Pub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100740
Camilo Espinosa-Díaz , Robinson Cadena Bareño
The state expands, builds, and consolidates its presence through physical infrastructure. In countries experiencing active armed conflicts, the rationale for infrastructure development varies widely. This article analyses the infrastructure constructed by the Colombian Army in the context of the internal armed conflict, focusing on areas both with and without armed groups. Through fieldwork, interviews, the review and analysis of war plans and primary sources, and empirical data from 354 projects conducted by the Army, we argue that the state’s consolidated or uneven presence influences how the Army perceives infrastructure. Infrastructure is viewed as a tool for combating insurgencies in areas where political authority is challenged or threatened. Conversely, in regions devoid of competition, infrastructure plays a role in state-building during armed conflict. The findings enable us to identify four distinct zones that illustrate this variation. Ultimately, the Colombian experience highlights the diverse aspirations associated with infrastructure, ranging from the pursuit of peace to the struggle for political power.
{"title":"Building the State, Fighting the rebels. Military engineers and infrastructure in modern Colombia","authors":"Camilo Espinosa-Díaz , Robinson Cadena Bareño","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The state expands, builds, and consolidates its presence through physical infrastructure. In countries experiencing active armed conflicts, the rationale for infrastructure development varies widely. This article analyses the infrastructure constructed by the Colombian Army in the context of the internal armed conflict, focusing on areas both with and without armed groups. Through fieldwork, interviews, the review and analysis of war plans and primary sources, and empirical data from 354 projects conducted by the Army, we argue that the state’s consolidated or uneven presence influences how the Army perceives infrastructure. Infrastructure is viewed as a tool for combating insurgencies in areas where political authority is challenged or threatened. Conversely, in regions devoid of competition, infrastructure plays a role in state-building during armed conflict. The findings enable us to identify four distinct zones that illustrate this variation. Ultimately, the Colombian experience highlights the diverse aspirations associated with infrastructure, ranging from the pursuit of peace to the struggle for political power.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100740"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145269227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-08DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100729
Amandine Belard , Stefano Farolfi , Damien Jourdain , Mark Manyanga , Tarisayi Pedzisa , Marc Willinger
Community-based development (CBD) projects have long emphasized a bottom-up approach. For CBD initiatives to succeed, communities must harness their social capital, organize themselves, and actively engage in development processes. While CBD proponents highlight the promotion of social capital through community-based projects, critics argue that their effectiveness relies on pre-existing levels of trust, trustworthiness, and community interactions. To contribute to this debate, we investigate the selection bias regarding social capital induced by the recruitment strategy of an NGO in Zimbabwe. We look at differences between selected beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in terms of pro-social behaviors, measured by incentivized games, and in terms of social networks. We also use this information to test whether being part of the same networks translates into increased trust, altruistic behaviors, and willingness to participate in collective action. Our study, conducted in 2022 in the rural district of Murehwa, Zimbabwe, comprised a survey and lab-in-the-field experiments (trust game, public good game, dictator game) involving 341 subjects. Findings showed that selected beneficiaries exhibit higher network density than non-beneficiaries. However, except for a partial experimental measure of trustworthiness, we observed no significant differences in prosocial behavior between the two groups before project implementation. The results suggest that although selected beneficiaries are more socially connected, they do not exhibit higher prosocial behaviors. These findings shed light on the common selection process used by development agencies and the inherent bias they introduce. To address this bias, development agencies should reconsider recruitment strategies that prioritize existing social ties, as they may unintentionally exclude less-connected community members. Instead, they should explore alternative selection approaches, such as the use of field data to ensure inclusiveness. Additionally, integrating trust-building activities at the beginning of projects could enhance cooperation among participants.
