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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 draw a theoretical model to demonstrate that small farms achieve lower total factor productivity (TFP) compared with large farms, even though the yield of small farms may be higher. We argue that taking into account family labor modifies the farm size-productivity relationship. We test our hypotheses using geocoded data from 5,645 agriculture farms in Pakistan combined with remote-sensing data to account for farm-specific topographic features. We base our analysis on ordinary least squares and stochastic frontier analysis and find that family labor is the key to understanding the nature and strength of the farm size-productivity relationship. The association of farm size with both yield and TFP turns positive when we measure family labor in terms of market wage rate rather than marginal product of labor. Farm yield decreases by 0.07% with a 1% increase in farm size but is not significantly related to farm size when the family labor cost is measured in terms of market wages rather than marginal product. We find that higher family labor intensity, labor-market distortion due to the notion of family dishonor, and suboptimal crop selection by small farms play a crucial role in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we employ pooled data from four rounds of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) to examine whether, and to what extent, does the incidence of early marriage shape the married women's perspectives on gender preference associated with reproduction. We employ a number of econometric techniques (Probit, OLS, Cox Hazard Model, IV Probit and treatment effects) and a large set of model specifications, and find significant evidence supporting the role of early marriage in perpetuating disproportionate preference for boys. Women who married before turning 18 not only state a greater desire for boys but are also less likely to stop reproduction as long as they do not have a boy. Early-age marriage is associated with 7.7–12.5 per cent higher incidence of fertility discontinuation among women without a son. This son-preferring behaviour is stronger at higher birth order and also reflects in differential spacing patterns. Women's education appears to be the strongest channel through which these effects are mediated. The divergence between early- and late-marrying women appears to have sharpened over time. The findings of this study underscore the role played by early marriage in altering the gender-specific attitudes prevalent in the society, and highlight existing gender inequality traps. [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]

The demographic consequences of remittance flows to the developing countries have so far received scant attention. In this study, we examine the impact of migrants' remittances on fertility by employing unbalanced panel data from Post-Soviet states. During the last three decades, these countries witnessed large-scale out-migration accompanied by high inflows of migrants' remittances, and went from a high mortality – high birth rate to a low mortality – low birth rate regime. Employing standard panel estimation methods and instrumental variable (IV) approach, we find evidence for a significant negative association between remittances and fertility. These findings are robust to alternate measures and strategies. The impact of remittances is significant beyond a minimum threshold and has strengthened over time. The findings of the study highlight the remittances' substitution effect contributing to the post-communist countries' demographic transition. [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]

In this study, we analyse geo-coded climate data matched with two rounds of household surveys from Mauritania to compare the impact of the 2008 and 2014 droughts on rural households' welfare and the adaptation strategies they employed. The 2008 and 2014 droughts differ sharply in intensity. The 2008 drought was localised with about 45% rural households reporting loss of livestock. In contrast, the 2014 drought was the worst in a decade and affected nearly all parts of the country. We find that households living in the districts where the 2014 drought was at least one standard deviation more intense relative to the district's long-term precipitation average have an 11.9% lower per capita consumption and 8.9% higher likelihood of falling below the poverty line compared to households which faced less-intense drought. We observe no such welfare losses during the 2008 drought. Change in household asset portfolio sheds light on these findings: Household wealth fell during both periods of drought, implying that farm households attempted to maintain consumption by liquidating assets, especially livestock. However, ownership of small ruminants grew, suggesting a greater reliance on more drought-resistant livestock species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the dependence between changes in world crude oil prices and the performance of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, at the aggregate as well as sectoral levels for the period from July 1997 to December 2016. Quantile regression approach is employed for a detailed examination of the structure and degree of dependence for three sub-periods corresponding to normal, rising, and falling oil price periods. We found that the dependence between changes in crude oil price and the sectoral stock returns is heterogeneous across industries and it exists in both bullish and bearish market trends. The dependence at the upper and lower quantiles is found to be a common feature across industries. Moreover, the dependence and direction of the relationship change at times of structural breaks. The findings highlight an external channel through which fluctuations in stock returns may impede the liquidity of the stock market of an oil-importing country such as Pakistan, thereby affecting the domestic economy. [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]

This study analyses the effects of observed preference for boys on Pakistani women's participation in household decision-making. We find a significant association between female participation in various household decisions and their preference for boys. Bearing at least one son is associated with 5 per cent, 7 per cent, and 5 per cent higher say in decisions involving healthcare, social, and consumption matters, respectively. Women's role in financial affairs, however, does not change significantly. Female participation in decision-making grows with the number of sons but only up to third parity. The improvement in female participation remains limited and decision- or context-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is the world's biggest battleground in the fight against hunger. African governments and the international development community have increasingly focused on finding ways and means to end hunger and ensure the right and access to food for the continent's burgeoning population. Public spending on agriculture is one such measure. This study examines the role government spending on agriculture has played in enhancing the state of Africa's food security over the past 25 years. We examine the existing relationship between the two, whether this relationship varies over time and space, and whether it depends on the amount spent. We explore various aspects of food security and check whether spending on research and development follows the same patterns as the overall public agricultural spending. We find some evidence of significant beneficial effects of public agricultural spending on food security but only for the countries which allocate greater proportions of their budgets to agriculture. Spending on agricultural research and development also shows a positive impact on Africa's food security. There also exists some evidence supporting the temporal effects of public spending. We consider that the Maputo Declaration commitment to allocate at least 10% of public spending to agriculture pertinent. [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]

South Africa is the Africa's biggest source of outward foreign direct investment. This study examines the principal locational motives of cross-border mergers and acquisitions CBMA by South African firms for the 1990-2014 period. The role of inter-country cultural and economic linkages is also studied. Firm-level data of South African merger and acquisition activities in 74 host countries are used to estimate a number of model specifications that control for hostcountry economic, geographical, cultural and institutional characteristics. Estimations are carried out using random-effects negative binomial panel model. Capturing the host-economy market and enhancing efficiency are found to be the two major motives driving South African corporations' CBMA activities. Natural resources acquisition seems a less important motive, while strategic assets such as patents and technology do not appear to be attractive. The role of cultural and economic linkages between the home and the host country is found to be substantial. South African firms prefer investing in Africa, particularly in countries bordering South Africa. In light of the study's findings, South African CBMA activities can be compared with those from other emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of migrants' remittances in developing countries' fertility transition. Employing an unbalanced panel of South Asian countries and controlling for various economic and socio-demographic factors, we find that remittances are significantly associated with a lower number of children born to women of childbearing age. This suggests the remittances' substitution effect to be at play rather than the income effect, and may result from decreased need for children for financing the household's future needs as well as from better access to healthcare and contraceptive methods available to migrant households. Remittances' association with fertility appears to be more important than the transfer of fertility norms from migrants' host countries. The monetary aspects of international migration may therefore be more important for the region's demographic transition than social remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the short-run behaviour of migrant remittances in the face of terrorism. Using monthly data for post 9/11 terrorist attacks in Pakistan, the study finds evidence of increase in the volume of remittances sent from abroad. This increase is evident in the aggregate, as well as for the three main source regions of North America, the Persian Gulf and Europe. The positive association holds for all the top five migrant-hosting countries of Pakistan. The findings point in favour of an altruistic behaviour of migrant remittances at the macroeconomic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asia is one of the world's principal remittance-receiving regions. This study examines the home and host business cycles of migrant remittance flows to the region. Employing the Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) technique, the remittance behaviour of the region's four main countries is compared. Remittances to India and Pakistan show a mainly acyclical behaviour with respect to the output of the four host regions, and a countercyclical behaviour with respect to home output. In contrast, remittances to the two smaller economies of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are found to be mainly procyclical. The study shows that the macroeconomic remittance behaviour varies with respect to the importance of remittance flows in the home economy. Moreover, remittance behaviour seems to respond more to home economy specificities than to those of the different regions that host the migrants from the developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances are playing an increasingly important role in the economies of developing countries. In this paper, we study the effects of these flows on Pakistan’s labour market. We employ the 2007–2008 Household Integrated Economic Survey and Probit as well as Propensity Score Matching techniques to examine the impact on labour participation, quantity of work and activities of working as well as non-active members of remittance-receiving households. We find that both foreign and domestic remittances tend to lower labour supply of the recipient households. This impact is higher among women and among the young. The impact is more pronounced in the rural areas. In addition, foreign remittances increase the likelihood of household members attending middle school. We also examine the quantity of labour supplied by the remittance-recipient households. Results show little difference in the number of months and days worked between the households receiving and not receiving remittances. Furthermore, we find that the likelihood of being self-employed and cultivating one’s own land is higher among remittance recipients. In sum, our analysis highlights a higher role of foreign remittances in the labour market as compared to internal remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies symptoms of Dutch disease in the Pakistani economy arising from international remittances. An IV Bayesian analysis is carried out to take care of the endogeneity and uncertainty due to the managed float of Pakistani Rupee. We find evidence for both spending and resource movement effects in both the short and the long-run. These impacts are stronger and different from those the Official Development Assistance and the FDI exert. We find that while aggregate remittances and the remittances from Persian Gulf contribute to the Dutch disease in Pakistan, those from North America and Europe do not. [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]

In the decade since the 2008 global food crisis, West African countries have made efforts to raise domestic rice production and to make the region self-sufficient. Today, West Africa produces nearly two-thirds of Africa's rice. The region's rice import dependency has fallen from nearly half of local consumption in 2010 to about 30%. In spite of this improvement, the region remains the world's second largest rice importer. The situation of Benin, Burkina Fasso, Gambia and Niger remains challenging with rice import dependency still exceeding 70%. Production in some countries has fallen even below the 2010 level due to civil strife, climatic changes and macroeconomic difficulties. Countries of the region, on average, allocate less than 5% of their budget to agriculture, less than half the share committed in the Maputo Agreement. The Covid-19 outbreak and corresponding preventive lockdowns have posed a new challenge as food supply chains were stretched; production, transportation and consumption fell sharply; and household income was affected. In addition, closure of frontiers and temporary trade disruption in major Asian rice exporters has led to increase in rice prices in the international market. In late April, rice futures rose to reach a level not surpassed since 2011. This threatens to further aggravate an already fragile food security situation in the region. The crisis again points to the need for greater efforts at the national and international level to achieve food security. West African countries will need to enhance public spending on agriculture with a greater focus on measures aimed at improving rice productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]