via CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Focusing Behavioral Economics on Development Professionals.
The World Bank underrates the sense of initiative and personal responsibility of the poor
12 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in behavioural economics, development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: World Bank
Politics and disaster aid in the Philippines – The Washington Post
11 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economics of natural disasters, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: corruption, natural disaster relief, Philippines, rent seeking, Tacloban
The good news is that we find that fund allocations do indeed respond to the location and intensity of typhoons and tropical storms.
However, political ties between members of Congress and local mayors, specifically party and clan ties, are also associated with greater funding for a given municipality.
One of the most devastated cities in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan is Tacloban City, with a population of 221,174 people.
Our research suggests that for a municipality of this size, a match in party affiliation between the member of Congress and the mayor increases the distribution of funds by PHP 1.74 million ($40,000), while a match in clan affiliation increases this distribution by PHP 6.23 million ($142,000).
The result that clan ties have a much larger effect than party ties on the distribution of per capita reconstruction funds underscores the relative importance of clan loyalty in decision-making by Philippine congressional representatives.
via Politics and disaster aid in the Philippines – The Washington Post.
The politics of the Philippines’ vulnerability to natural disasters – The Washington Post
11 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economics of natural disasters, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: corruption, disaster relief, Philippines, rent seeking
Regrettably, we find no evidence that poverty, vulnerability to disasters, or other objective measures of infrastructure needs are determinants of road construction and repair expenditures at the local level.
Instead, our evidence highlights the importance of political connections and electoral strategies.
Consistent with the story in many other countries in the developing world, we find that mayors divert construction funding to electorally contested areas where they need to win more votes, while congressmen use their discretionary funding to shore up political connections by allocating funding to localities where the mayor is an ally.
via The politics of the Philippines’ vulnerability to natural disasters – The Washington Post.
Why 2013 Was The Best Year In Human History | ThinkProgress
11 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, health economics, liberalism Tags: The Great Fact
Clarifying the concept of envy & The Inevitability of Envy
09 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, growth disasters
Envy is an emotion that is essentially both selfish and malevolent.
It is aimed at persons, and implies dislike of one who possesses what the envious man himself covets or desires, and a wish to harm him [the envied]… There is in it also a consciousness of inferiority to the person envied…
He who has got what I envy is felt by me to have the advantage of me, and I resent it. Consequently, I rejoice if he finds that his envied possession does not give him entire satisfaction – much more, if it actually entails on him dissatisfaction and pain… (Schoeck, pg. 20-21)
via Cosmic Autonomy: Clarifying the concept of envy & The Inevitability of Envy.
Chinese electricity production is based on fossil fuels
08 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, politics - USA, population economics Tags: China
The role of bribery in the developing world
08 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, growth miracles, rentseeking Tags: bribery and corruption
Who chooses to be a vegetarian?
06 Dec 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economics of media and culture, growth disasters, growth miracles, population economics, technological progress Tags: food snobs, growth disasters, growth miracles, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
Benjamin Powell, In Defense of “Sweatshops”
29 Nov 2014 1 Comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational regulation Tags: Ben Powell, development economics, do gooders, sweatshops
The Role of Envy in a Free Society | Students For Liberty
29 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, growth disasters
In a chapter entitled “The Envy-Barrier of the Developing Countries,” Schoeck details some fascinating anthropological work of the early and mid 20th century which reveals the presence of envy in less developed societies.
He cites the work of William Watson, an anthropologist who studied tribal cohesion of the Mambwe people of Northern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) in the early 50s.
At the time, their culture was undergoing considerable change as they began to adopt a money economy and work in copper mines and nearby towns.
Watson writes about the experiences of men who had left their tribes to seek education in nearby missionary schools and to find work in the town’s emerging market economies.
The wealth that these men acquired was not exactly welcomed when they would return.
Rather, it was viewed by fellow tribespeople with suspicion and accusations of envious black magic, as any increase in an individual’s wealth was considered positively correlated with their ability to hurt their neighbors
via The Role of Envy in a Free Society | Students For Liberty.
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