Comments and Reviews

Unintended Effects of Microfinance: An Increase in Child Labour in Some Contexts?

http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager108.pdf

   OP 108: Unintended Effects of Microfinance: An Increase in Child Labour in Some Contexts?

by Christian Lehmann, Paris School of Economics and Guilherme Hirata, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro

 An increasing number of policies in developing countries seek to empower women through female entrepreneurship. Many microfinance institutions (MFIs), for example, lend exclusively to women. Loans are usually combined with capacity building workshops on entrepreneurial activities such as the production of handicrafts, clothes or food to be sold in local markets. While there is evidence that these strategies have been successful in empowering women (Panjaitan-Drioadisuryo and Cloud, 1999), less is known about how such an increase in mothers’ non-domestic labour affects the working hours of their children. In the few available studies, the results are ambiguous: see, for example, Hazarika et al. (2007) and Dehejia and Gatti (2002). Drawing on a study of Mexico (Lehman, 2010), this One Pager points out that policies which encourage the small business activities of women may lead to an increase in child labour. It hypothesises that the provision of family and/or social support infrastructure (full-day schools and childcare facilities), and/or policies that encourage investment in the children’s future, may help mitigate these unintended impacts.

 http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager108.pdf

Posted at 11:39AM May 11, 2010 by IPC in Macroeconomic Policies  |  Comments[1]

Green Jobs for the Poor: Why a Public Employment Approach is Needed Now

In the context of the economic and environmental challenges that the world is facing today, there have been calls for a Global Green New Deal (see, for example, UNEP/ILO/IOE/ITUC, 2008). Such calls have highlighted the employment-creation benefits of “green” investments, mainly those aimed at accelerating the shift to low-carbon economies. Policy innovations by developing countries, such as South Africa and India in particular, also point to the value of keeping sight of employment-generating environmental activities that are relevant for reclaiming or enhancing access to public environmental goods and services, as well as for improving the productive livelihoods of the poor. This One Pager outlines a variety of economic rationales for promoting these types of “green jobs” and adopting a “public employment” approach in this regard.

Download: http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager107.pdf

Posted at 12:10PM Feb 12, 2010 by IPC in Macroeconomic Policies  |  Comments[1]

Water Supply in Rural Ghana: Do Women Benefit?

Women’s income poverty in developing countries is usually associated with time poverty. The time that women spend on domestic chores represents significant forgone income. Infrastructure provision potentially reduces women’s time burden. The saving includes time spent on collecting, loading and purifying water. That saving would enable women to engage in remunerated activities, dedicate more time to pursuing education, or have a little leisure. In this One Pager, we investigate the impact of water provision on women’s time allocation in rural Ghana.

http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager101.pdf

Posted at 02:00AM Dec 10, 2009 by IPC in Macroeconomic Policies  |  Comments[0]