THE struggle of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to conclude the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations brought again to the forefront the important role that agricultural policy continues to play in international trade relations. The sector is subject to heavy-handed governmental interventions throughout the world. Despite decades (even centuries) of economists’ arguments against agri...

Policy reforms outside agriculture in the early 1990s accelerated growth in per capita incomes and food demand and also improved the terms of trade for the agriculture. Agricultural policies and institutions, traditionally focused on achieving food grain self sufficiency within a closed economy, have, however, been slow to adapt to a new environment of diversifying demand, more open markets, an...

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University...

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University...

Agriculture, the main sector of the Ethiopian economy, accounts for 85% of total employment and is the backbone and mainstay of the economy (Pausewang et al., 1990). However, agricultural productivity is decreasing because of land degradation, particularly due to soil erosion. Hurni (1988) estimated that the extent of erosion from arable land in the highlands of Ethiopia averaged 42 tons/ha/yr....

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University...

"The faster agriculture grows, the faster its relative size declines." That quotation from The Economics of Agricultural Development (Mellor 1966) still captures the essence of agricultural growth and its causal relationship to the structural transformation and aggregate growth of an economy. The quotation suggests that agriculture has a potential for accelerated growth. This suggestion arises ...

Agriculture is critical for human welfare, providing food, employment, income, and assets. In the past, agricultural research and development largely focused on improving production, productivity, and profitability of agricultural enterprises. Nutrition and other benefits of agriculture were not always optimized, while the negative impacts on health, well-being, and the environment were often i...

For a thousand years, income growth was associated with a rising military employment share. But this share peaked in the early 20th century, after which military employment shares fell with income growth. Rising military shares were driven by structural change out of agriculture, and the recent declines are driven by substitution from soldiers towards military goods. I document evidence for thi...

Impact of Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes on Seasonal Labor Markets: Optimum Compensation and Workers’ Welfare The recent enactment of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India has been widely hailed a policy that provides a safety net for the rural poor with the potential to boost rural income, stabilize agricultural production and reduce rural-urban migration. This paper, models...