Government Spending, Growth and Poverty in Rural India

Using state-level data for 1970–93, a simultaneous equation model was developed to estimate the direct and indirect effects of different types of government expenditure on rural poverty and productivity growth in India. The results show that in order to reduce rural poverty, the Indian government should give highest priority to additional investments in rural roads and agricultural research. These types of investment not only have much larger poverty impacts per rupee spent than any other government investment, but also generate higher productivity growth. Apart from government spending on education, which has the third largest marginal impact on rural poverty and productivity growth, other investments (including irrigation, soil and water conservation, health, and rural and community development) have only modest impacts on growth and poverty per additional rupee spent.     

政府补助对企业研发投入与成长的调节作用

基于中国水资源企业2012—2020年的微观数据,对企业研发投入与企业成长的关系进行实证分析。为消除企业研发投入中存在的内生性问题以及跨期影响等特点,采用系统广义矩估计法(SYS-GMM)对政府研发补助、研发投入与企业成长之间关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:水资源企业成长与企业研发投入之间呈U形曲线关系；政府研发补助对企业研发投入和企业成长两者间的关系具有调节作用,使两者呈现出的U形曲线坡度变缓。     

Evaluating research and education performance in Indian agricultural development

India's agricultural research spending has long been regionally uneven. Regional research intensity ratios, which account for size differences, indicate research spending has consistently favored southern and western states over northern, central, and eastern ones. Farm production patterns have, however, changed in recent years and regional output growth is being driven by new commodity mixes. In this article, we ask which region had the highest factor productivity growth and rate of return to investments in public agricultural research and higher education. Our analysis relies on a 1980–2008 Indian agricultural production and policy data set together with a dual heteroscedastic production frontier to decompose total factor productivity (TFP) growth into formal technical progress and efficiency elements. The model's regional flexibility affords region‐to‐region comparison of multiple research return rates, TFP growth, and the elements influencing them. Regardless of return‐rate measure or allocation scenario evaluated, the North has enjoyed the highest return to research spending, and the Central and East the lowest. Factor productivity growth has however been strongest in the South, primarily on account of efficiency gains. Overall, though, the technical progress and productivity growth easily attributable to government‐supported research has accounted for about one‐quarter of the sector's TFP growth.     

Public agricultural R&D over the past half century: an emerging new world order

Recent trends in farm productivity and food prices raise concerns about whether the era of global agricultural abundance is over. Agricultural R&D is a crucial determinant of agricultural productivity and production, and therefore food prices and poverty. In this article, we present entirely new evidence on investments in public agricultural R&D worldwide as an indicator of the prospects for agricultural productivity growth over the coming decades. The agricultural R&D world is changing, and in ways that will definitely affect future global patterns of poverty, hunger, and other outcomes. The overall picture is one in which the middle‐income countries are growing in relative importance as producers of agricultural innovations through investments in R&D, and have consequently better prospects as producers of agricultural products.     

A scale invariant model for the expansion of agricultural land and government spending on the agricultural sector

The expansion dynamics of the agricultural surface is a complex process, since it requires decisions among different actors under a multitude of socioeconomic and natural conditions, expectations, and risks. This paper shows that despite this complexity, and at odds with the intuition, the density of agricultural lands and the government spending to foster agriculture around a human settlement displays a simple power-law relationship regarding the distance to such a settlement. The theoretical proof of this relationship is based on theoretical and empirical findings made by several authors on the expansion of population centers, river networks, species and ecosystem’s distribution. The empirical proof is made by fitting a simple power-law model having as response variables: density of agricultural land; government spending coverage, and government spending per unit of agricultural surface, while the distance to the centroid settlement is used as independent variable. Results show that the scaling exponents of the power-law relationship estimated from those models, with data from rural settlements in Mexico, are similar statistically to the expected values from theoretical models for the three expansion processes tested. Three applications of the scale-invariant attribute characterizing the expansion process of agricultural lands are presented:

• i)monitoring agricultural activities at the territories;
• ii)a proxy to estimate the expected growth of the agricultural surface; and
• iii)a typology to characterize government assistance at local level.

     

Agricultural policies and food systems: Priorities for indicator development

Existing indicators of agricultural protection and support were developed primarily to gauge the market and welfare effects of government policies. They have shed light on a wider range of impacts through their use in economic models and empirical analysis. The rising scale of support to agriculture globally, and continued reliance on market distorting policy instruments, make this work as important as ever. Deeper investments are nonetheless needed to address heightened concerns about the spill-over impacts of agricultural policies on the performance of food systems, in particular with respect to food security and nutrition, rural livelihoods, resource use and the environment, and global emissions. A first area for development is improved measures of policies to correct agriculture's externalities. A priority here is to develop a carbon tax equivalent of sectoral mitigation efforts. A second area is to provide a clearer delineation of government spending on private versus public goods. This would make a valuable contribution to a ‘repurposing’ agenda that seeks to identify how agricultural budgets can be spent more effectively, as well as the scope for transferring resources to wider social priorities, such as public health and climate action.     

