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    Essays on natural resources, energy, and development : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Narantungalag, Odmaa
    This thesis examines the local economic and health impacts of natural resource extraction on communities and the effectiveness of large energy subsidies using microdata from Mongolia for 2008-2018. The results are presented in three stand-alone empirical chapters. Chapter 2 examines the economic impacts of the mining industry's indirect linkages on household expenditure patterns in a quasi-experiment setting. Households benefit from mining activities by increasing their expenditures on food, health care, and electricity by reducing their expenditures on education, non-food goods, and services. However, increased mining activities do not adversely affect health and educational outcomes because of improved access to health and education services. Chapter 3 investigates the impact of mining-induced pollution on individuals' likelihood of reporting illnesses, employing a novel instrumental variable. Individuals who reside within five kilometers of mining activities are more likely to report illness. This is true for all age groups, although the effect is most severe for younger children. Small-scale mines and gold mines cause greater health risks than larger and other types of mines. Chapter 4 evaluates the effectiveness of large electricity subsidies in reducing fossil fuel use, such as coal, and improving ambient air quality. The subsidy program achieves its intended goal of reducing illness, but it affects household electricity consumption behavior, which might further help the transition from coal to electricity and reduce air pollution. The results reported in this thesis generate findings important for policymaking in resource-rich developing countries. First, household disaggregated expenditure analysis can provide useful information about household consumption decisions, which can be used for policy formulation to increase the benefits of mining activities to local communities. Second, pollution control and mitigation are essential in resource-producing regions to reduce the population's health risks from mining activities and enhance welfare. Third, large energy subsidies may be useful for changing consumer behavior, further contributing to subsidy effectiveness.
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    Localising indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals : a case study in Samoa on SDG indicator 4.3.1 (participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education) : a research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020-06) Vaai Hatier, Leuaina Allison
    In July 2017, the global indicator framework comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), 169 targets and 231 global indicators, was adopted by the UN General Assembly. This framework aims to assist countries in monitoring their progress towards the goals of the Agenda 2030, allowing for global comparisons and drawing analysis of thematic issues that are pertinent to the development discourse. Despite SDG being widely used, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing Countries (SIDS) in particular, have been struggling to fulfil the data needed for reporting SDG progress. Drawing on Samoa as a case study, this research seeks to outline how a country can localise SDG4 global indicator 4.3.1, to take into consideration the country challenges and limitations, as well as provide reliable measurements of its education sector development. This research’s findings suggest that, localising SDG indicator 4.3.1 in Samoa by aligning it with government agencies reporting requirements, could allow data collection from existing sources and therefore help reducing the pressure on the country’s limited institutional capacities. Localising SDG 4.3.1 could be done notably by adjusting the units of measurement of the indicator to comprise two age ranges: 15 – 24 years old and 25 years old and over; includes gender data in surveys and adjust government reporting to account for formal and non-formal education. In localising SDG indicator 4.3.1, it would allow Samoa to meet its national and regional SDG reporting needs. For such localisation to be successful however, it would require coordination between ministries and organisations and commitment of financial and human resources.