Remittances and Children's Capabilities: New Evidence from Kyrgyzstan, 2005-2008

The Kyrgyz Republic is one of the largest recipients of international remittances in the world; from a Balance of Payments measure of remittances, it ranked tenth in the world in 2008 in the ratio of remittances to GDP, a rapid increase from 30th place in 2004. Remittances can be used to maintain the household's standard of living by providing income to families with unemployed and underemployed adult members. Remittances can also be used to promote investment not only in businesses and communities but also in people. In this paper, we examine the role that remittances have played in the Kyrgyz Republic in promoting investments in children. Based on the capabilities approach to well-being initiated by Sen (2010), we look at the impact of remittances and domestic transfer payments primarily from internal migration on children's education and health. Our outcomes include enrollment in school and preschool, expenditures, stunting and wasting of preschool children, and health habits of older children. We use unique panel data from the Kyrgyz Republic for 2005-2008 and thus control for some of the biases inherent in cross-sectional studies of remittances and family outcomes. We find that overall remittances and domestic transfers have not promoted investments in the human capital of children. Specifically, preschool enrollments were higher in the urban north but secondary school enrollments were lower in other regions in remittance receiving households; expenditures were also negatively affected in the south and the mountain areas. These negative enrollment results were larger for girls than for boys. We also found evidence of stunting and wasting among young children and worse health habits among boys in remittance or transfer receiving households. In the long run, Kyrgyzstan needs human capital development for growth; our results suggest that remittances are not providing the boost needed in human capital to promote development in the future.Children's education and health, remittances, Central Asia

Remittances and Children's Capabilities: New Evidence from Kyrgyzstan, 2005-2008

The Kyrgyz Republic is one of the largest recipients of international remittances in the world; from a Balance of Payments measure of remittances, it ranked tenth in the world in 2008 in the ratio of remittances to GDP, a rapid increase from 30th place in 2004.Remittances can be used to maintain the household's standard of living by providing income to families with unemployed and underemployed adult members. Remittances can also be used to promote investment not only in businesses and communities but also in people. In this paper, we examine the role that remittances have played in the Kyrgyz Republic in promoting investments in children. Based on the capabilities approach to well-being initiated by Sen (2010), we look at the impact of remittances and domestic transfer payments primarily from internal migration on children's education and health. Our outcomes include enrollment in school and preschool, expenditures, stunting and wasting of preschool children, and health habits of older children. We use unique panel data from the Kyrgyz Republic for 2005-2008 and thus control for some of the biases inherent in cross-sectional studies of remittances and family outcomes. We find that overall remittances and domestic transfers have not promoted investments in the human capital of children. Specifically, preschool enrollments were higher in the urban north but secondary school enrollments were lower in other regions in remittance receiving households; expenditures were also negatively affected in the south and the mountain areas. These negative enrollment results were larger for girls than for boys. We also found evidence of stunting and wasting among young children and worse health habits among boys in remittance or transfer receiving households. In the long run, Kyrgyzstan needs human capital development for growth; our results suggest that remittances are not providing the boost needed in human capital to promote development in the future.Children’s education and health, Remittances, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia

Gender Effects of Transition: The Kyrgyz Republic

Gender changes in the workplace during the transition from central planning are analyzed using household survey data from the Kyrgyz Republic. As the labor market became more market-driven between 1993 and 1997, mean differences by gender in labor force participation (LFP), monthly compensation and hourly wage all narrowed. We also observe gender differences in educational attainment, labor force status, occupation and industry. Probit analysis indicates that LFP is especially high, and increasing, for college-educated women, while married women with young children are less likely to be in the workforce. Analysis of hours worked indicates significant but declining gender differences in 1993 and 1997. Earnings regressions have greater explanatory power than the hours worked model, with wage differentials generally widening between 1993 and 1997, but the gender wage gap narrows. Better-educated female white-collar workers have been the big gainers during transition, with a relatively small decline in hours worked and relatively large increase in wages.gender effects, transition, post-Soviet economies, Kyrgyz Republic

Spatial Inequality and Development in Central Asia

inequality, expenditures, regional inequality, Central Asia

Do Conservation Easements Reduce Land Prices? The Case of South Central Wisconsin

While theory strongly suggests that restricting development rights should reduce land prices, empirical evidence of this effect has been notoriously hard to obtain. Indeed, largely based on this difficulty a Congressional committee has recently recommended that tax benefits for such restrictions be severely curtailed. We collect data on 131 land transactions in South Central Wisconsin, including 19 cases of development-restricted parcels. When we use the whole sample to estimate the impact of conservation easements we replicate the results of Nickerson and Lynch (2001), finding a negative but statistically insignificant effect. However we then show that when the sample is appropriately restricted to a more homogenous group of land parcels, our ability to detect an effect increases dramatically. In particular, for vacant agricultural land we find a statistically significant negative impact of conservation easements that ranges up to 50% of land valuesland use, valuation of development rights, conservation easements, hedonic regression

Do Conservation Easements Reduce Land Prices? The Case of South Central Wisconsin

While theory strongly suggests that restricting development rights should reduce land prices, empirical evidence of this effect has been notoriously hard to obtain. Indeed, largely based on this difficulty a Congressional committee has recently recommended that tax benefits for such restrictions be severely curtailed. We collect data on 131 land transactions in South Central Wisconsin, including 19 cases of developmentrestricted parcels. When we use the whole sample to estimate the impact of conservation easements we replicate the results of Nickerson and Lynch (2001), finding a negative but statistically insignificant effect. However we then show that when the sample is appropriately restricted to a more homogenous group of land parcels, our ability to detect an effect increases dramatically. In particular, for vacant agricultural land we find a statistically significant negative impact of conservation easements that ranges up to 50% of land values.

Living Standards During Transition to a Market Economy: The Kyrgyz Republic in 1993 and 1996

Household survey data from the Kyrgyz Republic are used to analyse changes in the determinants of household expenditure during the transition from central planning. Quantile regression is applied to a human capital model with consumption related to the household head's education and controlled for demographic and locational variables. Education, region, ethnicity and family size are all significant determinants of expenditure, but the model's explanatory power is stronger in 1996 than at the start of the transition in 1993. The costs of dependents became larger; an extra child was a greater economic burden than an extra pensioner especially in poorer households. The education results are more difficult to interpret; the estimated returns declined between 1993 and 1996, but better educated heads appear to have moved their households up the income distribution.living standards, transition, post-Soviet economies, Kyrgyz Republic, economic development, poverty, income distribution