Suchergebnisse

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the environmental policy of the European Union. Despite widespread interest and investment in AESs, few of these pro- grams have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about the effectiveness of voluntary programs. The purpose of this article is to estimate the additional effects of AESs targeting nonpoint source pollution from pesticides, focusing on one emblematic case study: herbicide use in vineyards. We use original data collected from winegrowers participating in AESs in the south of France, and we use exogenous variation in the timing of the implemen- tation of the AESs as a natural experiment. We show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the programin 2012 was around 30%belowwhat theywould have usedwithout the program, while the impact was significantly higher in 2011 - around 50% - presumably be- cause of higher weed pressure. Although significant, these impacts remain smaller than what had been expected by policymakers. Focusing on the "zero herbicide between the vine rows" option, which is both the most often chosen as well as the least stringent among the mea- sures,we moreover showthe presence of windfall effects. Simple extrapolation of these results suggests that this level of effectiveness may not be sufficient to ensurewater quality in thewa- tersheds targeted by the AES.

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the environmental policy of the European Union. Despite widespread interest and investment in AESs, few of these pro- grams have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about the effectiveness of voluntary programs. The purpose of this article is to estimate the additional effects of AESs targeting nonpoint source pollution from pesticides, focusing on one emblematic case study: herbicide use in vineyards. We use original data collected from winegrowers participating in AESs in the south of France, and we use exogenous variation in the timing of the implemen- tation of the AESs as a natural experiment. We show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the programin 2012 was around 30%belowwhat theywould have usedwithout the program, while the impact was significantly higher in 2011 - around 50% - presumably be- cause of higher weed pressure. Although significant, these impacts remain smaller than what had been expected by policymakers. Focusing on the "zero herbicide between the vine rows" option, which is both the most often chosen as well as the least stringent among the mea- sures,we moreover showthe presence of windfall effects. Simple extrapolation of these results suggests that this level of effectiveness may not be sufficient to ensurewater quality in thewa- tersheds targeted by the AES.

This article explores the main determinants of the hazard of recidivism among ex-prisoners. We use a nationally-representative sample of prisoners released in 1996-1997 in France, drawn from a 5-year follow-up survey run by the French correctional administration. We estimate semiparametric duration models which deal with violations of the proportional hazards hypothesis. Our results confirm the importance of gender, age, nationality, access to employment and prior convictions on recidivism within five years after release from prison. We also find significant differences in hazards of recidivism by type of initial offense, penal status at entry, and type of release (early release under parole, etc.), while controlling for prison fixed effects. Finally, our study casts doubt on the influence of certain variables (marital status at entry, education, homelessness) and on the effectiveness of semi-liberté as a way to prevent recidivism.

This paper empirically investigates whether a bank's decision to adjust its capital is influenced by the existence of a divergence between the voting and the cash-flow rights of its ultimate owner. We use a novel hand-collected dataset on detailed control and ownership characteristics of 405 European commercial banks to estimate an ownership-augmented capital adjustment model over the 2003-2010 period. We find no differences in adjustment speeds when banks need to adjust their Tier 1 capital downwards to reach their target capital ratio. However, when the adjustment process requires an upward shift in Tier 1 capital, the adjustment is significantly slower for banks controlled by a shareholder with a divergence between voting and cash-flow rights. Further investigation shows that such an asymmetry only holds if the ultimate owner is a family or a state or if the bank is headquartered in a country with relatively weak shareholder protection. Moreover, this behavior is tempered during the 2008 financial crisis, possibly because of government capital injections or support from ultimate owners (propping up). Our findings provide new insights for understanding capital adjustment in general and have policy implications on the road to the final stage of Basel III in 2019.

This paper examines the impact of international remittances on both the level and the instability of government tax revenue in receiving countries. It investigates in particular whether the presence of a value added tax (VAT) system increases the benefit of the inflows of remittances in terms of high and less volatile tax revenue ratio. This is supported by the fact that remittances are largely used for consumption purposes and contribute to smoothing private consumption. Using a large sample of developing countries observed over the period 1980-2006, and even after factoring in the endogeneity of remittances and VAT adoption, the results highlight that remittances significantly increase both the level and the stability of government tax revenue ratio in receiving countries that have adopted the VAT.

This paper presents evidence on the equilibrium labor market impacts of a large rural workfare program in India. We use the gradual roll out of the program to estimate changes in districts that received the program earlier relative to those that received it later. Our estimates reveal that following the introduction of the program, public employment increased by .3 days per prime-aged person per month (1.3% of private sector employment) more in early districts than in the rest of India. Casual wages increased by 4.5%, and private sector work for low-skill workers fell by 1.6%. These effects are concentrated in the dry season, during which the majority of public works employment is provided. Our results suggest that public sector hiring crowds out private sector work and increases private sector wages. We use these estimates to compute the implied welfare gains of the program by consumption quintile. Our calculations show that the welfare gains to the poor from the equilibrium increase in private sector wages are large in absolute terms and large relative to the gains received solely by program participants. We conclude that the equilibrium labor market impacts are a first order concern when comparing workfare programs with other anti-poverty programs such as a cash transfer.

