Nonfarm employment,agricultural intensification,and productivity change: empirical findings from Uganda

This article uses panel data from the Living Standards Measurement Study‐Integrated Surveys on Agriculture for Uganda to assess the farm‐level effects of nonfarm employment on agricultural intensification and productivity change. A sample selection model is used to account for both unobserved heterogeneity and potential simultaneity between agricultural production and nonfarm income. Results show that nonfarm employment can have differential impacts on farm technology intensity and productivity. Nonfarm income is found to have a positive impact on farm hired labor and improved seed intensity; a negative effect on on‐farm family labor use; and no significant impact on fertilizer, soil water management, and joint use of farm technologies. The econometric evidence also indicates that agricultural productivity declines as nonfarm income increases. Taken together, our findings reveal important trade‐offs between nonfarm employment and income and farm productivity growth under smallholder agriculture. The results indicated that targeted policies are required to reduce these potential trade‐offs between nonfarm employment and agricultural intensification and productivity change.     

Rural Population Growth, 1950–1990: The Roles of Human Capital, Industry Structure, and Government Policy

Human capital raises rural incomes, but this effect is swamped by higher returns to human capital in urban markets. This leads to "brain drain" from rural areas. Populations grow more rapidly in rural counties that have a diversified employment base. Farm population grows faster (or declines more slowly) in counties with relatively high farm income, and nonfarm populations grow faster in counties with relatively high nonfarm income. However, higher farm incomes lead to slower nonfarm population growth and vice versa. Rural county government services financed by local taxes or debt have neutral or negative effects on population growth.     

Rural household incomes and land grabbing in Cambodia

This paper empirically quantifies environmentally augmented rural household incomes in Cambodia and analyzes how economic land concessions (ELCs) affect such incomes. Data is derived from a structured survey of 600 randomly selected households in 15 villages in three study sites in Cambodia, where local livelihoods are highly reliant on access to land and natural resources, supported by qualitative data from focus group discussions. Gini coefficient decomposition, multiple regression models, and propensity score matching (PSM) models were employed to analyze the composition of income portfolios, determinants of major income sources, and the impacts of land grabbing on incomes. Results documented high reliance on environmental income (32–35% of total household income) and farm income (51–53%) across income quartiles; demonstrated the variation in product composition across quartiles and the contribution of each major product to income inequality; and identified the main household characteristics influencing absolute and relative incomes. ELCs were found to consistently have negative impacts on household total income, environmental income, size of available cultivable land and livestock holdings, and increasing the distance to forests. The total household annual income subjects to ELCs were estimated to decrease by 15–19%. While providing some employment opportunities, we find no evidence of positive income effects of ELCs on households in the areas where ELCs are located.     

环境意识、社会阶层及民族文化对云贵民族地区居民环境行为的影响

[目的]从实证的视角研究云贵民族地区环境意识、社会阶层以及民族文化对居民环境行为的影响,以期对现有的环境行为模型进行补充和完善以及为促进农村居民环境行为提供参考。[方法]利用在云贵民族地区收集到的355份统计问卷,构建了环境意识、社会阶层以及民族文化对环境行为的影响模型。结合相关性分析和回归分析探讨农村居民环境行为及其影响因素。[结果](1)民族文化对公民行为和消费行为具有显著正向影响;(2)社会阶层中的受教育程度对生态管理行为和消费行为均有显著正向作用,民族身份对生态管理行为和说服行为都有显著负影响,收入只对公民行为有显著正向影响;(3)环境意识中的环境问题认知和环境情感价值对于4种环境行为类型都有显著正向影响,环境保护态度对生态管理行为、公民行为和消费行为都有显著正向影响,而环境状况感知只对说服行为有显著正向影响。[结论]因此,提升农村教育水平、提高农村居民环境意识和复兴少数民族文化可以用来促进云贵民族地区农村居民环境行为。     

The Local Impacts of Agricultural Subsidies: Evidence from the Canadian Prairies

We estimate the impact of removing an export subsidy on the local economies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, exploiting the large regional variation of a 1995 reform. We find that the loss of the subsidy resulted in significantly lower farm value‐added, farm asset values and local non‐farm employment. The results suggest that the subsidy removal had detrimental spillover effects on the local non‐agricultural economy that varied spatially across the Prairies. The point estimates suggest that the marginal effect of the subsidy loss on non‐agricultural employment was five times as large as those obtained from traditional estimates of the multiplier effect.     

