Gender Inequality in Employment in Mozambique

We investigate the gender employment gap in the expanding non‐subsistence sector of the economy in Mozambique, a country still characterized by a large subsistence agricultural sector. We show evidence that the gender gap has widened over time and we identify two structural factors strongly associated with it. One factor is the still relatively lower level of female human capital, with less attained education, as well as literacy and Portuguese proficiency rates. The lower conditional employment probabilities of married women, as compared with men, is the other factor. These findings point at expanding women´s education and facilitating the access of married women to the emerging labour market as the most effective ways of achieving a more inclusive growth path that does not leave women behind.     

Health provider choice and implicit rationing in healthcare: Evidence from Mozambique

An analysis of health provider choice together with a model of implicit rationing in healthcare is presented using Mozambique as a case study. We make use of the Mozambican Household Surveys on Living Conditions 2002/3 and 2008/9. Updated and sometimes contrasting results with respect to similar analyses on older Mozambican data are obtained. In particular, we find that the role of income is more important in 2002/3 and in 2008/9 than it was in 1996/7. In consequence, we further expand the analysis by studying how socioeconomic disparities among other factors influence implicit rationing in healthcare. When using the 2008/9 survey only, moderate evidence that some sort of implicit healthcare rationing is in place is found; that is, some people do not seek care because they foresee they will not be granted quality healthcare access or treatment.     

Economic impacts of developing a biofuel industry in Mozambique

ABSTRACT

Mozambique is one of the most promising African countries for producing biofuels and the national biofuel policy of 2009 identifies measures to incentivize biofuel production. Demand for biofuels in the Southern African Development Community is expected to increase over the next few years as 7 of its 15 member states have implemented or proposed the implementation of blending mandates by 2020. South Africa is one of these countries. Using a dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we estimate the impacts of expanding biofuel production in Mozambique under both commercial and smallholder-type farming models, including and excluding bagasse cogeneration.     

Aspects of profitability that influence smallholder cash-crop preferences in northern Mozambique

This study analyses profitability in terms of relationships between various aspects, indicators and cash-crop cultivation preferences. Both financial and pragmatic aspects of profitability were found to be related to cash-crop preferences. Apart from the need to promote a crop with a good farm gate price and to reduce production and marketing costs, promoters need to strengthen the wider system by supporting profitability as well as household consumption requirements. The correlation between indicators of expected profitability improved as more financial and pragmatic aspects were incorporated. Smallholder farmers' rankings of profitability correlated better with cash-crop preferences when the analysis incorporated more aspects of profitability. In addition, the results indicated the institutional support needed to improve the profitability of cash crops. This simple method of identifying smallholder preferences for one cash crop among many is of paramount importance in the design of strategies for improving agricultural market participation.     

Inequality of opportunity in earnings in rural China

This paper explores the role of ‘inequality of opportunity’ in individual earnings in rural China, which is attributed to ‘circumstantial’ factors over which individuals have no control, including family background, gender, ethnic minority status and region of birth. These circumstances are contrasted with ‘efforts’ or choices that individuals make, which also impact on their individual earnings. Utilising the China Labour-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) 2014, I measure the share of inequality of opportunity in the overall inequality of individual annual earnings for the entire sample and for each of four ten-year birth cohorts in rural China. The empirical results revealed that the share of inequality of opportunity in individual earnings for the full sample is 20.4% of the GE(0) coefficient. The adoption of machine learning methods provides a wide range of estimates between 16.4% (regression tress) and 25.4% (forests). Across all birth cohorts, gender is consistently the largest single contributor to inequality of opportunity, while family background is relatively more important for younger cohorts. A closer investigation indicates that those who find themselves in the worst circumstances are likely to exert lower level of effort, not because they don’t want to try harder, but because their circumstances prevent them from doing so.     

Literacy Practices and Schooling: A Case Study from Mozambique

A novel approach to the assessment of literacy is used to tackle the issue of effectiveness of years of schooling. The dichotomy inherent in the literacy rate is rejected in favor of a “practice-based” approach, which considers literacy as a multifaceted phenomenon as advocated in anthropological and economic research. Primary data collected in the poorest region in Mozambique suggest that years of schooling have a differentiated impact on acquired literacy practices of adults. Results that are robust to different specifications are reported.     

所有制结构变迁与中国城镇劳动收入差距演变——基于“估计-校准”的方法

本文通过构建一个包括个体职业选择的理论模型,刻画了所有制结构变迁过程中中国城镇劳动收入差距扩大的内在机制。模型揭示,在劳动力市场转型过程中,工资决定机制的不同将导致高人力资本者从公有部门“跳槽”到私有部门;人才的流失反过来又促使公有部门对自身进行改革,迫使低人力资本者“下岗”流向私有部门。基于1995、1999和2002年的微观数据和最新发展起来的“估计一校准”方法,本文对模型参数进行了估计和校准。计量估计结果表明,私有部门的教育回报率高于公有部门,这构成了劳动力从公有部门向私有部门转移的基本动力。数值模拟结果表明,1995—2002年间中国城镇劳动收入差距演变的90％应该归结于所有制结构变迁。公有部门工资决定机制改革导致公有部门内部劳动收入差距扩大,却降低了整体劳动收入差距。     

