SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Liu, Yi; Shankar, Bhavani.

Rapid economic growth in China has resulted in substantially improved household incomes. Diets have also changed, with a movement away from traditional foods and towards animal products and processed foods. Yet micronutrient deficiencies, particularly for calcium and vitamin A, are still widespread in China. In this research we model the determinants of the intakes of these two micronutrients using household panel data, asking particularly whether continuing income increases are likely to cause the deficiencies to be overcome. Nonparametric kernel regressions and random effects panel regression models are employed. The results show a statistically significant but relatively small positive income effect on both nutrient intakes. The local availability of...

A Pro-Market Agenda for El Salvador

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; I12; O12.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25585

Engel, Eduardo M.R.A..

This paper argues that, despite important productivity gains, reforms have benefited consumers much less than expected in El Salvador. Antitrust legislation, consumer protection and an adequate regulation of privatized utilities are central ingredients of a successful market economy. Major reforms that are needed in each one of these areas in El Salvador are described.

A Reappraisal of the Role of Agriculture in Economic Growth in Melanesian Countries

Palavras-chave: Market reform; Antitrust legislation; Consumer protection; Privatization; Regulation of utilities; Political Economy; D18; L40; L51; L94; L96; O12.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28438

Fleming, Euan M.; Fleming, Pauline.

Fortunes in the agricultural sectors of four of the largest South Pacific countries are traced in recent decades by estimating the single factoral terms of trade index. The single factoral terms of trade are measured for agriculture in four Melanesian countries-Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu-over the period, 1970 to 2002. This index provides a useful method to assess changes in returns to factors employed in agricultural production in these countries. Except in Solomon Islands, farmers experienced a deteriorating index, indicating that they have reaped progressively lower returns to their resources. In Solomon Islands, returns to resources are shown to have increased slightly. A sustained contribution by the agricultural sector to...

Agricultural Insurances Based on Meteorological Indices: Realizations, Methods and Research Agenda

Palavras-chave: Factoral terms of trade; Melanesia; Smallholders; Total factor productivity; International Development; D24; O12; O47; Q17.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25715

Leblois, Antoine; Quirion, Philippe.

In many low-income countries, agriculture is mostly rain-fed and yields highly depend on climatic factors. Furthermore, farmers have little access to traditional crop insurance, which suffers from high information asymmetry and transaction costs. Insurances based on meteorological indices could fill this gap since they do not face such drawbacks. However their implementation has been slow so far. In this article, we first describe the most advanced projects that have taken place in developing countries using these types of crop insurances. We then describe the methodology that has been used to design such projects, in order to choose the meteorological index, the indemnity schedule and the insurance premium. We finally draw an agenda for research in...

Altruism, Favoritism, and Guilt in the Allocation of Family Resources: Sophie's Choice in Mao's Mass Send Down Movement

Palavras-chave: Agriculture; Insurance; Climatic Risk; Environmental Economics and Policy; G21; O12; Q12; Q18; Q54.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91004

Li, Hongbin; Rosenzweig, Mark R.; Zhang, Junsen.

In this paper, we use new survey data on twins born in urban China, among whom many experienced the consequences of the forced mass rustication movement of the Chinese “cultural revolution,” to identify the distinct roles of altruism and guilt in affecting behavior within families. Based on a model depicting the choices of the allocation of parental time and transfers to multiple children incorporating favoritism, altruism and guilt, we show the conditions under which guilt and altruism can be separately identified by experimental variation in parental time with children. Based on within-twins estimates of affected cohorts, we find that parents selected children with lower endowments to be sent down; that parents behaved altruistically, providing more...

Are Household Production Decisions Cooperative? Evidence on Pastoral Migration and Milk Sales from Northern Kenya

Palavras-chave: Guilt; Altruism; China; Health Economics and Policy; International Development; J12; J13; O12.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43524

Doss, Cheryl R.; McPeak, John G..

