Development Policy Review最新文献

Motivation

The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN) approach emphasizes the importance of collaboration. However, there is little exploration of HDPN from a collaborative governance perspective.

Purpose

This study aims to analyse how the HDPN approach is applied in settings of forced migration and evaluate the application of Emerson et al.'s (2012) Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance in these contexts. The focus is on how the four components of collaborative governance are covered in HDPN settings.

Approaches and Methods

The study examines 12 empirical HDPN studies in situations of forced migration. It uses the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance to evaluate the components of principled engagement, shared motivation, capacity for joint action and impact/adaptation.

Findings

The findings indicate that the framework is suitable for and relevant to the HDPN approach. Collaborative governance is shown to be necessary to improve cross-sectoral co-ordination, deal with complex and protracted crises, and achieve collective outcomes. The study also identified knowledge gaps and difficulties in implementing collaborative governance within HDPN.

Policy Implications

The study sets the groundwork for future research to develop comprehensive guidelines and best practices to implement the HDPN approach. It highlights the need for collaborative governance to improve the effectiveness of the HDPN approach in addressing the challenges of forced migration.

Motivation

Despite increases in school enrolment, the world is facing a global learning crisis that suggests a trade-off between the quantity and quality of education.

Purpose

This case study from Ghana examines whether there has been a long-term change in educational outcomes, measured by population literacy and numeracy rates, in the decades following the implementation of a national free compulsory basic education policy. It further determines whether there are variations by level of education in the changes over time.

Approach and methods

This study used nationally representative repeated cross-sectional data from two Ghana Living Standards Surveys (2006 and 2017) to estimate basic literacy and numeracy.

Findings

At the same level of education for the primary and lower secondary school levels, literacy and numeracy were lower in the latter period than a decade previously. These findings suggest that the expansion in gross enrolment at the primary and lower secondary school levels has been associated with a long-term decline in the quality of education.

Policy implications

Considering these findings, it is crucial to consider the long-term implications of expanding access to education on the quality of the education provided. These findings highlight the need for increased investment in quality education to complement the increase in access. This would ensure that children acquire foundational skills at the basic education level. Failure to maintain quality alongside expanded access could negatively impact workforce productivity, economic growth, and social equality.

Motivation

What explains the fact that the humanitarian response in some crises is well funded, while other humanitarian emergencies are largely neglected? The literature identifies three groups of factors that influence aid allocations: needs in recipient countries, donor countries' interests, and agenda setting driven by media coverage; although there is debate over how relatively important these are.

Purpose

This study tests existing theory by adding three novel aspects.

Approach and Methods

First, rather than just measuring the amount of money available, we consider the share of funding that is provided against the stated requirements. Second, we measure humanitarian needs in a more detailed way than has typically been the case. Third, we use datasets that have been underutilized in the academic literature.

Findings

By using these three novel approaches, we confirm that all three factors—humanitarian needs, strategic interests, agenda setting—play a role. However, the most consistent factor is media coverage. We are also able to distinguish between different dimensions of need: the number of hosted refugees makes a difference, but the number of displaced people does not. We find that countries with the worst human rights situations attract lower funding levels and more democratic countries attract more funding.

Policy Implications

Donors should consider how the factors identified in this study influence their funding decisions in the aggregate. They should be aware of how media coverage may influence their allocations of humanitarian funding. Journalists should be aware of potential biases in their reporting on humanitarian emergencies. Aid agencies should consider counteracting the factors that are associated with underfunded emergencies.

Motivation

The climate crisis threatens the livelihoods and welfare of farmers in the global south. Increasing variability of weather makes it ever more important to get forecasts to farmers and help them make best use of this information. Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) is an approach that gives farmers better weather forecasts and, in lockstep with agricultural extension workers, supports farmers in interpreting forecasts to make appropriate decisions for their own farms. It has been implemented across more than 20 countries of the global south, including Malawi.

Reviews and evaluations of PICSA have been positive, although it has not previously been rigorously evaluated using impact evaluation techniques.

Purpose

We estimate the impacts of PICSA training and meetings on lead farmers in Malawi, taking farmers in four districts where PICSA operated, and farmers in four other districts where the programme was not present.

Methods

We compare outcomes in farming practice, yields obtained, livelihood decisions and food security between lead farmers who participated in PICSA and those who did not. Because selection into the programme was not random, we use propensity score matching and regression adjustment to correct for potential selection bias.

Findings

PICSA lead farmers used seasonal forecasts to plan farm decisions, change crop activities, increase maize yields, and improve their food security. Differences between them and the control group were, in most cases, significant.

Our results confirm the potential of PICSA to help farmers adapt to climate change.

