Shadow Wages and Shadow Income in Farmers' Labor Supply Functions

This article extends the current literature on estimating the labor supply function in agriculture by providing a different method to derive the shadow wage and shadow income. The method is based on the observation that the shadow wage is the marginal product of labor at the optimal point of both farm and household production functions. Thus, under certain assumptions on the functional form of the production functions, both the shadow wage and shadow income can be derived without estimating the production function. Using a sample of Vietnamese farmers, the results from the new method are shown to be consistent with the theory.     

Seasonal labor constraints and intra-household dynamics in the female fields of southern Cameroon

African agricultural production is modeled as a sequential decision process, with men's labor first allotted to clearing, then women's labor allotted to harvesting. A switching regression is then used to measure the constraints due to clearing labor capacity and harvesting labor capacity. The import of men's clearing labor depends on the valuation of shadow wages. Output appears to be more frequently constrained by husband's clearing labor, and in this situation male labor appears under‐utilized. However, output is also significantly constrained by female harvest labor, although the findings imply that female labor is over‐utilized at this stage.     

Shadow wages, allocative inefficiency, and labor supply in smallholder agriculture

This article introduces a method for estimating structural labor supply models in the presence of unobservable wages and deviations of households' marginal revenue product of self‐employed labor from their shadow wage. This method is therefore robust to a wide range of assumptions about labor allocation decisions in the presence of uncertainty, market frictions, locational preferences, etc. We illustrate the method using data from rice producers in Côte d'Ivoire. These data, like previous studies, reveal significant systematic differences between shadow wages and the marginal revenue product of family farm labor. We demonstrate how one can exploit systematic deviations, in the present case related to household characteristics such as the land/labor endowment ratio, to control for both unobservable wages and prospective allocative inefficiency in labor allocation in structural household labor supply estimation.     

山区农村劳动力转移对农地退耕的影响——以武陵山区为例

[目的]农地退耕是土地利用变化的重要组成部分,明晰农地退耕的影响因素可以为山区生态恢复提供新的路径。[方法]文章基于武陵山区180份农户调查数据,采用多元线性回归模型分析影响山区农地退耕的因素,重点分析山区农村劳动力转移对农地退耕的影响。[结果](1)研究区劳动力转移现象明显,85%的农户家庭存在不同程度的劳动力转移,劳动力转移比例达到51.61%,户均转移劳动力数量占家庭总人口的29.90%;(2)研究区农户退耕较为普遍,退耕农户占样本农户的55%,户均退耕面积0.31hm2;(3)非农收入和农业劳动力比例对农户的退耕面积产生了显著的正向影响,同时家庭女性劳动力数量、家庭总人数、承包地面积、种植耕地的总块数、两个地区哑变量——万木乡和丁市镇也显著影响了农户的退耕地面积。[结论]山区农村劳动力转移带来的非农收入增加促进了农户的农地退耕,但是劳动力转移带来的农业劳动力供给减少又降低了农户的退耕地面积,最终两者的作用相互抵消,使得农村劳动力转移对农户的退耕地面积产生了不可确定的影响。     

