Published Article / The potential for tourism to contribute to development in South Africa has been enthusiastically embraced by the government and by many scholars. This article examines tourism from two perspectives 'Tourism First' and 'Development First' and tries to reconcile each of these modes with developmental dictates. A number of obstacles to the realisation of the developmental potential of tourism are identified. The inherent tensions between traditionalism and tourism, as an expression of modernity, are explored. It is concluded that, although the tourism industry is an excellent generator of positive economic multipliers, it does not readily lend itself to functioning as a 'lead sector' for development.

This thesis will focus on how growth in GDP has been allocated among the people in Brazil, during the years of 1976 and 2003. Moreover poverty and inequalities are investigated along with poverty reduction, thus if growth has been pro poor will be presented. The study analyse if growth has benefited the poorest part of the population in Brazil. In addition the regional differences – the southeast and the northeast – are analyzed separately in order to see if there is any difference in the two regions in the agricultural and the industrial sector respectively. This is done to see if there is any correlation between growth and poverty reduction. We used a theory by Arthur Lewis who developed a two sector model where only two sectors existed the agricultural and industrial the so called “Lewis organizational dualism”. This model was later to be modified by Gunnar Myrdal and Nicholas Kaldor, who blamed the current situation of every society on “historical accident” where, because of an upward spiral of cumulative causation, urban areas grew and regions in the periphery stagnated. We used data that was collected from Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA; Institute of Applied Economic Research) between the periods 1976 – 2003. We found that the income in the poorest part of the population seemed to grow at a much slower past that of the rich. Moreover, measured as by the headcount index – the share of the population that lives under $2 per day – has been reduced over time in total Brazil, but not in the agricultural sector in either region. Surprisingly industrial growth has only been beneficial for the poor in the northern part of the country. Therefore the conclusion is that poverty has not been pro poor in either relative or absolute terms. / Denna uppsats kommer att fokusera på hur tillväxt i Brasilien har blivit distribuerad mellan åren 1976 och 2003. Fattigdom och sociala skillnader undersöks för att se om fattigdomen har minskat, alltså om tillväxten har varit ”pro poor”. Detta analyseras på landsnivå för att sedan brytas ner på två regioner, den sydöstra och den nordöstra, för att lättare kunna jämföra skillnaderna mellan de olika regionera i de två olika sektorer; jordbrukssektorn och den industriella sektorn. Detta är gjort för att se om det finns något samband mellan tillväxt och fattigdoms reducering. Vi använde oss av ”Lewis organizational dualism” utvecklad av Arthur Lewis, som består av två olika sektorer, den industriella och jordbrukssektorn. Den kom sedan att revideras av Gunnar Myrdal and Nicholas Kaldor, som hävdade att det samhället som vi lever i idag är skapat av historiska tillfälligheter där de liknade städernas utveckling vid en uppåtgående spiral av ackumulerade tillfälligheter som gör att det fortsätter att växa varvid de regioner i periferin stagnerar eller rent av går tillbaka. Vi använde oss av data från Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA; Institutet för tillämpad ekonomisk forskning) mellan åren 1976 – 2003. Våra resultat visade att inkomsten hos de fattigaste väste mycket långsammare än de rikas. Vidare, mätt med måttet ”headcount index” – alltså de som lever under $2 per dag – har reducerats under de åren som vi har undersökt i hela Brasilien. I jordbrukssektorn har fattigdomen inte reducerats alls, verken i den nordöstra eller den sydöstra delen av landet. Det som är förvånansvärt är att fattigomen endast har reducerats i de nordöstra delarna, tack vare industriell utveckling. Därför drar vi slutsatsen att tillväxten i Brasilien inte har varit ”pro poor”, verken i den relativa eller den absoluta bemärkelsen.

