Gender and agriculture in sub‐Saharan Africa: introduction to the special issue

This special issue contributes to the literature on gender differences in sub‐Saharan African agriculture primarily by using new and innovative micro‐data. The first six articles have a strong focus on understanding the extent and drivers of gender differences in land productivity and use data from nationally representative household surveys that are implemented under the Living Standards Measurement Study‐Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS‐ISA) initiative. The LSMS‐ISA data are multi‐topic, with geo‐referenced household and plot locations, and information on production and identity of managers and owners at the plot level. The last two articles in the volume rely on in‐depth quantitative and qualitative case study data, which, in combination with the nationally representative data, allow for greater insights into the extent and correlates of gender differences in sub‐Saharan African agriculture. While there does seem to be persistent evidence of gender gaps, the studies find the sources of these gaps to vary within and across countries. This makes designing policies to address gender gaps more challenging, yet of crucial importance. What is clear is that the failure to directly and explicitly address the underlying causes of the disparities is likely to end up exacerbating the observed gender gaps.     

The estimated ex ante economic impact of Bt cowpea in Niger,Benin and Northern Nigeria

Genetically modified (GM) crops could increase economic growth and enhance living standards in Africa, but political issues have slowed the use of biotechnology. This is the first study that assesses the potential impact of GM crops in Africa while considering the preferences of producers and consumers towards GMOs as well as the income and price risks they face. The study uses a choice experiment to estimate the ex ante economic impact of a novel technology, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cowpea, on producers and consumers in Benin, Niger and northern Nigeria. The experiment involves the simulation of a market transaction similar to those in open air markets in West Africa. During the market simulation, respondents are informed about the advantages and disadvantages, including health risks, of Bt cowpea. The results from the study suggest that cowpea growers and consumers in Benin and northern Nigeria prefer Bt to conventional cowpea for health safety reasons. The results estimate that social welfare in Benin, Niger and northern Nigeria would increase by at least US$11.82 per capita annually with Bt cowpea, if seed sectors are operating smoothly. With inefficiencies in seed sectors and the potential for cowpea acreage increase, the estimated social welfare increase in the region would be about US$1.26 per capita annually.     

Factors determining intercropping by rubber smallholders in Sri Lanka: a logit analysis

Variables related to farmers' awareness and attitudes towards intercropping of immature rubber (Hevea brusiliensis) stands, extension contacts, education level, and experience with farming other crops are positively associated with the probability of adoption. Higher levels of off‐farm income are associated with reduced intercropping in immature rubber stands. Farmers who are sole owners of the land and engaged in full or part‐time rubber farming show lower adoption rates than other land ownership groups. Social participation, family size, experience with farming rubber, immature and mature rubber stands size, and the nature of the land (flat/sloped) do not significantly influence adoption. These conclusions were obtained from a logit model estimated by employing the results of a survey of 588 smallholder rubber farmers from five major rubber‐growing regions in Sri Lanka.     

Exploring strategic priorities for regional agricultural R&D investments in East and Central Africa

The 11 countries of East and Central Africa have diverse but overlapping agroclimatic conditions, and could potentially benefit from spillovers of agricultural technology across country borders. This article uses high‐resolution spatial data on actual and potential yields for 15 major products across 12 development domains to estimate the total benefits available from the spread of new agricultural technologies around the region. Market responses and welfare gains are estimated using the Dynamic Research Evaluation for Management model, taking account of current and future projections of local and international demand. Results suggest which crops, countries, and agroclimatic regions offer the largest total benefits. Downloadable data and program files permit different assumptions and additional information to be considered in the ongoing process of strategic priority setting.     

Firm Growth and Failure in Increasingly Competitive Markets Theory and Application to Hospital Markets

Recent models of firm failure and growth have ignored demand factors. In this paper, we generalize these theoretical analyses to include demand factors in explaining failure and growth for heterogeneous firms in local markets facing imperfect but increasing competition. The model is then applied empirically to the hospital industry in California over the 1980s, during which time competition did intensify. We model the closure decision based on expectations of future growth, explicitly accounting for self selection and simultaneity. We find that both size and demand factors are important determinants of survival and growth     

艰苦的历程 辉煌的成就——改革开放30年来中国税制改革的简要回顾

改革开放以前(1949～1978年),我国税制建设的发展历程十分坎坷:改革开放以来(1978年以后),我国税制建设经历了一个从社会主义计划经济、有计划的社会主义商品经济到社会主义市场经济的发展过程,走过了艰苦的道路,取得了辉煌的成就.改革开放初期(1978～1993年),随着经济的发展和改革的深入,我国对税制改革进行了全面探索,取得了很大进展,初步建成了一套内外有别,以货物和劳务税、所得税为主体,财产税和其他税收相配合的新的税制体系,大体适应了我国经济体制改革起步阶段的经济状况,税收的职能作用得以全面加强,税收收入持续稳定增长,宏观调控作用明显增强,对于贯彻国家经济政策,调节生产、分配和消费,起到了积极的促进作用.社会主义市场经济时期(1994年以后)是我国税制改革全面深化的时期.通过改革,我国的税制进一步简化、规范,税负更加公平,宏观调控作用增强,在促进经济持续快速增长的基础上实现了税收收入的连年大幅度增长.今后,我国将继续改革、完善税制,通过一系列有效措施进一步优化税制,充分发挥税制的聚财与调节功能,为国家经济、社会发展作出新的、更大的贡献.     

Read my lips: The role of information transmission in multilateral reform design

Context-specific knowledge is crucial to crafting multilateral reform programs. Nonetheless local knowledge often consists of unverifiable information, thus the quality of countries' reports depends on the conflict of interests faced by the recipient and the multilateral. We compare the performance of a “delegation-scheme” against a “centralization-scheme.” We find that recipients' discretion in the choice of reforms (delegation) should only be increased when the countries' local knowledge is strictly more important than the multilateral's information. Conversely, a reduction in the conflict of interests may lead the multilateral in to allowing the recipient less freedom in designing reforms (centralization). Our empirical results support these theoretical predictions.     

Sovereign defaults and liquidity crises

Sovereign debt crises in emerging markets are usually associated with liquidity and banking crises. The conventional view is that the domestic turmoil is the consequence of foreign retaliation, although there is no clear empirical evidence on “classic” default penalties. This paper emphasizes, instead, a direct link between sovereign defaults and liquidity crises building on two natural assumptions: (i) government bonds represent a source of liquidity for the domestic private sector and (ii) the government cannot discriminate between domestic and foreign creditors in the event of default. In this context, external debt emerges even in the absence of classic penalties, and government default is countercyclical, triggers a liquidity crunch, and amplifies output volatility. In addition, a reform that involves a substitution of government bonds with privately-sourced liquidity instruments could backfire by restricting governments' access to foreign credit.     

Exporting out of poverty: Provincial poverty in Vietnam and U.S. market access

Can a developing country reduce poverty by gaining increased market access to a large, rich country? The 2001 U.S.–Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) provides an excellent opportunity to examine this question as, unlike other bilateral trade agreements, the U.S. tariff cuts were not influenced by Vietnamese industries. Using variation in the structure of the labor force across provinces prior to the trade agreement, I construct provincial measures of U.S. tariffs. To address concerns over confounding trends between changes in provincial poverty and changes in provincial tariffs I follow two approaches: controlling for trends based on observable initial conditions and differencing away time invariant trends using pre-BTA data. I find that provinces that were more exposed to the U.S. tariff cuts experienced faster decreases in poverty between 2002 and 2004. Additionally, I document that the movement of workers across provinces is limited in scale, particularly for those with low levels of education. Finally, I show that the most exposed provinces experienced faster wage growth for workers with low levels of education, but not for highly educated workers.     

An interdisciplinary approach to regional land use analysis using GIS, with applications to the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica

Policy makers and other stakeholders concerned with regional rural development increasingly face the need for instruments that can improve transparency in the policy debate and that enhance understanding of opportunities for and limitations to development. To this end, a methodology called SOLUS (Sustainable Options for Land Use) was developed by an interdisciplinary team of scientists over a 10-year period in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica. The main tools of SOLUS include a linear programming (LP) model, two expert systems that define technical coefficients for a large number of production activities, and a geographic information system (GIS). A five-step procedure was developed for GIS to spatially reference biophysical and economic parameters, to create input for the expert systems and the LP model, to store and spatially reference model output data, and to create maps of both model input and output data. SOLUS can be used to evaluate the potential effects of alternative policies and incentive structures on the performance of the agricultural sector. A number of practical applications demonstrate SOLUS's capability to quantify trade-offs between economic objectives (income, employment) and environmental sustainability (soil nutrient balances, pesticide use, greenhouse gas emissions). GIS-created maps visualize the spatial aspects of such trade-offs and indicate hotspots where local goals may conflict with regional goals.