全面“停伐”后国有林区居民主观福祉影响因素分析

基于2017年国家林业局和东北林业大学联合开展的"重点国有林区改革监测"项目的数据,建立结构方程模型对国有林区居民主观福祉的影响因素及其关系进行实证分析。结果表明:因子分析验证了国有林区居民主观福祉模型的合理性;全面停伐政策满意度是影响国有林区居民主观福祉的重要因素;个体状况、社会状况、家庭关系满意度、邻里关系满意度、个体满意度、社会保障变化和生活水平变化都对国有林区居民的主观福祉具有显著的正向影响;收入和就业仍然是影响国有林区居民主观福祉的关键因素。全面"停伐"政策对国有林区居民的影响主要不是现实的,而是心理上潜在的。因此,建议重点关注转岗分流职工,消除其对就业、保险的担忧;特别要关注在册不在岗职工的就业问题,有针对性地采取相关措施保障其就业;通过社区平台加强国有林区管理部门与国有林区居民的沟通,以便增强国有林区居民未来生活信心。     

Sustainable development of rural coastal areas: Impacts of a new fisheries policy

In most EU coastal areas, over the last two decades, a significant employment and income shrink was observed; this was attributed to a gradual decline of fishery activities. Hence, the EU, in an attempt to restrain this decline and to safeguard a sustainable development of the coastal areas, initiated new measures within the current (2007–2013) Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This work attempts to assess the effectiveness of this new policy, Axis 4 of the Operational Fisheries Programme, by measuring the employment and income effects upon the whole economy. The analysis was applied in a Greek coastal area as a case study. Results demonstrate that the employment and income generated, due to those measures, are relatively small mainly because of fund limitations and weak interactions in the local economy in a short-run timeline, though indirect benefits could occur in the long run.     

The increasing importance of nonfarm income and the changing use of labor and capital in rice farming: the case of Central Luzon, 1979–2003

There have been sharp increases in nonfarm income among farm households in Central Luzon for the last few decades. This study attempts to identify the effects of the increasing nonfarm income on the use of tractors and threshers and on the employment of hired labor as a substitute for family labor. We found that while the increased nonfarm income positively affects the ownership of tractors, it has no significant impact on the use of agricultural machines due presumably to the development of efficient machine rental markets. We also found that the increased nonfarm income leads to the increased use of hired labor, thereby releasing family labor to nonfarm jobs.     

Income and Employment Generation from Agricultural Processing and Marketing: The Case of Soybean in Indonesia

This study aims to illustrate the potential of agricultural processing and marketing activities in generating local income and employment in developing economies, using soybean in Indonesia as a case. The results show that those activities add to rural income and employment at a scale equal or even larger than those generated from farm production itself, indicating their role in alleviating poverty and inequality in the rural sector.     

Impact of off‐farm income on food expenditures in rural Bangladesh: an unconditional quantile regression approach

This study examines the effects of off‐farm income on food expenditures of rural Bangladeshi households. Our analysis yields unbiased estimates of the unconditional impact of off‐farm income on food expenditures and reveals the heterogeneous effects that occur across the distribution of total food consumption expenditures. The findings suggest that the impacts of off‐farm income are uniformly positive across the unconditional quantile regression and significantly increase food consumption expenditures for all quantiles, except for the 25th quantile. In addition, we found that schooling, experience, and location of the household increase the food expenditures of rural households. Most importantly, this article argues that female‐headed rural households in which the female works off the farm tend to have significantly lower food expenditures.     

Local economic impacts of an unconventional energy boom: the coal seam gas industry in Australia

Complementing the scarce economic literature about local impacts of energy extraction booms, this paper empirically investigates economic outcomes related to the new coal seam gas (CSG) industry located across southern Queensland. This Australian state has seen an unprecedented inflow of investments into the extraction of this previously unexploited unconventional natural gas over the last decade. We analyse census data to study income and employment effects associated with the CSG boom, exploiting the quasi‐experimental conditions provided by CSG extraction areas (treatment regions) and regions without this development (control regions). Findings show that treatment regions have higher income growth than control areas during 2001–2011 for families residing locally and for individuals present on census night. Employment in the mining sector also shows higher growth as has non‐mining employment in some areas. We include comparisons between CSG areas with no major mining history (the Surat basin) and CSG areas where mining was important before the CSG boom (the Bowen basin), to better understand boom effects in areas with different initial mining industry importance in their economies. Local job multipliers are also analysed for Surat basin CSG areas, where positive impacts (job spillovers) are restricted to construction and professional services jobs, while agricultural jobs have decreased.     

