8 research outputs found
Participation in Off-Farm Employment, Risk Preferences, and Weather Variability: The Case of Ethiopia
This article assesses the relative importance of risk preferences and rainfall availability on households’ decision to engage in off-farm employment. Devoting time for off-farm activities, while it helps households earn additional incomes, involves a number of uncertainties. Unique panel data from Ethiopia which includes experimentally generated risk preference measures combined with longitudinal rainfall data is used in the analysis. An off farm participation decision and activity choice showed that both variability and reduced availability of rainfall as well as neutral risk preferences increase the likelihood of off-farm participation. From policy perspective, the results imply that expanding off farm opportunities could act as safety nets in the face of weather uncertainty. In addition, policy initiatives geared towards encouraging income diversification through off farm employment need to address underlying factor that condition risk bearing ability of households.Off-farm employment, labor supply, rainfall variability/reduced availability, risk preferences, GLLAMM, Ethiopia, Labor and Human Capital, Q13, D81, C35, C93,
Participation in Off-Farm Employment, Rainfall Patterns, and Rate of Time Preferences: The Case of Ethiopia
Devoting time to off-farm activities, while complementing agricultural incomes, may be constrained by labor availability and financial capacity. This paper assesses the importance of rainfall patterns, which condition the availability of agricultural labor, and financial constraints on off-farm employment decisions. Using panel data from Ethiopia, which include experimental rate-of-time preference measures, we found that these and rainfall are significant determinants off-farm employment. Rural development policies should take into account the financial capacity of households and the role of off-farm opportunities as safety nets in the face of weather uncertainty.off-farm employment, rainfall variability, reduced availability of water, rate-of time-preferences, multinomial logit, Ethiopia
Whoever has will be given more: child endowment and human capital investment
Using a unique longitudinal survey from Ethiopia, we investigate whether resource constrained\nparents reinforce or attenuate differences in early abilities between their children. We propose a simple model that allows for sibling interactions. To overcome the endogeneity associated with measures of endowment, we construct a measure of human capital at birth that is plausibly net of prenatal investment. We estimate a sibling fixed-effect model to account for bias due to unobserved family-specific heterogeneity. We find that parents reinforce educational inequality: inherently healthy children are more likely to attend preschool, be enrolled in elementary school, and have more expenses incurred towards their education. Health inputs are allocated in a compensatory manner.\
The Role of Early Intervention on Skill Formation
PrvnĂ kapitola je vÄ›nována zkoumánĂ mnoĹľstvĂ ÄŤasu, kterĂ˝ dÄ›ti strávĂ pĹ™i rĹŻznĂ˝ch aktivitách, a dopadu na utvářenĂ kognitivnĂch a nekognitivnĂch schopnostĂ. K danĂ©mu účelu byla vyuĹľita data z longitudinálnĂho šetĹ™enĂ, zahrnujĂcĂho Etiopii, Indii a Vietnam. VytvoĹ™enĂm modelu produkÄŤnĂ funkce utvářenĂ schopnostĂ dÄ›tĂ, kde strávenĂ˝ ÄŤas pĹ™i rĹŻznĂ˝ch aktivitách pĹ™edstavuje vstupnĂ promÄ›nnou, bylo zjištÄ›no, Ĺľe dÄ›ti zapojenĂ© do pracovnĂch ÄŤinnostĂ (placenĂ© i neplacenĂ©) vykazujĂ zhoršenĂ kognitivnĂch i nekognitivnĂch schopnostĂ. VĂ˝sledky naznaÄŤujĂ nepĹ™ĂmĂ˝ vedlejšà vliv dÄ›tskĂ© práce na rozvoj schopnostĂ v dĹŻsledku snĂĹľenĂ poÄŤtu hodin vÄ›novanĂ˝ch studiu. V druhĂ© kapitole byl na základÄ› longitudinálnĂho šetĹ™enĂ z Etiopie prozkoumán vliv omezenĂ˝ch zdrojĹŻ rodiÄŤĹŻ na rozdĂly mezi dÄ›tmi. Z dĹŻvodu moĹľnĂ© endogenity spojenĂ© s měřenĂm nadánĂ je vytvoĹ™ena mĂra lidskĂ©ho kapitálu pĹ™i narozenĂ, která by mÄ›la bĂ˝t oÄŤištÄ›na od vlivu prenatálnĂch investic. Ve snaze snĂĹľit zkreslenĂ odhadu v dĹŻsledku nepozorovanĂ˝ch specifickĂ˝ch