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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Can Peers Improve Agricultural Revenue?, Tisorn Songsermsawas, Kathy Baylis, Ashwini Chhatre, Hope Michelson Jan 2015

Can Peers Improve Agricultural Revenue?, Tisorn Songsermsawas, Kathy Baylis, Ashwini Chhatre, Hope Michelson

Kathy Baylis

Crop revenues vary greatly among farmers and the source of that variation is not fully understood. Using a household survey from India, we estimate peer effects on cash crop revenue. Results show that 60% of farmers' revenue can be explained by peers. Peer effects in input expenditure and land allocation cannot fully explain the variation in revenue, implying peers may also associate with management, negotiation and marketing strategies. Although caste-based networks are important, their effect is substantially smaller than that of self-reported peers. Peer effects are strongest for agricultural peers and in the cultivation of a new crop.


Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan Jan 2014

Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan

Ujjayant Chakravorty

China and India together produce about half the world's rice and a third of the world's wheat, but production in both countries is heavily dependent on depleting groundwater resources. A large proportion of farmers buy and sell groundwater - the trading facilitated by small farm sizes and fragments land holdings. The economics of groundwater, when farm sizes are small, is little understood. This paper develops a simple, spatial model of the industrial organization of groundwater markets appropriate for smallholder agriculture. We show that if water is abundant, then equilibrium with free entry results in Bertrand competition, with water sellers charging …


Implications Of Economic Interactions Between Northern And Southern Tribes Of Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed Mar 2011

Implications Of Economic Interactions Between Northern And Southern Tribes Of Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed

Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed

The present paper discusses issues of the tribal interactions living on the borders between North and South Sudan. Foresights are looked for, especially after secession. There are multiple ethnic relations and mutual resources collectively utilized. Different tribes live on those resources, in specifics those who depend on a livelihood of herding cattle, camels, sheep and goats. The conceptions of no-borders, free water resources and open range were entrenched for hundreds of years. The sudden realization of necessities of new borders generates revulsion, sense of deprivation and end of traditional life practice. Additionally, development issues are weak with lack of infrastructure, …


Empowering Women Through Education And Influence: An Evaluation Of The Indian Mahila Samakhya Program, Eeshani Kandpal, Kathy Baylis, Mary Arends-Kuenning Jan 2011

Empowering Women Through Education And Influence: An Evaluation Of The Indian Mahila Samakhya Program, Eeshani Kandpal, Kathy Baylis, Mary Arends-Kuenning

Eeshani Kandpal

This paper shows that participation in a community-level female empowerment program in India significantly increases participants' physical mobility, political participation, and access to employment. The program provides support groups, literacy camps, adult education classes, and vocational training. We use truncation-corrected matching and instrumental variables on primary data to disentangle the program's mechanisms, separately considering its effect on women who work, and those who do not work but whose reservation wage is increased by participation. We also find significant spillover effects on non-participants relative to women in untreated districts.


Tonga: Rural Employment And Development, Piyasiri Wickramasekara Nov 1993

Tonga: Rural Employment And Development, Piyasiri Wickramasekara

PIYASIRI WICKRAMASEKARA

The report first highlights the nature of the rural employment problem In Tonga in the early 1990s. It goes on to discuss important Issues affecting the rural and agricultural sectors. The study further reviews the institutional machinery for rural development and makes a number of recommendations for an employment-oriented rural development strategy.