Market-based development efforts frequently create opportunities to generate income from goods previously produced and consumed within the household. Production within the household is often characterized by a gender and age division of labor. Market development efforts to improve well being may lead to unanticipated outcomes if household production decisions are non-cooperative. We develop and test models of household decision-making to investigate intra-household decision making in a nomadic pastoral setting from Kenya. Our results suggest that household decisions are contested, with husbands using migration decisions to resist wives ability to market milk.

Asymmetric Response of Nutrient Intakes to Cereal Price Changes among the Poor in China: Implications for the Effect of Cereal Price Subsidies on the Poor’s Nutrient Intakes

Palavras-chave: Intrahousehold decision-making; Household production; Kenya; Consumer/Household Economics; D13; O12.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28460

Shimokawa, Satoru.

Previous studies commonly assume that the effects of introducing and ending cereal price subsidies on the poor’s nutrient intakes are symmetric. We question the assumption of symmetry and show that the poor’s nutrient intakes respond asymmetrically to declines and increases in the price of cereal in China. Our results imply that introducing cereal price subsidies can increase the poor’s total energy intake by increasing their calorie intakes from fat and protein, and that ending such subsidies would insignificantly affect the poor’s total energy intake; however, it may further increase their calorie intakes from fat and protein.

Bargaining Power in Relational Contracts: An Experimental Study

Palavras-chave: Food price subsidy; Nutrition; Poverty; Asia; China; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; International Development; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; I38; O12; Q18.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51661

Cordero Salas, Paula.

This paper provides experimental evidence of the economic impact from shifting bargaining power in relational contracts. I implement an experimental design that adjusts the bargaining power of sellers (agents) and the enforceability of the contract. I find that the vast majority of contracts take the form of efficiency wage contracts instead of contingent performance contracts when enforcement is partially incomplete and sellers have more bargaining power than buyers. The total contracted and actual compensation increase with the bargaining power of the sellers. However, sellers' profits are found to increase only if a part of the total payment is third-party enforceable. In this case, observed surplus and efficiency are lower than predictions. When no...

Cairo Evaluation Clinic: Thoughts on Randomized Trials for Evaluation of Development

Palavras-chave: Contracts; Incomplete enforcement; Bargaining; Experiments; Distribution; Institutions; Industrial Organization; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; D86; K12; L14; O12; Q13.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103579

Karlan, Dean S..

We were asked to discuss specific methodological approaches to evaluating three hypothetical interventions. This article uses this forum to discuss three misperceptions about randomized trials. First, nobody argues that randomized trials are appropriate in all settings, and for all questions. Everyone agrees that asking the right question is the highest priority. Second, the decision about what to measure and how to measure it, i.e., through qualitative or participatory methods versus quantitative survey or administrative data methods, is independent of the decision about whether to conduct a randomized trial. Third, randomized trials can be used to evaluate complex and dynamic processes, not just simple and static interventions. Evaluators should aim...

China’s Agricultural Modernisation Program: an assessment of its sustainability and impacts in the case of the high-value beef chain

Palavras-chave: Program evaluation; Randomized control trial; Agricultural Finance; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Financial Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Labor and Human Capital; Public Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; B41; O12; H43; J08; H54; D73; D12.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51913

Waldron, Scott A.; Brown, Colin G.; Longworth, John W..

China has embarked on a major program to modernise agricultural and agribusiness structures with far reaching implications for rural development, international competitiveness / trade and food safety. There are, however, few studies that examine in detail how the modernisation program has proceeded, its’ sustainability and impacts. This paper aims to provide such as assessment through a series of integrated budget analyses of participants in the modern, high value beef chain. The paper concludes that rather than attempting to skip development phases by fast-tracking the development of modern structures in high-value agrifood chains, China should pursue a more incremental and facilitative approach based around developing structures in mid-value agrifood...

