Does Zero Tillage Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholder Cropping Farmers?

The biophysical benefits of zero tillage (ZT) are well documented in the literature. However, the literature on its economic benefits, especially in the context of small and medium‐scale farmers in the temperate developing world is scanty. Using a study of 621 wheat farmers in Syria, we provide empirical evidence on the impacts of adoption of ZT on farm income and wheat consumption. We use propensity score matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression (ESR) approaches to account for potential selection biases. After controlling for confounding factors, we find that adoption of the ZT technology leads to a US$ 189/ha (33%) increase in net crop income and a 26 kg (34%) gain in per capita wheat consumption per year (adult equivalent) – an indication of meaningful changes in the livelihoods of the farm households. Besides the biophysical and environmental benefits documented elsewhere, our results suggest that adoption of ZT can also be justified on economic and food security grounds. Therefore, ZT can have sizeable impacts in transforming the agricultural sector in the temperate developing world provided that the technology is well promoted and adopted.     

Relative consumption, relative wealth and growth

In a growth model where individuals care about their social status measured both by consumption and wealth comparisons, we show that status comparison in wealth heightens economic growth, while status comparison in consumption may affect negatively economic growth.     

The extent and pattern of public ownership in developed economies

Zusammenfassung Ausdehnung und Wesen des Staatseigentums in entwickelten Volkswirtschaften. — Auch die am meisten ? kapitalistischen? Volkswirtschaften weisen ein gewisses Ausma\ von Staatseigentum an den Produktionsmitteln auf, und auch in der ?sozialistischsten? Volkswirtschaft gibt es ein gewisses Privateigentum an Produktionsmitteln. Sowohl die relative Nationalisierungsstufe in den einzelnen Staaten als auch das Ausma\ eines derartigen ?ffentlichen Eigentums in verschiedenen Sektoren und Zweigen der einzelnen Volkswirtschaften blieben bisher sowohl in systematischer als auch in quantitativer Hinsicht ziemlich unerforscht. Der vorliegende Aufsatz hat zwei Zielsetzungen, n?mlich eine Reihe von Hypothesen über Ausdehnung und Form des Staatseigentums aufzustellen und vergleichbare Daten über eine derartige Verstaatlichung in einer Anzahl von entwickelten (?kapitalistischen? und ?sozialistischen?) Volkswirtschaften zu liefern. Die Untersuchung wird in der Hauptsache aufgrund von neuen, aus einer Querschnittsanalyse gewonnenen Daten durchgeführt, obwohl auch einige Folgerungen für die Analyse aus dem sich im Zeitablauf verschiebenden Grenzgebiet zwischen ?ffentlichem und privatem Eigentum gezogen werden. In bezug auf das relative Ausma\ des Staatseigentums in den einzelnen Staaten scheinen die Extreme mit dem Vorhandensein oder Fehlen eines hohen oder niedrigen Grads von zentraler Wirtschaftsplanung korreliert zu sein. Das aus den Sektoren der Wirtschaft durch eine Querschnittsanalyse gewonnene Modell der Nationalisierung bietet gewisse Anhaltspunkte für die verschiedenen Formen, in denen die Nationalisierung in einem einzelnen Land verwirklicht werden kann.

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Résumé Etendue et forme de la propriété publique dans les économies développées. — Même dans l’économie la plus ?capitaliste? il y a un certain degré de propriété publique des moyens de production; et même dans l’économie la plus ?socialiste? il y a de la propriété privée des moyens de production. Le degré relatif d’une telle nationalisation dans les différents pays aussi bien que l’étendue de la propriété publique dans les différents secteurs et branches d’une économie individuelle n’ont toujours pas été suffisamment étudiés, soit d’une manière systématique, soit au point de vue quantitatif. Cet article vise deux objectifs: formuler un nombre d’hypothèses de l’étendue et de la forme de la propriété publique, et fournir pour un nombre d’économies développées (?capitalistes? et ?socialistes?) des données comparables pour ce genre de nationalisation. L’étude se sert surtout de données synchroniques récentes, bien que certaines conclusions, concernant la fluctuation des limites entre propriété publique et propriété privée, soient tirées aussi de données diachroniques. En ce qui concerne l’étendue relative de la propriété publique dans les différents pays, il parait que les extrèmes soient en corrélation avec la présence ou absence d’un degré élevé ou bas de planification économique centrale. Le modèle de nationalisation relative entre secteurs d’une économie, modèle tiré de l’analyse synchronique, fournit certains indices quant à la manière dont la forme de nationalisation évolue dans un pays individuel.

