Labour Diversification Research Articles

Evolution of the Okvik/Old Bering Sea culture of the Bering Strait as a major transition.

Great transitions are thought to embody major shifts in locus of selection, labour diversification and communication systems. Such expectations are relevant for biological and cultural systems as decades of research has demonstrated similar dynamics within the evolution of culture. The evolution of the Neo-Inuit cultural tradition in the Bering Strait provides an ideal context for examination of cultural transitions. The Okvik/Old Bering Sea (Okvik/OBS) culture of Bering Strait is the first representative of the Neo-Inuit tradition. Archaeological evidence drawn for settlement and subsistence data, technological traditions and mortuary contexts suggests that Okvik/OBS fits the definition of a major transition given change in the nature of group membership (from families to political groups with social ranking), task organization (emergent labour specialization) and communication (advent of complex art forms conveying social and ideological information). This permits us to develop a number of implications about the evolutionary process recognizing that transitions may occur on three scales: (1) ephemeral variants, as for example, simple technological entities; (2) integrated systems, spanning modular technology to socio-economic strategies; and (3) simultaneous change across all scales with emergent properties. This article is part of the theme issue 'Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions'.

Shocks, household consumption, and livelihood diversification: a comparative evidence from panel data in rural Thailand and Vietnam

We examine the roles of land and labor diversification in mitigating the effects of covariate and idiosyncratic shocks in the two middle-income countries Thailand and Vietnam. We use an unbalanced panel dataset of rural households obtained from five survey waves during 2007–2016 (9291 households for Thailand and 9255 households for Vietnam). We employ the System-Generalized Method of Moments estimators to control for endogeneity. Our study finds that (i) rural households in both countries are able to maintain per capita consumption in the face of idiosyncratic shocks but not covariate shocks; (ii) labor diversification in Thailand and land diversification in Vietnam are used as ex-post coping strategies against covariate shocks but their shock-mitigating roles are insignificant; and (iii) land diversification in Thailand and labor diversification in Vietnam are helpful in improving per capita consumption when households face covariate shocks. Our findings suggest that facilitating access to credit, enhancing farm mechanization, and improving road quality in Thailand as well as promoting the development of local rural nonfarm sectors in Vietnam would benefit rural households in dealing with covariate shocks.

DIGITAL ECONOMY IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT

The main advantages of the digital economy include the widespread use of the Internet and growth of digital skills, increased innovation and investment activity, expansion of markets for knowledge-intensive services and technologies, diversification of labor and service markets, inclusive development in regions, etc. The digital economy benefits productivity and competition between companies, reduces production costs, increases the number of high-performance jobs, enhances public welfare, and ensures national security. The purpose of the study is to identify the main problems of the digitalization process in Russia, which the Russian society may meet or have already faced during the introduction and use of new technologies and knowledge obtained as a result of the fourth scientific and technological revolution. Active business development in the field of computer information technology and telecommunications, as well as the creation of the necessary economic environment, contributes to an increase in the supply of information, technical and technological products that are associated with the use of computers and computer networks, strengthening the state scientific and technological potential, increase in demand for domestic information products, which are created and used for the production of information and computer technology, increase investment in information and computer sphere, as well as areas of implementation of such technologies in various economic sectors. Digitalization of economy will raise the quality of life for citizens, introduce new jobs, reduce regional disparities, increase labor productivity and corporate profitability, as well as ensure economic growth.

