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1. Evolution of Multidimensional Energy Poverty Risk in Bolivia from 2005 to 2019

Author:
Javier Aliaga Lordemann and Sergio Mansilla
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
“Energy poverty” is a multidimensional concept that reflects the need to achieve a variety of wellbeing outcomes, which has been scarcely studied and used in public policy agendas. Considering that the literature on energy poverty is still incipient in Bolivia, this paper’s objective is to generate evidence about energy poverty evolution in the country, approximating measures of incidence (risk) and severity for the period 2005-2019. The methodological approach follows the one proposed by Alkire & Foster (2011), with five equally weighted dimensions (energy expenditure, lighting, cooking fuel and indoor pollution, food equipment, and education and communication) and using different cut-off options, at the urban and rural levels. Also, Multidimensional Energy Poverty results are compared with a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based weight structure as a robustness exercise. Results show that the risk of being energy poor in Bolivia has decreased, but not structurally. Also, intensity has decreased in both urban and rural areas, but rural energy poor households continue to show at least 50% of deprivation in all dimensions evaluated.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Rural, and Energy
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

2. Experimental Field Evidence of Common Pool Resources: The Water Judge in Bolivia

Author:
Gabriela Agafitei
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
In 2019, the Bolivian government began implementation of the Universal Health Insurance (SUS) scheme, with critics claiming the unpreparedness of the healthcare system to provide universal and free services. To date, there is no research that assesses the effects of the reform and to what extent it is providing universal, free services. The objective of this study is to fill this research gap by providing a diagnosis on access to public healthcare services after the SUS’s adoption. In this study, access is operationalized according to a theoretical framework developed by the World Health Organization (2010). The study has been conducted according to a combined method that compares data from before and after the SUS approval. First, data from the National Household Survey has been analyzed to provide an overview of dimensions related to access at the macro level. Secondly, the macro perspective is integrated with data collected through semi-structured interviews that provide a detailed analysis of the qualitative dimensions of accessing healthcare at the micro level, which are often not reflected by quantitative indicators. The results showed that on the one hand access to public healthcare services has increased in the first year of the SUS’s implementation compared to previous years. However, despite the supply of additional human resources and physical infrastructure, the sufficiency in availability of human resources remains questionable, as the values disaggregated per 1,000 inhabitants remained roughly the same. Similarly, spending at the macroeconomic level did not reach recommended levels for universal coverage. Data from the case study deepens the understanding of the findings at the macro level. In fact, access appears as characterized by considerable challenges, such as long waiting times, lack of medicines and of beds, and low-quality services that overall restrain access to the public services. The study has concluded that despite the fact that access has increased, insufficiency of resources and the structural characteristics of the Bolivian healthcare system represent severe limitations for the universal outreach of SUS.
Topic:
Services, Insurance, Healthcare System, and Universal Healthcare
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

3. Decentralization and Poverty Reduction in Bolivia: Challenges and Opportunities

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Luis Carlos Jemio
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper presents an analysis of the decentralization process that has been taking place in Bolivia over the last couple of decades. It starts with a review of the legal framework that determines the distribution of responsibilities and financial resources to the sub-national governments (9 departments and 339 municipalities), and continues with an analysis of the evolution and distribution of financing to these entities between 2001 and 2013. It then proceeds to describe the resulting progress in social indicators between 2001 and 2012 at the municipal level, and identifies the main remaining gaps in basic services by 2012. Finally, the paper offers an analysis of the factors that are most closely associated with progress in the main social indicator used by the Bolivian government – the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index. This provides the basis for a final section on recommendations for public investment in Bolivia.
Topic:
Poverty, Economy, Decentralization, and Public Investment
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

4. Regional development, income distribution and gender in Bolivia Insights from a 2012 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) and Multiplier Analysis

