Verner, Dorte

Person:
Verner, Dorte

Environment, Middle East & North Africa, World Bank

Fields of Specialization

Climate Change; Poverty Reduction; Rural and Social Development; Latin America and the Caribbean; Middle East and North Africa, Africa; Argentina; Brazil; Cote D’Ivoire; Ghana; Haiti; Lebanon; Jordan; Mexico; Syria; Tunisia

Departments

Environment, Middle East & North Africa, World Bank

Last updated February 1, 2023

Biography

Dorte Verner is the Climate Coordinator and Senior Economist in the Middle East and North Africa region. She leads the MENA region’s Flagship report: Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries and other country level climate change tasks in the region. Before taking on this position, she led the Social Implications of Climate Change program in the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has managed projects and published in the areas of poverty reduction, rural development and climate change. She has written books and papers on labor markets, indigenous peoples, youth at risk issues, and social implications of climate change. Ms. Verner joined the World Bank in 1996 and before she worked in the OECD Development Center and at European University Institute in Florence, University of Paris I, and University of Aarhus. She holds a PhD in Macroeconomics and Econometrics from the EUI, Italy and a postgraduate degree in Economics from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 51

Increasing Resilience to Climate Change in the Agricultural Sector in the Middle East : The Cases of Jordan and Lebanon

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-03-14) Verner, Dorte ; Lee, David R. ; Ashwill, Maximillian ; Wilby, Robert

The increasing resilience to climate change in the agricultural sector report presents local-level priorities, informed by stakeholder input, to build agricultural resilience in both countries. The objectives of this study were threefold: (1) to improve the understanding of climate change projections and impacts on rural communities and livelihoods in selected regions of Jordan and Lebanon, specifically the Jordan River Valley and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley; (2) to engage local communities, farmers, local experts, and local and national government representatives in a participatory fashion in helping craft agricultural adaptation options to climate change; and (3) to develop local and regional climate change action plans that formulate recommendations for investment strategies and strategic interventions in local agricultural systems. The climate challenges confronting development in the Middle East are particularly stark. This region, and in particular its rural people, face what might be called a "triple threat" from climate change. First, the Middle East is already one of the driest and most water-scarce regions of the world (World Bank 2011a) and faces severe challenges posed by high temperatures and limited water supplies. This report to assist Jordan and Lebanon in understanding the specific challenges and opportunities posed by climate change in the agricultural sector.
Economics of Climate Change in the Arab World : Case Studies from the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, and the Republic of Yemen

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-03-21) Verner, Dorte ; Breisinger, Clemens ; Verner, Dorte ; Breisinger, Clemens

This Economics of Climate Change in the Arab World is presents detailed case studies on the impacts of climate change in the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, and the Republic of Yemen that were summarized. The Arab region is already being impacted by climate change through more frequent cyclones, floods, and prolonged droughts. Thousands of rural producers have seen their crops and herds devastated by extreme conditions, and have been forced to abandon their traditional way of life and migrate to crowded urban areas. Those who stay behind in rural areas struggle to cope with shortages of food and water. Climate change affects countries' economies and households through a variety of channels. Rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns affect agricultural yields of both rainfed and irrigated crops, and thus global and local food markets. Adaptation is a process that will take place over decades as new information makes policy makers reevaluate their climate vulnerabilities. Still, by seizing the opportunity to act now and act together, the Arab region can not only meet the immense challenges of climate change but advance the development of its entire people.
Tunisia in a Changing Climate : Assessment and Actions for Increased Resilience and Development

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-03-20) Verner, Dorte ; Verner, Dorte

