http://repub.eur.nl/res/concept/jel-I3/ Recent publications classified by JEL Code I3 en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38275/ 2012-07-11T00:00:00Z ABSTRACT The rational pursuit of happiness requires knowledge of happiness and in particular answers to the following four questions: 1: Is greater happiness realistically possible? 2: If so, to what extent is that in our own hands? 3: How can we get happier? What things should be considered in the choices we make? 4: How does the pursuit of happiness fit with other things we value? Answers to these questions are not only sought by individuals who want to improve their personal life, they are also on the mind of managers concerned about the happiness of members of their organization and of governments aiming to promote greater happiness of a greater number of citizens. All these actors might make more informed choices if they could draw on a sound base of evidence. In this paper I take stock of the available evidence and the answers it holds for the four types of questions asked by the three kinds of actors. To do this, I use a large collection of research findings on happiness gathered in the World Database of Happiness. The data provide good answers to the questions 1 and 2, but fall short on the questions 3 and 4. Priorities for further research are indicated. Veenhoven, R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31777/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z The aim of this article is to examine the impact of increased trade on wage inequality in developing countries, and whether a higher human capital stock moderates this effect. We look at the skilled–unskilled wage differential. When better educated societies open up their economies, increased trade is likely to induce less inequality on impact because the supply of skills better matches demand. But greater international exposure also brings about technological diffusion, further raising skilled labour demand. This may raise wage inequality, in contrast to the initial egalitarian level effect of human capital. We attempt to measure these two opposing forces. We also employ a broad set of indicators to measure trade liberalization policies as well as general openness, which is an outcome, and not a policy variable. We further examine what type of education most reduces inequality. Our findings suggest that countries with a higher level of initial human capital do well on the inequality front, but human capital which accrues through the trade liberalization channel has inegalitarian effects. Our results also have implications for the speed at which trade policies are liberalized, the implication being that better educated nations should liberalize faster. Mamoon, D. Murshed, S.M. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/34722/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Estimates of WTP per QALY can be taken as an indication of the monetary value of health gains, which may carry information regarding the appropriate height of the cost-effectiveness threshold. Given the far-reaching consequences choosing a particular threshold, and thus the potential relevance of WTP per QALY estimates, it is important to address the validity of these estimates. This study addresses this issue. Our findings offer little support to the validity of WTP per QALY estimates obtained in this study. Implications for general WTP per QALY estimates and further research are discussed. Bobinac, A. Exel, N.J.A. van Rutten-van Mölken, M.P.M.H. Brouwer, W.B.F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/37327/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z The concentration index is widely used to measure income-related inequality in health. No insight exists, however, whether the concentration index connects with people's preferences about distributions of income and health and whether a reduction in the concentration index reflects an increase in social welfare. We explored this question by testing the central assumption underlying the concentration index and found that it was systematically violated. We also tested the validity of alternative health inequality measures that have been proposed in the literature. Our data showed that decreases in the spread of income and health were considered socially desirable, but decreases in the correlation between income and health not necessarily. Support for a condition implying that the inequality in the distribution of income and in the distribution of health can be considered separately was mixed. Bleichrodt, H. Rohde, K.I.M. Ourti, T.G.M. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/26793/ 2011-10-28T00:00:00Z We examine the impact of mobile telephone use on economic development of individual households. Unique cross-sectional data were collected in personal interviews with heads of households (N=196) in Uganda. Economic development is measured at the household level by the Progress out of Poverty Index. We find strong support that mobile phone use positively impacts economic development. Blauw, S.L. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/26694/ 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z Empirical evidence suggests that regional disparities in income are often very wide, that these disparities do not necessarily disappear as economies grow and that these disparities are themselves a major driver of growth. We use a novel approach based on multilevel modelling to decompose the sources of inequality in household incomes in Burkina Faso. We show that differences in income across space are explained not only by the spatial concentration of households with favourable characteristics but to a large extent also by disparities in community endowments. Climatic differences across regions do matter, also, but to a much smaller extent. On the basis of the findings, it would be worth assessing the potential effects of policies which build and enhance infrastructure that connects communities complemented by interventions targeted to specific villages that particularly lag behind. Gräb, J. Grimm, M. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22352/ 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z The concepts of well-being and quality of life concern evaluative judgements. There is insufficient understanding in current literature that these judgements aremadevariously due to the use of not only differing values and differing research instruments but also differing standpoints, differing purposes, and differing theoretical views and ontological presuppositions. The paper elucidates these sources of differences and how they underlie the wide diversity of current conceptions. Gasper, D.R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19426/ 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z This paper investigates the effects of inequality in health on economic growth in low and middle income countries. The empirical part of the paper uses an original cross-national panel data set covering 62 low and middle income countries over the period 1985 to 2007. I find a substantial and relatively robust negative effect of health inequality on income levels and income growth controlling for life expectancy, country and time fixed-effects and a large number of other effects that have been shown to matter for growth. The effect also holds if health inequality is instrumented to circumvent a potential problem of reverse causality. Hence, increasing access to health care for the poor can make a substantial contribution to economic growth not only through its effect on life expectancy but also through its effect on reduced health inequality. Grimm, M. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/18710/ 2009-11-01T00:00:00Z The concepts of well-being and quality of life concern evaluative judgements. There is insufficient understanding in current literature that these judgements are made variously due to not only use of differing values and differing research instruments but also differing standpoints, differing purposes, and differing theoretical views and ontological presuppositions. The paper elucidates these sources of differences and how they underlie the wide diversity of current conceptions. Gasper, D.R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/18725/ 2009-02-01T00:00:00Z Empirical evidence suggests that regional disparities in incomes are often very high, that these disparities do not necessarily disappear as economies grow and that these disparities are itself an important driver of growth. We use a novel approach based on multilevel modeling to decompose the sources of spatial disparities in incomes among households in Burkina Faso. We show that spatial disparities are not only driven by the spatial concentration of households with particular endowments but to a large extent also by disparities in community endowments. Climatic differences across regions do also matter, but to a much smaller extent. Gräb, J. Grimm, M. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14048/ 2008-10-09T00:00:00Z We propose a first order bias correction term for the Gini index to reduce the bias due to grouping. The first order correction term is obtained from studying the estimator of the Gini index within a measurement error framework. In addition, it reveals an intuitive formula for the remaining second order bias which is useful in empirical analyses. We analyze the empirical performance of our first order correction term using income data for 15 European countries and the US, and show that it reduces a considerable share of the bias due to grouping. Ourti, T.G.M. van Clarke, Ph. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13482/ 2008-10-03T00:00:00Z How can the private sector serve the unmet needs of the world’s poor while, at the same time, attracting new business opportunities and advancing the standard of living of those living in poverty? One approach to this, known as the base-of the-pyramid, is for the private sector to develop towards including the poor as both producers and consumers. In this thesis we focus on some critical questions in base-of-the-pyramid research. In cooperation with NGOs, development organizations and micro finance institutions, we collected a unique dataset of 143 firms operating in base-of-the-pyramid markets in a total of 105 countries. Their focal group of customers, employees, suppliers, and/or distributors have an average daily purchasing power of $2 or less. Building upon this dataset, we develop an empirically derived classification of business challenges for firms at the base-of-the-pyramid, and examine differences with high-income markets. We also extend and test the central postulate that embedding social and environmental value in a firm’s business model drives a firm’s financial performance at the base-of-the-pyramid. Lastly, we build a management support model, which can be used to develop profitable pro-poor business models. We provide managers and entrepreneurs with the questions to ask, the framework to help formulate answers to these questions, and the qualities to search for in the answers. To this end, we clarify and conceptually advance the strategic business model concept, which provides the multi-theoretical approach necessary for disruptive innovation and augments our understanding of competitive advantage. Klein, M.H. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10482/ 2007-08-28T00:00:00Z The rural-urban gap in infant mortality rates is explained using a new decomposition method that permits identification of the ontribution of unobserved heterogeneity at the household and the community level. Using Demographic and Health Survey data for six Francophone countries in Western Sub-Saharan Africa, we find that differences in the distributions of factors that determine mortality – not differences in their effects – explain almost the entire gap. Higher infant mortality rates in rural areas mainly derive from the rural disadvantage in household level characteristics; both observed and unobserved, which explain three-quarters of the gap. Among the observed characteristics, household environmental factors—potable water, electricity and quality of housing materials—are the most important contributors explaining 38% of the gap. Unobserved household level determinants explain 10% of the gap. Community level determinants explain 13% of the gap, including 3% that is due to unobservable community level heterogeneity. Van de Poel, E. O'Donnell, O.A. Doorslaer, E.K.A. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/18751/ 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of increased trade on wage inequality in developing countries, and whether a higher human capital stock moderates this effect. We look at the skilled-unskilled wage differential. High initial endowments of human capital imply a more egalitarian society. When more equal societies open up their economies further, increased trade is likely to induce less inequality on impact because the supply of skills better matches demand. But greater international exposure also brings about technological diffusion, further raising skilled labour demand. This may raise wage inequality, in contrast to the initial egalitarian level effect of human capital. We attempt to measure these two opposing forces. We also employ a broad set of openness indicators to measure trade liberalization policies as well as general openness, which is an outcome, and not a policy variable. We further examine what type of education most reduces inequality. Our findings suggest that countries with a higher level of initial human capital do well on the inequality front, but human capital which accrues through the trade liberalization channel has inegalitarian effects. One explanation could be that governments in developing countries invest more in higher education at the expense of primary education in order to gain immediate benefits from globalization; thus becoming prone to wage inequality after increased international trade. Our results also have implications for the speed at which trade policies are liberalized, the implication being that better educated nations should liberalize faster. Mamoon, D. Murshed, S.M. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9648/ 2007-04-10T00:00:00Z On average, child health outcomes are better in urban than in rural areas of developing countries. Understanding the nature and the causes of this rural-urban disparity is essential in contemplating the health consequences of the rapid urbanization taking place throughout the developing world and in targeting resources appropriately to raise population health. We use micro data on child health taken from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys for 47 developing countries. First, we document the magnitude of rural-urban disparities in child nutritional status and under-five mortality across all 47 developing countries. Second, we adjust these disparities for differences in population characteristics across urban and rural settings. Third, we examine rural-urban differences in the degree of socioeconomic inequality in these health outcomes. We find considerable rural-urban differences in mean child health outcomes. The rural-urban gap in stunting does not entirely mirror the gap in under-five mortality. The most striking difference between the two is in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where the gap in stunting is more than 1.5 times higher than that in mortality. On average, the rural-urban risk ratios of stunting and under-five mortality fall by respectively 53% and 59% after controlling for household wealth. Controlling thereafter for socio-demographic factors reduces the risk ratios by another 22% and 25%. In a considerable number of countries, the urban poor actually have higher rates of stunting and mortality than their rural counterparts. The findings imply that there is a need for programs that target the urban poor, and that this is becoming more necessary as the size of the urban population grows. Van de Poel, E. O'Donnell, O.A. Doorslaer, E.K.A. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/34775/ 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z Previous poverty assessments of Burkina Faso neglected some important methodological issues. They were therefore misleading and led to the so-called 'Burkinabè Growth-Poverty Parado', i.e., increasing poverty despite sustained macro-economic growth and constant inequality. We estimate that poverty significantly decreased between 1994 and 2003, i.e., growth was in contrast to what previous poverty estimates suggested 'pro-poor'. However, we also demonstrate that between 1994 and 1998, poverty indeed increased despite a good macro-economic performance. This was caused by a severe drought and the devaluation of the CFA Franc, which led to a profound deterioration of the purchasing power of the poor, an issue, which was also overseen by previous studies. Grimm, M. Günther, I. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/8346/ 2006-11-27T00:00:00Z Over a five-year period in the 1990s Vietnam experienced annual economic growth of more than 8% and a decrease of 15 points in the proportion of children chronically malnourished (stunted). We estimate the extent to which changes in the distribution of child nutritional status can be explained by changes in the level and distribution of income, and of other covariates. This is done using data from the 1993 and 1998 Vietnam Living Standards Surveys and a flexible decomposition technique that explains change throughout the complete distribution of child height. One-half of the decrease in the proportion of children stunted is explained by changes in the distributions of covariates and 35% is explained by change in the distribution of income. Covariates, including income, explain less of the decrease in very severe malnutrition, which is largely attributable to change in the conditional distribution of child height. O'Donnell, O.A. Nicolas, A.L. Doorslaer, E.K.A. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/2157/ 2001-07-25T00:00:00Z We re-address the convergence issue that is so prominent in the economic growth literature and present evidence as to what extent there is convergence across measures of living standards, alternative to capita income. The four additional indicators that we use are daily calorie supply, daily protein supply, infant mortality rates, and life expectancy at birth. We present results obtained using three techniques previously considered in growth empirics. These are cross-country regressions, distributional dynamics, and cluster analysis. Our main finding is that convergence in real GDP per capita does not imply convergence in other social indicators. However, the qualitative results for all indicators are the same in the sense that the persistent gap between the rich and poor does not only manifest itself in real GDP per capita but also in living standards. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. Hobijn, B. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7941/ 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z The author considers the problem of the duration of development and its consequences for development assistance, in the developing as well as developed countries. Emphasis is given to the influence of development aid and it is argued that the time dimension has important policy implications and requires further thoroughgoing theoretical analysis. Also published in: Kurt Dopfer (Ed.), The Global Dimension of Economic Evolution: knowledge variety and diffusion in economic growth and development, Physica Verlag, Heidelberg, 1995, pp. 1153-159 Tinbergen, J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13097/ 1993-02-01T00:00:00Z Endogenous population growth, i.e., making the rate of population growth dependent on society's opulence, causes parametric changes to have a larger impact and can cause multiplicity of steady states in a dynamic intertemporal optimization framework. This provides a simple explanation for the possibility of differing growth paths between countries (using a standard production function) or another explanation of the poverty trap. We give two examples (opulence sensitivity and production sensitivity) that both give rise to three steady states in which poor (rich) countries will evolve over time to the low (high) income steady state. In both examples there are middle income countries that will choose the low (high) income steady state if they are impatient (patient), where patience is measured through the rate of time preference o. Foreign aid in the form of a large transfer of capital from abroad enables poor and impatient middle income countries to move to the high income steady state. Marrewijk, J.G.M. van Verbeek, J.B.L.M.