921 research outputs found
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Aiming for a moving target: The dynamics of household electricity access in a developing context
No full textWe investigate household electricity access in a poor rural setting in South Africa, showing that the acquisition of connections is not the simple monotonic process often assumed in the literature. We argue that changes in household electricity access are a complex and changing outcome of two key time-varying processes: (1) net connections (new connections less disconnections) and (2) household formation and dissolution dynamics. In particular, we show that migration can occur in ways which either improves or worsens access. Even for households that stay in place we observe many disconnections. Therefore, in their efforts to improve access to electricity, governments in developing countries may in fact be aiming for a moving target – if the infrastructure is provided in places from which people are migrating, if many new households are being formed in un-serviced areas, or if existing connections are being lost.This work is based on research supported by the National Research Foundation (ESRC-NRF International Centre Partnership, Ref ICPC150423117553). Any opinion, finding and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the author(s) and the NRF does not accept any liability in this regard. We acknowledge the invaluable data and unreserved support of the Medical Research Council/ University of the Witwatersrand Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), and the engaged communities in which the research has taken place. Funding is gratefully acknowledged from Economic Research Southern African (scholarship to T.Harris), the SARChI chair in Poverty and Inequality Research (scholarship to T. Harris), the University of the Witwatersrand; South African Medical Research Council and National Research Foundation; the Wellcome Trust, UK, (Grants 058893/Z/99/A; 069683/Z/02/Z; 085477/Z/08/Z), The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the NIH, and The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, USA
Quality healthcare and health insurance retention: Evidence from a randomized experiment in the Kolkata Slums
No full textHealth care in developing countries is often unreliable and of poor quality, reducing incentives to use quality health services. Using data from a field experiment in India, I show that providing initial quality care improves the demand for quality health care by raising intended health insurance renewal and subsequent use of quality services. Randomly offering insurance policyholders a free consultation with a qualified doctor has a twofold effect: receiving this additional benefit raises willingness to pay to renew health insurance by 56 percent, exposed individuals are 11 percentage points more likely to consult a qualified practitioner when ill after the consultation.Clara Delavallade is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT, a Research Associate of
SALDRU and a Research Fellow at IFPRI, [email protected] project was supported by grants from the International Labour Organization, the Center for Insurance and Risk Management at the Institute for Financial Management and Research, and the University of Cape Town
Estimating the Effects of South Africa's Youth Employment Tax Incentive – An Update
No full textOur previous study of the effects of South Africa’s Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) (Ranchhod and Finn, 2014) found that the ETI did not have a statistically significant impact on youth employment probabilities in the first six months of 2014. In this update we extend the period of analysis from six months to all twelve months of 2014 and find that this does not alter our qualitative findings. These are that the ETI has not resulted in a statistically significant change in the probability of young people finding jobs, despite its cost of R2 billion over the first year of its existence. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that the introduction of the ETI resulted in an increase in the level of churning for youth in the labour market.We acknowledge support from the National Research Foundation’s Human and Social Dynamics in Development Grand Challenge
Increasing access to HIV testing: Impacts on equity of coverage and uptake from a national campaign in South Africa
No full textBackground: HIV counselling and testing (HCT) is a critical component of HIV prevention and treatment efforts. Between April 2010 and June 2011 South Africa ran an ambitious, multi-sector, campaign aiming to test 15 million people nationwide. We assessed the extent to which this campaign reached (1) those who previously had never tested for HIV and (2) high risk and socioeconomically vulnerable populations.
Methods: We used data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS, n=18,650), a nationally representative panel study in South Africa, to assess the uptake of first-time testing between 2010 and 2012 at the national level and by age, gender, racial, and province-level subgroups. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to compare the factors associated with HIV testing in 2010 and 2012, and to assess the characteristics of first-time testers.
Results: The proportion of adults having ever received an HIV test increased from 43.7% (95% CI: 41.48; 45.96) in 2010 to 65.2% [63.28; 67.10] in 2012, as approximately 7.5 million individuals 15 years and older tested for the first time nationally. However, there was large variation in new testing rates across geographic areas and population subgroups. The association between ever testing and both income and self-reported health declined between 2010 and 2012, suggesting the campaign was successful in reaching poorer and healthier individuals. However, disparities in testing by education and gender remained strong between 2010 and 2012.