{"title":"They know each other, but do they trust each other? Social capital and selected beneficiaries of community-based development projects: A lab-in-the-field in rural Zimbabwe","authors":"Amandine Belard , Stefano Farolfi , Damien Jourdain , Mark Manyanga , Tarisayi Pedzisa , Marc Willinger","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100729","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100729","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Community-based development (CBD) projects have long emphasized a bottom-up approach. For CBD initiatives to succeed, communities must harness their social capital, organize themselves, and actively engage in development processes. While CBD proponents highlight the promotion of social capital through community-based projects, critics argue that their effectiveness relies on pre-existing levels of trust, trustworthiness, and community interactions. To contribute to this debate, we investigate the selection bias regarding social capital induced by the recruitment strategy of an NGO in Zimbabwe. We look at differences between selected beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in terms of pro-social behaviors, measured by incentivized games, and in terms of social networks. We also use this information to test whether being part of the same networks translates into increased trust, altruistic behaviors, and willingness to participate in collective action. Our study, conducted in 2022 in the rural district of Murehwa, Zimbabwe, comprised a survey and lab-in-the-field experiments (trust game, public good game, dictator game) involving 341 subjects. Findings showed that selected beneficiaries exhibit higher network density than non-beneficiaries. However, except for a partial experimental measure of trustworthiness, we observed no significant differences in prosocial behavior between the two groups before project implementation. The results suggest that although selected beneficiaries are more socially connected, they do not exhibit higher prosocial behaviors. These findings shed light on the common selection process used by development agencies and the inherent bias they introduce. To address this bias, development agencies should reconsider recruitment strategies that prioritize existing social ties, as they may unintentionally exclude less-connected community members. Instead, they should explore alternative selection approaches, such as the use of field data to ensure inclusiveness. Additionally, integrating trust-building activities at the beginning of projects could enhance cooperation among participants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100729"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145269226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-03DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100733
Yingluck Kanchanaroek, David Wells Engstrom
Indigenous communities often face property rights conflicts as governments claim their traditional lands for conservation purposes. This study examines the Ban Klang Karen community in Lampang, Thailand, where the creation of a national park in 1991 threatened displacement and sparked resistance. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the impact of conservation policies on Karen livelihoods and the resistance strategies of Karen people. Findings reveal that when park designation reduced agricultural land access and yields, the community responded by strategically leveraging social capital and advocacy networks to resist displacement. Internally, they developed robust communal resource management systems and community-delineated land titles. The community’s success in self-organizing and sustainably managing their resources provides a powerful demonstration of the utility of inclusive conservation policies. It makes the case for policies that recognize indigenous land tenure and integrate traditional ecological knowledge to balance biodiversity goals with community wellbeing. This study offers a model for equitable resource governance, in which policymakers prioritize co-management agreements and legal frameworks that empower indigenous communities. These findings have potential as models for Thailand and beyond.
{"title":"Development policy affects the indigenous group: the case of the Karen community, Ban Klang Village, Northern Thailand","authors":"Yingluck Kanchanaroek, David Wells Engstrom","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Indigenous communities often face property rights conflicts as governments claim their traditional lands for conservation purposes. This study examines the Ban Klang Karen community in Lampang, Thailand, where the creation of a national park in 1991 threatened displacement and sparked resistance. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the impact of conservation policies on Karen livelihoods and the resistance strategies of Karen people. Findings reveal that when park designation reduced agricultural land access and yields, the community responded by strategically leveraging social capital and advocacy networks to resist displacement. Internally, they developed robust communal resource management systems and community-delineated land titles. The community’s success in self-organizing and sustainably managing their resources provides a powerful demonstration of the utility of inclusive conservation policies. It makes the case for policies that recognize indigenous land tenure and integrate traditional ecological knowledge to balance biodiversity goals with community wellbeing. This study offers a model for equitable resource governance, in which policymakers prioritize co-management agreements and legal frameworks that empower indigenous communities. These findings have potential as models for Thailand and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100733"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100731
Averi Chakrabarti, Garima Siwach
Gender is a major factor driving schooling gaps, with female school attendance and attainment lower than male outcomes in most low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we bring together data from two sources to describe gender gaps in school enrollment in Zambia and explore factors that may be driving the observed gaps. Analysis of nationally representative data shows that boys of primary school-going ages are three to six percentage points less likely to be in school than girls, but this gender gap flips after age 14. By age 18, girls are almost 20 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in school. In the Eastern Province of Zambia, boys are almost 15 percentage points less likely than girls to be enrolled in primary schools. The male disadvantage in primary schooling is larger in households that are more time and resource-constrained, such as households headed by unemployed individuals and households that rely on firewood, a resource that households typically collect manually. Primary survey data from the Eastern Province show that young boys from farming households are more likely to be out of school, with parents of out-of-school boys citing financial challenges, farm work, and cattle herding as key reasons for school non-enrollment. Overall, our findings suggest that household labor demands for work or wood collection are compelling caregivers to keep young boys out of school, not systematic gender preferences. It is important to consider these types of economic factors that drive% low school enrollment to effectively address gender gaps in schooling.
