INTERPERSONAL VARIATION IN FARM WORKERS‘ EARNINGS: ANALYSIS OF WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT ENQUIRY DATA

Most econometric analyses of the agricultural labour market in Britain have been concerned with explaining the general level of agricultural earnings and changes over time. This study complements such analyses by attempting to explain the variation in earnings between workers at any one time. The study uses multiple-regression analysis of cross-sectional data taken from the Wages and Employment Enquiry. Significant explanatory variables are age, grade and occupation of the worker, farm size, overtime hours and region. There is evidence of (a) an age-earnings profile with peak earnings at 45–54 years, (b) grade differentials which do not follow those expected from the official Agricultural Wages Board wages structure, (c) occupational differentials, (d) earnings rising with farm size, (e) the importance of overtime hours. Unexpected results occur with some of the regional coefficients.     

The effect of minimum wages on employment in emerging economies: a survey and meta-analysis

Using both qualitative and quantitative (meta-analysis) methods, this paper reviews the growing evidence on the impact of minimum wages on employment in 14 major emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey). Overall, minimum wages are found to have only a minimal impact on employment, and there is evidence of reporting bias towards statistically significant negative results. More vulnerable groups (e.g. youth and the low-skilled) are marginally more negatively affected, and there is some indication that higher minimum wages lead to more informal employment.     

THE EFFECT OF PRICE SUPPORT POLICIES ON AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT,EMPLOYMENT, FARM INCOMES AND LAND VALUES IN THE U.K.

Agricultural price policy has a major impact on the input markets as well as the output markets and a model is developed to analyse the effects of changes in support levels on U.K. agricultural employment, earnings, investment and land prices. This paper describes the specification, estimation and evaluation of the model and simulates the effects of a one per cent increase in support prices. The main conclusions are that net investment would increase in the years following the rise by a maximum in the second year of £12m and by a cumulative total of £44m (representing an increase of about 0.4 per cent in the capital stock). Employment on the other hand, while rising at first, would subsequently fall to almost one per cent below its original level, and earnings of hired labour also fall slightly. Net farm income increases by around 10 per cent and this is capitalised into a similar increase in land values.     

基于组合赋权和AHP法的农机化可持续发展研究

[目的]通过定量分析,明确不同准则层对农业机械化可持续发展的影响,衡量农机化可持续发展在时间维度上的演变趋势。[方法]建立了新疆农机化可持续发展评价指标体系,并构建了2001~2015年可持续发展水平评价指标关系数据模型。提出了组合赋权和专家法相结合的判断矩阵构建方法,并基于层次分析法(Analytic Hierarchy Process,AHP)分别定量分析了2001年和2015年农机化可持续发展状态。[结果](1)2015年新疆农机化可持续发展水平达到了80.31,和2001年相比提高了1.284 7倍。(2)从准则层来看,新疆可持续发展水平在农机化作业能力、农机化经济效益和农机化发展能力方面分别提高了69.70、85.94和48.64,但资源消耗方面的得分下降了1.12。[结论]2001~2005年新疆农业机械化可持续发展水平在作业能力、经济效益和发展能力等因素推动下进一步提升;揭示资源环境影响是约束农机化可持续发展的主要因素。从新疆农业机械化发展现状来看,文章方法得出的量化结果与实际情况较接近,表明研究方法有效和可行。     

Off‐farm employment and reasons for entering farming as determinants of production enterprise selection in US agriculture

In today’s agriculture, farmers consider off‐farm employment and lifestyle goals in complex ways to select production enterprises. Data from USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey were used to examine how off‐farm employment and ‘reasons for entering farming’ influence production enterprise selection in US agriculture. A two‐stage analysis with a multivariate tobit model was used to examine the impact of off‐farm employment as influenced by government farm programme payments, reasons for entering farming, demographics and location on production enterprise selection. Results underscore the impacts of reasons for entering farming and off‐farm employment on production enterprise choice and provide implications for policy development. The study highlights the importance of government farm programme payments in production enterprise selection by US farmers.     

Structural Variations of Agriculture in the Pacific

Agricultural shares of output and employment in thirteen Pacific basin countries are analyzed with reference to a global baseline for 1980. Per-capita output parity ratios are lower in the ASEAN, ANICs, and Japan as compared to their trading partners in North America and Oceania. Wide differences in land-labor ratios influence the directions of technological change, economies of scale, and dynamic comparative advantage. Differential changes in the partial productivities of land and labor between the high and middle income economies suggest that there has been a narrowing of the gap in land productivities and a widening of the gap in labor productivities across the Pacific. The implication is that there has been a regressive international impact on wages for farm labor. Further, since agriculture's share of land resources does not tend to fall as fast as its share of output and labor, increasing structural imbalance in terms of differential land rents to agriculture vis-à-vis non-agriculture results in greater adjustment pressures on the property and derived institutional systems that control natural resource allocation decisions. The results are consistent with the heavy adjustment burdens that agriculture and developing economies have been bearing as a result of expanding trade and capital flows, and the need to focus more attention on the structure, functioning, and performance of the different institutional systems that control resource allocation decisions in these countries.     

