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.     

Conservation Payments, Liquidity Constraints, and Off-Farm Labor: Impact of the Grain-for-Green Program on Rural Households in China

This study evaluates the labor response of rural households participating in the Grain-for-Green program in China, the largest payments for ecosystem services program in the developing world. Using a panel data set that we designed and implemented, we find that the participating households are increasingly shifting their labor endowment from on-farm work to the off-farm labor market. However, the effects vary depending on the initial level of human and physical capital. The results support the view that one reason why the participants are more likely to find off-farm employment is because the program is relaxing households' liquidity constraints.     

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。     

Rural households’ participation in charcoal production in Zambia: Does agricultural productivity play a role?

The study uses a nationally representative dataset of smallholder farmers in Zambia to determine the effect of agricultural productivity on households’ participation in charcoal production. An instrumental variable probit approach is applied to account for the endogeneity of agricultural productivity in household's charcoal participation decision. We find a negative and significant effect of agricultural productivity on household's likelihood of participation in charcoal production. Results also show that higher education, income, asset value, and participation in off-farm employment opportunities reduce the likelihood of participation in charcoal production. Therefore, interventions seeking to reduce charcoal production in rural Zambia could benefit from improving smallholder agricultural productivity, incomes, asset base, and off-farm employment creation. However, interventions need not lose sight of other important macro-level factors.     

Off-farm Labour Supply with Productivity Increases,Peak Period Production and Farm Structure Impacts

The study of of-farm employment of farm family members in the context of a neoclassical time allocation model of labor supply is used to attempt to explain the amount and type of off-farm employment currently prevalent on the Canadian Prairies. The effect of labor saving technical change together with a production process characterized by periods of peak activity affect the priority that may be assigned to off-farm work These factors require explicit consideration in the theoretical framework for the study of off-farm employment. The refinements occasioned by expanding the paradigm in this manner have implications for the role of rural development policy in the support of the agricultural sector     

Off-Farm Employment and Grain Marketable Surplus in China

This paper examines the effects of off-farm employment on grain marketable surplus supply during the reform period in China. A theoretical framework demonstrates that farm households' supply behaviour depends not only on the profitability of farm production but also on alternative off-farm wage opportunities of household members. An empirical model, which assumes full income maximisation of farm households, simultaneously evaluates the effects of on-farm and off-farm income on their grain supply behaviour. Particular attention is paid to the effect of off-farm income through a comparison of conditional and unconditional grain marketable surplus supply elasticities. Results show that off-farm income had a strong negative effect on grain marketable surplus from farm households following liberalisation of factor markets in China and that this could lead to a loss of marketable surplus supply.     

Does nonagricultural labor relax farmers’ credit constraints? Evidence from longitudinal data for Vietnam

We examine the relationship between participation in nonagricultural labor activities and farming production decisions, focusing on the use of inputs. Using longitudinal data for Vietnam from 1993 to 1998, we find that households engaged in nonagricultural labor spend significantly more on seeds, services, hired labor, and livestock inputs. This is consistent with the hypothesis that nonagricultural labor income relaxes credit constraints to farming.     

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.     

Horticulture exports, agro-industrialization, and farm–nonfarm linkages with the smallholder farm sector: evidence from Senegal

In this article we address the question of farm–nonfarm linkages at the household level in Senegal. We examine whether increasing off-farm employment opportunities for rural households—resulting from increased horticulture exports and associated agro-industrialization—has benefitted the smallholder farm sector through investment linkages. We use data from a household survey in the main horticulture export region in Senegal. We find that access to unskilled employment in the export agro-industry has contributed to the alleviation of farmers' liquidity constraints, resulting in increased smallholder agricultural production.     

The Impact of Coupled and Decoupled Government Subsidies on Off-Farm Labor Participation of U.S. Farm Operators

With the 1996 Farm Act, the United States introduced payments that were designed to be "decoupled." Labor allocation choices are likely to be affected by receipt of payments, and income from off-farm jobs has been the major source of income for most farm households for sometime. This article examines whether the 1996 change has affected the off-farm labor participation of farm households. We conclude that the observed increase in off-farm participation of farm operators who received payments was not the result of the 1996 policy change. Government payments, whether coupled or decoupled, have a negative effect on off-farm labor participation.     

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.     

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.     

农户劳动力迁移程度对林地流转的影响分析

基于江西省集体林权制度改革项目2011—2016年的连续监测数据,考虑非农就业的内生性,采用IV-Probit模型及其估计方法,分析集体林区农户劳动力长期外出务工对林地流转的影响。结果显示:集体林区农户劳动力迁移程度对林地转入有抑制作用,但对林地转出具有促进作用,且都通过了显著性检验。因此,政府部门应该在如何推动农村劳动力实现长期、有效、稳定的非农就业转移这一问题上做出相关努力,以促进农户间的林地流转,最终实现林业规模经营的目的。     

Intertemporal analysis of employment decisions on agricultural holdings in Slovenia

