Showing papers by "World Bank published in 2011"

Does Management Matter? Evidence from India

Abstract: A long-standing question in social science is to what extent differences in management cause differences in firm performance. To investigate this, the authors ran a management field experiment on large Indian textile firms, providing free consulting on modern management practices to a randomly chosen set of treatment plants and compared their performance to the control plants. They find that adopting these management practices had three main effects. First, it raised average productivity by 11 percent through improved quality and efficiency and reduced inventory. Second, it increased decentralization of decision making, as better information flow enabled owners to delegate more decisions to middle managers. Third, it increased the use of computers, necessitated by the data collection and analysis involved in modern management. Since these practices were profitable this raises the question of why firms had not adopted these before. Their results suggest that informational barriers were a primary factor in explaining this lack of adoption. Modern management is a technology that diffuses slowly between firms, with many Indian firms initially unaware of its existence or impact. Since competition was limited by constraints on firm entry and growth, badly managed firms were not rapidly driven from the market.

Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting : a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders

Abstract: This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting : a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders, conducted between June 2007 to August 2008 in Kenya. The study observed that there is limited evidence on whether growing mobile phone availability in sub-Saharan Africa can be used to promote high adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). This study tested the efficacy of short message service (SMS) reminders on adherence to ART among patients attending a rural clinic in Kenya. In intention-to-treat analysis, 53 percent of participants receiving weekly SMS reminders achieved adherence of at least 90 percent during the 48 weeks of the study, compared with 40 percent of participants in the control group, the difference is significant. Funding for the study derived from the World Bank Research Group, Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program, USAID AMPATH Partnership, National Institute of Mental Health.

Firm Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Role of Finance, Governance, and Competition

Abstract: We investigate the firm characteristics associated with innovation in over 19,000 firms across 47 developing economies. While existing finance literature on innovation is limited to large public firms in developed markets such as the United States, our database includes public and private firms, and small and medium-sized enterprises. We define innovation broadly to include introduction of new products and technologies, knowledge transfers, and new production processes. We find that access to external financing is associated with greater firm innovation. Further, having highly educated managers, ownership by families, individuals, or managers, and exposure to foreign competition is associated with greater firm innovation.

Prices or knowledge? What drives demand for financial services in emerging markets?

Abstract: This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Prices or knowledge? What drives demand for financial services in emerging markets? Conducted in 2008 in Indonesia. The study observed that financial development is critical for growth, but its micro determinants are not well understood. Financial literacy training has no impact on the probability of opening a bank account, although it does have an impact among those with low levels of education and financial literacy. A change from $3 to $14 led to a 7.6 percent increase in the probability of owning a bank account. The results hold two years after a study. Funding for the study derived from World Bank, HBS Division of Research and Faculty Development.

Mobile Money: The Economics of M-PESA

Abstract: Mobile money is a tool that allows individuals to make financial transactions using cell phone technology. In this paper, we report initial results of two rounds of a large survey of households in Kenya, the country that has seen perhaps the most rapid and widespread growth of a mobile money product - known locally as M‐PESA - in the developing world. We first summarize the mechanics of M-PESA, and review its potential economic impacts. We then document the sequencing of adoption across households according to income and wealth, location, gender, and other socio‐economic characteristics, as well as the purposes for which the technology is used, including saving, sending and receiving remittances, and direct purchases of goods and services. In addition, we report findings from a survey of M‐PESA agents, who provide cash‐in and cash‐out services, and highlight the inventory management problems they face.

Health workforce skill mix and task shifting in low income countries: a review of recent evidence