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Resumen Extension y naturaleza de la propiedad estatal en economias desarrolladas. — Bien se sabe que en la mayorfa de las economfas ?capitalistas? el estado es en cierto grado propietario de los instrumentes de producción, al igual que en las economias ?socialistas? los instrument os de producción son hasta cierto punto de propiedad privada. Sin embargo, no se ha procedido hasta el momento a una investigation sistemática y empirica sobre el grado de nationalization existente en los diversos paises y sobre el grado de extension de la propiedad estatal en los diversos sectores econ?micos de los paises respectivos. El présente trabajo persigue dos fines: en primer lugar, el de formular una série de hip?tesis sobre la extension y la naturaleza de la propiedad estatal, y en segundo lugar, el de recopilar datos comparables sobre la nationalization en varios paises desarrollados (tanto ?capitalistas? como ?socialistas?). El estudio se basa en datos nuevos, obtenidos de un análisis de corte transversal, teniéndose en cuenta los traslapes entre propiedad estatal y propiedad privada. Referente al grado relativo de extension de la propiedad estatal en los diferentes paises, parece ser que los extremos están correlados con la existencia o falta de un grado elevado o bajo de nationalization. El modelo de nationalization, que se deduce de los datos sectorales mediante un anális de corte transversal, ofrece ciertos indicios sobre las formas en que puede realizarse la nacionalización en un país determinado.

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Riassunto Espansione e natura della proprietà dello Stato in economie sviluppate. — Anche le economie p_iù ?capitaliste? mostrano una certa misura di proprietà dello Stato nei mezzi di produzione e anche nelle economie p_iù ?socialiste? c’è una certa proprietà privata nei mezzi di produzione. Tanto i relativi stadi di nazionalizzazione nei singoli Stati quanto la proporzione di una taie proprietà pubblica nei diversi settori e rami delle singole economie sono rimasti finora piuttosto inesplorati sia sotto l’aspetto sistematico che quantitative. Il presente studio si propone due obiettivi: presentare una serie di ipotesi sull’espansione e la forma della proprietà dello Stato e fornire dati comparabili su una tale statalizzazione in un numero di economie sviluppate (?capitaliste? e ?socialiste?). La ricerca è condotta in sostanza sulla base di nuovi dati ricavati da un’analisi trasversale, sebbene alcune conseguenze per l’analisi siano tratte dalla zona di confine — che si sposta nel corso del tempo — tra proprietà pubblica e privata. In rapporte alla relativa proporzione della proprietà dello Stato nei singoli Stati, gli estremi sembrano essere in correlazione con la presenza o la mancanza di un alto o basso grado di pianificazione economica centrale. Il modello della nazionalizzazione ricavato dai settori dell’economia per mezzo di un’analisi trasversale, offre certi punti di appoggio per le diverse forme nelle quali può essere realizzata la nazionalizzazione nei diversi Paesi.

     

A comparative study of slave societies

This essay focuses both on theoretical issues and empirical evidence concerning the inevitability of slavery as an economic stage over the course of development. Different types of slavery are described and a number of common hypotheses about the determinants of slave societies and/or slavery are discussed. Several new hypotheses are also proposed which focus upon family and social-structural variables and also upon political factors. The major hypotheses are tested, using a worldwide sample of 60 primitive and peasant societies arranged according to level of economic development. The various older theories are found to explain poorly the presence of slavery while the data give some support to the newly proposed causal relationships.     

Does Labor Market Status Influence Self-Assessed Health?

This study examines whether individuals’ self-assessed health is related to their previous standing in the labor market and their self-assessed health at that time. We find that, once self-assessed health in the past is controlled for, none of the specified reasons behind individuals’ labor market status at that time, including the inability to find work, have a statistically significant adverse impact on current assessment of physical or mental health. We do find, however, that women obtaining a job in the past period will currently perceive that their physical health is improved, and that previously unemployed men with a job to return to in the current period also experienced perceptions of better health in the current period. We present evidence that these perceptions share a common factor with other health indicators such as sick days and quasi-objective measures of physical and mental health.     

A collective labor supply model with complementarities in leisure: Identification and estimation by means of panel data

We present a novel identification strategy for a collective labor supply model that allows for complementarities in leisure (i.e., individuals may enjoy leisure more in company of their spouse). Individual preferences and the Pareto weights (which capture the intra-household bargaining process) are identified by making use of panel data with couples and individuals who became a widow(er) in the observation period, along with the assumption that an individual's preferences can only change in a particular manner after the spouse's death. The change in preferences comes from changes in observable variables that can be controlled for (like mental health) and from the loss of the possibility to jointly enjoy leisure after the couple's dissolution. We apply the model to American households coming from the first nine waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2008) and show that complementarities in leisure are indeed important when modeling spouses' labor supply choices.