Coping with flood: role of institutions in Bangladesh

The article examines the coping strategies that rural households adopted during the 1998 flood in Bangladesh and assesses its impact on household welfare, including coping and vulnerability. Both vulnerability and poverty have in general declined in Bangladesh. Yet, 60% of rural households adopted a coping of one type or another and about half of rural households were both vulnerable as well as found to adopt any coping mechanism during the 1998 flood. Household‐level panel data analysis confirms that the flood reduced both consumption and asset, and forced many households to adopt some coping mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effects of flood. Consequently, natural disaster such as flooding increases households' vulnerability to poverty. However, post‐flood bumper crop production and operation of targeted programs such as microfinance helped compensate the losses of flood.     

Poverty analysis in the lowlands of Papua New Guinea underscores climate vulnerability and need for income flexibility*

A severe El Niño event in 2015/16 decimated an important share of Papua New Guinea's (PNG) local crop production, leaving 10 per cent of the population with significant food shortages. Lack of recent socio‐economic data and analysis of the country's rural population impeded efforts to plan and mitigate the ensuing food crisis. This paper presents the most recent poverty analysis in Papua New Guinea in nearly a decade, and a renewed effort to inform rural production, consumption and livelihood patterns in some of the country's most remote, lowland areas. We designed a rural household survey that collected detailed consumption and expenditure data to explore poverty prevalence and correlates of per capita household expenditure. Results suggest that approximately half of the sampled individuals live in households with total per capita expenditures below the poverty line. Climate shocks have significant and possibly long‐term consequences for household welfare. Households that experienced a drought in the last 5 years are associated with significantly lower per capita expenditures. Labour diversification, via migration, is associated with greater welfare. Households with at least one migrant member are associated with 13 per cent greater per capita expenditure.     

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.     

精准扶贫政策对农户贫困脆弱性的影响研究——来自准自然实验的经验证据

[目的]科学评估精准扶贫政策对农户贫困脆弱性的影响具有重要意义。[方法]文章基于中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）的4期追踪数据,运用VEP法测算了我国农户的贫困脆弱性,然后运用双重差分法研究了精准扶贫政策对农户贫困脆弱性的影响效果及中介效应机制。[结果]（1）近年来我国农户的贫困脆弱性显著降低,中西部地区农户的贫困脆弱性比东部地区高;（2）精准扶贫政策显著降低了农户贫困脆弱性,政策效应明显,而且随着时间的推移,政策效果愈发显著;（3）实证估计结果通过了连续型DID法与PSMDID法的稳健性检验;（4）异质性分析表明,精准扶贫政策对农户脆弱性的作用在中西部地区比在东部地区更为显著,对贫困户脆弱性的影响大于对非贫困户脆弱性的影响;（5）中介效应机制分析表明,精准扶贫政策可以通过提高农户社会资本的方式降低其贫困脆弱性。[结论]在贫困状况较为严重的地区,应保持帮扶政策持续稳定,降低农户的贫困脆弱性。在识别贫困户和制定扶贫政策时,需关注未来可能陷入贫困的农户,提升其应对外界风险冲击的能力,同时应注重发挥各种社会组织与非正式制度的作用,形成多方面减贫合力。     

How Do Rural Households Cope with Economic Shocks? Insights from Global Data using Hierarchical Analysis

Unanticipated events can cause considerable economic hardship for poor rural households. Some types of negative shocks, for example weather‐related agricultural losses and vector‐borne diseases, are expected to occur more frequently as a result of climate change. In this paper we measure the role of household‐ and location‐specific characteristics in conditioning behavioural responses to a wide range of idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. We use data from 8,000 rural households in 25 developing countries, compiled in the global database of the Poverty Environment Network. We employ a hierarchical multinomial logit model to identify the importance of characteristics observed at different levels of aggregation on a set of strategies aimed at coping with economic shocks. Results indicate that in response to idiosyncratic shocks, households tend to deplete financial and durable assets, whereas covariate and thus often climate‐related shocks predominantly result in reduced consumption. Households in sites characterised by high asset wealth tend to cope with shocks in a more proactive way than those in sites with average or below average asset wealth, but the role of asset types in conditioning shock responses varies across regions. Our findings have implications for rural development and climate change adaptation strategies.     