Abstract: Health workforce needs-based shortages and skill mix imbalances are significant health workforce challenges. Task shifting, defined as delegating tasks to existing or new cadres with either less training or narrowly tailored training, is a potential strategy to address these challenges. This study uses an economics perspective to review the skill mix literature to determine its strength of the evidence, identify gaps in the evidence, and to propose a research agenda. Studies primarily from low-income countries published between 2006 and September 2010 were found using Google Scholar and PubMed. Keywords included terms such as skill mix, task shifting, assistant medical officer, assistant clinical officer, assistant nurse, assistant pharmacist, and community health worker. Thirty-one studies were selected to analyze, based on the strength of evidence. First, the studies provide substantial evidence that task shifting is an important policy option to help alleviate workforce shortages and skill mix imbalances. For example, in Mozambique, surgically trained assistant medical officers, who were the key providers in district hospitals, produced similar patient outcomes at a significantly lower cost as compared to physician obstetricians and gynaecologists. Second, although task shifting is promising, it can present its own challenges. For example, a study analyzing task shifting in HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa noted quality and safety concerns, professional and institutional resistance, and the need to sustain motivation and performance. Third, most task shifting studies compare the results of the new cadre with the traditional cadre. Studies also need to compare the new cadre's results to the results from the care that would have been provided--if any care at all--had task shifting not occurred. Task shifting is a promising policy option to increase the productive efficiency of the delivery of health care services, increasing the number of services provided at a given quality and cost. Future studies should examine the development of new professional cadres that evolve with technology and country-specific labour markets. To strengthen the evidence, skill mix changes need to be evaluated with a rigorous research design to estimate the effect on patient health outcomes, quality of care, and costs.

Where on earth is everybody ? the evolution of global bilateral migration 1960-2000

Abstract: Global matrices of bilateral migrant stocks spanning 1960-2000 are presented, disaggregated by gender and based primarily on the foreign-born definition of migrants. More than one thousand census and population register records are combined to construct decennial matrices corresponding to the five census rounds between 1960 and 2000. For the first time, a comprehensive picture of bilateral global migration over the second half of the 20th century emerges. The data reveal that the global migrant stock increased from 92 million in 1960 to 165 million in 2000. Quantitatively, migration between developing countries dominates, constituting half of all international migration in 2000. When the partition of India and the dissolution of the Soviet Union are accounted for, migration between developing countries is remarkably stable over the period. Migration from developing to developed countries is the fastest growing component of international migration in both absolute and relative terms. The United States has remained the most important migrant destination in the world, home to one fifth of the world's migrants and the top destination for migrants from some 60 sending countries. Migration to Western Europe has come largely from elsewhere in Europe. The oil-rich Persian Gulf countries emerge as important destinations for migrants from the Middle East and North Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Finally, although the global migrant stock is predominantly male, the proportion of female migrants increased noticeably between 1960 and 2000. The number of women rose in every region except South Asia.

Small vs. Young Firms across the World : Contribution to Employment, Job Creation, and Growth

Abstract: This paper investigates the contribution of small firms to employment, job creation, and growth in developing countries. While small firms (< 20 employees) have the smallest share of aggregate employment, the SME sector's (<100 employees) contribution is comparable to that of large firms. Small firms have the largest shares of job creation, and highest sales growth and employment growth, even after controlling for firm age. Large firms, however, have higher productivity growth. Conditional on size, young firms are the fastest growing and large mature firms have the largest employment shares but small young firms have higher job creation rates.

Teacher Performance Pay: Experimental Evidence from India

Abstract: This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Teacher performance pay : experimental evidence from India, conducted in August 2005 in India. The study observed the impact of a teacher performance pay program implemented across a large representative sample of government-run rural primary schools in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on the student and school level. After two years, students in incentive schools performed significantly better than control schools. The mean treatment effect is 0.22 standard deviations. There are significant improvements across the performance distribution. Additionally there were no observations of adverse consequences, given that students also do better in non-incentivized subjects. The main mechanism of impact is increased teacher effort conditional on the teacher being present. The student's gender does not have a significant effect on the impact of the intervention. Funding for the study derived from the Andhra Pradesh, Department for International Development (DFID), Azim Premji Foundation, and the Spanish Impact Evaluation Fund.

Eat, Drink, Firms, Government: An Investigation of Corruption from the Entertainment and Travel Costs of Chinese Firms

Abstract: We propose entertainment and travel costs (ETC) expenditures as a measure of corruption in Chinese firms. These expenses are publicly reported in firms’ accounting books, and on average they amount to about 3 percent of a firm’s total value added. We find that ETC is a mix that includes grease money to obtain better government services, protection money to lower tax rates, managerial excesses, and normal business expenditures to build relational capital with suppliers and clients. Entertainment and travel costs overall have a significantly negative effect on firm productivity, but we also find that some components of ETC have substantial positive returns to firms.

Cities and greenhouse gas emissions: moving forward

Abstract: Cities are blamed for the majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. So too are more affluent, highly urbanized countries. If all production- and consumption-based emissions that result from lifestyle and purchasing habits are included, urban residents and their associated affluence likely account for more than 80 per cent of the world's GHG emissions. Attribution of GHG emissions should be refined. Apportioning responsibility can be misguided, as recent literature demonstrates that residents of denser city centres can emit half the GHG emissions of their suburban neighbours. It also fails to capture the enormous disparities within and across cities as emissions are lowest for poor cities and particularly low for the urban poor. This paper presents a detailed analysis of per capita GHG emissions for several large cities and a review of per capita emissions for 100 cities for which peer-reviewed studies are available. This highlights how average per capita GHG emissions for cities vary from more than 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) (Sydney, Calgary, Stuttgart and several major US cities) to less than half a tonne (various cities in Nepal, India and Bangladesh). The paper discusses where GHG emissions arise and where mitigation efforts may be most effective. It illustrates the need to obtain comparable estimates at city level and the importance of defining the scope of the analysis. Emissions for Toronto are presented at a neighbourhood level, city core level and metropolitan area level, and these are compared with provincial and national per capita totals. This shows that GHG emissions can vary noticeably for the same resident of a city or country depending on whether these are production- or consumption-based values. The methodologies and results presented form important inputs for policy development across urban sectors. The paper highlights the benefits and drawbacks of apportioning GHG emissions (and solid waste generation) per person. A strong correlation between high rates of GHG emissions and solid waste generation is presented. Policies that address both in concert may be more effective as they are both largely by-products of lifestyles.

Effectiveness of Strict vs. Multiple Use Protected Areas in Reducing Tropical Forest Fires: A Global Analysis Using Matching Methods

Abstract: Protected areas (PAs) cover a quarter of the tropical forest estate. Yet there is debate over the effectiveness of PAs in reducing deforestation, especially when local people have rights to use the forest. A key analytic problem is the likely placement of PAs on marginal lands with low pressure for deforestation, biasing comparisons between protected and unprotected areas. Using matching techniques to control for this bias, this paper analyzes the global tropical forest biome using forest fires as a high resolution proxy for deforestation; disaggregates impacts by remoteness, a proxy for deforestation pressure; and compares strictly protected vs. multiple use PAs vs indigenous areas. Fire activity was overlaid on a 1 km map of tropical forest extent in 2000; land use change was inferred for any point experiencing one or more fires. Sampled points in pre-2000 PAs were matched with randomly selected never-protected points in the same country. Matching criteria included distance to road network, distance to major cities, elevation and slope, and rainfall. In Latin America and Asia, strict PAs substantially reduced fire incidence, but multi-use PAs were even more effective. In Latin America, where there is data on indigenous areas, these areas reduce forest fire incidence by 16 percentage points, over two and a half times as much as naive (unmatched) comparison with unprotected areas would suggest. In Africa, more recently established strict PAs appear to be effective, but multi-use tropical forest protected areas yield few sample points, and their impacts are not robustly estimated. These results suggest that forest protection can contribute both to biodiversity conservation and CO2 mitigation goals, with particular relevance to the REDD agenda. Encouragingly, indigenous areas and multi-use protected areas can help to accomplish these goals, suggesting some compatibility between global environmental goals and support for local livelihoods.

Gross Capital Flows: Dynamics and Crises

Abstract: This paper analyzes the joint behavior of international capital flows by foreign and domestic agents - gross capital flows - over the business cycle and during financial crises. We show that gross capital flows are very large and volatile, especially relative to net capital flows. When foreigners invest in a country, domestic agents tend to invest abroad, and vice versa. Gross capital flows are also pro-cyclical, with foreigners investing more in the country and domestic agents investing more abroad during expansions. During crises, especially during severe ones, there is retrenchment, that is, a reduction in both capital inflows by foreigners and capital outflows by domestic agents. This evidence sheds light on the nature of shocks driving capital flows and helps discriminate among existing theories. Our findings seem consistent with shocks that affect foreign and domestic agents asymmetrically, such as sovereign risk and asymmetric information.

Export Restrictions and Price Insulation During Commodity Price Booms

Abstract: For individual countries, variable trade barriers can be used to reduce the volatility of domestic relative to world prices. If this is done by countries accounting for a large share of the market, its effect is offset by increases in world price volatility. This study shows the nature of the resulting collective action problem, with the policy being ineffective on average in stabilizing domestic prices while increasing the volatility of the income transfers from terms-of-trade changes. A simple approach to assessing the contribution of insulation to the price increases is developed and used with new estimates of agricultural distortions to assess its contribution to the price spikes in 1972-74 and 2006-08 for rice and wheat. The analysis suggests that 45 percent of the increase in rice prices in 2006-08, and 30 percent of the increase in wheat prices, was due to insulating behavior. One sign of progress since 1972-74 was a substantial reduction in the extent of price-insulating behavior by the industrial countries. This provides little stabilizing benefit in the rice market because countries not classifying themselves at the World Trade Organization as developing account for only 3 percent of world rice consumption. But it does offer some benefit for the wheat market where non-developing countries account for 27 percent of consumption.

Is infrastructure capital productive ? a dynamic heterogeneous approach

Abstract: This paper offers an empirical evaluation of the output contribution of infrastructure. Drawing from a large data set on infrastructure stocks covering 88 countries and spanning the years 1960-2000, and using a panel time-series approach, the paper estimates a long-run aggregate production function relating GDP to human capital, physical capital, and a synthetic measure of infrastructure given by the first principal component of infrastructure endowments in transport, power, and telecommunications. Tests of the cointegration rank allowing it to vary across countries reveal a common rank with a single cointegrating vector, which is taken to represent the long-run production function. Estimation of its parameters is performed using the pooled mean group estimator, which allows for unrestricted short-run parameter heterogeneity across countries while imposing the (testable) restriction of long-run parameter homogeneity. The long-run elasticity of output with respect to the synthetic infrastructure index ranges between 0.07 and 0.10. The estimates are highly significant, both statistically and economically, and robust to alternative dynamic specifications and infrastructure measures. There is little evidence of long-run parameter heterogeneity across countries, whether heterogeneity is unconditional, or conditional on their level of development, population size, or infrastructure endowments.

How do Female Entrepreneurs Perform? Evidence from Three Developing Regions

Abstract: Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey data, we analyze performance gaps between male- and female-owned companies in three regions—Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Latin America (LA), and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Among our findings are significant gender gaps between male- and female-owned companies in terms of firm size, but much smaller gaps in terms of firm efficiency and growth (except in LA). Part of the reason women run smaller firms is that they tend to concentrate in sectors in which firms are smaller and less efficient (in ECA and SSA). By contrast, we find no evidence of gender discrimination in access to formal finance in any of the three regions, although in ECA women are less likely than men to seek formal finance. Finally, while female entrepreneurs receive smaller loans than their male counterparts, the returns from each dollar they receive is no lower in terms of overall sales revenue.

Where do poor women in developing countries give birth? A multi-country analysis of demographic and health survey data.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In 2008 over 300000 women died during pregnancy or childbirth mostly in poor countries. While there are proven interventions to make childbirth safer there is uncertainty about the best way to deliver these at large scale. In particular there is currently a debate about whether maternal deaths are more likely to be prevented by delivering effective interventions through scaled up facilities or via community-based services. To inform this debate we examined delivery location and attendance and the reasons women report for giving birth at home. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a secondary analysis of maternal delivery data from Demographic and Health Surveys in 48 developing countries from 2003 to the present. We stratified reported delivery locations by wealth quintile for each country and created weighted regional summaries. For sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where death rates are highest we conducted a subsample analysis of motivations for giving birth at home. In SSA South Asia and Southeast Asia more than 70% of all births in the lowest two wealth quintiles occurred at home. In SSA 54.1% of the richest women reported using public facilities compared with only 17.7% of the poorest women. Among home births in SSA 56% in the poorest quintile were unattended while 41% were attended by a traditional birth attendant (TBA); 40% in the wealthiest quintile were unattended while 33% were attended by a TBA. Seven per cent of the poorest women reported cost as a reason for not delivering in a facility while 27% reported lack of access as a reason. The most common reason given by both the poorest and richest women for not delivering in a facility was that it was deemed "not necessary" by a household decision maker. Among the poorest women "not necessary" was given as a reason by 68% of women whose births were unattended and by 66% of women whose births were attended. CONCLUSIONS: In developing countries most poor women deliver at home. This suggests that at least in the near term efforts to reduce maternal deaths should prioritize community-based interventions aimed at making home births safer.