The Determinants of Child Labour and Child Schooling in Ghana

This paper investigates the main determinants of child labourand child schooling in Ghana, with special reference to theirinteraction. The study provides evidence on the impact of povertyand quality of schooling on child labour hours, taking intoaccount their potential endogeneity. The exercise distinguishesbetween cluster poverty and household poverty in the two-stageHeckman estimation procedure. In addition, it relies on a setof non-common regressors to identify the child labour hoursregression from the selection equation. Other methodologicalfeatures include simultaneous equations estimation of childlabour, child schooling and poverty, taking into account theirjoint endogeneity. The empirical results contain some evidenceof sharp rural urban differences, thus, pointing to the needto adopt region specific policies in enhancing child welfare.However, rural, semi-urban and urban Ghana agree on the effectiverole that improved school attendance can play in curbing childlabour.     

Core Labour Standards and FDI: Friends or Foes? The Case of Child Labour

We test the often-cited hypothesis that high levels of child labour attract foreign investors. Using panel data we show the overall effect which child labour has on foreign direct investment (FDI) to be a (small) negative one. We find strong evidence for the theoretical prediction that child labour deters FDI by slowing down economic development. Weaker evidence is provided for our theoretical prediction that child labour can discourage FDI via its impact on the availability of a skilled labour force in an economy. The data do not indicate that high levels of child labour drive down the factor share of labour, thereby increasing the attractiveness of an economy for foreign investors. JEL no. C33, F23, J82     

政府作用与家庭财产普遍增加

本文分析了实现家庭财产普遍增加必须强调政府作用的原因,进而初步探究了在我国进一步完善社会主义市场经济体制的现阶段,政府为实现家庭财产普遍增加应采取的主要政策。     

Child Labour in the Philippines: Determinants and Effects

This paper analyses the supply-side socioeconomic determinants of child labour in the Philippines using data from the National Household Survey and the Labour Force Survey of the Philippines. The research methodology is that of a sequential probit model which assumes that household decisions are made in a hierarchical manner. Using this model, the impact of various household and economic characteristics on the probability of child labour is estimated. The findings highlight specific populations that should be targeted, for example, single working mothers in urban areas and poor households in rural areas. Working towards elimination of child labour will involve a multi-angled policy approach with policies complementing each other.     

Child Labour: a survey of selected Asian countries

While the African continent has the highest child labour force participation rates, Asia contains the largest pool of child workers. The nature, magnitude and decline in child labour vary sharply between Asian countries. East Asia now has little child labour; however, child labour continues to have a significant presence in South Asia and in parts of Southeast Asia. This paper surveys the literature on child labour in selected Asian countries, paying special attention to its causes and consequences. The evidence presented shows that Asian child labour, especially in South and Southeast Asia, has some common features. For example, the bulk of child labour is in the 10–14 years age group. The phenomenon is largely rural, and child domestic labour constitutes a significant share. The participation rate of Asian children in the 15–17 years age group in economic activities, 48.4 per cent, is the highest in the world. There is a significant gender element in Asian child labour with boys outnumbering girls in economically active work, while the reverse is the case with domestic child labour. A focus of the survey is the empirical findings that provide insights into the policy instruments that may be needed in combating this phenomenon. The survey also discusses some of the important international and national initiatives that have been taken to reduce child labour.     

农用地保护的长效路径研究

我国农用地的非农转让限制始终在此消彼长的平衡中艰难前进。现实中的农用地转用途径包括城市建设占用、农村产业化与工业化占用、小产权房和宅基地流转占用以及粗放利用。行政的、经济的、法律的、教育的保护手段没有达到预想的保护目标,有效的农用地保护途径是通过加强农业基础与应用技术转化、农业衍生产品研究、农业投资等,促使农用地和建设用地的收益比以及农用地与建设用地价格比落在一个合理的区间内,使农用地保护变成市场主体的自觉行为。     

