TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, INEQUALITY AND WORK SHARING

The effects of technological change on wage inequality are usually studied under the assumption of exogenous supplies of skilled and unskilled workers. Moreover, in these studies there is no distinction between the stock (number of workers) and the flow (hours of work) dimension of labour services. In the present paper, we construct a model in which hours of work and technological change affect both the (relative) demand and supply of unskilled workers. The labour supply of unskilled workers (numbers of persons) is derived from a model of household labour supply in which households differ regarding the disutility suffered when both household members work. Combining together the (relative) supply and demand parts of the model we are able to establish technological change (either biased or neutral) as a plausible explanation of recent trends in wage inequality.     

Mechanisation,employment and productivity in Sudanese agriculture

Agricultural mechanisation has been justified in the Sudan by reference to labour shortages. The International Labour Office (ILO) has recently cast doubt on this assumption and argued for a reduction in the pace of mechanisation. However the authors, using a microeconomic production function approach and cost-benefit analysis, suggest that the social return on imported agricultural machinery does still justify mechanisation. Furthermore, allowing for rationing in the market for capital goods, the choice of technique by Sudanese farmers is largely consistent with economic efficiency.     

Part‐Peasants: Incomplete Rural–Urban Labour Migration in China

The institutional settings in China, including the land allocation system and the household registration system, lead to a rural–urban labour migration pattern that differs from that in other countries. Individual peasants' labour is often split (typically over different times of the year) into two or more parts as a result of institutional factors. Individuals work both as peasants on the land and as temporary migrant workers in urban areas (or in rural non‐agricultural sectors). We examine this issue using province‐level panel data. The present study provides a new interpretation of the phenomenon of labour shortages in coastal cities and rising rural migrant wages in China in recent years, and discusses whether the Lewisian turning point has been reached. Under part migration, the rural labour supply to urban areas is smaller than would be the case with full migration of workers to urban areas, so that the Lewisian turning point occurs earlier. This finding has important policy implications for China's future development.     

Organic certification,agro-ecological practices and return on investment: Evidence from pineapple producers in Ghana

The recent empirical literature on economic sustainability of certified export crops shows that certification standards that enhance yields are important for improving farm revenues and household welfare. However, limited evidence exists on the impact of organic certification on the adoption of agro-ecological practices. In this study, we use unique farm-level data from pineapple producers in Ghana to examine the impact of organic certification on the use of agro-ecological practices such as organic fertilizers, organic pest and weed control, crop rotation, and soil and water conservation, as well as how using these measures affect farm outcomes such as return on investment. Our empirical results reveal that organic certification increases agro-ecological practice use, although from a very low starting point. Using a generalized propensity score approach, we show that there is a positive, but nonlinear relationship between the intensity of agro-ecological practice use and return on investment.     

Rural labour market policies in Croatia,FYR of Macedonia and Turkey

Considerable differences are found among countries regarding the importance of the agricultural labour force, between rural and urban labour, and in poverty and living conditions in rural areas. Declines in the agricultural labour force and rural population are foreseen for each of the countries, but with significant variations between them. Showing different patterns over time, labour market developments in the sector and in rural areas have been shaped by the overall labour market institutions, conditions and factors in each country, such as the legal basis, educational attainment and migration flows, and the presence of non-agricultural activities in rural areas.     

Impact of remittances on male and female labor force participation patterns in Africa: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Ghana

In this paper, we examine how remittances, an outcome of labor mobility, affect labor market activities in Ghana using detailed household and individual‐level data. This is important, considering the extensive literature that has documented the remittance–poverty reduction nexus. First, we find a strong negative association between household remittance‐receiving status and individual labor supply decisions using instrumental variable estimation techniques. Second, we find the depressing effect of remittances on labor supply decisions to be much stronger in rural areas. Rural women who reside in remittance‐receiving households are less likely to be in the labor force compared with those who do not reside in such households. Remittances have very little impact on labor supply decisions in urban areas. Our findings support that remittances can exacerbate long‐term poverty reduction in rural areas through lower labor force participation, and as such rural‐based and gender‐based interventions may be needed to help redirect remittance income.     

