Child work and schooling under trade liberalization in Indonesia

We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work and schooling in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district and province level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use seven rounds (1993 to 2002) of the Indonesian annual national household survey (Susenas), and relate workforce participation and school enrolment of children aged 10-15 to geographic variation in relative tariff exposure. Our main findings show that increased exposure to trade liberalization is associated with a decrease in child work and an increase in enrolment among 10 to 15 year olds. The effects of tariff reductions are strongest for children from low skill backgrounds and in rural areas. However, a dynamic analysis suggests that these effects reflect the long term benefits of trade liberalization, through economic growth and subsequent income effects, while frictions and negative adjustment effects may occur in the short term.child labor, trade

Economic Causes of Deforestation in the Brazil Amazon: A Panel Data Analysis for the 2000s

We use under-explored municipality level datasets to assess the recent economic and policy determinants of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. We estimate yearly panel data models (from 2002 to 2009) for 457 municipalities in the region. The results show that recent deforestation is related to economic incentives, and especially to fluctuations in product (meat and soybean) prices. Moreover, we document that the increasing monitoring efforts of the Brazilian environmental police (IBAMA) were effective in reducing deforestation rates.Brazil, Amazon, deforestation

Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia

We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use a balanced panel of 261 districts, based on four rounds (1993 to 2002) of the Indonesian annual national household survey (Susenas), and relate workforce participation of children aged 10-15 to geographic variation in relative tariff exposure. Our main findings show that increased exposure to trade liberalization is associated with a decrease in child work among the 10 to 15 year olds. The effects of tariff reductions are strongest for children from low skill backgrounds and in rural areas. Favorable income effects for the poor, induced by trade liberalization, are likely to be the dominating effects underlying these results.poverty, trade liberalization, child labor, Indonesia

Child work and schooling under trade liberalization in Indonesia

We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work and schooling in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district and province level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use seven rounds (1993 to 2002) of the Indonesian annual national household survey (Susenas), and relate workforce participation and school enrolment of children aged 10-15 to geographic variation in relative tariff exposure. Our main findings show that increased exposure to trade liberalization is associated with a decrease in child work and an increase in enrolment among 10 to 15 year olds. The effects of tariff reductions are strongest for children from low skill backgrounds and in rural areas. However, a dynamic analysis suggests that these effects reflect the long term benefits of trade liberalization, through economic growth and subsequent income effects, while frictions and negative adjustment effects may occur in the short term

Economic causes of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: A panel data analysis for the 2000s

We use under-explored municipality level datasets to assess the recent economic and policy determinants of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. We estimate yearly panel data models (from 2002 to 2009) for 457 municipalities in the region. The results show that recent deforestation is related to economic incentives, and especially to fluctuations in product (meat and soybean) prices. Moreover, we document that the increasing monitoring efforts of the Brazilian environmental police (IBAMA) were effective in reducing deforestation rates

Poverty, Labour Markets and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia

We measure the effects of trade liberalization over the period of 1993-2002 on regional poverty levels in 259 Indonesian regions, and investigate the labour market mechanisms behind these effects. The identification strategy relies on combining information on initial regional labour and product market structure with the exogenous tariff reduction schedule over four three-year periods. We find that poverty reduced more in regions that were more strongly exposed to import tariff liberalization. Among the potential channels behind this effect, we highlight the formalization of the unskilled labour force and structural reallocation of labour. We also show that job formation and increases in unskilled wages were related to reductions in import tariffs on intermediate goods and not to reductions in import tariffs on final outputs. These results point towards increasing firm competitiveness as a driving factor behind the beneficial poverty effects

Child work and schooling under trade liberalization in Indonesia

We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work and schooling in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district and province level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use seven rounds (1993 to 2002) of the Indonesian annual national household survey (Susenas), and relate workforce participation and school enrolment of children aged 10-15 to geographic variation in relative tariff exposure. Our main findings show that increased exposure to trade liberalization is associated with a decrease in child work and an increase in enrolment among 10 to 15 year olds. The effects of tariff reductions are strongest for children from low skill backgrounds and in rural areas. However, a dynamic analysis suggests that these effects reflect the long term benefits of trade liberalization, through economic growth and subsequent income effects, while frictions and negative adjustment effects may occur in the short term

The Impact of Fiscal and Political Decentralization on Local Public Investments in Indonesia

We investigate the effects of the Indonesian decentralization and democratization process on budget allocation at the sub-national level. Based on panel data for 271 Indonesian districts for the years of 1994 to 2009, we address the determinants of local investment expenditures in public infrastructure in the sectors of education, health, and physical infrastructure. We find that after the dramatic expenditure decentralization of 2001, districts with relatively lower levels of public infrastructure started to invest more in these sectors. In contrast to the marked budgeting changes following fiscal and administrative decentralization, we find no consistent effects of the democratization process on local public investments. Our results reflect initial improvements in local targeting but show no evidence of increasing electoral accountability

Economic Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: A Panel Data Analysis for 2000s

We use newly launched and some never before analyzed datasets, to assess the recent economic and policy determinants of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. We estimate panel data models for the years between 2002 and 2007 for 368 municipalities in the region using municipality fixed effects and GMM. The results show that recent deforestation is driven by fluctuations in meat and soybean prices, it increases with rural credit availability, and with the size of rural reform settlements, while it decreases with protected areas. Moreover we find that higher presence of the Brazilian environmental police (IBAMA) was effective in reducing deforestation rates. --Deforestation,Amazon,Economic causes,Brazil

The impact of fiscal and political decentralization on local public investments in Indonesia

We investigate the effects of the Indonesian decentralization and democratization process on budget allocation at the sub-national level. Based on panel data for 271 Indonesian districts for the years of 1994 to 2009, we address the determinants of local investment expenditures in public infrastructure in the sectors of education, health, and physical infrastructure. We find that after the dramatic expenditure decentralization of 2001, districts with relatively lower levels of public infrastructure started to invest more in these sectors. In contrast to the marked budgeting changes following the fiscal and administrative decentralization, we find no consistent effects of the democratization process on local public investments. Our results reflect initial improvements in local targeting but show no evidence of increasing electoral accountability