Commodity Prices and Intra-Household Labor Allocation

Ulrik Richardt Beck; Saurabh Singhal; Finn Tarp

doi:10.1093/ajae/aay082

Commodity Prices and Intra-Household Labor Allocation

Ulrik Richardt Beck, Saurabh Singhal, Finn Tarp

Development Economics Research Group

6 Citations (Scopus)

10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Volatility in commodity markets poses a distinct risk to farmers in developing countries who rely on cash crop agriculture. We combine a time series of international coffee prices with a long-running panel on coffee-growing households in Vietnam to investigate coping mechanisms employed by farmers in a transitioning economy. We find that households cope with lower coffee prices by increasing wage labor of adults, with children and adolescents substituting for adults on the farm. Heterogeneity analysis indicates a stronger substitution pattern among women, ethnic minorities, and households with fewer assets. A variety of robustness checks corroborate these findings. Account of this finding should be taken in formulating and implementing social protection and inclusive growth policies.

Original language	English
Journal	American Journal of Agricultural Economics
Volume	101
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	436-454
ISSN	0002-9092
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aay082
Publication status	Published - Mar 2019

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences
Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
Time Allocation and Labor Supply
Commodity Markets

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AU - Singhal, Saurabh

AU - Tarp, Finn

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AB - Volatility in commodity markets poses a distinct risk to farmers in developing countries who rely on cash crop agriculture. We combine a time series of international coffee prices with a long-running panel on coffee-growing households in Vietnam to investigate coping mechanisms employed by farmers in a transitioning economy. We find that households cope with lower coffee prices by increasing wage labor of adults, with children and adolescents substituting for adults on the farm. Heterogeneity analysis indicates a stronger substitution pattern among women, ethnic minorities, and households with fewer assets. A variety of robustness checks corroborate these findings. Account of this finding should be taken in formulating and implementing social protection and inclusive growth policies.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

KW - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

KW - Commodity Markets

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DO - 10.1093/ajae/aay082

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JO - American Journal of Agricultural Economics

JF - American Journal of Agricultural Economics

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Commodity Prices and Intra-Household Labor Allocation

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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