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.     

Poverty and Income Dynamics in Philippine Villages, 1985–2004

The authors examined the long‐term changes in household income structure and decline in poverty in three rice‐growing villages in the rural Philippines from 1985 to 2004. They found a shift of household income structure away from farm to nonfarm sources, accompanied by a decline in the incidence of poverty by about one‐half. Such a decline can be explained primarily by the rise in returns to the “quantity” attributes of human capital, measured by age composition, and, secondly, by the rise in returns to the “quality” attributes, measured by the proportion of household members completing secondary and tertiary schooling. It is clear that the poor benefited from the development of the nonfarm labor market where they were able to fully utilize their only asset, that is unskilled labor.     

Mechanization in land preparation and agricultural intensification: The case of rice farming in the Cote d'Ivoire

It is critically important to intensify farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa by disseminating improved agronomic practices and increasing the application of modern inputs. One of the region's problems is that proper land preparation is difficult due to the scarcity of draft animals and the underdevelopment of the tractor rental market. Our analysis of rice production in the Cote d'Ivoire reveals that farmers who use tractors in land preparation more intensively apply fertilizer and use more labor to carefully implement proper agronomic practices, thereby raising productivity. Thus, the diffusion of tractors appears to be key to the intensification of rice farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Technical and Allocative Efficiency among Socialist Enterprises: The Case of the Garment Industry in China

Using survey data, this paper compares technical and allocative efficiency among state, urban collective, township-village, and joint venture enterprises in the garment industry in China. Township-village enterprises are further classified into independent enterprises and cooperative ventures with state and urban collective enterprises. According to the estimation results of the production and labor share functions, state and urban collective enterprises are much less efficient, both technically and allocatively, than cooperative township-village enterprise and joint ventures. These findings suggest that this new type of socialist enterprise and joint ventures will eventually dominate in the garment industry. J. Comp. Econom. December 1994, 19(3), pp. 410-433. Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachiohji City, Tokyo 192-03, Japan; Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei City, Tokyo 184, Japan; and International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC 20036.