This dissertation attempts to examine the effect of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes by considering various dimensions of poverty and channels of reducing poverty. First, we develop a theoretical model in order to infer a relationship between urbanization and poverty reduction outcomes. Specifically, it shows an optimal level of urbanization to properly allocate basic public infrastructure and promote pro-poor growth. Second, we conduct empirical analysis on international data to examine the testable hypotheses that are derived from the theoretical model. Further, we explore the “channeled effects” of urbanization on basic education and health by the IV estimation and on productivity by the dynamic panel GMM estimation. As the theoretical model suggests, our results exhibit the statistically significant relationship in a non-linear form between urbanization and poverty. In addition, we explore the impact of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes in different regions in order to see the various magnitudes of urbanization effects among regions.

This dissertation comprises two essays that attempt to determine, empirically, the fiscal response of governments’ to international assistance. The first essay examines whether an increasingly popular recommendation in international aid policy to switch from tied foreign assistance to untied foreign assistance affects investment in critical development expenditure sectors by developing countries. In the past, most international aid has been in the form of tied assistance as donors believed that tying aid will improve its effectiveness. It has been argued, that if tied aid is well designed and effectively managed then its overall effectiveness can be improved. On the contrary, it is also believed that tied aid acts as an impediment to donor cooperation and the building of partnership with developing countries. In addition, it is also argued that it removes the ‘feeling’ of ownership and responsibility of projects from partner countries in aid supported development. Two other more popular arguments used to challenge the effectiveness of foreign aid is that it is compromised when tied to the goods and services of the donor countries because almost 30 percent of its value is eliminated and also because it does not allow recipient countries to act on their priorities for public spending. These problems bring into question whether tied aid is truly the most effective way to help poor countries. A recommendation by the international community is that a switch to untied aid would be necessary. With untied aid, the recipient country is not obligated to buy the goods of the donor country neither is it compelled to pursue the public expenditure priorities of donors. Instead with untied aid they will have greater flexibility over spending decisions and can more easily pursue the priorities of their countries as they see fit. Hence, one could expect that a one dollar increase in untied aid will increase spending in the critical priority sectors by more than a one dollar increase in tied assistance. The question therefore is whether national domestic priorities coincide or not with what the international community has traditionally deemed should be priority. Empirically, we test this prediction using country-by-country data for 57 countries for the period 1973 to 2006. The results suggest that on average untied aid has a greater impact on pro-poor spending than do tied aid. In addition, the results also suggest that fungibility is still an issue even after accounting for the effects of untied aid. However, one could argue that fungibility may not be as bad as it appears since the switch to untied aid improves spending in the sectors that are essential for growth and development. The second essay explores the hypothesis that the expectations of debt forgiveness can discourage developing countries from attaining fiscal independence through an improvement of their tax effort. On the one hand, the international financial community typically advises poor countries to improve revenue mobilization but, on the other hand, the same international community routinely continues to bail-out poor countries that fail to meet their loan repayment obligations. The act of bailing-out these countries creates an expectation on the part of developing country governments that they will receive debt forgiveness time and again in the future. Therefore, the expectation of future bail outs creates a moral hazard that leads to endemic lower tax efforts. The key prediction of our simple theoretical model is that in the presence of debt forgiveness, tax ratios will decline and this decline will be stronger the higher the frequency and intensity of the bailouts. Empirically, we test this prediction using country-level data for 66 countries for the period 1989 to 2006. The results strongly suggest that debt forgiveness plays a significant role in the low tax effort observed in developing countries. Our empirical model allows for the endogeneity of tax effort and debt forgiveness. Interestingly we find that more debt forgiveness is actually provided to countries with lower tax effort. The results are robust to various specifications.