Can structural adjustment work for women farmers

This article discusses the impact of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) on women farmers in developing countries. SAPs aim to improve economic efficiency and promote more rapid economic growth. SAPs are introduced in two phases. The first phase involves short-term loans with the condition that the country adopt monetary restraints and currency devaluation measures. In the second phase, long-term loans are given with the provision that the country deregulate their economy and open up markets. The agricultural sector is affected by SAPs because of their importance in employment, income generation, and export earnings. SAPs result in lower farm commodity prices due to currency devaluations and in removal of subsidies, which results in market-sensitive pricing or higher food prices. The impact of SAPs on agriculture vary between countries. In Morocco and Algeria, agriculture expanded under SAPs. In Indonesia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, the agriculture stagnated or declined. Agricultural growth was slowest in Africa. SAPs were somewhat successful in increasing agricultural exports. Food production grew slowly in many adjusting countries. Blame for failures of SAPs has been placed on government failure to implement reforms properly and overly optimistic assumptions about the timing of productive gains. Little attention has focused on the constraints facing women farmers, who are a large proportion of farmers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This article focuses on the issues of limited access to resources, credit, agricultural extension and information, land ownership, education, and time as constraints to women farmers. Women also must ensure household food security. For SAPs to work effectively, complementary policies must be implemented that reallocate available productive resources and new technologies to women and that deal with women's constraints.     

农户的用材林经营意愿——山东梁山镇的调查

基于山东省梁山镇200农户经营用材林意愿的调查,分析农户在耕地里种树与劳动力就业决策的关系,进而得出结论:农户家庭是一个最基本的经济组织,家庭成员劳动时间的配置影响农户就业形式的选择。由于经营用材林节约农业劳动时间,在耕地里种树使农户选择"务工兼农业"和"专业打工"就业形式成为可能。建议政府重视促进农村劳动力的就业工作,尊重农户的就业选择,处理好耕地利用问题。     

An economic interpretation of structural changes in the bovine population of India

Abstract

A computable general equilibrium model based on a social accounting matrix for Kenya is used to simulate the effects of 10% devaluation, 10% increased investment and 10% agricultural productivity improvement on the macro‐economy and on the real incomes of the poor. For each policy simulation two specifications for the labour markets are adopted, the first assuming unlimited supplies of labour at given nominal wages and the second fixed supplies so that wages are determined endogenously. These affect the results crucially. Under the first assumption, devaluation provides a 10% boost to real gross domestic product (GDP) and has highly favourable effects on agricultural production, exports, the current account deficit, employment and poverty. Under the second assumption, it has a largely inflationary impact, with attenuated effects on real GDP and no effect on the current account deficit. Agricultural productivity improvement is less affected by the different specifications and compares favourably with devaluation except for its smaller impact on GDP. The increased investment policy is found to be inferior on most counts. All three policies decrease poverty, though income distribution remains stable.     

EU Reform of the Sugar Beet Regime: Implications for UK Agriculture

The purpose of this article is to discuss possible scenarios for UK sugar beet production after the reform of the sugar regime. The analysis is built on an evaluation undertaken by the University of Cambridge and The Royal Agricultural College of the impact that reforming the EU sugar regime may have on UK agriculture. The analysis focuses on the implications of reductions in quota and the support price and on the possible reactions by British Sugar, as the final outcome in terms of production will depend on the interaction between British Sugar and sugar beet farmers. The analysis indicates that British Sugar strategies such as reallocating the available quota to the more efficient producers or paying higher beet prices might mitigate the impacts of the reform. The key factor in limiting the overall impact on production is the extent that the industry can restructure and reduce its cost base. For example, following a 40 per cent reduction in the sugar beet price we estimate that if farmers could reduce their average costs by 20 per cent, about 52 per cent of UK beet production would still be viable, compared to less than 20 per cent if costs were not altered.     

