Santosh Mehrotra

Education for All: Policy Lessons from High-Achieving Countries.

This paper draws upon case studies of countries which universalised primary education early in their development process and rapidly increased secondary enrolments thereafter. It examines the common elements of social, and specifically, education policy among these high achievers, and also evaluates the policy lessons for other developing countries from the experience of these countries. The supply and demand-side factors which help in explaining this success are compared with the situation prevailing in the rest of the developing world.

Improving basic health service delivery in low-income countries: "voice" to the poor.

Public social services, such as basic health care, represent the effective option for the poor, especially in the rural areas of low-income countries. The quality of such services are at present extremely deficient, largely due to resource constraints and lack of political will to make them function effectively. The state can no longer provide the comprehensive services it has in the past and which were highly successful in a number of high-achieving developing countries. Yet, the state must turn priority attention to providing public services for the poor, in order to close the widening gap between rich and poor. It needs to do this in partnership with the population it aims to reach, through effective linkage with grass-roots organizations and with the support of non-governmental organizations. Giving voice and participation to the population can not only increase the resource base for public services, but can also significantly improve the accountability of providers and lead to a cost-effective option for the poor.

Household costs and public expenditure on primary education in five low income countries: A comparative analysis

Abstract Between 1993 and 1995 UNICEF sponsored the analysis of the cost of primary education in five countries (Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Myanmar, Uganda, and Viet Nam). Some of the results of those studies in terms of the relative importance of private and public costs are presented in this paper. This cost structure is linked to major problem areas in each education system. High total cost countries are found to have low enrolments. High total costs result from high teacher wages relative to per capita income. High private costs induce a large gender gap in outcome indicators, and countries with high-enrolments but low absolute public expenditure on education face serious difficulties maintaining quality and ensuring completion of the primary cycle. Some policies aimed at reducing cost, raising more resources and increasing efficiency are also analyzed.

The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Informal Sector and Poverty in East Asia

This article examines the structural reasons why the poor, and especially children, are impacted adversely as a result of the global economic crisis and presents policy concerns that governments must address to meet the income and livelihood needs of the poor. It analyzes the status of employment in the informal sector, which accounts for a significant share of total employment outside of agriculture, and in which the vulnerabilities of the poor are very high. It also analyzes the extent to which those outside the formal sector have access to state benefits in the sense of social insurance or transfer. It concludes with recommendations on protecting the poor, including social insurance and social assistance mechanisms for workers in the informal economy; a fiscal package to stimulate domestic demand and offset falling employment in export activities; and a focus on agriculture, especially food production, that will have multiplier effects throughout the economy. L’impact de la Crise Économique sur le Secteur Informel et la Pauvreté dans l’Asie de l’Est Cet article examine les raisons structurelles pour lesquelles les gens pauvres, et surtout les enfants, sont affectés négativement par la crise économique mondiale. L’article présente des préoccupations de politique auxquelles les gouvernements doivent s’intéresser afin de satisfaire les besoins de subsistance des pauvres. Il analyse la situation du travail dans le secteur informel, qui constitue une part considérable de l’emploi total hors de l’agriculture, et dans lequel les vulnérabilités des pauvres sont bien élevées. Il examine aussi jusqu’à quel point les gens hors du secteur formel ont accès à l’aide sociale, en matière de l’assurance sociale ou les transferts sociaux. L’article se termine par des recommandations pour protéger les pauvres, y compris: des mécanismes d’assurance et d’assistance sociale pour les ouvriers dans l’économie informelle; un paquet fiscal pour stimuler la demande domestique et compenser la chute de l’emploi dans les activités d’exportation; et un accent sur l’agriculture, surtout en ce qui concerne la production alimentaire, qui aura des répercussions à travers l’économie. El Impacto de la Crisis Económica en el Sector Informal y la Pobreza en el Asia del Este Este documento examina las razones estructurales por las cuales los pobres, y especialmente los niños, sufren impactos adversos como resultado de la crisis económica. Presenta algunas preocupaciones de política a las cuales los gobiernos deben enfrentarse para satisfacer las necesidades de ingreso y subsistencia de los pobres. Analiza la situación del empleo en el sector informal, que representa una parte importante del empleo total afuera de la agricultura, y en lo cual las vulnerabilidades de los pobres son muy altas. Analiza también la medida en que las personas afuera del sector formal tengan acceso a los beneficios estatales como el seguro social y las transferencias sociales. Termina con algunas recomendaciones para proteger a los pobres, inclusive: los mecanismos de seguro y asistencia social para los trabajadores en la economía informal; un paquete fiscal para estimular la demanda doméstica y compensar la caída del empleo en las actividades de exportación; y un énfasis en la agricultura, especialmente en la producción de alimentos, que tendrá efectos multiplicadores por toda la economía.

How Can the Financing of Social Services be Made Pro-Poor?

The mainstream view of development posits that if economic growth is maximized, the levels of poverty will be reduced, and this will result in increases in welfare (in a more or less automatic fashion). Thus, much policy making occurs under a leader/follower hierarchy model, where macroeconomic policy is determined first, while social policy is derivative and left to address the social consequences of economic policies (Atkinson 1999). This separation of the ‘economic’ from the ‘social’ discourse is inherent to the Washington consensus and the neoclassical theory which underpins it. Moreover, under this view, only certain policies ensure economic growth. In contrast, social policy can and should be understood as ‘collective interventions in the economy to influence the access to and the incidence of adequate and secure livelihoods and income’ (Mkandawire 2004: 1).