我国农村地区的技术进步——基于空间计量经济学

利用1999—2008年广东省的市域数据,基于空间面板模型对其农村地区的技术进步模式进行了实证分析。结果显示:该地区的农村技术具有明显的空间相关性,且这种空间相关性随经济发展有逐渐增强的趋势;农村技术进步的途径主要有三种,即区域内农村研发创新、城市先进技术溢出以及农村地区间技术扩散;以农村投资为代表的"干中学"以及农村地区间的技术扩散是农村技术进步的主要动力;受农村吸收能力弱等因素的限制,城市先进技术溢出较其他两种途径对农村技术进步的影响较小,但仍是农村技术进步的重要来源。最后提出,加强农村科技投入,提高农村自主研发和创新能力,提高农村地区的消化、吸收能力以及促进农村地区间的技术扩散,是解决"三农"问题的重要渠道。     

Educational qualifications mismatch in Europe. Is it demand or supply driven?

Most papers dealing with individual overeducation risks focus on labour supply characteristics and workers’ behaviour. On the other hand, only few studies consider labour demand characteristics and technological change. In this paper we analyse the influence of both demand and supply factors on educational mismatch in a set of 10 European countries. Our hypothesis, confirmed by results obtained using ordered probit model with sample selection, is that demand factors generally play a major role in reducing educational mismatch in technologically more advanced countries, whereas supply factors are more important in countries that are lagging behind in the international division of labour. At the same time, important cross-country and gender differences have been identified in how the demand/supply factors operate. All this calls for the fine-tuning of policies intended to tackle the problem of educational mismatch.     

农村环境建设的美学使命——以汉江流域农业文化与农村环境建设为例

中国的诗性文化根源于农业生活方式。中国传统文学艺术充分体现了人们对农业田园生活的诗意追求。从环境美学角度看,增强农村和城市环境的田园性,是缩小城乡差距、推进城乡一体化的重要途径。而大力推进生态农业,建构农业生态文明,就是广泛建设诗意乡村的核心基础。     

人力资本在农民增收中的作用分析

笔者采用一个农业大省的农户调查资料,分析了农村人力资本在农民收入增长中的作用。结论表明,家庭劳动力平均受教育年限显著增加农民人均纯收入;有劳动力接受过相关技术培训的家庭,人均纯收入显著高于没有劳动力接受过技术培训的家庭;家庭接受过技术培训的劳动力数量增加可以显著提高农民人均纯收入水平。     

影响城市人口规模的机制及实证

城市人口规模的供给和需求两方面共同决定了城市人口规模的决定机制。在此基础上,构建了数理模型对这一机制进行了实证。由数理模型可得:城市化的技术积聚效应、城市地租、农村人口规模、城市与农村劳动者的收入差距、农村迁移的冲击等影响着城市人口规模。由中国地级及以上城市动态面板数据模型实证可得,城市土地和城市职工平均工资水平等有利于城市人口规模的发展。为了中国城市化的健康发展,提出合理使用城市土地等建议。     

权利配置、契约完备、政府约束视角下的中国农村经济组织化发展研究

中国农村以家庭承包经营制度为核心的小农经济在迅速发展的市场经济中竞争能力日渐不足,组织化发展是促进农村经济增长和提高农民收入的一条可行之路。诸多研究表明,从制度经济学的角度来看,经济的组织化发展是以权利配置、契约完备和政府约束的组织化为核心。以此为起点,本文首先探究了制度组织化提高供求竞争性均衡的机理,之后深入研究了中国农村经济中农地流转、农民合作、农产品流通、农业生产和农村金融服务五个组成部分中权利配置、契约完备和政府约束三个方面的组织化水平及其与农村经济供求均衡的适应度,最后给出了中国农村经济组织化发展的对策建议。     

Spatial and supply/demand agglomeration economies: State- and industry-linkages in the U.S. food system

Cost-impacts of spatial and industrial spillovers on economicperformance are evaluated by incorporating activity level measures for nearby states and related industries into a cost function model. We focus on localization and urbanization economies for state level food processing industries, from activity levels of similar industries in neighboring states, agricultural input suppliers, and final product demand. We find significant cost-savings from proximity to other food manufacturing centers, and areas with high purchasing power. Cost savings from locating near an agricultural area are also evident, although it seems costly to be located within a rural agricultural state, implying thin market diseconomies. Marginal production costs instead appear higher in more urban, and lower in more rural, areas. These spillover patterns also have input composition implications; materials demand responses are the most closely tracked by the agglomeration cost effects, and capital and labor impacts vary.     

