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

Di Corato, Luca.

A government bargains a mutually convenient agreement with a multinational corporation to extract a natural resource. The corporation bears the initial investment and earns as a return a share on the profits. The host country provides access and guarantee conditions of operation. Being the investment totally sunk, the corporation must account in its plan not only for uncertainty on market conditions but also for the threat of nationalization. In a real options framework where the government holds an American call option on nationalization we show under which conditions a Nash bargaining is feasible and leads to attain a cooperative agreement maximizing the joint venture surplus. We find that the threat of nationalization does not affect the investment time...

Indian Farmers' Valuation of Crop Yield Distributions: Will poor farmers value 'pro-poor' seeds?

Palavras-chave: Real Options; Nash Bargaining; Expropriation; Natural Resources; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Economics; C7; D8; K3; F2; O1.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/59378

Lybbert, Travis J..

Potential poverty traps among the rural poor suggest a need to reduce poor farmers' vulnerability by stabilizing crop yields and limiting yield losses. Advances in agricultural biotechnology enable breeders to address this need more directly than ever before with crops that reduce production risk by tolerating climate fluctuation or resisting biotic stresses. Will poor farmers who could benefit most from less vulnerability choose to purchase such risk-reducing seeds? I use data from a household survey and experiment involving farmers in India to infer their valuation of changes in the mean, variance, and skewness of yield distributions. I conclude that these farmers value increases in expected yield in the yield distribution but seem indifferent about...

Livestock based livelihoods and pathways out of poverty: the case of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh

Palavras-chave: Poverty; Risk; Biotechnology; Experimental Economics; Farm Management; C9; D8; O1; Q1.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19160

Akter, Shaheen.

This paper evaluates livelihoods of smallholder livestock farmers who were beneficiaries of a poverty alleviation programme involving longer term intervention towards building the strength of stakeholders such as government department, NGOs, village organisations and women beneficiaries. Data are drawn from a survey of 400 women farmers in 2006 and 2008. These farmers have been the members of BRAC, a well known NGO in Bangladesh. Poverty profiles, transition matrices and regression analysis drawn from asset-base framework are used to analyze data. A number of key questions related to poverty transition through livestock based activities, heterogeneity in livelihood choice and its impact on household welfare, extent of poverty reduction using different...

Market Performance of Potato Auctions in Bhutan

Palavras-chave: Poverty; Women and livestock; Livelihood Strategies; Asset-base Framework; Bangladesh; Food Security and Poverty; O1; O3; Q13; Q55.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108935

van Tilburg, Aad; Kuiper, W. Erno; Swinkels, Rob.

Market performance with respect to a main horticultural export commodity in Bhutan is the subject of this paper. Imperfections in (market) infrastructure and market structure and conduct may prevent an optimal price for farmers. Market performance is assessed by testing the law of one price for this commodity. This is done by testing three series of auction price data on both long-run and short-run price integration. It is concluded that auction prices were interrelated both in the long and short run with one of the three auctions as the price-leading market. Policy implications are suggested.

Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions

Palavras-chave: Auctions; Bhutan; Law of one price; Market performance; Potato marketing; Marketing; C22; L1; M31; O1; Q13.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25520

Karlan, Dean S..

Questions remain as to whether results from experimental economics games are generalizable to real decisions in non-laboratory settings. Furthermore, important questions persist about whether social capital can help solve seemingly missing credit markets. I conduct two experiments, a Trust game and a Public Goods game, and a survey to measure social capital. I then examine whether behavior in the games predicts repayment of loans to a Peruvian group lending microfinance program. Since the structure of these loans relies heavily on social capital to enforce repayment, this is a relevant and important test of the games, as well as of other measures of social capital. I find that individuals identified as "trustworthy" by the Trust game are in fact less...

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FOR CHRISTIAN GROUPS COMBATING PERSISTENT POVERTY

Palavras-chave: Trust game; Experimental economics; Microfinance; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; B4; C9; D8; O1.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28429

Barrett, Christopher B.; Brown, Douglas R..

