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on Development |
| By: | Thiemo Fetzer (University of Warwick); Stephan Kyburz (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | Can institutionalized transfers of resource rents be a source of civil conflict? Are cohesive institutions better at managing conflicts over distribution? We exploit exogenous variation in revenue disbursements to local governments and use new data on local democratic institutions in Nigeria to answer these questions. There is a strong link between rents and conflict far away from the location of the resource. Conflict over distribution is highly organized, involving political militias, and concentrated in the extent to which local governments are non-cohesive. Democratically elected local governments significantly weaken the causal link between rents and political violence. Elections produce more cohesive institutions, and vastly limit the extent to which distributional conflict between groups breaks out following shocks to the rents. Throughout, we confirm these findings using individual level survey data. |
| Keywords: | Nigeria, conflict, ethnicity, natural resources, political economy, commodity, prices |
| JEL: | Q33 O13 N52 R11 L71 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:esocpu:11&r=dev |
| By: | Pieter Joseph Sayer |
| Abstract: | This paper tests for the existence of a causal relationship between internet access and the consumption decisions of the poor. In particular, we develop theoretical models that provide two testable hypotheses. Firstly, that, by better aligning beliefs with reality regarding the value of future income, information attained via the internet will either increase or decrease one’s propensity to consume, depending on the nature of their occupation. Second, that, by heightening one’s concern for their relative status, access to social media via the internet will cause users to increase their conspicuous consumption. The analysis exploits a natural experiment, the 2015 roll out of a free internet provision program (Free Basics) in Colombia, as a source of exogenous variation in potential internet access. By taking advantage of a unique geo-coded dataset of telecommunications pylons in Colombia this paper is able to compare households covered by the free internet provision program to those who are not. We estimate a number of 2SLS instrumental variable and di?erence-in-di?erences speci?cations on rich data from the Encuesta Longitudinal Colombiana (ELCA) panel survey. Our estimates provide tentative evidence in support of our second hypothesis as we estimate a local average treatment e?ect (LATE) of a 12.2 percentage point increase in the share of conspicuous consumption in the overall consumption bundle as a result of internet access. We ?nd no evidence of a statistically signi?cant LATE on overall consumption. Our di?erence-in-di?erences, intention to-treat (ITT), estimates for both outcomes are small and insigni?cant, however this could be a result of a lack of power given the low take-up of the internet provision program. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-18&r=dev |
| By: | Adam Salisbury |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits a natural experiment to assess whether arresting the head of Burkina Faso’s Customs Ministry for corruption charges had any trickle-down effect on the petty corruption behaviour of lower-ranked customs officials. I measure petty corruption using a unique micro-dataset collated by the USAID West Africa Trade Hub, which records over 257,000 bribes paid by truck-drivers across six West African countries from 2006 to 2012. Using a difference-in-difference methodology, I find that the arrest significantly reduced the bribe-taking behaviour of Burkinabé customs officials relative to non-customs officials in Burkina Faso and to customs officials in three neighbouring countries. These results are robust to a variety of robustness tests and alternative explanations. Overall, my findings support the select use of leadership decapitation as an anti-corruption tool, though the dynamics of the results post-arrest point to the need for further research before its long-term effectiveness can be more confidently asserted. |
| Keywords: | corruption; hierarchies; leadership decapitation |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-11&r=dev |
| By: | Kettlewell, Nathan; Rijsdijk, Fruhling (King's College London); Sumathipala, Athula (Keele University); Tymula, Agnieszka (University of Sydney); Zavos, Helena (King's College London); Glozier, Nicholas (University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | We estimate whether risk preferences are affected by traumatic events by using a unique survey of Sri Lankan twins which contains information on individual's exposure to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, participation as a combatant in the civil war, validated measures of mental health and risk preferences, and a rich set of control variables. Our estimation strategy utilises variation in experiences within twin pairs and allows us to explore whether preference changes are driven by wealth shocks and/or changes in mental health. We find that both events lead to less risk aversion, a result that is not driven by mental health or wealth changes. |
| Keywords: | risk preferences, natural disaster, civil war, twin study |
| JEL: | D74 D81 D91 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11901&r=dev |
| By: | Francesco Burchi; Nicole Rippin; Claudio Montenegro |
