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Showing papers on "Developing country published in 1987"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the informal economy and its relationship to commonly held theories of industrial development, and finds that these assumptions are wrong, including the identification of informality with conditions in the less developed countries, are wrong.
Abstract: This paper examines the informal economy and its relationship to commonly held theories of industrial development. Although these theories stem from very different intellectual traditions, their general assumption has been that widespread informal economic activities are primarily a feature of Third World economies, in which they function as a refuge from destitution; such activities are presumably destined to desappear with the advance of modern, industry-led growth. Evidence is presented that indicates that these assumptions, including the identification of informality with conditions in the less developed countries, are wrong. Alternative interpretations of the resilience of these activities in Third World countries, despite rapid industrialization, and their continuity and apparent revival in the advanced economies and discussed.

424 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the first of a series of articles on ageing in developing countries, the actual demographic revolution is discussed, with special reference to Brazil, up to the year 2025, and the factors which are responsible for this ageing process -such as the rapid decline in fertility and mortality rates that many Third Word countries have been experiencing over the last few years -and the various gradual stages of this process, referred to as the "epidemiological transition", are discussed.
Abstract: Ageing has now become a universal phenomenon, of increasing importance to developed and developing countries alike. In this, the first of a series of articles on ageing in developing countries, the actual demographic revolution is discussed, with special reference to Brazil. Estimates are provided up to the year 2025. The article analyses the factors which are responsible for this ageing process - such as the rapid decline in fertility and mortality rates that many Third Word countries have been experiencing over the last few years - and the various gradual stages of this process, which is usually referred to as the 'epidemiological transition', are discussed. The consequences for any society with a population that is gradually becoming older are considerable, and are of particular importance for the Health Sector. The article discusses the changing morbidity and mortality patterns and the concept of autonomy as a possible way to quantify quality of life is introduced. On this particular point a suggestion is made to redefine the concept of 'Ageing', in order to take into consideration the context in which senior adults in the Third World live. Finally, the article addresses itself to points relating to the interaction of ageing and social change. That there is such an interaction is apparent in developing countries and this raises questions to which answers could be found through the use of the epidemiological method.

374 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the principal policy-related issues for which the professions of ecology and economics provide conflicting prescriptions is given in this paper, with emphasis on the work of the World Bank, although the issues raised are relevant to a broad range of organizations.

225 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between establishment size and the pattern and efficiency of factor use, and about the nature and effects of price differentials in factor markets, and found that small firms are not reliably more labor intensive than their larger counterparts.
Abstract: Emphasis is often placed on the promotion of small enterprises in developing countries, particularly as a means of improving the lot of unskilled workers. This focus raises questions about the relationship between establishment size and the pattern and efficiency of factor use, and about the nature and effects of price differentials in factor markets. This article goes some way toward answering these questions with data from surveys of small manufacturing enterprises in India and Colombia sponsored by the World Bank and relevant material from other countries. The article also examines India's long-standing policy, unusual among developing countries, of providing special support and protection for small enterprises. Analyses based on disaggregated data found that small firms are not reliably more labor-intensive than their larger counterparts; nor are they consistently more technically efficient in their use of resources. In light of these findings and an analysis of factor markets, this article discusses the general implications of the research results for industrial policy in developing countries.

177 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a more comprehensive conceptual approach for investigating the responses to increases in rural population density in developing countries and presented recent empirical evidence illustrating these responses, including increases in arable land, land intensification, out-migration, and fertility decline.

167 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the extent and significance of management training for the successful transfer of technology in less developed countries (LDCs) and concluded that the importance of training of local managers for the transfer of knowledge has not yet been explored.

167 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper a multilevel model is used to investigate the effects of individual-, household-, and areal-level factors on rural-urban out-migration in the Ecuadorian Sierra.
Abstract: It is widely believed that structural variables such as inequitable land distribution, lack of rural employment opportunities, and rural-urban wage and amenity gaps influence population movements in developing countries. Yet quantitative evidence is scant. In this paper a multilevel model is used to investigate the effects of individual-, household-, and areal-level factors on rural-urban out-migration in the Ecuadorian Sierra. Data from a detailed survey carried out in 1977–1978 and from government macro-areal statistics are used to investigate factors affecting the out-migration of youths aged 12–25. Preliminary conclusions are presented on the usefulness of multilevel models in studying migration and policy implications for Ecuador.

