Journal Issue: World Bank Research Observer, Volume 28, Issue 2
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28
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2
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The Impact of Health Insurance Schemes for the Informal Sector in Low- and Middle-Income Countries : A Systematic Review
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Acharya, Arnab; Vellakkal, Sukumar; Taylor, Fiona; Masset, Edoardo; Satija, Ambika; Burke, Margaret; Ebrahim, Shah
This paper summarizes the literature on the impact of state subsidized or social health insurance schemes that have been offered, mostly on a voluntary basis, to the informal sector in low- and middle-income countries. A substantial number of papers provide estimations of average treatment on the treated effect for insured persons. We summarize papers that correct for the problem of self-selection into insurance and papers that estimate the average intention to treat effect. Summarizing the literature was difficult because of the lack of (1) uniformity in the use of meaningful definitions of outcomes that indicate welfare improvements and (2) clarity in the consideration of selection issues. We find the uptake of insurance schemes, in many cases, to be less than expected. In general, we find no strong evidence of an impact on utilization, protection from financial risk, and health status. However, a few insurance schemes afford significant protection from high levels of out-of-pocket expenditures. In these cases, however, the impact on the poor is weaker. More information is needed to understand the reasons for low enrollment and to explain the limited impact of health insurance among the insured.
What Is a Civil War? A Critical Review of Its Definition and (Econometric) Consequences
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Gersovitz, Mark; Kriger, Norma
We argue that the academic literature, both qualitative and quantitative, has mislabeled most episodes of large-scale violence in Africa as civil wars; these episodes better fit our concept of regional war complexes. Our paper seeks to highlight the fundamental flaws in the conception of civil war in the econometric literature and their implications for econometric specification and estimation, problems that this literature is inherently incapable of rectifying. We advocate the comparative study of regional war complexes in Africa based on historical narratives.
Rural Households in a Changing Climate
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Baez, Javier E.; Kronick, Dorothy; Mason, Andrew D.
This paper argues that climate change poses two distinct, if related, sets of challenges for poor rural households: challenges related to the increasing frequency and severity of weather shocks and challenges related to long-term shifts in temperature, rainfall patterns, water availability, and other environmental factors. Within this framework, we examine evidence from existing empirical literature to compose an initial picture of household-level strategies for adapting to climate change in rural settings. We find that although households possess numerous strategies for managing climate shocks and shifts, their adaptive capacity is insufficient for the task of maintaining—let alone improving—household welfare. We describe the role of public policy in fortifying the ability of rural households to adapt to a changing climate.
Global Imbalances : Origins and Prospects
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Servén, Luis; Nguyen, Ha
This paper surveys the academic and policy debate on the origins of global imbalances, their prospects after the global crisis, and their policy implications. A conventional view of global imbalances considers them to primarily result from macroeconomic policies and cyclical forces that cause demand for goods to outstrip supply in the United States and other rich countries and that have the opposite effect in major emerging markets. An alternative view holds that global imbalances are the result of structural distortions and slow-changing factors that primarily affect assets markets. This paper reviews the analytical underpinnings of these two perspectives and the empirical evidence of their respective merits. The paper then assesses the outlook for global imbalances after the crisis, particularly in terms of policy action to reduce their magnitude. Policy intervention is warranted to the extent that the imbalances are driven by welfare-reducing distortions, but in this case, the primary target of policy intervention should be the distortions rather than the imbalances. Finally, the paper examines various forms of international spillovers that may call for multilateral action to limit global imbalances.
How Long Will It Take to Lift One Billion People Out of Poverty?
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Ravallion, Martin
Alternative scenarios are considered for reducing by one billion the number of people surviving on less than $1.25 a day. The low-case, “pessimistic” path to that goal envisages the developing world outside China returning to the slower pace of economic growth and poverty reduction of the 1980s and 1990s, but with China maintaining its progress. This path would take 50 years or more to lift one billion people out of poverty. A more optimistic path is identified that would maintain the developing world's (impressive) progress against absolute poverty since the turn of the century. This path would lift one billion people out of poverty by 2025–30. The optimistic path is consistent with both linear projections of the time-series data and nonlinear simulations of inequality-neutral growth for the developing world as a whole.
Multidimensional Poverty Analysis : Looking for a Middle Ground
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2013-08-01) Ferreira, Francisco H.G.; Lugo, Maria Ana
Widespread agreement that poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing deprivations in multiple dimensions clashes with the vociferous disagreement about how best to measure these deprivations. Drawing on the recent literature, this short paper reviews three methodological alternatives to the false dichotomy between scalar indices of multidimensional poverty, on the one hand, and a “dashboard” approach that considers only marginal distributions, on the other. These alternatives include simple Venn diagrams of the overlap of deprivations across dimensions, multivariate stochastic dominance analysis, and the analysis of copula functions, which capture the extent of interdependency across dimensions. Examples are provided from the literature on both developing and developed countries.