Poverty in India during the1990s - a regional perspective

The authors provide estimates of poverty at the regional level in India, spanning the 1990s. Such estimates have not been previously available due to concerns regarding non-comparability of the 1993-94 and 1999-2000 National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) household survey data. They implement an adjustment procedure to restore comparability based on a methodology developed by Elbers and others (2003). The results indicate a less rapid decline of poverty, at the all-India level than has been suggested by Deaton and Dre (2002), based on a related adjustment methodology. The authors attempt to uncover the source of disagreement across these procedures, by probing a number of their underlying assumptions.Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Reduction Strategies,Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Assessment,Achieving Shared Growth,Poverty Reduction Strategies,Urban Partnerships&Poverty

Incentives to Improve Government Agricultural Extension Agent Performance: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh

https://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko/This study provides empirical evidence on how financial and non-financial incentives improve service delivery of government agricultural extension agents. A randomized control trial was conducted in 40 sub-district agriculture offices in Bangladesh, with 807 agricultural extension officers, randomly allocated into five groups (one control and four treatment). The financial incentive was a one-time monetary reward, while the non-financial incentive was recognition by the district director. In the nonfinancial incentive treatment, we added another treatment in which the two worst performers, instead of best, are selected for inspection. In the financial incentive, we created another treatment where the best performer is selected based on performance level. We find that financial and non-financial incentives have positive effects of equal magnitude, about one standard deviation of total performance index on average. Giving a disadvantage to better performers does not decrease effort by better performers.The data collection and the randomized controlled trial was financed by the GRIPS Emerging State Project of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25101002).technical repor

Lower complexity of motor primitives ensures robust control of high-speed human locomotion

Walking and running are mechanically and energetically different locomotion modes. For selecting one or another, speed is a parameter of paramount importance. Yet, both are likely controlled by similar low-dimensional neuronal networks that reflect in patterned muscle activations called muscle synergies. Here, we challenged human locomotion by having our participants walk and run at a very broad spectrum of submaximal and maximal speeds. The synergistic activations of lower limb locomotor muscles were obtained through decomposition of electromyographic data via non-negative matrix factorization. We analyzed the duration and complexity (via fractal analysis) over time of motor primitives, the temporal components of muscle synergies. We found that the motor control of high-speed locomotion was so challenging that the neuromotor system was forced to produce wider and less complex muscle activation patterns. The motor modules, or time-independent coefficients, were redistributed as locomotion speed changed. These outcomes show that humans cope with the challenges of high-speed locomotion by adapting the neuromotor dynamics through a set of strategies that allow for efficient creation and control of locomotion.Peer Reviewe

Farmers’ Risk Preferences and Rice Production: Experimental and Panel Data Evidence from Uganda

Although rice has been a prominent cash crop in areas with access to lowland in Uganda, the adoption of rice and area expansion have stagnated despite the Government of Uganda’s 2009 National Rice Development Policy and its commitment to doubling rice production over 10 years. Using panel data collected in 2010 and 2017 as well as risk preference data elicited via lab-in-the-field experiments conducted in rural Uganda, we find that farmers with higher loss aversion are less likely to grow rice and expand their rice cultivation areas. This study affirms that risk preferences play a critical role in agricultural production decisions.This paper was prepared as part of a research project, “An Empirical Analysis of Expanding Rice Production in Sub-Sahara Africa,” of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute (JICA-RI).http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko

Japanese agricultural ODA and its economic impacts: Technological assistance for the rice green revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since 2008, JICA has made great efforts toward doubling rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa in 10 years. This study explains JICA’s approach and projects and reviews the research findings on JICA’s rice training projects. The trainings on rice cultivation practices increased the rice production of the training participants, not only in the short term but also in the long term. The training benefits seem to spill over to the neighbors within the same irrigation scheme. When introducing upland rice to areas where rice was not grown, selecting areas suitable for rice cultivation is a key for sustainable adoption and production.http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko

Market Access, Soil Fertility, and Income in East Africa

経済学 / EconomicsWe identify the major factors affecting farm and nonfarm income by using panel data in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. We supplement the panel data with household-level soil fertility data and road distance data to the nearest urban center. The proportion of the loose surface roads, instead of tarmac roads, has a clear negative association with crop income, livestock income, and per capita income in both Kenya and Uganda. We also find that soil fertility has a clear positive association with crop and livestock incomes in Kenya, but not in Uganda and Ethiopia. In Kenya, farmers produce not only cereal crops but also high value crops and engage in dairy and other livestock production if the fertility of the soil is good

Intrahousehold Bargaining and Agricultural Technology Adoption : Experimental Evidence from Zambia

This study examines how technology adoption is determined in an intra-household bargaining process between spouses with different incentives and resource constraints. We develop a noncooperative bargaining model in which individual investments affect not only a household’s total income but also its members’ future bargaining position, which can yield Pareto-inferior outcomes. To test for possible inefficiency, we introduce rice seeds to farmers in rural Zambia and randomly distribute vouchers for transportation from the village to a miller in town to husbands and wives. The results show that the identity of the voucher recipients matters for rice seed take-up when wives choose which crop to grow on suitable plots for rice production. We also find that the voucher given to husbands is effective only when they manage the plots by themselves. Furthermore, intra-household information flows are distorted by the recipients. The heterogeneous effects and incomplete information sharing among spouses provide evidence against efficient resource pooling within the family. We present suggestive evidence that limited commitment to the production plan is a key mechanism behind strategic spousal behavior. Overall, this study highlights the importance of directly targeting individuals with productive resources relevant to a technology.This study was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI No. 16H02733.http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko

Efficiency and Equity of Rural Land Markets and the Impact on Income: Evidence in Kenya and Uganda from 2003 to 2015

This study examines the evolution and impact of land sales and rental markets on agricultural efficiency in rural Kenya and Uganda using panel data spanning over 10 years. We first analyse the efficiency gains induced by land sales and rental markets by estimating the impact of participation in markets on unobserved farmer ability and land endowment. We do find evidence in both countries, that land markets induce efficiency by transferring land to households with higher farming ability. In both countries, the land market enhances equity by transferring land from land-abundant to land-constrained households. Although renting-in land increases crop income in Kenya, we find no evidence that renting in land enables households to escape from poverty. In contrast, increase in land owned helped decrease poverty incidence in Uganda. These findings points to potential weaknesses in the functioning of land markets in Kenya and Uganda which impedes their ability to contribute to poverty alleviation.JEL Classification Codes: D63, O12, Q15This study was supported by : Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Overseas Academic Research) (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15H02619) and the GRIPS Emerging State Project of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25101002)http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko

Ethnic Violence and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from Exposure to the 1992 Conflict in Kenya

This study is an examination of the effect of intrauterine exposure to electoral violence on child birthweight; an outcome that has long-term effects on an individual’s education, income, and health in later life. By considering the electoral violence that resulted from the introduction of multi-party democracy in Kenya as an exogenous source of shock and by adopting difference-in-differences method and mother-fixed effect model, we found that prenatal exposure to the violence increased the probabilities of low birth weight and a child being of very small size at birth by 19 and 6 percentage points, respectively. We found that violence exposure in the first trimester of pregnancy decreased birth weight by 271 grams and increased the probabilities of low birthweight and very small size at birth by 18 and 4 percentage points, respectively. The results reaffirm the significance of the nine months in utero as one of the most critical periods in life that shapes future health, economic, and educational trajectories.JEL Classification Code: O15, I15, J13, J24http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko

Effect of Nigeria’s e-voucher input subsidy program on fertilizer use, rice production, and household income

Nigeria introduced an e-voucher fertilizer subsidy program that distributes vouchers directly to a beneficiary’s mobile phone for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security by changing land use from extensive to intensive farming. By using panel data on rice-growing households in 2012 and 2014 and applying a household fixed effects approach and inverse probability weighting methods, we assess whether and how much the e-voucher program increases fertilizer application on rice production. We do not find evidence that the program results in higher fertilizer application. This is because there is a strong crowding-out effect in the study areas in which the private fertilizer market is active. This finding suggests that introducing a potentially innovative device is not sufficient to boost agricultural production and food security.JEL Classification Codes: C23, Q12, Q13, Q18http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/kijima-yoko