重工业优先发展战略、城市化和城乡工资差距

本文从理论上分析了政府重工业优先发展战略对城市化和城乡工资差距的影响。文章证明,落后国家推行重工业优先发展战略将导致更低的城市化水平和更高的城乡工资差距。在静态框架下,重工业优先发展战略将导致单位资本吸纳的劳动力减少,城市就业水平降低;由于城市吸纳劳动力减少,农业从业人员增加,农村工资水平下降,城乡工资差距拉大;赶超程度越大,城市就业越少,城市化水平越低,城乡工资差距越大。在动态框架下,落后国家推行重工业优先发展战略将降低资本积累率,导致更慢的城市化进程和更持久的城乡工资差距;赶超程度越大,城市化进程越慢,城乡工资差距缩小越慢。     

Increasing employability in the emerging tourism sector in Mozambique: Results of a qualitative study

Mozambique’s tourism sector could play a key role in the country’s socio-economic development, especially in the region of Cabo Delgado where the demand for tourist services is expected to increase. Nonetheless, several constraints (e.g. the lack of adequate training) are hindering the capacity of local people to take full advantage of this opportunity. Qualitative research has been performed in order to align vocational training programmes with the needs of the emerging tourism sector. Local and foreign key informants were interviewed in order to gain a better understanding of training needs and to gain insights into developing training programmes that can enhance local people’s employability. The main findings highlight the lack of symbolisation of tourism and its correlates from local communities. Therefore, rather than just delivering technical skills, training programmes should also promote a ‘culture of tourism’ and a more favourable attitude towards ‘working in the tourism sector’.     

Intrahousehold and Interhousehold Child Nutrition Inequality in Malawi

This paper investigates whether child nutrition inequalities are attributable to differences between households or differences within households in Malawi. Child nutrition is measured using height‐for‐age z‐scores. The empirical analysis uses the 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data. We find evidence of within household nutritional differences along gender, age and birth order lines in Malawi. The results for rural and urban areas as well as religious groups show that nutrition inequalities largely stem from differences within households. Both intrahousehold and interhousehold nutrition inequalities are unexplained by observable factors.     

The limited role of small stock exchanges in economic development: A case study of Mozambique and Swaziland

The establishment of a successful stock market in a developing economy can provide a major source of development finance, both channelling domestic savings and attracting foreign investment. But small markets generally fail. Two micro-markets, Mozambique and Swaziland, provide an interesting case study to examine the features of new markets in sub-Saharan Africa that differ in a number of ways, including colonial legacy, membership of the Common Monetary Area and the dynamics of the political economy that defines the links between the citizens, the local elite and the state. In both countries, the operational aspects of the stock exchange are clearly inadequate as a means of promoting international investment. Thus, gains from regional integration initiatives or foreign investment are unlikely, as the market's small size and incomplete institutions currently offer limited potential for either domestic or international risk diversification. However, the political economy in both countries is the real barrier to growth.     

Contract Farming in Mozambique: Implications for Gender Inequalities Within and Across Rural Households

This paper analyses the implications of contract farming for gender inequalities in rural Mozambique. Contract farming is often considered one of the major tools of agribusiness development. It broadly includes those arrangements under which producers commit to providing cash crop to a buyer firm. This paper exploits a panel dataset (2002–2005) collected by the Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture among a nationally representative sample of rural households to explore contracts’ implications for gender equality both across and within households. We look at both the participation of female‐headed households in contracts and the impact of establishing a contract on a set of intra‐household women empowerment indicators. Concerning the first, our results confirm a (small though significant) effect of selection out of contracts of households where a woman is the household’s head. With regard to the second, we expect contrasting effects to be at work: on the one hand, increased income may relax budget constraints improving women’s living conditions, and on the other, we may expect a shift in favour of men of the control over the household’s assets. We find different results according to the indicator used; after controlling for selection bias, we find no effect on control over land but a negative effect on women’s access to extension services.     

技术革新、产业层级分工与工资差异

本文在一般均衡的框架中,运用匹配与分类的思想,综合考虑了技术变革所引起的沟通成本的降低和技术进步对劳动力技能产生的“技能贬值”效应,将技术进步、产业组织结构变化与工资差距三者相结合建立模型。该模型能够将产业组织架构内生化,对不同能力的员工进行生产职能分配,并能给出技术变革与工资水平差距的内在联系;同时,本文利用珠三角的经济发展事实对以上模型结论提供了经验证据。     

通货膨胀与收入不平等关系的研究——基于信贷市场不完美的视角

在修正的现金预付经济中,考虑信贷市场不完美因素后,本文从理论上预言了通货膨胀与收入不平等之间的正向关系,且这种正向关系在某些条件下是U形关系.模型预言存在一个“最优”通货膨胀率,使得该通货膨胀率不会加大收入不平等.模型的理论预言与大量实证研究文献是符合的.我们的模型可以解释基于时间序列和基于截面数据的不同实证研究研究结果存在差异的原因.     

西部少数民族地区农村收入不平等分析——基于云南红河州农村住户数据

本文基于云南红河州农户调查数据,采用多层统计分析方法对西部少数民族地区农村收入不平等进行分析。研究发现,收入不平等不仅存在于乡镇之间,还存在内部家庭之间;地理地势是影响农户在乡镇之间收入差异的重要因素,而土地、种植结构、资本投入、教育、工资比重、负担率、培训、非农产业参与率反映了农户之间的个体差异。研究结果表明,发展区域特色经济、实现农业产业化经营是减少收入不平等的重要途径。