World Institute for Development Economics Research

About: World Institute for Development Economics Research is a(n) facility organization based out in Helsinki, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topic(s): Poverty & Population. The organization has 110 authors who have published 525 publication(s) receiving 17316 citation(s).

Cross-country Diffusion of the Internet

Abstract: This paper investigates the factors which determine the diffusion of the Internet across countries. The Gompertz model of technology diffusion is estimated using data on Internet hosts per capita for the years 1995–2000. For a sample of the OECD countries, the basic finding is that GDP per capita and Internet access cost explain best the observed growth in computer hosts per capita. Competition in telecommunications markets does not seem to exert any independent influence on Internet penetration. Neither is investment in education a statistically significant predictor of its diffusion. For a larger sample of both industrial and developing countries, the results change in such a way that also education becomes significant.

Consumption risk, technology adoption, and poverty traps : evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract: Much has been written on the determinants of input and technology adoption in agriculture, with issues such as input availability, knowledge and education, risk preferences, profitability, and credit constraints receiving much attention. This paper focuses on a factor that has been less well documented-the differential ability of households to take on risky production technologies for fear of the welfare consequences if shocks result in poor harvests. Building on an explicit model, this is explored in panel data for Ethiopia. Historical rainfall distributions are used to identify the counterfactual consumption risk. Controlling for unobserved household and time-varying village characteristics, it emerges that not just ex-ante credit constraints, but also the possibly low consumption outcomes when harvests fail, discourage the application of fertilizer. The lack of insurance causes inefficiency in production choices.

FDI and Growth: What Causes What?

Abstract: This paper examines the causal relationship between FDI and economic growth by using an innovative econometric methodology to study the direction of causality between the two variables. We apply our methodology, based on the Toda-Yamamoto test for causality, to time-series data covering the period 1969–2000 for three developing countries, namely Chile, Malaysia and Thailand, all of them major recipients of FDI with a different history of macroeconomic episodes, policy regimes and growth patterns. Our empirical findings clearly suggest that it is GDP that causes FDI in the case of Chile and not vice versa, while for both Malaysia and Thailand, there is a strong evidence of a bi-directional causality between the two variables. The robustness of the above findings is confirmed by the use of a bootstrap test employed to test the validity of our results.

The (Evolving) Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction: An Empirical Perspective

Abstract: The role of agriculture in development remains much debated. This paper takes an empirical perspective and focuses on poverty, as opposed to growth alone. The contribution of a sector to poverty reduction is shown to depend on its own growth performance, its indirect impact on growth in other sectors, the extent to which poor people participate in the sector, and the size of the sector in the overall economy. Bringing together these different effects using cross-country econometric evidence indicates that agriculture is significantly more effective in reducing poverty among the poorest of the poor (as reflected in the $1-day squared poverty gap). It is also up to 3.2 times better at reducing $1-day headcount poverty in low-income and resource rich countries (including those in Sub-Saharan Africa), at least when societies are not fundamentally unequal. However, when it comes to the better off poor (reflected in the $2-day measure), non-agriculture has the edge. These results are driven by the much larger participation of poorer households in growth from agriculture and the lower poverty reducing effect of non-agriculture in the presence of extractive industries.

The New Economy: facts, impacts and policies☆

Abstract: The world economy is undergoing a fundamental structural change driven by the globalization of business on the one hand and by the revolution in information and communication technology on the other. The New Economy is the superior economic structure that is expected to arise as an outcome of these two forces. The papers is this special issue attempt to assess the significance of the New Economy, to estimate its impacts on economic growth, location of production and on income and wealth inequality, and to evaluate its prospects for economic development. Policies for promoting the New Economy are also discussed.