Author:
Luis Carlos Jemio, Lykke E. Andersen, Clemens Breisinger, and Manfred Wiebelt
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper describes the construction of the most detailed, openly accessible Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Bolivia to date. In addition to allowing for “standard” socio-economic analysis common for SAMs - like assessing the linkages between production, factor income distribution and households’ incomes and expenditures – the SAM presented in this paper makes detailed economic assessments at the subnational level, by gender and at detailed agricultural subsector levels, possible. Sections 1-4 present the methodology and data sources used, explain assumptions and criteria adopted for SAM disaggregation, and discuss key findings with a focus on distributional features. Section 5 presents results from a simple SAM multiplier model and section 6 concludes. It is the authors’ hope that this SAM database can make a contribution to evidence-based policy making that helps to further reduce poverty and food insecurity in Bolivia.
Topic:
Development, Gender, and Income
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

5. Cycles versus Trends: The Effects of Economic Growth on Earnings in Bolivia

Author:
Beatriz Muriel H. and Horacio Vera C.
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the effects of economic growth on labor earnings in Bolivia during 1999-2012. More precisely, we develop a labor market model to capture both cycle and trend effects of prices, and production on earnings, which is estimated econometrically using pseudo-panel data methods. The results show that labor earnings have had a pro-cyclical behavior. In particular, we find that, in the short run, an increase of 1% in prices or production explains an earnings rise of around 0.5%, while, in the long run, a production increase of 1% is associated with an earnings variation of 0.4%. Furthermore, we find that labor earnings growth by sector follows, to some extent, the economic performance of its corresponding sector, which responds to the sector segmentation characteristics in the Bolivian labor market.
Topic:
Business, Economic Growth, Earnings, and Wages
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

6. Building Resilience against Adverse Shocks: What are the determinants of vulnerability and resilience?

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Marcelo Cardona
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper proposes a simple way to measure livelihood diversification, and uses this measure together with income levels to classify Bolivian households by level of vulnerability. Regression analysis is then carried out to determine the factors and strategies associated with high resilience or high vulnerability. The results show that the single most important strategy for resilience is to have a working and income earning spouse in the household. This is still much too uncommon in Bolivia. A second important factor is the age of the head of household. Young families are considerably more vulnerable than more mature families, as the former have not had time to build up assets (physical, human and social capital) that can provide alternative sources of livelihood. One of the most surprising results of the study is that urban households are considerably more vulnerable to adverse shocks than rural households, whereas gender and ethnicity are irrelevant. The paper finishes with a comprehensive list of policy recommendations.
Topic:
Diversification, Resilience, Livelihoods, Vulnerability, and External Shocks
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

7. Information technologies and provision of national identification cards by the Bolivian Police: Evidence from two randomized natural fields experiments

Author:
Alberto Chong, Gustavo Machicado Salas, and Monica Yanez-Pagans
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper investigates the potential of information technologies to improve public service delivery and empower citizens in the context of two unusual randomized natural experiments occurring within one particular bureaucratic process: the renewal of a national identification card by the Bolivian Police. The first experiment arises from the random assignment of both police officers and applicants to a manual or digital renewal process, which is identical in all aspects except that the digital renewal process makes use of information technologies as part of the renewal process. The second experiment arises by the existence of technical failures within the digital renewal process, which allows police officers to change from the digital to the manual renewal process randomly across renewal day. The efficiency of public service delivery is measured in terms of both renewal success rates (which average to a strikingly low rate of 72 percent in our sample) and time-it-takes to renew an identification card. The causal effect of information technologies on public service delivery is estimated using two different identification strategies. In the first one, applicant-police officer pairs randomly assigned to each one of these two renewal processes are compared after controlling for renewal day fixed effects. In the second one, applicant-police officer pairs randomly assigned to the digital process are compared to those randomly assigned to this same process but who experienced a technical failure within the process, which allows to directly control for unobserved heterogeneity at the police officer level. We find that information technologies significantly improve the quality of public service delivery. Applicants randomly assigned to the digital renewal process are on average 12 percentage points more likely to complete the renewal process as compared to those randomly assigned to the manual one. Further, successful applicants randomly assigned to the digital process take on average 31 percent less time to complete the process as compared to those randomly assigned to the manual one. Lastly, we find that information technologies significantly lower barriers in access to national identification cards by promoting a more equitable provision across the population. We discuss several channels through which technologies might be improving efficiency and promoting equity within this particular bureaucratic process. Overall, our findings suggest that information technologies might be achieving these goals by introducing efficiencies (such as reducing administrative shortcomings and transaction costs), and limiting the exercise of discretion by police officers within the renewal process.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Police, Bureaucracy, and Information Technology
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

