Modern fruit sector development in Chile led to agricultural employment for women, though usually only as temporary workers and often at a piece rate. Nonetheless, fruit sector employment offered women access to income and personal fulfillment previously lacking. The authors link the fruit sector to improving female and family economic welfare in rural Chile and changing gender relations. Using a unique longitudinal data set, they examine women's decisions regarding labor force participation and employment, their earnings and contributions to household income, and their attitudes toward employment to understand how new opportunities are changing women, their households, and the rural sector.

This report evaluates the shortcomings of current housing policies, and provides a framework for analysis of alternative policies. Its message is threefold: First, housing has a significant role in terms of basic social support, where the housing unit is a source of capital accumulation, thus a key to expanding Mexico's middle class, from a minority to a majority. Second, the country is facing a two-tiered housing market, those that can afford formal housing, and the near majority who are not served by current federal programs. Third, the housing finance system has amalgamated into multiple institutions, with unclear accountability, and divergent criteria for subsidized credit. The report further reviews the significant challenges facing housing demand, supply, and government intervention, stating that in the absence of viable alternatives, many Mexicans households are under-housed, and suffer from insecure tenure, crowding, and poor quality of housing. This weakness exacerbates poverty, by limiting capital formation...

Why is there significant variation in rent extraction among high-income democracies? A large number of political economy investigations into this research question have found that a long period of democratic rule and high per capita income are associated with less rent extraction among public policy-makers. However, attempts to explain the residual, yet significant, variation in rent extraction among countries that possess both these characteristics have been significantly more circumspect and disputed. This paper explores how the distribution of policy-making responsibilities between electorally accountable decision-makers and their electorally unaccountable public policy-making counterparts determines the optimal level of rents extracted in any given high-income democracy context. Specifically, the paper formally models how: (1) variation in the ratio of electorally accountable decision-makers to electorally unaccountable decision-makers, by altering (2) voters' evaluation of incumbent competency, changes (3) the incentives that policy-makers...

The vision 2021 plan and the associated perspective plan 2010-2021, adopted by the Government of Bangladesh lay out a series of development targets for 2021. Among the core targets identified to monitor the progress toward the vision 2021 objectives is that of attaining a poverty headcount of 14 percent by 2021. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: given Bangladesh's performance in poverty reduction over the last decades, can the author expect the proportion of the country's population living in poverty to be 14 percent by 2022? Using data from the last three household income and expenditures survey, we examine changes in poverty rates during 2000-2010, estimate net elasticity of poverty reduction to growth in per-capita expenditure, and then project poverty headcounts into the future. Our poverty projections based on the last three Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) surveys suggest that Bangladesh will achieve its Millennium Development Goal, or MDG goal of halving its poverty headcount to 28.5 percent by 2015 significantly ahead of schedule. Attaining the vision 2021 poverty target of 14 percent by 2021...

The rapid and large oil price rise experienced during 2004 has created widespread concern about its impact on low income countries and on poor households in many countries. To appreciate the magnitude of this impact and to formulate policies to ameliorate these effects, a number of questions need to be answered. What are the routes by which countries are impacted? Which countries are most vulnerable to oil shocks? What determines the degree of vulnerability to such shocks? How much are the poor in various countries impacted by the effects of higher oil prices? What policies can reduce the vulnerability of countries to oil shocks, both immediately and in the medium to long run? Three levels of analysis are used to discuss these issues: the macroeconomic, that looks at the direct impact of the balance of payments and the necessary adjustment of GDP to restore equilibrium; the mesoeconomic, that looks at factors which determine a country's propensity to be a net oil importers, including oil self-sufficiency...

It is routinely assumed that residents of post-socialist countries have a preference for greater income equality, other things being equal, owing to the legacy of socialism. This proposition is examined in the context of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU) using three waves of the World Values Survey. Contrary to expectations, there is little evidence of a 'socialist legacy' en bloc. Countries in the FSU as a group display significantly lower preference for moving towards greater income equality than Eastern Europe. Moreover, this preference for greater income inequality appears to have persisted at least since the mid-1990s.

