Search

Begin New Search Topic Economy Author Lykke E. Andersen

1. Decentralization and Poverty Reduction in Bolivia: Challenges and Opportunities

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Luis Carlos Jemio
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper presents an analysis of the decentralization process that has been taking place in Bolivia over the last couple of decades. It starts with a review of the legal framework that determines the distribution of responsibilities and financial resources to the sub-national governments (9 departments and 339 municipalities), and continues with an analysis of the evolution and distribution of financing to these entities between 2001 and 2013. It then proceeds to describe the resulting progress in social indicators between 2001 and 2012 at the municipal level, and identifies the main remaining gaps in basic services by 2012. Finally, the paper offers an analysis of the factors that are most closely associated with progress in the main social indicator used by the Bolivian government – the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index. This provides the basis for a final section on recommendations for public investment in Bolivia.
Topic:
Poverty, Economy, Decentralization, and Public Investment
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

2. An agriculture-focused, regionally disaggregated SAM for Mexico 2008

Author:
Luis Carlos Jemio, Lykke E. Andersen, Clemens Breisinger, and Manfred Wiebelt
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper describes the construction of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the Mexican economy for year 2008. It presents the methodology and data sources used, assumptions made, criteria adopted to disaggregate the SAM’s accounts and the main results obtained. The Mexico SAM was built as the main data base for the calibration of a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model, used to investigate the quantitative effects of climate change on the Mexican economy, with emphasis on analyzing its distributional impacts. Since the effects of climate change are mainly transmitted to the economy through the agricultural sector and since impacts on agriculture differ across regions, the Mexico SAM presents a significant disaggregation in the accounts referred to the agricultural activities and to income distribution, redistribution and income spending across households and regions. The final disaggregated SAM is quite large and is included in the accompanying spreadsheet file.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economy, and Social Accounting
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

3. Insights from Bolivia’s Green National Accounts

Author:
Luis Carlos Jemio and Lykke E. Andersen
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of Green National Accounting by drawing out some interesting insights from the Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts recently elaborated by the Institute for Advanced Development Studies for the case of Bolivia. The paper uses the Green National Accounts to show the importance of environmental inputs in 7 different productive sectors and compares the corresponding natural resource rents to the level of producer taxes in each sector. The paper also analyses the evolution of total productive capital, in order to judge whether Bolivia’s current development model can be considered sustainable. The paper finished with recommendations about interesting extensions that can be made to the Green National Accounts.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Natural Resources, and Economy
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

4. The Static and Dynamic Benefits of Migration and Remittances in Nicaragua

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Bent Jesper Christensen
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper utilizes a unique three-wave panel of household data from Nicaragua, which allows a thorough exploration of the relationships between migration, remittances and household consumption. The paper distinguishes between the effects of emigration and the impacts of remittances received. There is a self-selection bias in the decision to send a migrant, as well as in the decision to receive remittances. To adequately correct for these selection biases, we develop a bivariate selection correction procedure. Perhaps surprisingly, the results show that households do not benefit (in terms of higher consumption growth) from receiving remittances, but rather from having migrants abroad. This suggests that not only money are remitted from abroad, but also something more subtle, which could be business ideas, belief systems, aspirations, patterns of social interaction, and other intangibles, which have been dubbed social remittances.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Economy, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Central America and Nicaragua

5. Social Mobility in Bolivia is Finally Improving!

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the degree of social mobility in Bolivia, both by comparing to other Latin American countries, and by comparing social mobility at different points in time. While Bolivia had one of the lowest levels of social mobility in the region in 1997, the last 10 years have seen spectacular improvements, especially for rural and female teenagers. This is very good news, as it suggests that Bolivia has finally escaped the low mobility – low growth equilibrium where it has been stuck for so long.
Topic:
Development, Economy, and Social Mobility
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia

6. Informality and Productivity in Bolivia: A Gender Differentiated Empirical Analysis

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Beatriz Muriel
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This report analyzes gender differences in informality and productivity in urban Bolivia. Rural Bolivia is excluded from the analysis for three reasons: 1) informality in rural areas is close to 100% for both men and women2 , 2) farming is a family business and it is impossible to tell if one family member is more productive than another, and 3) data on productivity and profitability is too unreliable in rural areas. The urban labor market in Bolivia can be divided into 4 main sectors: 1) the public sector, 2) the formal private sector, 3) self-employed informals, and 4) informal workers. Although incomes are generally higher in the public sector and in the formal private sector, there is a strong preference in Bolivia for being informally self-employed. Two thirds of both men and women in urban areas respond that they would prefer to be self-employed rather than a salaried employee,3 and few see any advantage of becoming formal under the current institutional set-up.4 Currently, half of all economically active women in urban areas are informally selfemployed, while this is the case for only one third of men. This implies that women are actually closer to the desired state than men, according to their own preferences. The real problem for women is not that they are informally self-employed, but rather that the profitability of their informal enterprises is low. On average, monthly profits of female micro-entrepreneurs is about 40% lower than those of male micro-entrepreneurs.5 This report uses quantitative information from about 600 micro and small enterprises to break down and understand this gender gap in profitability, and the results show that almost the whole gap is due to the fact that women operate their businesses on a much smaller scale (with less productive capital and fewer employees) than men. Why do female entrepreneurs operate on a smaller scale? One partial explanation is that they do not want to grow, because the business then would loose some of the features that make a micro-business particularly attractive for women (not to depend on others, to be able to care for children simultaneously, flexible working hours, and daily revenues). When asked about what they consider the ideal number of employees for their business five years into the future, the average for women is 6.9 compared to 9.2 for men. Single women are generally a bit more ambitious than married or cohabiting women (the first would on average like 5.3 additional employees, whereas the latter only wants 4.2 extra employees),6 which suggests that family obligations may be one of the reasons why women prefer to keep their businesses at a relatively small scale.
Topic:
Economy, Productivity, Gender, and Informality
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

7. Regional Integration and Poverty: A Case-Study of Bolivia

Author:
Osvaldo Nina and Lykke E. Andersen
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper investigates the impacts of regional integration processes on poverty in Bolivia. It first demonstrates that regional integration has stimulated a diversion of trade away from traditional US and EU markets towards countries of MERCOSUR and the Andean Community. At the same time, the composition of exports has changed from predominantly minerals towards slightly more elaborated goods, such as vegetable fats, food and beverages. The paper presents econometric analyses of the impact of imports, exports and FDI (by sector, and trade block) on individual labor incomes and household poverty status. The results show that higher exports generally tend to benefit the workers who work in the exporting sectors. However, this result only holds for export sectors that exploit some natural resource rents (mining, hydrocarbons, modern agriculture), and not for those which rely purely on low wages in order to be competitive (most manufacturing sectors). Imports typically have a negative effect on worker salaries, except the imports of capital goods, which do not compete with local production. This implies that the change towards more regional trade of goods with a smaller natural resource rent component is unlikely to contribute to a reduction in poverty. For exports and FDI to be helpful for reducing poverty, they would have to focus on sectors, which are labor intensive and at the same time exploit some natural resource rents. Sectors that might fulfill these criteria are modern agriculture and tourism.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Economy, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia