The impact of agricultural and household technologies on women: a conceptual and quantitative analysis in Burkina Faso

Agricultural technologies (new cultivars, inorganic fertilizers, soil-and water-conservation techniques) in Sub-Saharan Africa have been primarily introduced to male farmers by male-dominated extension services on the family plots. These yield-increasing, input-intensive technologies increase the demand for farm labor. So, not only do men obtain most of the direct benefits from the introduction of technology but this labor-intensive technology also increases the demands on women's time for additional labor. This raises the question: Are the combined effects of agricultural technologies beneficial or detrimental to women? We first develop a labor-market model that examines the impact of agricultural and household technologies on labor allocation and income determination within the household. We then discuss the important issue of how household labor-allocation decisions and division of income are made within the family in Sub-Saharan Africa. We use a programming model to estimate the effects of these technologies on household incomes and the income of women. The results indicate that the impact of agricultural technologies depends on the type of decision-making prevailing in the household. In contrast, household technologies increase the welfare of women regardless of the type of decision-making. However, with bargaining behavior, agricultural technologies do benefit women and there is some empirical support for this type of household behavior in Sub-Saharan African households.     

Internet Access and Farm Household Income – Empirical Evidence using a Semi‐parametric Assessment in Taiwan

There is considerable literature examining individuals’ behaviour with respect to Internet use, but less attention is paid to farm household use of the Internet. Among the few studies on farm households, the emphasis is on the correlation between socioeconomic factors and the adoption of the Internet. Thus, relatively little is known about the association between Internet use and farm household well‐being. In an effort to fill this void, this paper investigates Internet access among farm households and examines the effects of Internet access on farm household income. Given the observed income gap between Internet users and non‐users, we then investigate the extent to which socioeconomic factors may be associated with this income gap. Using a nationwide survey of farm households in Taiwan, a novel econometric model is proposed and estimated employing a semi‐parametric technique. Our results support the conclusion that Internet use improves farm household income. Most of the income gap between adopters and non‐adopters can be explained by the differences in the return of the socioeconomic factors.     

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.     

FARM HOUSEHOLD STRATEGIES AND PLURIACTIVITY IN UPLAND SCOTLAND

This paper considers how farm households in Grampians, an upland area of Scotland, are adapting to changing economic and political pressures. Most farms in the area are family farms, and such farm households are being exhorted to diversify their sources of income and to reduce their reliance on agriculture. Based on surveys in 1988 and 1989, this study finds, to the contrary, that only a small proportion of farmers has been reducing reliance on agricultural sources of income, and few anticipate a declining share of their household income to come from farming. Most farmers are loathe to undertake ancillary non-agricultural occupations because of the lower status implied; and farmers in the study area are found to have a very poor understanding of the broad policy context within which they produce. The paper also confirms the finding of other studies that off-farm employment of household members makes a significant contribution to farm household income; and the nature of such pluriactivity and of pluriactive farm households in the area is reviewed.     

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.     

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.     

Modeling household behavior in developing countries: discussion

A large and growing body of literature has examined how agricultural households cope with risk. Much of the work has focused on which types of households are better able to smooth consumption, testing whether households with more resources and greater access to income-smoothing institutions, such as credit markets or well-functioning labor markets exhibit greater consumption smoothing. However, income shocks may have different effects upon different individuals within households, and differences in individual ability to smooth income or consumption may have welfare consequences which go beyond foregone income. The development of collective household models challenges the assumption that individuals within households maximize a single utility function. The assumption of income pooling has also been rejected in a growing body of empirical research on intrahousehold resource allocation. However, research on risk-pooling within households and differences in individual abilities to smooth consumption is relatively new. Selected papers are discussed.     

Does participation in the conservation reserve program impact the economic well‐being of farm households?

This study uses U.S. farm household survey data to examine how participation in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) affects farm household economic well-being. Further, the study also examines the effects of CRP participation on farm household consumption, income, and imputed savings. In contrast to previous studies that assume the relationships are homogenous across the population, quantile regression is used to investigate the association between CRP participation across the entire distribution of farm household consumption and income. Empirical findings suggest that the effect of CRP participation on household economic well-being differs across the income and consumption distribution. For households in the lower percentiles of the distribution, the CRP participation is associated with an increase in household consumption, but a decrease in farm household income and savings. In contrast, farm households at the median and higher income and consumption quantiles, participation in CRP is associated with lower levels of household consumption and income, but with higher levels of savings.     

基于农户人口特征和收入结构的相对贫困群体政策支持研究——以山西省Y县为例

文章基于Y县的农户数据,对Y县相对贫困群体的人口和收入结构进行分析发现,相对贫困人群以老病残等特殊群体为主,相对贫困户的转移性收入占比较高,农业收入(经营性收入)和非农收入(工资性收入)的持续提高面临挑战,非建档立卡户中的相对贫困户(边缘户)财产性收入偏低。针对相对贫困人口的群体特征,应从转变政策制定和实施的理念、完善医疗保障政策、完善养老服务体系、完善发展型低收入群体社会救助政策、持续激发脱贫致富内生动力和实施有利于低收入群体增收的产业政策六个方面寻求相对贫困群体稳定脱贫和可持续发展的路径。     

The distributional effects of the Hilmer reforms on the Australian gas industry*

We analyse changes in the Australian gas industry during 1990s that were motivated by the Hilmer Reforms. We estimate the effects on real household income of the changes by combining a computable general equilibrium model with a microsimulation model. Although the structural changes were significant in their effects on the gas industry, they are estimated to have had minor effects on real household income in all Australian regions owing to the small size of the gas industry and household gas consumption at that time, and low importance of gas as an input to other industries. The changes are estimated to have slightly increased income inequality owing to the redistribution of income from labour to other primary factors.     

Income distribution in rice–growing villages during the post-Green Revolution periods: the Philippine case, 1985 and 1998

This paper aims to examine changes in household income sources and its impact on household income distribution in the post‐Green Revolution periods in 1985 and 1998 in the rural Philippines. We found that there has been a structural shift of household income away from farm in favor of nonfarm labor income sources. This finding indicates that rural development is being led by nonfarm sectors. Such a shift has resulted in an increase in household income inequality as the distribution of nonfarm income has become less equal over time and was markedly more unequal than that of farm income in 1998.     

农户参与林业碳汇意愿及影响因素动态分析——以云南省凤庆县、镇康县为例

运用农户调查数据,采用计量经济学分析方法,建立模型对农户参与意愿的影响因素进行了动态分析。结果显示,在项目涉及区,文化程度,家庭劳动力人数,家庭人均收入,林业收入占家庭收入比例,农户环保意识,对碳汇林未来经济预期六个变量对农户的参与意愿影响显著;在非项目涉及区,文化程度,林业收入占家庭收入比例,林地面积,农户环保意识,对碳汇林未来经济预期六个变量对农户的参与意愿影响显著。针对存在的问题,提出提高林业碳汇补偿标准、开展农户教育培训活动、拓展农户收入来源的建议。     

INCOME ELASTICITIES OF DEMANDS FOR FOODS IN GREAT BRITAIN

This paper describes analysis of data from the National Food Survey to determine the influences of household income and composition on household demand for foods in 1974, 1979, 1980 and 1982. The paper focuses on fats, cheese and carcase meats. The analysis uses household level data, regarding zero expenditures as arising because of infrequent purchasing and the expenditure-income relationship used in the Almost Ideal Demand Model. This is in contrast with the analysis reported by the National Food Survey Committee which uses a constant elasticity model and averaged income and expenditure data.     

茶产业发达地区茶农选择茶叶销售渠道的影响因素分析——基于福建安溪实证

以福建省安溪县茶农问卷调查数据为基础,利用二项Logistic模型对茶农选择茶叶销售渠道的影响因素进行计量分析。研究表明,茶农户主特征的年龄对茶农选择渠道的影响不显著;茶农户主是否是村干部对茶农自家开茶叶店有显著影响;茶农是否参加茶业合作组织对茶农选择茶业合作组织影响显著;茶叶收入占家庭收入的比重0~25%、26%~50%对茶农自家开茶叶店有显著影响,51%~75%对茶农选择茶叶经销商影响显著;农户到最近茶叶交易市场的距离≤3 km,对茶农选择茶叶经销商和茶叶批发市场这2个渠道影响显著。     

北京城市家庭水产品在外消费的影响因素分析

本文使用记帐式调查数据,采用Double—hurdle模型分析了北京城市居民家庭水产品在外消费及其影响因素。计量分析结果发现,收入与时间机会成本会显著增加城市居民家庭水产品在外消费的参与概率与消费数量。此外,家庭在外水产品消费的参与和消费决策还受到家庭人口结构与区域分布的显著影响。本文的研究结果对促进我国餐饮业与水产业的健康发展和相关政策的制定有重要意义。     

林地资源与农户林业收入的分析

首先对林地资源与林业收入的关系进行理论分析,然后运用福建省顺昌县农户林业收入的调查数据,分别对农户林地资源的数量、林地资源的经营类型与林业收入的关系进行实证分析。研究结果表明:林地资源是农户参与林业收入分配的重要形式;农户林地资源数量越多,其家庭林业收入也越高;农户林地资源的经营类型不同,其家庭林业收入也不同;竹林经营和经济林经营对目前农户林业收入的增加具有显著的影响。     

ETHICS AND EXTERNALITIES: AGRICULTURAL STEWARDSHIP AND OTHER BEHAVIOUR: PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

Neo classical micro-economic theory of the firm and household rests on the foundations of profit maximising and utility maximising behaviour respectively. This paper explores the issue of whether market efficiency can be improved when economic agents' behaviour is motivated by ethical objectives such as fairness and altruism. In particular the paper examines agricultural stewardship as an ethically motivated form of behaviour, which is profit sacrificing, but which improves economic efficiency by reducing environmental externalities. The paper also reiterates the limitations of Pareto optimality as a criterion of economic welfare because its rejection of interpersonal welfare comparisons rules out ethical considerations of income and wealth distribution.     

The role of nonfarm income in coping with the effects of drought in southern Mozambique

To reduce their dependence on subsistence agriculture, farm households in rural Africa may diversify their income sources by participating in the nonfarm sector. In years of drought, nonfarm income can also be part of the coping strategies. A multivariate sample selection model was used to analyze three years of data from a nationally representative household survey in Mozambique. The analysis was guided by the following three questions. During a drought year: (1) Do households increase their participation in nonfarm activities? (2) Are poorer households as likely as others to participate in and benefit from nonfarm activities? and (3) Which factors are associated with higher nonfarm incomes? The results suggest that households are more likely to engage in at least one nonfarm income‐generating activity during a drought year. Although poorer households are more likely to engage in nonfarm activities, they are less likely to participate in nonfarm activities of high return. The results suggest that policies reducing entry barriers (e.g., improved road infrastructure, micro‐credit schemes, and livestock promotion programs) and increasing education levels can facilitate income diversification, thus allowing rural households to better cope with the effects of drought. When designing polices, care must be taken to avoid exacerbating income inequality by targeting measures toward poorer and female‐headed households.     

Technological change and agricultural household income distribution: theory and evidence from China

This article applies a general equilibrium model to analyse the impact of new rice technology on household income and uses agricultural household survey data from China to test the implications of this model. It is shown that, when a new rice technology becomes available, the adopting household will reallocate resources to increase rice production and reduce the production of other goods. Meanwhile, the non-adopting households will do the opposite. Thus, the income from rice becomes increasingly concentrated in the adopting households and income from non-rice becomes increasingly concentrated in the non-adopting households. If only one source of income is examined, the introduction of new rice technology increases the inequality of income distribution in rural areas. But, if the total household income is examined, the distributional inequality is mitigated.     

中部四省农民人均纯收入的区域时空差异研究

[目的]"三农"问题的核心是农民收入问题,农民持续稳定增收直接影响国民经济的发展和社会稳定,解决农民增收有助于推动农业和农村经济的快速发展。[方法]通过文献查阅法了解中部地区农民人均纯收入及构成已有的研究成果,进而结合定量分析法和比较分析法从区域角度和时间角度对中部地区农民人均纯收入及构成进行比较分析,探讨其差异特征及形成的原因。[结果]中部地区农民人均纯收入及构成呈逐年增加的趋势,但整体上看农民人均纯收入低于全国水平,其中江西省和湖北省农民人均纯收入持平,高于河南省和山西省。农民人均纯收入构成比重随时间的延长发展改变,其中家庭经营纯收入比重逐年下降,河南省和湖北省的家庭经营纯收入的比重高于山西省和江西省,河南省和山西省的工资性收入比重呈逐年增加的趋势,而湖北省和江西省的工资性收入比重变化幅度不大。[结论]通过分析中部地区农民人均纯收入及构成的区域差异及形成原因,为发展和提高中部地区农民收入提供一定的参考意见。