Can the clothing sector be a driver of export diversification and growth for today's low-income countries as it was in the past for countries that have graduated into middle income? This paper assesses this issue taking into account key changes to the market for clothing: the emergence of India and especially China as exporting countries; the rise of global production chains; the removal of quotas from the global trading regime but the continued presence of high tariffs and substantial trade preferences; the increasing importance of large buyers in developed countries and their concerns regarding risk and reputation; and the increasing importance of time in defining sourcing decisions. To assess the importance of the factors shaping the global clothing market, the authors estimate a gravity model to explain jointly the propensity to export clothing and the magnitude of exports from developing countries to the E U and US markets. This analysis identifies the quality of governance as an important determinant of sourcing decisions and that there appears to be a general bias against sourcing apparel from African countries...

Even though access to credit is central to child labor theoretically, little work has been done to assess its importance empirically. Dehejia and Gatti examine the link between access to credit and child labor at a cross-country level. The authors measure child labor as a country aggregate, and proxy credit constraints by the level of financial market development. These two variables display a strong negative (unconditional) relationship. The authors show that even after they control for a wide range of variables-including GDP per capita, urbanization, initial child labor, schooling, fertility, legal institutions, inequality, and openness-this relationship remains strong and statistically significant. Moreover, they find that, in the absence of developed financial markets, households resort to child labor to cope with income variability. This evidence suggests that policies aimed at increasing households' access to credit could be effective in reducing child labor.

As Argentina approaches its bicentennial as an independent republic, it has a window of opportunity in social protection policy. As growth has returned and social indicators have recovered to pre-2001/2002 crisis levels, there is an opening to move from emergency income support programs to a more comprehensive, long-term and sustainable strategy for social protection. A recent report aims to contribute to the discussion of options for social protection. Specifically, it focuses on non-contributory income support in Argentina through discussion of the current set of programs, their coverage, effectiveness, costs and sustainability. It looks at the potential impact of the government's new social protection programs - Seguro de Capacitacion y Empleo and Familias - which are in the early stages of being rolled-out and specifically at the institutional set-up for social protection and the potential role of provinces in Argentina's federal system. The report focused on income support in Argentina. The work was carried out between July 2006 and June 2008 by a World Bank team in collaboration with a wide range of partners in Argentina.

This paper reviews labor market trends throughout the developing world, identifies issues and policy priorities across groups of countries, and derives implications for the World Bank's new social protection and labor strategy. Five key issues are identified: a high and growing share of the labor force that is self?employed or working in household enterprises, exposure to income shocks with limited access to risk management systems, low female participation rates, high youth unemployment rates, and the need to manage migration flows and remittances. The paper then details a three pronged agenda based on providing incentives and conditions for work, improving the efficiency of job creation, and managing risks / facilitating labor market transitions. This suggests that the Bank should emphasize self?employment and entrepreneurship promotion, provision of skills and development opportunities, and facilitation of labor market transitions into and between jobs, while protecting workers from shocks and paying particular attention to youth.

Durante el periodo 2000 a 2013 en Colombia se han aprobado siete reformas tributarias, que tuvieron como objetivo el aumento de los ingresos tributarios para asegurar así el equilibrio de las finanzas públicas a corto y mediano plazo, si bien las diversas reformas tributarias han logrado incrementar los ingresos del gobierno, los efectos de cada una han sido transitorios, lo que ha obligado a realizar una nueva reforma. Dentro de este marco se desarrolla el presente trabajo, que tiene como objetivo, analizar los cambios al Impuesto de Renta y Complementarios introducidos por las reformas tributarias durante el periodo 2000 a 2013 en Colombia, para lo cual, se desarrolla en cuatro momentos: En el primero, se establecen las reformas tributarias implementadas en Colombia a partir del año 2000 a 2013. En el segundo, se identifican los cambios al Impuesto de Renta y Complementarios hechos en cada una de las reformas tributarias. En el tercero, se comparan los cambios que las reformas han hecho al Impuesto de Renta y Complementarios durante estos mismos años. Y en el cuarto, se valora el efecto producido por dichos cambios al Impuesto de Renta y Complementarios.; During the period 2000-2013 in Colombia have been approved seven reforms tax ...

