London School of Economics and Political Science

About: London School of Economics and Political Science is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Politics. The organization has 8759 authors who have published 35017 publications receiving 1436302 citations.

The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it)

Abstract: Persistent poverty, economic decay, and lack of opportunities are at the root of considerable discontent in declining and lagging-behind areas the world over. Poor development prospects and an increasing belief that these places have ‘no future’ – as economic dynamism has been posited to be increasingly dependent on agglomeration economies – have led many of these so-called ‘places that don’t matter’ to revolt against the status quo. The revolt has come via an unexpected source: the ballot-box in a wave of political populism with strong territorial, rather than social foundations. I will argue that the populist wave is challenging the sources of existing well-being in both the less-dynamic and the more prosperous areas and that better, rather than more, place-sensitive territorial development policies are needed in order to find a solution to the problem. Place-sensitive development policies need, however, to stay clear of the welfare, income-support, and big investment projects of past development strategies if they are to be successful and focus on tapping into untapped potential and on providing opportunities to those people living in the places that ‘don’t matter’.

Do rural banks matter? Evidence from the indian social banking experiment

Abstract: Lack of access to finance is often cited as a key reason why poor people remain poor. This paper uses data on the Indian rural branch expansion program to provide empirial evidence on this issue. Between 1977 and 1990, the Indian Central Bank mandated that a commercial bank can open a branch in a location with one or more bank branches only if it opens four in locations with no bank branches. We show that between 1977 and 1990 this rule caused banks to open relatively more rural branches in Indian states with lower initial financial development. The reverse is true outside this period. We exploit this fact to identify the impact of opening a rural bank on poverty and output. Our estimates suggest that the Indian rural branch expansion program significantly lowered rural poverty, and increased non-agricultural output.

The Implementation of Social Choice Rules: Some General Results on Incentive Compatibility

Abstract: We shall assume that the objectives of a society are embodied in a certain social choice rule. A social choice rule (SCR) selects a set of feasible social states for each possible configuration of individual preferences and other characteristics. One interprets the choice set as the set of welfare optima. For example, given an Arrow social welfare function which embodies individual preferences in a social ordering, then a natural social choice rule is derived by maximizing this social ordering over the feasible set. Alternatively, the Pareto rule is the social choice rule which selects all Pareto efficient states, given individual preferences and the feasible set. These are two particular social choice rules which have received much attention, but our discussion will cover social choice rules in general. If the relevant characteristics of individual agents, such as preferences, happen to be publicly known, then the social choice rule can be implemented trivially because the choice set itself is known. The problem of incentive compatibility arises precisely because these characteristics are not known by the planner a priori. The planner may attempt to learn characteristics directly by asking agents to reveal them. In general, however, if the agents realize how the information they reveal is to be used, they will have an incentive to misrepresent. Then the task of the planner in implementing the social choice rule is more difficult. Obviously, he must use a planning mechanism of some kind, whose outcomes are possible social states. We shall assume that, when he devises the mechanism, the planner knows what social states are feasible, so that he can ensure that the final outcome is feasible. (See, however, Hurwicz, Maskin and Postlewaite (1978), which considers the more general problem where feasibility itself depends on unknown characteristics.) The planner, however, relies on signals from the individual agents to help him implement the social choice rule. It is assumed that each individual agent sends his own signal. The planner's mechanism is then a rule which specifies a social state for each list of signals sent by the individual agents. It is assumed that each agent knows the precise form of the mechanism the planner is using. Then each agent realizes that he is involved in a game, because the outcome of the mechanism depends on the signals which he and all the other

Social isolation, loneliness and health in old age: a scoping review.

Abstract: The health and well-being consequences of social isolation and loneliness in old age are increasingly being recognised The purpose of this scoping review was to take stock of the available evidence and to highlight gaps and areas for future research We searched nine databases for empirical papers investigating the impact of social isolation and/or loneliness on a range of health outcomes in old age Our search, conducted between July and September 2013 yielded 11,736 articles, of which 128 items from 15 countries were included in the scoping review Papers were reviewed, with a focus on the definitions and measurements of the two concepts, associations and causal mechanisms, differences across population groups and interventions The evidence is largely US-focused, and loneliness is more researched than social isolation A recent trend is the investigation of the comparative effects of social isolation and loneliness Depression and cardiovascular health are the most often researched outcomes, followed by well-being Almost all (but two) studies found a detrimental effect of isolation or loneliness on health However, causal links and mechanisms are difficult to demonstrate, and further investigation is warranted We found a paucity of research focusing on at-risk sub-groups and in the area of interventions Future research should aim to better link the evidence on the risk factors for loneliness and social isolation and the evidence on their impact on health