World Institute for Development Economics Research

About: World Institute for Development Economics Research is a facility organization based out in Helsinki, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Poverty & Population. The organization has 110 authors who have published 525 publications receiving 17316 citations.

The Macro Implications of HIV/AIDS in South Africa: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract: South Africa now stands at the brink of a full-blown AIDS crisis. Recent demographic work summarized in two reports prepared by ING Barings (1999, 2000) estimates that, since the onset of the AIDS epidemic, more than 500,000 South Africans have died of AIDS-related causes. By 2015, this number is projected to grow by a factor of 20, to more than 10 million deaths. By 2008, overall life expectancy in South Africa is forecast to fall from its pre-epidemic high of 65 years to only 40 years. While modification of high-risk behaviours could reduce AIDS-related death rates, the long delays between infection and death mean that behaviour change now would only beg in to reduce the number of AIDS deaths in five years time with the full affect lagging by a decade or more. With an HIV infection rate currently estimated at almost 20 per cent of the adult population (and projected to increase), prospects for avoiding a major human development crisis over the coming decades are dim. The key question now is how to deal with the impending crisis. The epidemic has moved beyond its earlier status as a health issue to become a development issue, with social, political, and economic dimensions. This paper focuses on the economic aspects. As we begin to recognize the magnitude of the crisis (as measured by the number of AIDS-related deaths), characteristics of those affected (adults in their prime working years), and the many different channels through which the epidemic impacts on the economy (skills availability, savings, demand patterns, productivity, etc.), it is important to try to sort through and evaluate how these myriad of factors are likely to affect key economic outcomes: sustainable growth, employment creation, poverty and income distribution. In addition, it is critical to consider public policy choices in the context of the epidemic.

The optimal distance to port for exporting firms

Abstract: Success in international trade depends, amongst other things, on distance from markets. Most new economic geography models focus on the distance between countries. In contrast much less theorizing and empirical analysis have focused on how distances within a country—for instance due to the location behaviour of exporting firms—matter to international trade. In this paper we contribute to the literature on the latter by offering a theoretical model to explain the optimal distance that an export-oriented firm would locate from a port. We present empirical evidence from South Africa in support of the model.

Explaining Regional Export Performance in a Developing Country: The Role of Geography and Relative Factor Endowments

Abstract: Naude W. and Gries T. Explaining regional export performance in a developing country: the role of geography and relative factor endowments, Regional Studies. This paper investigates the role of geography in explaining trade. It estimates and contrasts two models, a so-called ‘Skills-to-Land Heckscher–Ohlin Model’ following the work of Wood and Berge (1997) and a ‘Geography Heckscher–Ohlin–Von Thunen model’ following that of Redding and Venables (2004). Using panel data across 354 South African magisterial districts over the period 1996 to 2000, it was found that only 22 magisterial districts in South Africa were responsible for 85% of the country's manufacturing exports. While the geography model (with distance, market effects, fixed costs and institutions) offers an overall better explanation for the manufactured export performance of the country's magisterial districts, evidence was also found to support the Skills-to-Land Heckscher–Ohlin model. The empirical evidence suggests that regions that are larg...