{"title":"Labor demands and gender inequality in education: understanding school enrollment patterns in Zambia","authors":"Averi Chakrabarti, Garima Siwach","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gender is a major factor driving schooling gaps, with female school attendance and attainment lower than male outcomes in most low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we bring together data from two sources to describe gender gaps in school enrollment in Zambia and explore factors that may be driving the observed gaps. Analysis of nationally representative data shows that boys of primary school-going ages are three to six percentage points less likely to be in school than girls, but this gender gap flips after age 14. By age 18, girls are almost 20 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in school. In the Eastern Province of Zambia, boys are almost 15 percentage points less likely than girls to be enrolled in primary schools. The male disadvantage in primary schooling is larger in households that are more time and resource-constrained, such as households headed by unemployed individuals and households that rely on firewood, a resource that households typically collect manually. Primary survey data from the Eastern Province show that young boys from farming households are more likely to be out of school, with parents of out-of-school boys citing financial challenges, farm work, and cattle herding as key reasons for school non-enrollment. Overall, our findings suggest that household labor demands for work or wood collection are compelling caregivers to keep young boys out of school, not systematic gender preferences. It is important to consider these types of economic factors that drive% low school enrollment to effectively address gender gaps in schooling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100731"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100722
Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo , Bright Tetteh
This paper extends the energy − gender literature by re-examining the effect of energy access on multidimensions of gender gaps in 32 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The study further explores the mediating effect of institutional quality on the relationship between access to clean energy and gender gaps using World Economic Forum’s newly developed global gender gap index data. We apply the dynamic system GMM and the Driscoll Kraay standard error techniques to show that (1) access to clean cooking fuels and technologies and electricity reduces gender gap and all its dimensions, and (2) the effect of rural energy access mostly yields a greater gender equalization effect compared to urban access. The moderation effects show that improvements in quality institutional frameworks in SSA enhance energy access towards gender equality. Policy implications are also discussed.
{"title":"Energy access and gender gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of institutional quality","authors":"Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo , Bright Tetteh","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100722","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100722","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper extends the energy − gender literature by re-examining the effect of energy access on multidimensions of gender gaps in 32 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The study further explores the mediating effect of institutional quality on the relationship between access to clean energy and gender gaps using World Economic Forum’s newly developed global gender gap index data. We apply the dynamic system GMM and the Driscoll Kraay standard error techniques to show that (1) access to clean cooking fuels and technologies and electricity reduces gender gap and all its dimensions, and (2) the effect of rural energy access mostly yields a greater gender equalization effect compared to urban access. The moderation effects show that improvements in quality institutional frameworks in SSA enhance energy access towards gender equality. Policy implications are also discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100722"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100734
Fekadu Nigussie Deresse , Carlos Oya , Christian Samen Otchia
The study examines the drivers of job switching and its effects on wages, and evaluates the effectiveness of a wage cartel in mediating job switching, thereby showing the paradox of switching, wage outcomes and cartel aims, in the context of Ethiopia’s light manufacturing. Main drivers of job switching are found to be social network density, experience, and initial skill grading status. Job switching leads to lower earnings compared to staying, as workers hopped in a wage cartel environment with limited wage variation. This wage effect is associated with the loss of seniority with the job change and the way the wage cartel system works. However, job switchers continue to change jobs, suggesting the firm’s cartel-based wage setting does not prevent labour turnover, but limits wage gains from job switching.
