Does child labor always decrease with income ? an evaluation in the context of a development program in Nicaragua

This paper investigates the relationship of household income with child labor. The analysis uses a rich dataset obtained in the context of a conditional cash transfer program in a poor region of Nicaragua in 2005 and 2006. The program has a strong productive emphasis and seeks to diversify the work portfolio of beneficiaries while imposing conditionalities on the household. The author develops a simple model that relates child labor to household income, preferences, and production technology. It turns out that child labor does not always decrease with income; the relationship is complex and exhibits an inverted-U shape. Applying the data to the model confirms that the relationship is concave when all children (8-15 years of age) are included in the sample. Expanding the analysis by stratifying the sample by age and gender shows that the relationship holds only for older children, both genders. The author investigates the effect of the conditional cash transfer program on child labor. The results show that the program has a decreasing effect on total hours of work for the full sample of children. Disentangling labor into two types - physically demanding labor and non-physical labor - reveals that the program has opposite effects on each type; it decreases physically demanding labor while increasing participation in non-physical (more intellectually oriented) tasks for children.Street Children,Youth and Governance,Labor Policies,Children and Youth,Labor Markets

Leveling the Intra-household Playing Field: Compensation and Specialization in Child Labor Allocation

This paper analyzes changes in the allocation of child labor within the household in reaction to exogenous shocks created by a social program in Nicaragua. The paper shows that households that randomly received a conditional cash transfer compensated for some of the intra-household differences, as they reduced child labor more for older boys who used to work more and for boys who were further behind in school. The results also show that households that randomly received a productive investment grant, in addition to the basic conditional cash transfer benefits, both targeted at women, show an increased specialization of older girls in nonagricultural and domestic work, but no overall increase in girls' child labor. The findings suggest that time allocation and specialization patterns in child labor within the household are important factors to understand the impact of a social program.Child labor; intra-household; human capital; impact evaluation; gender

Can a market-assisted land redistribution program improve the lives of the poor ? evidence from Malawi

This paper uses a rural household survey dataset collected in 2006 and 2008 to investigate the impact of a market-based land resettlement project in southern Malawi. The program provided a conditional cash and land transfer to poor families to relocate to larger plots of farm land. The average treatment effect of the program is estimated using a difference-in-difference matching technique based on propensity score matching; qualitative information complement the analysis to ensure unobservable characteristics do not bias the findings. As expected, the results show a significant effect on landholdings and agricultural production, with land size increasing and maize production increasing by more than 100 kilograms relative to the control. However, the impacts on food security and asset holdings were mixed. Households that relocated great distances had systematically lower impacts than those households that stayed within their district of origin because they had to adapt to unfamiliar agro-ecological, cultural, and market environments. Impacts also varied across gender of the household head; female-headed beneficiary households increased their productive and consumption assets significantly, while male-headed households increased their asset holdings less so.Environmental Economics&Policies,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets,Rural Poverty Reduction

Does Cash for School Influence Young Women's Behavior in the Longer Term? Evidence from Pakistan

The Punjab Female School Stipend Program, a female-targeted conditional cash transfer program in Pakistan, was implemented in response to gender gaps in education. An early evaluation of the program shows that the enrollment of eligible girls in middle-school increased in the short term by nearly 9 percentage points. This paper uses regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference analyses to show that five years into the program implementation positive impacts do persist. Beneficiary adolescent girls are more likely to progress through and complete middle school and work less. There is suggestive evidence that participating girls delay their marriage and have fewer births by the time they are 19 years old. Also, girls who are exposed to the program later-on, and eligible for the benefits given in high school, increase their rates of matriculating into and completing high school. The persistence of impacts can potentially translate into gains in future productivity, consumption, inter-generational human capital accumulation and desired fertility. Lastly, there is no evidence that the program has negative spillover effects on educational outcomes of male siblings.conditional cash transfers, female education, female labor participation, fertility, Pakistan

Does cash for school influence young women's behavior in the longer term ? evidence from Pakistan

The Punjab Female School Stipend Program, a female-targeted conditional cash transfer program in Pakistan, was implemented in response to gender gaps in education. An early evaluation of the program shows that the enrollment of eligible girls in middle school increased in the short term by nearly 9 percentage points. This paper uses regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference analyses to show that five years into the program implementation positive impacts do persist. Beneficiary adolescent girls are more likely to progress through and complete middle school and work less. There is suggestive evidence that participating girls delay their marriage and have fewer births by the time they are 19 years old. Girls who are exposed to the program later, and who are eligible for the benefits given in high school, increase their rates of matriculating into and completing high school. The persistence of impacts can potentially translate into gains in future productivity, consumption, inter-generational human capital accumulation and desired fertility. Lastly, there is no evidence that the program has negative spillover effects on educational outcomes of male siblings.Education For All,Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Gender and Education,Disability

The Impact of Minimum Wages on Employment, Wages and Welfare: The Case of Vietnam