<p>This thesis will focus on how growth in GDP has been allocated among the people in Brazil, during the years of 1976 and 2003. Moreover poverty and inequalities are investigated along with poverty reduction, thus if growth has been pro poor will be presented. The study analyse if growth has benefited the poorest part of the population in Brazil. In addition the regional differences – the southeast and the northeast – are analyzed separately in order to see if there is any difference in the two regions in the agricultural and the industrial sector respectively. This is done to see if there is any correlation between growth and poverty reduction.</p><p>We used a theory by Arthur Lewis who developed a two sector model where only two sectors existed the agricultural and industrial the so called “Lewis organizational dualism”. This model was later to be modified by Gunnar Myrdal and Nicholas Kaldor, who blamed the current situation of every society on “historical accident” where, because of an upward spiral of cumulative causation, urban areas grew and regions in the periphery stagnated.</p><p>We used data that was collected from Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA; Institute of Applied Economic Research) between the periods 1976 – 2003. We found that the income in the poorest part of the population seemed to grow at a much slower past that of the rich. Moreover, measured as by the headcount index – the share of the population that lives under $2 per day – has been reduced over time in total Brazil, but not in the agricultural sector in either region. Surprisingly industrial growth has only been beneficial for the poor in the northern part of the country. Therefore the conclusion is that poverty has not been pro poor in either relative or absolute terms.</p> / <p>Denna uppsats kommer att fokusera på hur tillväxt i Brasilien har blivit distribuerad mellan åren 1976 och 2003. Fattigdom och sociala skillnader undersöks för att se om fattigdomen har minskat, alltså om tillväxten har varit ”pro poor”. Detta analyseras på landsnivå för att sedan brytas ner på två regioner, den sydöstra och den nordöstra, för att lättare kunna jämföra skillnaderna mellan de olika regionera i de två olika sektorer; jordbrukssektorn och den industriella sektorn. Detta är gjort för att se om det finns något samband mellan tillväxt och fattigdoms reducering.</p><p>Vi använde oss av ”Lewis organizational dualism” utvecklad av Arthur Lewis, som består av två olika sektorer, den industriella och jordbrukssektorn. Den kom sedan att revideras av Gunnar Myrdal and Nicholas Kaldor, som hävdade att det samhället som vi lever i idag är skapat av historiska tillfälligheter där de liknade städernas utveckling vid en uppåtgående spiral av ackumulerade tillfälligheter som gör att det fortsätter att växa varvid de regioner i periferin stagnerar eller rent av går tillbaka.</p><p>Vi använde oss av data från Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA; Institutet för tillämpad ekonomisk forskning) mellan åren 1976 – 2003. Våra resultat visade att inkomsten hos de fattigaste väste mycket långsammare än de rikas. Vidare, mätt med måttet ”headcount index” – alltså de som lever under $2 per dag – har reducerats under de åren som vi har undersökt i hela Brasilien. I jordbrukssektorn har fattigdomen inte reducerats alls, verken i den nordöstra eller den sydöstra delen av landet. Det som är förvånansvärt är att fattigomen endast har reducerats i de nordöstra delarna, tack vare industriell utveckling. Därför drar vi slutsatsen att tillväxten i Brasilien inte har varit ”pro poor”, verken i den relativa eller den absoluta bemärkelsen.</p>

This dissertation comprises two essays that attempt to determine, empirically, the fiscal response of governments’ to international assistance. The first essay examines whether an increasingly popular recommendation in international aid policy to switch from tied foreign assistance to untied foreign assistance affects investment in critical development expenditure sectors by developing countries. In the past, most international aid has been in the form of tied assistance as donors believed that tying aid will improve its effectiveness. It has been argued, that if tied aid is well designed and effectively managed then its overall effectiveness can be improved. On the contrary, it is also believed that tied aid acts as an impediment to donor cooperation and the building of partnership with developing countries. In addition, it is also argued that it removes the ‘feeling’ of ownership and responsibility of projects from partner countries in aid supported development. Two other more popular arguments used to challenge the effectiveness of foreign aid is that it is compromised when tied to the goods and services of the donor countries because almost 30 percent of its value is eliminated and also because it does not allow recipient countries to act on their priorities for public spending. These problems bring into question whether tied aid is truly the most effective way to help poor countries. A recommendation by the international