| Abstract: | The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly recognizes that poverty is more than just the lack of a sufficient amount of income. However, some scholars argue that an income-based measure of poverty can sufficiently capture poverty in other dimensions. Unfortunately, the available international indicators of multidimensional poverty suffer from several weaknesses and cannot be directly compared with monetary measures of poverty. This paper provides two main contributions to the literature on poverty measurement and analysis. First, it proposes a theoretically and methodologically sound indicator of multidimensional poverty, called the Global Correlation Sensitive Poverty Index (G-CSPI), which addresses most of the problems present in other poverty indicators. Thanks to the massive I2D2 database of harmonized household surveys, the G-CSPI was calculated for more than 500 surveys, and the results show that it is stable and robust. Second, for the first time we were able to conduct a comparative analysis between income and multidimensional poverty, relying on the same dataset to calculate both. Previous cross-country evidence was based on very different surveys used for the computation of income and multidimensional poverty and even conducted in different years. Building on recent data for 92 countries, our analysis shows that the headcount ratio of extreme monetary poverty (USD1.90) is highly correlated with that of the G-CSPI, but that the relationship is clearly non-linear. Thus, we provided the first empirical evidence of the fact that income poverty is not a sufficiently good proxy for multidimensional poverty. |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp473&r=dev |
| By: | Van Der Sluis, E.; Durowah, O. |
| Abstract: | We assess the role of aid for trade (AFT) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in poverty reduction. We analyze their impacts across different country-level income groups and between agriculture-dependent economies and those that are not. Based on data for 91 developing countries, and employing fixed effects and random effects models, our empirical analyses indicate that AFT flows have a robust and positive effect on poverty reduction but the effect differs across countries by income groups and the impact is largest in LDCs. The analyses also show that while AFT may be effective, the extent to which it reduces poverty depends on the policies and quality of institutions in the recipient country. AFT is most effective in reducing poverty: (1) when directed to infrastructure and to trade policies and regulations; and (2) for economies with relatively small dependencies on agriculture. Also, AFT directed to infrastructure and trade policies and regulations increase, while AFT to productive capacity reduces net FDI inflows. Acknowledgement : Support for this paper was provided by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277307&r=dev |
| By: | Tilman Graff |
| Abstract: | Are roads in Africa connecting the right places to promote bene?cial trade? I assess the e?ciency of transport networks for every country in Africa. Using rich data from satellites and online routing services, I simulate optimal trade ?ows over a comprehensive grid of more than 70,000 links covering the entire continent. I employ a recently established framework from the optimal transport in economics literature to maximise over the space of networks and ?nd the optimal road system for every African state. Where would the social planner ideally build new roads and which roads are super?uous in promoting trade? My simulations predict that the entire continent would gain more than 1.1% of total welfare from better organising its national road systems. Comparing current and optimal networks, I then construct a novel dataset of local network ine?ciency for more than 10,000 African grid cells. I analyse roots of the substantial imbalances present in this dataset. I ?nd that colonial infrastructure projects from more than a century ago still persist in signi?cantly skewing trade networks towards a sub-optimal equilibrium. Areas close to former colonial railroads have about 1.7% too much welfare given their position in the network. I also ?nd evidence for regional favouritism, as the birthplaces of African leaders are overequipped with unnecessary roads. Lastly, I uncover a descriptive relationship whereby large transport infrastructure projects from The World Bank are not allocated to regions most in need of additional roads. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-17&r=dev |
| By: | Araya, G.B.; Holden, S.T. |
| Abstract: | Using panel data of three rounds collected from 12 districts in Tigray, this study assesses the impact of Ethiopia s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on the probability of adoption of modern fertilizer and intensity of its use by rural farm households. We employ the control function approach to identify the impact. Results show that membership in the PSNP has a positive impact on the probability of adopting modern fertilizer but not on the amount of fertilizer that farm households use. This result may indicate that the PSNP is contributing to investments by farmers which may lead to achieving food security and enhanced productivity of poor farm households. Acknowledgement : The authors are grateful to the Norwegian Project for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED) for funding this work through the Climate Smart Natural Resource Management and Policy (CLISNARP) project. We are also thankful to Mesfin Tilahun for the useful comments we got from him on this work. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277051&r=dev |
| By: | Weyori, A.E.; Waibel, H.; Liebenehm, S. |
| Abstract: | Using a panel data set of 445 small-scale cattle farm households in northern Togo, this paper examines the impact of disease control interventions on cattle productivity, household welfare, poverty and vulnerability. We employ difference in difference analysis to examine the impact on livestock productivity, consumption per capita and stochastic poverty and vulnerability to future poverty. We find a positive impact on improving cattle productivity, income and consumption per capita. Our results also show positive poverty reduction effects of the interventions as well as a reduction in vulnerability to poverty. We can show that the interventions have positive smoothening effects on household consumption and income. Our results are robust across different estimation specifications such as fixed effects and instrumental variable fixed effects models. Acknowledgement : Authors would like to thank the European Union Global Fund for Agricultural Research for Development for funding this research. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277379&r=dev |
