Download or read book Spillover Effects of Targeted Subsidies written by Lenis Saweda Liverpool-Tasie and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-04-05 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though there is increasing evidence of the availability and potential of new agricultural technologies in Africa south of the Sahara, effective demand for them is still low. A recent refocus on increasing farmers’ use of modern technologies such as improved seed and chemical fertilizer has led to a resurgence of input subsidies for these products in many developing countries. One popular mechanism currently in use is input vouchers. Targeted input vouchers are intended to simultaneously improve the targeting of subsidies and develop demand in private markets. While there is growing evidence of the impact of targeted subsidies on private input demand, as far as we are aware no empirical studies have examined the spillover effects of targeted subsidies for just one input on the use of other complementary inputs with which there is low substitutability. Consequently, this study begins to fill this gap by exploring the effect of increasing access to subsidized fertilizer on farmers’ use of improved seed in Nigeria. Using a control function approach within a limited dependent variable framework, we explore the effect of receiving subsidized fertilizer on a farmer’s likelihood of using improved seed. The study finds evidence that increased access to subsidized fertilizer increased the likelihood of farmers using improved seed in Kano, Nigeria. This indicates that farmers are re-optimizing their use of other inputs in response to increasing availability of one input. This complicates the ability to isolate the returns to any one input when evaluating programs targeted at just one input. Our results were robust to various model specifications and indicate that there is a clear link between farmers’ use of improved seed and fertilizer in Kano, which could be leveraged in the development of input subsidy programs across Africa south of the Sahara.

Download or read book Spillover effects of targeted subsidies written by Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While there is growing evidence of the impact of targeted subsidies on private input demand, as far as we are aware no empirical studies have examined the spillover effects of targeted subsidies for just one input on the use of other complementary inputs with which there is low substitutability. Consequently, this study begins to fill this gap by exploring the effect of increasing access to subsidized fertilizer on farmers’ use of improved seed in Nigeria.

Download or read book Water Electricity and the Poor written by Kristin Komives and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the prevalence and variants of consumer subsidies found in the developing world and the effectiveness of these subsidies for the poor. It places consumer subsidies in a broader social protection framework and compares them with poverty-focused programmes in other sectors using a common metric. It concludes that the most common subsidy instruments perform poorly in comparison with most other transfer mechanisms. Alternative consumption and connection subsidy mechanisms show more promise, especially when combined with complementary non-price approaches to making utility services accessible and affordable to poor households. The many factors contributing to those outcomes are dissected, identifying those that can be controlled and used to improve performance.

Download or read book Energy Subsidy Reform written by Mr.Benedict J. Clements and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Energy subsidies are aimed at protecting consumers, however, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. This book provides the most comprehensive estimates of energy subsidies currently available for 176 countries and an analysis of “how to do” energy subsidy reform, drawing on insights from 22 country case studies undertaken by the IMF staff and analyses carried out by other institutions.

Download or read book Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana s Fertilizer Subsidy Program written by Houssou, Nazaire and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-02-10 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite improvements to the implementation regime of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy program, this paper shows that considerable challenges remain in ensuring that the subsidy is targeted to farmers who need fertilizer the most. Currently, larger-scale and wealthier farmers are the main beneficiaries of subsidized fertilizer even though the stated goal is to target smallholder farmers with fertilizer subsidies. The experience of other African countries suggests that the effectiveness of fertilizer subsidies can improve with effective targeting of resource-poor smallholders. However, targeting smallholder farmers entails significant transaction costs and may even be infeasible in some cases. Faced with such challenges, Ghanaian policy makers must ponder the question of how to improve the targeting of input subsidy programs in the country. Further research is needed to identify more cost-effective approaches for achieving the goal of targeting.

Download or read book Agricultural Input Subsidies written by Ephraim Chirwa and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.

