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  5. Microeconomics Studies in Development
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Microeconomics Studies in Development

Paper Session

Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (CST)

New Orleans Marriott, Preservation Hall Studio 10
Hosted By: Association of Christian Economists
  • Chair: Kira M. Villa, University of New Mexico

Floods, Women's Outcomes and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Three Countries in Africa

Berenger Djoumessi Tiague
,
University of Minnesota

Abstract

This paper investigates what happens to intimate partner violence, fertility decisions, and child mortality across Sub-Saharan Africa after people experience large flood shocks. Combining nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys with satellite flood data, I find that women living in flooded clusters experience an overall decline in emotional violence by 0.04 percentage points, but no effect on physical violence from their partner. Fertility preferences change as women decrease their ideal number of children by 5.3%. Child mortality also increases but only for children that are less than 6 months old or less. The results across subgroups show that only the poorest households experience an increase in physical violence, as well as when both partners work in agriculture. The drop in fertility preferences is concentrated among women with little to no education. The decrease in female economic empowerment, increase in partner’s alcohol consumption, and household wealth appear to be important mediating factors. The results should be taken with caution given the violation of parallel pre-trends and the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects.

Long-term Impacts of Exposure to Natural Disasters during Childhood and Adolescence: Evidence from Indonesia

Mengqi Liu
,
Gordon College
Kira M. Villa
,
University of New Mexico

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the disaster-prone countries. In order to understand the long-term impacts of exposure to natural disasters during childhood and adolescence, we examine the effects of different age exposure to natural disasters on individual well-being outcomes. Using longitudinal individual-level data from large-scale household surveys, together with spatial measures of disasters obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Information at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Advanced National Seismic System Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, we fully measure the outcomes with physical health, years of education, and the ages of first entering the labor market, marriage and especially for women, the ages of firstborn. Our results show that the different period of exposure has various impacts on individual well-being outcomes. The age of 11 to 15 exposure is affecting the socioeconomic status. Gender difference exists by exposure to natural disasters. Our results contribute to the literature that adolescence is another essential period for human capital formation. Policies should aim to this group during shocks to mitigate the negative impacts.

Why Programs Fail: Lessons for Improving Public Service Quality from a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Unsuccessful Teacher Training Program in Nepal

Julie A. Schaffner
,
Tufts University
Paul Glewwe
,
University of Minnesota
Uttam Sharma
,
Institute for Social and Environmental Research-Nepal

Abstract

Using a randomized control trial embedded within a mixed-methods evaluation, we find that an at-scale government training program for teachers of secondary math and science, of a common but seldom-evaluated form, has little or no impact on student learning. We then document five challenges that the policy’s design failed to address: school-level difficulties in releasing teachers for training (due to lack of substitute teachers), inadequate oversight of training sessions, deficits in teachers’ subject knowledge, deficits in teachers’ post-training accountability and support, and deficits in the subject knowledge that students bring from earlier grades. We discuss implications for the literatures on teacher training program design and on good governance for public service provision.

Digital Training for Micro-Entrepreneurs: Experimental Evidence from Guatemala

Manuel Alejandro Estefan Davila
,
University of Notre Dame

Abstract

Previous literature has shown small and even null impacts of in-person business training on micro-entrepreneurs' profits in developing countries. However, few papers have previously studied the impact of formal digital training programs. We partner up with a multinational corporation and conduct a field experiment involving the franchise stores of a food retail chain in Guatemala, most of which are owned by women, to measure the impact of a high-quality digital training program for micro-entrepreneurs. Our paper tests for impacts on business knowledge, objective business practices, and business actual sales. Our analysis sheds light on the mechanisms determining digital training effectiveness in developing countries, including broadband internet access, gender, initial profitability, and experience in the business sector.

Discussant(s)
Sarah E. Hamersma
,
Syracuse University
Marieke Kleemans
,
University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Christopher B. Barrett
,
Cornell University
Daniel Prudencio
,
Monterrey Institute of Technology
JEL Classifications
  • I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
  • I2 - Education and Research Institutions