Comments and Reviews
What Is the Impact of Cash Transfers on Labour Supply?
This One Pager investigates the impact of the Brazilian Conditional Cash Transfer Programm, the Programa Bolsa Família (PBF), on beneficiaries’ decision to supply their labour. The theoretical departure is this: households have a time allocation strategy between housework activities and paid work. Income shocks, such as cash transfers, alter such time-allocation preferences. In other words, they change the relative value of time.
We assume that paid work hours do not generate any additional well-being to households, except for increases in income. As cash transfers increase income, paid time loses value relative to unpaid time. Therefore, the expected behaviour is a reduction in the supply of paid work hours and an increase in housework or leisure hours.
Posted at 10:33AM Jun 22, 2009 by IPC in Social Protection and CCTs | Comments[2]
Indigenising Development - Poverty in Focus Magazine
Among the many social groups that have been historically excluded, indigenous peoples comprise one that offers great challenges to development. Although their assimilation has been a goal of the national societies that engulfed them, it is disputable whether indigenous peoples desire the type of social inclusion that development, in its many forms, can produce. At the same time, development seems irreversible, and resistance to it might have consequences far more adverse than those brought by acceptance. The best way to overcome the challenges seems to be to indigenise development: to put it to work on behalf of indigenous peoples instead of putting them to work for a model of development that is not only alien to them but that frequently does violence to their culture.
Articles:
o Indigenising Development
o To Dominate the System and Not to be Dominated by it
o Laman Laka: If I Have It You Have It, I You Have It I Have It
o Ethnic Identity and Development in Peru
o Freedom and Development in Suriname
o Twisting Development: the Ashaninka Way
o From Genocide to Development: the Mayas of Guatemala
o The Nivkhi under Soviet Role
o A Strange Hybrid of Socialism and Capitalism in Siberia
o The Inuit: Assimilation and Cultural Impoverishment
o Monitoring the Development of Indigenous Peoples
Read the full publication: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus17.pdf
Posted at 07:24PM May 13, 2009 by IPC in Social Inclusion | Comments[0]
HIV and Income Inequality: If There Is a Link, What Does It Tell Us?
There is a striking variation in the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among countries and regions of the world, with a distinct geographical pattern. This paper explores the link between income inequality and HIV. It presents empirical evidence—a meta-study and additional cross-country regression results—that clearly support the argument that such a link exists. The interpretation of this link is an open issue. Four different hypotheses are discussed, each one pointing out a transit route from income inequality to HIV. The paper presents preliminary evidence on these routes and identifies potential areas for future research. Download the full paper at: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCWorkingPaper54.pdf
Posted at 05:31PM May 03, 2009 by IPC in HIV/AIDS Financing | Comments[0]
Is the Washington Consensus Dead?
The recent G20 meeting in London elevated the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to a new level. Its lending capacity was tripled to US$750 billion. In the aftermath of World War II, the IMF was established to deal with declining commodity prices and deteriorating international trade. During the oil price shocks of the 1970s the IMF became lender of last resort, mainly to countries with balance of payments problems. The debt crisis of the early 1980s in Latin America gave the Fund further impetus. By the mid 1980s the IMF and the World Bank had become policy architects in low-income countries. The 1998 Asian financial crisis brought the IMF to the forefront of crisis management. In 2009, we are again at another milestone—the Fund is back with even greater influence. Read the publication at: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager82.pdf
Posted at 02:52PM Apr 20, 2009 by IPC in Financial Policies | Comments[2]
The Financial Crisis and its Impact on Developing Countries
This working paper has been commissioned by the Poverty Group, Bureau for Development Policy at UNDP, to identify the transmission mechanisms of the financial crisis from developed to developing countries and to provide broad policy recommendations at the national, global and regional level. The paper identifies three mechanisms that play a key role in spreading the consequences of the financial crisis to the developing world: remittances, capital flows and trade. The policy responses take MDG achievement and poverty reduction as the central policy concern. The paper indicates that a fair number of countries have policy space to protect vulnerable groups in the short run as well as to undertake investments to build resilience and reach these goals in the longer term. Other countries will need additional development assistance to protect development achievements. The authors point to a number of factors that need to be taken into account in determining what mix of policies to deploy including the macroeconomic, fiscal and policy stance of countries and their dynamics. The paper also proposes far-reaching reforms to address the global financial crisis, which would help to put the global macroeconomic, fiscal and financial coordination mechanisms on a firmer footing.
Download: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCWorkingPaper53.pdf
Posted at 04:47PM Apr 09, 2009 by IPC in Macroeconomic Policies | Comments[0]
How Does the Financial Crisis Affect Developing Countries?
The authors discuss the impact of the current financial crisis and economic downturn on developing countries. They recommend reforms to avoid a similar crisis happening in the future. Read the publication at: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager81.pdf
Posted at 04:45PM Apr 09, 2009 by IPC in Macroeconomic Policies | Comments[0]
The Role of Gender Inequalities in Explaining Income Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Evidences from Latin American Countries
This Working Pager shows that, among several gender related policies, promoting female labour participation has the biggest impact on reducing poverty and inequality. Full publication available at: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCWorkingPaper52.pdf
Posted at 05:39PM Apr 03, 2009 by IPC in Gender Equality | Comments[4]
Impact is Not Enough: Image and CCT Sustainability in Nicaragua
The author of this One Pager argues that the social cash transfer programme in Nicaragua has met its objectives. However, due to reliance on external finance and the consequent lack of domestic political support led to its early demise. Full text available at: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager79.pdf
Posted at 06:30PM Mar 16, 2009 by IPC in Social Protection and CCTs | Comments[0]
The Macro-Micro Nexus in Scaling-Up Aid: The Case of HIV and AIDS Control in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia
This policy Research Policy Brief #11 continues the research in IPC on the Macroeconomic Implications of HIV/AIDS Financing. Here the authors argue that proactive macroeconomic policies, combined with proper microeconomic management, can lead to successful absorption and spending of external resources. You are invited to send your comments and reviews.
Posted at 12:32AM Jan 24, 2009 by André Lyra in HIV/AIDS Financing | Comments[1]
Eliminating Gender Inequalities Reduces Poverty. How?
In this One Pager, the authors show how gender inequalities in the labour market determine poverty levels. The main question raised by this publication is: which aspect of gender inequalities should be consider priority in the design of public policies that seek to reduce gender inequalities and poverty? Eight countries are analysed:
Posted at 10:20AM Nov 27, 2008 by IPC in Gender Equality | Comments[8]