The article attempts to quantify determinants influencing the dynamics of employment decisions on agricultural holdings in Slovenia and to test specific aspects of labor reallocation during the transition period by the application of an agricultural household model. Through the use of a 1991–2000 longitudinal data set for 22,055 farm households, quantitative analysis of intertemporal employment decisions by farm holders is carried out using probit techniques. The determinants tested relate to the personal characteristics of farm holders (gender, age, education level, and potential off‐farm income), household characteristics (size, structure), characteristics of the agricultural holding (economic size, labor intensity), and local labor market conditions. The model results generally confirm existing empirical evidence on asymmetrical and irreversible participation of holders on the labor market. Despite intensive restructuring of agriculture and profound changes in the nonfarm labor market in the analyzed period, labor supply of farm holders remains rigid. The mobility of labor supply is lower than expected, which can be attributed to the importance of structural problems constraining intersectoral mobility. Low labor mobility reduces the efficiency of labor allocation on agricultural holdings in Slovenia. Elements of this problem emerge on both supply (e.g., low level of educational and professional attainment of reference persons) and demand sides of the labor market (e.g., unfavorable local labor market conditions). A marked tendency toward maintaining the same employment status is more distinct in the case of holders employed on‐farm only.     

Poverty targeting, resource degradation and heterogeneous endowments—a micro-simulation analysis of a less-favored Ethiopian village

Persistent and widespread poverty in less-favored areas (LFAs) is attributed to fragile natural resources and poor markets. Limited assets may keep households outside the reach of poverty policies targeted at LFAs. We explored in a stylized manner the role of heterogeneous household assets for (1) policies aimed at poverty reduction; (2) within-village income inequality; and (3) soil erosion. With a farm-household micro-simulation model we analyzed for each household in a remote Ethiopian village three sets of policies: technology improvement, infrastructure investment, and off-farm employment through migration or cash for work (CFW) programs. Combating poverty with a single policy, migratory off-farm employment reduces the poverty headcount most. Because of self-selection, CFW programs performed best in terms of reaching the poorest of the poor. CFW also reduced within-village income inequality most, while a price band reduction increased income inequality. Only technology improvements resulted in a trade-off between poverty and soil erosion. Price band and off-farm employment policies reduced erosion while outperforming technology improvements in terms of poverty reduction. We found that combining two policies was most helpful in assisting poorer households to overcome the limitations of their asset endowments. A CFW program combined with reduced price bands yielded most in terms of poverty reduction and income inequality. This policy complementarity is, however, less important for better-endowed households. Reducing the reliance of households on agriculture offered a win-win situation of reducing poverty and maintaining natural resources. Combining policies helped to overcome asset limitations, to target policies to the poorest households and to reduce income inequalities.     

劳动力转移行为对土地流转意愿影响的实证研究

研究目的:从外出务工人员转移行为的角度研究其对土地流转意愿的影响。研究方法:实证分析法。研究结果:劳动力转移距离和转移时间影响土地流转的意愿,在县内务工的人员不愿意转出土地的意愿更强,但是有将近一半的农户对土地流转问题没有考虑过。研究结论:应通过加强农民工培训、建立区域性的劳动力市场、推进农村社会保障制度的建设来促进农村土地的流转。     

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.     

Multiple job holdings among dairy farm families in New York and Ontario

Previous empirical studies of multiple job holding have tended to focus on the characteristics of those obtaining off-farm employment and the factors affecting the hours supplied to those obtaining off-farm activities. None of these studies have explicitly addressed the reasons behind the decision to seek off-farm employment. Neither have they been able to examine in-depth the important issue of how this major component of the farm sector responds to alternative policies, since most studies have used cross-sectional data for a given region. A comparison between countries would permit the analysis of how multiple job holding responds to differing government policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for and factors affecting multiple job holdings of dairy farm families in neighboring regions of two counties, United States and Canada. The bordering regions of New York and Ontario have similar geographic conditions but significantly different farm support and social service policies. The results indicate the importance of farm income on why people work off the farm and provide evidence of multiple job holding as a flexible mechanism for coping with changes in the economic environment facing the household. For operators, the driving characteristics influencing off-farm labor participation is the farm's financial position. The supply-managed milk marketing system ensures higher and more stable returns for Ontario dairy farm labor. In contrast, it is family demographics, educational level and social support policy that appears to largely influence spousal off-farm employment decisions. Free medical care in Ontario lowers the reservation wage for household members. The effect of these farm and social support policies on the relative returns to labor in agriculture and non-farm employment explains the lower participation rate and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators, and hours supplied in off-farm work by both operators and spouses in Ontario dairy farm household.     

Fertilizer Use, Risk, and Off-Farm Labor Markets in the Semi-Arid Tropics of India

A two-period model is developed in which a risk-averse farmer uses off-farm labor to smooth consumption, leading to greater use of fertilizer. Fertilizer demand is shown to increase with the depth of the off-farm labor market. Controlling for exogenous weather risk, farmers use more fertilizer the lower the unemployment rate and the higher the share of nonagricultural work in total off-farm labor. The results suggest that off-farm labor markets and own-farm production may be complementary in risky production environments, so that policies which promote the depth of the off-farm labor market in low-income areas may also bolster farm productivity.