A violência contra a mulher constitui um grave problema nacional, apesar do esforço feito pelo governo brasileiro na última década no enfrentamento a esse tipo de violência. A introdução da Lei Maria da Penha, em 2006, representou uma grande mudança na proteção legal nos casos de violência doméstica. Todavia, o cumprimento pleno da referida lei está condicionado à existência dos Serviços Especializados de Atendimento à Mulher, tais como juizados especializados, delegacias de mulheres, casas - abrigo, etc., e a abrangência desses serviços nos municípios brasileiros ainda é limitada. Utilizando um painel de municípios, o objetivo da dissertação é avaliar se os municípios onde há Juizados de Violência Doméstica e Familiar contra a Mulher apresentaram uma queda nos casos de violência contra a mulher, supondo que essas cidades tiveram melhor aplicação da Lei Maria da Penha. A distribuição municipal dos juizados especializados é obtida através da Pesquisa de Informações Básicas Municipais de 2009, do IBGE. A medida de violência contra a mulher utilizada é o número de internações femininas cuja causa é a agressão, cuja base de dados é Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do Ministério da Saúde. A metodologia utilizada na investigação dos efeitos causais da Lei Maria da Penha é o estimador de diferenças - em - diferenças com Propensity Score Matching. Os resultados sugerem uma queda na violência contra a mulher em municípios onde os juizados foram implementados. Além disso, os resultados indicam que o efeito dos juizados sobre a violência é potencializado na presença de outros serviços de apoio às mulheres vitimadas. Conclui-se que uma maior disseminação dos JVDFM, aliada a uma expansão dos demais serviços da malha de assistência às mulheres vitimadas, aumentará a eficácia da Lei Maria da Penha, ajudando o Brasil a evoluir no combate à violência contra a mulher. / Violence against women is a serious national problem, despite all the efforts made by the Brazilian Government in the last decade to confront this type of violence. The enactment of Maria da Penha Law, in 2006, represented a major breakthrough in legal protection in cases of domestic violence. However, the thorough implementation of the law is subject to the existence of Specialized Support Services to Women, such as specialized courts and police stations, shelters, etc., and the scope of these services in municipalities is still limited. Using a panel of municipalities, the aim of this work is to evaluate whether the municipalities where there are Courts of Domestic and Familiar Violence Against Women presented a drop in violence against women, assuming that these cities had a better enforcement of the Maria da Penha Law. Municipal distribution of specialized courts is obtained through the Survey of Basic Municipal Information 2009, from IBGE. To measure violence against women, we used the number of women\'s hospitalizations whose cause is aggression, gathered from the Ministry of Health, through the System of Hospital Information. The methodology used in the investigation of the causal effects of the Maria da Penha Law is the differences-in-differences estimator with Propensity Score Matching. The results suggest a decrease in violence against women in municipalities where the courts were implemented. Furthermore, the results indicate that the effect of the courts on violence is potentiated in the presence of other support services to battered women. We conclude that a greater dissemination of specialized courts, combined with an expansion of other support services to battered women, will increase the effectiveness of the Maria da Penha Law, helping Brazil to advance in combating violence against women.

O trabalho infantil foi amplamente estudado sob diferentes enfoques como seus efeitos sobre a educação, seus determinantes, trabalho infantil e saúde, persistência do trabalho infantil entre gerações e avaliações de impacto de programas sociais sobre o trabalho infantil. No entanto, ainda se verifica incidência de trabalho infantil no Brasil.Em 2011, 4,33% das crianças entre 5 e 15 anos trabalhavam ou exerciam atividade para consumo próprio ou construção para uso próprio sendo a agropecuária, pesca e silvicultura o ramo de atividade que mais emprega a mão-de-obra infantil. A maior parte das crianças trabalhadoras em 2011 eram meninos de 11 a 15 anos, mais de 10% das crianças deste gênero nesta faixa etária. A jornada média de trabalho ultrapassa 20 horas semanas sendo que 4,34% das crianças brasileiras trabalhadoras também estudam. Além de tecer um panorama atualizado da situação do trabalho infantil no Brasil, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é examinar o impacto do Programa Bolsa Família sobre o trabalho infantil. O impacto foi estimado através do método de Propensity Score Matching. Também se estimaram regressões utilizando, alternativamente, a renda proveniente de transferência social como variável explicativa. Os dados utilizados são os da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD) de 2011 e 2009. O resultado mostra que o programa não tem impacto significativo sobre a probabilidade de a criança trabalhar e sobre as horas trabalhadas. Adicionalmente, observa-se que a renda proveniente de transferência social tem impacto negativo e significativo sobre a probabilidade de a criança trabalhar e sobre o número de horas trabalhadas. Assim, embora a participação no programa não tenha impacto sobre o trabalho infantil, a renda proveniente do programa atua no sentido de reduzir a probabilidade de a criança trabalhar e o número de horas trabalhadas. / Child labor has been widely studied under various approaches and their effects on education, its determinants, child labor and health, the persistence of child labor across generations and impact evaluations of social programs on child labor. However, there is still the incidence of child labor in Brazil. In 2011, 4.33% of children between 5 and 15 years were working or engaged in activity for own consumption or building for their own use and the field of activity that employs more children is agriculture, fishing and forestry. Most working children in 2011 were boys 11-15 years old, over 10 % of children in this age group and gender. The average hours worked per week exceeds 20 hours and 4.34% of Brazilian children workers also studied. Besides presenting an overview of the current of the situation of child labor in Brazil, the main goal of this paper is to examine the impact of the conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Família on child labor. The impact was estimated by the method of propensity score matching. Also was estimated regressions using, alternatively, income from conditional cash transfers as an explanatory variable. The data used are from the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílio (PNAD), the Brazilian annual household survey of 2011 and 2009. The results show that the program has no significant impact on the probability of work and on hours worked. Additionally, it is observed that the income from social cash transfer has negative and significant impact on the probability of child work and on the number of hours worked. Thus, although participation in the program has no impact on child labor, the income from the program acts to reduce the probability of child labor and the number of hours worked.

