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Resumen: La perspectiva insider‐outsider, dominante en el discurso sobre la regulación laboral, sostiene que las disposiciones protectoras se mantienen vigentes en interés de sus beneficiarios (insiders), aunque perjudican a otros trabajadores menos acomodados (outsiders). Si la contraposición entre ambas categorías fuera tal como se formula en el modelo, los outsiders se opondrían rotundamente a la regulación. Sin embargo, nuestras evidencias de que los outsiders en los países en desarrollo están mayoritariamente a favor de las medidas regulatorias obligan a replantear la tajante dicotomía insider‐outsider. Sugerimos distintas líneas de investigación, como los procesos redistributivos, las transiciones, la equidad y el poder del empleador en los mercados de trabajo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen Este artículo es una introducción al presente número monográfico sobre la informalidad, inscrito en la colección del centenario de la Revista Internacional del Trabajo (RIT). Se recogen aquí diez artículos dedicados exclusivamente al análisis de la informalidad, que aparecieron en la RIT entre 1975 y 2016. La introducción se inicia con un marco analítico, seguido de un examen de los orígenes del discurso de la informalidad y una lectura crítica de los artículos seleccionados en su contexto bibliográfico, a través de una serie de referencias ilustrativas, y concluye mirando al futuro, a lo que nos depararán los próximos decenios de análisis y discurso de políticas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A standard critique of attempts to apply entropy-maximizing perspectives to income distribution phenomena in economics is that they do not have appropriate characterizations of individuals making choices, which is at the core of economic modeling. This paper presents a possible bridge between these two seemingly separate universes of discourse. With a specific illustration we show that a conventional model of choice between occupations by individuals can lead to an economic equilibrium which can also be characterized as an outcome which maximizes the entropy of the distribution of individuals across occupations (and hence across incomes). This occupational choice interpretation can provide economic and institutional basis to what has, up to now, often been characterized as somewhat mechanical translation of methods from one discipline to another, without substantive content. The illustrations provided in the paper are a first step in exploring the possible linkages between occupational choice and maximum entropy approaches in modelling income distribution outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of fiscal and regulatory competition between jurisdictions is more advanced than its empirical testing. This is particularly true of labour regulation in general, and minimum wage regulation in particular, and especially so for developing countries. This paper utilises the spatial lag methodology to study city-level strategic interactions in setting and enforcing minimum wage standards during 2004–2012 in China. We manually collect a panel data set of city-level minimum wage standards from China's government websites. This analysis finds strong evidence of spatial interdependence in minimum wage standards and enforcement among main cities in China. If other cities decrease minimum wage standards by 1 RMB, the host city will decrease its standard by about 0.7–3.2 RMB. If the violation rate in other cities increases by 1 per cent, the host city will respond by an increase of roughly 0.4–1.0 percentage points. The results are robust to using three estimation methods, Maximum Likelihood, IV/GMM, and a dynamic panel data model. Our findings of strategic interactions suggest the need for policy coordination in labour regulation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses several article published within issue on topics related to entire breadth of Indian economist Amartya Sen's work—including his work in social choice theory that is not related to the capability approach to the history of ideas.

