Land Matters. An Impact Evaluation in Developing Countries

Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas with a vast majority depending on agriculture. But all too often access to land is problematic and the legal status of land rights, especially of smallholder farmers, is unclear. Land reforms are therefore high on the international development agenda. However, empirical evidence is mixed, and some aspects, such as the effects of voluntary resettlement, are highly under-researched. My dissertation therefore aims at contributing to the identification of consequences of voluntary resettlement. Thereby, I was guided by three central questions: 1. Did voluntary resettlement within a land reform affect social networks in the short run? 2. Do the land reform beneficiaries face the danger of a risk-induced poverty trap and does this threat differ between resettled and non-resettled participants? 3. How does the land distribution and initial agricultural success affect subjective economic well-being of the beneficiaries? The data collection took place within a land reform project in Cambodia where so called social land concessions are granted to landless or land-poor households. Beneficiaries could apply for agricultural land, settlement land, or both types of land. This enabled me to compare those who received only agricultural land (non-resettled households) with those who received agricultural and settlement land (resettled households). The research is based on a data set consisting of ex-ante survey data on the socio-economic situation of future land recipients and an appropriate control group, ex-post survey data of the same households collected about one and a half year after the intervention, and ex-post experimental data of the land recipients dealing with risk-taking and the willingness to show solidarity with anonymous village members. This dissertation shows that the willingness to support fellow villagers is significantly lower in the resettled community than in the non-resettled communities. Resettled land recipients transfer on average between 47 and 75 percent less money than non-resettled players. Hence, the social costs of voluntary resettlement seem to be significantly higher than commonly assumed. In line with this finding, solidarity expectations are lower for resettled than for non-resettled land recipients. As expectations are in turn positively related to risk-taking and the reaction to past success is stronger in the non-resettled community, I can show that the danger of path-dependency and a risk-induced poverty trap exists for all land recipients but that it seems to be higher for resettled project members. As a complementary to these objective approaches, I analyze subjective economic well-being of the land recipients and a control group. I find that it is positively correlated with land size. This outcome does not only originate from monetary effects, as identified correlations remain significant after controlling for income. For that reason, it is likely that not only today’s income but also improved future economic prospects and increased economic stability play an important role for subjective economic well-being of land recipients. Moreover, those respondents who manage to put the received land under agricultural production show a higher subjective economic well-being indicating that success matters for farmers’ well-being. This dissertation adds furthermore to the scarce evidence on causal effects of contract farming in the sphere of a large-scale land acquisition. Recently, large-scale land acquisition has increased dramatically in the developing world. The question how land deals affect the local population became therefore highly relevant. Despite controversial findings in the literature, studies identifying the causal effect of contract farming on farmers’ circumstances are rare and often rely on weak instruments. The fourth paper of this dissertation made use of a unique dataset incorporating information on outgrowers and independent farmers in the context of a large-scale land acquisition in Ghana where contract allocation took place as a quasi-natural experiment. The analysis was guided by the following question: 4. Does contract farming contribute to the overall subjective well-being of participating farmers? We identify a positive effect of contract farming on subjective well-being. It seems that contract farming increases security of the participating farmers as secure rights to land matter substantially for the overall life satisfaction of non-contract but not of contract farmers

Exchanging Land for Solidarity: Solidarity Transfers among Voluntarily Resettled and Non-Resettled Land-Reform Beneficiaries

Mutual aid among villagers in developing countries is often the only means of insuring against economic shocks. We use “lab-in-the-field experiments” in Cambodian villages to study solidarity in established and newly resettled communities. Our experimental participants were part of an agricultural land-distribution project for which they signed up voluntarily. Half of our sample voluntarily resettled one and a half years before this study. Playing a version of the “solidarity game,” we identify the effect of voluntary resettlement on willingness to help anonymous fellow villagers. We find that resettled farmers transfer substantially less money to their fellow villagers than farmers who have not resettled. Our experimental results indicate greater vulnerability on the part of resettled households in the initial years after resettlement

