Small entrepreneurs in poor countries achieve relatively high marginal returns to capital but show only low re-investment rates. The literature is rather inconclusive about the possible causes. We explore whether ‘forced redistribution’, i.e. abusive demands by the kin, affects the...

In this paper, we consider a model of on-the-job learning where workers learn informally by watching and imitating colleagues. We estimate the rate of knowledge diffusion inside the firm using three matched worker-firm data sets from Benin, Morocco and Senegal. We rely on non-linear least...

We study the relationship between wages, human capital accumulation and work organisation in Morocco using matched worker-firm data for Metallurgical-electrical and Textile-clothing firms. While wages are found to rise with all human capital characteristics, returns to education and experience...

The use of expenditure surveys to measure food insecurity is widely discussed. In this study, we investigate food insecurity in terms of monetary poverty. Using a Malian survey that incorporates exceptionally detailed information on food consumption, we estimate that 35 % of the households are...

In contrast to health shocks, mortality shocks do not only induce direct costs such as medical and funeral expenses and possibly income loss, but also reduce the number of consumption units in the household. Using data from Indonesia, it is shown that the economic costs related to the death of...