Children in home worker households in Pakistan and Indonesia

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to understand whether children in home-worker (HW) households in Pakistan and Indonesia are more likely to work than other children, and, if so, how this impacts their capabilities. The paper also aims to outline some policy implications for the two countries. Design/methodology/approach - The data are drawn from two Findings - Children from HW households have a higher probability of working. There is evidence of the feminisation of home work from childhood. This is dramatic in Pakistan while little evidence is found for Indonesia. In Pakistani urban slums the majority of children are working, but in Indonesia they are in school. The mothers education and per capita income/expenditure or assets in the household are important determinants of the childs activity status. Research limitations/implications - The model cannot use the control group for econometric analysis since the number of households and children interviewed (although randomly chosen) are not sufficient. Practical implications - Collective action plays a role in the reduction of children “only working”. The number of hours that children work in Pakistan suggests that their ability to do school-related activities is likely to be impacted. Originality/value - Although child labour is common in home-based manufacturing activities in the informal sector in most Asian developing countries research on child labour remains scarce. This paper contributes to this area of research.

A comment on Anand P. Gupta's ‘Evaluation of governance: a study of the Government of India's outcome budget’

Ideally, a good architecture of accountability requires the following components: a monitoring system that collects information at the local level, and passes it on to higher levels of government in addition to using it locally; a system for evaluating programmes at the higher levels of government; a results-based outcome budgeting system; and a system that requires ministries, especially line ministries, to sign performance agreements with a regulatory department that is headed by a senior bureaucrat/technocrat. The problem with Gupta (2010) is that it focuses on only one aspect (outcome budgeting) of this architecture, and argues that the system of outcome budgeting is failing in India. On its own, each system, if introduced independently of the others, does not stand a chance of success. Together, however, their chances of success increase enormously. Thanks to the Right to Information Act 2005, the activism of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as the media, a culture of accountability is growing in the country. However, the media, NGOs and Rights to Information (RTI) activists can only do so much and no more to increase accountability. They can focus the attention of the public and parliamentarians on egregious scams, but rarely address the systemic flaws that result in leakage of funds on a regular basis. India has had a long history of publicly funded welfare programmes. If programmes are well designed, they will be more effective in reaching the poor, and leak less. But most developed economies that have effective programmes that leak little also have a system that monitors, evaluates, and redesigns programmes to improve effectiveness. The trouble is that in India there are very few of the first two, so that programmes end up repeating past mistakes. What happens is that the names of welfare programmes change when a new government comes to power – with very little fundamental change in programme design. A classic example of this problem of ‘history repeating itself ’ are the wage employment creating public works programmes that India has been famous for in development literature. We have had history of such programmes for over 40 years in India, but it was not until the (Mahatma Gandhi) National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in 2005 that the country finally had a well-designed programme that reached the self-targeted beneficiaries, minimised leakage and had major impacts. Prior to MNREGA, there were a

Global Social Policy Forum

In this edition of GSP the Forum is given over to three reflections upon the High Level UN sponsored Finance for Development Conference that took place in Monterrey in March 2002. These reports by John Langmore, Jan Aart Scholte and Santosh Mehrotra reinforce each other in drawing certain common conclusions about the process and outcomes of the conference. They also complement each other in drawing attention to other specific aspects of the Monterrey Consensus document that was the agreed outcome of the event. All three suggest that the UN’s role in the governance of the global economy may have been enhanced by the event but, argues Jan Scholte, at the price of the UN’s global social agenda becoming subservient to the IMF and World Bank’s neoliberal economic agenda. All three also agree that the outcome document was a major disappointment in containing no concrete new initiatives either on global finance or global governance. The blocking role of the USA is apparent in all commentaries. The best that can be concluded is that the Finance for Development process and outcome have laid the foundation for future international discussions and action on the issues. New EU initiatives on global public goods might be forthcoming also. We are, however, decades away from the development of a systematic global social policy of redistribution, regulation and rights underpinned by an effective, just and inclusive system of international financial governance.

Industrial Policies and Development in India: The Role of Manufacturing Clusters

In the last decade the Indian economy has recorded an impressive economic performance. In recent years the industrial sector is gaining more and more strategic relevance. This paper presents recent Indian industrial policies and focuses on the characteristics and the key role of manufacturing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (msmes) clusters within the new industrial strategy. After a brief introduction, the main features of the Indian industrial sector are presented with a focus on the last Five Year Plan (12th, 2013-2017). Then, the main characteristics of Indian msme clusters and policies are analyzed. Finally policy implications of such industrial processes are discussed.

Capability deprivation of women: are women holding up half the sky in Asia?

This paper begins by discussing why gender equality is a necessary condition for economic transformation in the current phase of development. It argues that economic transformation in developing countries will be determined to a greater extent by gender equality than was the case in an earlier phase of transformation in the nineteenth century in non-industrialized countries. This is because gender equality is central to hastening the demographic transition. It goes on to show that the human development status of women in most East and Southeast Asian countries has also hastened that demographic transition. But then it also examines the surviving forms of gender discrimination all over Asia and finds that in South Asia gender discrimination is most severe. These surviving forms of gender discrimination have shown themselves in an adverse sex ratio as well as political non-representation throughout most of the region – most severely in South Asia.