Showing papers by "Deon Filmer published in 1999"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used household survey data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 44 surveys (in 35 countries) to document different patterns in the enrollment and attainment of children from rich and poor households.
Abstract: The authors use household survey data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 44 surveys (in 35 countries) to document different patterns in the enrollment and attainment of children from rich and poor households. They overcome the lack of income or expenditure data in the DHS by constructing a proxy for long-run wealth of the household from the asset information in the surveys, using the statistical technique of principal components. There are three major findings. First, the enrollment profiles of the poor differ across countries but fall into distinctive regional patterns: in some regions the poor reach nearly universal enrollment in first grade, but then drop out in large numbers leading to low attainment (typical of South America), while in other regions the poor never enroll in school (typical of South Asia and Western/Central Africa). Second, there are enormous differences across countries in the “wealth gap,” the difference in enrollment and educational attainment of the rich and poor. While in some countries the difference in the median years of school completed of the rich and poor is only a year or two, in other countries the wealth gap in attainment is 9 or 10 years. Third, the attainment profiles can be used as diagnostic tools to suggest issues in the educational system, such as the extent to which low attainment is attributable to physical unavailability of schools.
870 citations
TL;DR: Cross-national data is used to examine the impact of both public spending on health and non-health factors (economic, educational, cultural) in determining child (under-5) and infant mortality, finding that whereas health spending is not a powerful determinant of mortality, 95% of cross-national variation in mortality can be explained by a country's income per capita.
747 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the public sector typically chooses spending on inputs such that the productivity of additional spending on books and instructional materials is 10 to 100 times larger than that of extra spending on teacher inputs (for example, higher wages, small class size).
376 citations
TL;DR: The work status of the world's working-age population and subgroups thereof was investigated in this article, where the authors presented estimates of a breakdown on employment in services, industry, and agriculture in the world and sub groups there of.
Abstract: What is the work status of the world's working-age population? This paper presents estimates of a breakdown on employment in services, industry, and agriculture - and unemployment - in the world and subgroups there of. Addressing the question, What is the work status of the world's working-age population and subgroups thereof? Filmer gathers data for many countries and infers data where it is missing (which requires making heroic assumptions). The results are of course only as good as the data are representative and accurate. Data are least reliable for Sub-Saharan Africa. The high-income group is dominated (in population) by the United States, Germany, and Japan, which account for 58 percent of that group's working-age population. The middle-income group is dominated by Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Brazil, which account for 40 percent of that group's working-age population. The low-income group is dominated by China and India, which account for 70 percent of that group's working-page population. Among other things, Filmer's charts and tables show the breakdown on working-age employment - in services, industry, agriculture - and unemployment in various parts of the world. This paper - a product of the Office of the Vice President, Development Economics - was prepared as a background paper for World Development Report 1995 on labor.
7 citations