Poverty analysis in the lowlands of Papua New Guinea underscores climate vulnerability and need for income flexibility*

A severe El Niño event in 2015/16 decimated an important share of Papua New Guinea's (PNG) local crop production, leaving 10 per cent of the population with significant food shortages. Lack of recent socio‐economic data and analysis of the country's rural population impeded efforts to plan and mitigate the ensuing food crisis. This paper presents the most recent poverty analysis in Papua New Guinea in nearly a decade, and a renewed effort to inform rural production, consumption and livelihood patterns in some of the country's most remote, lowland areas. We designed a rural household survey that collected detailed consumption and expenditure data to explore poverty prevalence and correlates of per capita household expenditure. Results suggest that approximately half of the sampled individuals live in households with total per capita expenditures below the poverty line. Climate shocks have significant and possibly long‐term consequences for household welfare. Households that experienced a drought in the last 5 years are associated with significantly lower per capita expenditures. Labour diversification, via migration, is associated with greater welfare. Households with at least one migrant member are associated with 13 per cent greater per capita expenditure.

Migration, crop production and non-farm labor diversification in rural Vietnam

This article examines the impacts of migration with and without remittances on crop productivity growth , crop diversification, and non-farm labor diversification of rural households in Vietnam. We use village fixed-effects regression models for a panel data set of about 2,000 rural households collected in 2007, 2008 and 2010 in three rural provinces. The findings demonstrate that rural households who receive remittances from their migrants reduce the share of their income from rice, increase their land productivity and become more specialized in non-farm labor allocation. However, migration without remittances decreases farm labor productivity growth and crop diversification of rural households.

Livelihood Diversification and Vulnerability to Poverty in Rural Malawi

Climate variability, associated with farm-income variability, is recognized as one of the main drivers of livelihood diversification strategies in developing countries. Analysing determinants of livelihood diversification choices, to better understand household strategic behaviour in the event of climatic risks and other shocks, is important for the formulation of development policies in developing countries highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture, like Malawi. We use geo-referenced farm-household-level data collected in 2010-11 to investigate how climatic variability influences the pattern of diversification that farmers adopt, and the impacts of these choices on welfare. To do so we apply the “vulnerability to expected poverty” approach which measures the future level of poverty taking into consideration the role of risk and uncertainty. The analysis considers the effect of policies and institutions such as fertilizer subsidies, extension services, safety-net and credit on diversification choices. The results show that higher levels of climate risk generally increase the likelihood of diversification across labour, cropland and income, suggesting the importance of diversification as a response to constraints imposed by increased risk. In contrast, we find that in areas with favourable average rainfall conditions households are more likely to diversify income, suggesting diversification as a response to opportunities. In terms of welfare, the analysis performed on the components of vulnerability to poverty provides evidence that climatic variables are key determinants of both components of vulnerability (expected consumption and its variance). Fertilizer subsidies are found to be significant in diversification choices for all dimensions and also particularly effective in reducing vulnerability to poverty in high variability environments although the same does not hold for extension. Looking at differences across gender, we find that women labour diversification is less responsive than men’s, resulting in a lower positive impact on expected consumption per capita.

Diversification Strategies and Adaptation Deficit: Evidence from Rural Communities in Niger

Summary The paper provides fresh empirical evidence on the adaptation process in Niger rural communities using original longitudinal socio-economic panel data merged with granular geo-referenced climatic information. We identify the main drivers and impacts of crop and labor diversification which constitute two livelihood strategies on moderating the adaptation deficit. In doing so, we account for the interdependence between the two diversification practices and potential reverse causality between welfare outcomes and diversification behavior. Moreover, we condition the impacts of diversification on different sections of the welfare distribution to capture potential non-linear effects. Our results reveal that the diversification has positive and significant welfare impacts when most vulnerable households rely on it as an adaptation strategy to mid-run climate variability and as a coping strategy to short-run market shocks. At the same time, our results find lower but still positive impacts for well-endowed households that are likely to diversify their activity portfolio. Given the very limited presence of policy support, we conclude that the rural Nigerien communities are characterized by a large and autonomous adaptation response which constitutes a key leverage mechanism for policy makers. We thus suggest government interventions aimed at supporting the most important diversification drivers, but also aimed at straightening some channels, such as network infrastructures or the promotion of local crop varieties, which may have a greater potential in triggering diversification.