The paper investigates the impact of recent minimum wage changes on wages, employment and household welfare in Vietnam. It finds that minimum wage changes reduce the total number of wage workers (especially in domestic firms) and increases the incidence of self-employment. The number of wage workers declines because many wage workers with informal contracts lose their jobs, but only a fraction of the job loss is absorbed by the creation of self-employment or formal jobs. In addition, minimum wages help raise the average wages of workers who keep their jobs. In terms of welfare, an increase in minimum wage reduces poverty and raises household income and consumption expenditure, most importantly in education-related expenditures

La integración de los refugiados en el mercado laboral turco

La concesión en Turquía del derecho de acceso al trabajo formal a los refugiados sirios fue un primer paso hacia su integración económica, pero sigue habiendo retos. Con el apoyo de la comunidad internacional, el Gobierno turco está tomando medidas para superar algunos de ellos

Plan de negocio para determinar la viabilidad econ?mica de una empresa productora y comercializadora de postres saludables y fitness en Arequipa

El presente plan de negocios busca evaluar la viabilidad comercial, operativa, econ?mica y financiera para la creaci?n de una empresa productora y comercializadora de postres saludables y fitness en la ciudad de Arequipa. Esta propuesta busca satisfacer necesidades insatisfechas de la poblaci?n arequipe?a de tendencias alimenticias saludables y fitness, adem?s de tener h?bitos de salud relacionadas a actividades f?sicas y deporte con postres que aporten a su alimentaci?n, pertenecientes a los niveles socioecon?micos A y B dentro de la edad de 18 a 44 a?os. La investigaci?n realizada, cualitativa y cuantitativa, de tipo no experimental, transversal y descriptivo, tuvo como tama?o de la muestra 384 residentes en Arequipa, a quienes se les pregunto sobre sus estilos de vida, perspectivas de los postres propuestos, h?bitos de consumo de estos y otros. En los resultados se determin? el inter?s por este tipo de productos y la aceptaci?n del 87% de los encuestados. Este restaurante debe estar ubicado en el centro de la ciudad, cerca de gimnasios y zonas de entrenamiento y el precio promedio de postres y bebidas aceptado a pagar es de S/15 y S/13 respectivamente. El resultado de la evaluaci?n de la propuesta de negocio confirma la rentabilidad del proyecto

La narrativa como herramientas para el abordaje psicosocial en escenarios de violencia.

El tema principal en el que se desarrolló el diplomado nos permitió tener una nueva perspectiva, de lo que es la psicología, mostrándonos un contexto diferente como es el acompañamiento a personas que fueron víctimas de la violencia, una la realidad que se vive a diario en nuestro país. La actividad realizada tuvo 5 etapas, la Etapa 1: Acercamiento conceptual a los Enfoques Narrativos, una segunda Etapa: Análisis de relatos desde la perspectiva Narrativa. La Etapa 3: Disertación colaborativa para la construcción de preguntas aplicadas a los relatos de la etapa anterior, Etapa 4: Propuesta de abordaje Psicosocial. Análisis escenario de caso y la Etapa 5: Elaboración de informe final para el repositorio Institucional y el proceso de sustentación Estas etapas se llevaron a cabo en dos momentos uno individual que consistió en la elección de un relato, adentrarnos en un contexto real y realizar el debido análisis que se desarrolló bajo unas preguntas orientadoras, y un momento dos que se elaboró de manera grupal; en consenso por el grupo se eligió el relato de “Angélica” y seguidamente se elaboraron tres preguntas estratégicas, tres circulares, tres reflexivas debidamente justificadas desde su pertinencia. Por último, para el caso “Cacarica”, se realizaron tres Propuestas Psicosociales con el fin de analizar y demostrar la apropiación de las temáticas del diplomado “Acompañamiento Psicosocial en escenarios de Violencia”.The main theme in which the diploma was developed allowed us to have a new perspective, of what is psychology, showing us a different context such as the accompaniment of people who were victims of violence, a reality that is experienced daily in our country. The activity carried out had 5 stages, Stage 1: Conceptual Approach to the Narrative Approaches, a second Stage: Analysis of stories from the Narrative perspective. Stage 3: Collaborative dissertation for the construction of questions applied to the stories from the previous stage, Stage 4: Psychosocial approach proposal. Case scenario analysis and Stage 5: Preparation of a final report for the Institutional repository and the support process These stages were carried out in two moments, an individual that consisted of appropriating a case, entering a real context and carrying out the due analysis that was developed under guiding questions, and a moment two that was elaborated in a group manner; In consensus, the group chose the story of "Angelica" and then three strategic questions were asked, three circular, three reflective duly justified from their relevance. Finally, in the case of "Cacarica", three Psychosocial Proposals were carried out in order to analyze and demonstrate the appropriation of the subjects of the "Psychosocial Accompaniment in Violence scenarios" course