Are the Unemployed Part of the Urban Poverty Problem in Latin America?

1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Humphrey
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
The Needy

For a long period, the consensus in development studies argued that the unemployed in urban areas were not part of the poverty problem. It was argued in the 1970s that open unemployment in developing countries was not, in general, a serious social problem. This was not because rates of open unemployment were low in urban areas – Turnham cited open unemployment rates in urban areas of over ten per cent for countries as diverse as Ghana, Guyana, Panama, Puerto Rico, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Korea and the Philippines. Rather, it was argued that the unemployed were not poor. They were predominantly the relatively well-educated young, who were waiting to find good jobs, or migrants ‘queuing’ for work in the formal sector, or people temporarily out of work as they moved from one job to another. The urban informal sector or agriculture would provide jobs for those really needing work. Therefore, the ‘needy’ would not remain in open unemployment for long. Long periods of open unemployment would be luxury, available only to the better-off.

scholarly journals Islamic versus Conventional Fiscal policy: The Effect of Zakat on Education and Employment

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Asma Raies
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
High Unemployment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
The Needy

Zakat is one of the pillars in Islam. It is the portion of a man’s wealth designed for the poor.  It is deemed to empower eight specific groups in society, i.e. the poor, the needy, those in debt, those in the wayfarer, the sympathizers, those in the cause of God, those in bondage and the fund administrators. The main goal of Zakat is to alleviate poverty through assistance to the poor and the needy and to achieve socioeconomic justice by closing the gap between the poor and the rich in the society. This paper focuses on the effect of Zakat on employment namely the effect of subsidising education of individuals who fulfil the criteria to be recipients of Zakat, thought taxing rich workers who are above Nisab, on employment. We also compare this Islamic policy (zakat) with the conventional one (namely subsidising education of all individuals by taxing their wages) used by most of countries and evaluates the effectiveness of both fiscal systems in reducing unemployment. We develop a theoretical neoclassic model showing that the conventional fiscal policy does not affect employment, which may justify the persistence of high unemployment rates observed in many developed and developing countries despite the massive public resources devoted to the education sector in these countries. The model proves that the Islamic fiscal policy will reduce unemployment.

scholarly journals Mapping urban living standards in developing countries with energy consumption data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Agyemang ◽  
Sean Fox ◽  
Rashid Memon
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Consumption Data ◽  
Residential Electricity ◽  
Block Level ◽  
Night Lights

Data deficits in developing countries impede evidence-based urban planning and policy, as well as fundamental research. We show that residential electricity consumption data can be used to partially address this challenge by serving as a proxy for relative living standards at the block or neighbourhood scale. We illustrate this potential by combining infrastructure and land use data from Open Street Map with georeferenced data from ~2 million residential electricity meters in the megacity of Karachi, Pakistan to map median electricity consumption at block level. Equivalent areal estimates of economic activity derived from high-resolution night lights data (VIIRS) are shown to be a poor predictor of intraurban variation in living standards by comparison. We argue that electricity data are an underutilised source of information that could be used to address empirical questions related to urban poverty and development at relatively high spatial and temporal resolution. Given near universal access to electricity in urban areas globally, this potential is significant

scholarly journals Barriers to Household Waste Recycling: Empirical Evidence from South Africa

Recycling ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilma Strydom
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Local Evidence ◽  
The One ◽  
The Unemployed

A small percentage of South Africans regularly recycle most of their recyclables, which was only 4% and 7.2% in 2010 and 2015, respectively. This empirical quantitative study, the first study on this scale in South Africa, aimed to ascertain the reasons why people do not recycle. This paper reports the results from a survey conducted among a representative sample of 2004 respondents in eleven of South Africa’s large urban areas. Each respondent selected three main reasons why people do not recycle from ten possible options as well as the one main reason. The results show that (i) insufficient space, (ii) no time, (iii) dirty and untidiness associated with recycling, (iv) lack of recycling knowledge, and (v) inconvenient recycling facilities are perceived as the main reasons why people do not recycle. Non-recycling households (74% of the respondents) give high priority to time and knowledge. Low recyclers—those that sporadically recycle few items—and young South Africans give high priority to services (inconvenient facilities and no curbside collection). Lack of knowledge is an important factor for people from dense settlements as well as the unemployed looking for work. Improved recycling services such as regular curbside collections have the potential to overcome time and space barriers. Recycling services as well as recycling knowledge will have to improve to encourage the youth, the unemployed, and those living in informal areas to recycle and realize the opportunities locked in the waste sector. The perceptions of respondents from non-recycling households differ from those from recycling households. The larger representation of non-recyclers in developing countries emphasize the importance of understanding local evidence when comparing and implementing results from developed countries. The learning from this study could also assist other developing countries to encourage household participation in recycling initiatives.

The Status of Livelihood Vulnerability and Its CopingCapacities of Urban Squatters in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal

Patan Pragya ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Chhabi Ram Baral
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
The Status

Urban poverty is one of multidimensional issue in Nepal. Increasing immigration from the outer parts of Kathmandu due to rural poverty, unemployment and weak security of the lives and the properties are core causes pushing people into urban areas. In this context how squatter urban area people sustain their livelihoods is major concern. The objectives of the study are to find out livelihood assets and capacities squatters coping with their livelihood vulnerability in adverse situation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied for data collection. It is found that squatters social security is weak, victimized by severe health problems earning is not regular with lack of physical facilities and overall livelihood is critical. This study helps to understand what the changes that have occurred in livelihood patterns and how poor people survive in urban area.

scholarly journals Country-level determinants of the severity of the first global wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: an ecological study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e042034
Author(s):  
Tiberiu A Pana ◽  
Sohinee Bhattacharya ◽  
David T Gamble ◽  
Zahra Pasdar ◽  
Weronika A Szlachetka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Vaccination Coverage ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Bcg Vaccination ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Mean

ObjectiveWe aimed to identify the country-level determinants of the severity of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignEcological study of publicly available data. Countries reporting >25 COVID-19 related deaths until 8 June 2020 were included. The outcome was log mean mortality rate from COVID-19, an estimate of the country-level daily increase in reported deaths during the ascending phase of the epidemic curve. Potential determinants assessed were most recently published demographic parameters (population and population density, percentage population living in urban areas, population >65 years, average body mass index and smoking prevalence); economic parameters (gross domestic product per capita); environmental parameters (pollution levels and mean temperature (January–May); comorbidities (prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and cancer); health system parameters (WHO Health Index and hospital beds per 10 000 population); international arrivals; the stringency index, as a measure of country-level response to COVID-19; BCG vaccination coverage; UV radiation exposure; and testing capacity. Multivariable linear regression was used to analyse the data.Primary outcomeCountry-level mean mortality rate: the mean slope of the COVID-19 mortality curve during its ascending phase.ParticipantsThirty-seven countries were included: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK and the USA.ResultsOf all country-level determinants included in the multivariable model, total number of international arrivals (beta 0.033 (95% CI 0.012 to 0.054)) and BCG vaccination coverage (−0.018 (95% CI −0.034 to –0.002)), were significantly associated with the natural logarithm of the mean death rate.ConclusionsInternational travel was directly associated with the mortality slope and thus potentially the spread of COVID-19. Very early restrictions on international travel should be considered to control COVID-19 outbreaks and prevent related deaths.

Health and Environment in Urban Areas of Developing Countries

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Stephens ◽  
Trudy Harpham
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Urban Areas

The Myth of the Latin American Race Monolith: Notes for Future Comparative Research on Racial Inequality in the Americas

2021 ◽  
pp. 003464462199600
Author(s):  
Diego Ayala-McCormick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Census Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
Racial Ideologies ◽  
Racial Lines

It has become common to compare racial inequality in the United States with a “Latin American” pattern of racial inequality in which egalitarian racial ideologies mask stark socioeconomic inequalities along racial lines. However, relatively few comparative studies exist attempting to analyze variations in degrees of racial inequality in the Americas. To stimulate further research in this area, the following study analyzes census data on racial inequality in unemployment rates, educational attainment, homeownership rates, and income in Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States. The results suggest that while Brazil is similar to the United States in displaying large levels of racial inequality in the areas measured, Cuba and Puerto Rico display significantly lower levels of racial inequality and Colombia falls in between, undermining conceptions of a monolithic Latin American racial system.

Relating Household Consumption Expenditures to Road Traffic Fatalities: A Rural–Urban Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110332
Author(s):  
Ruchika Agarwala ◽  
Vinod Vasudevan
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Household Consumption ◽  
Household Expenditure ◽  
Traffic Fatality ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Relationship

Research shows that traffic fatality risk is generally higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In developing countries, vehicle ownership and investments in public transportation typically increase with economic growth. These two factors together increase the vehicle population, which in turn affects traffic safety. This paper presents a study focused on the relationship of various factors—including household consumption expenditure data—with traffic fatality in rural and urban areas and thereby aims to fill some of the gaps in the literature. One such gap is the impacts of personal and non-personal modes of travel on traffic safety in rural versus urban areas in developing countries which remains unexplored. An exhaustive panel data modeling approach is adopted. One important finding of this study is that evidence exists of a contrasting relationship between household expenditure and traffic fatality in rural and urban areas. The relationship between household expenditure and traffic fatality is observed to be positive in rural areas and a negative in urban areas. Increases in most expenditure variables, such as fuel, non-personal modes of travel, and two-wheeler expenditures, are found to be associated with an increase in traffic fatality in rural areas.

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