October 2007

We continue our weekly series, as usual from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

Land Policies and Women

Ownership of land is particularly important for the welfare of women. Traditionally, women have been deprived in this area.  Land policy initiatives that were targeted for the household failed to appreciate the positive role that women who have access to assets play in nutrition and human capital accumulation. Asset ownership for females has been shown to affect spending on education for girls especially. Quisumbing and Otsuka (2001) show that the introduction of export crops in Ghana increased the demand for female workers and also resulted in improved spending on education (for girls) and health. Furthermore, it has been shown in some studies that productivity increases when women both control and own the land. Udry (1996) showed that the transfer of plots from men to women in Burkina Faso increased the output by 6 percent. Although Adesina and Djato (1997) found no significant difference between the efficiency of women compared to men for plots in Cote d’Ivoire, in situations where women are the main agricultural cultivators, for example in Africa, Latin America and Asian countries, and men control the proceeds from cultivation, women have less of an incentive to exert efforts, thus agricultural productivity may be lower.  

Like every Friday, from Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

Unequal Distribution of Land in Poor Countries: Background and Impact

The history of land tenure in many developing countries prevented the evolution of secure tenure for much of the population and especially the rural poor.  Property rights were oftentimes imposed by outside forces or local overlords. The objective was to seek surpluses from local smallholder populations and/or force local smallholders into wage labor without promoting opportunities for land ownership.  The result was the development of production systems and informal tenure arrangements that generated an unequal distribution of land as well as a large landless population.  For example, the production systems in Latin America and Asia resulted in unequal access to land in these regions. Similarly the collective production structures in Eastern Europe stymied rural growth.  More than 50 percent of the peri-urban population in Africa and more than 40 percent in Asia live under informal tenure and therefore have highly insecure land rights (WB).

The winner will be announced on Monday.

Many candidates out there: Grew Mankiw's favorites are Fama, Feldstein, or Barro. Thompson Scientific's are Helpman, Grossman, Tirole, Wilson or Milgrom. Tylor Cowen would give it to Krueger, Bhagwati and Tullock.

If you have your own favorite, you can bet one dollar on him/her. A charity of your choice will get all the money collected (if you win).

Paul Krugman's grey cat has already won a Nobel, and she was not even a favorite. Will the owner do as much?

From Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

Gender

Over the study period examined in the exhibit below, the proportion of females in the labor force has increased in East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East North Africa. Globally, the proportion of females in the labor force has increased by 1.5 percentage points between 1980 and 1999.  There is a great deal of variation across the regions. The relatively low share in the Middle East North Africa – 27.3 percent in 1999 – compared to the other regions has been linked to the non-enforcement of legislation protecting women’s employment rights and family laws that translate into women being less employable than men.  Overriding these factors is the fact that women are more likely to be employed in the informal sector and thus uncounted. 

 Source: Betcherman (2001)

Conclusion for Labor, Growth and Poverty Reduction