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Can information and communications technology applications contribute to poverty reduction?
- Lessons from rural India. Information Technology for Development,
, 2003
"... Abstract Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can reduce poverty by ..."
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Abstract Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can reduce poverty by
The worldwide standard of living since 1800
- The Journal of Economic Perspectives
, 2000
"... B y many measures, a revolution in the human condition is sweeping theworld. Most people today are better fed, clothed, and housed than theirpredecessors two centuries ago. They are healthier, live longer, and are better educated. Women’s lives are less centered on reproduction and political democra ..."
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B y many measures, a revolution in the human condition is sweeping theworld. Most people today are better fed, clothed, and housed than theirpredecessors two centuries ago. They are healthier, live longer, and are better educated. Women’s lives are less centered on reproduction and political democracy has gained a foothold. Although western Europe and its offshoots have been the leaders of this advance, most of the less developed countries have joined in during the 20th century, with the newly emerging nations of sub-Saharan Africa the latest to participate. Although the picture is not one of universal progress, it is the greatest advance in the condition of the world’s population ever achieved in such a brief span of time. The purpose of this article is to sketch this worldwide change over the past two centuries in the standard of living, broadly conceived. I start with a short discussion of the standard of living concept, proceed to individual components of the stan-dard of living, and conclude with a few summary observations. The Concept of Standard of Living The concept of the standard of living has in recent decades increasingly approached the economists ’ idea of a utility function, in which well-being depends on a wide variety of pecuniary and nonpecuniary circumstances. Early in the post-World War II period, the standard of living was typically conceived in purely material terms—the goods and services at one’s disposal—called here the level of
Rethinking development economics
- World Bank Res. Observer
, 2011
"... Twelve years ago, when I was chief economist of the World Bank, I suggested that the major challenge to development economics was learning the lessons of the previous several decades: a small group of countries, mostly in Asia, but a few in other regions, had had phenomenal success, beyond anything ..."
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Twelve years ago, when I was chief economist of the World Bank, I suggested that the major challenge to development economics was learning the lessons of the previous several decades: a small group of countries, mostly in Asia, but a few in other regions, had had phenomenal success, beyond anything that had been anticipated by economists; while many other countries had experienced slow growth, or even worse, stagnation and decline-inconsistent with the standard models in economics which predicted convergence. The successful countries had followed policies that were markedly different from those of the Washington Consensus, though they shared some elements in common; those policies had not brought high growth, stability, or poverty reduction. Shortly after I left the World Bank, the crisis in Argentina-which had been held up as the poster child of the country that had followed Washington Consensus policies-reinforced the doubts about that strategy. The global financial crisis, too, has cast doubt over the neoclassical paradigm in advanced industrial countries, and rightly so. Much of development economics had been viewed as asking how developing countries could successfully transition toward the kinds of market-oriented policy frameworks that came to be called "American style capitalism." The debate was not about the goal, but the path to that goal, with some advocating "shock therapy," while others focused on pacing and sequencing-a more gradualist tack. The global financial crisis has now raised questions about that model even for developed countries. In this short essay, I want to argue that the long-term experiences in growth and stability of both developed and less developed countries, as well as the deeper theoretical understanding of the strengths and limitations of market economies, provide support for a "new structural" approach to development-an approach The World Bank Research Observer
Migrants as transnational development agents: an inquiry into the newest round of the migration–development nexus
- Population, Space and Place
, 2008
"... states structure the transnational spaces in which non-state actors are engaged in cross-border fl ows, leading towards a tight linkage between migration control, immigrant incorporation and development cooperation. ..."
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states structure the transnational spaces in which non-state actors are engaged in cross-border fl ows, leading towards a tight linkage between migration control, immigrant incorporation and development cooperation.
Electronic finance: Reshaping the financial landscape around the world
- Journal of Financial Services Research
, 2000
"... Because financial services are highly dependent on technology and well-suited to remote delivery, technological advances and the advent of the Internet are causing dramatic changes in the industry. This revolution could accelerate financial sector development by lowering the costs, increasing the br ..."
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Because financial services are highly dependent on technology and well-suited to remote delivery, technological advances and the advent of the Internet are causing dramatic changes in the industry. This revolution could accelerate financial sector development by lowering the costs, increasing the breadth and quality, and widening access to financial services. This paper analyses the changes in the industry and their implications for public policy. It finds that, over the long term, there will be an opportunity to reduce the financial sector safety net and correspondingly prudential regulation and supervision. Over the short term, authorities should be wary to extend the safety net. In addition, competition policy, consumer protection, and consumer education will become more important. Though these issues are more advanced in developed countries, they are quickly becoming more relevant in emerging markets. The authors are from the World Bank’s Financial Sector Strategy and Policy Group. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the World Bank, its executive directors, or its
Beyond access to ICTs: Measuring capabilities in the information society
- International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT
, 2006
"... This article discusses some development paradigms linked to the idea of an information society and explains how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen as a means to development. The article also looks at the concept of a ‘digital divide ’ and the universal access to ICT policies ..."
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This article discusses some development paradigms linked to the idea of an information society and explains how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen as a means to development. The article also looks at the concept of a ‘digital divide ’ and the universal access to ICT policies that are meant to address the problem. It elaborates on the limitations of how current policies address issues related to how people gain access to and use ICTs. Finally, the article proposes a model for applying Sen’s capability approach to analyze access to ICTs impact on development.
Economic Consequences of Income Inequality
"... Traditionally, economics has treated efficiency and equity as separable. The theoretical basis for their separation is the Second Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics, which holds that any Pareto efficient outcome can be implemented as a competitive equilibrium given the appropriate lump sum tax ..."