| By: | Anindya Bhattacharya; Anirban Kar; Sunil Kumar; Alita Nandi |
| Abstract: | This work has two intertwined components: first, as part of a research programme it introduces a new methodology for identifying `power-centres' in rural societies of developing countries in general and then applies that in the specific context of contemporary rural India for addressing some debates on the dynamics of power in rural India. Land-ownership, caste hierarchy and patron-client relation have been regarded as the traditional building blocks of political-economic organization in rural India. However, many believe that gradual urbanization and expansion of market economy have eroded the influence of the traditional power structure. This work is a contribution toward identifying the nature of `local' rural institutions based on primary data collected by ourselves. We took 36 villages in the states of Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh - 12 in each of these states - as the sites for our observation and data collection. We quantify nature of institutions from data on the day-to-day interactions of households in the spheres of economy, society and politics. The aspect of institution we focus on is the structure of multidimensional and interlinked dependence in these spheres and whether such dependence is concentrated on a few `powerful' entities (called `local elites') dominating over a large number of households or whether this is distributed in a sufficiently diffuse manner. Our household survey shows that there is substantial variation in power structure across regions. We identified the presence of `local elites' in 22 villages out of 36 surveyed. We conducted a follow-up survey, called `elite survey', to get detailed information about the identified elite households. Our primary objective was to learn the socio-economic-political profile of the elite households and their involvement in village life. This paper provides a summary of our findings. We observe that landlordism has considerably weakened, land has ceased to be the sole source of power and new power-centres have emerged. Despite these changes, caste, landownership and patron-client relation continue to be three important pillars of rural power structure. |
| Keywords: | Clientelism, Lanlordism, Network. |
| JEL: | P16 O12 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:18/19&r=dev |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Sanou, Awa; Tambo, Justice A. |
| Abstract: | Most climate change adaptation studies in agriculture focus on staple food crops. Few studies have examined livestock farmers in Africa and even fewer have considered small animals such as poultry. Heat stress associated with climate change is a challenge to poultry farmers due to its negative effect on chicken growth and productivity. As the poultry subsector across Africa expands to meet changing consumption patterns, understanding how farmers deal with the realities of poultry production due to climate change is critical. This study explores the level and determinants of the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among poultry farmers in Nigeria. A multivariate probit analysis reveals that poultry farmers practice climate change adaptation strategies with a clear heterogeneity of strategies at different production scales. Small farms tend to invest in traditional strategies such as the stocking of local breeds while medium and large farms adopt modern technologies such as air and water ventilation and the use of bulbs that emit less heat. Our study finds that farmers who have experienced heat related losses are more likely to adopt modern practices and more likely to adopt multiple adaptation strategies at a time. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:279861&r=dev |
| By: | Tankari, M.R. |
| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of rainfall variability on farm households food insecurity and how participation in nonfarm enterprises may contribute to mitigate such effect. The ordinary least square and copula switching regressions are performed on the data of the 2014 Multi-sectoral Continuous Survey (EMC-BF). It appears that both short-term and long-term rainfall variability are important determinants of farm households food insecurity level in Burkina Faso. An increase in the rainfall average significantly reduce the level of farm households food insecurity. However, the effect of a short-term decrease in rainfall is only significant among the rural farm households indicating these latter dependences to rainfall for their livelihood compared to urban farm households. Furthermore, the study reveals nonfarm enterprises reduce farm households food insecurity. Therefore, operating a nonfarm enterprise may be a strategy to cope with rainfall variability effects among farm households in Burkina Faso. Acknowledgement : I acknowledged |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277214&r=dev |
