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Spillovers as a Driver to Reduce Ex-post Inequality Generated by Randomized Experiments: Evidence from an Agricultural Training Intervention
Get PDFRandomized experiments ensure equal opportunities but could generate unequal outcomes by treatment status, which can be socially costly. This study demonstrates a sequential intervention to conduct rigorous impact evaluation and subsequently to mitigate ‘“experiment-driven’ driven” inequality, using Cote d’Ivoire as a case. Specifically, control farmers were initially restricted from exchanging information with treated farmers, who received rice management training, to satisfy the stable unit treatment value assumption. We then encouraged information exchange between the two groups of farmers one year after the training. We found positive training effects, but initial performance gaps created by our randomized assignment disappeared over time because of information spillovers and, hence, eventually control farmers also benefitted from our experiment.departmental bulletin pape
ESTIMATING THE DEMAND FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN INDONESIA
Get PDFJapane International Cooperation Agency, Institute for Economic and Social Researchresearch repor
The Puzzle of the Universal Utilization of the Logical Framework Approach: An Explanation using the Sociological New Institutional Perspective
Get PDFA logical framework (log-frame) is a matrix that summarize the key elements of a development cooperation project such as project purpose, outcomes, and inputs. Since its adoption by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the early 1970s, the log-frame has experienced robust popularity among bilateral international development agencies and international NGOs worldwide. The log-frame approach has become “a standard tool” in international development but the effectiveness of the approach has always been the subject of debate. Critics say that given the existing “complexity” in technical cooperation in developing countries, a simplified “blueprint” approach, on which the log-frame approach is based, is not fit to manage the messy reality of development projects there. Recent studies insist that different management approaches are required depending on the nature of each project. Then, the question is why international development agencies universally utilize the log-frame approach regardless of its known disadvantages in relation to complexity. Unfortunately, no research has unraveled this controversy. The incontrovertible fact that the log-frame approach has remained unused or even unknown in areas other than in international development is also confusing. This paper reviews the literature on the debate over the functional advantages and disadvantages of the log-frame approach and that on sociological new institutional theory, and aims to shed light on the puzzle by examining it through this lens.articl
Estimating China’s Foreign Aid Using New Data: 2015-2016 Preliminary Figures—Contribution to AIIB significantly increased China’s aid volume
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Does Social Capital Encourage Disaster Evacuation? Evidence from a Cyclone in Bangladesh
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Determinants of Firms’ Capital Structure Decisions in Highly Dollarized Economies: Evidence from Cambodia
Get PDFThis paper empirically investigates the features and determinants of capital structure decisions of firms in an almost completely dollarized credit market using survey-based data collected by the National Bank of Cambodia and JICA Research Institute in 2014. Specifically, we estimate the determinants of the ratio of bank loans to total assets, using a sample selection model. The major findings are as follows: Firstly, we find that loans from commercial banks are important funding sources for Cambodian firms, and all of the bank loans are denominated in FX currency, especially US dollars. Secondly, the ratio of bank loans to total assets depends positively on how much collateral they can provide for bank loans. Thirdly, firms that possess property and casualty insurance have higher ratios of bank loans to total assets. Lastly, in the Cambodian situation where bank loans are only available in FX currency, currency mismatch risks push firms to reduce the ratio of bank loans to total assets, especially for highly profitable firms. We find that highly profitable firms tend to decrease (increase) the ratio of bank loans in response to an increase (a decrease) in currency mismatch risk, although less profitable firms are not affected by such currency mismatch risks. These results suggest that, as well as other developing countries, external debt procurement heavily depends on how much collateral the Cambodian firms can provide and the extent of their business risks. Furthermore, our results also suggest that, in highly financially dollarized economies with underdeveloped financial systems such as Cambodia, firms with currency mismatch risks tend to reduce bank loans to deal with currency mismatch risks. Therefore, development of a local currency loan market would allow Cambodian firms with local currency revenues to hedge their currency mismatch risks, leading to improvements in financial deepening and inclusion.departmental bulletin pape
Capacity Development in Environmental Management Administration through Raising Public Awareness: A Case Study in Algeria
Get PDFDuring the civil war of the mid-1990s, large-scale destruction of social infrastructure and environmental management systems occurred in Algeria, leading to significant environmental deterioration. In the course of national reconciliation and the reconstruction process that began in 2000, environmental authorities were established and, with the support of international donor agencies, the national environmental policy, plan, and strategy were prepared. While these efforts shaped Algeria’s environmental management administration system into its modern form, they have not been effective in actually controlling environmental problems in the country. Under these conditions, the unexpected discovery of a severe mercury contamination had a major effect on the situation in the country. The discovery itself was announced at a public seminar, and Japan’s experience with industrial mercury pollution as a result of the “Minamata Disease incident” was widely shared with the public through mass media. The wide reporting of these experiences as well as others of pollution in local cities by the mass media, accelerated public concerns and eventually formed public opinions into a demand for immediate depollution efforts. The environmental management administration became functional at this time and backed by growing public awareness and strict law enforcement, it started to conduct specific countermeasures against mercury pollution. The Algerian case suggests that raising public awareness through the disclosure of information on environmental monitoring may trigger the realization of an effective environmental management administration system.departmental bulletin pape