Resumen: Pese a la distinción teórica entre regulación de jure y de facto, los estudios empíricos sobre el efecto de la legislación laboral en el mercado de trabajo no la contemplan por falta de datos. Las investigaciones que indican consecuencias negativas de esta legislación, fundamento del debate sobre políticas, solo utilizan indicadores de su rigor. Se proponen aquí indicadores basados en el control efectivo de su cumplimiento que apuntan a una correlación negativa entre rigidez normativa y grado de control. Al incluir el factor efectividad, los resultados anteriores sobre los efectos de la reglamentación laboral y la teoría de los orígenes jurídicos no se mantienen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic global distributional facts of inequality within and between countries are structuring a range of debates on policy issues which have analytical import. This paper raises three such questions: (1) Should Middle Income Countries like India continue to receive concessional development assistance from agencies like the World Bank? (2) Should the borders of richer countries be more open than they currently are to economic migration from poorer countries? (3) How does the equality of opportunity discourse within a country translate to equality of opportunity in a global perspective? But these questions appear not to have been as thoroughly investigated in the capability framework as their urgency and importance demands. They are worthy of deep and sustained investigation by the Human Development and Capability Association's members, and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporating carbon offsets in the design of cap-and-trade programs remains a controversial issue because of its potential unintended impacts on emissions. At the heart of this discussion is the issue of crediting of emissions reductions. Projects can be correctly, over- or under-credited for their actual emissions reductions. We develop a unified framework that considers the supply of offsets within a cap-and-trade program that allows us to compare the relative impact of over-credited offsets and under-credited emissions reductions on overall emissions under different levels of baseline stringency and carbon prices. In the context of a national carbon pricing scheme that includes offsets, we find that the emissions impacts of over-credited offsets can be fully balanced out by under-credited emissions reductions without sacrificing a significant portion of the overall supply of offsets, provided emissions baselines are stringent enough. In the presence of high predicted business-as-usual (BAU) emissions uncertainty or low carbon prices, to maintain the environmental integrity of the program, baselines need to be set at stringent levels, in some cases below 50 percent of predicted BAU emissions. As predicted BAU emissions uncertainty declines or as the carbon market achieves higher equilibrium prices, however, less stringent baselines can balance out the emissions impacts of over-credited offsets and under-credited emissions reductions. These results imply that to maintain environmental integrity of offsets programs, baseline stringency should be tailored to project characteristics and market conditions that influence the proportion of over-credited offsets to under-credited emissions reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existen pocos datos sistemáticos sobre el alcance del incumplimiento de la legislación en los países en desarrollo, que se cree generalizado. Con datos de dos encuestas de empresas, los autores cuantifican el incumplimiento de la Ley de fábricas de la India y observan que las empresas infractoras doblan a las conformes y superan con mucho a las que eluden la ley mediante ciertos ajustes. Analizan las principales tendencias y pautas de incumplimiento y las ponen en relación con la ausencia de empresas de tamaño medio en la India y los debates sobre reglamentación. También destacan cuestiones para investigaciones futuras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the relative efficacy of three key instruments – baselines, trade ratios and limits - which are under policy discussion in the design of carbon offset programs. We rank the instruments by their implications for total emissions, economic efficiency, and efficiency gain relative to a distributional transfer from capped to uncapped sectors. We find that the baseline is the best instrument for maximizing welfare as it directly reduces the share of offsets that are non-additional and that second-best policies do not sacrifice much welfare relative to the standard first-best policy prescription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper argues that Social Protection needs to be on the post-2015 agenda as a key element of the discourse. Based on a global Social Protection data set, it estimates that social protection programs are currently preventing 150 million people from falling into poverty. Even if all low-income countries could achieve the very best targeting efficiency observed in the world, only 50% could halve the poverty gap through social protection. For half of low-income countries, and for over a fifth of all