Search

In this study, we construct original measures of women's empowerment in economic, social, and interpersonal dimensions to estimate the effect of microcredit on women's empowerment in Djibouti. Using survey data covering 2060 Djiboutian households, we examine the extent to which access to microcredit, the amount of loans obtained, and their duration modify women's status at home. We employ an instrumental variables strategy and develop three instruments: (i) household's membership of a saving and credit cooperative, (ii) the availability of formal banks at the village or community level, and (iii) the availability of formal cooperatives at the village or community level. We find that microcredit has positive and significant effects on women's autonomy, but these effects become significantly negative as the number of loans taken out increases and as the length of time spent in the program rises. Women from households with access to micro‐loans are respectively 45.0%, 41.4%, and 15.7% more likely to be economically, socially, and interpersonally empowered. The results of the study are robust across specifications and econometric techniques employed and confirm the generally mixed socioeconomic effects of microcredit programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how the receipt and amount of domestic or international transfers influences household decisions regarding farm investment and the selection of capital and labour‐intensive crops. We argue that, even though recipient households may use additional income to increase agricultural investment, investment can fall in the short run if labour constraints arising from the migrant member's absence are binding and capital accumulation is suboptimal. Employing a set of endogenous treatment estimates, we test this hypothesis on data from 5636 rural households in Pakistan. Our findings show a substantial difference between recipient and non‐recipient households in terms of their economic behaviour. Recipient households make 100% less agricultural investment and generate 82% less production compared to non‐recipient households. The estimates are found to be robust when tested with alternate empirical techniques (Heckman Selection and matching). The impact is stronger in the case of households that receive domestic transfers, with 100% less farm investment and 77% less production than non‐recipient households. Remittances result in a decrease in production of both capital‐ and labour‐intensive crops, reflecting a decline in overall farm activity. Similar farm investment and cropping patterns are observed relative to the amount of remittances received. The results are robust to different model specifications and estimation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how crude oil price volatility affected the stock returns of major global oil and gas corporations during three major oil‐price wars that took place between October 1991 and June 2020. Episodes considered include the 1998 Saudi Arabia – Venezuela war, the 2014–2016 conflict and the 2020 Saudi Arabia – Russia war in a time of unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The persistence of volatility in oil prices during times of specific oil‐price wars is captured through generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model while the leverage effect is tested using the threshold generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (T‐GARCH) model. Moreover, a vector autoregressive (VAR) model is employed to consider the relationship between oil price shocks and stock returns of oil and gas corporations. Our findings reveal a significant evidence for volatility persistence and leverage effects in oil price during the three oil‐price wars. These findings are consistent for WTI as well as Brent crude oil specifications. Though the persistence of volatility is similar to that of the previous two oil‐price wars, the 2020 Saudi Arabia – Russia oil‐price war has higher volatility spikes than the previous two wars. Besides, oil price shocks have a significant and positive effect on the returns of oil and gas companies. These findings provide investors information on how volatility in global oil prices is also sensitive to irregular events such as price wars between oil producers. This information can be important for economic agents contemplating shorter hedges by managing risks during times of high volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from two representative Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the change in son preference over the past three decades and its effects on Pakistani women's fertility. We analyse a number of indicators and employ different empirical methods to come up with strong and persistent evidence for both the revealed and stated preference for sons. This disproportionate preference for boys is visible in increasing desired sex ratio and worsening sex ratio at last birth. Reliance over differential birth stopping has significantly increased over time as couples are more likely to stop childbearing once the desired number of boys is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does access to microfinance improve household welfare? We seek the answer to this question using data on 2,060 borrower and nonborrower households based in six major urban centers of Djibouti. We construct a composite index of multidimensional poverty that captures various aspects of household well‐being, including ownership of agricultural and livestock assets, land, transportation, employment, quality of housing, and sanitation facilities. We carry out estimations using an instrumental variable–based empirical strategy and a number of econometric techniques. Our results show that neither access to microcredit nor its ostensibly productive use is significantly associated with poverty regardless of the duration of time since the loan was acquired. This holds for both access to and the amount of microcredit obtained. The results are robust across specifications and econometric techniques employed. The lack of significant beneficial effect of microfinance found in the study adds to the growing literature questioning the effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for poverty alleviation. The findings raise doubts on the usefulness of Djibouti's microfinance program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role played by remittances in Morocco's spectacular fertility decline over the 1975–2018 period. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds approach, we find a significant negative association between remittances to the country and total fertility rate. This relationship is stronger in the long term than in the short term, suggesting that the human capital‐accumulation channel is probably more important than the income effect. Findings of the study highlight the contribution of Morocco's large overseas migrant community to the country's demographic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child marriage is still widespread in countries across the Indian Subcontinent. The practice has important consequences for the health and well‐being of the woman and the child. In this study, we examine the incidence of child marriage in Pakistan and the changes that have taken place over time in the profile of the women who marry before turning 18. We use data from all the four rounds of the representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS), namely, 1990–1991, 2006–2007, 2012–2013, and 2017–2018. With the help of these data, we observe the evolution of the individual and household characteristics of early‐marrying women over a span of three decades. We find that the practice of child marriage has become much less generalized over the past three decades. In 2017–2018, 39% of married women of child‐bearing age (i.e., those between the age of 15 and 49) had got married before the age of 18. Though still high, it is nonetheless lower than the 54% incidence found in 1990–1991. The decrease is particularly significant among women from wealthy and urban households. The incidence of child marriage is increasingly concentrated among women who are older and less educated and those belonging to poor, rural households. Elimination of the harmful practice of child marriage is crucial for achieving the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which deals with gender equality. The findings of the study highlight the close links present between child marriage, poverty, and urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the cost of remitting is one of the targets within the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10). A key factor that causes migrants to use informal channels when sending money back home is the high cost of transferring funds through formal channels. This study examines whether and to what extent the reduction in the cost of sending remittances increases the flow of remittances to developing countries, and whether larger amounts are remitted when the cost per transaction decreases (the so‐called scale effect). It uses bilateral data on remittance flows and exploits a novel dataset covering transaction costs for 30 sending and 75 receiving countries for the period 2011–2017. A gravity model of remittance flows is estimated using panel data and instrumental variable techniques to address endogeneity issues. We find that transaction cost is a significant predictor of the volume of formal remittances. A 1% decrease in the cost of remitting USD 200 leads to about a 1.6% increase in remittances. This association is robust to the different models and techniques employed. The findings suggest that policies designed to increase formal remittances need to focus on decreasing the cost of remitting through formal channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of non‐farm labour participation on poverty reduction in rural Mauritania. Farm households with more land and livestock participate to a greater extent in non‐farm activities compared with households with smaller land or cattle. We study poverty's relationship with non‐farm labour activities in terms of the incidence as well as the intensity and severity of poverty. The study is the first to highlight the contribution of the non‐agricultural sector in the reduction of poverty in the rural areas of Mauritania. We apply probit, propensity score matching and inverse probability weighting techniques to determine the signs and impacts of participation on poverty reduction. The results show that the probability of being poor is 5.9% lower among households that have at least one member participating in non‐farm activities compared with those only associated with the agriculture sector. Participation in non‐farm activities is associated with lower intensity and severity of poverty (3.6% and 1.9%, respectively). We find that surplus labour released by the agriculture sector is absorbed in the non‐farm economy. Income generation through diversification into non‐farm activities therefore seems to be an effective way to reduce poverty in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asia remains one of the major strongholds of hunger in the world, despite the fact that, following the Green Revolution, cereal production in the countries of this region tripled during the second half of the 20th century. This study examines the role played by this increase in cereal production in improving the region's nutrition and food security situation. We study the association between the different aspects of food security and cereal production in South Asia that have prevailed over the past 25 years. We find a beneficial role of the production and yield of cereals in lowering the extent of undernourishment. A 1% increase in cereal production and yield is associated with up to 0.84% decrease in the prevalence of undernourishment. The impact is significant over a period of 3 years. The positive effect is particularly evident in the case of rice and maize production. An improvement is seen in the aspects of availability, stability, and utilization of food security but not in the aspect of access. These findings are robust to alternative specifications and techniques. The results explain, in part, the means by which South Asian nations have managed to stall relative increases in extreme hunger and food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examines asset accumulation patterns of the recipients of foreign and domestic remittances. Employing a number of matching techniques, we analyse stocks of consumer, productive, housing and financial assets among migrants' stay‐behind households in Pakistan. We find that asset accumulation among remittance‐receiving households depends upon the nature and magnitude of remittances, the economic situation, and the geographical location of the recipient households. Foreign remittances lead to a substantial increase in household assets, while no significant change results from domestic remittances. We conclude that foreign remittances are considered as mainly transitory income and are used to generate precautionary savings in cash and kind. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is one of the world's top 10 remittance receiving countries. This paper examines the potential for the use of remittances as a development strategy. Remittances to Pakistan do seem to promote growth and reduce economic inequality and poverty. However, they also cause the Dutch disease, are inflationary, and tend to be pro-cyclical. The paper describes the challenges in employing remittances as the cornerstone of the country's development model, particularly the loss in competitiveness, volatility and the development of a dependency mindset that high remittance inflows can foster. In the end, some steps are suggested that are needed to be taken in this regard. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]