This paper uses two representative household budget surveys from the Kyrgyz Republic to analyze factors influencing participation and returns from different types of nonfarm activities in 2005 and 2006. Nonfarm activities are found to be most important for the poor, who are pushed out of...

The concerns regarding the economic insecurity stemming from earnings instability have been gaining momentum in the contemporary political discourse. If earnings instability is as a proxy for risk, for risk-averse individuals, increasing earnings instability bears substantial welfare costs....

During the 1980s and 1990s "Active labour" market reforms opened up labour markets in Europe, making them more flexible without putting in jeopardy the essence of the social security protection model. Countries that went furthest in such "active labour" market reforms such as the UK, the...

Since the end of 2007, countries in Central Asia have been struck by two major consecutive shocks: the food and fuel price increase in 2007-08, and the global economic and financial crisis that began at the end of 2008. Households, both poor and not poor, are directly and adversely affected by...

This paper asks: what can governments of new member states do to encourage MNEs to invest in R&D? There are two types of MNE R&D. Innovation can be undertaken in order to adapt its existing products and services to local stimuli. This is 'demand-driven R&D'. Innovation can also be in stand-alone...

The advance of knowledge-based societies has modified the labor markets and qualification requirements. In this sense, and considering that individual choices about careers and occupations have pervasive social effects, there is a growing interest from both academics and policy makers in...

Student choice is at the center of many discussions about higher education policy. At the same time, and regardless of the emphasis put on achieving an important endowment of graduates trained in science and engineering, participation in these fields is stagnated or declining. Evidence suggests...

The most effective approach to agricultural technology promotion and innovation is still a source of considerable debate, and nowhere more so than in the context of agricultural engineering hardware. Contemporary perspective on agricultural innovation stress the importance of institutional...

The absent or poorly functioning risk pooling mechanisms and high amounts of out-of-pocket payments for health care expose households to financial risks associated with major illnesses or accidents. The aim of this paper is to analyse the extent to which out-of-pocket health spending impoverish...

While conditionality is a frequently discussed topic among policy-makers and cooperating partners, less attention has been paid to the views of the general public and beneficiaries in low-income countries. Using qualitative, survey and experimental evidence from Zambia, this study contrasts the...