Closing the Eyes on a Gloomy Future: Psychological Causes and Economic Consequences

Palavras-chave: China; Agriculture; Modernisation; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Farm Management; Industrial Organization; Livestock Production/Industries; Marketing; Political Economy; Production Economics; O12; Q13; Q18.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50784

Consumption Growth in a Booming Economy: Taiwan 1976-96

Laajaj, Rachid.

This paper analyzes the impact of economic prospects on one’s time preference. Research in psychol- ogy has shown how individuals modify their preferences in order to reduce their cognitive dissonance, which is the uncomfortable tension felt when simultaneously holding conflicting thoughts. It occurs among the poor when simultaneously caring about their future welfare while having gloomy economic prospects. Hence closing their eyes on the future can reduce their psychological distress at the cost of worsening their future economic wellbeing. This paper offers a new theoretical approach that decom- poses time discounting and analyzes the endogenous determination of one’s time horizon. The model predicts that, below a certain wealth, the time horizon of an...

Tipo: Presentation

Palavras-chave: Endogenous time preference; Cognitive dissonance; Time horizon; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; D91; O12; Q12.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/123933

McKenzie, David.

Consumption and income have both grown rapidly in Taiwan over the past forty years, with younger birth cohorts experiencing faster growth. The long upward trend in consumption presents a strong challenge to the consumption smoothing predictions of the Permanent Income Hypothesis. We investigate the extent to which consumption theory can account for this trend in an environment where a large majority of households have high savings rates. Household survey data from 1976-96 are used to estimate dynamic pseudo-panel models with inter-cohort heterogeneity. We evaluate the impacts on consumption of migration, mortality, household composition, liquidity constraints, unanticipated aggregate shocks, hyperbolic discounting, habit formation and precautionary saving....

Corruption, Development and the Curse of Natural Resources

Palavras-chave: Consumption growth; Pseudo-panel; Prudence; Taiwan; International Development; O12; O16; E21; C23.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28398

Pendergast, Shannon M.; Clarke, Judith A.; van Kooten, G. Cornelis.

In 1995, Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner found a negative relationship between natural resources and economic growth, and claimed that natural resources are a curse. Their work has been widely cited, with many economists now accepting the curse of natural resources as a welldocumented explanation of poor economic growth in some economies (e.g., Papyrakis and Gerlagh, 2004; Kronenberg, 2004). In this paper, we provide an alternative econometric framework for evaluating this claim, although we begin with a discussion of possible explanations for the curse and a critical assessment of the extant theory underlying the curse. Our approach is to identify natural resources that have the greatest rents and potential for exploitation through rent-seeking agents....

Croatia's EU accession: socio-economic assessment of farm households and policy recommendations

Palavras-chave: Natural resource curse; Petroleum resources; Unbalanced panels and GMM estimation; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O12; Q32; Q34; O43; O47.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37913

Mollers, Judith; Zier, Patrick; Frohberg, Klaus; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Bojnec, Stefan.

Croatia is very close to meeting the requirements necessary for becoming a member of the European Union (EU). On February 6, 2008, the European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that accession negotiations with Croatia are moving ahead well. As in all new member states (NMS), the agricultural sector and food processing chain are core issues within the negotiation process. Successful negotiation requires intimate knowledge of the issue at hand, including the socio-economic situation and the fears and strategies of the stakeholders, particularly small-scale farmers. This report attempts to close some of these knowledge gaps by reviewing Croatia’s rural development dynamics and farm structures, as well as agricultural and rural policies. Based on an...

Tipo: Book

Palavras-chave: Croatia; Rural development; EU accession; Slovenia; Farm households; Competitiveness; Agricultural policy; CAP; Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Security and Poverty; International Development; O18; O13; O12.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/53665

Dams

Duflo, Esther; Pande, Rohini.

The construction of large dams is one of the most costly and controversial forms of public infrastructure investment in developing countries, but little is known about their impact. This paper studies the productivity and distributional effects of large dams in India. To account for endogenous placement of dams we use GIS data and the fact that river gradient affects a district's suitability for dams to provide instrumental variable estimates of their impact. We find that, in a district where a dam is built, agricultural production does not increase but poverty does. In contrast, districts located downstream from the dam benefit from increased irrigation and see agricultural production increase and poverty fall. Overall, our estimates suggest that large...

Designing Contracts for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Palavras-chave: Dams; Development planning; Program evaluation; India; Public Economics; O21; O12; H43; H23.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28373

Cordero Salas, Paula.

Reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has been identified as a cost effective element of the post-Kyoto strategy to achieve long-term climate objectives. The success of REDD depends primarily on the design and implementation of a financial mechanism that provides land-holders sufficient incentives to participate in a REDD scheme. This paper proposes relational contracting as a more appropriate framework for analyzing proposed REDD incentive regimes rather than that of complete contracting enforcement because relational contracting relies upon mutual self-enforcement in a repeated transaction framework, which better suits the stylized facts of REDD. We characterize the optimal REDD relational contract and provide the...

Determinants of Household Contributions to Collective Irrigation Management: A Case of the Doho Rice Scheme in Uganda

Palavras-chave: Contracts; Incomplete enforcement; Carbon sequestration; Climate change; Institutions; Development.; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Land Economics/Use; D86; K12; L14; O12; Q54; Q56.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61129

Nakano, Yuko; Otsuka, Keijiro.

In order to explore the conditions of successful irrigation management, this study investigates the determinants of household contributions to the cleaning of irrigation channels and the availability of water. By using primary data collected in an irrigation scheme in Uganda, we find that household contributions to the cleaning of irrigation channels are determined by the scarcity of irrigation water, opportunity cost of labor, and private benefit associated with plot size. We also find that the availability of irrigation water increases in the tertiary irrigation area where the coefficient of variation of plot size is large.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Irrigation Management; Collective Action; Sub-Saharan Africa; Crop Production/Industries; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; O12; O13; Q16; Q18.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95919

Direct and Indirect Determinants of Obesity: The Case of Indonesia

Romling, Cornelia; Qaim, Matin.

Overweight and obesity are becoming serious issues in many developing countries. Since undernutrition is not completely eradicated yet, these countries face a dual burden that obstructs economic development. We analyze the nutrition transition in Indonesia using longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family and Life Survey, covering the period between 1993 and 2007. Obesity has been increasing remarkably across all population groups, including rural and low income strata. Prevalence rates are particularly high for women. We also develop a framework to analyze direct and indirect determinants of body mass index. This differentiation has rarely been made in previous research, but appears useful for policy making purposes. Regression models show that changing...

Does the structure of agricultural science and technology policy system matter in developing country agricultural productivity growth trends? Evidence from Kenya and Uganda

Palavras-chave: Obesity; Overweight; Nutrition Transition; Asia; Indonesia; Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy; I10; O12.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108350

Mugunieri, Godiah Lawrence; Obare, Gideon A.; Omamo, Steven Were.

Paper to be presented at the IAAE Conference

Effect of contract farming on productivity and income of small holders: The case of tea production in north-western Vietnam

Palavras-chave: Agricultural science and technology; Policy system; Developing countries; Food Security and Poverty; Productivity Analysis; C22; O12; O33.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50538

Saigenji, Yoshiko; Zeller, Manfred.

This paper examines potential of contract farming as a rural development tool by revealing its effect on productivity and income of small holders in tea production in north-western Vietnam. In the present research, three economic analyses are applied. First, the technical efficiency of tea production is estimated by using stochastic frontier model. The results show that contract farming achieved significantly higher technical efficiency compared to non-contract farming. Second, logit model is investigated to determine the influential socio-economic characteristics of households for contract participation. The model indicates that social relationship of households, such as the membership in the communist party, play an important role in contract...