countries in the sample, the issue is one of budgetary adequacy, not targeting efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A partir de microdatos de la encuesta de hogares se cuantifica el incumplimiento en Chile del salario mínimo, el número máximo de horas de trabajo, el derecho a un contrato escrito y el derecho a pensión de 1990 a 2009. Un tercio de los trabajadores sufrió algún tipo de infracción, con variaciones en el tiempo y según la norma y las características del trabajador y de la empresa. Según el análisis econométrico, la tasa de cumplimiento es menor cuando se trata de mujeres, extranjeros, indígenas y trabajadores menos instruidos, empresas más pequeñas y regiones agrícolas. Convendría investigar los efectos de la inspección del trabajo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artículo trata de proporcionar datos cuantitativos para fundamentar mejor el debate sobre políticas de salario mínimo y su observancia en Sudáfrica y en otros países en desarrollo. Cotejando datos de la Encuesta de Población Activa de 2007 con los mínimos salariales oficiales establecidos por ocupación y zonas de ingresos, los autores presentan estimaciones del incumplimiento de estas normativas en Sudáfrica. El 44 por ciento de los trabajadores cubiertos percibe salarios inferiores al mínimo estipulado, con una diferencia media del 35 por ciento. El nivel de inobservancia es mayor en los sectores de la seguridad, la silvicultura y la agricultura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The objective of this paper is to present an overview of ethnicity, ethnic strife, and its consequences, as seen from the perspective of the disciplines of economics, political science, social anthropology, and sociology. What exactly is ethnicity—how is it to be defined, characterized, and measured? What exactly are the causal links from ethnicity so defined to its presumed consequences, including tension and violence? What are the feedback loops from the consequences of ethnic divisions back to these divisions themselves? How can policy, if at all, mitigate ethnic divisions and ethnic conflict? Finally, what role does interdisciplinarity have in helping to understand ethnicity and ethnic strife, and how can interdisciplinary collaboration be enhanced? These are the questions which this paper takes up and deals with in sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has relatively few but well-founded and relevant studies, reports and publications on inclusive growth, inclusive development, or inclusive social development. This paper seeks to summarize the knowledge products obtained from existing ADB studies, statements and initiatives. It draws from the research and analytic work undertaken in the recent years by ADB's Economics and Research Department, the East Asia Regional Department and the Operations Evaluation Department, and other sources. One of the findings is that while there is no agreed and common definition of inclusive growth or inclusive development, the term is understood to refer to 'growth coupled with equal opportunities', and consisting of economic, social and institutional dimensions. Among the major recommendations of the ADB literature are that efforts to achieve inclusive growth and inclusive development should involve a combination of mutually reinforcing measures including: (1) promoting efficient and sustainable economic growth, (2) ensuring a level political playing field and (3) strengthening capacities and providing for social safety nets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes three tasks. The first and major task is the definition of inclusive development, in particular distinguishing it from growth, pro-poor growth and inclusive growth and differentiating these from each other. The paper then proceeds to apply this definition to specific issues focusing on rural infrastructure. The second task is to discuss the relationship between rural infrastructure and inclusive development. The third and final task is to draw out the implications of the recent literature on development assistance and its effectiveness, for donor support of rural infrastructure with the objective of inclusive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The turn to the use of mixed qualitative and quantitative (Q-Squared) methods in the analysis of poverty is a welcome development with large potential payoffs. While the benefits of mixing are not in doubt, the tensions involved in so doing have not received adequate attention. The aim of this paper is to address this gap in the “Q-Squared” literature. It argues that there are important differences between approaches to poverty which operate at the levels of epistemology and normative theory. These differences have implications for the numerical transformation of data, the selection of validity criteria, the conception/dimension of poverty adopted and interpersonal comparisons of well-being. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the topics published within the issue, including one on the significance of a shared sectoral growth in the economy and another on the role of migration and remittances in the process of shared growth.

