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In 1960s Pakistan, every woman was giving birth to more than 6 children on average. In 2021, Pakistan still has the second-highest fertility rate in South Asia with every woman giving birth to 3.4 children on average. This paper uses four waves of Demographic and Health Survey data to empirically analyze trends in fertility in Pakistan between 1990 and 2018; accounting for wealth, education and locational differences, this paper looks at three additional pathways for reducing fertility: (i) electrification, (ii) access to TV and (iii) family planning commercials broadcast on television. Results show that electricity does not reduce fertility whereas access to television has a significant effect in reducing fertility rates. The content and evolution of Pakistani soap-operas are also discussed, and it is argued that the role models, the types of households and the messages conveyed by these soap-operas may represent strong pathways for the fertility decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MGNREGA was introduced in India in 2005 with the aim to improve the livelihood of rural Indian households. In 2012-13, around 156 million rural Indian households had an outstanding personal debt; 85% of the amount of credit being disbursed was given to those households in the bottom income decile for 'non-business' related purposes. This paper uses nationally representative household data from the NSS EUS collected in 2004-05 and 2009-10 to look at the impact MGNREGA has had on the rural households' ability to repay outstanding debt. Results suggests that MGNREGA reduced the size of the outstanding debts for vulnerable households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the impact of the 2016 Brexit referendum on the UK (un-)employment rate up to January 2020 by comparing the observed performance of the indicators in the UK with those of a synthetic control. The decline in the UK unemployment rate recorded after the referendum mimics the trend of the synthetic indicator and, similarly, the increase in UK employment follows the trend of the synthetic control. Overall, we find that the Brexit referendum has had little effect on the UK (un-)employment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture (UA) is proposed as a solution to the social and economic challenges presented by cities by providing urban households with food and income using environmentally friendly food production techniques. To date, most analysis of UA has been based on single-city studies. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by using a cross-country approach and by analysing household level data from nine sub-Saharan countries—Burkina Faso (2014), Ethiopia (2013), Ghana (2009), Malawi (2013), Niger 2014, Nigeria (2012), Tanzania (2010) and Uganda (2013). This paper sets out to answer three questions; the first investigates which are the main characteristics of households engaged in urban agriculture; the second looks at the role played by UA in diversifying household diets and reducing household food expenditure; the third examines the heterogeneity in the impact of UA across the food expenditure distribution. Using an inverse-probability weighted regression adjustment method, the results show that households engaged in agriculture reduced expenditure on food and modified their food expenditure profile by spending more on protein rich food -nuts, legumes, fruits, dairy products, meat and poultry. The study also finds substantial variation on the impact of UA across the food expenditure distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shortly after oil production commenced in 2004, Timor-Leste became one of the most oil dependent countries in the world. The purpose of this piece is to assess whether Timor-Leste has been suffering from the typical political and economic ailments associated with the 'resource curse' hypothesis. The study critically analyses available evidence with reference to some of the common manifestations of the resource curse: conflict, rent-seeking behavior, Dutch disease and revenue volatility. It confirms that all of the examined mechanisms of the resource curse are present in Timor-Leste to varying degrees. This does not necessarily point to a causal relationship between mineral dependence and these socio-economic problems. Many of these problems, common amongst developing countries, are attributed to a wide array of historical and political factors (which are likely to be associated with colonialism and inherited weak governance structures). While it might be tempting to attribute these problems to mineral discoveries and related income shocks, careful examination suggests that the extractive sector exacerbates pre-existing problems than necessarily causes them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency continue to be two of the major health burdens in less developed economies. In this study, we explore the link between urban agriculture, dietary diversity and child health, using weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores. The study makes use of two rounds of observational data for urban Tanzania and employs an instrumental variables estimation approach. We show that practising urban agriculture leads to the consumption of a greater variety of food items and the health status of urban children living in households practising urban agriculture significantly improves in the short and, more importantly, long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects that oil extraction activities in Colombia have on the number of dead/injured people as a consequence of road-related accidents. Starting in 2004, the increasing exploitation of oil wells in some Colombian departments has worsened the traffic conditions due to the increased presence of trucks transporting crude oil from the wells to the refineries; this phenomenon has not been accompanied by an improvement in the road system with dramatic consequences in terms of road viability. The descriptive and empirical analysis presented here focuses on the period 2004–2011; results from descriptive statistics indicate a positive relationship between the presence of oil extraction activities and the number of either dead/injured people. Panel regressions for the period 2004–2011 confirm that, among other factors, the presence of oil-extraction activities did play a positive and statistical significant role in increasing the number of dead/injured people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recent increases in food prices have been dramatic. In Tanzania, average prices for key food items climbed at least 50 per cent between 2007 and 2009; rising prices had a significant effect on Tanzania's growing group of urban poor as their food budget share amounts to 67 per cent. This article studies the effects of practicing agriculture in urban Tanzania on indicators of dietary diversity, quantifying the share of urban dwellers engaged in urban agriculture and assessing the importance of urban agriculture in ensuring food diversity. Results suggest that households engaged in urban agriculture have a more diversified diet: they increase the variety of (i) meat, fish and eggs by 10 per cent, (ii) dairy products by at least 16 per cent and (iii) fruits and vegetables by up to 9 per cent. The urban poor is the group that profits most from the dietary diversification relative to richer households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the livestock sector can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction, but there is inadequate understanding of livestock-livelihoods linkages. This article draws on household-level data from 12 developing countries to investigate the livestock-asset position of rural households and its contribution to their income. The majority keep livestock; the less well-off are more likely to keep livestock than the better-off, but the very poor often lack the resources to invest in small animals. The key policy conclusion is that, contrary to common belief, there are no universal messages about livestock: policy needs to be tailored to farming systems, species, uses of livestock and different wealth groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Gross National Happiness being promoted by the government of Bhutan in place of gross domestic product to promote economic growth, culture, and mental health among its citizens. Topics discussed include violations of human rights committed by the government in Bhutan by stripping thousands of Nepali speakers of their citizenship, problem of illegal immigration in Bhutan, and human rights abuses in Bhutan.