Persistent poverty is one of the core challenges faced by Christians and by development scholars and practitioners alike. There is no question that Jesus was concerned about the poor - both materially and spiritually. From his first public address in the Synagogue in Nazareth, His home town, where He concluded by saying that He had come to "preach good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18), Jesus lived the gospel in word and deed. We, as Christian men and women, whether researchers or practitioners, are called to do no less. When Jesus made His parting remarks to His disciples, He said (John 20:21) "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." emphasizing that we are to do likewise. This concern permeates the Old and New Testament, another example being the words...

Does Reducing Malaria Improve Household Living Standards?

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development; O1; Q12; Q18.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14738

Laxminarayan, Ramanan.

Living in malaria-endemic regions places an economic burden on households even if they do not actually suffer an episode of malaria. Households living with endemic malaria are less likely to have access to economic opportunities and may have to modify agricultural practices and other household behavior to adapt to their disease environment. Data from Vietnam demonstrate that reductions in malaria incidence through government-financed malaria control programs can contribute to higher household income for all households living in endemic areas. Empirically, a 10% decrease in malaria cases at the national level translates to a roughly US $30 million annual economic benefit in the form of improved living standards.

Palavras-chave: Malaria; Living standards; Disease; Health Economics and Policy; D1; O1; I0.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10633

Deposit Collectors

Ashraf, Nava; Karlan, Dean S.; Yin, Wesley.

Informal lending and savings institutions exist around the world, and often include regular door-to-door deposit collection of cash. Some banks have adopted similar services in order to expand access to banking services in areas that lack physical branches. Using a randomized control trial, we investigate determinants of participation in a deposit collection service and evaluate the impact of offering the service for micro-savers of a rural bank in the Philippines. Of 137 individuals offered the service in the treatment group, 38 agreed to sign-up, and 20 regularly used the service. Take-up is predicted by distance to the bank (a measure of transaction costs of depositing without the service) as well as being married (a suggestion that household bargaining...

DECOMPOSING PRODUCER PRICE RISK: A POLICY ANALYSIS TOOL WITH AN APPLICATION TO NORTHERN KENYAN LIVESTOCK MARKETS

Palavras-chave: Savings behavior; Microfinance; Field experiment; Savings mobilization; Deposit collector; Financial Economics; D1; D9; G1; G2; O1.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/28502

Barrett, Christopher B.; Luseno, Winnie K..

This paper introduces a simple method of price risk decomposition that determines the extent to which producer price risk is attributable to volatile inter-market margins, intra-day variation, intra-week (day of week) variation, or terminal market price variability. We apply the method to livestock markets in northern Kenya, a setting of dramatic price volatility where price stabilization is a live policy issue. In this particular application, we find that large, variable inter-market basis is the most important factor in explaining producer price risk in animals typically traded between markets. Local market conditions explain most price risk in other markets, in which traded animals rarely exit the region. Variability in terminal market prices accounts...

Idle Chatter or Learning? Evidence from Rural Tanzania of Social Learning about Clinicians and the Health System

Palavras-chave: Demand and Price Analysis; O1; Q13; Q18.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14753

Adelman, Sarah W.; Essam, Timothy M.; Leonard, Kenneth L..

We examine data from rural Arusha region in Tanzania in which households are asked to recall the illness episodes of randomly chosen other households in their village. We analyze the probability that a household would be able to recall another illness episode as a function of the characteristics of the illness, the location and type of health care chosen and the outcome experienced. Households are more likely to recall severe illnesses and illnesses for which good quality care is important, illnesses that resulted in visits to hospitals or when the patient was not cured. In addition, households are more likely to recall illnesses that resulted in a visit to a facility where the average tenure of clinicians is less than two years old. The results are...

BAYES' ESTIMATES OF THE DOUBLE HURDLE MODEL IN THE PRESENCE OF FIXED COSTS

Palavras-chave: Learning; Health care; Trust; Social networks; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Health Economics and Policy; I1; O1; O2.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42884

Holloway, Garth J.; Barrett, Christopher B.; Ehui, Simeon K..

