1,721,048 research outputs found
Winst als wapen in de armoedestrijd
No full textOm de armoede in de wereld te bestrijden is er dringend nood aan nieuwe en creatieve benaderingen. De discussie over hoe ontwikkelingshulp het best wordt georganiseerd, woedt hevig. Een controversieel standpunt wordt ingenomen door C.K. Prahalad, die met zijn concept ‘bottom of pyramid marketing’ een totaal nieuwe aanpak voorstelt: de armen moeten samenwerken met het maatschappelijke middenveld, de overheden en grote bedrijven, met als doel winst te maken
Economic Growth, Globalisation and Beer Consumption
No full textWe analyze the evolution of beer consumption between countries and over time. Historically, there have been major changes in beer consumption in the world. In recent times, per capita consumption has decreased in traditional beer drinking countries while it increased strongly in emerging economies. Recently, China has overtaken the US as the largest beer economy. A quantitative empirical analysis studies the relation between economic growth, globalization and beer consumption. The relationship between income and beer consumption has an inverse U-shape. Beer consumption initially increases with rising incomes; but at higher levels of income beer consumption falls. Increased globalization has contributed to a convergence in alcohol consumption patterns across countries. In countries that were originally beer drinking countries, the share of beer in total alcohol consumption reduced, while this is not the case in countries which traditionally drank mostly wine or spirits.JRC.J.4 - Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom
Estimating the short-term effects and seasonal dynamics of Malawi’s 2015/16 drought on household food insecurity and child malnutrition
No full textIn 2015, Southern Africa experienced a drought that affected approximately 30 million people across seven countries. Using a nationally representative household panel survey dataset and a remotely sensed measure of drought intensity during the 2015/16 farming season, we rigorously estimate the shortterm effects of the drought on food consumption and child malnutrition in Malawi. We capitalize on the coincidence of the drought with the roll-out of the 2016 survey wave to examine how its impacts on household dietary patterns, food insecurity coping mechanisms, and child nutritional outcomes evolved over the year as households depleted their food stocks. Our fixed effects models reveal significant adverse impacts on dietary quality and acute child malnutrition, particularly soon after the failed harvest. Affected households initially responded by lowering the quality of their diets, before adopting more severe coping mechanisms as the year progressed. Children exposed to the drought lost weight immediately following harvest. However, the dietary quality and nutritional outcomes of drought- and non-drought-exposed households converged later in the year. Despite initial weight loss, drought-exposed children had lower probabilities of wasting during the rainy season, likely because households restricted adult food consumption and prioritized children during this period of the year.Key words: Drought, child nutrition, food consumption, Malawi, seasonality, short term effectsJEL codes: I38, O12, O1
Winst als wapen in de armoedestrijd
No full textOm de armoede in de wereld te bestrijden is er dringend nood aan nieuwe en creatieve benaderingen. De discussie over hoe ontwikkelingshulp het best wordt georganiseerd, woedt hevig. Een controversieel standpunt wordt ingenomen door C.K. Prahalad, die met zijn concept ‘bottom of pyramid marketing’ een totaal nieuwe aanpak voorstelt: de armen moeten samenwerken met het maatschappelijke middenveld, de overheden en grote bedrijven, met als doel winst te maken
Swedish farmers' approval of nudges
No full textAbstract Interest in the use of behavioral policy approaches, such as nudges, has strongly increased over the past years, including in the domains of food, agricultural and environmental policies. While the approval of nudges among the general public has been studied extensively, we know little about the attitude of farmers toward nudging. Farmers may (perceive to) be affected directly by food and agriculture nudges, which may result in different approval as compared to citizens. Moreover, given the increased interest in the use of nudges targeting farm behavior, it is relevant to know their attitude toward these policies. In an online survey, 342 Swedish farmers indicated their approval or disapproval of the same nudging policies that have been investigated in earlier studies with citizens. We find that, overall and over all areas covered, farmers have remarkably lower approval rates of nudging policies than the general public. While this may be partially explained by their socioeconomic profiles, also the connection of some nudges with farming activities may explain their different opinion. We find that farmers with a “green” orientation are generally more favorable, especially so for “green” nudges. [EconLit Citations: Q18, D03]
Information economics to support sustainable and resilient agri-food systems: Special issue introduction
No full textAbstract This special issue focuses on how information influences the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. The contributions analyse farmers’ and consumers’ responses to different information strategies, including behavioural framings, advisory services, digital tools, data-sharing rules and communication around meat taxes. While the findings show that information alone may not always have a strong impact, its effectiveness can often be improved when combined with incentives. Together, the articles advance understanding of how information economics can inform policies and interventions to close sustainability and resilience gaps in agri-food systems
Dietary and Nutrition Transitions in Indigenous Communities: The Role of Income and Market Access in Nagaland, India
No full textDespite extensive evidence linking urbanization, market access, and rising incomes to dietary transitions and nutritional outcomes, both globally and within India, Indigenous communities, particularly in the North East Region (NER) of India, have received little attention in this context. This paper examines how income and market access shape the diets and nutrition of Indigenous Naga women in a geographically isolated and culturally distinct setting, providing a unique context to study the early stages of dietary and nutritional change. Using primary survey data from more than 800 women across cities, villages, and remote hamlets, we find that most women meet the minimum dietary diversity threshold and maintain adequate diet quality even in low-income, low-market access settings. However, higher income is consistently associated with more diverse diets, particularly through increased consumption of oils, meats, and pulses. Higher market access is associated with increased frequency of oil and fat consumption, reflecting a shift away from traditional food practices. Women in highaccess regions also exhibit higher Body Mass Index (BMI), indicating a shift toward overweight and obesity with increased proximity to food markets. By focusing on an isolated and understudied region, this study provides new evidence on the dual role of income and market access in shaping diets and nutrition, while highlighting the importance of Indigenous food systems in ensuring adequate diet quality. These findings have broader relevance for communities and regions undergoing similar transitions
Bilateral Investment Treaties and FDI: Does the Sector Matter?
No full textDeveloping and transition countries have increasingly engaged in the signing of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in order
to attract FDI, based on the widely shared view that FDI can contribute significantly to economic development and poverty reduction.
However, the degree to which foreign investments can be expected to generate employment, offer access to international technology
and know-how, and ultimately create growth, varies considerably depending on the type of investment. It is therefore important to determine what type of FDI is attracted by BITs. By providing a legal commitment to the fair and equitable treatment of foreign investors,
BITs aim to decrease investment risk and to attract foreign investors. We argue that BITs can be expected to be most effective in those
sectors of the economy with a larger risk of expropriation, i.e., sectors characterized by large sunk costs, relatively low levels of firmspecific know-how, and in sectors that are politically sensitive to foreign ownership.
This paper represents the first attempt to empirically study the heterogeneous effect that BITs may have across different sectors of investments. We analyze investments made in 13 countries in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe, disaggregated over seven sectors. We indeed find the effect of BITs to differ considerably across sectors of investment. Using capital intensity as a proxy, we confirm that FDI in those sectors with higher sunk costs responds more strongly to the signing of BITs. Given the considerable differences in the development impact that can be expected from FDI in different sectors, it remains to be shown whether BITs are an effective tool to attract those types of investments that are most beneficial for the development of the host economy.JRC.J.4 - Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom
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