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

Winters, Paul C.; Davis, Benjamin; Corral, Leonardo.

In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis in the rural development literature on the multiple income-generating activities undertaken by rural households and the importance of assets in determining the capacity to undertake these activities. Controlling for endogeneity choice and applying Lee's generalization of Amemiya's two-step estimator to a simultaneous equation model, household returns to assets from multiple activities are explored for the Mexico ejido sector. To incorporate the multiple variables representing social and public capital into the analysis, factor analysis is used. The results indicate that the asset position of the household has a significant effect on household participation in income generating activities and returns to...

CLIMATE CHANGE, AGRICULTURE, AND DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

Palavras-chave: Livelihoods; Mexico; Social capital; Public capital; Agricultural households; Censored regression; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12898

Winters, Paul C.; Murgai, Rinku; Sadoulet, Elisabeth; de Janvry, Alain.

The impact of global climate change on the less developed countries is analyzed using archetype CGE-multimarket models for three economies representing the poor cereal importing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The objective is to predict the differential impact of climate change across continents on macroeconomic variables, sectoral responses, and household income and food consumption effects, particularly among the poorest. Results show that all these countries will lose and that their agricultural outputs will fall, but that Africa will be by far the most severely affected. Countervailing policies to mitigate negative effects should focus on the production of food crops in Africa and of export crops in Latin America and Asia.

Disaggregating Mexican Migrant Networks: The Parts are Greater Than the Whole

Palavras-chave: Environmental Economics and Policy; International Development.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25079

Winters, Paul C.; Stecklov, Guy; Davis, Benjamin.

In this paper, we explore the role of social networks in the migration decision focusing on the distinct influence networks have on domestic and international migration. The analysis focuses particular attention on the composition of migrant networks in order to improve our understanding of how network composition influences the migration decision. Using data from rural Mexico, we consider migration in a multiple choice context allowing for the possibility that individuals can migrate within Mexico for agricultural and non-agricultural employment as well as to the United States. Our principle result is that the parts are greater than the whole; using disaggregated measures of social networks highlights the complexity of network effects on migration...

Evaluation of a Hybrid Seed Contract Between Smallholders and an MNC in East Java, Indonesia

Palavras-chave: Migration; Networks; Mexico; Network composition; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12952

Simmons, Phil; Patrick, Ian; Winters, Paul C..

Three hundred smallholders near Malang in East Java were surveyed of whom 150 were participating in a hybrid seed contract with Pioneer Hybrid International Inc, an American MNC that has been contracting in the area since 1986. The objectives of the study were to determine whether the contract improved the welfare of those who participated and, if participation did improve welfare, to evaluate why this contract, in contrast to many other farm contracts in developing countries, is successful. A transaction cost framework was used to specify a framework for probit analysis of contract participation and regression analysis used to measure the contribution made by contract participation to gross margins. The empirical results suggest (i) contract selection was...

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY NETWORKS IN MEXICO-U.S. MIGRATION

Palavras-chave: Farm Management.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/58257

Winters, Paul C.; de Janvry, Alain; Sadoulet, Elisabeth.

A household's decision to send migrants is based on information the household has on the expected returns and the costs of migration. Information on migration flows from both family migrant networks and community migrant networks. Direct assistance - in the form of money, housing, transportation, and food - is often provided to migrants by these networks, thus reducing the costs of migration. Using data from a national survey of rural Mexican households, we show the importance of networks in both the decision to migrate and the level of migration. We find that community and family networks are substitutes in the production of information and assistance suggesting that, once migration is well established in a community, family networks become less...

Food Insecurity and Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean

Palavras-chave: Migration; Networks; Mexico; Consumer/Household Economics; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 1999

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12907

Gordillo, Gustavo; Winters, Paul C.; Corral, Leonardo.

This paper examines how Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations have proceeded in addressing the issues of food insecurity and vulnerability in response to the 1996 Rome Declaration on World Food Security. The data suggests that while the food insecurity situation has improved in LAC over the past few years, many nations are worse off in terms of food insecurity than they were at the beginning of the 1990s. Nations that reduced food insecurity tend to be those who have effectively reduced poverty and have increased social spending. While some regional initiatives have occurred to address regional food insecurity issues, additional national and international policy responses are required in the Latin American Region.