Há grande evidência internacional e nacional sobre a importância da primeira infância no desenvolvimento humano, entre as principais políticas públicas com este foco, destaca-se a criação de creches. No presente projeto, analisar-se-á o impacto do programa de criação de creches em Petrolina (PE), o Nova Semente. Mais especificamente, a partir dos dados do Censo Escolar e do Cadastro Único, deseja-se observar se a introdução de creches contribui para melhora do desempenho educacional dos alunos através de suas aprovações e frequência escolar. / There is extensive literature worldwide on the importance of early childhood on human development, childcare policies stand out as one of the main public policies with this aim. This Project intends to evaluate the impact of Nova Semente, a program in Petrolina (PE), which increases childcare supply. Specifically, educational development, through approvals and frequency, will be assessed using data from Censo Escolar and Cadastro Único.

nÃo hà / In this dissertation, itÂs my purpose to evaluate the âEu sou ativoâ programme whose preferable public is mainly compound of Internal Revenue Service civil servants and collaborators at the age of 40 and more. These must be in active part or retired. The programme is of preventive interest by focussing on physical activity guided by a physical education instructor. The programmeÂs beneficiaries can take nutritional/psychological guidance, and other activities like physiotherapy. That said, we estimate, with respect the 2009-2011 period, the members physical activities and their effects, especially on their level of cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. Our model is the difference in difference. As far as we are concerned with, a few results on the participants connection show that their level of cholesterol (27,73) is not so high after they began the present activity. ThatÂs, the programme is more than helpful for them, meaning that their possibly heart disease is completely reduced. Furthermore, we estimate the economic gains issued from the programme, bearing in mind the âVPLâ whose value is R$ 605.551,70 and the âTIRâ whose tax is 10,71%. As consequence, we can surely state that the programme advantages are beyond the disadvantages, and so its economic evaluation is more than positive. / Esta dissertaÃÃo tem como objetivo fazer uma AvaliaÃÃo EconÃmica do Programa Eu Sou Ativo que tem como pÃblico alvo servidores da Secretaria da Fazenda e colaboradores das entidades CAFAZ, AAFEC, SINTAF, UFFEC e AUDITECE acima de 40 anos de idade, estando ele em atividade ou jà aposentado. O referido programa atua de forma preventiva e o foco consiste no acompanhamento da atividade fÃsica na academia com o educador fÃsico, orientador nutricional e psicÃlogo, bem como atividades de fisioterapia dos beneficiÃrios. Assim, estima-se o impacto (os efeitos) da atividade fÃsica sobre os nÃveis de colesterol, glicose e triglicerÃdeos das pessoas que participam do programa (tratadas) e de nÃo participantes (controle) durante o interstÃcio de 2009 a 2011, por meio do modelo de diferenÃas em diferenÃas. De acordo com os resultados, verifica-se que o nÃvel de colesterol dos participantes do Programa à 27,73 mg/dl menor, em mÃdia, do que os dos nÃo participantes. Ou seja, o programa alcanÃa um de seus objetivos ao reduzir o nÃvel de colesterol, uma vez que quanto maior o risco de acidente cardiovascular, menor deverà ser o colesterol. Como doenÃas cardÃacas reduzem a expectativa de vida e o Programa tende a reduzir o nÃvel de colesterol total dos seus praticantes, pode-se concluir que o programa gera aumento de bem-estar. A partir da avaliÃÃo de impacto, ainda se estimou o retorno econÃmico para verificar a relaÃÃo custo beneficio do Programa Eu sou Ativo e, a partir do VPL de R$ 605.551,70 e da TIR de 10,71% pode-se dizer que os benefÃcios extrapolam os custos e, portanto, a avaliaÃÃo econÃmica do Programa à positiva.