8. Problematizing the Effect of Rural-Urban Linkages on Food Security and Malnutrition in Guatemala’s Western Highlands

Author:
Ioulia Fenton
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
Strong rural-urban linkages are increasingly seen as key to achieving sustainable livelihoods and food security in developing countries. However, not all linkages are positive and, although this is recognised in literature, few explore their potential unfavourable characteristics. Based on twelve weeks fieldwork in Guatemala this paper aims to contribute in four ways. Firstly, it details the extent of rural-urban linkages in the lives of ordinary Guatemalans, the reasons for their existence and the contribution they make to food security. Secondly, it highlights the existence of rural-urban criminal networks that negatively impact livelihoods and food security. Thirdly, it illustrates how poor quality linkages in government administration and service provision render them ineffective in alleviating food insecurity and malnutrition. Finally, by focusing on the case of Coca-Cola, it illustrates how extensive rural-urban networks of processed food and drink companies bring with them economic benefits, but adversely affect food security and nutrition through a number of mechanisms. The paper concludes that in order to better design policies aimed at improving livelihoods, food security and nutrition, the growth of rural-urban linkages in different spheres of private and public life should be analysed for its negative as well as positive contributions.
Topic:
Food Security, Diversification, Urban, Rural, Livelihoods, and Malnutrition
Political Geography:
South America and Guatemala

9. A Measurement of the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Guadua Angustifolia in the Carrasco National Park, Bolivia

Author:
Ricardo A. Rojas Quiroga, Tracey Li, Gonzalo Lora, and Lykke E. Andersen
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
The carbon sequestration potential of an unmanaged and previously unstudied Guadua angustifolia bamboo forest in the Carrasco National Park of Bolivia has been studied, by estimating the total aboveground biomass contained in the forest. It was found that the aboveground biomass consisting of stems, branches, and foliage, contains a total of 200 tons per hectare, leading to an estimated 100 tons of carbon being stored per hectare aboveground, which is comparable to some species of tree such as the Chinese Fir; this bamboo species therefore has the potential to play a significant role in the mitigation of climate change. The relation between the biomass, M, of each component (stems, branches, and foliage) and the diameter, d, of the plant was also studied, by fitting allometric equations of the form M = αd β . It was found that all components fit this power law relation very well (R2 > 0.7), particularly the stems (R2 > 0.8) and branches (R2 > 0.9) for which the relation is found to be almost linear.
Topic:
Climate Change, Decarbonization, Carbon Sequestration, and Bamboo
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia

10. Bureaucratic delay, local-level monitoring, and delivery of small infrastructure projects: Evidence from a field experiment in Bolivia

Author:
Carlos Gustavo Machicado and Monica Yanez-Pagans
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This paper examines bureaucratic delay within the allocation of small infrastructure projects by sub-municipal governments in Bolivia, and it presents a randomized field experiment designed to improve public service delivery by promoting voice, transparency, and accountability among grassroots organizations. The experiment consists of randomly providing sub-municipal governments with a mailing tracking system, which provides public officials and grassroots organizations realtime information about the processing of small infrastructure projects requests by sub-municipal governments. The objective of this intervention is twofold. First, is to facilitate the involvement of grassroots organizations in the process of reviewing, tracking, and monitoring small infrastructure project allocations. Second, is to explicitly alter the probability of detecting inefficient administrative practices within district councils and, therefore, to implicitly increase the expected cost of engaging in such practices among public officials. The findings of this paper suggest that monitoring tools that promote access to information by citizens might play a critical role in improving public service delivery outcomes. Yet, in settings where mechanisms of local accountability are subject to be captured by local elites or are weak, monitoring tools might have limited capacity to improve outcomes. In such settings, major transparency related reforms might be needed to improve public service delivery outcomes.
Topic:
Accountability, Transparency, Bureaucracy, and Monitoring
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia