In response to calls for finer targeting of spending to alleviate poverty in developing countries, this paper discusses the principles of targeting. The ideal solution is that all transfers go to the poor. However, this is unrealizable because of three factors: (a) the costs of administration...

The authors provide an economic framework to analyze investment in informal housing in developing countries. They consider a simple model of investment in the housing market where investors can choose between two sectors-the formal sector, where physical investment faces no risk of destruction,...

The model presented in this paper is in between RMSM-X and RMSM-XX in that, unlike RMSM-X, it does incorporate behavioural functions for the main macroeconomic variables, namely private consumption, private investment, money demand, demand for quasi money,export supply, and import demand....

After decades of heavy trade restrictions, fiscal distortions, and currency overvaluation, Cameroon implemented important commercial and fiscal policy reforms. Almost simultaneously, a major CFA devaluation cut the international price of Cameroon's currency in half. The authors examine the...

Paqueo and Gonzalez look at the determinants of health-seeking behavior of the Mexican population and within this context focus on the effect of ethnicity. They address the following questions: To what extent are the indigenous people at a disadvantage health care-wise and in what particular...

The authors provide a simple introduction to the economics of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) and use available empirical evidence to examine its impact on exports of garments and textiles, focusing on India. Their review of the basic economics of the MFA shows the discriminatory character of...

The purpose of this paper is to identify public policy and program interventions that can increase real rural wage rates and hence reduce rural poverty. Rural wages can only increase if the demand for rural labor grows faster than its supply. The report states that whether public policies...

This paper examines the effect of crude oil prices on the prices of 35 internationally traded primary commodities for the 1960-2005 period. It finds that the pass-through of crude oil price changes to the overall non-energy commodity index is 0.16. At a more disaggregated level, the fertilizer...

Poverty maps, providing information on the spatial distribution of living standards, are an important tool for policy making and economic research. Policymakers can use such maps to allocate transfers and inform policy design. The maps can also be used to investigate the relationship between...

This paper provides empirical estimates of the impacts of natural disasters on different forms of capital (with a focus on human and intangible capital and natural capital), and on real gross domestic product per capita. The types of disaster considered are droughts, earthquakes, floods, and...