Conclusion: The provision of HCT services in South Africa led to a steady rise in the proportion of individuals ever tested for HIV and has improved equity of HCT uptake. Future initiatives to increase HCT uptake, both within South Africa and in other countries, would gain from lessons learned from the South African effort. However, new interventions may be required to improve testing rates among the less educated and men, particularly poor men, and to achieve universal HCT access and uptake.Brendan Maughan-Brown, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
Neil D. Lloyd, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
Jacob Bor, Center for Global Health and Development, Boston University.
Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development II (PSPPD II), a partnership between the Presidency, Republic of South Africa and the European Union. The contents of this paper are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Presidency, Republic of South Africa and the European Union
South African poverty lines: a review and two new money-metric thresholds
No full textUnlike some other countries, there is no legislated poverty line for South Africa. Various absolute poverty lines exist, but there has been little analysis of the methodological decisions underpinning each line. There is no consensus as to which line is best. This paper critically reviews existing South African poverty lines and introduces two new money-metric thresholds. These poverty lines are created according to Ravallion’s (1994) Cost of Basic Needs method and use a combination of household survey data, caloric information for various foods, and price data. Our methodology is described in depth, and the implications of unavoidable methodological decisions are discussed. The theoretical foundations of the method are also examined, and it is argued that the lower-bound poverty line is not conceptually coherent and is not appropriate for poverty measurement. The upper-bound and food poverty lines remain worthwhile, however. The implications of these lines for rudimentary estimates of poverty are then examined, using the 2010/2011 Income and Expenditure Survey.The authors acknowledge and appreciate the extensive support received from Statistics South Africa. Without the agency’s support this paper would likely not have been possible, and we therefore view it as somewhat of a collaborative effort. In this regard we are particularly grateful to Sandile Simelane and Marietjie Bennett. We also thank Morne Oosthuizen from the Development Policy Research Unit, who provided invaluable advice regarding the conversion of food expenditures into calories
Some determinants of Academic Exclusion and Graduation in three faculties at UCT
No full textUniversity graduation rates have become increasingly important for institutions and policymakers alike. Academic exclusion, or other forms of withdrawal from university, represents a loss to the individual, the institution and broader society. This paper investigates the determinants of graduation and academic exclusion in UCT’s Commerce, Engineering and Built Environment and Science faculties using survival analysis. The sample consists of 11 959 students who registered for a degree in one of these three faculties between 2006 and 2013.
The results suggest that there are large differences in graduation and academic exclusion rates between different groups of students. Factors which increased the likelihood of graduating were being female, white, ineligible for financial aid (suggestive of greater affluence), proficient in English, attending a Quintile 5 or independent school and having obtained good Grade 12 grades. On the other hand, students who are male, eligible for financial aid (indicative of coming from poorer backgrounds), non-English-speaking, have attended poorly resourced schools and achieved low school grades are more likely to be academically excluded. Relative to the Commerce faculty, the Science and EBE faculties exclude a substantially greater proportion of poorly performing students in the first and second years. The Commerce Faculty excludes relatively few students in the first two years, but the exclusion rate increases sharply in the third and subsequent years.A number of people deserve recognition for the help and support that I received from them. It
gives me great pleasure in conveying my gratitude towards all these people.
I would like to thank Zandile Tennyson and Jane Hendry from UCT’s Institutional Planning
Department for meeting my numerous requests for data
In addition, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to friends and family who provided
encouragement to me throughout these years. All the time we have spent together will always
be cherished
Gender and Constraints to Entrepreneurship in Africa: New Evidence from Swaziland
No full textThis paper contributes to closing a knowledge gap on gender, entrepreneurship and development by linking the entrepreneurial productivity to start-up capital and skills. The empirical analysis of a survey of entrepreneurs in Swaziland confirmed the importance of start-up capital for sales. Women entrepreneurs have smaller start-up capital and are less likely to fund it from the formal sector than their men counterparts, pointing to a possible room for policy interventions. Further, business training is positively associated with sales performance of men entrepreneurs, but has no effect on women. However, this does not call for abolishing training programs for women entrepreneurs. Instead their design and targeting should be revisited.The authors thank Mina Baliamoune, Zoroabel Bicaba, Phindile Dlamini, Nomusa Dlamini-Tibane, Thandy Khumalo, Wenli Li, Zodwa Mabuza, Neil Rankin and Audrey Verdier-Chouchane for discussions and contributions at various stages of this paper. Earlier versions were presented at the 2014 ASSA Meetings (Philadelphia) and at the African Development Bank. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of their respective institutions of affiliation.