Download or read book Targeting Technology to Reduce Poverty and Conserve Resources written by Travis J. Lybbert and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demand heterogeneity often makes it profitable for firms to price and promote goods and services differently in different market segments. When private consumption brings public benefits, this same heterogeneity can be used to target public subsidies. We explore the design of public–private targeting and segmentation strategies in the case of a resource-conserving agricultural technology in India. To understand farmers’ heterogeneous demand for laser land leveling (LLL), we conducted an experimental auction for LLL services with an integrated randomized controlled trial to estimate the private benefits of the technology. We use graphical and econometric approaches to characterize farmer demand for LLL. We then add detailed cost data from LLL providers to simulate and evaluate several potential targeted delivery strategies based on measures of (1) the cost-effectiveness of expanding LLL dissemination, (2) water savings, and (3) market surplus in a welfare framework. These simulations demonstrate inherent tradeoffs between increasing the amount of land that is leveled and expanding the number of farmers who adopt the technology, and between adoption and water savings. While segmenting and targeting are popular elements of many public–private partnerships to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies, formulating and implementing effective delivery strategies requires a rich understanding of costs, benefits, and demand. Our experimental approach generates such an understanding and may be relevant in other contexts.

Download or read book The Impact of Alternative Input Subsidy Exit Strategies on Malawi s Maize Commodity Market written by Mariam A. T. J. Mapila and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study has been conducted in order to generate evidence of the visibility of exit from farm input subsidies in an African context. The study simulates the impact of alternative exit strategies from Malawi’s farm input subsidy program on maize markets. The simulation is conducted using a multiequation partial equilibrium model of the national maize market, which is sequentially linked via a price-linkage equation to local rural maize markets. The model accounts for market imperfections prevailing in the country that arise from government price interventions. Findings show that some alternative exit strategies have negative and sustained impacts on maize yields, production, and acreage allocated to maize over the simulation period. Market prices rise steadily as a result of the implementation of different exit strategies. Despite higher maize prices, domestic maize consumption remains fairly stable, with a slow but increasing trend over the simulation period. Results further suggest that exit strategies that are coupled with improvements in agricultural extension services have the potential to offset the negative impacts of the removal or scaling down of agricultural input subsidies. The study findings demonstrate the difficulty of feasibly removing farm input subsidies. Study recommendations are therefore relevant for policymakers and development partners debating removal or implementation of farm input subsidies.

Download or read book Trade Spillovers of Domestic Subsidies written by Lorenzo Rotunno and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2024-03 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As governments resort to industrial policies to achieve economic and non-economic objectives, the number of subsidies implemented each year has more than tripled in the last decade. Using detailed data across a large number of advanced and emerging economies, we empirically investigate the effects of domestic subsidies on international trade flows. Estimates from a difference-in-difference specification show that on average subsidies promote both exports and imports. These effects are partly driven by selection into subsidies, as governments target export-oriented and import-competing products. The results however mask significant differences across countries. Specifically, exports of subsidized products from G20 emerging markets increase 8 percent more than exports of other products, with no evidence of selection. The gravity estimates confirm that subsidies promote international relative to domestic trade. These spillover effects are concentrated in some industries, such as electrical machinery, and are stronger when subsidies are given through tax breaks than other policy instruments. The subsidy-led rise in trade calls for international cooperation to manage risks of retaliatory actions and possible drifts towards a subsidy war.