136 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Efforts to improve the usage of antibiotics in developing countries must take into consideration the perception of health and disease of the populations, the availability of antibiotics, and the characteristics of the established systems of medical care.
Abstract: In addressing its charge from the General Chairperson of this study, Task Force 4 decided to direct special attention to antibiotic use in developing nations because of the critical importance of the disease burden of bacterial infections in these regions of the world. The task force recognized the impact of respiratory and diarrheal diseases on morbidity and mortality among young children in developing nations. Another major concern was the potential for global spread of resistant strains. Emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is augmented in settings in which treatment may be inadequate because of socioeconomic constraints and where there is crowding and poor sanitation. Much of the information concerning the factors that govern antibiotic use in these countries is anecdotal. No two countries are identical in their use of antimicrobial agents, and patterns of use may differ greatly in regions within the same country. Efforts to improve the usage of antibiotics in developing countries must take into consideration the perception of health and disease of the populations, the availability of antibiotics, and the characteristics of the established systems of medical care.

133 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicate that travel time plays an important role in rationing health care, and that medical care demand for poorer individuals is substantially more travel time elastic than for richer individuals.

Book
20 Aug 1987
TL;DR: The authors in this paper provided the most detailed study available to date of this growth, which created many jobs and contributed to the economic health of the country, and drew lessons of relevance for other developing countries in which such enterprises could be encouraged as a stimulus to economic growth.
Abstract: Contrary to expectations, small and medium-scale manufacturing enterprises in Colombia grew very fast during the 1970s, - considerably faster than large industry. This book provides the most detailed study available to date of this growth, which created many jobs and contributed to the economic health of the country. From the Colombian experience it draws lessons of relevance for other developing countries in which such enterprises could be encouraged as a stimulus to economic growth.

Book
01 Oct 1987
TL;DR: A review of the available empirical evidence on the interrelationships between population growth and economic development in developing countries from a variety of perspectives can be found in this paper, where issues examined include the relationship between population growing and natural resources; agriculture; savings investment and trade; health education and welfare; and labor and urbanization.
Abstract: This volume reviews the available empirical evidence on the interrelationships between population growth and economic development in developing countries from a variety of perspectives. Issues examined include the relationship between population growth and natural resources; agriculture; savings investment and trade; health education and welfare; and labor and urbanization. Several chapters attempt to unravel the conceptual issues involved in understanding how population change affects economic development. The chapters were prepared for the Working Group on Population Growth and Economic Development which concluded that slower population growth would on balance benefit most developing countries and that the positive effects of slower population growth on economic development would be clearest in the poorest and most densely populated countries. Nevertheless the scientific literature contains few adequate studies of the effects of slower population growth in developing countries; it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about overall impacts.

