Twelfth Annual Himalayan Policy Research Conference (2017)

Adolescence, for both boys and girls, is a critical period for smoking initiation. Although there is extensive literature on smoking initiation in the developed world, there is less known about this process in the developing world. This lack of solid evidence on understanding why youths smoke creates a missing link in understanding adult smoking patterns. This consequence is well illustrated in Nepal where women have the highest smoking rates of all women in South Asia. Understanding why girls begin using cigarettes, in addition to other tobacco products, can identify potential policy levers to mitigate smoking initiation. Using 2007 and 2011 data from the Global Youth Tobacco Surveillance survey from Nepal, we develop a model to identify girls who are at risk of starting to smoke, ever smokers, quitters, and the number of cigarettes smoked. The model will be estimated using multiple econometric techniques including factor analysis, conditional mixed process modeling, and will address underreporting of smoking behaviors. For this analysis, we investigate the role positive and negative enforcement, attitude, and peer influence have on smoking decisions. Positive enforcement refers to messages that promote anti-smoking sentiments and includes if her school or parents discuss the dangers of smoking and exposure to anti-smoking media messages. Negative enforcement are exposures to experiences that would promote smoking behaviors including pro-smoking media, seeing actors smoke, and being approached by a cigarette representative. Attitude represents how girl’s perceive other girls and boys who smoke, if they think smoking makes someone attractive, or if smoking makes someone feel more comfortable at a party. Lastly, peer influence includes if her close friends smoke or if she would smoke if her best friend offered her a cigarette. Where the data allow, we will also explore how these factors influence other non-cigarette tobacco use, such as chewing tobacco, which girls might be more inclined to use because it is a less obtrusive form of tobacco.

Proceedings and paper abstracts of the Himalayan Policy Research Conference (Twelfth Annual) from the Nepal Study Center. Thursday, October 26, 2017, Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor's Club, Preconference Venue of the 46th South Asian Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Due to incredible socioeconomic stratification of society in the context of extreme demographic and regional diversity, regionalism has been a crucial political issue for Nepal during the recent democratic transition. The traditional power elite belonging to hill “high caste” groups are trying to maintain the centralized power structure to protect their own interests. On the other hand, various ethnic and regional identity groups, who have fought for autonomy and self-rule, want their identity and rights to be recognized. Despite the promulgation of the federal constitution by the Constitutional Assembly in 2015, many ethnic and regional identity groups have expressed their opposition for the restructuring of the state based on territorial principle which ignores their identity. Despite the historical struggle of ethnic and regional groups, this research shows a significant section of the voters belonging to these groups are divided on the federal question. There is lack of internal cohesion, communication and solidarity within and across many of the identity groups, despite the prediction of such cohesion by the existing theories of regionalism. Scholars of regionalism assume that economic and social differences automatically produce ethnic mobilization and regionalism. The case of Nepal shows that such assumption is not always true as we do not find the extent of support for ethnic federalism prescribed by various theories of regionalism. For full working paper visit http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2008&context=gs_rp

Coastal communities in developing countries face considerable challenges regarding how to manage their response to actual and anticipated damage from major storm events. However, private defensive strategies to avert and mitigate storm-inflicted damages might be influenced by the presence of public disaster relief and rehabilitation programs and access to remittances from abroad. Given the possible nexus among these variables, we explore the dynamics of the household storm protection behavior by proposing a theoretical model. We, then, empirically tested our model based on data collected from a recently concluded household survey along the coastal areas of Bangladesh that have been frequently exposed to cyclones during 2007-2015 period. Using the household survey data, our goal is to find whether public programs for disaster relief and rehabilitation and access to inward remittances influence the economic behavior of the coastal communities by partially or fully crowding out private storm-protection actions. From policy perspectives, our theoretical and empirical findings will be particularly relevant for developing countries with poor coastal-based communities in two areas: (1) coordination between international and local or indigenous resources for emergencies and humanitarian purposes once the disaster strikes (i.e. ex-post response strategies based on humanitarian aid); and, (2) coordination with the affected economies to reserve development aid (not humanitarian aid) to enhance long-term capacity of coastal communities to reduce the likelihood of facing extensive storm-inflicted damages before a natural disaster event (i.e. ex-ante response strategies based on development aid). Our findings suggest that policies emerging from (1) and (2) can act as complements rather than substitutes to each other.

Since 2008, Nepal has been consistently ranked as one of the top ten remittance recipient countries in the world when remittances are measured as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). In fact, among the countries receiving remittances as a proportion of GDP, Nepal stood second in 2016, first in 2015, and third in 2013 and 2014. However, despite this fact, the empirical evidence on how remittances impact financial inclusion - household's access to and use of formal financial services - in Nepal remains scarce. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap in literature. In particular, we examine whether remittances have an impact on the likelihood of households: i) having an account at a formal financial institution; ii) having an outstanding debt; and iii) purchasing loan products from a formal financial institution. This question is important because financial inclusion has been shown to foster inclusive growth and economic development (see Demirgüç-Kunt & Singer, 2017 for related empirical evidence).

Leading goals in development research revolve around enhancing health and education, particularly for women, through WASH (Water, Hygiene, and Sanitation) initiatives focused on knowledge and technology adoption. Despite evidence that such efforts can increase positive health-related behaviors and improve school enrollment of adolescents (particularly girls), more research is called for to determine means by which health education can incorporate elements that better induce positive behavior changes/ technology adoption. There is evidence that the more relevant health information can be made for individuals, the more they appear to internalize it and potentially take more steps to change their behaviors. Leveraging the endowment effect, our study utilizes a RCT framework to determine if physical/experiential learning can aid in more effective hygiene/sanitation education. Making use of primary survey data collected in Nepal in May 2016, motivation to adopt better hygiene behaviors is measured via a hypothesized higher willingness to pay (WTP) for a feminine hygiene kit presented in conjunction with a hygiene education session. Two schools were presented with this health intervention, where one group was surveyed before they received the female hygiene kits, and the other was provided their kit before the survey was administered. Preliminary results show a statistically significant positive difference between the two study groups, with a higher median WTP for girls exposed to kit first. Additionally, basic regressions provide marginal significance of our treatment variable. Stronger statistical work will be performed to confirm our hypothesis of the benefits of including physical products in future WASH education initiatives.