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ABSTRACTThis paper characterizes the poverty minimizing minimum wage, and shows how it varies as productivity, inequality and market competitiveness change. We show that the optimal minimum wage is equal to the competitive wage only in special cases. In general, the former is higher than the latter. Thus, poverty minimization does not coincide with employment maximization. We also show that the optimal minimum wage always rises with productivity and, under certain conditions, falls with competitiveness and inequality. Furthermore, the higher the competitiveness and inequality, the more the optimal wage rises with productivity.

AbstractUsing the most recent round of a nationally representative survey series, this study examines determinants of dropout from basic education in Lao People's Democratic Republic. The existing studies show that, unlike in other developing countries, the effects of household income and gender are limited. Our analysis confirms the former but not the latter—gender inequality remains an issue to be resolved. Further, separate estimations by gender indicate that the significant effects of mother's education and rural/urban residence obtained in pooled data are due to the effects on female students, which highlights the need for more policy focus on female students in rural areas. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In many markets in developing countries, especially in remote areas, middlemen are thought to earn excessive profits. Non-profits come in to counter what is seen as middlemen's market power, and rich country consumers pay a fair-trade premium for products marketed by such non-profits. This paper provides answers to the following five questions. How exactly do middlemen and non-profits divide up the market? How do the price mark up and price pass-through differ between middleman and non-profits? What is the impact of non-profits entry on the wellbeing of the poor? Should the government subsidize the entry of non-profits, or the entry of middlemen? Should wealthy consumers in the North pay a premium for fair trade products, or should they support fair trade non-profits directly?