| By: | Winters, P.; Kafle, K.; Benfica, R. |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the decades-old relative deprivation theory of migration. In contrast to the traditional view which portrays absolute income maximization as a driver of migration, we test whether relative deprivation induces migration in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Taking advantage of the internationally comparable longitudinal data from integrated household and agriculture surveys from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda, we use panel fixed effects to estimate the effects of relative deprivation on migration. We find that a household s migration decision is based not only on its wellbeing status but also on the relative position of the household in the wellbeing distribution of the local community. Results are robust to alternative specifications including pooled data across the five countries and the migration relative deprivation relationship is amplified in rural, agricultural, and male-headed households. Results imply a need to renew the discussion of relative deprivation as a cause of migration. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276981&r=dev |
| By: | Nordjo, R.; Adjasi, C. |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the effect of access to finance on smallholder farmer s welfare in the Northern Region of Ghana. Using field survey data, we compared the average difference in welfare between farmers with access to finance and non-equivalent control groups. By adopting Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Propensity Score Weighting (PSW) to control selection bias, the results of the econometric estimation indicate that access to finance has a positive and significant effect on the welfare of smallholder farmers. The result provides evidence that smallholder farmers participation in financial services must be promoted. Thus, policy towards extending finance to smallholder farmers must be adopted. Acknowledgement : I am extremely indebted to my supervisor, Prof Charles K.D Adjasi, for his advice, dedication, guidance, and exceptional mentorship. I also thank the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Ghana to help me secure funding for my fieldwork. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277142&r=dev |
| By: | Branco, D.; Feres, J. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether rural households use labor allocation to mitigate the effect of drought shocks in the Northeaster Brazilian context. We first document that water scarcity leads to lower income derived from farm work as main, and higher income from secondary jobs. We then examine the extent to which extreme droughts affect time labor allocation. Our results indicate that an additional drought shock per year is associated with greater likelihood of have more than one job, lower share of farm activities in the total hours worked, and higher share of secondary job. The effects are higher for poorer municipalities. These findings are consistent with a mitigation response to reduced agricultural profitability due to water scarcity. Acknowledgement : This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada through Project entitled Using an Environmental Economics Perspective to Influence Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean - Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the IDRC or its Board of Governors. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277736&r=dev |
| By: | Negi, D. |
| Abstract: | Several studies have examined the impact of recent surge in food prices on household welfare. Some predict that an increase in food prices would lead to rise in incidence of poverty while others contradict this arguing that in the in the long run high food prices may actually increase income and reduce poverty. This lack of consensus has led to a debate around the welfare impacts of recent food price shocks. This paper contributes to this debate by analyzing the impact of food price shock on welfare of Indian households located in rural and urban areas. Using natural suitability for food cultivation as a source of exogenous variation, the study identifies the causal mechanism through which the welfare impact of food prices vary across rural and urban location. The results also demonstrate that ignoring the heterogeneity in the impact may lead to misleading conclusions about the impact of high food prices on households welfare. Acknowledgement : This paper is part of my Ph.D. dissertation. I thank Prof. Bharat Ramaswami, Prof. E Somanathan, Prof. Rohini Somanathan, Dean Spears and Diane Spears for their guidance and comments. I am also grateful to seminar participants at 3rd Annual CECFEE Workshop for helpful comments and suggestions. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277150&r=dev |
| By: | Abiona, Olukorede (University of Leicester); Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin (University of Leicester) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of mobile money adoption on consumption smoothing, poverty and human capital investments in Tanzania. We exploit the rapid expansion of the mobile money agent network between 2010 and 2012 and combine this with idiosyncratic shocks from variation in rainfall over time and across space in an instrumented DiD methodology. We find that adopter households are able to smooth consumption during periods of shocks and maintain their investments in human capital. Results on time use of children and labor force participation complement the findings on the important role of mobile money for the intergenerational transmission of poverty. |
| Keywords: | mobile money, household shocks, rainfall, poverty, human capital accumulation, Tanzania |
| JEL: | G23 H31 I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11928&r=dev |