The Theory of the Farm Household: An Application to Saskatchewan

A theoretical model is presented which integrates the consumption and production components of the rural household. A theoretically determined system of expenditure equations, derived factor demand equations and an off-farm labor supply equation are estimated using primary data for Saskatchewan farm households. From the empirical results we conclude that if the wage rate can be observed or estimated, the farm household's behavior can be explained empirically in a manner consistent with received theory. Summary and Conclusions A theoretical model integrating the consumption and production sides of the farm household or enterprise is estimated empirically using primary data for Saskatchewan farm households. The farm household was assumed to maximize its utility function subject to farm production and cash flow constraints. The empirical results indicate that the theoretical model can be estimated successfully even when data are sparse. While the coefficients for the expenditure, derived demand, and off-farm labor supply equations are consistent with coefficients from similar equations estimated separately by others, the theoretically more precise integrated approach specifies the simultaneous effect of the variables across equations. From the empirical results and the theoretical considerations it is obvious that the wage rate is a key explanatory variable in the model. The wage rate links the three components of the model–final expenditures, the derived input demands and off-farm labor hours. The wage rate is one determinant of the allocation of the operator's time (although other factors such as the nature of the operation and opportunities to work off-farm dominated in this study), and both the wage rate and the allocation of the time determine the eventual income available to the rural household. In essence, then, the problem of explaining farm household behavior when the household's business enterprise function cannot be separated from its consumption activity is similar to that of traditional models based on the theory of the firm and models of consumer behavior. The only difference is that the wage rate is observable in the traditional models but needs to be estimated as a shadow price in models which seek to explain rural household behavior. As a result, research in this area must start with an explanation of the allocation of (at least) the operator's labor and a measure of the shadow wage rate. If the entire household's allocation of time between on-farm and off-farm labor and leisure is determined, it is possible to treat its consumption and production activities separately. Further research is required to extend the model to explain household labor supply to both the farm and off-farm labor markets.     

非农就业对家庭营林劳动力投工女性化的影响研究

根据劳动力转移新经济学理论和家庭内部劳动力分工理论,基于2018年浙江省14个县(市)681户营林调查户样本数据,运用Tobit模型分析了非农就业对营林劳动力女性化的影响。结果表明:非农就业对女性劳动力单位面积营林投工量和女性营林投工比例具有显著正向影响;非农就业对不同林种营林投入女性化有明显差异,对经济林农户家庭营林投工女性化有显著正向影响,而对用材林农户家庭营林投工女性化作用不明显。提出完善农村劳动力社会保障制度;加强农村女性劳动力营林生产技能培训;发挥女性劳动力的营林生产优势等建议。     

农村劳动力转移对竹林生产效率的影响研究

基于浙江省龙游县5个行政村115户农户268块竹林地投入产出数据,采用DEA模型对竹林生产效率进行测度,运用Tobit模型进行计量分析,从空间和时间角度分析劳动力转移对竹林生产效率的影响。结果表明:竹林地的综合效率、纯技术效率及规模效率的均值分别为0.470、0.560及0.842,竹林地的生产效率相对较低;劳均非农就业时间、劳动力转移类型的复合性、竹林收入占家庭收入比例及户主年龄对竹林地生产效率有显著正向影响,家庭竹林地总块数对竹林地生产效率有显著的负向影响。因此,提出改善竹林投入、提高生产效率的相关对策建议。     

Parametric and Semiparametric Modeling of the Off-Farm Labor Supply of Agrarian Households in Transition Bulgaria

The reaction of labor markets to economic reforms is an important indicator of the progress of transition. Because of diminished government support and the breakup of state and collective enterprises, labor market adjustments in the transition economies have been particularly severe in the agricultural sector. This article evaluates the off-farm labor market for a sample of agrarian households in transition Bulgaria. We give particular attention to the distributional assumptions that underlie standard approaches to the evaluation of labor supply. A variety of specification tests are considered and support for standard maximum likelihood estimates which rely on normality as a maintained hypothesis is mixed. Alternative semiparametric (distribution-free) estimators are also considered. The empirical results indicate that, five years after the initiation of the transition, off-farm labor supply patterns for Bulgarian agricultural households are similar to what is commonly observed in developed market economies. Labor supply is positively affected by factors such as education and work experience which are hypothesized to increase off-farm wages. Social benefit programs providing monetary or in-kind support payments are shown to significantly decrease off-farm work.     

农民收入的困境与“三农”问题的逻辑——江苏视角

江苏省农村居民家庭收入具有区域差异性、农业贡献递减性和工资性来源主导性等基本特征。就业选择对农民纯收入影响的分析表明,劳动力产业转移的收入效应单调递增,不同劳动力转移模式的收入效应各异,行业技术密集度的收入效应为正。研究认为,农民收入问题的解决必须放在宏观经济发展的框架下考虑,不能与"农业问题"混为一谈;解决"农民问题"和"农村问题"的关键在于努力增加人力资本,拓展就业空间,提升就业稳定性;解决"三农"问题的关键在于加大体制、机制改革的力度,建立向"三农"倾斜的外部环境。     

