scholarly journals Limited Insurance within the Household: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 140-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Private Consumption ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Income Shocks ◽  
Lifetime Income

In developing countries, unexpected income shocks are common but informal insurance is typically incomplete. An important question is therefore whether risk-sharing within the household is effective. This paper presents results from a field experiment with 142 married couples in Kenya in which individuals were given random income shocks. Even though the shocks were small relative to lifetime income, men increase private consumption when they receive the shock but not when their wives do, a rejection of efficiency. Such behavior is not specific to the experiment—both spouses spend more on themselves when their labor income is higher. (JEL D14, D81, G22, O12, O16)

scholarly journals Taxing Capital? Not a Bad Idea After All!

2009 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Conesa ◽  
Sagiri Kitao ◽  
Dirk Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Income Tax ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Income Shocks ◽  
Capital Income ◽  
Overlapping Generations Model ◽  
Cycle Structure ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Average Household Income ◽  
Optimal Capital

We quantitatively characterize the optimal capital and labor income tax in an overlapping generations model with idiosyncratic, uninsurable income shocks and permanent productivity differences of households. The optimal capital income tax rate is significantly positive at 36 percent. The optimal progressive labor income tax is, roughly, a flat tax of 23 percent with a deduction of $7,200 (relative to average household income of $42,000). The high optimal capital income tax is mainly driven by the life-cycle structure of the model, whereas the optimal progressivity of the labor income tax is attributable to the insurance and redistribution role of the tax system. (JEL E13, H21, H24, H25)

scholarly journals Child Labor, Income Shocks, and Access to Credit

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Beegle ◽  
Rajeev H. Dehejia ◽  
Roberta Gatti
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Income Shocks ◽  
Access To Credit

scholarly journals Social Protection and Informality in Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matías Busso ◽  
Juanita Camacho ◽  
Julián Messina ◽  
Guadalupe Montenegro
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Income Shocks ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Inability To Work ◽  
Social Protection Systems ◽  
Income Assistance

Latin American governments swiftly implemented income assistance programs to sustain families' livelihoods during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. This paper analyzes the potential coverage and generosity of these measures and assesses the suitability of current safety nets to deal with unexpected negative income shocks in 10 Latin American countries. The expansion of pre-existing programs (most notably conditional cash transfers and non-contributory pensions) during the COVID-19 crisis was generally insufficient to compensate for the inability to work among the poorest segments of the population. When COVID-19 ad hoc programs are analyzed, the coverage and replacement rates of regular labor income among households in the first quintile of the country's labor income distribution increase substantially. Yet, these programs present substantial coverage challenges among families composed of fundamentally informal workers who are non-poor, but are at a high risk of poverty. These results highlight the limitations of the fragmented nature of social protection systems in the region.

scholarly journals PENDAPATAN PEKERJA WANITA PADA INDUSTRI PENGOLAHAN SKALA BESAR

Populasi ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunawan Wibisono ◽  
Sukamdi Sukamdi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Important Implication ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Total Income ◽  
Labor Utilization ◽  
Labor Conflicts ◽  
Force Problem

Labor income is a very important issue in the process of industrialization in developing countries. Most strikes and labor conflicts in the last three years were based on workers' desire to increase income. Regarding the fact that most laborers have poor education one common means of increasing income is by lengthening work hours. The results of this study tend to prove this statement. However, this strategy has only increased total income, not real income. Income per hour does not change, and even decreases. It means that extending working hours has only increased self-exploitation. Inaddition, this result has an important implication on the analysis of labor utilization. Laborers who are fully utilized do notal ways have a higher income than those underemployed. Therefore underemployment by working hours does not represent the real labor force problem.

Population, Environment, and Women’s Issues

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
World Population ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The World

Ultimately, the necessity to supply food, energy, habitat, infrastructure, and consumer goods for the ever-growing population is responsible for the demise of the environment. Remedial actions for pollution abatement, and further technological progress toward energy efficiency, development of new crops, and improvements in manufacturing processes may help to mitigate the severity of environmental deterioration. However, we can hardly hope for restoration of a clean environment, improvement in human health, and an end to poverty without arresting the continuous growth of the world population. According to the United Nations count, world population reached 6 billion in mid October 1999 (1). The rate of population growth and the fertility rates by continent, as well as in the United States and Canada, are presented in Table 14.1. It can be seen that the fastest population growth occurs in the poorest countries of the world. Despite the worldwide decrease in fertility rates between 1975–80 period and that of 1995–2000, the rate of population growth in most developing countries changed only slightly due to the demographic momentum, which means that because of the high fertility rates in the previous decades, the number of women of childbearing age had increased. Historically, the preference for large families in the developing nations was in part a result of either cultural or religious traditions. In some cases there were practical motivations, as children provided helping hands with farm chores and a security in old age. At present the situation is changing. A great majority of governments of the developing countries have recognized that no improvement of the living standard of their citizens will ever be possible without slowing the explosive population growth. By 1985, a total of 70 developing nations had either established national family planning programs, or provided support for such programs conducted by nongovernmental agencies; now only four of the world’s 170 countries limit access to family planning services. As result, 95% of the developing world population lives in countries supporting family planning. Consequently, the percentage of married couples using contraceptives increased from less than 10% in 1960 to 57% in 1997.

Green returns of labor income and human capital: Empirical evidence of the environmental behavior of households in developing countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 105-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Ponce ◽  
Rafael Alvarado ◽  
Katerine Ponce ◽  
Raquel Alvarado ◽  
Danny Granda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Labor Income

Coethnicity and Corruption: Field Experimental Evidence from Public Officials in Malawi

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Brigitte Seim ◽  
Amanda Lea Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Government Officials

AbstractCorruption is widespread in many developing countries, though public officials’ discretion in the solicitation of bribes may expose some citizens to more corruption than others. We derive expectations about how shared ethnicity between government officials and citizens should influence the likelihood of bribe solicitation. We evaluate these expectations through a field experiment in which Malawian confederates seek electricity connections from real government offices – an interaction that is often accompanied by bribe solicitation. Our field experiment exogenously varied coethnicity between the official and the confederate. We find that coethnicity increases the likelihood of expediting an electricity connection, both with and without a bribe, which we interpret as evidence of parochial corruption.

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