We present a model of market adoption (participation) where the presence of non-negligible fixed costs leads to non-zero censoring of the traditional double-hurdle regression. Fixed costs arise due to household resources that must be devoted a priori to the decision to participate in the market. These costs-usually a cost of time-motivate two-step decision-making and focus attentions on the minimum-efficient scale of operations (the minimum amount of milk sales) at which market entry becomes viable. This focus, in turn, motivates a non-zero-censored Tobit regression estimated through routine application of Markov chain Monte Carlo Methods.

The Historical Fertility Transition: A Guide for Economists

Palavras-chave: Market participation; Fixed costs; Double-hurdle model; Censored regression.; Financial Economics; O1; O11; C34; O13; Q16; D1.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14741

Guinnane, Timothy W..

The historical fertility transition is the process by which much of Europe and North America went from high to low fertility in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This transformation is central to recent accounts of long-run economic growth. Prior to the transition, women bore as many as eight children each, and the elasticity of fertility with respect to incomes was positive. Today, many women have no children at all, and the elasticity of fertility with respect to incomes is zero or even negative. This paper discusses the large literature on the historical fertility transition, focusing on what we do and do not know about the process. I stress some possible misunderstandings of the demographic literature, and discuss an agenda for future work.

ZUR WETTBEWERBSFAHIGKEIT DER OSTDEUTSCHEN LANDWIRTSCHAFT - EINE EFFIZIENZANALYSE LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHER UNTERNEHMEN SACHSEN-ANHALTS UND DER TSCHECHISCHEN REPUBLIK

Palavras-chave: Fertility transition; Long-run growth; Malthusian models; Quantity-quality trade-off; Consumer/Household Economics; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; N3; O1; O4.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95271

Rothe, Andrea; Lissitsa, Alexej.

COMPETITIVE ABILITY OF EAST GERMAN AGRICULTURE AN EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF FARMS IN SAXONY-ANHALT AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC The main focus of this Discussion Paper the analysis of the efficiency of agricultural enterprises in Sachsen-Anhalt and the Czech Republic. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis, a nonparametric, based on linear programming approach of efficiency measurement the technical, pure technical and scale efficiency of agricultural enterprises on verge of the eastern enlargement has been analysed. The object was to identify significant differences between enterprises of various legal forms, specialisation and farm size, to draw conclusions to the competitiveness of the agricultural sector of Eastern Germany. It has appeared, that there occurred...

ECONOMIC SITUATION OF MOLDAVIANS FARM ENTERPRISES

Palavras-chave: Efficiency; Productivity; Transition; Data Envelopment Analysis; Productivity Analysis; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14868

Cimpoies, Dragos; Schulze, Eberhard.

The given Discussion Paper represents the results of a questionnaire, conducted in 2003, on basic economic questions in 104 Moldavian farm enterprises. The received results continue the cycle of research activities concerning the privatization and restructuring of farm enterprises in different countries of Central and Eastern Europe, are written on a similar structure, allowing to carry out a comparative analysis between the countries of the region. To some extent, the given paper can be regarded as a continuation of the Discussion Paper 60. As the base for the analysis "the standardized questionnaire" has been put forward, developed by IAMO, being advanced and adapted by the authors to local conditions. Study of the activity of farm enterprises of...

BAYESIAN HERDERS: ASYMMETRIC UPDATING OF RAINFALL BELIEFS IN RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL FORECASTS

Palavras-chave: Consolidation; Land lease; Production factors; Buy-sell; Work force; Legal forms; Moldova; Konsolidierung; Verpachtung; Produktionsfaktoren; Kauf und Verkauf; Arbeitskräfte; Rechtsformen; Консолидация; Аренда; Производственные ресурсы; Купля-продажа; Трудовые ресурсы; Организационно-правовые формы; Молдова.; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Industrial Organization; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; Productivity Analysis; С 81; Q12; D25; O1; O4; P3.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/92020

Lybbert, Travis J.; Barrett, Christopher B.; McPeak, John G.; Luseno, Winnie K..

