The Green Revolution, development of labor markets, and poverty reduction in the rural Philippines, 1985-2004

Using a long-term household panel data set collected in three rural villages in the Philippines in 1985 and 2004, this article explores how the Green Revolution and development of the labor markets have affected household income and poverty situation. The initial rise in income associated with the Green Revolution and a stronger credit access has enabled the households to allocate funds for investing in children's schooling. With the increased integration of the rural with the urban labor market, these children are able to explore labor opportunities in the nonfarm sector that resulted in a decline in poverty by about one-half. The landless households, who are less educated, benefited, too, from the expansion of the nonfarm labor market, because of the rise in rural wages associated with the rise in demand for the unskilled labor, which is by far their most important asset. Copyright 2006 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

Land Reforms, Poverty Reduction, and Economic Growth: Evidence from India

Recognition of the importance of institutions that provide security of property rights and relatively equal access to economic resources to a broad cross-section of society has renewed interest in the potential of asset redistribution, including land reforms. Empirical analysis of the impact of such policies is, however, scant and often contradictory. We use panel household data from India, together with state-level variation in the land reform implementation, to address some of the deficiencies of earlier studies. Results suggest that land reform had a significant and positive impact on income growth and accumulation of human and physical capital. Policy implications are drawn, especially from the fact that the observed impact of land reform seems to have declined over time.