Policy

In similar contexts, the PICSA approach could effectively support smallholders to make informed agricultural decisions, in participatory discussions, based on climate and weather information.

For Malawi, the evidence suggests the programme or something similar should be continued.

Motivation

The adoption of yield-enhancing agricultural inputs can improve rural livelihoods. Lack of savings is widely believed to be one of the main barriers to the adoption of agricultural technology in sub-Saharan Africa. That may be changing, as the spread of mobile phones in many African countries has facilitated access to new financial technologies, such as mobile money and mobile banking.

Purpose

How does access to mobile banking affect the adoption of yield-enhancing inputs in Côte d'Ivoire? In particular, how does mobile banking affect the uptake of inorganic fertilizers and phytosanitary products to protect crops against weeds, pests, and diseases?

Approach and methods

Drawing on data from the Harmonized Survey on Household Living Conditions (Enquête Harmonisée sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages, EHCVM 2018–2019) for Côte d'Ivoire, we use regression analysis to estimate the factors affecting adoption.

The decision to have a mobile bank account may be endogenous, so we use instrumental variables to address potential bias.

Findings

Having a mobile bank account is associated with a 14% greater likelihood of investing in modern agricultural inputs. The impact is particularly high for investments in chemical or inorganic fertilizers, where having a mobile account makes adoption 30% more likely.

Policy implications

Many governments in sub-Saharan Africa rely heavily on costly subsidies to encourage the adoption of improved farm technologies. Access to mobile banking offers a cheaper way to promote the adoption of technology.

The potential of mobile banking to serve as an effective savings tool and transform the lives of smallholder farmers will depend on government policy. While the government of Côte d'Ivoire has made greater efforts than its neighbours to increase the availability of mobile banking technology, much remains to be done.

Motivation

The level of financial inclusion has increased markedly in Namibia in recent years. Currently, 78% of the population is considered to be financially included. More importantly, this increase has largely derived from vulnerable groups, including low-income earners living in rural areas. Although there has been an increase in the rate of financial literacy, there is no formal empirical analysis showing the extent to which improved access to formal financial services is associated with financial literacy.

Purpose

This article deepens the empirical analysis of financial literacy by simultaneously considering their effects on savings, bank account ownership, and access to credit and insurance in Namibia. We further disaggregated the analysis to consider heterogeneity between men and women, as well as between rural and urban populations.

Approach and methods

We used data from the Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey of 2017 and the instrumental variable probit model to minimize the bias from possible endogeneity caused by potential measurement error, unobserved variable bias, or reverse causality.

Findings

The study showed that financial literacy significantly increases the likelihood of people using formal financial products. Failure to adequately control for the associated bias would lead to substantial overestimation of the impact of financial literacy. Estimates from the disaggregated analysis showed that the impact of financial literacy differs significantly between rural and urban populations, as well as between men and women. The effects are higher for males than for females and for rural than urban sub-samples.

Policy implications

The positive effect of financial literacy on formal financial products suggests that policy options that promote financial literacy are crucial for improving access to formal financial products, particularly for men and the rural population. These policies could include the introduction of financial literacy programmes in schools in order to enhance personal financial knowledge and participation in the formal financial sector. Emphasis should be placed on the raising of awareness, especially among disadvantaged communities, as to the benefits of owning and operating different financial products and on the inclusion of financial literacy programmes on public television.

Motivation

When collecting evidence from the field, the quality of the data determines the reliability of the analysis. When data are collected in the field by enumerators, the latter's performance needs to be monitored to avoid errant behaviour that could compromise data quality.

Purpose

We show how paradata on the process of data collection itself can improve enumerator performance, using a household survey in India as a case study.

Approach and methods

We conducted action research to improve data quality in the India Working Study conducted in early 2020 in Karnataka and Rajasthan. We designed indicators (flags) from the paradata to mark potential deviant enumerator behaviour in the early stages of the survey. Flagged enumerators were contacted by supervisors who provided constructive feedback. We then measured the performance of the flagged enumerators over the remainder of the survey.

We were able to benchmark specific groups of enumerators facing similar field conditions, namely location and gender of respondents. This allowed us to compare enumerators to a subset of their peers, rather than the entire set of enumerators.

Findings

Our feedback improved enumerator behaviour in the field: flagged enumerators subsequently spent more time on a core module of the questionnaire.

Policy implications

In any survey, two objectives compete: completing a fixed number of interviews per day to reduce costs versus enumerators spending enough time with each respondent to collect meaningful data. To strike a balance between these competing demands, we recommend tracking three paradata indicators: count of completed interviews; average time per completed interview; and ratio of completed to initiated interviews.

We recommend using paradata to improve the quality of data when surveying, thereby reducing standard errors for estimates based on the data and leading to more reliable analysis.