Getting youth into productive employment is an urgent policy issue for countries around the world. Many governments in low and middle-income countries are actively engaged in policies to help youth attain the skills they need to do well in work and in life, as well as to find suitable employment. The involvement of the private sector in youth skills development and employment is a complex issue because the nature of the firms and their motivations vary significantly. Multinational corporations operating in low and middle-income countries may be motivated by direct productivity or profit objectives - to secure a skilled workforce, or reliable suppliers - but also, or even primarily, by corporate social responsibility (CSR) factors. Firms that supply training or employment services will be driven by profit considerations when entering these markets and deciding what services to offer and to whom. The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to provide a comprehensive look at the way the private sector is involved in youth skills and employment in low- and middle-income countries...

In the context of income dynamics, we investigate whether aspects of agents’ superior information relative to the econometrician’s limited information are captured in subjective expectations data. It is natural, for instance, to assume that the econometrician cannot observe idiosyncratic shocks to both permanent and transitory components of income. In this case perceptions of risk differ between agents and the econometrician. Our tests are based on panel data elicited yearly from British households. We find evidence of superior information consistent with standard income modelling.

This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently embargoed pending publication by ZEMCH 2015; The average temperature in East African countries is estimated to rise by 3-4 ?C during the next 70 years due the global warming. Uganda is one of the East African countries which will be greatly affected by the global warming. Due to their vulnerable living conditions, low-income people will be hit the worst by the consequences of climate changes. Around 38% of Uganda?s population live below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day and more than 60% of the country?s urban population live in slums. On the other hand, due to various social and practical reasons, sustainable locally available construction methods and materials, such as adobe and thatched roofs are being gradually replaced with environmentally harmful materials such as concrete and iron sheet roofs. This situation in addition to imminent thermal discomfort caused by the global warming as well as defective design and inappropriate construction methods may considerably affect the health and wellbeing of low-income people the majority of whom live in substandard overcrowded homes. This paper intends to evaluate the effects of different construction methods and materials on the risk of thermal discomfort in low-income houses in Uganda. Dynamic thermal simulations are conducted in EnergyPlus and adaptive model Category II...

This paper analyzes the order of integration of the consumption-income ratio in 10 South American countries. To do this, the individual ADF test, its panel versions and theMinimumLMunit root test with structural break(s) were employed. While the former tests found more favorable evidence of an integrated process, after controlling for structural breaks only Uruguay seems to be integrated. Thus, in general, the consumption-income ratio was diagnosed as a stationary process, as suggested by the relative income hypothesis, the habit persistence model, the permanent income hypothesis and the life cycle hypothesis.; Este artigo analisa a ordem de integração da razão consumo-renda em 10 países da América do Sul. Para tanto, utilizamos o teste ADF e sua versão painel, além de um teste LM de raiz unitária com quebra estrutural(s). Enquanto os primeiros testes encontraram evidências mais favoráveis a processos integrados, após o controle de quebras estruturais apenas o processo do Uruguai parece ser integrado. Assim, em geral, a razão consumo-renda foi diagnosticada como um processo estacionário, como sugerido pelo modelo de hábito e pelas hipóteses de renda relativa, renda permanente e ciclo de vida.

Serving the interests of our client, Resourceful Communities of the Conservation Fund, our project investigates ways to better connect low-resource producers and low-income consumers of fresh produce in 31 low-income counties in NE North Carolina. To better characterize barriers rural producers and consumers face to produce and access healthy food, we conducted three separate analyses. A general linear model statistical analysis based on the USDA Food Environment Atlas data was used to identify significant demographic and socioeconomic variables that affect food access at the macro-level. For a qualitative analysis, surveys and interviews were used to define barriers producers and consumers face on the intra-county scale. Using Geographic Information Systems, a spatial analysis was developed to understand spatial patterns of food deserts and access barriers. The qualitative and spatial analyses were focused on two low-income counties: Beaufort County and Washington County, NC Community stakeholders, local food producers, consumers, and grocery retailers were interviewed. The statistical analysis focused both on 31 target North Carolina counties and on the entire Eastern Coastal plain. Two general linear models revealed that persistent poverty counties and counties experiencing population loss were more likely to experience little or no access to grocery stores. Race was also a factor...