American Dreaming chronicles in rich detail the struggles of immigrants who have fled troubled homelands in search of a better life in the United States, only to be marginalized by the society that they hoped would embrace them. Sarah Mahler draws from her experiences living among undocumented Salvadoran and South American immigrants in a Long Island suburb of Manhattan. In moving interviews they describe their disillusionment with life in the United States but blame themselves individually or as a whole for their lack of economic success and not the greater society. As she explores the reasons behind this outlook, the author argues that marginalization fosters antagonism within ethnic groups while undermining the ethnic solidarity emphasized by many scholars of immigration. Mahler's investigation leads to conditions that often bar immigrants from success and that they cannot control, such as residential segregation, job exploitation, language and legal barriers, prejudice and outright hostility from their suburban neighbors. Some immigrants earn surplus income by using private cars as taxis, subletting space in apartments to lower rent burdens, and filling out legal forms and applications--in essence generating institutions largely parallel to those of the mainstream society whereby only a small group of entrepreneurs can profit. By exacting a price for what used to be acts of reciprocal good will in the homeland, these entrepreneurs leave people who had expected to be exploited by "Americans" feeling victimized by their own

Revisits the sex wars of the 1970s and '80s and examines their influence on how we think about sexual harm in the #MeToo era#MeToo's stunning explosion on social media in October 2017 radically changed—and amplified—conversations about sexual violence as it revealed how widespread the issue is and toppled prominent celebrities and politicians. But, as the movement spread, a conflict emerged among feminist supporters and detractors about how punishment should be doled out and how justice should be served. The New Sex Wars reveals that these clashes are nothing new. Delving into the contentious debates from the '70s and '80s, Brenda Cossman traces the striking echoes in the feminist divisions of this earlier period. In exploring the history of past conflicts—the resistance to finding common ground, the media's pleasure in portraying the debates as polarized cat fights, the simplification of viewpoints as pro- and anti-sex—she shows how they have come to shape the #MeToo era. From the '70s to today, Cossman examines tensions between the need for recognition and protection under the law, and the colossal and ongoing failure of that law to redress historic injustice. By circumventing law altogether, #MeToo has led us to question whether justice can be served outside of the courtroom. Cossman argues for a different way forward—one based on reparative models that focus on shared desired outcomes and the willingness to understand the other side. Thoughtful and compelling, The New Sex Wars explores what can been learned from these stories, what traps we repeatedly fall into, how we have been denied our anger, and where to begin to make law work

Collective values, behavioural norms and rules: building institutions for economic growth and poverty reduction / Ke-young Chu -- Institutional capital and poverty: a transition perspective / Syed Ahsan -- Why is so little spent on educating the poor? / Tony Addison and Aminur Rahman -- The fragility of empirical links between inequality, trade liberalization, growth and poverty / Jennifer Mbabazi, Oliver Morrissey and Chris Milner -- Convergence clubs in cross-country life expectancy dynamics / David Mayer-Foulkes -- Reaching the poor: fine-tuning poverty targeting using a poverty map of Mozambique / Orlando San Martin -- Poverty, growth and redistribution: a case-study of Iran / Ahmad Assadzadeh and Satya Paul -- How economic growth reduces poverty: a general equilibrium analysis for Indonesia / George Fane and Peter Warr -- Poverty, inequality and growth in Zambia during the 1990s / Neil McCulloch, Bob Baulch and Milasoa Cherel-Robson -- Gender and education as determinants of household poverty in Nigeria / Christiana Okojie.

Fiscal consolidation is often a necessity for local governments, but the cost of austerity for local economic activity is an open empirical question. Quasi-experimental estimates of local fiscal multipliers range between 1.5 and 1.8, but most of them are obtained from expansionary shocks. We study the extension of tighter budget rules in 2013 to Italian municipalities below 5,000 inhabitants, which generates a persistent increase of about 100 Euros per capita (0.5% of local income) in municipal net budget surplus, mostly driven by a cut in capital expenditures. We find no decrease in local income over a eight-year horizon. The estimated multiplier is always not significantly different from zero, and we can exclude it is above 1.5 with 95% confidence within 4 years from the shock. We find no evidence of spillovers to neighboring municipalities. These results suggest that the cost of fiscal consolidation can be lower than what currently prevailing estimates of local multipliers imply.

Fiscal consolidation is often a necessity for local governments, but the cost of austerity for local economic activity is an open empirical question. Quasi-experimental estimates of local fiscal multipliers range between 1.5 and 1.8, but most of them are obtained from expansionary shocks. We study the extension of tighter budget rules in 2013 to Italian municipalities below 5,000 inhabitants, which generates a persistent increase of about 100 Euros per capita (0.5% of local income) in municipal net budget surplus, mostly driven by a cut in capital expenditures. We find no decrease in local income over a eight-year horizon. The estimated multiplier is always not significantly different from zero, and we can exclude it is above 1.5 with 95% confidence within 4 years from the shock. We find no evidence of spillovers to neighboring municipalities. These results suggest that the cost of fiscal consolidation can be lower than what currently prevailing estimates of local multipliers imply.