Temporal climate risk weighs heavily on many of the world's poor. Recent advances in model-based climate forecasting have expanded the range, timeliness and accuracy of forecasts available to decision-makers whose welfare depends on stochastic climate outcomes. There has consequently been considerable recent investment in improved climate forecasting for the developing world. Yet, in cultures that have long used indigenous climate forecasting methods, forecasts generated and disseminated by outsiders using unfamiliar methods may not readily gain the acceptance necessary to induce behavioral change. The value of model-based climate forecasts depends critically on the premise that forecast recipients actually use external forecast information to update...

Professionalism, Latent Professionalism and Organizational Demands for Health Care Quality in a Developing Country

Palavras-chave: Agribusiness; O1; D1; Q12.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14762

Leonard, Kenneth L.; Masatu, Melkiory C..

Medicine is a professional pursuit, and even in developing countries professionalism should lead at least some practitioners to care for their patients despite the absence of direct incentives to do so. Even if practitioners do not behave as professionals, what is the extent of latent professionalism, in which socialization in the profession conditions health workers to respond to a demand for professionalism even if they do not normally act as professionals? How many health care workers in developing countries act as professionals all the time and what will happen if health services turn toward remuneration schemes in which health workers are paid by the output or outcome? We examine the behavior of 80 practitioners from Arusha region of Tanzania for...

Regional Integration in Developing Countries: Some Lessons Based on Case Studies

Palavras-chave: Incentives; Quality; Health care; Professionalism; Tanzania; Health Economics and Policy; I1; O1; O2.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42883

Shams, Rasul.

The main focus of this paper is the question if the success of regional integration organisation in developing countries is, in fact, dependent on factors like similarity of their economic structure, market size or lack of commitment. It is shown that there are also other more important institutional and politico-economical reasons to explain the functioning of such organisations in developing countries. Case studies of ECOWAS and SADC will be used to discuss this question. It is also very often argued that southsouth integration is inferior to north-south integration. This will be discussed considering the case of MERCOSUR as an example.

Does Privatization Deliver? Access to Telephone Services and Household Income in Poor Rural Areas Using a Quasi-Natural Experiment for Peru

Palavras-chave: Regional integration; Economic development; Africa; Latin America; Political economy; International Relations/Trade; F15; O1; P16.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/26272

Chong, Alberto E.; Galdo, Virgilio; Torero, Maximo.

We take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment in Peru by which the privatized telecommunications company was required by government to randomly install and operate public pay phones on small rural towns along the national territory. Using a especially designed household survey for a representative sample of rural towns we are able to link access to telephone services with household income. We find, that regardless of the income measurement, most characteristics of public telephone are positively linked with income. Remarkably, the benefits are given at both non-farm and farm income levels. Not only do the findings hold when using instrumental variables but they are further confirmed when using propensity scores matching methods.

Microfinance Institutions: Does Capital Structure Matter?

Palavras-chave: Privatization; Institutions; Rural; Poverty; Telecommunications; Consumer/Household Economics; G32; H10; J45; O1.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25691

Bogan, Vicki.

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have risen to the forefront as invaluable institutions in the development process. Nevertheless, capital constraints have hindered the expansion of microfinance programs such that the demand for financial services still far exceeds the currently available supply. Moreover, it is observed that microfinance organizations have had various degrees of sustainability. Thus, the question of how best to fund these programs is a key issue. Recognizing the potential of microfinance in the development process, this paper examines the existing sources of funding for MFIs by geographic region, and explores how changes in capital structure could facilitate future growth and improve the efficiency and financial sustainability of MFIs....

Does Composition of Government Spending Matter to Economic Growth?

Palavras-chave: Microfinance Institutions; Capital structure; Financial Economics; F3; G21; G32; O1.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51125

Yu, Bingxin; Fan, Shenggen; Saurkar, Anuja.

This paper assesses the impact of the composition of government spending on economic growth in developing countries. We use a dynamic GMM model and a panel data set for 44 developing countries between 1980 and 2004. We find that the various types of government spending have different impact on economic growth. In Africa, human capital spending contributes to economic growth whereas in Asia, capital formation, agriculture and education has strong growth promoting effect. In Latin America, none of government spending items has significant impact on economic growth. Our results are robust regardless of model specifications and instruments chosen.