Documents & Reports
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Improving the Quality of Survey Estimates from Longitudinal Studies : An Application to LSMS Panel Surveys (English)
Longitudinal surveys are an invaluable source for analyzing the current state of and changes in human populations over time. However, maintaining the accuracy of estimates from a panel sample becomes more...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS11026 Document Date: January 8, 2025 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Falorsi,Piero,Righi,Paolo,Giulia Ponzini
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Coping or Hoping ? Livelihood Diversification and Food Insecurity in the COVID-19 Pandemic (English)
This paper examines the impact of livelihood diversification on food insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis uses household panel data from Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria in which the first...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS11014 Document Date: January 7, 2025 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Furbush,Ann M.,Josephson,Anna,Talip Kilic,Michler,Jeffrey D.
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The Mismeasure of Weather : Using Remotely Sensed Earth Observation Data in Economic Contexts (English)
The availability of weather data from remotely sensed Earth observation data has reduced the cost of including weather variables in econometric models. Weather variables are common instrumental variables...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS11015 Document Date: January 7, 2025 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Josephson,Anna,Michler,Jeffrey D.,Talip Kilic,Siobhan Murray
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A Longitudinal Cross-Country Dataset on Agricultural Productivity and Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa (English)
Since 2008, the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) program has supported the collection of nationally representative, longitudinal, multi-topic...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10976 Document Date: November 18, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Thomas Patrick Bentze,Philip Randolph Wollburg
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Yielding Insights : Machine Learning-Driven Imputations to Filling Agricultural Data Gaps (English)
This paper addresses the challenge of missing crop yield data in large-scale agricultural surveys, where crop-cutting, the most accurate method for yield measurement, is often limited due to cost constraints...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10964 Document Date: November 4, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Ismael Yacoubou Djima,Marco Tiberti,Talip Kilic
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Measuring Poverty in Tanzania : Comparison of Diary and Recall Approaches to Food Consumption Data Collection (English)
Consumption data from household surveys continue to be the main source for poverty and inequality statistics in low- and middle-income countries. Although recent research has demonstrated that the choice...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10871 Document Date: August 19, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Akuffo Amankwah,Darcey Jeanne Genou Johnson,Josephine Ofori Adofo,Maryam Gul,Amparo Palacios-Lopez
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Imputing Poverty Indicators without Consumption Data : An Exploratory Analysis (English)
Accurate poverty measurement relies on household consumption data, but such data are often inadequate, outdated, or display inconsistencies over time in poorer countries. To address these data challenges...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10867 Document Date: August 14, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Hai-Anh H. Dang,Talip Kilic,Ksenia Abanokova,Gero Carletto
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Should Farm Input Subsidy Programs Target Poor or Non-Poor Farmers ? Evidence from Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Program (English)
This paper addresses the question of whether farm input subsidy programs should be targeted at non-poor farmers instead of poor farmers, using a two-wave, nationally representative panel data from Malawi...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10860 Document Date: July 24, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Francis Addeah Darko
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Profitability of Fertilizer Use in Sub-Saharan Africa : Evidence from Malawi (English)
This paper estimates the profitability of inorganic fertilizer use in maize production in Malawi. It employs a two-wave, nationally representative panel of data on smallholder households and plots to estimate...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10859 Document Date: July 24, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Francis Addeah Darko,Ricker-Gilbert,Jacob,Talip Kilic
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Making Time Count : A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Time Use in Low-Income Countries from Physical Activity Tracking Data (English)
Understanding men’s and women’s time use is a key factor in addressing issues and formulating policies related to division of labor, domestic work, and related gender disparities. However, obtaining data...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10835 Document Date: June 28, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Mulder,Joris,Hocuk,Seyit,Talip Kilic,Zezza,Alberto,Kumar,Pradeep
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Never Too Young to Dream Big : Measuring Youth Aspirations in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (English)