Welfare implications of reduced government subsidies to farm families: accounting for fringe benefits

In the past three decades, farm families have relied on government payments and off‐farm income to reduce income risk and increase total household income. Studies have shown that, as the income effect dominates, government payments tend to reduce off‐farm labor of farm operators and spouses. But that may not be true if one accounts for fringe benefits associated with off‐farm employment. Additionally, with looming budget deficits and the possibility of a reduction in decoupled government payments, farm families may be facing an altered economic environment. Our study addresses this issue by examining the links between government farm program payments and the ever‐important role of fringe benefits in the off‐farm employment of farm couples. Results from farm‐level data actually show that the marginal effect of government payments on hours worked off‐farm will decrease in magnitude when accounting for fringe benefits, ceteris paribus. These results support the notion that farm households’ welfare loss stemming from reduced decoupled payments may be overstated when models exclude fringe benefits from the estimation of off‐farm labor supply.     

The impact of protected areas on the rural households’ incomes in Ethiopia

Protected areas are cornerstones for biodiversity conservation, yet they can be controversial because of their potential impact on the livelihoods of local people due to restrictions on agricultural land use and the extractive use of natural resources. This study evaluates the impact of PAs on households’ livelihoods, as measured by total household income (THI) and livestock income (LI). We use a survey and a quasi-experimental design to gather socioeconomic and biophysical data from households living within, adjacent to and outside three national parks (NPs) in Ethiopia and employ matching methods to isolate the impact of NPs. Our findings suggest that there is no evidence that the establishment of NPs adversely affects local livelihoods. Instead, we find that households within and in adjacent areas to NPs have higher incomes compared to those living outside. Understanding the heterogeneity of the effect of NPs on local livelihoods can help in designing well-targeted policy interventions that improve conservation goals while also addressing livelihood concerns of resource-dependent local communities.     

THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ITALIAN AGRICULTURE

The relative importance of Italian agriculture in the EC, both in terms of net value added and of employment, has never been matched by a comparable impact on the CAP policymaking process. Mediterranean agricultural products in particular have been less favoured by the overwhelming common policy instrument of product price support, which has also a negative impact on the economy as a whole. The most relevant effects of the CAP are reviewed: the impact on resource allocation, including international income transfers, and the effects on the environment, as well as the effects on interpersonal income distribution. An evaluation of CAP is then made from different points of view: the likely perspective of present Italian farmers, a national perspective and an overall perspective, including the interests of non EC countries and future generations. Lower and more balanced price support, together with higher concern for structural and environmental policies especially in less favoured areas, are advocated.     

Farm succession,occupational choice and farm adaptation at the rural-urban interface: The case of Italian horticultural farms

The survival of family farming in Europe is a crucial issue, as it assures landscape maintenance in marginal areas and provides transmission and accumulation of site-specific knowledge in agricultural activity. Using data from a sample of Italian horticultural farms, we explored the multiple forces driving farm succession in a high value added sector. In addition to the traditional factors examined in the literature (farm, farmer and family features), we treated the farm transfer choice as the complement of the decision to migrate out of the agricultural sector, testing the effects of local labour market conditions (employment, income gap between farm and non-farm sector) and population density around the farm, as a proxy of rural-urban interface relationships. It has been shown that both traditional factors and territorial and labour market conditions influence the probability of farm succession. Interestingly labour market conditions exerted an effect in line with occupational choice theory only in less inhabited areas; in more densely populated regions a rural-urban linkage effect seems to prevail, creating an environment that fosters succession of young horticultural farmers. Peri-urban areas may thus be a favourable location for professional and specialised horticultural farms, as well as multifunctional and de-specialised ones, if their assets are properly protected against farmland subtraction. More generally, these findings confirm the validity of a more comprehensive approach toward farm succession, which takes occupational choice theory and rural-urban farm adaptation strategies into account.     