风险冲击对农村居民家庭相对贫困的影响——基于CFPS数据的实证分析

目的 试图从微观农户层面研究风险冲击对相对贫困的影响及作用路径,以期为增强农村居民家庭风险抵御能力、缓解相对贫困提供实证支撑。方法 文章基于中国家庭动态追踪调查（CFPS）数据,运用面板probit模型和固定效应模型实证分析风险冲击对农村居民家庭相对贫困的影响,用异质性分析和面板门槛回归模型探讨不同收入水平的农村居民家庭风险应对方式差异。结果 （1）风险冲击会增加农村居民家庭相对贫困的可能。其中,灾害冲击是导致农村居民家庭相对贫困的首要原因,其次是教育冲击和婚丧嫁娶、孩子出生等重大事件冲击,失业冲击和健康冲击的影响相对较小。（2）不同收入水平农村居民家庭的风险应对机制差异是导致相对贫困家庭无法摆脱相对贫困的重要原因。与高收入的农村居民家庭相比,低收入的农村居民家庭遭受风险冲击时会减少更多的农业生产投资,增加更少的人力资本投资,导致家庭现有的资源配置无法提升家庭未来的收入能力,使其囿于相对贫困无法脱离。结论 政府应构建更具韧性的国家治理体系、更具弹性的社会帮扶体系,在此基础上提高农村居民家庭的可持续生计能力,从而减少农村居民家庭陷入相对贫困的可能。     

Impact of conservation agriculture technology on household welfare in Zambia

This article examines the determinants and impact of conservation agriculture (CA) technology adoption on farm household welfare in Zambia. To account for selection bias from both observable and unobservable factors, an endogenous switching regression model is employed to estimate the impact of the technology on continuous outcomes like farm output, throughput accounting ratio (TAR), poverty gap, and severity of poverty. A recursive bivariate probit model is however used for the estimation of impact of adoption on a binary outcome like poverty headcount. The empirical findings demonstrate that the adoption of CA technology increases maize output, and farm TAR and reduces household poverty. Moreover, the results reveal that farmers’ years of schooling, social networks, access to credit, extension services, and machinery as well as soil quality positively influence adoption of CA technology.     

Market access,organic farming and productivity: the effects of Fair Trade affiliation on Thai farmer producer groups*

The study analyses the impact of Fair Trade (FT) and organic farming on a sample of FT rice producers in Thailand. It finds that per capita income from agriculture is positively and significantly affected by years of organic certification and FT affiliation. The estimated FT and organic certification contributions to producers’ economic well‐being are higher when account is taken of the relatively higher proportion of self‐consumption among affiliated farmers. But the per capita income effect does not translate into higher productivity owing to a concurrent increase in hours worked.     

The distributional effect of a large rice price increase on welfare and poverty in Bangladesh

This paper studies the distributional effect of a sharp rice price increase on welfare and poverty in Bangladesh. We employ household consumption data and include the indirect effect of price responses to estimate the welfare loss. Our findings suggest that the estimated welfare effect can be misleading if household responses to rice consumption and production are ignored. This study further supports the hypothesis that the poor are the main victims of such a shock. Our examination also indicates that a higher rice price may increase or decrease the poverty head‐count ratio, depending on the choice of the poverty line, but worsens the country's poverty situation when it is measured by the per capita consumption gap. Our analysis reveals that the government can play a central role to prevent and mitigate such shocks, particularly in the medium to long run. On the methodological side, we observe that consumption provides a more consistent outcome across different methods of analysis than household income.     

Vulnerability,shocks and persistence of poverty: estimates for semi‐arid rural South India

This paper focuses on the vulnerability of rural households to poverty when a negative crop shock occurs. The analysis is based on the ICRISAT panel survey of households in a semi‐arid region in south India during 1975–84. Using a dynamic panel data model that takes into account effects of crop shocks, an assessment of vulnerability of different groups of households is carried out. What is somewhat surprising is that even sections of relatively affluent households are highly vulnerable to long spells of poverty when severe crop shocks occur. As such crop shocks are frequent in a harsh production environment, there must be a shift of emphasis in anti‐poverty measures from meeting income shortfalls among the poor to enabling the vulnerable to protect themselves better against these shocks.     

少数民族连片特困地区农户贫困脆弱性及其影响因素研究——以新疆南疆三地州为例

[目的]研究少数民族连片特困地区农户贫困脆弱性程度及影响因素,以期为现阶段巩固脱贫攻坚成果、防止返贫提供借鉴参考。[方法]文章基于新疆南疆三地州1 258户农户的问卷调查数据,运用VEP方法对少数民族连片特困地区农户贫困脆弱性进行测度,并使用Tobit回归模型实证分析其影响因素。[结果]南疆三地州农户贫困脆弱性均值为0.331,贫困脆弱发生率为16.93%,且贫困脆弱性呈现出地区差异,由高到低依次为和田地区、喀什地区、克州地区。家庭能熟练说普通话人口占比、劳动力职业技能培训、参加农业保险情况、社会资本、是否收入多样化、所在村庄地形、是否通公交车对农户贫困脆弱性具有显著的负向影响,而家庭规模、家庭负担比、健康冲击、自然灾害对农户贫困脆弱性具有显著的正向影响。[结论]据此提出加强国家通用语言和职业技能教育培训、促进农户积极投保农业保险、提高农村公共交通服务覆盖范围、重视农户健康贫困脆弱性等建议。     

Targeting,bias, and expected impact of complex innovations on developing‐country agriculture: evidence from Malawi

Agronomic analyses of new technologies are often conducted under carefully controlled research station programs or trials managed by self‐selected farmers. Oftentimes, the technologies are then scaled up with minimal evaluation under real‐world conditions. Yet, the interim step between agronomic trials and large‐scale promotion is crucial to generate evidence on the social and economic impact of technologies that is both internally valid and generalizable. The article focuses on a participatory action research program in Malawi designed to test and identify scalable technology options to intensify the smallholder sector and contribute to poverty reduction and food and nutrition security. We examine the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers testing technologies and find evidence of systematic targeting of better‐endowed farmers. After controlling for observable differences using matching and a doubly robust estimator, we find evidence of early positive effects on maize yield and harvest value, although placebo tests suggest possible selection on unobservables. We note that attention should be given to program design and household characterization to better define and improve targeting criteria, technology selection, and external validity.     

Tenure security, resource poverty, public programs, and household plot-level conservation investments in the highlands of northern Ethiopia

Land degradation poses a serious problem for the livelihoods of rural producers. Furthermore, there is rarely enough private investment taking place to commensurate the scale of the problem. This article examines the role of tenure insecurity, resource poverty, risk and time preferences, and community‐led land conservation on differentiated patterns of household investment in land conservation in northern Ethiopia. We control for biophysical, household characteristics, market access conditions, and village level factors. Investments in soil bunds and stone terraces are specifically studied so as to capture the link between these various factors and the durability of conservation investments. We introduce the distinction between the determinants of the decision to invest and how much to invest in conservation. Regression results show that publicly led conservation programs seem to significantly stimulate private investment. A host of plot‐level variables and household perceptions of returns on conservation investments, expressed in terms of perceived improvements in land quality and increased crop yields, were found to be critical to the decision to invest and intensify soil conservation. The evidence on the significance of households' attitudes toward risk aversion suggests the important role of risk and the household's risk‐bearing capacity in the decision to intensify conservation measures. At the same time, tenure security indicators and households' resource endowments (resource poverty) had weaker effects in increasing willingness to invest and the level of investment made. The policy implications of these results point to the importance of agricultural research and extension efforts that target technologies which reduce household risk and poverty while enabling sustainable investments in conservation measures by individual households.     

Determinants of economic well-being among U.S. farm operator households

Participation in government programs has a mild impact on the economic well‐being of U.S. farm households. Major factors that determine farm household prosperity are the primary operator's education level and ethnicity, education level of the spouse, and other characteristics such as forward purchasing of inputs, use of contract shipping of products, having a succession plan, farm ownership, and location in a metro area. This article uses the 2001 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) as well as relative and an absolute measure to assess U.S. farm households' economic well‐being. The relative measure compares the income and wealth position of farm households relative to median income and median wealth of the general population. The absolute measure adds annualized wealth to a farm household's income.     

Pesticide‐handling practices: the case of coffee growers in Papua New Guinea

Pesticide mismanagement potentially has high risks for farmers, households living in the community and the environment. In Papua New Guinea where farming is the primary occupation, there is evidence of dangerous herbicide application methods being used by coffee growers. Using original survey data for coffee smallholders from four provinces, we assess the factors driving farmers' use of personal protective equipment when preparing and applying herbicides, and farmers' disposal of agro‐chemical containers. We control for households' demographic variables and measure the impact of farmers' training in pest and disease management. We use the special regressor method to estimate binary choice models featuring an endogenous binary regressor (training). Our results show that human capital (education) and training are important drivers of farmers' pesticide‐handling practices, with marginal effects estimated at 10 and 22 per cent, respectively.     

