scholarly journals The Labor Productivity Gap between the Agricultural and Nonagricultural Sectors, and Poverty and Inequality Reduction in Asia

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsushi Imai ◽  
Raghav Gaiha ◽  
Fabrizio Bresciani

The objective of this paper is to examine how agricultural and nonagricultural labor productivities have grown over time and whether the growth pattern affected poverty in low- and middle-income economies in Asia. We first examine whether labor productivities in the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors have converged, finding evidence that they did not as the latter have grown faster. We then confirm that both agricultural and nonagricultural labor productivities have converged across economies and that the convergence effect is stronger for the nonagricultural sector. We have also observed that, despite the relatively slower growth in agricultural labor productivity, the agricultural sector played an important role in promoting nonagricultural labor productivity and thus in nonagricultural growth. Finally, we have found some evidence that the labor productivity gap reduces rural and urban poverty, as well as national-level inequality.

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Federico Castillo ◽  
Armando Sánchez Vargas ◽  
J. K. Gilless ◽  
Michael Wehner

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C Mancall ◽  
Joshua L Rosenbloom ◽  
Thomas Weiss

Subject Rwandan agricultural interventions. Significance On May 15, the IMF completed its latest Article IV consultation and review with Kigali, predicting a return to growth of 6.2% per annum. According to the Fund, the main driver of this rebound is the agricultural sector, which is rapidly recovering from a severe drought in 2015-16. President Paul Kagame’s ambitious national development plan, Vision 2020, aims for the country to achieve middle income status by 2025, with transformation of the agricultural sector crucial to this. Impacts The government’s drought response will boost Kagame’s popularity among poorer rural households. However, if Kagame steps down after his next term in office, this could create disorder across many sectors. National-level disaster responses will prove more effective than their East African Community (EAC) equivalent.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (supp01) ◽  
pp. 161-183
Author(s):  
UNAL SEVEN ◽  
SEMIH TUMEN

We present cross-country evidence suggesting that agricultural credits have a positive impact on agricultural productivity. In particular, we find that doubling agricultural credits generates around 4–5% increase in agricultural productivity. We use two different agricultural production measures: (i) the agricultural component of GDP and (ii) agricultural labor productivity. Employing a combination of panel-data and instrumental-variable methods, we show that agricultural credits operate mostly on the agricultural component of GDP in developing countries and agricultural labor productivity in developed countries. This suggests that the nature of the relationship between agricultural finance and agricultural output changes along the development path. We conjecture that the development of the agricultural finance system generates entry into the agricultural labor market, which pushes up the agricultural component of GDP and keeps down agricultural labor productivity in developing countries; while, in developed countries, it leads to labor-augmenting increase in agricultural production. We argue that replacement of the informal credit channel with formal and advanced agricultural credit markets along the development path is the main force driving the labor market response.


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