Foreign Direct Investment in Manufacturing Sector in Malaysia

Palavras-chave: Food insecurity; Vulnerability; Latin America and the Caribbean; World Food Summit; Food Security and Poverty.

Ano: 2000

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12900

Abdul Karim, Noor Al-Huda; Winters, Paul C.; Coelli, Tim J.; Fleming, Euan M..

This paper analyses the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia from eleven countries during the period 1988 to 2000. The empirical results indicate that gross domestic product, lending interest rate, labour productivity, exports to home country and imports from home country significantly influenced the level of FDI inflows into Malaysia. However, exchange rate, exchange rate variation, wage and openness index were not important in influencing FDI.

Gender, Networks and Mexico-U.S. Migration

Palavras-chave: Foreign direct investment; Manufacturing sector; International Relations/Trade.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/57903

Winters, Paul C.; Davis, Benjamin.

In this paper, we examine whether the causes and patterns of Mexican rural female migration differ significantly from rural male migration. A number of hypotheses are discussed to explain why female migration may differ from male migration, with a particular emphasis on the role of migrant networks. Using data from a national survey of rural Mexican households in the ejido sector, significant differences between the determinants of male and female migration are found. While evidence suggests that networks play an important role in female migration, we find that, contrary to case study evidence, female networks are not more influential than male networks in female migration. In fact, female and male networks are found to be substitutes, suggesting they...

Localized and Incomplete Mutual Insurance

Palavras-chave: Migration; Networks; Gender; Mexico; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2000

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12901

de Janvry, Alain; Sadoulet, Elisabeth; Winters, Paul C.; Murgai, Rinku.

The practice of mutual insurance is conditioned by two types of transaction costs: "association" costs in establishing links with insurance partners and "extraction" costs in using these links to implement insurance transfers. Data on insurance-motivated water exchanges among households along two irrigation canals in Pakistan show that households exchange bilaterally with neighbors and family members but the majority exchange with members of tightly knit clusters. We, therefore, develop a model that endogenizes both cluster formation and the quality of insurance in the chosen cluster as a function of the relative importance of association and extraction costs. Full insurance at the community level, the object of most empirical tests of mutual insurance, is...

Non-Traditional Exports, Traditional Constraints: The Adoption and Diffusion of Cash Crops among Smallholders in Guatemala

Palavras-chave: Mutual insurance; Transaction costs; Clusters; Risk and Uncertainty.

Ano: 2000

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12905

Carletto, Calogero; Kirk, Angeli; Winters, Paul C.; Davis, Benjamin.

More than two decades after non-traditional export crops (NTXs) were introduced to the central highlands of Guatemala to link farmers to global markets and foster rural development, this study uses duration analysis to explore how time-varying household characteristics and external trends play into both the adoption and diffusion processes of NTX among smallholders. Adoption was widespread and rapid, which led the project to be hailed as a pro-poor success, reaching all but the smallest landholders. Potential benefits of NTXs have proven to be high, but constraints to sustained adoption also numerous, particularly in the second decade of the period considered. Over time, more than two-thirds of adopters eventually dropped out, reverting back to more...

Rural Household Access to Assets and Agrarian Institutions: A Cross Country Comparison

Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries; International Relations/Trade.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7962

Zezza, Alberto; Winters, Paul C.; Davis, Benjamin; Carletto, Calogero; Covarrubias, Katia; Quinones, Esteban; Stamoulis, Kostas G.; Di Giuseppe, Stefania.

Agriculture is at the core of the livelihoods of a large share of rural households throughout the developing world. Agricultural growth is a major engine for overall economic growth and possibly the single most important pathway out of poverty in the rural space. This paper characterizes household access to assets and agrarian institutions of households engaged in agricultural activities in a sample of developing countries. The evidence presented in the paper draws from 15 nationally representative household surveys from four regions of the developing world. We find that the access of rural households to a range of agricultural-specific assets (including land and livestock) and institutions is in general low, though highly heterogeneous across countries,...

