ABSTRACT In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 80 million people live with a disability, and they are more likely to experience poverty and exclusion from development efforts. This article examines whether people with disabilities are at higher risk of chronic poverty in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. Using the method proposed by Bolch et al. (2023), we estimate the probability of chronic poverty by analysing the interaction between income poverty and multidimensional poverty. We use data from CASEN 2022 (Chile), ECV 2022 (Colombia), and ENAHO 2022 (Peru), applying a biprobit model to estimate the likelihood of experiencing income poverty, multidimensional poverty, or both simultaneously. Across all three countries, households with members with disabilities show higher levels of multidimensional poverty. In Chile, no significant differences were found in income poverty. Overall, households with members with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience chronic poverty than those without.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the gender-specific short-term impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on labor market outcomes enforced in the Philippines in April 2020. More specifically, we employ the triple difference estimator, focusing on the ex-ante and ex-post differences between men and women working in areas subjected to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and those who do not. The findings indicate that the lockdown policy had a more detrimental impact on male workers than on females, partly attributed to the higher number of men engaged in sectors forced to suspend operations due to the lockdown measures. Additionally, the study identified significant variations across demographic groups regarding age, educational attainment, and the number of children. The insights gathered can help policymakers create targeted interventions to lessen the gender-specific impacts of economic downturns.

ABSTRACT Agricultural technological progress is often viewed as a technical solution to productivity constraints, but its broader socio-economic implications remain underexplored. This study investigates the gendered impact of mechanization on labor allocation and women’s well-being in rural China. Using nationally representative data from Chinese micro-farmers, we find that mechanization reduces agricultural labor time for both men and women. However, only men benefit from increased non-agricultural employment opportunities, while women remain largely excluded. Despite this asymmetry, mechanization significantly improves women’s subjective well-being – measured by life satisfaction, leisure time, and household decision-making power – especially among those with higher relative incomes. These findings suggest that mechanization operates not merely as a production tool, but as a socially transformative force – challenging entrenched gender norms and shifting the power dynamics within rural families. We argue that the technological modernization of agriculture holds profound implications for gender equity and rural social change.

ABSTRACT Integrating both quantitative and qualitative data, this paper contributes to the literature on attitude-behaviour relationship by examining the influence of debt attitudes on the debt behaviours of rural poor households in Kerala, India. Data suggests that debt attitudes within this demographic can be better characterised as general and circumstantial attitudes. Surveying 720 households, the quantitative analysis reveals a significant association between the general debt attitudes of the household’s primary financial decision-maker and the likelihood of the household having an outstanding loan. However, debt attitudes do not predict the total amount of household debt. Analysing 21 interviews, three explanations for this attitude-behaviour disconnect emerged: the inescapable inevitability of borrowing, the dynamic nature of debt attitudes, and debt recycling practices. The paper argues that individualistic/dispositional factors alone cannot address excessive indebtedness without addressing underlying socioeconomic disadvantages. It calls for comprehensive policy reforms targeting the root structural causes of financial vulnerability.

ABSTRACT In recent decades, parental involvement has gained attention to address the learning crisis faced by children in the Global South. This paper examines whether parental involvement improves learning outcomes of children in India, with a focus on those enrolled in government schools. Using data from the India Human Development Survey (2011–12) and employing ordinary least squares and instrumental variable regression, we find that parental involvement is positively associated with learning outcomes. Children perform better when parents attend parent-teacher association meetings, discuss schoolwork with teachers, and supervise homework. We highlight two potential mechanisms underlying these findings: reduced school absenteeism and increased time spent on homework. Notably, learning outcomes of children in government schools improve more with parental involvement. However, involvement is lower among government school children and parents with lower socio-economic status, which may contribute to achievement gaps. These findings call for action from policymakers to address this disparity.

ABSTRACT We investigate the impact of financial inclusion on twelve different sets of expenditure domains. We use Nepal Household Risk and Vulnerability Survey (NHRVS) collected by the World Bank to investigate the impact of financial inclusion on household living standards in Nepal. To circumvent the endogeneity problem, we introduce an instrument, the ‘VDC-level borrowing ratio’, motivated by network theory popular in migration studies. Financial inclusion enhances living standards by facilitating investment in human capital, long-term assets, and agriculture.

ABSTRACT Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced significant structural change and economic growth in recent decades; however, inequality levels remain high, raising concerns that the growth is not inclusive enough to reduce inequality levels. This study explores the effect of economic growth and structural change on income inequality using a panel dataset of 40 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2001–2015. The study employs the iterated Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimator for analysis. The findings suggest that although increased income levels in the region fuel inequality, the transition of the economies towards the services sector could reduce income inequality. However, the overall contribution of structural change to reducing inequality levels has been minimal suggesting that the growth experiences of the region, especially over the last two decades, may not have been inclusive; hence, the need for enhanced redistributive policies to deepen inclusivity of the growth process.

ABSTRACT In this paper, we investigate whether the population composition of villages is associated with the quality of public schools in rural India. We use two parameters to assess the quality of public schools – school infrastructure and teachers’ presence. Using a recent round of Census and District Information System for Education data, we find that the caste composition of a village is associated with the quality of public schools. Villages inhabited by a higher share of socially backward groups have lower quality public schools as compared to villages inhabited by higher castes. We also highlight several potential mechanisms like access to information, role of social and personal networks, and political and economic representation at the village level to explain the main findings of our paper.

ABSTRACT Based on previous work on industrial development models in developed countries, this study examines the local development of industrial employment in Tunisia during three distinct time periods (2003–19, 2003–10 and 2010–19). The analysis reveals that high levels of industrial specialization and larger firm sizes impede employment growth, while metropolitan areas with a population exceeding 70,000 experience significant increases in employment. Natural amenities, such as a favorable climate and proximity to the coast, have a positive impact on job creation. The main determinants of local employment growth include regional demand, the level of human capital qualification, and accessibility to airports. Investment incentive policies effectively stimulate job creation in designated development zones. These findings provide new evidences regarding the factors that contribute to regional employment disparities in Tunisia and suggest the need for targeted policy interventions.

ABSTRACT Environmental phenomena shed light on the fiction that inter-state borders constitute on some level, and the limitations of state-based environmental governance. Transboundary watersheds, in particular, flow across borders of different kinds, evincing the interdependence of water bodies, both human and nonhuman. The lack of cross-border comprehensive environmental governance imposes regional forms of inequity and inefficient forms of water protection. In Central America, to address such problems, citizens have created a legal prototype for how transboundary watersheds could be governed as a commons going forward. This endeavour has been led by Salvadorans, concerned as they are by their country’s position as a lower co-riparian and their significant interdependence with transboundary water bodies. I argue that, in addition to destabilizing established approaches to environmental governance, the legal prototype opens avenues for forms of earthly politics and multispecies justice by placing the reproduction of life, human and nonhuman, side by side.