers to cope with climatic shocks and to implement risk management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study innovatively matches panel microdata with remote sensing weather data in four SSA countries • Securing women with either access to advisory services or control over land significantly increases agricultural income • If women are added as extension recipients, agricultural performance is 13% higher than in case of men-only beneficiaries • Long-term levels and temporary shocks in temperature and rainfall are negatively correlated to agricultural profitability • When extension-recipient women also contribute to decision making the negative impact of flood on crop income is reduced by 19% Climate change and extreme weather shocks pose serious threats to a number of agricultural outcomes, including agricultural production, productivity, and income, especially when households depend heavily on this activity. Agricultural extension and rural advisory services are key instruments in promoting technical change, advancing agricultural productivity growth and, ultimately, improving farm livelihoods, and are expected to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and extreme weather shocks. Their mitigation effects, however, may vary depending on the sex of the recipient. This paper investigates the role of sex-disaggregated agricultural extension recipients in contexts where agricultural performance of farm households is affected by weather variability. To this aim, we match multiple rounds of panel microdata from the nationally representative, consumption-based Living Standards Measurement Study -Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), collected in four sub-Saharan African countries, with remote sensing data on biophysical dimensions over a long-term horizon as well as year-specific weather shocks. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a micro-level dataset with individual-level information on agricultural extension services' recipients has been assembled and examined to investigate the effects of extreme weather shocks and climate change. Applying panel data econometric estimators, the study finds that agricultural extension and advisory services translate into higher agricultural performance of farm households where women are also among the beneficiaries, as compared to non-beneficiaries and households where beneficiaries are men only. Moreover, these services can mitigate the negative effects of weather variability and climate change, controlling for country and time fixed effects as well as holding all other variables constant. These results call for national and international policies and interventions strengthening rural advisory services, especially targeted to women in settings where household livelihoods are predominantly agriculture-based and weather variability and shocks are expected to negatively affect farming activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nil filing refers to taxpayers reporting zero in all fields of their declaration: zero income, zero expenses, and zero tax. It is a puzzling but widespread phenomenon in many countries. • We show that nil-filers in Rwanda account for half of all corporate tax declarations and about a quarter of personal income tax declarations. Nil filers are more likely to be small and young firms, often they are not yet operating. • Evasion is only a small part of the explanation behind nil-filing. A major reason lies at the interaction between aggressive recruitment campaigns by the RRA and taxpayers' response to a complex and confusing tax system. • Our results challenge the idea that expanding the tax base to the informal sector, usually intended as micro and yet unregistered firms, would generate substantial gains in revenue collection. Such strategy can instead have important unintended consequences. Nil-filing refers to taxpayers reporting zero in all fields of their tax declaration. It is a largely ignored phenomenon in the public finance literature, despite being well known to tax administrators and widespread: half of all registered corporations in Rwanda file nil. This paper sheds light on this issue, using descriptive analysis of administrative data, a randomised controlled trial (RCT), and qualitative interviews with taxpayers and tax officials. We argue that a major reason for nil-filing lies at the intersection between aggressive recruitment campaigns by the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) and taxpayers' response to a complex and often confusing tax system. Through the lens of nil-filing, we also shed some light on the practical challenges of public administration in low-income countries more generally. By doing this, we challenge the prevailing narrative that governments should always expand the tax base to small and yet unregistered firms, showing some previously undocumented – and unintended – consequences of such a strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In Thailand, the advanced technology tends to affect the reallocation of workers between skilled and unskilled positions. • The results vary among workers' industrial destinations and proxies of technology. • Skill upgrading is likely to occur more when workers stay or move within manufacturing sectors. • Our results highlight a diminished negative impact resulting from imports, particularly those of capital and final goods. • Workers' income is likely to be lower in response to technology progress and imports. This paper examines the impact of advanced technology and import penetration on changes in employment positions and income, as well as the possibility that workers become unemployed due to such technological progress. Two proxies of advanced technology are used, ICT and the intensity of robot usage. The analysis considers changes in employment status and income, together with workers' industrial adjustments in investigating the impact of technological advancements and imports, which are delineated into raw materials, capital goods and final products. The results show that in Thailand, the impact of advanced technology in pushing workers out of the job market is limited. Instead, it tends to affect the reallocation of workers between skilled and unskilled positions. The results vary among workers' industrial destinations and proxies of technology. Skill upgrading is likely to occur more when workers stay or move within manufacturing sectors, while ICT usage tends to generate more favourable outcomes than robot adoption. Workers in comparatively capital-intensive industries, including the automotive and plastics and rubber sectors, tend to receive greater benefits from technological growth. Our results highlight a diminished negative impact resulting from imports, particularly those of capital and final goods, in comparison to that of technological advancements. Technology adoption and imports are likely to lower workers' income regardless of their industrial destinations and proxies of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] This paper examines returns to education in India for consumption and wages. [•] The returns appear high at the individual level for both men and women. [•] Yet comparing across cohorts the returns are low for men and zero for women. [•] The results are robust to measurement error and school quality. [•] There are higher returns in the regular wage market but that employs few people. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: In post-conflict peacebuilding, the significance of reintegration programs for ex-combatants and the manner of how their success or failure ameliorates or deteriorates conditions for peace is now less debatable. However, there is little theoretical or empirical documentation regarding the such critical questions as: Can a cash-based approach reintegrate ex-combatants? What formal or informal mechanisms do ex-combatants engage in to earn a living in a post-conflict society? How can we understand and assess economic reintegration of ex-combatants in a situation where a cash-based scheme substitutes for reintegration programs? Using a case study of the Maoist ex-combatants from Nepal, this paper addresses these questions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper presents the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a measure of acute poverty, understood as a person’s inability to meet minimum international standards in indicators related to the Millennium Development Goals and to core functionings. It constitutes the first implementation of the direct method to measure poverty for over 100 developing countries. After presenting the MPI, we analyze its scope and robustness, with a focus on the data challenges and methodological issues involved in constructing and estimating it. A range of robustness tests indicate that the MPI offers a reliable framework that can complement global income poverty estimates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper assesses rural households’ decision to use improved maize varieties in Malawi and examines its impact on household welfare using a three-year household panel data. The distributional effect of maize technology adoption is investigated by looking at impacts across wealth and gender groups. We applied control function approach and IV regression to control for possible endogeneity of input subsidy and area under improved maize. We found that area under improved maize varieties is positively correlated with own maize consumption, income and asset holdings. We found evidence that improved maize adoption has a stronger impact on welfare of poorer households. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Climatic shocks suffered during early-life stages impact children's cognitive and anthropometric development. • Income, consumption, nutrition and diet composition are potential drivers of the effects. • Evidence of government programs that partially mitigate the impact of the weather shocks is provided. The fact that shocks in early life can have long-term consequences is well established in the literature. This paper examines the effects of extreme precipitations on cognitive and health outcomes and shows that impacts can be detected as early as 2 years of age. Our analyses indicate that negative conditions (i.e., extreme precipitations) experienced during the early stages of life affect children's physical, cognitive and behavioral development measured between 2 and 6 years of age. Affected children exhibit lower cognitive development (measured through language, working and long-term memory and visual-spatial thinking) in the magnitude of 0.15 to 0.19 SDs. Lower height and weight impacts are also identified. Changes in food consumption and diet composition appear to be key drivers behind these impacts. Partial evidence of mitigation from the delivery of government programs is found, suggesting that if not addressed promptly and with targeted policies, cognitive functioning delays may not be easily recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A singular failure of the Arab world is the absence of a private sector that is independent, competitive, and integrated with global markets. This paper argues that private sector development is both a political and regional challenge. In so far as the private sector generates incomes that are independent of the rent streams controlled by the state, it can pose a direct political challenge. It is also a regional challenge, since fragmented markets deny scale economies to firms and entrench the power of insiders. We argue that overcoming regional economic barriers constitutes the single most important collective action problem facing the region since the fall of Ottoman Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper analyzes the impact of the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Sauri, Kenya. We found significant higher agricultural productivity, self-consumption, production margins, and total (surrogate) income, but an insignificant impact on cash income among targeted households, when compared to similar ones in neighboring villages. These outcomes are explained by a large allocation of productivity gains to self-consumption, instead of to the market. Despite showing sizeable effects of the MVP, the results call for revising of the assumptions about the relationship between agricultural productivity and cash income on which the MVP and other rural development interventions rely on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper evaluates the impact of prime-age mortality on per-adult equivalent incomes of surviving household members in rural Zambia. The analysis uses difference-in-difference matching techniques and controls for spillover effects by excluding households from the control group if members departed or joined for reasons related to prime-age mortality. The latter is required because per-adult equivalent incomes of non-afflicted households may be indirectly affected, e.g., by hosting orphans. We find evidence of negative spillover effects on non-afflicted households. However, the death of a prime-age member has no significant short-run effect on per-adult equivalent income of afflicted households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper studies the relationship between mothers’ employment and children’s schooling in India. Using the second National Family Health Survey, the results of a multilevel probit model show that the correlation between mothers’ employment and their children’s schooling is negative. Women in poorer households are more likely to work but, given the negative correlation, their additional income does not seem sufficient to enable children’s school attendance. A sensitivity analysis on wealth deciles shows that this negative relationship disappears in urban areas and becomes weaker in rural areas at the top wealth deciles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The paper estimates the effects of the 2008–09 trade contraction on employment in India and South Africa, using social accounting matrices (SAMs) in a Leontief multiplier model. Employment results are presented at aggregate and industry levels and examine gender and skills biases. The most notable finding is that India and South Africa experienced substantial employment declines as a result of trade contraction with the European Union and the United States. A large share of these declines occurred in the non-tradable sector and resulted from income-induced effects, illustrating how a shock originating in the tradable goods sector had strong ripple effects throughout these economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper explores community-organized, household water supply in seven communities in western Kenya. We compare water use, labor use, income and the conditions for collective action in three sets of communities: two have protected springs and piped homestead connections; two have protected springs but no homestead connection; and three draw potentially contaminated water from unprotected springs. We find that piped water reduces the work of women and girls, and facilitates home garden and livestock production. Together these changes lead to increased household incomes. Women recognize clear time-benefits. Men, however, experience extra work. No overall pattern emerges regarding the preconditions for collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]