Public inputs and child schooling in Brazil

Household data from a one percent sample of the 1970 Brazilian census are used to analyze the effect of public inputs, i.e., the ‘supply’ of schooling, on children's school attainment in Brazil. The household data are combined with measures of school availability and quality derived directly from the same census data; the measures are based on the income and education of schoolteachers in each of 169 different areas of the country. Elasticities of demand with respect to these public inputs are estimated; these elasticities are high in both rural and urban areas. In urban areas, the positive effect of public inputs is greater for children from households with poorer and less-educated parents. In rural areas, the positive effect of public inputs is greater, if anything, for children from households that are relatively better off, at least compared to other rural households.     

Conserving energy in smallholder agriculture: A multi-objective programming case-study of northwest India

In semi-arid conditions in Northwest India, smallholder agriculture has made increasing use of subsidised mechanisation and energy inputs to reduce short-term risks. However, detrimental environmental consequences have occurred, not least a rapidly falling water table, and energy-intensive production is threatened by the prospect of increasing scarcity and expense of energy supplies, especially as urban demands are forecast to grow rapidly. This paper describes the energy flows through four subsystems of smallholder agricultural villages: the crop system; non-crop land uses; livestock systems; and households. It employs a multi-objective programming model to demonstrate choices available for maximands either of net solar energy capture or financial surpluses. Applied to three villages selected to represent major settlement types in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, the results demonstrate that both energy conservation and financial performance can be improved. Although these results need qualifying because of the reductionist, linear character of the model used, they do provide important insights into the cultural role of mechanisation and the influence of traditional agricultural practices. They also underline the need for local energy conservation strategies as part of an overall approach to improved self-determination in progress towards rural sustainability.     

农户生态耕种采纳行为影响因素实证研究——基于江西省1488份农户的调查数据

基于江西省11市47县(区)1488份农户调查问卷数据,运用多元有序Logistic模型,分析并探究农户生态耕种采纳行为的影响因素。结果表明:家庭总人口具有显著的负向影响;兼业程度、农业收入占比、家中是否有村干部、是否参加新农保、是否有农业补贴、是否为家庭农场、是否加入合作社、近年耕地质量变化、相关信息获取难度等9个变量具有显著的正向影响。农户对生态耕种行为采纳的均值只有4.74项,总体偏低,生态耕种行为有待推广与应用。论文探究了农户生态耕种采纳行为的影响因素,为生态耕种的推广、实现耕地资源的可持续发展、激励农户生态耕种政策的制定提供了参考。     

A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SUBURBANIZATION AND THE DIFFUSION OF THE AUTOMOBILE*

Suburbanization in the United States between 1910 and 1970 was concurrent with the diffusion of the automobile. A circular city model is developed in order to access quantitatively the contribution of automobiles and rising incomes to suburbanization. The model incorporates a number of driving forces of suburbanization and car adoption, including falling automobile prices, rising real incomes, changing costs of traveling by car and with public transportation, and urban population growth. According to the model, 60% of postwar (1940–1970) suburbanization can be explained by these factors. Rising real incomes and falling automobile prices are shown to be the key drivers of suburbanization.     

Collective female labour supply: theory and application

This article deals with female labour supply in the collective framework. It studies married couples and starting from the empirical observation that the husband's labour supply is generally fixed at full-time. It shows that, in this case, structural elements of the decision process, such as individual preferences or the rule that determines the intra-household distribution of welfare, can be identified if household demand for at least one commodity, together with the wife's labour supply, is observed. These theoretical considerations are followed by an application using French data.     

Agricultural subsidy policies fail to deal with child labour under agricultural dualism: What could be the alternative policies?

We provide a theoretical explanation why agricultural subsidy policies are likely to fail to ensure simultaneous eradication of the incidence of child labour and improvement in the well-being of the poor working families in terms of a three-sector general equilibrium model with child labour and agricultural dualism. We identify both demand and supply side effects of any policy intervention on child labour. We also suggest two alternative policies, a scheme of direct cash transfer to poor people and economic growth through foreign direct investment (FDI), both of which would be effective in achieving these twin objectives of a welfare government.     

Adoption of safer irrigation technologies and cropping patterns: Evidence from Southern Ghana

The new irrigation technologies introduced in sub-Saharan Africa aim at ensuring safer vegetable production when untreated waste water is used as irrigation water. This paper examines the adoption of safer irrigation technologies and crop choices among vegetable farmers, using cross-section data from urban Kumasi in Ghana. The study employed a two-stage conditional maximum likelihood approach to examine the impact of crop choices and farm-level characteristics on the adoption of safer irrigation technologies. The empirical results indicate that apart from household and farm characteristics such as access to extension agents, belonging to a farmer's organization and education, cropping patterns tend to influence adoption of irrigation technologies for safer vegetable production.