odlišnostĂ jednotlivĂ˝ch rodin byl vyuĹľit fixed-effect model. Bylo zjištÄ›no, Ĺľe rodiÄŤe prohlubujĂ nerovnost vzdÄ›lánĂ, jelikoĹľ dÄ›ti bez dÄ›diÄŤnĂ˝ch nemocĂ jsou ÄŤastÄ›ji pĹ™ijĂmány k pĹ™edškolnĂ docházce, zapsány k základnĂmu vzdÄ›lánĂ a vykazujĂ vyššà vĂ˝daje na vzdÄ›lánĂ. V kontrastu s vĂ˝daji na vzdÄ›lanĂ jsou vĂ˝daje na...In the first chapter, I use time use data from a longitudinal survey (covering Ethiopia, India and Vietnam), to examine how the amount of time children spend on different activities impacts their acquisition of cognitive and noncognitive skills. Modeling the skill formation production function of children and extending the set of inputs to include the child's own time inputs, the study finds that child involvement in work activities (paid or nonpaid) are associated with a reduction in both cognitive and noncognitive achievements. The results imply an indirect adverse effect of child work on skill development through the reduction of hours of study. In the second chapter, using a unique longitudinal survey from Ethiopia, we investigate whether resource constrained parents reinforce or attenuate differences in early abilities between their children. To overcome the potential endogeneity associated with measures of endowment, we construct a measure of human capital at birth that is plausibly net of prenatal investment. Furthermore, we estimate a sibling fixed-effect model to reduce the bias due to unobserved family-specific heterogeneity. We find that parents reinforce educational inequality, as inherently healthy children are more likely to attend preschool, be enrolled in elementary school, and have...CERGEFakulta sociálnĂch vÄ›dFaculty of Social Science
The Role of Early Intervention on Skill Formation
In the first chapter, I use time use data from a longitudinal survey (covering Ethiopia, India and Vietnam), to examine how the amount of time children spend on different activities impacts their acquisition of cognitive and noncognitive skills. Modeling the skill formation production function of children and extending the set of inputs to include the child's own time inputs, the study finds that child involvement in work activities (paid or nonpaid) are associated with a reduction in both cognitive and noncognitive achievements. The results imply an indirect adverse effect of child work on skill development through the reduction of hours of study. In the second chapter, using a unique longitudinal survey from Ethiopia, we investigate whether resource constrained parents reinforce or attenuate differences in early abilities between their children. To overcome the potential endogeneity associated with measures of endowment, we construct a measure of human capital at birth that is plausibly net of prenatal investment. Furthermore, we estimate a sibling fixed-effect model to reduce the bias due to unobserved family-specific heterogeneity. We find that parents reinforce educational inequality, as inherently healthy children are more likely to attend preschool, be enrolled in elementary school, and have..
Participation in Off-Farm Employment, Risk Preferences, and Weather Variability: The Case of Ethiopia
This article assesses the relative importance of risk preferences and rainfall availability on households’ decision to engage in off-farm employment. Devoting time for off-farm activities, while it helps households earn additional incomes, involves a number of uncertainties. Unique panel data from Ethiopia which includes experimentally generated risk preference measures combined with longitudinal rainfall data is used in the analysis. An off farm participation decision and activity choice showed that both variability and reduced availability of rainfall as well as neutral risk preferences increase the likelihood of off-farm participation. From policy perspective, the results imply that expanding off farm opportunities could act as safety nets in the face of weather uncertainty. In addition, policy initiatives geared towards encouraging income diversification through off farm employment need to address underlying factor that condition risk bearing ability of households