Economics Commons^™

Políticas Y Medidas Para Fomentar Las Remesas Familiares En La República Dominicana: Impacto Económico Y Lecciones Para Cuba, Mario A. Gonzalez-Corzo, Scott Larson

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

No. 22: South African Government And Civil Society Responses To Zimbabwean Migration, Tara Poizer

Southern African Migration Programme

This policy brief discusses a key paradox in relation to Zimbabwean migration into South Africa. While Zimbabwean migration since 2000 has been the largest concentrated flow in South African history, South Africa’s reaction to this movement has been characterised by the attempt to continue with ‘business as usual’ and ‘no crisis’ responses.1 Compared with most other developed and developing countries, where an inflow of tens or hundreds of thousands of people is usually treated as a political crisis, such a non-response to over a million immigrants requires explanation.

The lack of commensurate responses is especially noticeable within the various departments …

Socio-Economic And Cost Of Living Indicators Among Foreign And Domestic-Born Latino Nationalities In The New York Metropolitan Area, 2005, Howard Caro-López

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report focuses on comparing socio-economic conditions between foreign born and domestic born populations among the major Latino national groups in the New York City metropolitan area as of 2005.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: New York City Latinos lag considerably behind all other groups in terms of total family income. While median family income for non-Hispanic white residents far …

Where Do Latinos Work? Occupational Structure And Mobility Within New York City’S Latino Population, 1990 - 2006, Laura Limonic

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines the difference in occupational changes across racial and ethnic groups in New York City as well as across Latino origin groups from 1990 to 2006.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. All figures pertain to individuals 16 years of age or older.

Results: While there has been an overall increase in employment gains in the management sector, which includes …

Washington Heights/Inwood Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations 1990 – 2005 With A Special Focus On The Dominican Population, Laird Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning New York City based Latinos in Washington Heights and Inwood – particularly Dominicans.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Since the 1980s the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights/Inwood has been transformed by the immigration of a large Latino population of whom Dominicans have been the most prominent national group. Latinos made up …

The More Kids, The Less Mom's Divvy: Impact Of Childbirth On Intrahousehold Resource Allocation, Tomoki Fujii, Ryuichiro Ishikawa

Research Collection School Of Economics

We investigate how the impact of childbirth on intrahousehold allocation for married Japanese couples. We developed reduced‐form and structural‐form specifications from a unified theoretical framework. Under a weak set of assumptions, we can focus on private goods to track the changes in intrahousehold resource allocation. Our estimation results show that that allocation of resources within household tend to move to the disadvantage of women after a childbirth. One additional child is associated with a reduction in the wife's private expenditure share. Our estimation results reject the income-pooling hypothesis, and show that women are more risk averse than men.

How Well Can We Target Aid With Rapidly Collected Data? Empirical Results For Poverty Mapping From Cambodia, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

We compare commune-level poverty rankings in Cambodia based on three different methods: small-area estimation, principal component analysis using aggregate data, and interviews with local leaders. While they provide reasonably consistent rankings, the choice of the ranking method matters. In order to assess the potential losses from moving away from census-based poverty mapping, we used the concentration curve. Our calculation shows that about three-quarters of the potential gains from geographic targeting may be lost by using aggregate data. The usefulness of aggregate data in general would depend on the cost of data collection.

Markets And Famine In North Korea, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks

Marcus Noland

In the 1990s, as many as a million North Koreans died in one of the worst famines of the 20th century. Unlike the dramatic recent natural disasters in Burma and China, North Korea’s current food crisis, a product of self-destructive policies, bad weather, and global food price increases, has metastasized largely beyond public view, abetted by Pyongyang’s penchant for secrecy. Permanent resolution of North Korea’s chronic food problems requires revitalization of its industrial economy. Genuine opening would enable the country to earn foreign exchange and import bulk grain on a commercially sustainable basis, just as South Korea, China, and Japan …

The Return Of Russia: Energy's Superpower Or Potemkin Village?, Greg R. Bayes

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

George Kennan's prediction of the Soviet Union's downfall may have, in retrospect, jinxed Russia on the one aspect that had historically worked in its favor: time. The confluence of time and space--brought about by an emphasis on territorial expansion-had greatly aided Russia when difficulties had rendered the variable of time indispensable. When confronted by the likes of Napoleon and Hitler, for example, Russia had at its disposal the luxury of always trading space for time. Although deprived of its empire, the issue of space is not an overarching concern for a Russia that today still spans from Vladivostok to St. …

The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics: Agricultural Modernization, Agribusiness And Collective Land Rights, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The article discusses the agricultural transformation taking place in the rural areas of China. Details about the Chinese laws regarding rural reform and the effect they have had on rural Chinese farmers and families are included. The authors examine the expansion of agrarian capitalism in China and describe the rise of agribusiness in rural Chinese areas. The practices of Chinese agribusinesses and the Chinese land rights laws are explored. The relationships between individual farmers and agribusinesses is also examined.