Limited access to financial services is known as a major constraint to agricultural development (FAO, 2002). Farmers need liquidity to face agricultural expenses throughout the production cycle but mainly at the beginning. Mainstream financial institutions are reluctant to serve the agricultural sector for several reasons. First, they consider the sector to be highly risky with low performance. Also, agricultural activities depend on the weather, they take place in remote rural areas, and commodities prices are volatile. All these aspects make it hard for standard banks to reach their profit goals when lending to farmers. Since microfinance was conceived, it has generated a lot of hope for alleviating poverty in low-income countries. Microfinance provides the poor with access to affordable capital by granting low-income individuals with loans they would not otherwise have access to, because of economic and geographic constraints. The goal of the dissertation is to examine the role and the importance of microfinance in the agricultural sector of developing countries. A survey took place in October 2017, in both rural and urban areas of Benin and involved 750 agricultural households. Three different agricultural zones were selected: the North-East (cotton zone); the Center (tubers and cashew nut zone) and the South (a region with special crops such as vegetables, pineapple, palm tree, exotic plants). The study focuses on agricultural loans. It includes clients of the major microfinance institution in Benin: FECECAM - Faîtière des Caisses d’Epargne et de Crédit Agricole Mutuel. This research contributes to the literature in several ways. The study allows shedding light on the effects of agricultural loans, specifically, on households’ efficiency and labor employment, which are mostly overlooked in the microfinance literature. To overcome selection bias in microcredit evaluation, the research employs a pipeline design. Control and treatment groups consist of individuals who have chosen to participate in the microfinance program. The loan treatment considered is the experience with loans which includes program entry timing, loan take-up frequency, and the average amount of loan obtained over the 2012-2017 period. The study employs a cluster analysis technique to create reliable comparable groups. Multiple variables and indicators are analyzed. A descriptive analysis of loan impact on farmers’ labor input choices shows that past loans have residual effects on both hired and family labor use. Farm loans, especially those obtained for farm machinery significantly reduce expenditure on hired labor but more family labor is employed using machine loans while other loan categories reduced the use of family labor. The evaluation of the whole-farm efficiency of borrowers in the presence of agricultural loans reveals significant technical and allocative errors leading to profit loss in all studied regions. However, experience with loans significantly increases farmers’ whole-farm efficiency, particularly in the North. Finally, the assessment of well-being indicators suggests that those farm loans have a significant positive impact on sampled recipients’ net farm income, food security and food quality statuses. Agricultural loans also have a positive impact on women’s empowerment. The monitoring and implementation mechanism of FECECAM played a crucial role in the success of its loan programs.

Environmental education has been a prominent approach to achieve sustainable development and counteract the megatrend of environmental degradation. In Costa Rica, environmental education has been adopted as an essential tool for protecting and improving the natural environment. The people of Costa Rica have emphasized an awareness of environmental issues and an ability to actively engage in environmental education and sustainable development programs. International development organizations have invested in development programs to establish or improve sustainable development. In order to understand whether international development organizations are achieving their stated mission and goals for implementing development programs, donors and funding agencies usually require that the sponsored programs be evaluated. Unfortunately, there is a growing concern that the current practice of development evaluation limits the reporting of impacts to be fundamentally inconsistent which has created incentives for evaluations to include positive bias instead of serving the purpose to improve organizational decision-making. This research study proposed to evaluate the reaction of a community in Limon, Costa Rica to development programs using an operational framework of evaluation and logic models found in the review of literature. The researcher adopted a naturalistic case study approach intended to retain the natural context of the community setting and provide a holistic understanding of community perceptions. Qualitative methods based in rapid rural appraisal were used to collect data from a purposeful sample and a stratified purposeful sample within the population. Data analysis was conducted at both the research site during data collection and after all data was collected. The researcher incorporated the constant comparative method to determine consistencies, anomalies, patterns, and emerging themes during data analysis. Three overarching themes emerged as a result of the study: (a) community development with subcategories describing community improvement, collaboration with the international development organization, integration of individuals and groups within the community, and the sustainability of projects, (b) education with subcategories expanding on ideas and motivation, learning, and inspiration for the children, and (c) culture with subcategories that discussed community culture, the organizational culture of the international development organization, and relationships.