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Traditionally, economics has treated efficiency and equity as separable. The theoretical basis for their separation is the Second Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics, which holds that any Pareto efficient outcome can be implemented as a competitive equilibrium given the appropriate lump sum taxes and transfers. Policymakers have, for the most part, been happy to respect this separation. Nowhere is this separation greater than in representative agent models, which have been one of the dominant paradigms for studying business cycles, economic growth, and other macroeconomic phenomena. Not only do these models preclude us from studying the relationship between distribution and efficiency, but they also can be deeply misleading in the way they lead us to assess efficiency. Consider Robert Lucas’(1987) calculation, based on a plausible calibration of an infinitely lived representative agent model, that the utility from eliminating fluctuations in consumption is the equivalent to the utility from a permanent increase in the level of consumption by 0.1 percent—or roughly $20 per person in 1998 and growing with consumption thereafter. Looked at another way, using more calibrations from Lucas (1987), the additional utility from eliminating the business cycle is equivalent to the additional utility from boosting the growth rate by 0.005 percentage points per year. If this is true, then,
Fifty Years of Economic Development: What Have we Learned?
"... Before addressing the question of lessons of development, we must make clear at the outset the sense in which the term is used. Economic development, as distinct from mere economic growth, combines: (1) self-sustaining growth; (2) structural change in patterns of production; (3) technological upgrad ..."
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Before addressing the question of lessons of development, we must make clear at the outset the sense in which the term is used. Economic development, as distinct from mere economic growth, combines: (1) self-sustaining growth; (2) structural change in patterns of production; (3) technological upgrading; (4) social, political and institutional modernization; and (5) widespread improvement in the human condition. Kuznets used “development ” in the sense of the first three elements; development historians, new institutional development theorists and the neoclassical development economists of the eighties added increasing the sphere in which markets guide economic decisions (institutional modernization) to the Kuznetsian definition of development. Modernization theorists have added social and political development to the list of transformations that development entails while the deficient entrepreneurship school has added socio cultural evolution to the necessary aspects of development. Finally, the deficiencies of the concentrated growth process of the first two decades of economic growth have led those concerned with the welfare of the poor ( Mc Namara 1973, Adelman and Morris 1973; Adelman 1973, Streeten and Stewart 1976, Sen 1988 and the UNDP,1990 onwards) to add widespread improvements in national welfare explicitly to the list of characteristics of economic development
Multisectoral partnerships in e-learning: A potential force for improved human capital development
- in the Asia Pacific. The Internet and Higher Education,Volume 4, Issues 3–4
, 2001
"... Abstract Since their inception, a dominant characteristic of higher education institutions has been their reliance on the advantages conferred by geographic and political boundaries. However, emerging technologies and growing consumer power are challenging the status quo. The application of Interne ..."
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Abstract Since their inception, a dominant characteristic of higher education institutions has been their reliance on the advantages conferred by geographic and political boundaries. However, emerging technologies and growing consumer power are challenging the status quo. The application of Internet-based information and communication technologies in education -e-learning -is now making it possible for education to transcend space, time, and political boundaries. In e-learning, content and mode of delivery are increasingly defined by external groups: students as well as employers. The emergence of e-learning is weakening the dominance of traditional providers of higher and continuing education -nonprofit colleges and universities -and they are being challenged by a proliferation of alternative institutions and providers with the skills and attitudes required to succeed in the new educational marketplace. Partnerships will allow traditional suppliers and intermediaries to contribute from their respective comparative advantages. In a common emerging model, traditional universities provide the intellectual capital, content, and content support; evaluate student performance; and award appropriate degree credit or certification. Intermediaries contribute in such areas as hardware and software provision, instructional design for the Web, website and communication for maintenance, record keeping, teacher training, and technical support for courseware development and marketing. Although this trend is not yet well advanced in the Asia Pacific Region, there are already a few pioneers, and interest is strong and growing among the major stakeholder groups -traditional academic institutions, traditional students, emerging intermediaries, professionals with a need for continuing education, and private sector corporations with the need to provide educational opportunities for their workforce. Asia Pacific Regional Technology Centre (APRTC) is an example of an emerging intermediary organization. Its primary focus is on providing continuing educational opportunities for agricultural professionals throughout the Asia Pacific. It relies almost exclusively on e-learning for educational delivery and carries out its work through multisectoral partnerships. Initial experience indicates that the approach works in the region and is cost effective and that all partners and the clients can and do benefit from the collaboration. D
Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Malawi: A Case Study of Gliricidia Sepium and Maize1 by
"... 3In this study, we consider farmers who designed and managed technology trails on their farms. As such we consider experimenters as adopters and non-experimenters as non-adopters. Agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural system is being widely promoted all over the world especially in sub-Saharan ..."
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3In this study, we consider farmers who designed and managed technology trails on their farms. As such we consider experimenters as adopters and non-experimenters as non-adopters. Agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural system is being widely promoted all over the world especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates into the adoption of mixed inter-cropping agroforestry technology, Gliricidia sepium and maize, in Malawi. The differences between adopters and non-adopters of Gliricidia sepium in terms of their age, size of the family, extension contact, income sources and other socioeconomic variables are examined. Results from logistic analysis suggest that extension contact, size of the family, and age of the farmer are important variables in determining the adoption of agroforestry. It was observed that farmers modified technologies to suit their situation. This suggests that local participation is important in technology development.