Explaining the High Incidence of Child Labour in Sub–Saharan Africa

There has been a growing interest on the issue of child labour among the academic and professional circles in recent times. Estimates show that the number of under–aged working children in Africa could reach some 100 million in the next 10–15 years, posing serious challenges to African policy–makers. Little is known about the likely causes for the rise in child labour in Africa. The lack of data has seriously undermined the amount and quality of research on the topic particularly in sub–Saharan Africa. The intent of the present study is to examine the link between children’s labour force participation and some macroeconomic variables using aggregated data from sub–Saharan Africa. The results show that the high incidence of child labour in sub–Saharan Africa could be explained, among other things, in terms of the high incidence of poverty, the predominance of a poorly developed agricultural sector, high fertility rates leading to high population growth, and low education participation. Contrary to some recent arguments, which questioned the direct link between poverty and child labour, the results of this study show that poverty is indeed one of the most important reasons for the high incidence of child labour in Africa. This complex problem calls for comprehensive and multi–faceted interventions including the adoption of poverty reduction strategies, introduction of labour–saving technologies for the agricultural production, an aggressive provision of primary education, and the mobilization of the communities for creating awareness. Ces dernières années, la problématique du travail des enfants a suscié un intérÁt croissant dans les cercles académiques et professionnels. Selon les estimations, le nombre d’enfants mineurs qui travaillent en l’Afrique pourrait atteindre quelque 100 millions au cours des dix è quinze prochaines années, ce qui pose un défi majeur pour les décideurs politiques africains. On sait peu de choses sur les causes probables de l’incidence croissante du travail des enfants en Afrique. Le manque de données a un effet négatif tant sur la quantité que sur la qualité des recherches sur le sujet, en particulier en Afrique subsaharienne. La présente étude a pour objet d’examiner les liens entre la participation des enfants au marché du travail et plusieurs variables macroéconomiques en se basant sur des données agrégées provenant d’Afrique subsaharienne. Les résultats indiquent que la forte incidence du travail des enfants en Afrique subsaharienne découle notamment de la forte incidence de la pauvreté, la prédominance d’un secteur agricole peu développé, les taux de fertilitéélevés entraÑnant une forte croissance démographique, et les faibles taux de scolarisation. Contrairement è ce que laissent entendre des arguments avancés récemment, qui mettent en cause le lien direct entre la pauvreté et le travail des enfants, les résultats de cette étude montrent que la pauvreté est en effet l’une des causes majeures de la forte incidence du travail des enfants en Afrique. Ce problème complexe appelle des interventions globales et multiples, axées notamment sur l’adoption de stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté, l’introduction de technologies génératrices d’économie de main d’uvre pour la production agricole, un programme agressif de scolarisation au niveau primaire, et la mobilisation des communautés pour la sensibilisation.     

Land Reform and Farm Production in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam*

Economic theory suggests that increased tenure security will lead to increased productivity. However, existing literature on the relationship between land tenure and land productivity provides inconclusive evidence. The present paper analyzes the impact of land reform on chemical fertilizer use and land productivity of rural farms in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam using a panel dataset collected before and after land reform. The results show that land reform has positive effects on both chemical fertilizer use and land productivity, but the level of influence is different between land privatization and land titling. Relevant policy implications are thus derived for the promotion of farm production in the region.     

人民币升值的财富效应研究

人民币升值的影响广泛而深远,其所产生的财富效应是不容忽视的重要方面。其传导渠道表现为,通过物价变动效应、资产选择效应、收入预期效应、资产重估效应和投资变动效应来影响居民收入和消费信心,进而影响消费。通过以消费函数为基础构建计量模型进行协整检验,表明当前人民币升值对居民消费的影响甚微,暂时还不存在财富效应。但利用人民币升值增加居民财富,扩大消费是未来可考虑的对策。     

农村土地的金融制度创新及其角色担当

农村土地金融创新具有其理论依据和现实意义,有单一土地银行制、多头土地银行制、农村土地合作社+内置金融+外置金融、农村土地合作社+股份质押四种形式可供选择。而城市土地金融制度创新多以城市土地储备中心为基础展开,包括城市土地储备中心+土地债券、土地储备中心+土地信托、城市土地储备中心+土地基金、土地银行四种。同时,土地金融制度创新还需实现土地金融与其他金融之间的互动。     

越南农村土地制度革新:历程、特点及启示

本文分析了越南农村土地制度革新的演变历程,归纳出越南农村土地制度革新的三个特点:制度变迁的渐进性及其法律匹配、制度安排的弹性特征与分类处理、产权权能的物权属性与清晰界定。并以越南改革经验为借鉴,提出了在中国新一轮的思想解放中农村土地制度创新的若干启示和建议。     

“双二元”就业制度中的农村劳动力转移——基于劳动力市场结构的政府作用分析

我国劳动力就业制度不仅呈现出“二元化”特征，而且更是“双二元”特征；劳动力市场供求结构失衡的长期存在是二元化特征形成的市场原因。市场机制不能自行调整，只有通过政府力量介入农村教育资源配置过程，引导私人资本进入农村教育市场，实现农村的人力资本禀赋积累增长，才能够从根本上消除我国劳动力市场配置体制中的“双二元”特征。最后，提出相应的应对措施建议。