Posted Content
TL;DR: The family is distinguished from other social institutions, such as firms, by its crucial role in the production and nurture of children and its rationale is ultimately to be found in the preferences of individuals for own children as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The family is distinguished from other social institutions, such as firms, by its crucial role in the production and nurture of children and its rationale is ultimately to be found in the preferences of individuals for own children. Sexual reproduction means that the production of one's own child requires the participation of another person of the opposite sex. The production of a child who will survive, become a successful adult, and produce his or her own children requires the expenditure of both personal and purchased resources over a lengthy period of time. Although interesting insights on the family can be culled from the classics, systematic development of the economics of the family is a recent phenomenon, beginning in the late 1950's when Harvey Leibenstein (1957) and Gary Becker (1960) attempted to address the determinants of fertility behavior within the framework of consumer theory. In this paper, I provide a brief overview of the history of family economics since 1960 and, along the way, offer a selective assessment of what has been learned from it. I attempt this assessment by asking how far we have progressed in answering a few of the larger theoretical, empirical, and policy questions that have motivated economists' interests in an area customarily studied by sociologists and demographers, or that have caused economists dealing with more traditional subject matter to incorporate the family into their work. Among the set of questions that have been addressed within the literature during the past twenty-five years are: 1) What are the causes of the historical association between economic growth and development and demographic transition from high to low levels of fertility and mortality? Of what relevance is the historical experience of currently developed countries to contemporary LDCs? Should fertility reduction be a primary goal of policy in the developing countries? Are the developed countries in danger of extinction because of fertility below replacement levels? 2) What was the cause of the post-World War II "baby boom" and subsequent "baby bust"? Was the baby boom a one-time aberration from a secular decline in fertility, or can we expect substantial fluctuations in the birth rate in the future? What are the consequences of the baby boom for the economic welfare of cohorts born during and after the boom? 3) Is the traditional family "dead" in the United States and other developed countries? Why did the divorce rate double in a decade? Why the growth in female-headed households? Why do so many divorced fathers fail to support their children? Has the sexual division of labor within the family changed as a consequence of the growth of female labor supply? To what extent are these changes in the family caused by social policy, and to what extent are they a product of basic market forces associated with modern economic development? What are the consequences of these changes for the welfare of future generations? I attempt to touch on some issues from each of the three areas in which the questions are grouped. However, constraints imposed by limitations of space, time, and most imtDiscussants: Kenneth Wolpin, Ohio State University; Robert Pollak, University of Pennsylvania; T. Paul Schultz, Yale University.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether CFA Zone countries had different GNP growth rates from selected "comparator" countries during 1960-1982 and found that CFA countries grew significantly faster than comparator Sub-Saharan African countries but usually slower, and often significantly so, than the whole sample of developing countries.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present new evidence on housing-demand parameters based on application of standardized models and comparable variable definitions in 16 cities in eight developing countries (Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Korea, and the Philippines); and examine similarities and differences among cities in housing demand and, in a preliminary way, offer explanations for place-to-place differences.
Abstract: Cities in developing countries are growing at extraordinary rates, often compressing into decades the urbanization process that has taken centuries in developed countries. In coping with this growth, public authorities have devised a wide range of policy instruments to influence the rate and character of city expansion, to meet the needs of people for shelter and urban services, and to allocate resources in ways that redistribute both the costs and benefits of urban growth. Ideally, such policy formulation should be informed by a careful understanding of the behavior of urban markets; in fact, little information on market behavior is available to the policymakers of developing countries. Such basic information is needed for improved project design and, even more important, for improved sector-wide policies. This paper reports on research conducted at the World Bank to increase understanding of developing country housing markets; in particular, of housing-demand behavior. While the overall project examines both the demand for housing characteristics' and the demand for housing as a composite good, this paper addresses only the latter. The objectives of this paper are (1) to review briefly previous evidence on housing-demand parameters in developing countries; (2) to present new evidence on housing-demand parameters based on application of standardized models and comparable variable definitions in 16 cities in eight developing countries (Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Korea, and the Philippines); and (3) to examine similarities and differences among cities in housing demand and, in a preliminary way, offer explanations for place-to-place differences. Limited comparisons are also made to two U.S. cities in order to begin comparison of developing and developed country market behavior.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Poverty and Hunger: Issues and Options for Food Security in Developing Countries as discussed by the authors, is a book about food security in developing countries, which is reviewed in this article:==================\/\/\/\/\/\/£££ £££19.00
Abstract: Book reviewed in this article: World Development Report 1986. World Bank Poverty and Hunger: Issues and Options for Food Security in Developing Countries. World Bank


Journal ArticleDOI
Stephen P. Heyneman1
TL;DR: For example, the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank would be interested in assisting the officials in the Ministry of Education to think through some of the policy options in the field of examinations and standardized testing.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Peterson and Shulman as mentioned in this paper examined the financing problems reported in 4,400 interviews conducted in 12 countries-six developed and six developing-and found that a "finance gap" may indeed exist among many firms in the less developed countries and in fact may be quite severe.
Abstract: Rein Peterson is Magna International Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada, and is currently on sabbatical leave as a senior research fellow at the National Centre for Management Research and Development at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Joel Shulman is Assistant Professor of Finance at Babson College, Massachusetts, USA. In this paper they examine financing problems reported in 4,400 interviews conducted in 12 countries-six developed and six developing. The data was originally collected for the 1984 International Small Business Congress in Amsterdam by SKIM Industries Market Research of Rotterdam, Netherlands. The results of the study indicate that a 'finance gap' may indeed exist among many firms in the less developed countries and in fact may be quite severe. The gap seems to exist, albeit to a lesser extent, among young/small firms in developed countries. It seems apparent that while asymmetric information and agency cost theories help describe part of the ...