Effect of modern rice varieties and irrigation on household income distribution in Nepalese villages

Since high-yielding modern rice varieties (MVs) are adopted only in favorable production environments, significant regional productivity differentials have emerged in Nepal. This study explores the distributional consequences of such differential MV adoption based on an intensive survey of favorable and unfavorable villages. We found that MV adoption increased returns to land but decreased family labor earnings from rice production, as it facilitated the substitution of hired for family labor. As a result, the differential MV adoption did not significantly worsen the household income distribution according to the results of the counterfactual Gini decomposition analysis.     

Weather Risk, Wages in Kind, and the Off-Farm Labor Supply of Agricultural Households in a Developing Country

This article investigates the effects of weather risk on the off-farm labor supply of agricultural households in a developing country, distinguishing different types of off-farm labor markets. A multivariate two-limit tobit model is applied to data from India. The regression results show that the share of the off-farm labor supply increases with weather risk, the increase is much larger in the case of nonagricultural work than in the case of agricultural wage work, and the increase is much larger in the case of agricultural wages paid in kind than in the cash wage case, suggesting farmers' considerations of food security.     

Off-farm labor supply responses to permanent and transitory farm income

A sample of Iowa farm couples is used to evaluate whether off‐farm labor supply decisions respond to permanent and transitory components of farm income. Off‐farm labor supply of both spouses declines in response to increases in permanent farm income. Farm wives also reduce off‐farm labor supply in response to positive transitory farm income shocks. Consequently, one mechanism farm households use to smooth their goods consumption when facing fluctuating farm income is to modify their consumption of leisure. Ability to smooth goods consumption does not imply the absence of liquidity constraints among farm households unless leisure consumption is also smoothed.     

The impact of migration on rural poverty and inequality: a case study in China

Large numbers of agricultural labor moved from the countryside to cities after the economic reforms in China. Migration and remittances play an important role in transforming the structure of rural household income. This article examines the impact of rural‐to‐urban migration on rural poverty and inequality in a mountainous area of Hubei province using the data of a 2002 household survey. Since migration income is a potential substitute for farm income, we present counterfactual scenarios of what rural income, poverty, and inequality would have been in the absence of migration. Our results show that, by providing alternatives to households with lower marginal labor productivity in agriculture, migration leads to an increase in rural income. In contrast to many studies that suggest that the increasing share of nonfarm income in total income widens inequality, this article offers support for the hypothesis that migration tends to have egalitarian effects on rural income for three reasons: (1) migration is rational self‐selection—farmers with higher expected return in agricultural activities and/or in local nonfarm activities choose to remain in the countryside while those with higher expected return in urban nonfarm sectors migrate; (2) households facing binding constraints of land supply are more likely to migrate; (3) poorer households benefit disproportionately from migration.     

Is off-farm income reforming the farm? Evidence from Mexico

Does access to off-farm income complement or compete with agricultural production? This article explores the effect of off-farm income on agricultural production activities, using data from the 2003 Mexico National Rural Household Survey. We first discuss the theoretical conditions under which access to off-farm income may influence production in an agricultural household model. Instrumental-variable (IV) estimation methods are then used to test whether agricultural production activities, technologies, and input use differ between households with and without access to off-farm income. We find that off-farm income has a negative effect on agricultural output and the use of family labor on the farm, but a positive impact on the demand for purchased inputs. There is also a slight efficiency gain in households with access to off-farm income. Findings offer insights into how household production evolves as rural households increasingly engage in off-farm income activities.     