政府补贴的技术创新激励效应——来自农业上市公司的证据

本文以2007—2016年沪深A股农业类上市公司为样本,研究政府补贴对企业未来技术创新的影响。本文将政府补贴方式分为事前补贴和事后补贴两大类。实证结果表明:第一,事前补贴不利于农业类上市公司未来技术创新。事前补贴挤出了未来创新投入,也无法提高企业未来的创新产出和创新效率。第二,事后补贴有利于农业类上市公司未来技术创新。事后补贴虽然不能显著提高企业未来的创新投入,却显著提升了企业未来的创新产出和创新效率。第三,机构投资者对二者关系起着显著的调节作用,机构投资者削弱了事前补贴对技术创新的负向影响,同时增强了事后补贴对技术创新的正向影响。总之,本文发现通过事后补贴政策激励农业类上市公司技术创新的效果优于事前补贴政策,值得相关部门采纳。     

Preface

The paper examines the main issues surrounding distributional effects in the domains of natural resource management and land policies, agricultural technology and research policies, agricultural market and trade policies, and consumer‐oriented policies, including standards, subsidies, and labeling. Agriculture is drifting into an ever more drastic bifurcation at a global level and within many countries. Correcting that bifurcation will require large investments in rural areas and rural people, in institutions, and in information and biological technologies accessible by the poor in the world's smallholder sector. Large and growing national and international inequalities related to agriculture and rural areas threaten peace, growth, and sustainable development.     

Determinants and impact of sustainable land management (SLM) investments: A systems evaluation in the Blue Nile Basin,Ethiopia

Ongoing debate over water management along the Blue Nile and land degradation in Ethiopia emphasizes the need for efficiency gains in agricultural production through sustainable land management (SLM). However, previous SLM studies overlook the tradeoffs involved in maintaining SLM investments over time. We address this limitation by combining a household survey that evaluates the economic impacts of SLM investments and maintenance, with a hydrological model that explores location‐specific infrastructure effects. We then use a multi‐market model to evaluate the impacts of alternative SLM investments on agricultural production, prices, and incomes over time. Analysis suggests SLM investments must be maintained for at least seven years to show significant increases in value of production, and that terraces on moderate and steep slopes are most effective in increasing agricultural yields. However, the benefits of terracing do not outweigh the cost of foregone off‐farm labor opportunities, nor compensate for lower agricultural prices from increased supply. Thus, SLM investments must be paired with other input and infrastructure investments, as well as subsidies for initial labor costs, in order to incentivize adoption and long‐term SLM maintenance.     

The Impact of Agricultural Extension and Roads on Poverty and Consumption Growth in Fifteen Ethiopian Villages

This article investigates whether public investments that led to improvements in road quality and increased access to agricultural extension services led to faster consumption growth and lower rates of poverty in rural Ethiopia. Estimating an Instrumental Variables model using Generalized Methods of Moments and controlling for household fixed effects, we find evidence of positive impacts with meaningful magnitudes. Receiving at least one extension visit reduces headcount poverty by 9.8 percentage points and increases consumption growth by 7.1 percentage points. Access to all-weather roads reduces poverty by 6.9 percentage points and increases consumption growth by 16.3 percentage points. These results are robust to changes in model specification and estimation methods.     

Subsidies and agricultural productivity in the EU

This paper investigates the relationship between EU agricultural subsidies and agricultural labor productivity growth by estimating a conditional convergence growth model. We use more representative subsidy indicators and a wider coverage (panel data from 213 EU regions over the period 2004–2014) than have been used before. We find that, on average, EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies increase agricultural labor productivity growth, but this aggregate effect hides important heterogeneity of effects of different types of subsidies. The positive effect on productivity comes from decoupled subsidies, that is, Pillar I decoupled payments and some Pillar II payments. Coupled Pillar I subsidies have the opposite effect: they slow down productivity growth.     

