Vulnerability in Developing Countries

The first Millennium Development Goal aims to halve the number of people in the world living in extreme poverty. In this Research Brief, emanating from the UNU-WIDER project on .Fragility and Development., the premise is that we should also be concerned about households who are vulnerable to poverty. This includes those who have little likelihood of escaping from poverty and who are at risk of falling into poverty in the future. Household vulnerability to poverty is affected by, and affects, vulnerability in other dimensions and levels, such as the vulnerability of a country or region to natural hazards and macro-economic shocks. To address household vulnerability in developing countries requires an understanding of the concept and nature of vulnerability, its measurement and its application. Therefore, this Research Brief asks: what is vulnerability? How can vulnerability be measured? How should households, governments and development agencies respond to vulnerability?vulnerability, poverty, households, hazards, shocks

Fertility in Developing Countries

The associations between fertility and outcomes in the family and society have been treated as causal, but this is inaccurate if fertility is a choice coordinated by families with other life-cycle decisions, including labour supply of mothers and children, child human capital, and savings. Estimating how exogenous changes in fertility that are uncorrelated with preferences or constraints affect others depends on our specifying a valid instrumental variable for fertility. Twins have served as such an instrument and confirm that the cross-effects of fertility estimated on the basis of this instrument are smaller in absolute value than their associations.Fertility Determination, Malthus,Household Demands, Fertility Effects

Possibility of Entrepreneurship in Myanmar

The economic enterprise in Myanmar has the potential for further development. With the hope to add some value to the daily lives of the people of Myanmar, in this endeavor, the present study reviews the extant literature of other countries developed earlier than Myammar. An exceptional study from the viewpoint of international business by Praharad （2010）shows that large companies could contribute to the enhancement of human life in developing counties. Five billion people in such countries could escape poverty through the creation of highly profitable businesses. Thus, instead of using approaches designed for developed nations, large companies could employ specific tactics to improve the wealth of both their companies and those in developing countries. Morduch et al.（2009）utilized the original research method of dairy finance to investigate financial activities in developing countries, and found a scarcity of opportunities for support in the following areas: 1）daily finance management, 2）long term financial savings, and 3）borrowing money for any purpose. Duflo’s（2010）primary investigation performed randomized comparative experiments to evaluate human development, health care, independent policy-making, and country governance. She deduced that policy goals must be aligned for the institution of effective educational strategies. Substantial medical costs must be incurred for health care. Governments should devote funds to disease prevention rather than medical treatment. Policy-making in developing countries clearly display the time inconsistencies of implementation. Loans at higher interest rates are apparently useful and, as a result, necessary. Frequent corruptions in the developing public fora and other such issues evidently inhibit development. Banerjee and Duflo（2011）revealed unprecedented findings on the lives of impoverished people. Poor people encounter food shortages; consequently, the low-priced foods such as grains are provided via international organizations and richer countries. Yet, many in such circumstances do not purchase other food to add more nutrition for their healthier survivals. People in the developing part of the world are, just like those in other countries, interested in a wide variety of food choices and options as well as modes of entertainment. These studies suggest that developing countries like Myanmar require the improvement of basic infrastructure in education, health and well-being, finance, and policy-making. Yet, these facets expose differences in the adjudication of methods for social change between developing and developed countries. Suitable field surveys are therefore critical for future research on the developments and entrepreneurship in Myanmar.departmental bulletin pape

Measuring Subjective Wellbeing in Developing Countries.

The paper explores the conceptual and methodological issues entailed in using subjective measures of well-being in developing countries. In the first part I define, situate and contrast subjective quality of life (QoL), subjective well-being (SWB), and well-being. I also look at the conceptual and methodological shortcomings of subjective measures of well-being and suggest ways of overcoming these by combining different approaches. I then explore how an expanded concept of subjective quality of life fits into the theoretical framework of the UK-based Well-being in Developing Countries study (or WeD), specifically how it plans to produce a new, “development-related” profile of quality of life, drawing on the methodology of the WHOQOL group (1995; 1998)