We investigate a rural household's decision to migrate part or all of its labor to urban areas. Labor migrates only when the expected return passes a hurdle rate that is affected by migration networks. We develop a dynamic model of incomplete information, and characterize the unique pure...

The relationship between rural labor productivity and food diversity was analyzed from the household consumption survey data of Pakistan. The elasticity of wage to diversity (0.77) was higher than to food expenditure (0.13). Lowering the prices of meats and fruits and vegetables will have the...

This study evaluates the possible reasons for the persistent rural-urban wage gap among women in the U.S. The paper uses two-step panel data estimations that can consider explanations including rural-urban differences in observed individual characteristics and work-related characteristics and at...

This session focuses on applications of various migration, family labor and labor market models in international settings. Papers include: Rural Labor Mobility in China: Net Flows and Trends, Bryan Lohmar and Scott Rozelle, University of California-Davis; Changbao Zhao, Research Center for Rural...

Production contract tournaments induce self-selection among producers. Self-selection for pork differs from broiler production resulting in a predictably different political response by incumbent producers to contract innovation. The higher capital and status of incumbent pork producers than...

Thailand's economic boom since 1987 resulted in absolute agricultural employment and land use declines. Both were caused by rapid wage growth due to nonagricultural investment. Irreversible land use changes and rapid agricultural mechanization have followed. Following the 1987 financial crisis,...

An I/O model of U.S. is used to examine the effects of trade and domestic consumption on the separate and interactive effects of trade, technology, and labor productivity on the demand for skilled and unskilled workers for 1972, 1987, and 1993. The results suggest that trade has not been the...

This paper examines the welfare and labor force participation of families potentially eligible for the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Higher wage rates and lower TANF benefits decrease the probability of welfare participation. For these families labor supply is...

Although welfare reform began in 1996 at the national level, Iowa was one of the earliest states to obtain a waiver to initiate the Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP) in 1993. To gain a better understanding of welfare recidivism, we use Iowa administrative quarterly data between October1993...

Three issues regarding gender patterns of cropping in Ghana are examined to disentangle whether observed patterns are based on gender or on factors correlated with gender. First, can "men's" and "women's" crops can be distinguished in household survey data? Second, is gender is a determinant of...