Download or read book An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost Effectiveness of Biofortified High Provitamin A and High Iron Banana in Uganda written by John L. Fiedler and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uganda has made notable progress in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in recent years, but the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and anemia among children under 5 remain unacceptably high. According to World Health Organization criteria, VAD remains a public health problem in Uganda, and anemia is a severe problem. In this paper we explore the potential contribution to reducing both of these deficiencies using a genetically modified, high–provitamin A and high-iron banana (HPVAHIB) that is currently being developed. We present an ex ante analysis of the costs and nutritional benefits of HPVAHIB. Using the Ugandan National Household Survey of 2005/06, we analyzed the production and consumption patterns of highland cooking banana (nakinyika) and sweet banana (sukalindizi). Informed by the empirical findings, we developed geographically differentiated adoption, production, consumption, and diffusion patterns for several types of HPVAHIB. Based on households’ reported quantities of each type of banana currently consumed, we estimated the number of people consuming each banana and the quantities they consume, and then simulated the additional intakes of vitamin A and iron and estimated the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved attributable to each. Combining the health impacts with the estimated costs of the project, three impact measures of the HPVAHIB are developed: the cost per DALY saved, the benefit–cost ratio, and the internal rate of return. Eighteen scenarios are estimated. The base scenario, which includes only the biofortification of cooking banana with provitamin A at a level equal to 400 percent its intrinsic provitamin A content, estimates that the net present cost per DALY saved of HPVAHIB is US$62, its benefit–cost ratio is 16, and its internal rate of return is 31 percent. According to criteria established by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the HPVAHIB project is a “very cost-effective” health intervention.

Download or read book Government Subsidies written by Mr.Benedict J. Clements and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1995-09-01 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper addresses the problems of defining and measuring government subsidies, examines why and how government subsidies are used as a fiscal policy tool, assesses their economic effects, appraises international empirical evidence on government subsidies, and offers options for their reform. Recent international trends in government subsidy expenditure are analyzed for the 16-year period from 1975 to 1990, using general government subsidy data for 60 countries from the System of National Accounts (SNA) and central government expenditure on subsidies and other current transfers for 68 countries from Government Finance Statistics (GFS). The paper reviews major policy options for subsidy reform, focusing on ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of subsidy programs.

Download or read book Energy Subsidy Reform in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Trevor Serge Coleridge Alleyne and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-08-12 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reform of energy subsidies is an important but challenging issue for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. There is a relatively large theoretical and empirical literature on this issue. While this paper relies on that literature, too, it tailors its discussion to SSA countries to respond to the following questions: Why it is important to reduce energy subsidies? What are the difficulties involved in energy subsidy reform? How best can a subsidy reform be implemented? This paper uses various sources of information on SSA countries: quantitative assessments, surveys, and individual (but standardized) case studies.

Download or read book The Child Health Implications of Privatizing Africa s Urban Water Supply written by Katrina Kosec and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-05-10 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identifying policies which can improve water sector management is critically important given the global burden of water-related disease. Each year, 1 in 10 child deaths—roughly 800,000 in total—is the direct result of diarrhea. Can private-sector participation (PSP) in the urban piped water sector improve child health? The author uses child-level data from 39 African countries during 1986–2010 to show that introducing PSP decreases diarrhea among urban dwelling children under five years of age by 5.6 percentage points, or 35 percent of its mean prevalence. PSP also leads to greater reliance on piped water. To attribute causality, the author exploits time variation in the private water market share controlled by African countries’ former colonizers. A placebo analysis reveals that PSP does not affect symptoms of respiratory illness in the same children, nor does it affect a rural control group unaffected by PSP.

Download or read book Reaping Richer Returns written by Aparajita Goyal and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-03-10 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard. Choosing to catalyze a shift toward more effective, efficient, and climate-resilient public spending in agriculture can accelerate change and unleash growth. Not only does agricultural public spending in Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind other developing regions but its impact is vitiated by subsidy programs and transfers that tend to benefit elites to the detriment of poor people and the agricultural sector itself. Shortcomings in the budgeting processes also reduce spending effectiveness. In light of this scenario, addressing the quality of public spending and the efficiency of resource use becomes even more important than addressing only the level of spending. Improvements in the policy environment, better institutions, and investments in rural public goods positively affect agricultural productivity. These, combined with smarter use of public funds, have helped lay the foundations for agricultural productivity growth around the world, resulting in a wealth of important lessons from which African policy makers and development practitioners can draw. 'Reaping Richer Returns: Public Spending Priorities for African Agriculture Productivity Growth' will be of particular interest to policy makers, development practitioners, and academics. The rigorous analysis presented in this book provides options for reform with a view to boosting the productivity of African agriculture and eventually increasing development impact.