This study explores the factors shaping the aspirations of youths in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria, specifically focusing on their academic goals; science, technology, engineering, or mathematics career...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10816 Document Date: June 24, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Valentina Costa,Ivette Contreras,Amparo Palacios-Lopez
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Household Business Performance in Ghana : The Role of Personality Traits and Gender Role Attitudes (English)
The informal sector contributes significantly to the total output and employment of low-income countries. While women-owned businesses feature strongly in these informal environments, they are generally...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10804 Document Date: June 13, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Owoo,Nkechi S.,Akuffo Amankwah,Pauline Castaing,Amparo Palacios-Lopez
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Comparative Impacts of Input Subsidies, Irrigation Investments, and Social Cash Transfers on Food and Nutrition Security in Malawi (English)
This study examines the impact of farm input subsidies, food and cash transfers, and irrigation investments on the dietary diversity, food consumption scores, and coping strategy index in Malawi. Despite...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10778 Document Date: May 20, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Matita,Mirriam,Zingwe,David,Dizon,Felipe Jr Fadullon
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Closing the Gaps : The Role of Screening Questions and Self-Reporting in Measuring Women’s and Youths’ Employment and Work (English)
Can alternative survey methods address the underreporting of women’s and youths’ labor market outcomes, and thus improve the measurement of the underlying gender- and age-based gaps? This paper addresses...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10773 Document Date: May 16, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Contreras Gonzalez,Ivette Maria,Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana,Palacios-Lopez,Amparo,Costa,Valentina,Romero Esteban,Steffanny
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Using Survey-to-Survey Imputation to Fill Poverty Data Gaps at a Low Cost : Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment (English)
Survey data on household consumption are often unavailable or incomparable over time in many low- and middle-income countries. Based on a unique randomized survey experiment implemented in Tanzania, this...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10738 Document Date: March 26, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Dang,Hai-Anh H.,Kilic,Talip,Hlasny,Vladimir,Hlasny,Vladimir,Abanokova,Ksenia,Carletto,Calogero
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Climate Immobility Traps : A Household-Level Test (English)
The complex relationship between climate shocks, migration, and adaptation hampers a rigorous understanding of the heterogeneous mobility outcomes of farm households exposed to climate risk. To unpack...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10724 Document Date: March 18, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Letta,Marco,Montalbano,Pierluigi,Paolantonio,Adriana
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Does Unequal Tax Burden Contribute to Women-Owned Businesses Leaving the Tax Net ? (English)
This study investigates gender disparities in the tax burden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, using data on 2,320 taxpayers for 2011 and 2012. A quantile regression analysis is employed to control for firm characteristics...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10712 Document Date: February 27, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Ambel,Alemayehu A.,Woldeyes,Firew Bekele
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Presumptive Tax on Small and Microenterprises with a Gender Lens in Ethiopia (English)
Governments often use simplified business tax systems, such as presumptive tax regimes, to register and tax small and microenterprises. Despite concerns about how such regimes could disproportionately...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10707 Document Date: February 20, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Komatsu,Hitomi
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Are Unit Values Reliable Proxies for Prices ? Implications of Better Price Data for Household Consumption Measurement in a Low-Income Context (English)
Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys are key to consumption-based monetary poverty measurement. In the absence of market price surveys that are linked to Household Consumption and Expenditure...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10698 Document Date: February 8, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Alimi,Omoniyi Babatunde,Vundru,Wilbert Drazi,Kilic,Talip
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Recording the Time Divide : A Comparative Study of Smartphone- and Recall-Based Approaches to Time Use Measurement (English)
Based on a randomized survey experiment in Malawi, this study examines how innovative techniques in time use data collection could sidestep measurement concerns with traditional recall-based time use measurement...
Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS10695 Document Date: February 7, 2024 Disclosure Status: Disclosed Author: Kilic,Talip,Koolwal,Gayatri B.,Vundru,Wilbert Drazi,Daum,Thomas Lothar Georg,Buchwald,Hannes,Seymour,Greg,Mvula,Peter Mathias,Munthali,Alister Chaundumuka,Kachinjika,Monice