| By: | Rawlings, Samantha (University of Reading); Siddique, Zahra (University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of domestic violence on mortality of children born to female victims using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data across thirty two different developing countries. We start by examining associations between interpersonal violence and child mortality while controlling for potential confounds. We find that children of (ever) victimized mothers are 0.4 pp more likely to die within thirty days, 0.7 pp more likely to die within a year and 1.1 pp more likely to die within the first five years of being born in comparison with children born to mothers who never experienced violence. We find similar patterns when examining the effect of violence taking place in the last twelve months on female victims and their children. Our results are similar when we use matching methods. We also examine the causal effect of violence on child mortality using an instrumental variables strategy. Exploiting variation in domestic violence and marital rape laws across countries and over time, we find that laws that criminalize violence against women and/or marital rape lower its incidence. Using this as an exogenous source of variation in domestic violence, we find that children born within the last twelve months to female victims were 3.7 pp more likely to die in the first thirty days of life. Our results indicate significant externalities to violence against women and underline the importance of recent efforts to tackle this violence in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | child mortality, domestic violence |
| JEL: | I14 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11899&r=dev |
| By: | Gollin, D.; Udry, C. |
| Abstract: | Standard measures of productivity display enormous dispersion across farms in Africa. Crop yields and input intensities appear to vary greatly, seemingly in conflict with a model of efficient allocation across farms. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for distinguishing between measurement error, unobserved heterogeneity, and potential misallocation. Using rich panel data from farms in Tanzania and Uganda, we estimate our model using a highly flexible specification in which we allow for several kinds of measurement error and heterogeneity. We find that measurement error and heterogeneity together account for a large fraction perhaps two-thirds to three-quarters -- of the dispersion in measured productivity. We suggest that the potential for efficiency gains through reallocation may be relatively modest. Acknowledgement : We are grateful for comments from Chris Barrett, Stefano Caria, Stefan Dercon, Andrew Foster, Talip Kilic, Karen Macours, and seminar participants at Yale, Oxford CSAE, UCLA, Northwestern, Heidelberg, Exeter, CEMFI Madrid, Manchester, Tufts, Hebrew University, and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277279&r=dev |
| By: | Kalamkar, S. |
| Abstract: | Adoption of Recommended Doses of Fertilisers on Soil Test Basis by Small and Marginal Farmers in Gujarat, India ABSTRACT The study examines the prospects and constraints in implementation of Soil Health Card (SHC) Programme in Gujarat, India, covering sample of 160 control farmers and 240 soil test farmers. It was observed that it is an important and beneficial programme, however, was not implemented in proper manner. In view to achieve the quantity targets fixed, quality norms were not given proper attention. The level of adoption of recommended doses by soil test farmers was reasonably less (around 40%). However, the adoption of recommended doses of fertiliser based on soil test has helped the farmers in increasing the agricultural productivity and income. The The due . Besides, inadequate staff strength, unavailability of required number of soil test laboratories and lack of upgradation of skills of the personnel were major bottleneck in success of program. Acknowledgement : This study is a part of all-India level coordinated project sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277333&r=dev |
| By: | Benfica, R.; Henderson, H. |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between the sectoral composition of economic growth and the rural-urban composition of poverty. To this end, we use a new cross-country panel dataset consisting of 146 rural and urban poverty spells for 71 low- and middle-income countries. We find that rural (urban) poverty is highly responsive to agricultural (non-agricultural) productivity growth. The effect of agricultural productivity growth on rural poverty is particularly strong for countries with little dependence on natural resources. We also find that growth in the share of employment in the non-agricultural sector (i.e., structural transformation) reduces rural poverty, most notably for countries with a low initial level of development. These findings are robust to changes in key assumptions, including using alternative poverty lines. Finally, we use our estimates to examine the historical contribution of different sources of economic growth to rural and urban poverty reduction. Acknowledgement : We acknowledge the International Fund for Agricultural Development for supporting this research. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277278&r=dev |
| By: | Paul Nkegbe; Abdelkrim Araar; Benjamin Abu; Yazidu Ustarz; Hamdiyah Alhassan; Edinam Dope Setsoafia; Shamsia Abdul-Wahab |
| Abstract: | We used an endogenous switching probit and a generalized structural equation model (GSEM) to assess the effect of non-farm participation on householders’ decisions to sell and on the level of commercialization of agricultural goods in Ghana. For this study, we used the Ghana Living Standards Survey for the years 2012-2013 and found that non-farm participation consistently increased both the probability of selling crops and quantities sold. We concluded that non-farm engagement by farmers boosts market participation and commercialization in Ghana, implying that non-farm engagement and agricultural commercialization are complementary. Developing the agricultural sector requires the government to create the conditions necessary to stimulate farmers’ participation in non-farm activities. |
| Keywords: | Non-farm participation, Market participation, Commercialization, Endogeneity, Ghana, Africa |
| JEL: | D13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2018-07&r=dev |
| By: | Schwab, B. |