Universal Love or One True Religion? Experimental Evidence of the Ambivalent Effect of Religious Ideas on Altruism and Discrimination

Contrary to the expectations of secularization theory, religion remains socially important and affects politics in multiple ways - especially regarding conflict between religious communities. Theoretically, religion can increase altruism, but belief in the superiority of one's faith may facilitate intergroup discrimination and related conflict. Previous findings remain inconclusive, however, as specific religious ideas have hardly been tested. In this article, we argue that the content of religious ideas has causal effects on intergroup discrimination. We hence test the impact of two opposing, prominent religious ideas on altruism and discrimination: universal love and the notion of one true religion. Conducting dictator games with Christians and Muslims in Ghana and Tanzania, we find causal effects: Whereas the idea of one true religion increases intergroup discrimination, that of universal love fosters equal treatment. The policy implications hereof are obvious - promoting tolerant religious ideas seems crucial to avoiding conflict

Marianas (Pacífico) (Islas). Mapas generales. 1794

Inserta los siguientes planos: 1. Plano de la ensenada y surgidero de Humata, situado en la parte S. O. de la Isla de Guan, capital de las Islas Marianas, en la latitud 13º N. y en la longitud 159º 5' de Tenerife / Levantado en Abril de 1787 por el Comandante de Pilotos de la Fragata Astrea, fletada por la real Compañía de Filipinas, haciendo viage al Puerto de Manila desde la Bahía de Cádiz, con escala en Lima. Escala [ca. 1:98.400]. Dos millas marítimas [= 4,3 cm]. Orientado con media torre con el N al O del plano. Rumbos. Sondas, arrecifes y bajos arenales. Nota: "Los números de la sonda son brazas de 6 pies Ingleses, arreglados a media marea. Siglas alfabéticas para indicar las calidades de la arena y piedra, accidentes geográficos, etc. 2. Plano de la ensenada y surgidero de Humata, en punto mayor. Escala [1:26.100]. Una milla marítima [= 8,1 cm]. Orientado con media torre en cuadrante con el N al O del plano. Rumbos. Sondas, arrecifes, bajos arenales y fondeaderos. 3. Isla de Guan Capital de las Islas Marianas / conforme a las cartas españolas, y a la del P. Gobien. Escala [1:132.300]. 8 leguas [= 4,2 cm]. Relieve por montes de perfilEn la parte inferior izquierda amplia nota explicativa sobre los mapas y las historias de las islas Marianas consultados para la confección del mapa. Así, entre otras, destacan las cartas suministradas por Antonio Valdés y Bazán de la Escuela de Pilotos de Cádiz y la de Sebastián Fernández CanelEn el ángulo superior izquierdo anotado en tinta de bugalla: "2ª-67", que corresponde a una signatura antigua de la cartera segundaSumario: Presenta un mapa de las Islas Marianas. En nota se indica: "Llamáronse estas Islas de los Ladrones, de las Velas, Archipiélago de San Lázaro, y últimamente Marianas"Copia Digital. Real Academia de la Historia : 2010RAH. Un ejemplar de este mapa figura en un inventario de mapas, planos, dibujos y estampas de la Academia, elaborado por el académico bibliotecario Miguel Salvá y Munar en 1833, en el que se relacionan los fondos ordenados en dos carteras (Biblioteca, Sign. 9-6480, n.º 19)Escala gráfica en vertical junto a los márgenes graduados. En el ángulo inferior meridiano de origen: "Longitud oriental del Pico de Teyde". Márgenes graduados de 1º en 1º. Indica los cuatro puntos cardinales. Bajos arenalesPapel verjurado con marcas de agua: "R. Lomani" y un escudo. Restaurado en 2000En el ángulo inferior derecho cartela cuadrada con título y ornada con pequeñas voluta

Internationales Engagement zeigt Erfolge: Verbesserung der Arbeitsbedingungen in Kambodschas Textilsektor