This report assesses climate risks and opportunities and proposes actions. It provides a synthesis of evidence of climate variability and change, impacts, and uncertainties associated with climate change that may affect Tunisia s water, land, agriculture, and coastal zones. The report then provides a detailed analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on food security and gross domestic product (GDP) as well as on local populations looking in particular at seven governorates. The report goes on to discuss possible policy options for reducing human vulnerability and for better adapting to climate variability and change. The report provides guidance to policy makers in Tunisia in three ways. First, it provides a Framework for Action on Climate Change Adaptation, represented by an adaptation pyramid. Second, it puts forward a typology of policy approaches that are relevant to the region in order to facilitate the formulation of effective policy responses by decision makers. Finally, a matrix is provided, which outlines key policy recommendations. Actions align with the World Bank s 2012 Interim Strategy Note (ISN) for Tunisia, which guides the World Bank investments in Tunisia over the next two years and is focused on three main areas of intervention: (1) sustainable growth and job creation, (2) the promotion of social and economic inclusion by improving access to basic services for underserved communities and improving the efficiency of social safety net programs, and (3) strengthening governance through improved access to public information as the basis for increased social accountability and transparency.
The Dynamics of Poverty and its Determinants: The Case of the Northeast of Brazil and its States

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-04) Fiess, Norbert M. ; Verner, Dorte

In the northeast region of Brazil, the poverty picture of the past two decades reveals large fluctuations in the poverty level, and poverty depth. Findings based on the Brazilian annual household survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Amostra Domiciliar, PNAD) datasets from 1981-99 reveal that individual characteristics such as education, experience, and labor market association of the household head are important correlates of poverty. Taking these into account, data reveal that a Nordestino (northeasterner) is 24 percentage points more likely to fall below the indigent poverty line than other Brazilians. Analyses also reveal large differences in poverty levels by education, and these differences have increased over time. The authors observe that the probability of being poor is decreasing with increasing educational attainment. The gender of the household head does not matter for poverty, according to the poverty profile. But when the authors control for education and other individual characteristics, female-headed households have a much larger likelihood of being poor than male-headed households. Household size also matters for poverty. Larger households are more likely to experience poverty than smaller households, and the effect is concave. Moreover, households with children under age 5 appear more likely to fall below the poverty line, than families with no children below age 5. The presence of old-aged people (above 65 years) in the household is an important factor contributing to poverty reduction.
Education and Its Poverty-Reducing Effects: The Case of Paraiba, Brazil

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-06) Verner, Dorte

Breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty requires far-reaching actions in the education sector. Widespread poverty affects both students' performance and their availability to attend school. Low-quality education leads to low income, which in turn perpetuates poverty. Furthermore, low levels of education affect growth though low labor productivity. Although Paraiba, Brazil suffers from a history of educational neglect, the state has recently made significant gains in primary enrollment; 93 percent of the children aged 7-14 are enrolled in school. However, 30 percent of the population aged 15 and older are illiterate and, unfortunately, it is not only the older generations that cannot read and write: 15 percent of children aged 10 to 15 are illiterate. However, substantial achievements in education have helped the extremely poor segment of population as much as expected. Probit analyses reveal that education attainment is the single most important poverty-reducing factor. All levels of education from primary to tertiary are significant and negatively associated with the probability of being poor.
Making the Poor Count Takes More than Counting the Poor: A Quick Poverty Assessment of the State of Bahia, Brazil

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-02) Verner, Dorte

The state of Bahia, Brazil has made progress in reducing poverty and improving social indicators in the past decade. Despite this progress, Bahia's poverty is among the highest and its social indicators are among the lowest in Brazil. Currently, 41 percent of Bahia's population live in households below the poverty level, a drop of 14 percentage points since 1993. Moreover, poverty is less deep than in 1993, but deeper than in 1981. The fall in Bahia's social indicators, such as infant mortality and adult illiteracy, corroborate the improvement in measured income poverty. Part of the reason why the poverty indicators of Bahia are worse than in other countries with similar per-capita income is because of income inequality. In 2000 the Gini coefficient for Bahia was 0.61. The National Household Survey Data, PNAD, from 1981-2001 reveal that living in Bahia does not by itself affect the probability of falling below the poverty line in Brazil. Hence, other characteristics are more important for poverty reduction than geographical location. The strongest poverty correlates are education, experience, race, rural location, gender, and labor market association. Analyses reveal that the probability of being poor is decreasing with increasing educational attainment. The gender of the household head does not matter for poverty according to the poverty profile, but when we control for education and other individual characteristics, female-headed households have a much larger likelihood of being poor than do male-headed households. Household size also matters for poverty. Larger households are more likely to experience poverty than smaller households, and the effect is concave. Moreover, households with members under age five appear more likely to fall below the poverty line than families with no children below five years old. The presence of old-aged people (above 65 years of age) in the household is an important factor contributing to poverty reduction.
Convergence, Dynamics, and Geography of Economic Growth: The Case of Municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-05) Verner, Dorte ; Tebaldi, Edinaldo

