This paper builds a tractable partial equilibrium model to help explain the role of trade preferences given to developing countries, as well as the efficacy of various subsidy policies.
... Vea más + The model allows for firm level heterogeneity in demand and productivity and lets the mass of firms that enter be endogenous. Trade preferences given by one country have positive spillovers on exports to others in this model. Preferences given by the European Union to Bangladesh in an industry raise profits, resulting in entry, and some of these firms also export to the United States. The parameters of the model are estimated using cross sectional customs data on Bangladeshi exports of apparel to the United States and European Union. Counterfactual experiments regarding the effects of reducing costs, both fixed and marginal, or of trade preferences offered by an importing country are performed. The counterfactuals show that reducing fixed costs at various levels has very different effects and suggest that such reductions are more effective in promoting exports when applied at later stages when firms are more committed to production. A subsidy of 1.5 million dollars to industry entry costs raises exports by only 0.4 dollars for every dollar spent, but when applied to fixed costs of production, it raises exports by $25 per dollar spent.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS7156 JAN 01, 2015
Cherkashin, Ivan; Demidova, Svetlana; Kee, Hiau Looi; Krishna, Kala
Aquaculture is widely considered to have the potential to reduce poverty and enhance food security. Historically, aquaculture in Bangladesh was a low-intensity, semi-subsistence activity, and most development interventions promoted small-scale forms of aquaculture in the expectation that adoption of improved management practices by low-income households will increase production of fish for sale and home consumption, thereby reducing poverty and food insecurity.
... Vea más + This study addresses five research questions about the nature of aquaculture development in Bangladesh. The questions are designed to test central narratives from the literature on aquaculture, poverty, and food security, and to broaden the scope of debate beyond them. The questions are as follows: to what extent do the resource-poor participate in aquaculture?; what is the relationship between participation in aquaculture and landownership and access?; what is the nature and extent of employment associated with different types of aquaculture?; how does aquaculture affect local food security?; and what are the effects of aquaculture development on well-being? An integrated quantitative-qualitative survey was conducted in six communities with contrasting patterns of aquaculture development. Data was collected from a representative cross section of village residents to gain insights into the impacts of aquaculture development at the local level, using a structured household survey (578 respondents) and in-depth interviews (165 informants). This approach generated many findings that contradict or add nuance to conventional understandings of aquaculture development. The most important of these are summarized in terms of poverty, landownership and tenure, employment, food security, well-being, and policy implications. It was concluded that small- and medium-producer-dominated forms of commercial aquaculture were the most significant engines for localized economic growth.
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Ratings for the Employment Generation Program for the Poorest Project (EGPP) for Bangladesh were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also satisfactory.
... Vea más + Some lessons learned included: the project served as a strategic entry point for the Bank on its policy dialogue in the social protection arena and, by enabling incremental and positive changes to the Program, it led to strong collaboration between the Bank and the Government and established the Bank as a credible partner in bringing relevant international good practice in building sound social protection systems in Bangladesh. This has resulted in a longer term programmatic engagement and continued dialogue on improving the design, implementation and monitoring of safety net programs. Although no external validation mechanism was put in place under the Project to measure and monitor results, the Bank team utilized Trust Fund resources to conduct independent spot-checks and operational assessments during each phase of the Program which enabled a positive feedback loop by identifying areas that required remedial measures and course correction, and thus informed necessary changes and updates to program guidelines. Operational assessments highlighted two potential areas of weakness in program administration, namely irregularities in recording attendance at work sites and payment mismanagement. An innovative pilot using mobile phones and Bangladesh Post Office cash cards for attendance verification and payment solutions demonstrated that while there may be initial hurdles, as would be expected with introducing any new technology, once beneficiaries understand how a new solution helps them directly (reduced processing time, greater transparency, etc.), there will be greater effort on their part to learn it more proactively.
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Informe final de ejecución y resultados ICR3276 DEC 15, 2014