The Multiple Dimensions Of Male Social Status In An Amazonian Society, Christopher Von Rueden, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan

ESI Publications

"In all human societies, individuals differ in social status depending upon their age and personal ability (Sahlins, 1958; Service, 1971). In laboratory-based small group studies, status hierarchies emerge spontaneously (Bass, 1954; Campbell et al., 2002; Kalma, 1991). Even among “egalitarian” foragers, who are characterized by widespread resource sharing (Kaplan & Gurven, 2005; Winterhalder, 1986) and some degree of status-leveling (Cashdan, 1980), certain individuals consume more resources, get the best pick of mates, and take a more central role in group decision-making (Boehm, 1999; Trigger, 1985; Wiessner, 1996). Whether implicit or overt, classification by social status is a human universal. While …

Saga Of African Underdevelopment: A Viable Approach For Africa's Sustainable Development In The 21st Century, Tetteh A. Kofi, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta

A Difusão Do Orçamento Participativo Brasileiro: ‘Boas Práticas' Devem Ser Promovidas?, Brian Wampler

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The "third wave" of democratization has been accompanied by the spread of new institutions that allow citizens to deliberate and decide policy outcomes. Leading international organizations, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, have disseminated "best practice" programs identified with "good government" policy reform efforts. One of the most well-known programs, Participatory Budgeting (PB), was first adopted by Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) in 1989 as a means to promote social justice, accountability, and transparency. There has been widespread adoption of PB in Brazil, led by the PT. Yet, by 2001, nearly half of PB programs had been adopted …

Grasping The Small: The Political Economy Of Growth, Poverty And The Role Of The State In Two Chinese Provinces, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

North Korea On The Precipice Of Famine, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard, Erik Weeks

Marcus Noland

North Korea is once again headed toward widespread food shortages, hunger, and famine. As of this writing, the prospect of hunger-related deaths occurring in the next several months is approaching certainty. The expectation is based on four pieces of evidence, which we outline in the policy brief: - Food balances are as precarious as at any time since the great famine. - Access to aid or commercial import is limited by diplomatic tensions and the word food crisis. - Domestic food prices show the kind of extreme price inflation that is typical of pre-famine or famine settings. - The domestic …

Crossing Borders: Mexican Immigration Into The United States, Ewelina L. Dzieciolowski

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Immigration has been one of the major political and economic topics debated by governments in the world. In the United States, migration legislation is debated in the Senate, and impacts every industry throughout the country. Therefore, with further research in this field more answers for why migration occurs can be found. Although various disciplines focus on this phenomenon, each offers reasons specific to the discipline which is searching for an explanation. This thesis acknowledges that economic factors, social aspects, push and pull influences are some of the reasons for immigration, but it also proposes that there are other forces behind …

Brazilian Ethanol And U.S. Industrial Organization: An Analysis Of Bilateral Trade Barrier Removal, Michael X. Feeney '08

Honors Projects

With rising petroleum costs and a plethora of other influences causing international ethanol demand to grow at an unprecedented rate, discussion of trade liberalization has become an important point of debate for the ethanol production industry. Although there have been many studies on the results of the removal of trade barriers there has been little emphasis on the potential impact it would have on domestic industrial organization. This paper looks to analyze the possible effects of ethanol trade barrier removal between Brazil and the United States on U.S. industrial organization through evaluation of the removal's ,influence on incentives for consolidation …

A Security And Peace Mechanism For Northeast Asia: The Economic Dimension, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard

Marcus Noland

In this brief, we explore the economic dimension of multilateral security cooperation in Northeast Asia. We begin with a discussion of the purported security benefits of economic egnagement with North Korea. We then outline recent economic developments in North Korea, which provide a crucial background to any discussion of the issue. We raise some cautionary questions about the scope for multilateral economic cooperation in Northeast Asia before outlining how economic cooperation can complement long-run security and economic objectives on the peninsula, including economic reform in North Korea.

How Does Vietnam's Accession To The World Trade Organization Change The Spatial Incidence Of Poverty?, Tomoki Fujii, David Roland-Holst

Research Collection School Of Economics

Trade liberalization is good for growth, and growth is good for the poor. This argument is simple but powerful. It has served as the departure point for discussion of the link between trade and poverty among economists and policy-makers, regardless of whether and to what extent they buy this argument. Krueger (1998) considers the inefficiencies that import substitution strategy creates and argues that trade liberalization undertaken at a period of low or negative growth rates can normally lead to a period of higher growth rates. Bhagwati and Srinivasan (2002) emphasize the empirical evidence of China and India. That is, these …

Concentración Urbana: El Papel De La Competición, Jason Peuquet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the year 1996 economists Paul Krugman and Livas Alizondo published a study addressing the correlation between the degree to which a country’s economy is open to foreign pressures and competition and the degree to which the country experiences the phenomenon of urban concentration. However, in 2003 another economist, Olga Alonso-Villar published another study that presents evidence against Krugman and Elizondo’s argument. This study states that after an extended period of time, during which an economy has been closed to foreign pressures and competition, such as Chile and other Latin American countries during the era of import substitution industrialization, when …