Macro–micro feedback links of water management in South Africa: CGE analyses of selected policy regimes

The pressure on an already stressed water situation in South Africa is predicted to increase significantly under climate change, plans for large industrial expansion, ongoing rapid urbanization, and government programs to provide access to water to millions of previously excluded populations. This article employs a general equilibrium approach to examine the economy‐wide impacts of selected macro and water‐related policy reforms on water use and allocation, rural livelihoods, and economy at large. The analyses reveal that implicit crop‐level water quotas reduce the amount of irrigated land allocated to higher‐value horticultural crops and create higher shadow rents for production of lower‐value water‐intensive field crops, such as sugarcane and fodder. Accordingly, liberalizing local water allocation within irrigation agriculture is found to work in favor of higher‐value crops, and expand agricultural production and exports and farm employment. Allowing for water trade between irrigation and nonagricultural uses fuelled by higher competition for water from urbanization leads to greater water shadow prices for irrigation water with reduced income and employment benefits to rural households and higher gains for nonagricultural households. The analyses show difficult trade‐offs between general economic gains and higher water prices, which place serious questions on subsidizing water supply to irrigated agriculture, i.e., making irrigation subsidies much harder to justify.     

Moving off the farm and intensifying agricultural production in Shandong: a case study of rural labor market linkages in China

This study examines linkages between off-farm labor markets and the labor allocated by farmers to on-farm production of fruit crops. Using a stratified random sample of rural households in Shandong Province, we find that young and educated members of the labor force tend to work more frequently in the off-farm labor market, and that off-farm employment reduces the likelihood and intensity of fruit production. Fruit production is associated with lower levels of off-farm employment. Households and individuals who are less likely (or able) to find off-farm employment can benefit from shifting into fruit production. Although off-farm employment is an important avenue out of poverty, fruit production provides ways for the less educated and older households to raise their income.     

Off‐farm labor market decisions and agricultural shocks among rural households in Kenya

Using household level data from rural Kenya, this article explores whether and how farm households respond to unfavorable agricultural production environments, including any ex post adjustments in off‐farm labor supply in response to unexpected weather shocks. While controlling for a wide range of educational, demographic, and other locational factors, we examine how long‐term weather conditions and specific rainfall shocks influence a household's decision to engage in, and their earnings from, the off‐farm labor market. We find that rural households engage in off‐farm work as a long‐term strategy to deal with the effects of anticipated weather conditions on their farming operations. The analysis does not reveal major short‐term adjustments in off‐farm engagement as a result of specific, unexpected rainfall shocks; these households do however rely on remittance income and petty agricultural wage labor under these circumstances. Holding other factors constant, and conditional on participation, households in areas with a more productive local agriculture tend to earn more from off‐farm work especially in the informal/business sector than their counterparts in regions with a less productive agriculture. As expected, a vibrant local economy in the form of public investment increases the probability of off‐farm participation.     

中国农村留守妇女的劳动供给模式及其家庭福利效应

男出女守的家庭分工改变了中国留守妇女的劳动供给模式,留守妇女保留工资较低、劳动参与率较高以及工资性工作时间较长,表明其劳动供给更接近合作博弈模型所描述的女性劳动力供给行为。留守妇女的家庭分工和劳动供给模式有利于家庭短期经济状况的改善,但同时也使得女性的家庭事务、工资性工作和农业劳动负担加重,不利于家庭的长期利益和不同家庭成员的长期福利。留守妇女的多重角色冲突导致原有的家庭利益平衡机制和稳定状态受到冲击,并且由于目前中国农村仍然缺乏有效的市场化和社会化途径将家庭短期经济收入转化为长期利益,因而短期内无法有效缓解家庭冲突和矛盾。     

全面停伐政策对国有林区居民家庭收入的影响

基于2014—2017年对东北、内蒙古国有林区的调研数据,采用双重差分模型(DID)评估全面停伐政策对国有林区居民家庭的人均工资性收入和家庭人均收入的影响。研究结果表明:全面停伐政策的实施对林区居民家庭人均工资性收入和人均收入均存在消极影响;家中有人在其他企事业单位上班有利于促进国有林区居民家庭人均工资性收入和人均收入的增长;从事农林经营不利于国有林区居民家庭人均工资性收入增长,虽然通过获得农林经营收入可以在一定程度上填补工资性收入的减少,但是对家庭人均收入无显著消极影响。因此,建议国家林业与草原局对国有林区居民家庭进行专项资金扶持;转岗分流安排富余劳动力;改变国有林区居民保守的就业观念并鼓励自主创业等。