Informality is ubiquitous in most developing countries. Understanding the informal economy is therefore of utmost importance from a political, economic and social point of view. Paradoxically, despite its economic importance, knowledge is extremely limited regarding the informal economy. It...

Sustainable development requires a mix of policies that can simultaneously address social, economic and environmental objectives. While the preceding chapters of this book have focused on agricultural, environmental and socio-economic aspects and related policies, this chapter looks at the...

In Vietnam, a quasi-private property regime has been established in 1993, with the issuance exchangeable and mortgageable land use right certificates. Using primary qualitative and quantitative data, this paper investigates the role of the titling policy in fostering the use of soil conservation...

Income growth and urbanization in developing countries have enlarged markets for high-value agricultural commodities. However, there are concerns that lacking access to physical, financial, and human capital, as well as infrastructure and institutions limit the ability of the poor to participate...

In the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, smallholder farmers are both victims of and actors in the degradation of natural resources, as a result of their agricultural activities. Addressing sustainable development thus requires a good understanding of the agriculture-poverty-environment...

Reforms of primary education undertaken in Madhya Pradesh since the mid-1990’s have been said to be bringing the state close to universal enrolment, yet they have sparked much controversy and have hardly been the subject of any independent research. This paper presents the results of a field...

Using data from rural communities in which ethnic heterogeneity was induced within through involuntary resettlements policies in the 1960s, we estimate the exogenous effect of ethnic heterogeneity on individual participation in local organizations and households’ social network capital. The...

In this article the authors examine the motivation behind the formation of risk pools. They do so by using as suitable study data survey information collected among the rural poor of the Philippines. They discuss the possibility that network formation comes as the result of an attempt to...

The objective of the paper is to analyze the respective impact of aid and remittances on human development as measured by infant and child mortality rates. Panel data on a sample of 109 developing countries, and cross-country quintile-level data on a sample of 47 developing countries are...