How costly is it for poor farmers to lift themselves out of poverty?

The main objective of this paper is to provide estimates of the cost of moving out of subsistence for Madagascar's farmers. The analysis is based on a simple asset-return model of occupational choice. Estimates suggest that the entry (sunk) cost associated with moving out of subsistence can be quite large - somewhere between 124 and 153 percent of a subsistence farmer's annual production. Our results make it possible to identify farm characteristics likely to generate large gains, if moved out of subsistence, yielding useful information for the targeting of trade-adjustment assistance programs.Markets and Market Access,Rural Poverty Reduction,Economic Theory&Research,Agribusiness,Access to Markets

The elimination of Madagascar's Vanilla Marketing Board, ten years on

This paper explores how the elimination of Madagascar's Marketing Board in 1995 affected prices paid to farmers, incentives, and regional indicators of poverty and inequality. After steadily losing market share, Madagascar has been able to regain some of the lost ground since the mid-1990s. Margins between freight on board (FOB) and farmgate prices have spectacularly narrowed down, but this effect is dwarfed by that of world-price volatility. A counterfactual analysis based on a model of Cournot competition between vanilla traders suggests that whatever limited competition there is among them has contributed to raise purchase prices and the cash income of vanilla farmers. But the effect on farmers'consumption remains small because a large part of it is self-consumed. The effect on aggregate measures of poverty and inequality is even smaller, even at the regional level. After taking into account the reduction in Madagascar's monopoly power on the world vanilla market implied by the elimination of the Marketing Board, the induced rise in producer prices is estimated to have lifted about 20,000 individuals out of poverty.Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Food&Beverage Industry

Advanced Practice Ergotherapeut/innen und Hebammen : Innovationen in der ambulanten und stationären Versorgung - Literaturübersicht und Einschätzungen von Expert/innen

Die Advanced Practice erweitert die klassischen Berufsbilder von Hebammen, Ergotherapeut/innen und anderen Gesundheitsberufen: Hoch qualifizierte Fachkräfte übernehmen über den traditionellen Verantwortungsbereich hinausgehende Funktionen und tragen in interdisziplinären Teams zu einer qualitativ hochstehenden Gesundheitsversorgung bei. Dieser Bericht beschreibt innovative Einsatzbereiche von Hebammen und Ergotherapeutinnen in Ländern wie Grossbritannien und Schweden. Weiter zeigt er auf, wie Expert/innen die Möglichkeit der Entwicklung von Advanced Practice in der Schweiz sehen

Y a-t-il vraiment discrimination salariale contre les femmes ?

Trying to ascertain scientifically the existence and importance of gender-based salary discrimination runs into conceptual and technical difficulties, the implications of which are not always fully appreciated: depending on the approach used, our analysis of a large sample for Switzerland in 1997 concludes that there is significant discrimination against women; or that no discrimination can be detected; or that there is significant discrimination against...men. The approaches used are: direct general regression (for given attributes such as qualification levels, do salaries differ according to gender ?); inverse general regression (for a given salary level, do employers require different attributes, such as qualification levels, depending on gender ?); the Oaxaca-Blinder method (the effect of a given attribute - e.g. age or marital status - on salaries may differ depending on gender and one must therefore estimate and compare separate equations for women and for men); Heckman's correction (focusing on working persons only may give rise to a selection bias). Our general conclusion is agnostic : given the present state of techniques and knowledge, it is not (yet ?) possible to ascertain scientifically the existence of gender-based salary discrimination in Switzerland. This conclusion differs from that reached by pre-existing studies, which tended to underpin the existence of salary discrimination against women.gender-based salary discrimination; direct and inverse regressions; the Oaxaca-Blinder approach; Heckman's correction; Switzerland

The Elimination of Madagascar's Vanilla Marketing Board, 10 Years on

This paper explores how the elimination of Madagascar's Vanilla Marketing Board (VMB) in 1993 affected prices paid to farmers, incentives and indicators of poverty and inequality using household survey data and simulation analysis. Following the reforms, margins between FOB and farmgate prices have narrowed down, and the analysis of changes in poverty and inequality based on household surveys suggests a reduction in poverty and a muted supply response. A counterfactual analysis based on the observed reduction in intermediation margins shows that, however limited, increase in competition among intermediaries has contributed to raise purchase prices and the cash income of vanilla farmers. After taking into account the reduction in Madagascar's monopoly power on the world vanilla market implied by the elimination of the VMB, the induced rise in producer prices is estimated to have lifted about 20,000 individuals out of povert

