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This paper uses a computable general equilibrium model Maquette for Millennium Development Goal Simulations (MAMS) calibrated to Mongolia to investigate how the development of major mining projects leads to Dutch disease. The simulations suggest that the process is complex, with the relative strength of the different spending and resource movement channels determined by structural features of the economy, such as factor input needs of the mining sector and substitution elasticities, and how mineral windfalls are eventually spent. In Mongolia, mining sector demand for domestic factor inputs explains two-thirds of the appreciation of the real exchange rate, with demand for labor, aquasi-fixed factor, the most potent channel for transmitting Dutch disease. The simulations also suggest that public policies may only play a limited role in limiting Dutch disease, even if growing fiscal revenues are channeled toward productivity-enhancing public investment rather than public consumption or lower taxes. This finding suggests that policy makers face real trade-offs, namely that, as an equilibrium response, Dutch disease is unavoidable and at odds with an export-led, manufacturing-oriented development strategy unless resources are left in the ground (or mining earnings are saved abroad). If the objective is to limit Dutch disease, then the simulations point to policies that minimize the usage of domestic inputs by the mining sector, or that accommodate the growing demand for key inputs such as labor e.g. through immigration. Regarding spending, policy makers should channel mining revenues toward public investment, to expand the economy's long-run supply potential. Where large direct income flows from the mining sector to households are important, monetary policy may be more useful than fiscal policy in constraining private spending.

CGE --- Computable General Equilibrium --- Dutch Disease --- Mams --- Mdgs --- Millennium Development Goal

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When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? This Paper studies one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. it illustrates the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria to trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. The authors describe how the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost.

Communities and Human Settlements --- Data collection --- Education --- Evaluation Methods --- Field Experiments --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Housing & Human Habitats --- Impact Evaluation --- Intervention --- Local Economy --- Millennium Development Goal --- Population Policies --- Poverty Monitoring & Analysis --- Poverty Reduction --- Project Evaluation --- Rural Areas --- Science and Technology Development --- Science Education --- Scientific Research & Science Parks --- Sustainable Growth

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The authors use data from the National Family Health Survey 2005 to present age-specific patterns of child mortality among India's tribal (Adivasi) population. The analysis shows three clear findings. First, a disproportionately high number of child deaths are concentrated among Adivasis, especially in the 1-5 age group and in those states and districts where there is a high concentration of Adivasis. Any effort to reduce child morality in the aggregate will have to focus more squarely on lowering mortality among the Adivasis. Second, the gap in mortality between Adivasi children and the rest really appears after the age of one. In fact, before the age of one, tribal children face more or less similar odds of dying as other children. However, these odds significantly reverse later. This calls for a shift in attention from infant mortality or in general under-five mortality to factors that cause a wedge between tribal children and the rest between the ages of one and five. Third, the analysis goes contrary to the conventional narrative of poverty being the primary factor driving differences between mortality outcomes. Instead, the authors find that breaking down child mortality by age leads to a much more refined picture. Tribal status is significant even after controlling for wealth.

Adolescent Health --- Age at marriage --- Child health --- Child mortality --- Child survival --- Declines in mortality --- Early Child and Children's Health --- Early Childhood Development --- Education --- Excess mortality --- Family health --- Fertility --- Food security --- Gender relations --- Health --- Health Monitoring & Evaluation --- Human development --- Infant --- Infant mortality --- Levels of mortality --- Millennium development goal --- Nutrition and Population --- Participation of women --- Policy research --- Policy research working paper --- Population Policies --- Progress --- Rural areas