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on research conducted at the World Bank to increase understanding of developing country housing markets; in particular, of housing demand behavior, and emphasize the importance of accounting for the impact of income and relative prices on housing demand.

Book
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate productivity differences in similar cotton textile mills in Kenya, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom and place these comparisons within a larger international context, examining the concept of best practice, derives measures of the total factor productivity of plants in the developing countries relative to best practice.
Abstract: A realistic assessment of productivity in a particular country is essential in determining the least-cost technology for an industrial project. Yet the large differences in productivity between industrial and developing countries are rarely taken into account. This book investigates productivity differences in technically similar cotton textile mills in Kenya, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom and places these comparisons within a larger international context. It examines the concept of best practice, derives measures of the total factor productivity of plants in the developing countries relative to best practice, and uses economic and engineering information to identify the reasons for the measured differences in productivity. Those reasons include differences not only in the skill of the work force but also in the technical competence of managers and in the range of products manufactured. The book suggests economic policies for achieving greater productivity from existing plants and draws implications for the transfer of technology and the design and implementation of industrial projects in developing countries.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 1987-Chest
TL;DR: Prevalence rates for asthma in various parts of the world are different and this cannot be entirely explained by differences in methodology, but the reasons are obscure but largely environmental.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined commitment of male and female employees to their organizations in a less affluent society (Pakistan) and used a blend of the "exchange" and "role" theories as its basic framework.
Abstract: This study examines commitment of male and female employees to their organizations in a less affluent society (Pakistan). It uses a blend of the "exchange" and "role" theories as its basic framework. Results indicate that both groups of workers are highly committed to their organizations. Unlike the results of most previous studies involving industrialized societies, the degree of female commitment in Pakistan appears to be much higher than that of male workers, and age seems inversely related with commitment. Also, the psychological and role-related factors seem to exert greater influence on commitment than the exchange-based and personal factors.

Book
01 Jun 1987
TL;DR: The primary objectives were to provide recommendations for actions in the area of health and social care for the elderly in selected Asian and Pacific countries namely Fiji Malaysia the Philippines and the Republic of Korea.
Abstract: This study is concerned with demographic aging and its health and socioeconomic consequences in selected Asian and Pacific countries namely Fiji Malaysia the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The primary objectives were to provide recommendations for actions in the area of health and social care for the elderly. Comparisons are made with a similar study undertaken for selected European countries. (ANNOTATION)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the early 1970s, social scientists used the term "informal economy" to describe the economic survival strategies of many of the working poor in Third World cities as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the 1970s, social scientists used the term “informal economy” to describe the economic survival strategies of many of the working poor in Third World cities. Now, both terminology and analysis are applied in the advanced, industrialized countries to the often proliferating variations in nonwage employment that have emerged during the world recession of the late 1970s and 1980s. In this article, social science's understanding of the relationship between the informal economy and socioeconomic development is traced back to the early nineteenth century. It is argued that this interest has tended to wax and wane according to the cycle of boom and slump in national and international economy alike. It is in this broader historical context that the policies and reality of small-scale informal economic activity in the Third World can best be elucidated.

Book
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: Jagannathan as discussed by the authors argues for the need to refashion the paradigms which underly theories of development by highlighting the importance of informal institutional arrangements in production and exchange.
Abstract: Examining the importance of personalized interchanges between transactions in developing countries, Jagannathan here argues for the need to refashion the paradigms which underly theories of development by highlighting the importance of informal institutional arrangements in production and exchange. For most of the poor in developing countries, he maintains, wealth often exists in the form of regular behavioral relations that acquire the characteristics of informal property rights. Using the concepts of positive economics, he explains how informal contracts are put to productive and unproductive use. This analysis raises several important policy issues for social scientists interested in economic development.

Journal ArticleDOI
Paul Bowles1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use time-series data to investigate causal relationships between foreign aid and domestic savings rates in less developed countries and conclude that causal relationships are not universal and that the direction of causality may depend upon the proportions of aid from bilateral and multilateral sources.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors integrate a series of recent studies undertaken in a rapidly developing country in order to identify patterns of technological change in manufacturing firms, and find that the degree of complexity in operations technology and the scale of operations account for differences in their technological behavior among different firms in different industries.