Who bears the burden of social insurance? Evidence from Japanese health and long-term care insurance data

Using the society-managed health insurance data, which is cross-sectional time-series and covers 1670 health insurance societies for seven years (FY1995–2001), we found for the first time in Japan that the majority of the employers' contribution to health insurance is shifting back onto the employees in the form of wage reduction. On the other hand, we cannot find such evidence for the contribution to long-term care insurance using a two-year (FY2000–2001) panel data set. The difference can be theoretically explained by how employees value the contribution relative to social security benefits they enjoy. J. Japanese Int. Economies 18 (4) (2004) 565–581.     

Do TV-aided model lessons in class improve student performance? Evidence from public primary schools in Papua New Guinea

Lack of access to high-quality education remains a serious concern in many developing countries. This is especially the case for rural areas, including islands suffering from a shortage of skilled teachers and sufficient educational equipment. We examine the impact of introducing TV-aided model lessons in class to enhance the quality of teaching (the EQUITV project) on the national examination test scores of Mathematics and “Combined Subject” (a comprehensive subject comprising 30% science and 70% social studies and other topics) as well as English in the final year of primary education in Papua New Guinea. We employ a panel event study to capture the different timings of the intervention across schools over multiple time periods. We find that the project significantly and robustly improved test scores for girls only in English 3 years after the introduction of the project, but no improvement was seen for boys.     

On the inclusiveness of rural road improvement: Evidence from Morocco

This paper explores the heterogeneous impact of a rural road improvement project on the economic activities and living standards of households in Morocco. Road pavement improvements are expected to promote better market access, encourage the transformation of traditional agricultural activities, and create opportunities for new economic activities. However, benefits may not extend evenly across different groups, and the distributional consequences call for careful empirical investigation. We employ a difference-in-differences (DID) estimation using a household-level panel dataset collected under a quasi-experimental setting in the 2010s. We classify households into three groups based on asset holdings (rich, middle, and poor). We provide several new findings. First, there was no significant transformation of agricultural production or sales for all groups. Second, rich households increased hired agricultural labor and began paid employment while middle households started new family businesses. Poor households, however, did not enjoy these new employment opportunities except for a marginal increase in family businesses. Third, due to shifts in employment, the rural road renewal project improved household consumption 3%–4% annually for rich and middle households, an impact not clearly seen among poor households. Thus, our findings show that the economic benefits of rural road improvement might not be well-inclusive.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviews in This Article: Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Want: Social and. Economic. Implications of the Green Revolution by Andrew Pearse China's Transition to Industrialism: Producer Goods and Economic Development in the Twentieth Century by Thomas G. Rawski     

Transformation of international migrants in head wind: Evidence from Tajikistan in the 2010s

Tajikistan has relied on remittances by international migrants that have exceeded a quarter of annual GDP to date, despite a series of exogenous adverse events in the mid-2010s. We use a nationally representative panel dataset collected in 2013 and 2018 to explore the socio-economic characteristics of households with international migrants and migrants themselves. We provide several new findings. First, the prevalence of households with international migrants is 40%, with a substantial transition in migrant status during the research period. Second, households with international migrants are not poor, have Russian-speaking members, and are supported by an intense migration network. Third, younger, single, and more educated males comprise most of Tajikistan's international migrants. Fourth, households without Russian-speaking members or migration networks in 2013 had begun to send international migrants by 2018, while households in the richest group had exited from migration, suggesting s transition of the socio-economic composition of migrant-sending households during the mid-2010s.     

Solar-powered cold-storage and agrifood market modernization in Nigeria

Modern cooling technologies that utilize renewable energy sources have been increasingly recognized as promising tools to address various challenges emerging in progressively complex agrifood systems in developing countries. Knowledge gaps about the actual impacts of these technologies in developing countries remain, especially in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA). This study fills this knowledge gap by providing evidence from the evaluation of recent interventions in northeast Nigeria in which seven small solar-powered cold storages were installed across seven horticulture markets. Combinations of difference-in-difference (DID) and variants of propensity-score-based methods suggest that cold storage significantly increased horticulture sales volumes and revenues of market agents. Back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that increased net revenues for market agents may be sufficiently large to recoup cold storage investments and operating costs within a reasonable time frame. Using cold storage also reduced the share of food loss. It lengthened the products' shelf-life while raising prices received by market agents and farmers, which were associated with improved product quality, expanded value-adding activities by market agents, and increased use of advance payments.     

Inheriting the DNA of emergingness: Strategies of advanced market firms under emerging market ownership

Despite growing concerns about emerging market firms (EMFs)' acquisitions in advanced markets, the influences of emerging market ownership on advanced market firms (AMFs) as targets remain largely underexplored. This study aims to conceptually advance our understanding of the environmental adaptation strategies of AMFs under emerging market ownership, focusing on the strategic implications of the “emergingness” encapsulated in the resource transfer from EMF acquirers to AMF targets. Drawing on the institution-based view and resource-based view, this conceptual piece develops an Institution-Resource-Strategy framework and proposes two types of strategies for AMFs under emerging market ownership, namely arbitrage and avoidance, each comprising three varying tactics. We illustrate our propositions using three cases of Japanese firms under Chinese ownership. This study adds to the literature on internationalizing EMFs, the institution-based view of global strategies, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and offers managerial implications for emerging and advanced market stakeholders.     

Effects of COVID-19 restrictions on mechanization service providers and mechanization equipment retailers: Insights from phone surveys in Myanmar

Agrifood sector mechanization service providers (MSP) and mechanization equipment retailers (MER) have increasingly become the providers of mechanical technologies for smallholders in developing countries, including Myanmar. Evidence remains scarce on the effects of COVID-19 on these MSPs and MERs. This study provides insights into the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on MSPs and MERs in Myanmar, using unbalanced panel data from five rounds of phone surveys. Direct responses to COVID-19 involving movement restrictions, market disruptions, and growing financial challenges had significant negative effects on revenue prospects, service delivery, and sales of machines and equipment. Negative revenue prospects during a particular period can further hurt revenue prospects in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the hypotheses that MSPs who had incurred high sunk costs in machines can engage in more desperate and, thus, potentially suboptimal business practices to recover the sunk cost. Overall, policies to minimize movement restrictions and various financial struggles and mitigate any pessimism at the beginning of the production season are all important to make sure MSPs and MERs continue to function effectively under COVID-19.