Off‐farm Employment and Input Intensification among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Kenya

We derive input demand functions for fertiliser and hybrid seed, testing for the combined and separate effects of income from non‐farm sources and agricultural wage labour among smallholder maize farmers in Kenya. More income from off‐farm sources, and specifically non‐farm sources, competes with maize intensification, particularly in more productive areas where use rates are higher. In less productive areas, where households rely more on off‐farm income and input use in maize is extremely low, agricultural wage labour reduces the likelihood that fertiliser is applied, but when used, has a positive effect on quantities purchased of both seed and fertiliser.     

新型城镇化对农民收入的影响效应研究基于30个省（市、自治区）面板数据的实证分析

目的 通过人口的城镇化率、土地的城镇化率、经济的城镇化率、就业的城镇化率这4个自变量综合考察新型城镇化对农民收入的直接影响效应和间接影响效应并提出推进新型城镇化建设促进农民增收的建议。方法 文章运用空间杜宾模型,收集近10年我国30个省（市、自治区,不含港澳台、西藏）的相关数据分析新型城镇化对农民收入的影响。结果 新型城镇化通过人口的城镇化、土地的城镇化、经济的城镇化对农民收入产生显著正向的直接效应,且通过经济的城镇化产生显著负向的间接效应,而就业的城镇化对农民收入影响效应不显著;新型城镇化对农民收入的直接效应主要还是由人口的城镇化产生,但也不能忽视土地城镇化和经济城镇化促进农民增收的作用;控制变量中农业经济水平、农村资本投入、对外开放程度、工业化率对农民收入具有显著正向的直接效应,且农村资本投入对农民收入具有显著正向的间接效应。结论 建议政府大力发展农业现代化,促进城乡一体化;盘活农村土地资源,加快农村城镇化;拓宽农民就业渠道,缩小城乡差别。     

US agricultural exports and labor market adjustments

This study empirically investigates the impact of US agricultural exports on farm and nonfarm employment and tests how individuals adjust to agricultural export shocks. Based on the data from 1991 to 2017 and a Bartik-style instrument that exploits cross-regional variation in agricultural export exposure stemming from initial differences in agricultural specialization and temporal variation in predicted US exports from exogenous tariff reductions, we find that a 1% increase in agricultural exports increases farm employment by 0.302% and has no statistically significant impact on nonfarm employment. The individual-level analysis shows that, in response to positive agricultural export demand shocks, natives with a college degree are more likely to become self-employed and start farm activities and while non-natives without a college degree are more likely to become hired farmworkers. A back-of-the-envelope calculation based on the estimates of agricultural trade elasticities of employment shows that on balance, job gains due to US agricultural exports are slightly larger than job loss due to agricultural imports, resulting in a net gain of around 0.24 million farm jobs over 1991–2017.     

农民工转移就业对农村居民收入的影响及其空间溢出效应

目的 农民工作为农村人口的重要组成部分,其转移就业问题一直被各界高度关注。文章利用2011—2021我国31个省（市、区,未含香港、澳门和台湾省）的空间面板数据,探究农民工转移就业对农村居民收入的影响及其空间溢出效应。方法 结合前人研究成果和理论基础,分析农民工转移就业对农村居民收入的影响机制,通过莫兰检验验证农民工转移就业和农村居民收入空间相关性之后,再选取固定效应空间杜宾模型进行实证分析,并通过3种空间矩阵检验结果的稳健性。结果 （1） 发现农民工转移就业和农村居民收入具有明显的L—L、H—H集聚的空间特征,空间相关性显著;（2） 农民工转移就业与农村居民收入空间交互效应也显著;农民工转移就业对农村居民收入有显著的正向影响;（3） 农民工转移就业对农村居民收入具有显著的空间溢出效应。结论 重视农民工转移就业的空间溢出效应,进一步提高农民工受教育程度,加快农民工市民化进程,可促进农民工转移就业,进而有效提升农村居民收入水平。     

Income Diversification of Rural Households in China

This article examines how different patterns of farm‐level diversification affect the income levels of rural households in China. Using quantile regression analysis of data from a rural household survey, the empirical results exhibit significant differences in diversification effects across rural income strata and various structural characteristics. Diversification, especially involving nonfarm employment and migration, brings a monetary premium to low‐income rural families and an income discount to high‐income families. The policy implications suggest the encouragement of labor‐intensive enterprises in rural areas and improvement of labor quality through rural education and training programs.