Alcoa In Juruti, Brazil: A Case Of Environmental Injustice And Colonialism?, Caitlin Schroering

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the visions of development of Alcoa, an American bauxite mining company, and the traditional ribeirinho communities in the area of Juruti Velho, Brazil. These two objectives are pursued in order to determine if Alcoa’s actions in the area constitute environmental injustice and colonialism. An explication of environmental injustice and colonialism is undertaken, and is followed later by a discussion of social invisibility and how circumstances are created that allow for the exploitation of traditional communities. The work and demands of ACORJUVE, a community association that is in opposition to Alcoa, are also discussed. A review of the …

Desarrollo De La Comunidad Y Humano Como Resultado Del Turismo, Annie Moulton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project is a case study of San Pedro de Atacama, a small town that is developing economically from a large influx of the tourism business. The project is focused on community and human development as a result of the presence of tourism, but it is also a study of how important complete development of a town is. In a world of towns just like San Pedro trying to develop and modernize, their success and their future depends greatly on their ability to not only develop their economic sector, but to advance the unity and collective support of …

Community-Based Income Generation: A Case Study Of Its Effects And Replicability In Urucureá, Santarém, Lucy Midelfort

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the method of income generation through handcraft production used by Projeto Saude e Alegria, or the Health and Happiness Project, in Urucureá, a small community in the region of Santarém, Pará, Brazil. Urucureá is a rural community of ribeirinhos (or caboclos), traditional populations living along the banks of the Amazon River and its tributaries. The project of organizing community-based handcraft production in the community began in 1995, and since then the TucumArte group has been quite successful in strengthening their production of woven basketry from the straw of tucumã, a locally abundant species of palm tree. This …

When Beef Was King. Or Why Do Colombians Eat So Little Pork?, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

This article seeks to understand why Colombians, compared to many other Latin Americans, have traditionally eaten so much more beef than pork. The article first points to the development of a culinary tradition that favored beef. The bulk of the argument, though, centers on the fact that, historically, beef has been substantially cheaper than pork. This price difference, in turn, is rooted in the low productivity of Colombian agriculture, which made corn, often used to fatten hogs, expensive. Additional factors that favored beef include a receding agrarian frontier, a small hog population, the various advantages of cattle, a conflict–ridden history …

South Africa And The Arab World: Facing Common Challenges, Marcus Noland, Howard Pack

Marcus Noland

Today the Arab countries of the Middle East face a challenge familiar to all South Africans: to create jobs for the large cohort of young people reaching working age. Over the next decade or so, the region may experience population growth of 150 million people—the equivalent of adding two Egypts (table 1). In demographic terms, the task is similar to that facing South Africa—only larger. Rising labor force participation by women only increases the pressure. The task is immense, and the stakes are high.

North Korea In 2007, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard

Marcus Noland

The year 2007 witnessed a gradual rapprochement between North Korea and the world, reflecting changes both in the country's external environment and domestic political economy. Key markers were the resumption of the Six-Party Talks and the second North-South summit. Whether these developments will endure depends largely on North Korean intentions.

Aging And Inflammation In Two Epidemiological Worlds, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking, Caleb Finch, Eileen M. Crimmins

ESI Publications

Humans evolved in a world with high levels of infection resulting in high mortality across the life span and few survivors to advanced ages. Under such conditions, a strong acute-phase inflammatory response was required for survival; however, inflammatory responses can also promote chronic diseases of aging. We hypothesize that global historical increases in life span at older ages are partly explained by reduced lifetime exposure to infection and subsequent inflammation. To begin a test of this hypothesis, we compare C-reactive protein (CRP); levels in two populations with different epidemiological environments: the Tsimane of Bolivia and persons in the United States. …

Complex Emergencies And The Challenge Of Achieving Development In Afghanistan, Mahitab Mohamed Marzouk

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Anatomy Of Foreign Aid To Ethiopia: 1960-2003, Adugna Lemi

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The purpose of this study is to present a portrait of the foreign aid flow to Ethiopia during the 1960 to 2003 period. Since the launch of Marshal Plan after World War II, the flow of foreign aid has been seen as the panacea to overcome underdevelopment. Ethiopia is not an exception to this view, and Ethiopia is one of the recipients of foreign aid not only to provide emergency relief but also to support longterm economic development. This study shows the flow of aid to Ethiopia in terms of major donors (bilateral and multilateral), method of delivery, and major …

No. 49: Gender, Migration And Remittances In Southern Africa, Belinda Dodson, Hamilton Simelane, Daniel Tevera, Thuso Green, Abel Chikanda, Fion De Vletter

Southern African Migration Programme

Migrant remittances have become an important source of income for many developing countries, exceeding official development assistance. As a result, migration and remittance behaviour are becoming a growing focus of international attention. Understanding the processes and patterns of remittance behaviour can help shed light on their usage and impact, both on recipient households and on wider socio-economic development in migrant-origin countries. One key aspect of such an understanding is the gender dynamics of migration and remittance practices. Globally, there is evidence of the feminization of migrant flows, with women increasingly migrating as independent migrants in their own right. Female migrants …