Emmanuel Jimenez

HOW RESPONSIVE ARE PRIVATE TRANSFERS TO INCOME? EVIDENCE FROM A LAISSEZ-FAIRE ECONOMY

In recent years there has been rapidly growing interest in the implications of altruistic preferences for economic behavior. Undoubtedly most of this interest is fueled by altruisms often pivotal role in economic models and policy issues. Yet there is also an emerging consensus that empirical evidence for altruistic preferences--as specified in the seminal models of Becker and Barro- -is lacking, at least for the United States. The failure to find strong evidence for altruism flies in the face of what seems to be an eminently commonsensical proposition about behavior. A possible reason for the lack of evidence for altruism in a developed country like the United States is that its substantial public transfers may have already crowded out private ones to a large extent, rendering the remaining small samples uninformative about altruism. In this paper we focus on a country with extremely limited public income redistribution, the Philippines. We examine a model that nests the Becker-Barro model of altruism and predicts that the relationship between private transfers and pre-private-transfer income will be non-linear, taking the form of a spline. We estimate this model by non-linear least squares, treating the threshold (knot point) as an unknown parameter, using recently developed econometric techniques. This allows a rigorous econometric test of the altruism hypothesis. We find that private transfers are widespread, highly responsive to household economic status and conform to patterns implied by altruistic utility interdependence. In particular, among the poorest households, we estimate that decreases in pre-private- transfer income would prompt large increases in private transfers. Our findings have significant policy implications, because they imply that attempts to improve the status of the poor could be thwarted by private responses. Some of the gains from public transfers would be shared with richer households whose burden of support for their less fortunate kin is eased. So the problems that altruistic preferences create for public income redistribution, first pointed out by Becker and Barro over 20 years ago, do indeed matter empirically.

The relative effectiveness of private and public schools : evidence from two developing countries

This report reviews quality estimates between private and public secondary schools in Colombia and Tanzania. Quality is measured by student performance on standardized achievement tests. Estimated sample selection effects suggest that Colombian students sort themselves by type of institution (private or public), but Tanzanian students appear to be selected by a hierarchical mechanism, with the worst students entering private institutions. These effects are consistent with the different institutional frameworks for educational choice in these countries. For each country, private schools offer an achievement advantage. By standardizing for differences in student and school attributes, private school students have higher achievement test scores.

THE DEMAND FOR TENURE SECURITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract We use survey data for Manila, the Philippines, to estimate hedonic functions for formal and squatter housing values. We show that on average a rented squatter unit in Manila would rent for 15 percent more if it were a formal sector unit. An owned squatter unit would sell for 25 percent more if it were a formal sector unit. These percentages are interpreted as eviction risk discount for squatter dwellings. We conclude that assistance projects that provide secure tenure over a wide area will bestow comparatively greater benefits on lower income households, and to those in newer less established settlements, since the risks that they bear initially are greater.

Do local contributions affect the efficiency of public primary schools

Abstract Are public schools that rely on local resources for a greater share of their financing more cost-effective? Could financial decentralization lead to more efficient schools? This paper attempts to answer these questions using cost, financial sources and student achievement data from Philippine primary schools, which are financed primarily from central sources but which also raise funds from other sources, to differing degrees. It concludes that schools which rely more heavily on local sources, such as contributions from the local school board, municipal government, parent-teacher associations (PTA) and other sources are more efficient—i.e. have lower cost, holding constant for enrollment and quality. A 1% increase in the share of financing coming from local sources will lead to a decline in total costs of 0.135%, or about the cost of providing for a place for one more student.

The Value of Squatter Dwellings in Developing Countries

Estima que un 20 a 30 por ciento de la poblacion en las grandes ciudades asiaticas, al igual que en el Africa y America Latina, siendo la proporcion mayor en estas ultimas, viven en comunidades ilegalmente establecidas. Trata de encontrar la forma de hacer una tasacion justa del inmueb

Enhancing Girls' Learning through Single-Sex Education: Evidence and a Policy Conundrum.

A key consideration in the policy debate on the appropriate role of single-sex education in predominantly coeducational school systems is relative benefit for male and female students. This paper analyzes the relative performance of single-sex education and coeducation in Thailand in enhancing eighth-grade male and female student scores on standardized mathematics tests, holding constant student background, peer, and school characteristics. Its main conclusions are that (a) single-sex schooling is more effective for female students and coeducational schooling is more effective for male students in improving student performance in mathematics and (b) these differentials are largely due to peer effects rather than to specific characteristics of single-sex and coeducational classrooms or schools.

The specification of earnings functions : tests and implications

Many studies of the returns to education have relied on the Mincerian specification for the earnings function. This study uses data from a random sample of adult male workers of the 1980 Brazilian census to test the empirical validity of the assumptions embodied in this specification, with the following findings: the evidence supports the assumption that the appropriate regressand is the logarithm of earnings, but it does not support the implicit assumption that there is no interaction between the effects of education and work experience, or the assumption that a single function is appropriate for modelling both early and mature earnings. The authors find that the Mincerian specification leads to upwardly biased estimates of the returns to education, particularly at the primary level.

Squatters' Rights and Urban Development: An Economic Perspective

Up to 35 percent of urban dwellers in third world cities are squatters. The characteristics of the squatting phenomenon are both varied and puzzling. Of particular interest are the observations that (1) landowners often do not collect rent from squatters for use of the land and (2) costly evictions are sometimes used without subsequent development of the land, which in many cases is resettled by squatters. The authors present an economic model of landowner-squatter interaction which is consistent with these observations. This model is then used to enlighten certain aspects of socially optimal land management policy for squatter areas. Copyright 1991 by The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Public for private: the relationship between public and private school enrollment in the Philippines

Abstract To overcome market failures due to externalities or lack of an effective credit market, countries often try to improve access to education by providing more public school places. However, if there is already an active private sector, then some of the public expansion may draw away students who may have gone to school anyway. This would attenuate any efficiency gains. This paper estimates this crowding-out effect for the Philippines, a country with a large private education sector. Using regional data over the past 10 years, we estimate that the large expansion in the public secondary education sector is negatively associated with private secondary enrollment. The range of the response is around four or five fewer private school students for an increase of 10 public school students. On the other hand, the crowding-out effect is insignificant at the primary and tertiary levels.

Does community management help keep kids in schools? Evidence using panel data from El Salvador's EDUCO program

This article investigates how community management of schools can affect educational outcomes as measured by retention rates. In our model, parents make decisions about whether or not their children should remain in school, and they monitor the performance of the teachers. We analyze a unique data set from El Salvador, which expanded the role of communities in school management through its Educación con Participación de la Comunidad (EDUCO) program. While we use nonrandomized data, we carefully examine biases arising from endogenous program placements and program self-selection. We find that EDUCO had a positive and robust influence on students, encouraging them to continue their schooling. Our results suggest that community participation, a better classroom environment, and careful teacher management are largely responsible for the positive effect of the EDUCO program. We conclude that in El Salvador the decentralization of responsibilities to communities seems to have had significant positive effects on school continuation.