The 1930’s American Dust Bowl was an environmental catastrophe, associated with massive erosion across parts of the Great Plains. Analyzing new data collected to identify low-, medium-, and high-erosion counties, the Dust Bowl is estimated to have substantially reduced agricultural land values and revenues. During the Great Depression and through at least the 1950’s, there was limited reallocat...

This paper estimates a stochastic production using household survey data to analyze the relationship between farmers’ health impediments and agricultural production efficiency in Ethiopia. The results show that healthy farmers produce more per unit of inputs, earn more income and supply more labor than farmers affected by sickness. The model results show that production inefficiency increases s...

Agriculture is the largest sector in most sub-Saharan economies in terms of employment, and it plays an important role in supplying food and export earnings. Rural poverty rates remain high, and labor productivity is strikingly low. This paper asks how these factors shape the role of agriculture in African development strategies. Is agricultural growth a prerequisite for growth in other sectors...

By paying particular attention to the local economic context, this paper analyzes the determinants of non-agricultural employment and earnings in non-agricultural jobs. The empirical analysis is based on the Brazilian Demographic Census, allowing for disaggregated controls for the local economy. Education stands out as one of the key determinants of employment outcome and earnings potential. Fa...

Agriculture provides commodities and has an influence on the environment. However, even if the value of agricultural production is easy to evaluate, it is difficult to estimate the efficiency of agricultural production at site level. Furthermore, the valuation of environmental impact is complex. Non-parametric approaches such as DEA allow for an estimation of environment and economic performanc...

This paper offers a synthesis of agricultural household modeling, its evolution and uses; presents a general yet simple agricultural household model, estimated with Mexican village data and programmed using General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) software; and uses this model to explore household-level impacts of agricultural policy changes on production and incomes under alternative rural-mar...

This paper investigates whether or not the J-curve hypothesis holds in Turkish agricultural sector. The analysis is conducted using the model the most commonly employed in j-curve literature. Based on the data covering the period from 1986: I to 1998: III, our results indicate that, following devaluation, agricultural trade balance initially improves, then worsens, and then improves again. This...

The 1930’s American Dust Bowl was an environmental catastrophe that greatly eroded sections of the Plains. Analyzing new data collected to identify low-, medium-, and high-erosion counties, the Dust Bowl is estimated to have immediately, substantially, and persistently reduced agricultural land values and revenues. During the Depression and through at least the 1950’s, there was limited realloc...