Showing papers in "Journal of social and economic development in 2016"

MGNREGS, distress migration and livelihood conditions: a study in Odisha

Abstract: Based on a primary survey of 400 households from the Mayurbhanj and Jajpur districts of Odisha, this article finds that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is playing an important role in the agricultural slack seasons by providing job opportunities to needy poor and socially marginalised groups. In this process, it controls a substantial portion of seasonal distress out-migration from this region. The improved household earnings during the lean seasons also cause an improvement in the household consumption level, which has implications for the overall socio-economic development of the rural region. Key Words: Employment Guarantee, Distress Migration, Households living conditions and Rural Poverty

Regional disparity in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: a disaggregated level analysis

Abstract: This paper investigates disparity in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the two most backward states of India, despite being endowed with relatively rich natural resources. The poor performance of these two states is not merely due to weak institutions and political instability coupled with social conflict rooted in sectarian politics based on caste, class and ethnic division, but also, at the same time, poor socio-economic backwardness which includes poor human development indicators, low income, poor infrastructure and overall output. For making comparisons in the two states at district level, the study has computed indices using Principal Component Analysis for the four sectors, for instance, agriculture, services, health and education for the years 2001 and 2011. To identify the clusters of backward regions of the states, Cluster Analysis has been used as these two states are similar in respect of historical antecedents, climate and other variables and, hence, districts lying in these two can be merged and compared. The empirical findings depict that districts spread in the two states that are identical in many respects, and thus, in terms of disparity, they look like miniature of the country that has a high inter-state disparity.

Institutions, regulatory framework and labour market outcomes in Nigeria

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of two major pronounced institutional and regulatory measures, minimum wage and labour union, on labour market outcomes in Nigeria with particular focus on aggregate employment and unemployment, as well as sectoral employment and wage effects. The effect of minimum wage is captured using aggregate and sectoral Kaizt-type minimum wage index, while that of labour union is measured by union density. Static and dynamic analytical methods involving cointegration and error correction model techniques are used on annual data from 1970 to 2012. Results show that minimum wage has positive relationship with unemployment and negative relationship with aggregate employment. Similarly, union density has positive effect on unemployment. The effects of minimum wage and union density on employment and wages across sectors are mixed. It is argued that design and implementation of institutional and regulatory framework need caution, as they may yield unintended results.

Education and earning linkages of regular and casual workers in India: a quantile regression approach

Abstract: The central idea of the present study is to re-establish the importance of human capital variables (education and experience) at all India level and also at the disaggregated level of gender (male/female) across regular and casual workers using NSS 68th round. This is the latest employment–unemployment unit-level records pertaining to year 2011–2012. The paper examines the impact of human capital variables, household factors, job-related factors, individual characteristics and locational factors on earnings of an individual. Separate augmented Mincerian equations have been used for regular and casual workers, further subdivided at the level of male and female. The method of quantile regression has been used to estimate the augmented Mincerian equation at the above-mentioned disaggregated levels. The present study showcases that human capital variables, household factors, job-related factors, individual characteristics and locational factors impact regular and casual workers differently, the variation being further pronounced when disaggregated at the level of gender. Interestingly, human capital variables impact the earnings of regular workers (male and female) and casual (male and female) workers positively. Factoring the growing informalisation (not being entitled to social security benefits) in the regular form of employment, the study showcases a wide disparity within the regular workers. Thus, an attempt has been made to unfold primarily the interplay between education and earnings at various disaggregated levels.

Economic and environmental effects of trade liberalization in Malaysia

Abstract: Malaysia is among the relatively more open economies in Asia. Many economic and environmental effects resulting from trade liberalization are cause of caution for more open economies like Malaysia. This study, by applying a computable general equilibrium, investigates the economic and environmental effects resulting from trade liberalization on Malaysia. It uses 2005 social accounting matrix as the main database in the model. By considering tariff reforms, this study concluded that 50 and 100 % trade liberalization, respectively, lead to 0.06 and 0.13 % increase in real gross domestic product and 0.6 and 1.29 % increase in trade flows. Therefore, greater liberalization leads to a greater increase in the overall real GDP and Malaysian trade flows. The 50 and 100 % tariff reforms also increase rural household consumption, respectively, by 0.45 and 0.92 % leading to an increase in their welfare by 0.49 and 1.01 %. There is such a situation for other household groups. Moreover, we found that both tariff reforms would lead to greater reduction in poverty gap and poverty severity (by 4.8 and 7.8 %, respectively) in urban households in comparison with other household groups. Results indicate that emissions of four more local air pollutants, (i.e., particular matter, CO, SO2 and NO x ) are predicted to decrease, respectively, by 12, 11, 11 and 12 % as a result of trade liberalization, while emission of carbon dioxide, as a global air pollutant, increases by 0.14 %. Results also suggest that the environmental impacts will be considerably greater, if the rate of tariff will be lower than the current rates.

