198 research outputs found
Spice price spikes: Simulating gendered impacts of a saffron boom and bust in rural Morocco
No full textAccess to international markets provides smallholders with unprecedented opportunities, but also exposes them to market whims of unprecedented amplitude and can trigger substantial changes in the local economy. In Morocco’s mountainous Taliouine-Taznakht region, saffron production drives the local economy and is the major source of female employment. The global market for saffron has been excessively volatile lately. We use a local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) approach to reveal how saffron price shocks reverberate through the local economy, with a particular focus on gender impacts. We find that saffron price shocks dramatically affect saffron production and labor demand, particularly for female harvest labor. Investments in yield-enhancing technologies create harvest labor bottlenecks that disproportionately affect women. Using Monte Carlo methods show that variability in female wage income is especially sensitive to variability in global saffron prices. Appreciating local inter-linkages is critical to understand household and regional impacts of export price volatility. Filipski, Mateusz; Aboudrare, Abdellah; Lybbert, Travis J.; Taylor, J. Edwar
Who is poor this year? Understanding fluctuations in poverty status in three Chinese villages
No full textWe shed light on poverty dynamics by analyzing a census-like survey of three villages of Guizhou province during 2004 to 2011. While the absolute poverty rate is decreasing sharply in the sample, households are highly vulnerable to shocks, and rates of entry or re-entry into poverty are high. We decompose measures of wealth to reveal the proximate causes of poverty entry or exit, then use logistic regression and multivariate hazard models to look for underlying causes. Agricultural income contributes most to changes in poverty status. Poverty entry and exit are both related to household characteristics, assets, and social capital. Rural-urban migration strongly increases the probability of poverty exit, as do government transfers. The frequent changes in poverty status highlight the importance of improving policy targeting and/or implementing village-wide poverty-alleviation strategies. Zhang, Yumei; Filipski, Mateusz; Chen, Kevin Z.; Diao, Xinshe
Income diversification and the rural nonfarm economy
No full textThe rapid transformation of the rural sector between 2011 and 2021 has been well-documented in relation to farming and included profound changes in crops grown, farming practices, markets, and value chains. This transformation has been described in this volume, as well as in Belton and Filipski (2019), Filipski et al. (2020), Boughton et al. (2018), and World Bank (2017). However, this period also witnessed a diversification of activities away from agriculture, with incomes shifting away from reliance on subsistence farming and agriculture in general. The contributions of wage work and rural nonfarm businesses are growing in importance as the rural sector moves beyond an agrarian model in which primary agricultural production is the dominant source of wealth. Though the general equilibrium analysis from Chapter 2 shows that agriculture remains a major driver of economic activity, a micro-level analysis finds that activities either downstream in the food value chain or outside of the food system entirely are now responsible for large shares of rural incomes
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: Understanding Pro-cyclical Mortality
Get PDFA growing literature documents cyclical movements in mortality and health. We examine this pattern more closely and attempt to identify the mechanisms behind it. Specifically, we distinguish between mechanisms that rely on fluctuations in own employment or time use and those involving factors that are external to the individual. Our investigation suggests that changes in individuals’ own behavior contribute very little to pro-cyclical mortality. Looking across broad age and gender groups, we find that own-group employment rates are not systematically related to own-group mortality. In addition, we find that most of the additional deaths that occur during times of economic growth are among the elderly, particularly elderly women, who have limited labor force attachment. Focusing on mortality among the elderly, we show that cyclicality is especially strong for deaths occurring in nursing homes, and is stronger in states where a higher fraction of the elderly reside in nursing homes. We also demonstrate that staffing in skilled nursing facilities moves counter-cyclically. Taken together, these findings suggest that cyclical fluctuations in the mortality rate may be largely driven by fluctuations in the quality of health care.
A Short Play on the Idea of Laffer Curve in Transition Economies
Get PDFVery strong emotions have accompanied the idea of the Laffer Curve from the very beginning. This simple analysis does not try to solve the discussion. The author has constructed the (TBI-Tax Burden Index), a special measure of taxes. The special feature of this measure is that it tries to take into account both tax rates and tax ceilings while measuring the average taxation. The ensuing analysis gives us some evidence of the presence of some kind of the Laffer-like relationship in countries analysed. It shows that the Laffer Curve for these three countries can be bell shaped. On the other hand this relationship does not seem to play an important role in determining budget revenues in these countries. It seems that differences in revenues among countries are more the result of other factors specific to each country. Therefore, even if the main objective of a government is to maximize revenues, it should not pay to much attention to this issue, it would do much better trying to make tax system as simple as possible, minimizing both incentives and possibilities for tax evasion and tax avoidance.Laffer Curve, transition economies
Farmers' coping strategies against an aggregate shock: Evidence from the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake
No full textWhile rural households in developing countries deploy a series of risk coping strategies to insulate against shocks, their effectiveness relies heavily on the nature of the shocks. Using unique datasets collected before and after the disastrous 2008 Sichuan earthquake, this paper examines the effectiveness of various coping strategies employed by the affected rural households. The rural household survey identifies a number of coping strategies including depleting savings, government aid, subsidized bank loans, informal credit, private transfer, selling assets, and saving money by letting children drop out of school. Difference-in-differences (DID) estimation results show that, in response to the earthquake, rural households also adjust their income generating strategies through crop diversification and pursuing nonagricultural selfemployment, and increased working time by male household members. Jin, Ling; Chen, Kevin Z.; Yu, Bingxin; Filipski, Mateus
Crime and Punishment: The Selected Tenets of the Decalogue in the Polish Television Series Ojciec Mateusz [Fr. Matthew]
Get PDFThis article considers whether the popular Polish drama-crime television series Ojciec Mateusz [Father Matthew], which is directed by Maciej Dejczer and has been broadcast on TVP1 since 2008, prompts viewers to reflect on Christian moral norms. This research includes the fields of cultural studies and moral theology. From the point of view of moral theology, the theme of Ojciec Mateusz is the battle between good and evil, the basis of which is the tenets of the Decalogue. This study attempts to answer the questions: Is the religiosity hidden in this series, which does not assume the religiosity of the series’ viewers, evoke religious sentiments among those who believe? And, does the series affect the moral formation of those who do not believe?ALICJA KISIELEWSKA, PhD, Hab, is a professor at the University of Białystok, director of the university’s Institute for Cultural Studies, and an expert in media and culture. Her work involves media anthropology and semiotics. She is the author of the following monographs: Film w twórczości Andrzeja Struga [Film in Andrzej Strug’s Works] (Białystok 1998), Polskie tele-sagi – mitologie rodzinności [Polish Tele-Sagas—Mythologies of Family] (Kraków 2009), and Antropologia telewizji. Telewizja w życiu codziennym w Polsce [An Anthropology of Television: The Television in Polish Daily Life] (Białystok 2021).University of BiałystokHarrelson, W. “Dziesięcioro Przykazań.” In Słownik wiedzy biblijnej, edited by Metzger and M. Coogan, 135-136. Warszawa: 1996.Kempna, M. “Religijność jako paratekst. Na obrzeżach teorii filmu religijnego.” In Pogranicza audiowizualności. Parateksty kina, telewizji i nowych mediów, edited by A. Gwóźdź. Kraków: Universitas, 2010.Kłys, T. “Filmy (nie)religijne.” In Między słowem a obrazem, edited by M. Jakubowska, T. Kłys, and B. Stolarska. Kraków: 2005.Kraska, A. Wymiar transcendencji Dekalogu Krzysztofa Kieślowskiego wobec dylematów współczesnego człowieka. Doctoral dissertation, Adam Mickiewicz University, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2020. https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/handle/10593/20687.Marczak, M. “Postać filmowa jako nośnik religijnego znaczenia. Ekranowe obrazy osób konsekrowanych w polskim kinie i telewizji od 2000 roku w funkcji socjokulturowego przekazu na temat współczesnej religijności.” Media – Kultura – Komunikacja Społeczna 2, no. 12 (2016).Marsch, C. “Audience Reception.” In The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, edited by J. Lyde, 267. London-New York: 2009.Michaels, F. Monoculture. How One Story is Changing Everything. San Diego: Red Clover Press, 2011.Rienecker, F., and G. Maier, eds. Leksykon biblijny. Translated by D. Irmińska. Warszawa: 2008.Wichrowicz, O. C. J. Zarys teologii moralnej w ujęciu tomistycznym. Warszawa: 2016.Zabielski, J. “Biblijna aksjologia życia społecznego chrześcijan.” Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej 10 (2011).Zabielski, J. “Degradacja życia religijno-moralnego jako zagrożenie ładu społeczno-cywilizacyjnego.” Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej 17, no. 3 (2018).2021322
Rural economic spillovers from fish farming and agriculture in the Ayeyarwady delta
No full textThis study reveals that aquaculture is more profitable for fish farmers than crop farming, and generates large income spillovers for the local economy, thus presenting important opportunities for rural growth. Furthermore, small-scale fish farms, while currently somewhat less productive than large farms overall, generate larger indirect spillover effects per acre of land. Viewed through an economywide lens, small-scale aquaculture has substantial potential to support smallholder livelihoods whilst creating large income spillovers that principally benefit landless households and raise rural incomes. These findings imply that any aquaculture development strategy should focus on fish farms under 10 acre in size, rather than the large-scale farm development prioritized in the past. First, small-scale farmers should be empowered to use their ponds with maximum efficiency by, for instance, facilitating access to sources of credit and information. Second, regulations should be revised to all
Give a man a fishpond: Modeling the impacts of aquaculture in the rural economy
No full textThe rapid growth of fish farming over the past three decades has generated heated debate over the role of aquaculture in rural development and poverty reduction. Central to these debates is the question of whether and how aquaculture impacts local incomes and employment, yet little empirical evidence exists on the issue. To address this question, we propose a Local Economy-wide Impact Evaluation (LEWIE) model which nests fish farm models within a general-equilibrium model of their local economy. The model is calibrated using primary data collected from 1102 households in Myanmar’s main aquaculture zone, representative of 60% of the country’s aquaculture farms. Using this model, we examine the impact of aquaculture on the incomes and labor market outcomes of fish farming households, but also crop farms and non-farm households in the cluster. Simulating one-acre increases in pond/plot surface we find that: (1) aquaculture generates much higher incomes per-acre than agriculture; (2) aquaculture generates larger income spillovers than agriculture for non-farm households by way of retail and labor markets; (3) small commercial fish farms generate greater spillovers than large fish farms. These results bolster the notion that fish-farming, and in particular small-scale commercial aquaculture, may have a significant role to play in rural development and poverty reduction
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