我国基础设施建设投资的减贫效果研究:1987—2006

本文在回顾我国扶贫发展战略与贫困变化逻辑的基础上,利用1987—2006年统计数据实证分析了基础设施建设投资对于贫困以及与贫困密切相关的农村人均收入和收入分配状况的影响效果。研究发现:(1)我国扶贫战略的发展是随着贫困概念内涵的变化而变化的;(2)基础设施的数量(存量)方面和质量方面对于贫困和农民收入的相关影响都非常重要,二者应同时受到关注;(3)基础设施数量与质量独立指标的实证效果与其综合指标的实证效果间存在着差异,综合指标的拟合效果优于独立指标的拟合效果;(4)分析表明,基础设施数量的增加及质量的改进同时起到降低贫困、提高农村收入并改变收入构成的作用,但对于农村收入分配不平等程度的影响却存在差异。     

我国深度贫困地区的减贫成就与挑战——以新疆X县为例

[目的]深度贫困地区是我国"脱贫攻坚"的硬骨头,但是鲜有研究对该地区的精准扶贫成效及未来挑战开展定量分析。[方法]文章以新疆典型县域(X县)为例,描述分析了该县贫困发生率,贫困家庭的收入、住房和饮水情况,脱贫方式,特殊群体的贫困特征以及致贫原因随时间的变化趋势。[结果]基于2013—2018年建档立卡贫困户信息,该县农村贫困发生率从2013年的37.2%下降到2018年的0.2%;贫困户人均收入从2 431元提高到11 281元;贫困农户的住房、饮水和医保等问题大多能在2年之内解决;大量青壮年和高学历人群依赖"政策脱贫";因病和因残致贫、老年贫困问题和因学致贫具有一定的普遍性。[结论]不返贫是可持续扶贫的最终目标。首先,逐步改善"财政兜底、一兜了之"的帮扶方式;其次,加强对特殊人群(例如,老年人口、高抚养比家庭等)的识别和帮扶力度;再次,消除因学致贫的可能性,同时为适龄劳动力提供有效的技能培训。     

21世纪以来农业基础设施减贫效应研究

目的 农业基础设施不仅是农业稳定生产的重要基石,也是农村贫困治理的重要手段。探究农业基础设施减贫效应,对未来相对贫困治理和减贫经验总结意义重大。方法 文章运用空间自回归模型（SAR）和空间误差模型（SEM）,分析21世纪以来中国农业基础设施减贫效应及内生机制。结果 农业交通基础设施中的公路密度、河道密度和铁路密度分别显著降低农村贫困发生率1.424、0.03和0.05个单位;农业生产基础设施中的人均装机容量、水土流失治理能力和每公顷塑料薄膜用量分别显著降低农村贫困发生率0.122、0.212和0.011个单位。从控制变量来看,每千人播种面积,农村人均教育水平和人均乡镇卫生院床位数也发挥着积极的减贫作用。由减贫机制可知,农业基础设施主要通过降低农业自然灾害和增加农业产值,进而提高农户收入和降低农村贫困发生率。结论 应尽快完善农田田间道路、农业生产基础设施建设和高标准农田建设,加强农村公共基础设施投入,促进农业增产和农村减贫。     

Agricultural Commodity Price Shocks and Their Effect on Growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Commodity price shocks are an important type of external shock and are often cited as a problem for economic growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa. We choose nine Sub‐Saharan African countries that are heavily dependent on a single agricultural commodity for a significant portion of their income. This paper quantifies the impact of agricultural commodity price shocks using a structural non‐linear dynamic model. The novel aspect of this study is that we determine whether the response of per capita GDP for the selected Sub‐Saharan African countries is different to unexpected increases in agricultural commodity prices as opposed to decreases in prices. We conclude that there is very little evidence that an unanticipated price increase (decrease) will lead to a significantly different response in per capita incomes.     

Floods,food security,and coping strategies: Evidence from Afghanistan

In this paper, we assess the long‐term effect of floods on food security (as measured by calorie and micronutrient consumption) by applying an instrumental variable approach to data from the Afghanistan National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment survey. To identify the determinants of this effect, we also estimate how floods affect per capita yearly household income and poverty status. We find that exposure to flooding during a 12‐month period decreased daily calorie consumption by approximately 60 kcal while increasing the probability of iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C deficiency by 11, 12, and 27 percentage points, respectively. Controlling for price shocks and income only marginally reduces this flood effect on food security, suggesting that impaired livelihoods (rather than price hikes) are its primary driver. We further determine that exposure to this natural disaster decreases income by about 3% and makes flood‐affected households about 3 percentage points more likely to be poor. Lastly, we show that experience of floods is strongly and significantly associated with lower diet quality and quantity, and with engaging in consumption smoothing coping strategies, such as buying food on credit and taking loans. These findings underscore the serious direct impact of floods on both diet and effective behavioral responses to such shocks while emphasizing the need for targeted micronutrient supplementation in disaster relief and food aid measures even after the period of natural disaster emergency.