Youth in India: challenges of employment and inclusion

Abstract: Using the NSSO data on Employment and Unemployment, this paper examines issues of employment and unemployment among Indian youth belonging to various social and religious groups since the advent of the economic reforms in the early 1990s. It shows how an increasing proportion of the youth population is facing situations of high open unemployment during a period of high economic growth. The predominance of the poor quality of employment available to youths is also a major issue of concern, especially for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslim communities. Using the Logit Model, the paper shows how education, gender, social belonging and location play significant roles in determining youths participation in labour force, education and quality of employment. The paper argues for strengthening measures to create decent employment on a large scale and for improving the education and skill levels of youths with a greater focus on those belonging to the marginalised groups of Indian society.

Voluntarism and civil society in the neoliberal era: a study on the palliative care movement in Kerala

Abstract: Locating itself within the debates on state-civil society relationship in the neoliberal era, this paper analyzes the community-led palliative care movement in Kerala and explores the nature of civil society participation and state patronage that made this movement highly successful in the state. The paper explains how civil society organizations including religious groups play pivotal role by providing volunteers and ensuring resources from the community for the everyday functioning of this movement aimed at providing palliative care to the terminally ill. The paper discusses the curious scenario where this initiative could persuade the state to replicate this model and incorporate it in the health delivery system of the government, thereby making Kerala the first state in India with an official palliative care policy and statewide support system in place. While discussing the specific socio-historic context that facilitated increased involvement of civil society organizations in the welfare programs in conjunction with the state in Kerala, the paper suggests that this experiment complicates the understanding of a neoliberal welfare state and highlights the necessity to analyze the local level manifestations of neoliberalism in different socio-political settings.

Utilization of prenatal-care in India: an evidence from IDHS

Abstract: The paper attempted to examine the socioeconomic determinants of two components of utilization of prenatal-care, i.e. prenatal consultation (at least four prenatal visits to medically trained professionals) and proper time of first consultation (first prenatal consultation within first trimester from medically trained professional) by the Indian women in the age group of 15–49 years. A series of models have been created, and binary logistic regression has been applied. Micro-data having 25,470 observations from Indian Demographic and Health Survey 2005–2006 has been used. The results explained that women’s age at first marriage, woman’s education, husband’s age and education, ever terminated pregnancy, husband’s presence during prenatal visit and wealth index increases the probability of both components of utilization of prenatal-care, i.e. prenatal consultation and proper time for first consultation. Birth-order of the child negatively affects both components. Husband’s living in the house, household covered with health insurance and female as head of household increase the probability of prenatal consultation. The husband’s working status positively affects the proper time of first consultation. The final say on woman’s health by woman alone, woman and husband collectively and husband alone increase the probability of prenatal consultation, while the final say by woman and husband collectively increase the probability of first prenatal consultation at proper time. The residence of the household in town and country side decreases the probability of prenatal consultation, while residence of household in the town (surprisingly) increases the likelihood of first consultation at proper time. The region of India as West (Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra) and South (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) is more likely for women to have prenatal consultation, while the region of Central India (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh) is less likely to have their women prenatal consultation as compared to North region (Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal). In the second model, the results have shown that Indian regions of Northeast (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura), West and South are more likely as compared to North to have their women first consultation at proper time.

Regionalism versus centralism: an analysis of failure of regional planning in Iran

Abstract: Development planning started after the Second World War. Since then, a number of national development plans have been implemented by many developing countries, including Iran. Regional planning and regionalisation of developmental efforts have been major objective of all these plans. The aim of this paper is to scrutinise the status and nature of regional planning in the country’s development plans. It intends to see to what extent and how this objective has been achieved. By examining the development plans both in pre- and post-revolutionary periods, the paper concludes that despite strong policy pronouncements on regional development, regional planning has not yet become an integral part of Iran’s planning system, due mainly to the country’s centralised political and administrative structure, the built-in resistance of the bureaucracy to changes implied in the regionalisation policies, the sectoral structure of the country’s planning system, and regional inequality from the point of view of the executive authority, as well as excessive deprivation of some regions and their inability to mobilise local forces for development.

A dynamic economic model of soil conservation and drought tolerance involving genetically modified crops

Abstract: This paper attempts to model the positive role of cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops with its soil-anchoring root characteristic in conservation tillage technology. In a dynamic optimization framework, the farmer produces an optimal combination of a GM and a non-GM variety of the same or of different crops at the steady state, though the steady state is approached most rapidly by producing a single crop. The improvement in the capacity to anchor the soil and an increase in organic matter content in top soil will raise the long-run soil stock under certain conditions. However, the increase in R&D investment and imposition of an input subsidy on GM sector will lead to an increment in area under GM cultivation though their effect on long-run soil stock is uncertain. The empirical validation of the findings suggests that agricultural practices associated with GM crop cultivation will lead to positive growth of the economy.