| Abstract: | The productive impacts of transfer programs have received increased attention. However, little is known about such effects in emergency and crisis settings. Even less is known about whether transfer type a food basket or cash grant influences the productive potential of such transfers. Theory suggests that while cash transfers can relieve liquidity constraints associated with investments, subsidized food provision may prevent households from retreating to conservative income generating strategies by acting as a type of insurance during volatile periods. Using a randomized field experiment in Yemen, we contrast the effects of transfer modality. The results demonstrate a modest productive impact of both modalities, and suggest a role for both liquidity and price risk channels. Cash transfer recipients invested relatively more in activities with higher liquidity requirements (livestock), while food recipients incorporated higher return crops into their agricultural portfolio. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277561&r=dev |
| By: | Wang, Y.; Huang, J. |
| Abstract: | Although the importance of forests in climate change mitigation has been widely recognized, there has been a lack of empirical research regarding the role of forests in agricultural adaptation to climate change. This paper uses a careful designed household survey in South China that considers an exogenous shock of drought, to determine whether the presence of natural and planted forests near rice-producing villages can reduce the adverse effects of drought on rice yield. After controlling for local climate and water infrastructure, we find robust evidence that natural forests and not planted forests have significant positive effects on rice yield, due to their influence on the availability of water for irrigation. Although drought hinders farmers access to irrigation, which negatively affects rice yield, forests near villages provide protection for rice against drought. These findings support the adoption of forest ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to cope with climate change and enhance food security. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276959&r=dev |
| By: | Vaiknoras, K.; Larochelle, C. |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the treatment effect of adoption of biofortified iron beans in Rwanda on household yields, bean consumption from own-production and purchases, bean sales, and the probability of being a net seller of beans. Because the adoption decision could be endogenous to these outcomes, we use an instrumental variable approach to quantify the impacts of adoption. Some of the iron bean varieties provide yield gains (measured as multiplication ratio, i.e. quantity harvested/quantity planted) of 19-25% over traditional varieties. Iron bean adoption also increases household consumption of own-produced beans by 14%. It reduces the probability of purchasing beans to meet consumption needs by 13% and reduces total purchases by 3.9 kg per adult equivalent on average. Finally, adoption increases the probability that a household sells beans by 16% and increases the probability that it is a net seller of beans by 14%. These findings are promising for the continued adoption of iron beans in Rwanda and elsewhere and provide evidence that biofortified crops are a good investment for nutrition, food security, and poverty reduction. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277139&r=dev |
| By: | Salami, A.; Kounagbe Lokonon, B.O. |
| Abstract: | With numerous challenges hindering farm households entrepreneurship decision, it is often argued that entrepreneurship can play an essential role in improving farm productivity. Yet assessment of the impact of entrepreneurship on farm productivity is scarce. We address this issue by analyzing the effect of non-agricultural entrepreneurship on farm profit. Using the World Bank s Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Survey on Agriculture datasets for 2011 and 2014 of Niger and applying endogenous switching regression, we find that non-agricultural entrepreneurship significantly increases farm profit. Farm profit increased by 908,504.4 CFA F for the farm households that developed non-agricultural enterprises thanks to their entrepreneurship behavior. The total value of farm profit for the farm households without non-agricultural enterprises would have increased by 808,789.2 CFA F relative to the current level with the development of non-agricultural enterprises. The findings support increasing arguments on the need to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas to improve farm profit and to transform structurally the economy Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277015&r=dev |
| By: | Pramila Krishnan; Peng Zhang |
| Abstract: | The study of consumption in poor households usually focuses on the costs of the consumption basket rather than its composition. In contrast, we investigate the variety in consumption using data from rural Ethiopia. We examine the loss in variety in remote locations, relying on a purpose-designed longitudinal survey over two years, where villages di?er only in distance to the market and are homogenous otherwise. In addition, we exploit a change in policy which resulted in a crackdown on informal or unlicensed traders in the second year but which a?ected only the more remote set of villages and resulted in a fall in availability in these villages. We examine the welfare impact of the crackdown on traders by calculating the compensating and equivalent variation and ?nd a fall in welfare between 11% and 13% of incomes for households a?ected by the crackdown, mostly driven by the resultant fall in varieties available. The welfare costs of remoteness are driven by not just the fall in consumption but also the fall in variety in consumption. |
| Keywords: | Variety; Transport costs |
| JEL: | D12 D04 O12 O18 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-15&r=dev |
| By: | Ragasa, C. |