community is that a switch to untied aid would be necessary. With untied aid, the recipient country is not obligated to buy the goods of the donor country neither is it compelled to pursue the public expenditure priorities of donors. Instead with untied aid they will have greater flexibility over spending decisions and can more easily pursue the priorities of their countries as they see fit. Hence, one could expect that a one dollar increase in untied aid will increase spending in the critical priority sectors by more than a one dollar increase in tied assistance. The question therefore is whether national domestic priorities coincide or not with what the international community has traditionally deemed should be priority. Empirically, we test this prediction using country-by-country data for 57 countries for the period 1973 to 2006. The results suggest that on average untied aid has a greater impact on pro-poor spending than do tied aid. In addition, the results also suggest that fungibility is still an issue even after accounting for the effects of untied aid. However, one could argue that fungibility may not be as bad as it appears since the switch to untied aid improves spending in the sectors that are essential for growth and development. The second essay explores the hypothesis that the expectations of debt forgiveness can discourage developing countries from attaining fiscal independence through an improvement of their tax effort. On the one hand, the international financial community typically advises poor countries to improve revenue mobilization but, on the other hand, the same international community routinely continues to bail-out poor countries that fail to meet their loan repayment obligations. The act of bailing-out these countries creates an expectation on the part of developing country governments that they will receive debt forgiveness time and again in the future. Therefore, the expectation of future bail outs creates a moral hazard that leads to endemic lower tax efforts. The key prediction of our simple theoretical model is that in the presence of debt forgiveness, tax ratios will decline and this decline will be stronger the higher the frequency and intensity of the bailouts. Empirically, we test this prediction using country-level data for 66 countries for the period 1989 to 2006. The results strongly suggest that debt forgiveness plays a significant role in the low tax effort observed in developing countries. Our empirical model allows for the endogeneity of tax effort and debt forgiveness. Interestingly we find that more debt forgiveness is actually provided to countries with lower tax effort. The results are robust to various specifications.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The high rate of poverty in Nigeria has reached alarming proportions. Despite average economic growth rates of 6 percent between 2004 and 2010, the incidence of poverty has remained high, increasing from 54.7 percent in 2004 to 60.9 percent in 2010 (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). A drop in the poverty rate to an average of 56.1 percent between 1999 and 2007 could be attributed to the measures taken by the civilian government against administrative corruption, increased domestic and foreign investments and some implemented agricultural policies. These efforts were thwarted by subsequent administrations with devastating effects for the Nigerian population. It is in recognition of this that this study examines the political economy of poverty in Nigeria; analyses the variations in poverty and inequality across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria; examines the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria over the period 2010 - 2013; investigates the reasons for the low rates of poverty reduction in Nigeria and analyses whether economic growth in Nigeria was pro-poor.

Hlavním cílem mé diplomové práce je analyzovat současný stav cestovního ruchu v Keni, jeho význam v národním hospodářství a zjistit, zda má země dostatek předpokladů být destinací cestovního ruchu. Stanovila jsem si dva dílčí cíle: 1. Navrhnout, jakou novou strategii by měla Keňa uplatňovat v rozvoji cestovního ruchu, aby z části dokázala zmírnit chudobu svých obyvatel, tzn. jak by cestovní ruch mohl pozitivně ovlivnit životní úroveň keňských obyvatel. Budu se věnovat především alternativním formám cestovního ruchu. 2. Zjistit, jak si Keňa stojí v rámci cestovního ruchu mezi ostatními africkými zeměmi. V diplomové práci pracuji s následujícími hypotézami, které se pokusím potvrdit či případně vyvrátit. Hypotéza 1: Keňa má dostatek předpokladů být destinací cestovního ruchu. Hypotéza 2: Rozvoji cestovního ruchu nejvíce brání nedostatečná suprastruktura a nevzdělané obyvatelstvo. Hypotéza 3: Keňa disponuje dobrými podmínkami pro rozvoj alternativních forem cestovního ruchu. Hypotéza 4: Keňa má před sebou velkou budoucnost v oblasti cestovního ruchu v rámci afrických zemí. Hypotéza 5: Keňa se začíná orientovat na nové formy cestovního ruchu. Záměrům a cíli diplomové práce odpovídá struktura členění.

