Pundarik Mukhopadhaya

Poverty Alleviation and Service Delivery: Government and Non-government Organizations in Rural Bangladesh

This paper develops and validates a two-dimensional multi-item scale that captures features related to “credibility” and “focus towards beneficiaries” of government organizations (GO) and non-government organizations (NGO) in the service delivery process of poverty alleviation programmes in rural Bangladesh. The methodology is based on 562 samples collected by the authors from 78 randomly chosen villages in Bangladesh during September–December 2009. Various demographic variables were used to validate the scale by incorporating a new set of data consisting of 368 respondents from an additional 29 randomly selected villages. Significant differences were found to exist between the opinions of beneficiaries of the programmes of both GOs and NGOs after evaluating scale items through discriminant analysis. The study suggests that GO agencies need to concentrate more on items belonging to the “Beneficiary Focus Dimension”, and that NGOs need to devote more attention to the items grouped under the “Credibility Dimension”. Regional analysis suggests that GO agencies are more efficient than NGOs in delivering services to the rural poor.

Trends in income inequality in China : the effects of various sources of income

Using data from the China Statistical Yearbook, trends in income inequality for urban and rural China are studied. According to our estimates, the overall Gini for China increased from 1980/81 to 2008. The rural Gini increased at an exponential rate of 1.2% while the urban Gini rose at a rate of 2.7%. To overcome weaknesses in the existing Gini decomposition methodology, we use the method developed by Podder and Mukhopadhaya (2002. The Changing Pattern of Sources of Income and Its Impact on Inequality: The Method and Its Application to Australia, 1975–94. Economic Record 77 (238): 242–51). In rural China, the results show that household operations are the major component of rural disposable income, while the share of wage income is also high. Income from household operations is inequality reducing, as is the case with transfers. The dominant contributors to inequality are wages and property income. Arguably, the optimal way to reduce inequality is policy-induced increases in transfers and the household operations that help the poor. In the urban sector, wage and salary income have the maximum share in total disposable income. The results show that further increases in the wage share in urban sector will increase total inequality in China.

Multidimensional poverty approach and development of poverty indicators: the case of Bangladesh

The multidimensionality of poverty is often neglected at the policy-formulation stage in developing countries. As need priorities of local poor vary across countries and within regions of the same country, an understanding of finely tuned poverty indicators should be the starting point in formulating country-specific poverty-reduction strategies. By reviewing cross-country studies and existing poverty literature, this paper demonstrates the construction of a multidimensional poverty model to better inform poverty listing in the case of Bangladesh.

Distribution of Income and Expansion of Education in some East Asian Countries

This paper examines the trends in income inequality in Singapore during 1974–1999 using Labour Force Survey data of Government of Singapore. It is found that income inequality in Singapore is quite high. This paper investigates the Singapore government’s efforts in bringing about equality in educational opportunity. This paper also examines the relationship between inequality and poverty in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Governments’ efforts in these three countries in bringing social justice through enhancing educational opportunities are examined at a comparative basis.

Limitations of the Theories of Nonprofits and Benchmarking Services Delivery Dimensions of Poverty-Reduction Programs in Rural Bangladesh

Even though both contract failure and consumer control theories of nonprofits stress the need for monitoring the performance of the firms, these models fail to offer any guidelines on how to do so. In general, the performance of poverty-reduction projects are assessed on amounts of loan disbursement, repayment rates, area of coverage, and financial sustainability. However, performance assessment based on the efficiency of service delivery has in the past been ignored even though the importance of efficient service delivery in poverty-reduction programs is well recognized in the literature and in the theories of nonprofits. Due to this specific lacuna, benchmarking in the aspects of efficient service delivery has never been applied. Based on primary data collected from 78 villages in Bangladesh from September to December 2009, this article develops a two-dimensional multi-item service delivery index to compare the efficiency of participating organizations in the stated programs in order to set industry benchmark values for each item of the index.

Education for child labour : evaluating the national child labour policy in West Bengal, India

Abstract Transitioning child labourers from work to education is a key component of global efforts to eliminate child labour. In India, the National Child Labour Project is the central programme aimed at achieving this goal. This paper examines the operation of the project in the state of West Bengal using original survey data collected in 2008. The survey reveals a number of promising findings, including high rates of provision of both midday meals and free learning materials to students, as well as evidence of adequate schooling quality and availability. However, areas of concern were also identified, including irregularities in stipend payments to parents of child labourers who send their children to school and inadequate provision of free health services to children who attend school rather than work. These operational short-comings revealed by the survey reduce the incentive and ability parents have to send their children to school rather than work and, accordingly, undermine the effectiveness of the project.

Economics of Gender: Singapore’s Older Generations*

In Singapore, older women (and men) are likely to be ‘marginalized’ by the global labour market. Their higher incidence of disability, smaller savings, short work histories, and lower incomes from less commensurate qualifications and skills contribute to old age insecurity. Widowhood increases their vulnerability and high family dependency, which may not guarantee sustained welfare. Formal old age support by the State is a necessary condition for income security to lessen past inequities and life-course shortcomings. This paper analyses the economic situation of older Singapore women (and men) and focuses on appropriate income security policy, based on two and a half decades of available socio-economic data (1980–2005). Universal suffrage and widespread education, and the Women’s Charter (1961) should translate into women development, but there are gaps through inadequate social security (which is employment-based), exemplifying lack of concerted government effort amidst globalization policies manifested through labour market discrimination and segmented wage systems, unequal benefits and increasing old age disability, calling for long-term healthcare financing and management. JEL classification: I18, I28, I31, H53, H55

Income Disparity Trends and Data Problems in Singapore: Some Myths and Realities

This paper discusses the myths related the income disparity problem in Singapore and explored the realities. To explain this, the paper considers the problem of computing income inequality with the existing published data in Singapore. Trends in earning inequality in the Singapore labour force for three decades are explained. Other dimensions of economic inequality are explored. It is suggested that education policy is not a sufficient remedy to curtail inequality. Also more emphasis is recommended on the aspect in health care financing which in the current set-up adds further stress to income disparity in Singapore. JEL Classification: 128, D31, D63

Functioning Achievements in Urban Bangladesh: A Comparison with Rural Areas

Abstract In view of the differences in the nature and concept of poverty across rural and urban regions, this article argues that a nationwide standardised poverty reduction strategy package may not be equally effective in these two regions. This article examines the limitations of existing poverty assessment approaches used in Bangladesh and identifies various indicators that are responsible for the achievement of higher level functioning in urban regions in contrast to rural areas. The methodology of the study is based on 917 samples of poor persons with microcredit collected from nine districts of Bangladesh. Significant differences have been observed in the indicators of poverty for rural and urban areas. The results from our participatory study reveal that the urban poor are more inclined towards social functioning achievements such as voting, decision-making at both household and work levels, having a voice at local meetings and co-operatives, whereas the rural poor are still demanding the most basic requirements.

Women as marginal workers in informal mining and quarrying, India: a preliminary analysis

This paper presents an analysis of 2001 Indian Census data at the state level on women workers in the mining and quarrying (M&Q) sector. In the absence of official data on informal M&Q, the paper uses the census category of ‘marginal workers’ as a rough indicator of informal employment within this industrial category. The paper has two stages of analysis: first, it presents a state-by-state description of employment of women as main and marginal workers in key minerals; it then correlates income and other social indicators to the proportion of women marginal workers in different mineral categories in order to explore the connections between income, poverty/economic ill-being, caste and other social factors and informal M&Q. It concludes that at the state level, correlations are difficult to draw, and that there is need for further elaborate data for analysis.