Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe high incidence of orphanhood among children makes Zimbabwe an interesting case to study the school/work decision for children able to attend lower secondary. After controlling for household wealth, covariates at the individual, and household levels, and community fixed effects, I find that orphans are less likely to attend school and more likely to work. While orphans and non‐orphans face the same marginal cost to go to school and work, living in blended households places orphans at a higher disadvantage. The main factor related to discrimination within households is living with household heads with whom children are not closely biologically related. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractThis paper estimates the impact of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on the household decision about children's time allocation. Using original data and objective geological measures, we exploit the fact that the earthquake might affect the decision about children's time through its magnitude and household's revealed vulnerability. Separated measures of the earthquake magnitude and its damage allow us to estimate the impact of the household's vulnerability on the decision about the time allocation of children 10 to 17 years old. We are also able to analyze the differentiated effect on market and domestic work. Our results show that vulnerability at the time of the earthquake severely affects investments in children's human capital almost 3 years after the shock, which increases the household's risk of staying in poverty.

AbstractThe recent emergence and expansion of non-contributory pension programmes across low- and middle-income countries responds and contributes to a larger attention towards the population of elderly individuals in developing countries. These programmes are intended to reduce poverty in old age by providing monetary transfers in mean-tested schemes. However, little is known about the most salient characteristics of this population, particularly health outcomes and their relationship with socioeconomic demographics. The aim of this paper is to provide evidence about this relationship in the specific case of cognitive functioning. We exploit the baseline sample of the Peru's non-contributory pension programmePension 65and find significant relationships between cognitive functioning and retirement, education, nutrition, ethnicity and sex.JEL Classification:J14, J24

AbstractExpectations about future labour market opportunities are essential for education and labour market decisions. This paper uses data from a survey of youths in seven Latin American and Caribbean countries to explore the role of expected returns to education on schooling decisions. We find substantial variation in subjective expectations partly explained by youths' socioeconomic characteristics. Also, we find that enrolment in tertiary education is positively related to perceived education returns. Furthermore, the association of expectations with schooling choices differs across individuals in relevant domains, including gender, skills, and socioeconomic background. Our results suggest that public policies might impact choices and reduce socioeconomic gaps in schooling by providing information on education returns.

AbstractRecent empirical evidence shows that conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes do not have an aggregate effect on the adult labour supply. However, little attention has been paid to the role of other intrahousehold dynamics. This paper examines how the parental labour supply response to CCT programmes varies with the bargaining power structure of households. We analyse a randomized experimental CCT design from rural areas of Honduras (PRAF) and found that women with more bargaining power in the household are four percentage points less likely to be employed than other women.

Maintaining cognitive function is a prerequisite of living independently, which is a highly valued component in older individuals' wellbeing. In this paper we assess the role of early-life and later-life nutritional status, education and literacy on the cognitive functioning of older adults living in poverty in Peru. We exploit the baseline sample of the Peruvian non-contributory pension program Pension 65 and find that current nutritional status and literacy are strongly associated with cognitive functioning for poor older adults. In a context of rising popularity of non-contributory pension programs around the world, our study intends to contribute to the discussion of designing accompanying measures to the pension transfer, such as adult literacy programs and monitoring of adequate nutrition of older adults.

Abstract
Forecasts about the effects of new technologies on labor demand are generally pessimistic. However, little is known about the current level of technology adoption and its effect on labor demand, particularly in developing countries. This paper exploits a national representative employer survey and administrative data from Peru to offer empirical evidence in this regard. Our results show that the adoption of new technologies by firms is still incipient in the country. However, when adopted, they slightly reduce the demand for workers in the medium term, particularly those in high-skilled and non-routine occupations, with a temporary job contract, and during the COVID-19 pandemic.