| Abstract: | A multitude of approaches and modalities are available for delivering useful information to rural communities. However, evidence regarding the information efficiency of these modalities is limited, as is evidence identifying the mechanisms of potential information loss in the agricultural extension system. In this paper, we assess information efficiency along the knowledge transmission chain from researchers to agricultural extension agents (EAs) to lead farmers (LFs) to other farmers. By asking the same set of questions about a fairly well known technology, pit planting, we construct a measure of knowledge at each node of the knowledge transmission chain. Evidence shows that the majority of information loss happens at the researcher-to-EA link and the EA-to-LF link, and that the loss is potentially caused by teaching failures or by selective attention and learning among both the EAs and the LFs concerning all important details of the technology. Results highlight the need for greater emphasis during training and learning on key dimensions of technology packages that are commonly ignored. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277472&r=dev |
| By: | Freudenreich, H. |
| Abstract: | We study the process of farmer decision making, particularly the choice of productivity enhancing hybrid seed, of smallholder maize farmers in southern Mexico. Few studies regarding small-scale farming in developing countries have factored in social psychology together with economic dimensions in that context. While acknowledging the importance of risk preferences, there is still a lack of consensus on how these preferences influence the process of technology choice. We combine subjective beliefs derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior, with experimentally elicited risk and ambiguity preferences to predict the degree of farmers hybrid maize adoption in the coming season. Our results suggest that the higher farmers score on factors describing attitudes and subjective norms towards the use of hybrid seed, the higher is the degree of adoption. Farmers who are very risk averse score higher on attitudes towards the outcomes related to using hybrid seed, but intend to cultivate a smaller share of land with it. Ambiguity aversion is not significantly related to attitudes towards or the intended degree of adoption. Acknowledgement : This research was financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277410&r=dev |
| By: | Ordonez, P.; Balis, K.; Ramirez, I. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors that lead to the adoption of legal harvesting of the forest by the communities in the state of Michoac n in Mexico. We construct a theoretical model, where the adoption decision is based on the expected benefits and costs of adoption versus the net benefit of expanding the agricultural frontier or of not controlling access to the forest and allow for it to harvested illegally. Using a panel data set of 1785 communities from 1993 to 2013, we estimate a probit model, where we control for the unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity by using Mundlak s device. We find that the relative distribution of land use between forest and agriculture as well as the elevation and ruggedness of the terrain, have a significant effect, together with a positive effect of the price of pinewood. Furthermore, we find evidence of spatial spillovers for the adoption decision, as a community whose neighbors have previously adopted a forest management plan, is also more likely to adopt. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277351&r=dev |
| By: | Gelaw, F. |
| Abstract: | Like some developing countries, Ethiopia, with the help of Oxfam public campaign, managed to obtain trademark protection of many western countries for three of its fine coffees: Yirgachefe, Harar and Sidama coffee types. The main goal of the trademarking initiative was to help smallholder producers capture price premia for their fine coffee. This paper examines the effects of the trademark protection on FOB and producer prices of trademarked coffee by comparing with non-trademarked Ethiopian coffee. We found that trademark protection has improved both the level and trend of FOB prices relative to the non-trademarked Ethiopian coffee. But producer farmers capture only small portion of this price premia. In addition, we also found the trademark protection is not compatible with the exclusive impersonlized and non-traceable transactions system introduced by Ethiopian Commodity Exchange. Acknowledgement : his was supported by Netherlands Initiative for capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE-ETH-019) as part of financing the PhD study. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277290&r=dev |
| By: | Silva, J.D.S.; Freitas, C.O.D.; Costa, L.V. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines Brazilian rural establishments that perform agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The combination of these activities, in the same agricultural unit, characterizes and defines pluriactivity. In this way, this research aims to verify the effect of pluriactivity on the efficiency of rural establishments, in technical terms. In order to reach the proposed goal, the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to pair the sample in two groups, treated (pluriative) and untreated (non-pluriative). After the identification of these groups, a Probit model was estimated, followed by estimation of the production stochastic frontier to obtain the technical efficiency scores. The data used refer to a special tabulation based on the micro-data of the 2006 Census of Agriculture. Among the results found, establishments that carry out exclusively agricultural activities make better use of the available resources compared to the pluriactive ones, being technically more efficient. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/ Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276969&r=dev |