This was paper was also published as IZA Discussion Paper No. 927
Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel
No full textAlthough there is fast-growing policy interest in offering financial products to help rural households manage risk, the literature is still scant as to which products are the most effective. This paper uses a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso to compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. The paper finds that female farm managers were less likely to purchase agricultural insurance and more likely to invest in savings for emergencies, even controlling for access to informal insurance and differences in crop choice. It is hypothesized that this finding results from the fact that, although men and women are equally exposed to yield risk, women face additional sources of lifecycle risk—particularly health risks associated with fertility and childcare—that men do not. In essence, the basis risk associated with agricultural insurance products is higher for women. Purchasing insurance increased input spending and use more than savings. Those who purchased more insurance realized higher average yields and were better able to manage food insecurity and shocks. This finding suggests that gender differences in demand for financial products can have an impact on productivity, resilience, and welfare.Clara Delavallade is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT, a Research Associate of SALDRU and a Research Fellow at IFPRI.
Felipe Dizon is a Ph.D. student at the University of California Davis.
Ruth Hill is a Senior Economist at the World Bank.
Jean-Paul Petraud is a Research Associate at IMPAQ International.We thank CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets for funding this work and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network in the Africa Region and the World Bank for additional financing and the suggestion to undertake this work. This study was funded by the Regional Studies Program of the Chief Economist of the Africa Region
Tax(i)ing the poor? Commuting costs in South Africa
No full textIn this paper I describe the monetary and time costs of commuting to work in South Africa. I find that these costs are high and that monetary costs of commuting have increased faster than inflation, mainly through a shift away from walking and towards minibus taxis and driving. Journey times are substantially higher than the OECD country average. Using a method suggested by Hausmann (2013) I estimate the effective tax on hourly earnings that the time and monetary costs of commuting impose. I find high effective tax rates, which are a disincentive to working far from home. This only deepens the puzzle of why South Africa's informal sector is so small, since more than half of the informally self-employed work at home and pay no transport costs. I show that whilst minibus taxis conveyed around 71% of commuters that used public transport in 2013, the industry receives less than 1% of the direct public transport subsidy provided by the South African government. I find that the subsidy accrues mainly to bus and train users in the lower middle part of the labour income distribution.Andrew Kerr, Senior Research Officer, DataFirst, University of Cape Town
I acknowledge funding from an incentive grant from REDI3x3. The paper has benefitted from the comments of participants at SALDRU and CSSR (University of Cape Town) and RESEP (Stellenbosch University) seminars. This paper was also published as REDI3x3 Working paper 12.
In the interests of transparency:
I am the co-owner of a website that assists commuters to use minibus taxis in Cape Town and Durban,
see: www.taximap.co.za
Multidimensional Food Insecurity Measurement
No full textIt is well established that household food security is a complex phenomenon with numerous indicators and outcomes, the measurement of which is yet to be adequately captured by a single measure. We propose the adoption of the methodology of multidimensional poverty measurement in calculating an index of multidimensional food insecurity. This framework has gained increasing popularity, particularly with the introduction of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The assertion is that, like poverty, food insecurity is a multidimensional phenomenon, requiring the inclusion of multiple aspects of deprivation in its measurement. Nationally representative data from South Africa is used to construct a Multidimensional Food Insecurity Index (MFII), based on the methodology of the MPI. The MFII is used to develop a detailed profile of individual food insecurity in South Africa. Nationally, close to half of the population are considered multidimensionally food insecure, with the greatest contributors to food insecurity being dietary diversity and subjective food consumption adequacy. The Western Cape and Gauteng enjoy the lowest levels of multidimensional food insecurity, while Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal suffer the highest levels. How food security is measured can have an important impact on how policies and interventions are developed and implemented. As such, measurement methodologies can be very practically relevant to research.Joana Ryan is a PhD student in the School of Economics and a Graduate Associate in SALDRU.
Murray Leibbrandt is the NRF-DST Research Chair in Poverty and Inequality Research and a Professor in the School of Economics at UCT. He is the Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Poverty and Inequality Initiative at UCT and the Director of SALDRU.Joanna Ryan acknowledges generous doctoral support from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, DST-NRF Research Chair in Poverty and Inequality Research and the Carnegie Corporation. This paper was produced with funding from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security.
Murray Leibbrandt acknowledges the Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation for funding his work as the Research Chair in Poverty and Inequality