Rural Income Generating Activities: A Cross Country Comparison

Palavras-chave: Rural non farm; Assets; Agrarian institutions; Household surveys; Consumer/Household Economics; O13; O57; Q12.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7925

Davis, Benjamin; Covarrubias, Katia; Stamoulis, Kostas G.; Winters, Paul C.; Carletto, Calogero; Quinones, Esteban; Zezza, Alberto; Di Giuseppe, Stefania.

This paper uses a newly constructed cross country database composed of comparable variables and aggregates from household surveys to examine the full range of income generating activities carried out by rural households in order to determine: 1) the relative importance of the gamut of income generating activities in general and across wealth categories; 2), the relative importance of diversification versus specialization at the household level; and 3) the influence of rural income generating activities on poverty and inequality. Analysis of the RIGA cross country dataset paints a clear picture of multiple activities across rural space and diversification across rural households. This is true across countries in all four continents, though less so in the...

Rural Income Generating Activities in Developing Countries: Re-assessing the Evidence

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Consumer/Household Economics.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7913

Carletto, Gero; Covarrubias, Katia; Davis, Benjamin; Krausova, Marika; Stamoulis, Kostas G.; Winters, Paul C.; Zezza, Alberto.

This paper contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of developing country rural labour markets by re-evaluating the available evidence on the levels and composition of income sources adopted by rural households in order to understand the relationship between the various economic activities taking place in rural areas and their implications for economic growth and poverty reduction. This is achieved in two parts: First, the paper introduces the Rural Income Generating Activities (RIGA) database, a newly constructed FAO repository of household survey data, income measures and cross-country comparable indicators. Second, using the RIGA database, the paper undertakes a descriptive analysis of the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors of the rural...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Rural economy; Non-farm activities; Income inequality; Income diversification; Community/Rural/Urban Development; International Development; O12; O18; R23.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/112596

Rural Livelihood Strategies and Social Capital in Latin America: Implications for Rural Development Projects

Winters, Paul C.; Corral, Leonardo; Gordillo, Gustavo.

Evidence from studies across Latin America show that rural households in the region are increasingly employing a diverse set of activities to maintain and improve livelihoods suggesting that households use multiple paths to get out of poverty. Of particular importance in household livelihood strategies are the assets households own and the context in which they operate. Recent development literature has highlighted the important role of social capital in development and particular emphasis is place on the role of this asset in this paper. The objective of this paper is to examine these trends in order to inform project design and implementation in the region. Based on the conceptual framework and evidence from Latin America, the paper offers a number of...

The Lure of Tequila and the Bestowing of Motherly Love: Does it Matter Whether Public Cash Transfers are Given to Women or Men? Evidence from the PROGRESA and PROCAMPO Programs in Rural Mexico

Palavras-chave: Rural livelihoods; Social capital; Latin America; Rural development projects; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/12947

Davis, Benjamin; Handa, Sudhanshu; Stampini, Marco; Winters, Paul C..

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of two different cash transfer programs in rural Mexico - Procampo and Progresa - on total consumption, food consumption and other outcomes like investment, schooling and health care. Progresa is targeted to women, while Procampo goes to farmers, mostly men and many of which are poor. We show that both programs boost consumption. However, they obtain this effect through different channels. Progresa is destined to consumption expenditure directly, while Procampo, which is paid to landholders, boosts investments and needs time to produce its benefits. Furthermore, we separate program from gender effects and show that cash transfer programs targeted to men are beneficial only when the recipients own means of...

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE SURPLUS TRANSFERS

Palavras-chave: Gender effect; Program effect; Rural poverty; Labor and Human Capital.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24836

Winters, Paul C.; de Janvry, Alain; Sadoulet, Elisabeth; Stamoulis, Kostas G..

The financial surplus of agriculture has been central to theories of the role of agriculture in economic development. Morrisson and Thorbecke (MT) have used a constant-price social accounting matrix (SAM) framework to rigorously measure the financial surplus of agriculture and decompose the mechanisms of surplus extraction. History and theory have, however, stressed the role of prices as an invisible transfer mechanism in addition to the visible transfers identified in the SAM framework. We extend the MT approach by defining and measuring the real surplus of agriculture and decomposing the mechanisms of surplus extraction between visible and invisible financial transfers. Using an archetype computable general equilibrium model for poor African nations,...