Las tarifas endógenas en un modelo de agencia común: Un nuevo enfoque empírico aplicado a la India

This paper proposes a new method to test the Grossman-Helpman model of endogenous protection and lobby formation, which does not require data on lobby formation or contributions. It identifies politically organized industries using commonly available trade and production data, as well as the model's structural parameter estimates. Applied to India, it yields results that are qualitatively consistent with the model's predictions and that seem quantitatively more plausible than estimates given for the US by alternative methods. Our estimates imply that the weight put by the Indian government on contributions by politically organized sectors is a third of the weight it puts on (gross) social welfare, well above existing estimates for the United States.  En este trabajo se propone un nuevo método para testear el modelo de Grossman-Helpman sobre protección endógena y la formación de grupos de interés (lobbies), que no requiere de datos respecto a la formación de los grupos de interés o de sus contribuciones. Identifica a las industrias políticamente organizadas a partir de datos de producción y comercio que son de acceso común, así como las estimaciones de los parámetros estructurales del modelo. Aplicado a la India, produce resultados que son cualitativamente consistentes con las predicciones del modelo, y que parecen cuantitativamente más plausibles que las estimaciones para los EE.UU obtenidas por métodos alternativos. Nuestras estimaciones implican que la importancia que el gobierno de la India asigna a las contribuciones de los sectores políticamente organizados es una tercera parte de la importancia que le asigna al bienestar social (bruto), muy por encima de las estimaciones existentes para los Estados Unidos

Prognose Gesundheitsberufe Ergotherapie, Hebammen und Physiotherapie 2025

Im Unterschied zur Pflege ist der zukünftige Bedarf an Fachpersonen der Gesundheitsberufe Ergotherapie, Hebammen und Physiotherapie in der Schweiz noch nicht untersucht worden. Diese Studie entwickelt Prognoseszenarien sowohl auf der Grundlage von Statistiken des Schweizer Gesundheitswesens als auch von Expertenwissen. Der Bericht zeigt, dass in allen drei Berufen eine deutliche Zunahme des Bedarfs an Fachpersonen bis 2025 zu erwarten ist. Ob der steigende Bedarf gedeckt werden kann, hängt insbesondere von der zukünftigen Zahl der Fachhochschulabsolventen/-innen und vom Ausmass der Arbeitsmigration ab

Der Abklärungsprozess in der Invalidenversicherung bei Rentenentscheiden : Prozesse, Akteure, Wirkungen

Forschungsbericht Nr. 4/1

Transmisión de precios en los mercados de maíz y arroz en América Latina

Incluye bibliografíaEl objetivo del estudio es obtener evidencia empírica sobre tres fenómenos relacionados: a) si existe transmisión de precios (i.e. hasta qué punto movimientos en los precios internacionales se reflejan en la evolución de los precios nacionales); b) en el caso de que exista, con qué velocidad ocurre; y c) si hay casos en los que la transmisión es asimétrica (i.e. una transmisión diferente ante un proceso de aumento que frente ante uno de disminución en los precios internacionales). El grado de integración que existe entre los mercados tiene un rol importante en el bienestar de los productores agrícolas, pues les permite tener información objetiva, lo cual es un requisito para una buena asignación de recursos. Una transmisión imperfecta de precios entre mercados se traduce en incentivos sesgados que pueden llevar a los productores a tomar decisiones no óptimas. Por lo tanto, conocer la naturaleza de la transmisión que existe entre diferentes mercados es muy importante para la formulación de políticas públicas, especialmente de aquellas orientadas a mejorar la eficiencia de los mercados. El estudio abarcó Brasil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panamá y Honduras. Se estudiaron los mercados de maíz amarillo y de arroz, considerando precios mayoristas, precios al productor, o ambos, dependiendo de la disponibilidad de datos