Household characteristics are commonly used to explain variation in smallholder efficiency levels. The underlying assumption is that differences in intended behavior are well described by such variables, while there is no "a priori" reason that this is the case. Moreover, heterogeneity in...

Increasing land degradation and concomitant low agricultural productivity are important determinants of rural poverty in the hillside areas of Honduras. Using data at the levels of the farm household, parcel and plot, we develop an econometric modeling framework to analyze land management...

The small-scale pepper producers in the El Roble settlement Costa Rica face a monopsonistic market. Only one processing firm is buying the fresh pepper bunches. The processor has all bargaining power to decide on the price paid to the farmers and the quality selection criteria. The rejection...

Appeals for targeting agricultural R&D in developing countries more explicitly to the needs of poor smallholders in marginal areas are often countered by arguments of efficiency. Others, however, taking a political economy perspective, argue that there is a bias in the selection of agricultural...

The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors that determine productivity of fruit and vegetable growers in central Chile, focusing especially on the effect of short-term credit on farm productivity for market-oriented farmers. We explicitly test for possible selection bias using a panel...

Using panel data from a survey conducted in 2006 and 2008 of 177 market-oriented farmers in central Chile, we investigate investment under imperfect capital markets. Specifically we determine the impact of formal credit constraints on fixed investment. By controlling for endogeneity problems, we...

To improve the livelihood of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) much attention has been paid to the development of new agricultural technologies. We hypothesize that farmers can also improve their livelihood through cooperation. Partial cooperation, in which knowledge is shared or bargaining...

This paper presents the research framework of an on-going study on the dairy sector on La Reunion. This Indian Ocean island is one of the French overseas departments. However, it struggles with similar problems as the developing areas in its neighbourhood, high levels of unemployment especially...

Stochastic dynamic programming is used to investigate optimal holding of primary tropical forest in humid Costa Rica when future nonuse benefits of forest conservation are uncertain and increasing. The quasi-option value of maintaining primary forests is included as a component of investment in...