农户高效低毒农药施用行为影响因素及差异性分析基于冀、鲁、豫3省598份西瓜甜瓜种植户的调研数据

目的 通过构建市场、政府、社会3个维度的理论分析框架,文章探究了农户高效低毒农药施用行为的影响因素并进行了差异性分析,以期为高效低毒农药的有效推广提供理论参考。方法 基于冀、鲁、豫3省598份调研数据,运用Logistic模型进行实证研究。结果 （1）绿色认证、政府补贴、技术培训、与农资店员的交流程度均能正向影响农户施用行为。（2）不同种植规模、不同种植年限、不同技术认知限定下,影响农户高效低毒农药施用行为的因素存在差异。小规模种植限定下,绿色认证对农户的高效低毒农药施用行为具有正向影响;短期种植限定下,与农资店员的交流越频繁农户越有可能施用高效低毒农药;不认可高效低毒农药重要性限定下,进行过绿色认证、与农资店员交流程度的提高可以引发农户的施用行为;而政府补贴、技术培训则始终是影响农户行为的重要因素。结论 因此建议引导农户积极进行绿色认证、拓宽政府补贴的范围、扩大技术培训渠道、促进农户与农资店员的常态化交流、实施差异化的激励措施。     

The Political Economy of Agricultural Statistics and Input Subsidies: Evidence from India,Nigeria and Malawi

The political economy of agricultural policies – why certain interventions may be preferred by political leaders rather than others – is well recognized. This paper explores a perspective that has previously been neglected: the political economy of the agricultural statistics. In developing economies, the data on agricultural production are weak. Because these data are assembled using competing methods and assumptions, the final series are subject to political pressure, particularly when the government is subsidizing agricultural inputs. This paper draws on debates on the evidence of a Green Revolution in India and the arguments on the effect of withdrawing fertilizer subsidies during structural adjustment in Nigeria, and finally the paper presents new data on the effect of crop data subsidies in Malawi. The recent agricultural census (2006/7) indicates a maize output of 2.1 million metric tonnes, compared to the previously widely circulated figures of 3.4 million metric tonnes. The paper suggests that ‘data’ are themselves a product of agricultural policies.     

Large agricultural investments in Kenya’s Nanyuki Area: Inventory and analysis of business models

Many experts agree that more agricultural investment is needed in the global South to improve local food security and reduce poverty. However, there is a lack of consensus about the types of investment needed to achieve these goals. This paper contributes to the literature on large agricultural investments and corresponding business models by inventorying and analysing such investments in Kenya’s Nanyuki area. We identify four clusters of business models that differ primarily by type of production and other distinct determinants, namely: demand from markets; access to land; land tenure regime and colonial history; actors involved; biophysical context; labour availability; and governance of the value chain via private standards. The study results shed light on the factors that help or hinder implementation of large agricultural investments and shape their impacts in the context of African land use systems. The way land is accessed represents one of the most-decisive factors determining the risks and opportunities associated with such projects. We find that most investments in the Nanyuki area occur on land bought or leased from private owners.     

Tenure security, resource poverty, public programs, and household plot-level conservation investments in the highlands of northern Ethiopia

Land degradation poses a serious problem for the livelihoods of rural producers. Furthermore, there is rarely enough private investment taking place to commensurate the scale of the problem. This article examines the role of tenure insecurity, resource poverty, risk and time preferences, and community‐led land conservation on differentiated patterns of household investment in land conservation in northern Ethiopia. We control for biophysical, household characteristics, market access conditions, and village level factors. Investments in soil bunds and stone terraces are specifically studied so as to capture the link between these various factors and the durability of conservation investments. We introduce the distinction between the determinants of the decision to invest and how much to invest in conservation. Regression results show that publicly led conservation programs seem to significantly stimulate private investment. A host of plot‐level variables and household perceptions of returns on conservation investments, expressed in terms of perceived improvements in land quality and increased crop yields, were found to be critical to the decision to invest and intensify soil conservation. The evidence on the significance of households' attitudes toward risk aversion suggests the important role of risk and the household's risk‐bearing capacity in the decision to intensify conservation measures. At the same time, tenure security indicators and households' resource endowments (resource poverty) had weaker effects in increasing willingness to invest and the level of investment made. The policy implications of these results point to the importance of agricultural research and extension efforts that target technologies which reduce household risk and poverty while enabling sustainable investments in conservation measures by individual households.     

Productivity and Land Enhancing Technologies in Northern Ethiopia: Health, Public Investments, and Sequential Adoption

The adoption of more efficient farming practices and technologies that enhance agricultural productivity and improve environmental sustainability is instrumental for achieving economic growth, food security, and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research examines the interaction between public investments, community health, and adoption of productivity and land enhancing technologies by households in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray. Agricultural technology adoption decisions are modeled as a sequential process where the timing of choices can matter. We find that time spent sick and opportunity costs of caring for sick family members are significant factors in adoption. Sickness, through its impact on household income and labor allocation decisions for healthcare and other activities, significantly reduces the likelihood of technology adoption. Our findings suggest that agencies working to improve agricultural productivity and land resource conservation should consider not only the financial status of potential adopters, but also their related health situation.     