Download or read book Fuel and Food Price Subsidies Issues and Reform Options written by International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2008-08-09 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government price subsidies are pervasive in developed, emerging, and low-income countries. A subsidy is a form of government intervention resulting in a deviation of an actual price facing consumers and producers from a specified benchmark price. Subsidies affect consumption and production patterns as well as the distribution of resources, with important implications for the budget, expenditure composition, and long-term growth. They can and often do involve fiscal costs, but not all affect government fiscal accounts in the same way. Price subsidies have spillover effects onto prices and quantities in domestic, regional, or global markets. This paper discusses the key issues and policy options in the reform of subsidies for fossil fuels and selected food commodities, and their implications for the work of the Fund.

Download or read book Organizational and Institutional Issues in Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management written by Catherine Ragasa and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change places demand on existing governance structures to reform and work more effectively than in the past. In response, greater attention to and funding for climate change adaptation—including the efforts of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), the Least Developed Country Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the E.U. Global Climate Change Alliance—provide an opportunity for institutional, organizational, and human-capacity strengthening. This study was conducted to explore the challenges and opportunities for building human, organizational, and institutional capacity for more effective climate change adaptation in developing countries. It is part of a larger research project titled “Enhancing Women’s Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential for Group-Based Approaches,” which is being conducted to help organizations better understand ways in which development projects can assist rural households in adapting to and managing the effects of climate change. This report provides some reflections and insights on the level of awareness, practices, and organizational and institutional issues being faced by countries as they adapt to climate change, based on interviews with 87 practitioners working in government agencies, local organizations, international organizations, and think thanks reporting involvement in climate change adaptation. Data were collected in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali using both an e-survey platform and face-to-face interviews. Responses reveal active work within these organizations on climate change adaptation and emphasize their important role in the countries’ efforts to address and adapt to climate change. Responses also reveal strong awareness among these organizations of different aspects of climate change adaptation along the different stages in a climate change adaptation project cycle, which may be a reflection of the active discussions and awareness campaigns during NAPA development in these countries. However, despite the awareness and presence of national strategies and action plans, there seem to be no explicit and clearly defined policy and strategy within these organizations outlining their role in and contribution to the national and collective efforts and, more importantly, no explicit and measurable targets and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system to track progress and outcomes over time. Reported capacity gaps can be grouped into two categories: training needs and institutional challenges. In many organizations, there is limited awareness of and emphasis on the need for participation of target groups and beneficiaries during design and planning of climate change adaptation projects. In addition, many respondents reported a need for greater attention to issues related to profitability, financial sustainability, and market access from climate change project design to M&E. Finally, respondents emphasized that climate change projects should pay greater attention to gender, social, political, and cultural issues in their design and implementation. Reflections of respondents also highlighted the need for organizational capacity strengthening for those local organizations working in and providing services to rural communities, and for promoting a culture of impact and M&E within these organizations, in addition to the reported training needs in climate change management and in gender and social analysis. While this report provides some insights, further empirical analyses are needed to discover more details on strategies that could help trigger mind-set and organizational culture change and to capture the complexity of organizational and institutional issues hindering climate change adaptation efforts that aim at reducing vulnerability and contributing to development outcomes.

Download or read book Spillover Effects of China Going Global written by Joseph Pelzman and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-08-18 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the People's Republic of China (PRC) was granted Most Favored Nation (MFN) status by the United States in 1979, no one imagined the massive transformation the Chinese economy would make within a few decades. China's remarkable transition from merely being a “world factory”, to the source of the world's new R&D and product design and innovation since the 1980s is the key focus of Spillover Effects of China Going Global. In this insightful and unique book, Joseph Pelzman shows how the second largest world economy triggered off many spillover effects beyond mass-labour production of durable and non-durable goods — such as the provision of foreign aid to African, Latin American and Asian economies, and increasing focus on internal endogenous innovation, research and development. He provides a comprehensive look at these spillover effects and analyzes how they will undoubtedly bring positive opportunities for others within the rest of the world in the 21st Century.