Analyses of municipal GDP growth in Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeast of Brazil during 1970-96 reveal that the cross-section dispersion of per capita income increased over time. Although the analysis indicates some spatial dependence in income, it is small and has a downward trend, indicating that the growth path is only weakly determined by geographical links in Rio Grande do Norte. Moreover, dynamic analyses based on the Markov chain transition matrix show that the probability of a municipality moving from a poor income class to a rich class is very small and vice-versa. Municipalities located in the middle-income class have high mobility, but there is no strong evidence indicating direction. Public policy should include assisting the rural families by providing them education and training that increases their opportunities for employment. There should also be policies to assist poor and unskilled migrants to integrate fully into the modern economy in the urban areas through skill development training and education.
Youth at Risk, Social Exclusion, and Intergenerational Poverty Dynamics: A New Survey Instrument with Application to Brazil

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-05) Verner, Dorte ; Alda, Erik

This paper addresses the underlying causes of problems and risks faced by poor and excluded youth of 10-24 years of age. The authors develop a survey instrument that addresses poverty in a broad sense, including hunger, early pregnancy and fatherhood, violence, crime, drug use, low levels of social capital, and low educational attainment. The authors also shed light on intergenerational transfer of risks that are considered to induce poverty. They document findings based on the survey data gathered in three poor urban neighborhoods in Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil. Their main findings show that: (i) Poor youth are at considerable risk of growing up without their father. Only 7 percent grow up with their father present in the household. (ii) The intergenerational transmission of low education attainment is at play, but it is diminishing. (iii) The risk of early pregnancy and fatherhood is large among poor and excluded youth-31 percent of the youth had their first child before age 16, triple that of the adult population. (iv) The risk of sexual abuse and violence within the household exists-6 percent of the youth answered that they had their first sexual relationship with a family member, and 13 percent grow up in households with violence. (v) The social capital levels are low-only 5 percent of the youth and 9 percent of the adults have measurable social capital. (vi) The risk of growing up in a violent neighborhood is large-59 percent of the youth claim that they live in a violent neighborhood, 80 percent feel unsafe in their neighborhood, and 50 percent feel unsafe at home.
Poverty in the Brazilian Amazon: An Assessment of Poverty Focused on the State of Para

(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2004-07) Verner, Dorte

The states in the Brazilian Amazon have made progress in reducing poverty and improving social indicators in the last decade. Despite this progress, the poverty rate in the Amazon is among the highest in Brazil. As of 2000, rural poverty is the greatest challenge. In Par?, not only is the headcount poverty rate of 58.4 percent in rural areas more than 55 percent higher than headcount poverty in urban areas, but also poverty is much deeper in rural areas. The fall in infant mortality and adult illiteracy corroborate the improvement in measured income poverty. Census data from 2000 and 1991 reveal that more people left Par? than came to live in the state during the 1970s, the opposite of the 1980s. In 2000, the Gini coefficient for Par?, as in the Amazon as a whole, was 0.60. The poverty profile reveals that indigenous peoples experience a higher poverty incidence than other groups. Census 2000 data reveal that living in rural areas in Par? does not by itself affect the probability of being poor. Individual and household characteristics are more important than geographical location. The largest statistical differences in poverty reduction between rural and urban areas are found in the effect of education, sector of employment, gender, and family size. PNAD data from 2001 reveal that living in urban areas in Par? does not by itself affect the probability of falling below the poverty line in urban areas in Brazil. The strongest poverty correlates are education, experience, race, rural location, gender, and labor market association.
Asymmetries in the Union Wage Premium in Ghana

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004-05) Blunch, Niels-Hugo ; Verner, Dorte

The article uses a matched employer-employee data set for Ghana and adopts a quantile regression approach that allows the effects of unionization to vary across the conditional wage distribution. It is shown that if there are intrafirm differences in unionization, there does appear to be a premium among poorer paid workers in the formal sector. Although this cannot be given a causal interpretation, it suggests important issues about how unions may affect one part of the labor market.