THE ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF RISING FOOD PRICES: FRIEDMAN AND THE PRICE OF STEAKS

The rationale for anti-inflationary policies (at least in the UK) arises from a theory that higher rates of inflation lead to a greater variability in the dispersion of prices and market distortions. This is because economic agents do not fully anticipate what future rates of inflation will be. Little or no empirical work has been directed to the agricultual sector for this model. The economic implications of the prices of some varieties of beef steaks are considered by testing the model for UK data over the period 1968 to 1984. The effects of real earnings and the Common Agricultural Policy are also considered.     

Labour Market Effects of a Female Stipend Programme in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's female secondary education stipend programme was one of the first conditional cash transfer programmes in the world. While numerous studies have investigated the impacts of such programmes on school enrolment, attendance and learning, less attention has been paid to their long-term labour market effects. This article extends the literature by studying the effects of Bangladesh's programme on earnings and the sector of employment, as well as on labour force participation and education outcomes, using repeated cross-sectional data in a difference-in-difference framework. We find that exposure to 5 years of the programme is be associated with a 1-year increase in education level completed and an increase in female labour force participation by six percentage points. However, we find that wages decrease by about 17% because the women have difficulties in finding a good job and end up in low productivity self-employment work.     

Standing at the Crossroads – the Future of a Strong Common Agricultural Policy is at Stake A la croisée des chemins – l’avenir d’une politique agricole commune forte est en jeu Am Scheideweg – die Zukunft einer starken Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik steht auf dem Spiel

Standing at the Crossroads – the Future of a Strong Common Agricultural Policy is at Stake The issues and targets in the European Union’s agenda are largely in line with Hungarian objectives; job creation for example is one of the main targets of the Europe 2020 strategy and also of the Hungarian Government. Hungary’s development and competitiveness are linked to the internal development and global competitiveness of the European Union; and so our primary objective is to strengthen the integration process and to obtain a strong Common Agricultural Policy. The CAP has reached the highest level of integration among EU policies and its original objectives have been reinforced by the Lisbon Treaty. Europe needs a strong and common agricultural policy beyond 2013; the main task of agriculture will be to ensure the security of food supplies. The future success of the CAP requires appropriate financial support to secure future targets. Rural development has already become an integral part of the CAP structure; but rural areas will not be viable without an evolving agriculture. Without the provision of a proper level of income subsidies many farms would be forced to stop production. CAP adjustments should promote the catching up of new Member States and eliminate the current system of direct subsidies that disadvantage the new members.     

SOURCES OF EXPORT EARNINGS INSTABILITY: THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE

Previous studies of export earnings for less developed countries have suggested that earnings from primary products — including agriculture — might be more stable than those from industrial goods. Those studies used highly aggregated sectors, so that individual agricultural sectors could not be identified as stable or not. This study measures the export earnings instability of 20 commodity aggregates — more than half of them agricultural — for 27 countries between 1962 and 1983. The results indicate that some agricultural sectors were unstable and that no individual sector was universally stable. Agricultural sectors tended to be among the more stable sectors in low and middle income countries and among the less stable sectors in high income countries.     

基于SEM的土地整理项目“三农”效益评价——以陕西省揉谷镇347份农户调查为例

研究目的:从农户视角出发,以陕西省杨凌示范区揉谷镇347份农户调查为基础,定量评价土地整理项目的"三农"效益,为提高土地整理效益提供相关建议。研究方法:选取农业效益、农村效益和农民效益共3个潜变量和15个观测变量建立结构方程模型(SEM)。研究结果:(1)揉谷镇土地整理项目"三农"效益处于中等水平,农村效益较好,农业效益次之,农民效益最低;(2)农村效益和农业效益均对农民效益产生了一定的显著影响,但农业效益对农民效益的影响较低,农业效益每增加1单位,农民效益仅增加0.18单位。研究结论:在今后的土地整理过程中,要努力提高"三农"效益,特别是农民效益的提升,更要确保农民分享到农村效益、农业效益,推动"三农"协调发展,共同进步。     

