Agricultural productivity growth is widely seen as an essential instrument of poverty reduction, food security and broader economic growth. Paradoxically, however, the agricultural sector is often neglected by African governments in what is often termed ‘urban bias’. This paper explores what...

This paper assesses the impact of the composition of government spending on economic growth in developing countries. We use a dynamic GMM model and a panel data set for 44 developing countries between 1980 and 2004. We find that the various types of government spending have different impact on...

This paper analyzes how Cambodian farmers and the government can respond to the rise of rice price. The study estimates rice production response in Cambodia using the Cambodia Socio-Economic Surveys (CSES) conducted in 2004 and 2007. The results indicate that agricultural productivity is far...

The recent surge in food prices around the world may reverse the gains of reducing hunger and poverty in the recent years. This paper employs factor and sequential typology analysis using data for 175 countries to identify groups of countries categorized according to four measures of food...

Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank, 2006)....

In this paper we simulate changes in crop land allocations made by farmers in Southern Spain due to the implementation of a flat-rate subsidy. In order to reproduce farmers' decision-making process, we first group farmers by farm size into three categories and then elicit a general utility...

In Ethiopia, growth in cereal production is accompanied by a more than proportionate increase in the standard deviation of production. This study applies descriptive and variance decomposition procedures to determine the sources of increased instability in cereal production in order to show...

Through empirical simulations of the Taiwanese rice market, we estimate the effects of agricultural policies designed to ensure optimal levels of two multifunctional outputs, groundwater recharge and methane emissions. The settings of policy instruments differ by region to reflect land quality...

Rates of obesity among adults and children in the U.S. are soaring, with potentially huge private and social costs. Increasing attention is being paid to agricultural policies as both the culprits through their perceived roles in reducing the relative prices of energy-dense foods, and as the...

Land and water are the natural partners in the process of agricultural development. Their coordinated use is essen tial for long-term optimization of economic as well as social welfare. Deliberately planned or policy induced divergence from integrated land and water use management may bring...