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Browsing by Subject "Development Economics"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Essays in Development Economics
    (2019-03) Goncalves Vidigal, Vinicius
    This dissertation consists of three essays in development economics. The first essay uses a panel of Brazilian colleges for the period 2002-2015 to estimate the impact of the Universidade para Todos (ProUni) need-based scholarship program on enrollment, dropout rate and academic performance of college students, based on a fixed effects approach. The results indicate that, overall, ProUni has had no statistically significant impact on either enrollment or dropping out. Yet, the program does seem to improve academic performance across all analyzed groups of majors, although this result is statistically significant for only one of the three groups. The second essay investigates the effects of the Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer program on labor force participation and weekly hours worked using a fixed effects approach applied to a larger and more recent census tract-level panel data set based on the PNAD surveys from 2001 to 2009. The results show that, in general, participation in Bolsa Familia increases labor supply on the extensive margin, but also marginally reduces labor supply on the intensive margin. It has a positive impact on both employment and unemployment rates. The results also suggest an increase in informal employment at the expense of formal sector employment. The third essay contributes to the literature by using a panel of Brazilian municipalities, covering the period 1999-2014, in conjunction with administrative data on participation in Bolsa Familia, to estimate the impact of that program on upper secondary school (grades 10 to 12) educational outcomes such as enrollment, promotion, dropout and repetition rates. The overall results indicate that the program increases enrollment and, after the expansion that included teenagers age 16 and 17, it reduces dropping out. It also slightly increases promotion, which is offset by an increase in the repetition rate, although neither of these estimates is statistically significant.
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    The Persistence of Female Genital Cutting in West Africa
    (2017-05) Novak, Lindsey
    Female genital cutting (FGC) is a practice in which a woman's genitalia are partially or totally removed for non-medical reasons. Undergoing FGC can have serious physical and psychological health consequences. Yet the practice persists in West Africa because of beliefs about beauty, cleanliness, purity, and fidelity. In my three dissertation essays, I (1) test the prevailing theory regarding why FGC persists and I reject that theory, (2) generate an new theoretical explanation for why the norm persists and test the theory with observational data, and (3) investigate the relationship between a woman’s characteristics (e.g., religion, education level, age) and her likelihood of opposing FGC even if she has undergone FGC herself.
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    Three Essays in Development Economics
    (2023-12) Vu, Khoa
    Vietnam has risen to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, yet the path to sustainable long-run economic growth remains elusive. This goal is further complicated by concerns about inequity and the recent global pandemic. In this dissertation, I tackle three important issues related to the quest for sustainable economic growth in Vietnam. I first examine whether expanding access to higher education has any impact on productivity at the worker level and firm level. I found that exposed workers are more likely to work in the service sector and, thus, the productivity of service firms rises in the long run. Second, I examine whether extending the maternity leave requirement has any implications on women's decisions to work in the formal sector. My findings indicate that women are more likely to move from informal work into formal jobs when the government extends the required maternity leave length from four months to six months. Third, I propose a new method to understand the impacts of the global pandemic on food security in Vietnam at a granular level.