This thesis examines the concept of water cooperatives as an alternative model to create access, supply and manage water services in poor urban and peri urban areas. Two case studies from the Municipality of Moreno, Buenos Aires are presented in this thesis in order to account for the feasibility of the model. The primary data for this research is derived from participant observation, key informant interviews, household questionnaire-based interviews and archival research. The significance of researching water cooperatives is that they have traditionally been dismissed in regard to their potential of being a practical alternative to large water concessions and public run water services in the Global South. Research on alternatives such as water cooperatives is key, particularly in the face of growing de-privatization in the water sector in the province of Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area is an important case study for research on water governance because it was intended to be the World Banks model for which other countries would strive to emulate when reforming and improving water services by means of private concessions. The first part of the thesis examines the political and social history of water cooperatives in Argentina and the effects of privatization on the cooperative model. The second part outlines the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of the governance model and positions these theories against the realities of an existing water cooperative and a poor peri-urban community that has a strong affinity for implementing the model in their community. The two case studies presented in this thesis help to elucidate why the water governance model is able to serve poor peri-urban communities that otherwise remain unserviced by the traditional public or private water governance models. This is significant if we are earnest about providing water and sanitation services to all.

Tourism is arguably the world’s largest industry today, and has been adopted as an economic staple by countless low-income countries. However, while the tourism industry can bring much needed foreign capital into a country’s economy, it has also proven to have severe environmental, economic and social implications on host countries. With these implications come the drive for sustainable and ecotourism approaches, and more recently, pro-poor tourism, which is tourism that aims to generate net benefits specifically for the poor population of the tourism community or country. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for pro-poor tourism strategies to be implemented in low-income countries, and evaluate the obstacles to implementing these strategies in small-scale tourism locations. The study site for this research is a small rural community in Communist Cuba, and the main objectives of the research are to evaluate the current economic linkages that exist within the study site; determine the thoughts and feelings of the local people with respect to their local tourism industry; evaluate the degree to which the study site is currently following pro-poor tourism principles and what possibilities exist for more to be done; and to offer recommendations for the case study location. In addition to a comprehensive literature review on the progression of Cuba’s tourism industry since the Revolution to present date, this research employs further methods to examine Cuba’s small-scale tourism industry including semi-structured and informal interviews with residents employed by the tourism industry, residents employed in sectors other than tourism, as well as local farmers. Further, participant observation is carried out over a three month period on the island, with one month spent specifically at the study site. The results of this study demonstrate that Cuba’s Communist political environment both fosters and hinders pro-poor tourism development. In terms of employment and agriculture, the State goes to great ends to utilize local resources to supply the local economy, however, with respect to entrepreneurship and the rigid regulations dictated by the State, pro-poor development is inhibited. Not surprisingly, Cubans generally have a positive opinion of the tourism industry, primarily because it has directly increased the standard of living of many, yet for those who do not work in tourism, State wages and monthly rations are inadequate, pushing many to find other means to make ends meet. These factors have swayed many people to dealings on the black market and to seek out legal and illegal employment within the tourism industry, both of which have serious implications on the country’s economy. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that Cuba’s small-scale tourism industry is in fact benefiting the country’s rural population, and generally, the residents’ standard of living within the study site has improved with its introduction. While the Cuban government has not purposefully adopted pro-poor tourism principles, some of the country’s Communist practices naturally lead to their adoption, i.e. maximizing internal economic linkages where possible, widespread local employment, and maximizing the use of regional and national foodstuffs to support the country’s tourism industry. On the other hand however, and as this thesis will reveal, Communism works in direct opposition to the adoption of many pro-poor practices.