Did global income inequality rise or fall over the last decades of the twentieth century? The answer depends on how cross-country income comparisons are made. Exchange rate comparisons suggest that inequality rose whilst the purchasing power comparisons of the Penn World Table suggest it fell. We show that both measures of real incomes lead to biased international income comparisons. Exchange rate comparisons ignore the relative price of non-tradables, whilst the fixed price method underlying the Penn World Table is subject to substitution bias. The contradictory trends are due to growing dissimilarity between national price structures increasing the degree of bias in each method. When we correct the income data to eliminate bias we find no compelling evidence of a significant change in world inequality.

Uma companhia aberta, quando realiza uma Oferta Pública de Aquisição de Ações (OPA), contrata um agente especializado para elaborar o laudo de avaliação em conformidade com as disposições normativas. Este artigo examina 97 laudos de avaliação de OPAs divulgados no Brasil no período de 2000 a 2007. O modelo de avaliação mais utilizado e disponibilizado nos laudos é o Fluxo de Caixa Descontado. O objetivo desta pesquisa é examinar se os valores das empresas estimados por meio de modelos com maior embasamento na contabilidade, o Residual Income Valuation (RIV) e o Abnormal Earnings Growth (AEG), se aproximam dos valores estimados pelo modelo de Fluxo de Caixa Descontado, conforme constam dos laudos de avaliação. Os modelos RIV e AEG foram aplicados em amostras com 21 e 39 firmas, respectivamente. Os resultados dos testes realizados na amostra indicam que não há diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre os valores estimados pelos modelos RIV e AEG em relação aos valores estimados pelo modelo de Fluxo de Caixa Descontado.; A listed company, when it carries out a public tender offer to acquire shares (PTO), retains a specialized firm to conduct an appraisal of the target company, in conformity with applicable regulations. This article examines 97 appraisal reports of PTOs announced in Brazil over the period from 2000 to 2007. The valuation model most often used in these reports was discounted cash flow. Our aim is to examine whether the valuations estimated by models more closely based on accounting numbers...

It was made a study to identify the distribution of the infant death rates and the distribution of income, and the distribution of certain public health facilities in the 55 districts of the city of S. Paulo (Brazil) and, then, to analyze the similarity among them. The infant death rates and concentration of low income families increased from the center to the periphery of the city. The public health facilities - water supply, maternity beds, and State health centers - also decreased from the center to the periphery of the city. Both the increasing distribution of income and the decreasing distribution of public facilities were positively related to the increasing mortality distribution. The conclusion, therefore, is that, in S. Paulo, income and public facilities are synergic; that is, they mutually reinforce the inequalities observed through the infant mortality.; Foi feito estudo para identificar em torno de 1976 a distribuição da freqüência do óbito infantil, a distribuição da renda e a distribuição da disponibilidade de determinados recursos públicos de saúde nos 55 distritos e sub-distritos do município de São Paulo (Brasil), para analisar as possíveis identificações entre estas distribuições. A freqüência do óbito infantil foi crescente no sentido centro-periferia da cidade...

Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a implantação do Programa de Garantia de Renda Familiar Mínima (PGRFM) na comunidade Guarani do Morro da Saudade (distrito de Parelheiros), no Município de São Paulo. O universo da pesquisa abrangeu 67 famílias indígenas da aldeia, inseridas no PGRFM, entre 2003 e 2004. A metodologia empregada foi a qualitativa, com a utilização de várias técnicas: observação participante, avaliação de documentos oficiais e correlatos, entrevista aberta realizada a partir de roteiro norteador, que possibilitou o recolhimento de depoimentos de famílias beneficiárias e de atores profissionais de instituições municipais e estaduais. Foi adotado o princípio da triangulação para análise dos resultados. Observou-se que, apesar de estarem inseridas na sociedade de consumo, as comunidades indígenas guardam valores coletivos e sociais que se revelaram incompatíveis com as características de um programa de distribuição de renda, típico da sociedade envolvente. Sugere-se que a política de distribuição de renda, apesar de diminuir o risco de desnutrição na aldeia, pode intensificar o quadro de tensão no qual se inserem as comunidades indígenas assentadas em meio urbano, ocasionando desequilíbrios na saúde de seus membros e alterando sua relação com o meio ambiente. Conclui-se que a Lei da Renda Básica de Cidadania seria mais adequada ao mundo indígena...