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This article will focus on household access to essential social services provision (in particular examining access to public utilities) in countries of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe (SEE/CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The article uses original household data from two rounds of theLife in Transition Survey(LiTS) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank, conducted in 2006 and 2010, and from theSocial Exclusion Survey,which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted in late 2009. We will focus our analysis on differentiation according to the locality where households were residing, in rural and urban areas. Large differences in access to essential public utilities (such as piped tap water, sewerage systems, telephone and internet) are shown between urban and rural areas, combined with marked inequalitywithinrural areas. In addition, issues of social exclusion (including access to social services) and life satisfaction are investigated. While objective gaps in access are wide, subjective satisfaction with the quality of life is still higher in rural areas, including among those who are found to be socially excluded, indicating greater resilience of the rural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its widely recognized importance, electricity is not yet available everywhere, and there are many areas of the globe which still depend on alternative sources of energy such as wood, charcoal and kerosene. In contrast, the USA was the first country to be fully electrified. This article explores the current challenges faced by developing countries, presents the historical evidence from the USA and compares these experiences discussing the policy relevance of the comparison. Far from being a smooth process, the electrification process in the USA was a long and complex transition. The article analyses the challenges and policy responses that characterized the US electrification process. One of the outstanding features of these policies is that they are quite comprehensive and include subsidies and credit schemes, house ownership policies, mass media campaigns, the provision of adequate repair service and the direct involvement of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sluggish supply response in most developing countries to the apparently favourable agricultural market situation of the past few years can be explained by the limited ability of price incentives to bring about an increase in production and marketed surplus in the presence of binding non-price constraints. This article characterises farm household heterogeneity in access to assets, markets and infrastructure drawing on household survey data from 15 developing countries. We relate this heterogeneity in access to household ability to engage successfully in agricultural output markets and find consistent supporting evidence for the hypothesis that this lack of access is significantly constraining their potential to engage successfully in agriculture.Dans la plupart des pays en développement, la réaction de l′offre à la situation des marchés agricoles - depuis quelques années favorable - est lente, et ce en raison de la capacité limitée des incitations en termes de prix à générer une augmentation de la production et des excédents commercialisés, en présence d′importantes contraintes non tarifaires. S′appuyant sur des données d′enquêtes sur les ménages recueillies dans 15 pays en développement, cet article décrit l′hétérogénéité des ménages agricoles en matière d′accès aux actifs, marchés et infrastructures. Nous montrons la relation qui existe entre cette hétérogénéité et la capacité des ménages à s′engager avec succès sur les marchés de produits agricoles, et trouvons des preuves solides soutenant l′hypothèse selon laquelle ce manque d′accès limite fortement leur potentiel à s′engager dans l′agriculture de manière profitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data presented in this article are related to the research paper titled, "The impact of a household biogas programme on energy use and expenditure in East Java" (A.S. Bedi, R. Sparrow, L. Tasciotti, 2017) [1]. This Data in Brief article presents two rounds of survey data conducted in 2011 and 2012 for a panel of 677 dairy farm households in the province of East Java, Indonesia. The survey relied on structured questionnaires to collect data on the production and use of biogas, the use of other non-renewable energy sources, farm characteristics, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households. The panel data set in STATA format and do files are made publicly available to promote replicability and extended analyses of a sustainable energy initiative.