{"title":"Switching or staying? Exploring the dynamics and impacts of job switching in a wage setting cartel in Ethiopia","authors":"Fekadu Nigussie Deresse , Carlos Oya , Christian Samen Otchia","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study examines the drivers of job switching and its effects on wages, and evaluates the effectiveness of a wage cartel in mediating job switching, thereby showing the paradox of switching, wage outcomes and cartel aims, in the context of Ethiopia’s light manufacturing. Main drivers of job switching are found to be social network density, experience, and initial skill grading status. Job switching leads to lower earnings compared to staying, as workers hopped in a wage cartel environment with limited wage variation. This wage effect is associated with the loss of seniority with the job change and the way the wage cartel system works. However, job switchers continue to change jobs, suggesting the firm’s cartel-based wage setting does not prevent labour turnover, but limits wage gains from job switching.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100734"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100739
Brandon Parsons , Ayoub Rabhi
Amid growing conflict in developing countries, this study investigates the effect of income redistribution on internal conflict across 93 developing countries. The study analyzes panel data from 1990 to 2021. The study explores whether absolute redistribution effectively reduces instances and risks of civil disorder, political violence, terrorism, and civil wars. Findings reveal that greater market income inequality is associated with heightened internal conflict, whereas enhanced income redistribution leads to diminished internal conflict levels. However, the study identifies a non-linear pattern where the benefits of redistribution decrease beyond certain thresholds, suggesting the potential of diminishing returns. Granger causality tests further indicate a bidirectional relationship between income redistribution and internal conflict, suggesting a potentially vicious circle where each variable exacerbates the other. The findings highlight the need for redistributive economic policies to foster societal peace in developing countries.
{"title":"Redistribution, income inequality, and conflict in developing countries: Is there any causality?","authors":"Brandon Parsons , Ayoub Rabhi","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Amid growing conflict in developing countries, this study investigates the effect of income redistribution on internal conflict across 93 developing countries. The study analyzes panel data from 1990 to 2021. The study explores whether absolute redistribution effectively reduces instances and risks of civil disorder, political violence, terrorism, and civil wars. Findings reveal that greater market income inequality is associated with heightened internal conflict, whereas enhanced income redistribution leads to diminished internal conflict levels. However, the study identifies a non-linear pattern where the benefits of redistribution decrease beyond certain thresholds, suggesting the potential of diminishing returns. Granger causality tests further indicate a bidirectional relationship between income redistribution and internal conflict, suggesting a potentially vicious circle where each variable exacerbates the other. The findings highlight the need for redistributive economic policies to foster societal peace in developing countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100739"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100736
Julia Bello-Bravo , Peter Neuenschwander
The preservation of forests is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the sustainable use of land. Building on previous research, this study explores the interplay of local beliefs, cultural practices, and ecosystem services around a restored sacred forest in southern Benin. Utilizing Raymond Williams’ concept of structures of feeling, it investigates how local stakeholders’ beliefs and actions influence the forest’s restoration and maintenance. Findings include (1) a consensus that forests exist for human use despite differing perspectives on what constitutes appropriate use, (2) concerns about the ongoing loss of traditional knowledge and practices related to forest use, (3) challenges posed by modernizing perspectives that view traditional practices as backward, contrasting them with the cultural and spiritual values associated with the forest, and (4) beliefs about the forest’s role for human well-being. The study shows how structures of feeling can underpin successful negotiations and compromise support for the project’s continuing success and SDG goals around sustainable land use. Further research is needed to understand the intricate web of social, environmental, and economic structures of feeling around sacred forests, particularly aesthetic, spiritual, and social dimensions that address the erosion of indigenous knowledge and practices.