现代农业产业园产业融合发展水平研究——基于北京8家园区的实证分析

目的 产业融合是现代农业产业园建设的重点所在,对园区产业融合发展及其综合效益进行分析,明晰其产业融合发展的整体水平,并有利于了解园区建设的阶段性成效与主要短板。方法 根据现代农业产业园产业融合的形式及其产生的作用,结合文献与调研资料,文章从园区产业融合发展本身和产业融合发展的综合效益两方面选取相关指标,利用层次分析法、德尔菲法构建产业融合发展水平评价指标体系,并运用农业产业融合综合发展指数法测算北京8家园区的产业融合指数和综合效益指数,从两方面观测园区产业融合发展水平。结果 （1）经过3年的发展,北京现代农业产业园整体上基本实现产业融合发展并取得较好经济效益,但产业融合深度不足和社会、生态效益偏低。（2）园区农业产业链延伸达到基本实现融合发展水平,但农业多功能拓展、技术渗透发展两方面水平相对偏低,主要是休闲农业拓展、科研经费投入力度、农业物联网等信息技术应用等发展不足影响其融合深度。（3）园区产业融合发展的经济效益水平较高,但社会、生态两方面效益水平相对较低,主要是组织化水平、绿色发展、就业促进等作用发挥不足影响其综合效益水平。结论 基于北京区域特殊性,发挥科技创新的强劲驱动力和新型农业经营主体的主要推动作用是未来北京现代农业产业园提升产业融合深度和综合效益水平的关键所在。     

基于低碳经济视角下的广东农业发展方式转型分析

估算了广东2000～2009年农业碳排放总量,分析了广东农业生产碳排放的主要特征,进而对广东农业碳排放影响因素进行分解研究。结果表明,广东农业的碳排放总量总体呈不断上升的趋势;农业产值增长、农业化学化水平的提高、农业投入产出率平稳及农业能源消费结构的高碳化等是农业生产碳排放变动的主要影响因素。在此基础上,进一步剖析了广东农业低碳发展面临的主要障碍,提出广东农业生产实现低碳化转型发展的主要路径选择。     

PART TIME FARMING—IMPLICATIONS FOR FARM FAMILY INCOME

The Common Agricultural Policy has been more successful at securing food supplies than at providing adequate incomes for small farmers. Among proposals for resolving the problem, part time farming is a promising option. To date, agricultural policy has at best ignored farms below the ‘full time’ threshold, at worst discriminated against them. The new Agricultural Structures policy embodies a more positive approach, however. Robson's paper calls for better information on farm households with other gainful activities. Statistics from the 1983 Farm Structure Survey provide insight into the nature and extent of part time farming in the European Community. Neglect of part time farming in the UK up to now may have stemmed from its perceived irrelevance for agricultural policy. Now that it is being viewed in a more favourable light, policy makers need to be appraised of the facts. Currently about one third of main agricultural holdings in England and Wales are part time farms in the sense that farmer or spouse combines another paid job with farming. Gasson's paper explores the nature of these other jobs and features of their distribution. Following trends in other developed countries, non-farm activities are becoming increasingly important for UK farming families. Growth in part time farming has obvious implications for income support, widely agreed to be the fundamental objective of agricultural policy in western Europe. Existing farm income measures are not adequate for assessing the extent of the income problem in agriculture. Data from the Inland Revenue's Survey of Personal Incomes and the Wye College part time farming survey fill some of the gaps left in official measurements. Non-farming earnings, pensions and investment income contribute significantly to farm household incomes. A majority of part time farming families in England and Wales make more from other sources than from farming. Although average incomes of part time farmers may exceed those of full timers, Hill's paper identifies a section of part time farming families with inadequate incomes from all sources.     

Labour Demand in the Post‐apartheid South African Wine Industry

In 2013 the minimum agricultural wage in South Africa was increased by an unprecedented 51%. We use data on 77 Western Cape Province wine grape farms from 2005–2015 to estimate the impacts on employment. Previous post‐apartheid labour market reforms increased minimum wages substantially, but re‐entry to global markets after sanctions were lifted increased demand and this preserved jobs in the wine sector. However, by 2005 this demand growth had largely ceased. The long‐run wage elasticity for permanent employees was found to be ?0.4, but for casual workers the figure was ?4.7, so the 51% wage increase is likely to decimate casual employment in the future. Thus, the poorest and most vulnerable casual workers lose most in terms of jobs, incomes and secure livelihoods, whereas 80% of full‐time staff benefit from the higher minimum wages. Thus, the minimum wage change is likely to increase the gap between privileged permanent staff and casual workers. This result is not surprising in view of the long‐standing interdependence between farmers and their permanent workers in wine grape production.     

Sectoral and poverty impacts of agricultural policy adjustments in Colombia

We aim to assess the sectoral and poverty impacts of changes in agricultural policy in Colombia. For this, we use an agriculture specialized static computable general equilibrium model, together with a microsimulation model that allows employment to shift between sectors. Results indicate that the sectoral impact from policy changes tends to be small and that it considerably varies across crops. The macro model yields some gains in wages and capital rents, a relatively larger increase in land rents, and limited labor reallocation, together leading to small poverty impacts as calculated through the microsimulation model. The incidence of rural poverty decreases by less than 1% and the same happens to the poverty gap. In addition, poverty reductions are concentrated among households near the middle of the income distribution.