October 1999 - Continued efforts to develop high-level industrial skills in Sub-Saharan African countries may be wasteful without a more competitive environment in the industrial sector. But lack of such skills may limit the benefits to the industrial sector from future liberalization. As a...

Total factor productivity has been low in most Sub-Saharan Africa. It is often said that the binding constraint on African industrial development is the inadequate supply of technologically capable workers. And many cross-country studies imply that the low level of human capital in Africa is an...

Do flexible labor markets lubricate growth? Using data from Taiwan, China, to analyze the effects of labor market flexibility, the authors find that: 1) Workers are more likely to move to industries that tend to be similar to their industry of origin (including intrasectoral moves that would be...

This paper examines whether the observed cross-country correlation between aggregate saving rates and economic growth can be explained by models in which higher growth increases saving rates, rather than the other way around. The paper focusses on two explanations of why growth might increase...

Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and non-cognitive ability appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic...

Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and noncognitive abilities appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic...

The authors examine how a government-run cash transfer program targeted to poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the health and development of their children. This program is of particular interest because, unlike other transfer programs that have been implemented recently in Latin America,...

A revised version was published as The Allocation and Impact of Social Funds: Spending on School Infrastructure in Peru (with Christina Paxson). World Bank Economic Review 16 (2): 297-319, 2002. - Education projects of the Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES) have reached poor districts and, to the...