If the absolute number of poor people goes up, but the fraction of people in poverty comes down, has poverty gone up or gone down? The economist’s instinct, framed by population replication axioms that undergird standard measures of poverty, is to say that in this case poverty has gone down. But this goes against the instinct of those who work directly with the poor, for whom the absolute numbers notion makes more sense as they cope with more poor on the streets or in the soup kitchens. This paper attempts to put these two conceptions of poverty into a common framework. Specifically, it presents an axiomatic development of a family of poverty measures without a population replication axiom. This family has an intuitive link to standard measures, but it also allows one or other of “the absolute numbers” or the “fraction in poverty” conception to be given greater weight by the choice of relevant parameters. We hope that this family will prove useful in empirical and policy work, where it is important to give both views of poverty—the economist’s and the practitioner’s—their due. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's commentary on issues related to economic growth, inequality and poverty. The author confines himself on the said issues defined over income, or monetary value of consumption, following standard practice in economics. The said issues are the concerns of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. The author focused on income poverty to show that questions arise even within a narrow economic perspective. Given the distribution of income, the mean can be calculated. Changes in per capita income and changes in inequality has no statistical correlation. Policymakers have to select and implement policies that will lead to per capital income increase or decrease in inequality.

This paper establishes and explores the implications of a somewhat surprising empirical finding. Although civil war adversely affects the performance of social indicators in general, poorer countries lose less, in absolute and relative terms, than richer countries. It is argued that the explanation may lie in the extent to which richer countries have better social (and economic) indicators because of more public goods, and adaptation of economic and social mechanisms to the greater abundance of public goods such as physical infrastructure. Civil war destroys public goods, and therefore damages disproportionately the countries most dependent on them. A further implication of this framework is that the post-conflict rebound in social indicators should be relatively stronger in poorer countries. The data bear out this prediction. Our results should not of course be read as implying that poorer countries need less support to avoid civil war and to cope with its aftermath. Although their losses are less, they start from a lower base; so even small declines severely impact human well-being. Properly understood, our results highlight the central role that public goods play in underpinning the social (and economic) wealth of nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has been proposed as a key element of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It is important that the APRM be debated thoroughly in terms of concept and design. This paper is a contribution to the debate. The paper derives design criteria for peer review mechanisms after looking at some functioning examples. These criteria are-competence, independence and competition. It is argued that, while the APRM is a welcome addition to pan-African institutional structure, its design will have to be improved for it to be truly successful. First, APRM should greatly narrow the scope of its reviews if it is to deliver competent assessments. Second NEPAD should devote significant resources to allow civil society in the reviewed country to do assessments of their own, and to critique the APRM assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does development economics address the issue of gains and losses from the displacement that inevitably accompanies many development processes? This paper argues that economists have struggled mightily between the core criterion of a "Pareto improvement", which vests individuals with infinite rights in their current standard of living, and its deeply conservative implications--both that it would prevent redistribution away from the rich, and that it would stop most projects from ever taking place. Where they have got to conceptually is a compromise, through using distributionally sensitive weights to evaluate the gains and losses of a project. In practice, however, systematic use of such weights in project appraisal or cost--benefit analysis is rare. Apart from advocating such use, which is true to the spirit of the conceptual position reached in economics, the paper argues that specific compensation mechanisms and generalised safety nets will reduce tensions between protecting the vulnerable and supporting projects that produce aggregate net benefits--including benefits for the vulnerable themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, originally delivered as a public lecture in Pretoria at a forum hosted by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN), outlines the key structural features of the newly launched and South African government-driven New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), as well as the main ways by which it intends to pursue its goal of poverty reduction in Africa. Kanbur argues that such are the needs of Africa's poor that NEPAD faces the risk that the demands on its resources will be greater than can be met and suggests that its proposed programmes be prioritized against three main criteria—are they well-suited to a regional organizations and they duplicate the efforts of other regional groupings? Do they require the authority of an institution rooted in democratic values? Will they directly and indirectly benefit the African poor? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on the concept of economic development and its application in developing countries. Discussion on policy making and economic research; Application of other social science studies, such as political science, anthropology and sociology in the area of economic development.

Provides information on a study which examined the nature of disagreements on economic policy, distribution and poverty. Information on the people involved in the disagreements; Areas of agreement; Conclusion.

Deals with a study which examined the effectiveness of polarization measures in China. Comparison between inequality and polarization; Data and empirical results of the study; Details on an alternative approach to polarization.

Provides information on a case study of welfare gains and losses of households in sub-Saharan Africa. Methodology used for the analysis from the Cote d'Ivoire Living Standards Survey (CILSS); Results of the study.

Investigates distributional change in Cote d'Ivoire during the second half of the 1980s using panel data sets. Mobility of households across poverty classes over time; Existence of households who improved their standard of living amid general decline; High probability of escaping poverty even for the very poorest.

The article presents various reports published within the issue, including one on difference in poverty rate from region to region by Yin Zhang and Guanghua Wan and another on urban and rural household taxation in China by ran Tao and Mingxing Liu.

Women of reproductive age (WRA) need adequate nutrient intakes to sustain a healthy pregnancy, support fetal growth, and breastfeed after childbirth. However, data on women's dietary intake in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are limited, and assessment of differences between dietary intakes of pregnant or lactating women compared with that of nonpregnant, nonlactating (NPNL) women is untested. Using single, multiple‐pass 24‐h dietary recall data from a sample of WRA residing in rural Bangladesh, we examined women's dietary intakes for energy, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and dietary diversity for three groups: NPNL (n = 2,903), pregnant (n = 197), and lactating women (n = 944). We used equivalence testing to examine similarity in adjusted intakes for pregnant versus NPNL women and lactating versus NPNL women with a predetermined equivalence threshold based on recommendations specific for each reproductive stage. On average, both pregnant and lactating women had insufficient intakes for all dietary measures. Although statistically significant differences were observed between pregnant and NPNL women for energy intake and dietary diversity and between lactating and NPNL women for energy and protein intake, the magnitudes of these differences were too small to reject equivalence. Statistical similarity was also evident in all micronutrients and dietary diversity for both two‐group comparisons. Understanding statistical differences and similarities between dietary measures of women in distinct reproductive stages has important implications for the relevance, appropriateness, and evaluation of maternal diet‐enhancing interventions in LMICs, especially during pregnancy and lactation, when demand for macronutrients and micronutrients is elevated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to a section of articles published in this issue is presented including an article on Asian Development Bank and an article on a conceptualization of inclusive development and inclusive growth.

Focuses on the use of development economics in development processes. Implications of the economic method called Pareto improvement; Purpose behind the use of distributionally sensitive weights by economists; Ways to reduce tensions between protecting the vulnerable and supporting projects that produce net benefits.

This article argues for a more systemic engagement with Latin American cities, contending that it is necessary to reconsider their unity in order to nuance the 'fractured cities' perspective that has widely come to epitomize the contemporary urban moment in the region. It begins by offering an overview of regional urban development trends, before exploring how the underlying imaginary of the city has critically shifted over the past half century. Focusing in particular on the way that slums and shantytowns have been conceived, it traces how the predominant conception of the Latin American city moved from a notion of unity to a perception of fragmentation, highlighting how this had critically negative ramifications for urban development agendas, and concludes with a call for a renewed vision of Latin American urban life.Cet article plaide pour un engagement plus systématique avec les villes d′Amérique Latine, en faisant valoir qu′il est nécessaire de nuancer les visions de « villes fracturées » qui sont actuellement largement prédominantes, et reconsidérer les contextes urbains du point de vue de leur unité. Il commence par offrir un aperçu des tendances régionales en matière de développement urbain, avant d′explorer la façon dont l′imaginaire sous-jacent de la ville a évolué au fil du dernier demi-siècle, en se focalisant particulièrement sur la manière dont le phénomène des bidonvilles a été conçu. Plus particulièrement, il retrace la façon dont la conception dominante de la ville latino-américaine est passé d′une notion d'unité à une perception de fragmentation, tout en soulignant que ceci a eu des conséquences critiques et négatives pour la notion du développement urbain dans la région. L'article conclut en conséquence avec un appel à une vision renouvelée de la vie urbaine latinoaméricaine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Edgar Pieterse on the state of urban knowledge in Africa, one by Paul Mukwaya, Hannington Sengendo, and Shuaib Lwasaon on major phases of urban development in Uganda, and one by Kate Meagher on urban governance in Nigeria.

An introduction to articles published within this issue is presented, citing those on health issues in Africa and risk mitigation.

This paper develops the concept of ‘action space’ as the range of possible destinations a migrant can realistically move to at a given point in time and, intimately linked to this, the set of possible livelihoods at destination. We show how this space expands and contracts over time through “cumulative causation”. Such a dynamic framework allows us to appreciate the role of secondary towns in rural-urban migration and poverty reduction. Secondary towns occupy a unique middle ground between semi-subsistence agriculture and the capitalistic city; between what is close-by and familiar and what is much further away and unknown. By opening up the horizons of the (poorer) rural population and facilitating navigation of the non-farm economy, secondary towns allow a broader base of the poor population to become physically, economically and socially mobile. Secondary towns therefore have great potential as vehicles for inclusive growth and poverty reduction in urbanizing developing countries. These are the insights emerging from in-depth life history accounts of 75 purposively selected rural–urban migrants from rural Kagera, in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]