{"title":"“The children don’t want to listen, the fathers need to be ready”: Perceptions and belief systems connected to the restoration and preservation of a sacred forest in Benin","authors":"Julia Bello-Bravo , Peter Neuenschwander","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100736","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100736","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The preservation of forests is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the sustainable use of land. Building on previous research, this study explores the interplay of local beliefs, cultural practices, and ecosystem services around a restored sacred forest in southern Benin. Utilizing Raymond Williams’ concept of <em>structures of feeling</em>, it investigates how local stakeholders’ beliefs and actions influence the forest’s restoration and maintenance. Findings include (1) a consensus that forests exist for human use despite differing perspectives on what constitutes appropriate use, (2) concerns about the ongoing loss of traditional knowledge and practices related to forest use, (3) challenges posed by modernizing perspectives that view traditional practices as backward, contrasting them with the cultural and spiritual values associated with the forest, and (4) beliefs about the forest’s role for human well-being. The study shows how structures of feeling can underpin successful negotiations and compromise support for the project’s continuing success and SDG goals around sustainable land use. Further research is needed to understand the intricate web of social, environmental, and economic structures of feeling around sacred forests, particularly aesthetic, spiritual, and social dimensions that address the erosion of indigenous knowledge and practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100736"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines circular intra-rural migration in Northwestern Benin, focusing on labor selectivity, prevalence, determinants, and socio-ecological dynamics within households. Using mixed-methods survey data and key informant interviews, we compare households with migration participants to those without. Our findings show that migrants are predominantly young men, and that education, landholding, and off-farm income significantly affect household labor decisions. We also find no statistically significant effect of either household head or member migration on asset accumulation, suggesting that migration primarily functions as a coping strategy to address low productivity growth and income instability rather than as a pathway to long-term wealth creation. By highlighting how circular intra-rural migration operates as a household strategy to manage labor, income, and risk, our study underscores its complex role in rural livelihoods. These insights have important implications for rural development policy, particularly for designing interventions that strengthen local livelihood opportunities while recognizing migration as an embedded dimension of rural economies.
{"title":"The push and pull of rural-to-rural migration: Insights from Northwest Benin","authors":"Solomon Geleta , David Natcher , Mohamed Nasser Baco , Derek Peak","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines circular intra-rural migration in Northwestern Benin, focusing on labor selectivity, prevalence, determinants, and socio-ecological dynamics within households. Using mixed-methods survey data and key informant interviews, we compare households with migration participants to those without. Our findings show that migrants are predominantly young men, and that education, landholding, and off-farm income significantly affect household labor decisions. We also find no statistically significant effect of either household head or member migration on asset accumulation, suggesting that migration primarily functions as a coping strategy to address low productivity growth and income instability rather than as a pathway to long-term wealth creation. By highlighting how circular intra-rural migration operates as a household strategy to manage labor, income, and risk, our study underscores its complex role in rural livelihoods. These insights have important implications for rural development policy, particularly for designing interventions that strengthen local livelihood opportunities while recognizing migration as an embedded dimension of rural economies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100730"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100737
Júlio Vicente Cateia
A simple choice model of bargaining with bilateral matching and a transferable utility function is developed to empirically analyze the implications of entry into the agricultural market on gender health inequality in Guinea-Bissau, in terms of the probability of access to health services for women relative to men across different kinship systems. We found that agricultural market participation reduced gender health inequality. Women participating in the cashew nuts market are more likely to have access to health services than those not participating in the same household structure. Once entering the agricultural market, they increased healthcare resources. Schooling and access to information and communication technology (ICT) improve opportunities for generating resources and knowledge about their healthcare. The negative effect of education, healthcare expenditures, and access to ICT on gender health inequality is statistically significant at a conventional level. Conversely, the cultural and regional factors of ethnic groups were not statistically significant.
{"title":"Agricultural market participation impact on gender health inequality: Evidence from Guinea-Bissau","authors":"Júlio Vicente Cateia","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100737","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100737","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A simple choice model of bargaining with bilateral matching and a transferable utility function is developed to empirically analyze the implications of entry into the agricultural market on gender health inequality in Guinea-Bissau, in terms of the probability of access to health services for women relative to men across different kinship systems. We found that agricultural market participation reduced gender health inequality. Women participating in the cashew nuts market are more likely to have access to health services than those not participating in the same household structure. Once entering the agricultural market, they increased healthcare resources. Schooling and access to information and communication technology (ICT) improve opportunities for generating resources and knowledge about their healthcare. The negative effect of education, healthcare expenditures, and access to ICT on gender health inequality is statistically significant at a conventional level. Conversely, the cultural and regional factors of ethnic groups were not statistically significant.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 100737"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145222793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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