This dissertation project examines the effect of various state regulations such as Certificate-of-Need (CON) regulation, uncompensated care pools and community benefit requirement laws on hospital provision of uncompensated care and analyzes both for-profit and non-profit hospitals¡¯ responsiveness to the regulatory environment. The analysis of these regulations uses panel data econometric methods for a sample of hospitals in 17 states from 2002 to 2004. This study overcomes the limits of previous research that focused primarily on the effect of a single regulation in a given state. It uses three estimation methods: pooled Ordinary Least Squares (pooled OLS), random effects generalized least squares (GLS) and Hausman Taylor instrumental variable (HTIV) to obtain the parameter estimates. Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each method, we interpret results based on the cross-validation of the GLS and HTIV estimates. Findings suggest that nonprofit and for-profit hospitals respond to some policy instruments similarly and others differently. For example, both nonprofit and for-profit hospitals respond to CON laws by increasing their uncompensated care provision. However, they respond to policy incentives such as community benefit requirement laws differently. Furthermore, regulatory interactions are found to significantly influence the uncompensated care provision by both nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. The dissertation helps policy makers formulate strategies to create incentives to enhance access to care for the economically disadvantaged. For example, implementing CON and providing public subsidies at the same time may offer better access to care for the uninsured than implementing either regulation alone. However, community benefit requirement laws do not appear to expand the amount of uncompensated care provided by nonprofit hospitals.

A 4-H impact evaluation study, conducted in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah, was replicated in the Nevada public schools. The purpose was to measure the impact of the 4-H experience on the lives of Nevada youth, and to provide impact data for accountability and improvement for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension 4- H Programs. The 1,492 respondents were; 47.6% male and 52.4% female; 34.6% 5th grade, 28.1% 7th grade, and 37.3% 9th grade; 63.1% urban and 36.9% rural; and 11.7% 4-H and 88.3% non 4-H youth. Eight youth development constructs were measured including; extracurricular activity involvement; school leadership positions held; close relationship with adults; caring for others; amount of negative behavior; personal identity; positive identity; and self-confidence, character and empowerment. ANOVA for constructs by independent variables, age groups gender, 4-H participation, and population density revealed that 4-H participation significantly contributed to the variance in extracurricular activity involvement (p = .000), school leadership positions held (p = .025), caring for others (p = .000), and self-confidence, character and empowerment (p = .004).

A 4-H impact evaluation study, conducted in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah, was replicated in the Nevada public schools. The purpose was to measure the impact of the 4-H experience on the lives of Nevada youth, and to provide impact data for accountability and improvement for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension 4- H Programs. The 1,492 respondents were; 47.6% male and 52.4% female; 34.6% 5th grade, 28.1% 7th grade, and 37.3% 9th grade; 63.1% urban and 36.9% rural; and 11.7% 4-H and 88.3% non 4-H youth. Eight youth development constructs were measured including; extracurricular activity involvement; school leadership positions held; close relationship with adults; caring for others; amount of negative behavior; personal identity; positive identity; and self-confidence, character and empowerment. ANOVA for constructs by independent variables, age groups gender, 4-H participation, and population density revealed that 4-H participation significantly contributed to the variance in extracurricular activity involvement (p = .000), school leadership positions held (p = .025), caring for others (p = .000), and self-confidence, character and empowerment (p = .004).

This dissertation is motivated by two of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): MDG 4, focused on reducing child mortality, and MDG 5, which aims to improve maternal health. My three papers evaluate the health and economic impact, and cost-effectiveness, of interventions to improve maternal and child health in three areas of the developing world using methods from decision sciences and statistics. In paper 1, I use a decision-analytic model that simulates the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications to assess the expected health outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan. Increasing family planning was found to be the most effective single intervention to reduce maternal mortality. Further findings suggest that a stepwise approach that couples increased family planning with incremental improvements in access to appropriate intrapartum care could prevent 3 out of 4 maternal deaths and would be cost-effective. Paper 2 explores the value of community-based disease management programs for reducing mortality from childhood pneumonia and malaria in 24 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. I use a model-based framework that combines symptom patterns, care-seeking behavior, and treatment coverage from an empirical assessment of household survey data with information on diagnostic algorithms and disease progression from the literature. Results indicate that a community health worker program modeled on currently-existing programs could avert over 100,000 under-five deaths combined across the 24 countries and would be regarded as cost-effective compared to the status quo under typical benchmarks for international cost-effectiveness analysis. My third paper evaluates the effect of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a conditional cash transfer program intended to promote the use of reproductive health services in India, on childhood immunizations and other reproductive and child health indicators. Using observational data from the most recent district-level household survey, I conduct a matching analysis with logistic regression to assess the associations of interest. Results show that receipt of financial assistance from JSY led to a significant increase in childhood immunizations rates, post-partum check-ups, and some healthy breastfeeding practices, but no impact was found on exclusive breastfeeding and care-seeking behaviors.