World Bank

About: World Bank is a other organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poverty. The organization has 7813 authors who have published 21594 publications receiving 1198361 citations. The organization is also known as: World Bank, WB & The World Bank.

Solar energy: Markets, economics and policies

Abstract: Solar energy has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years due to both technological improvements resulting in cost reductions and government policies supportive of renewable energy development and utilization. This study analyzes the technical, economic and policy aspects of solar energy development and deployment. While the cost of solar energy has declined rapidly in the recent past, it still remains much higher than the cost of conventional energy technologies. Like other renewable energy technologies, solar energy benefits from fiscal and regulatory incentives, including tax credits and exemptions, feed-in-tariff, preferential interest rates, renewable portfolio standards and voluntary green power programs in many countries. The emerging carbon credit markets are expected to provide additional incentives to solar energy deployment; however, the scale of incentives provided by the existing carbon market instruments, such as, the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol is limited. Despite the huge technical potential, the development and large scale deployment of solar energy technologies world-wide still has to overcome a number of technical, financial, regulatory and institutional barriers. The continuation of policy supports might be necessary for several decades to maintain and enhance the growth of solar energy in both developed and developing countries.

Hazards of Expropriation: Tenure Insecurity and Investment in Rural China

Abstract: This paper uses household data from Northeast China to examine the link between investment and land tenure insecurity induced by China’s system of village-level land reallocation. We quantify expropriation risk using a hazard analysis of individual plot tenures and incorporate the predicted “hazards of expropriation” into an empirical analysis of plot-level investment. Our focus is on organic fertilizer use, which has long lasting benefits for soil quality. Although we find that higher expropriation risk significantly reduces application of organic fertilizer, a welfare analysis shows that guaranteeing land tenure in this part of China would yield only minimal efficiency gains.

Will African agriculture survive climate change

Abstract: Measurement of the likely magnitude of the economic impact of climate change on African agriculture has been a challenge. Using data from a survey of more than 9,000 farmers across 11 African countries, a cross-sectional approach estimates how farm net revenues are affected by climate change compared with current mean temperature. Revenues fall with warming for dryland crops (temperature elasticity of -1.9) and livestock (-5.4), whereas revenues rise for irrigated crops (elasticity of 0.5), which are located in relatively cool parts of Africa and are buffered by irrigation from the effects of warming. At first, warming has little net aggregate effect as the gains for irrigated crops offset the losses for dryland crops and livestock. Warming, however, will likely reduce dryland farm income immediately. The final effects will also depend on changes in precipitation, because revenues from all farm types increase with precipitation. Because irrigated farms are less sensitive to climate, where water is available, irrigation is a practical adaptation to climate change in Africa.

Do the poor insure? A synthesis of the literature on risk and consumption in developing countries

Abstract: Income risk is a central feature of rural areas of developing countries. A major topic in development economics is how well households are able to mitigate the adverse effects of income risk. There are several sensible reasons why households will not be able to fully insure consumption against income fluctuations. The well-known problems of moral hazard, information asymmetries, and deficiencies in the ability to enforce contracts may result in incomplete or absent insurance markets. The dearth of formal insurance markets in developing countries is evidence that these problems are considerable. However, a large body of literature indicates that households in developing countries make use of a wide variety of mechanisms, often informal, to at least partially limit consumption risk. A key piece of information required to guide policy design is how, and how well, different households mitigate risk. This paper reviews various strategies for insuring consumption against income fluctuations, and examines evidence on how effectively these strategies work.

Does Child Labour Displace Schooling? Evidence on Behavioral Responses to an Enrollment Subsidy

Abstract: This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Does child labour displace schooling? Evidence on behavioral responses to an enrollment subsidy, conducted between 1995 and 1996, in Bangladesh. The study observed that the subsidy increases schooling, but its effect on child labour is ambiguous. The subsidy increased schooling by far more than it reduced child labour. Substitution effects helped protect current incomes from the higher school attendance induced by the subsidy. Substitution effects helped protect current incomes from the higher school attendance induced by the subsidy. The reduction in the incidence of child labour by boys (girls) represents about one quarter (eighth) of the increase in their school enrollment rate.