Conditioning trends shaping the agricultural and rural landscape in Africa

African countries continue to face deepening food crises that have been accentuated by the global food, energy, and financial crises. This situation is part of a long‐term structural problem: decades of under‐investments in agricultural sector and poor policies of support for smallholder farmers who form the bulk of the farming population. The inability of these farmers to achieve a supply response when commodity prices were high and market access was less of a problem suggests that there are multiple sets of binding constraints that continue to limit the potential of agricultural growth to reduce food security and poverty on the continent. This article reviews some of the historical trends that have hampered the performance of the agriculture sector. In addition, it reviews the impacts of more positive trends that could stimulate agricultural growth in Africa that could change the African agricultural landscape. The article however warns that there are more recent global developments and some continental challenges that could prevent or slow agricultural growth. These include the global financial crisis, public sector investments, inequities in global agricultural development policies, rush for agricultural lands by foreign investors, domestic commercial financing markets, climate change, and emerging carbon markets. The article argues that while opportunities for accelerated growth exists for African agriculture, new sets of policy instruments will be needed to support smallholder farmers to access new agricultural technologies, finance, reduce impacts of climate change, and adopt sustainable land use practices that can allow them to benefit from emerging global carbon markets.     

21世纪以来农业基础设施减贫效应研究

目的 农业基础设施不仅是农业稳定生产的重要基石,也是农村贫困治理的重要手段。探究农业基础设施减贫效应,对未来相对贫困治理和减贫经验总结意义重大。方法 文章运用空间自回归模型（SAR）和空间误差模型（SEM）,分析21世纪以来中国农业基础设施减贫效应及内生机制。结果 农业交通基础设施中的公路密度、河道密度和铁路密度分别显著降低农村贫困发生率1.424、0.03和0.05个单位;农业生产基础设施中的人均装机容量、水土流失治理能力和每公顷塑料薄膜用量分别显著降低农村贫困发生率0.122、0.212和0.011个单位。从控制变量来看,每千人播种面积,农村人均教育水平和人均乡镇卫生院床位数也发挥着积极的减贫作用。由减贫机制可知,农业基础设施主要通过降低农业自然灾害和增加农业产值,进而提高农户收入和降低农村贫困发生率。结论 应尽快完善农田田间道路、农业生产基础设施建设和高标准农田建设,加强农村公共基础设施投入,促进农业增产和农村减贫。     

Formal mining investments and artisanal mining in southern Madagascar: Effects of spontaneous reactions and adjustment policies on poverty alleviation

The main political concern in the southern areas of Madagascar is poverty alleviation. To alleviate poverty in the area, the government has chosen to enforce adjustment policies of the World Bank Group. According to the World Bank Group's argument, while artisanal mining is supposed to create significant economic, social and environmental problems, large-scale mining investment results in economic and social prosperity. This paper focuses principally on a re-analysis of the debates regarding the relationship between artisanal and large-scale mining and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Further, the paper offers an alternative viewpoint on these issues based on the example of Madagascar. In the last decade, Madagascar has experienced a significant increase in mining activity. Towards the end of the 90s, informal and artisanal mining emerged as one of the most important economic activities of the area with the development of the Ilakaka frontier. At the same time, foreign investments began to benefit from adjustment policies implemented by the government, and large-scale mining operations also commenced. As the local socio-economic system was deeply affected by these developments, it is wise to monitor the effects of each type of mining operation on poverty alleviation. On the one hand, it appears that governance insufficiency has hampered possibilities for broader economic prosperity through large-scale mining investments. On the other hand, while artisanal mining is frequently condemned by scholars, the negative comments seem to be overly pessimistic, as this activity can be demonstrated to provide considerable economic opportunities for both the native and migrant populations.     

农业演进与20世纪上半叶的中国区域城市发展——以甘宁青地区为例

农业为城市发展之基础。20世纪上半叶甘宁青地区农业在政府的支持下得到较大增长，随之而来的商品性农业生产扩大化则推动了城市工商业的发展。但是，恶劣的自然环境、低下的农业生产水平以及城市对农村的掠夺式剥削都导致该地区农业发展相对迟滞，从而在很大程度上限制了城市自身持续发展的能力。这种既推动又制约的矛盾关系正是甘宁青地区贫困与落后的表现。