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One of the primary motivations behind the establishment of noncontributory pension programs is to allow beneficiaries to retire from the labor force. Yet, as with other unconditional cash transfer schemes, their aggregate effects may be more complex. Using panel data and instrumental variable techniques, this paper shows that the effect of one such program, Colombia Mayor, has been to raise the labor force participation of relatively younger male beneficiaries. This increase occurred precisely in the occupations with characteristics that are likely to require some up-front investment. The paper concludes that the transfer effectively loosened the liquidity constraints to remaining in these occupations. However, no such effect is found among women or older beneficiaries.

Debt markets --- Finance and financial sector development --- Health, nutrition and population --- Labor force participation --- Labor markets --- Labor policies --- Pensions --- Population policies --- Poverty monitoring & analysis --- Poverty reduction --- Social protections and labor

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The effects of urban transport policies on household welfare are a broadly understudied topic in developing countries. This paper analyzes the distributional effects of a newly established bus rapid transit system in Barranquilla, Colombia. The paper uses pooled cross-sectional household survey data, analyzed by block, over 2008-15 and a difference-in-differences approach. The analysis shows that, in proximity to newly opened stations, poor households were replaced by households in the middle and upper socioeconomic strata. These results suggest that the designers of the system, despite the generally positive assessment of the system, may have overlooked the distributional consequences. Moreover, the paper shows that any results on outcomes that may be directly affected by the related policy will be biased due to urban displacement.

BRTS --- Living Standards --- Poverty Reduction --- Transport --- Transport Policy Evaluation --- Urban Development --- Urban Displacement --- Welfare Effects

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This paper estimates the impacts of mobile broadband coverage on household consumption and poverty in Nigeria, the largest economy and mobile broadband market in Africa. The analysis exploits a unique dataset that integrates three waves of a nationally representative longitudinal household survey on living standards with information from Nigerian mobile operators on the deployment of mobile broadband (3G and 4G) coverage between 2010 and 2016. The estimates show that mobile broadband coverage had large and positive impacts on household consumption levels which increased over time, although at a decreasing rate. Mobile broadband coverage also reduces the proportion of households below the poverty line, driven by higher food and non-food consumption in rural households. These effects are mainly due to an increase in labor force participation and employment, particularly among women.

Digital Divide --- Employment --- Female Labor Force Participation --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Economics --- Gender Informatics --- Household Consumption --- ICT Economics --- Inequality --- Labor Force Participation --- Mobile Broadband --- Poverty --- Poverty Line --- Welfare Impact