Die Arbeitsbedingungen in den Textilfabriken Asiens geraten aufgrund eklatanter Missstände immer wieder in den Blickpunkt der Öffentlichkeit. In Kambodscha versuchen internationale und lokale Akteure durch innovatives Engagement die Arbeitsbedingungen zu verbessern. Textilexporte machen etwa ein Drittel des Bruttoinlandsproduktes von Kambodscha aus. Trotz einer relativ umfassenden Verankerung von Arbeitnehmerrechten in der kambodschanischen Gesetzgebung werden diese in der Textilindustrie nach wie vor häufig nicht durchgesetzt. Das im Jahr 1999 begonnene innovative Better Factories Cambodia-Projekt der Internationalen Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) sollte hier Abhilfe schaffen. Im Ergebnis haben sich die Arbeitsbedingungen verbessert, aber die Erfolge sind nicht eindeutig. Während zu Beginn der gemeinsamen Initiative der kambodschanischen Regierung und der ILO deutliche Verbesserungen erzielt werden konnten, flaute diese Entwicklung seit dem Jahr 2006 merklich ab. Gründe hierfür sind u.a. Änderungen in der Anreizstruktur für Textilunternehmen. Zwischen den Jahren 2001 und 2004 wurden Kambodscha besondere Handelsvorteile gewährt, wenn das Land die Arbeitsbedingungen in der Textilindustrie verbesserte. Der Mindestlohn für Textilarbeiter sank zwischen den Jahren 2001 und 2014 in realen Werten. Nach massiven Demonstrationen und Arbeitsniederlegungen stieg der Reallohn im Jahr 2014 erstmals an. Es wird zwar ein großer Anteil der Beschäftigten in der Textilbranche durch Gewerkschaften vertreten, Gewerkschafter werden allerdings massiv unter Druck gesetzt. Befristete Arbeitsverträge werden zudem als Druckmittel gegen Textilarbeiter eingesetzt. Problematisch ist insbesondere eine Zweiteilung des Sektors in exportierende Fabriken, die streng kontrolliert werden und die Arbeitsgesetze mehr oder minder befolgen, und Subunternehmen, die durch das Raster der offiziellen Kontrollen fallen

Chest Computed Tomography (CT) Immediately after CT-Guided Transthoracic Needle Aspiration Biopsy as a Predictor of Overt Pneumothorax

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study examined the correlation between pneumothorax detected by immediate post-transthoracic needle aspiration-biopsy (TTNB) chest computed tomography (CT) and overt pneumothorax detected by chest PA, and investigated factors that might influence the correlation. METHODS: Adult patients who had undergone CT-guided TTNB for lung lesions from May 2003 to June 2007 at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were included. Immediate post-TTNB CT and chest PA follow-up at 4 and 16 hours after CT-guided TTNB were performed in 934 patients. RESULTS: Pneumothorax detected by immediate chest CT (CT-pneumothorax) was found in 237 (25%) and overt pneumothorax was detected by chest PA follow-up in 92 (38.8%) of the 237 patients. However, overt pneumothorax was found in 18 (2.6%) of the 697 patients without CT-pneumothorax. The width and depth of CT-pneumothorax were predictive risk factors for overt pneumothorax. CONCLUSIONS: CT-pneumothorax is very sensitive for predicting overt pneumothorax, and the width and depth on CT-pneumothorax are reliable risk factors for predicting overt pneumothorax.ope

Simultaneous detection and estimation : the use of sufficient statistics and reproducing probability densities

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5144/5/bac2962.0001.001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5144/4/bac2962.0001.001.tx

Etwas Neues Von dem Wachsthum Der Christlichen Religion Aus Sina : Oder Historischer Bericht des Edicts/ welches der jetzt regirende Chinesische Kayser/ der Christlichen Religion zum besten/ ergehen lassen

Abbildung Der vortrefflichen Qualitäten des ietzt-regierenden Sinesischen Regnanten Cham-HyVon R. P. Gobien, der Societät Jesu Missionario. In Frantzösischer Sprache publiciret/ und aus dieser in die Teutsche übersetzetAus dem Vorbesitz des Klosters Rheinau Exemplar der ZB Züric