Incentives for Households in Community Based Forest Management System: An Empirical Evidence from Goalpara District of Assam

Based on the ‘National Forest Policy 1988,’ on the first June in 1990 (circular No. 6.21/89-FP, Sarin, 1998), the government of India issued guidelines and adopted Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) system in the form of Joint Forest Management (JFM) system for conservation of forests with clearly identified duties and functions for ensuring protection of forests. However, the system has not been fully succeeding. This paper examines the reasons for the failure of CBFM system in Assam. The study finds that the households who actively participate in the forest conservation activity belong to predominantly non-tribal households and also to tribal households who are engaged in non-forest dependent livelihoods. The study also discovers that the Forest Protection Committees in forest areas which have experienced urbanization, commercialization, and diversification of labor into quarrying industry and such other activities take active participation in the forest protection activities. Quite contrary to the expectations the primary evidence in this study establishes that the failure to prevent deforestation is linked to the failure of the CBFM system to evolve appropriate incentive structures for the forest dependent tribal households who are the crucial actors in forest protection. This study finds that instead of expanding the subsistence opportunities for the poor forest dependent tribal households through forest conservation, the CBFM system has caused a decline in the incomes of these households.

Changing agrarian relations after redistributive land reform in Zimbabwe

Redistributive land reform and agrarian reforms since 2000 progressively changed some of Zimbabwe's agrarian relations, particularly by broadening the producer and consumption base. However they fuelled new inequities in access to land and farm input and output markets. These complex structural changes are explored using a series of surveys, secondary sources and official documents. Findings show that exploitative agrarian labour practices continue despite the diversification of labour towards numerous farms and other enterprises. Agricultural output declined primarily due to reduced inputs and credit supplies, and frequent droughts, but has been rising since 2006. Increasing export production now involves more producers, driven by the diversification of agrarian merchants and contract farming. Agro-industrial capital has gradually increased its domestic operations in the supply of inputs and marketing, especially after re-liberalisation in 2008. Many new farmers accumulate assets although some struggle for social reproduction. Agrarian politics now entail new struggles over agrarian markets, land and labour rights.

Is farming enough in mountain areas? Farm diversification in the Pyrenees

The continuity of farming in mountain areas in Europe is at severe risk and its future faces manifold uncertainties. Mountain farms are immersed in a long-term process of reorganization. Farm diversification plays a prominent role in this process of adjustment and reallocation. However, little work has been done explicitly on the role farm diversification plays in the current structural changes occurring. In order to fill this void, the nature of farm diversification has been examined in the Pyrenees, where four different typologies of farms have been identified: absence of diversification, agricultural diversification, farmland diversification and finally farm labour diversification. These typologies reflect a gradation along which the farm diversification practices are applied to more aspects of the farm household. Throughout this gradation farming is increasingly marginalised. Finally, it is argued that the endorsement of policy measures stimulating farm diversification in mountain regions should be cautiously considered, since there is high risk of encouraging further agricultural abandonment.

Diversification and security? Labour mobilization among urban poor households in Kabul, Afghanistan

This article examines the labour diversification strategies of 41 urban poor households in Kabul, Afghanistan across a 12-month period to determine if diversification is sufficient to reduce risk and bring improvement to their lives and livelihoods, or if diversification is solely a survival strategy. It finds that diversification in terms of numbers of workers, multiple employment statuses represented and who works—particularly mobilizing adult male workers—s important to bring some measure of income security, but that movement beyond income adequacy (assessed through low need to borrow for consumption) is elusive. Having male workers and access to regular salaried work are key strategies, though no guarantee in the face of shocks and crises, and all households cannot ensure access to such household compositions or labour pools; in the end many are dependent on child and/or female labour. Recommendations on how to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for the urban poor are provided, linked to on going processes in the Afghan context including the approval of a new labour code, development of a national employment policy, and the drafting of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Afghanistan's PRSP.

On Price Liberalization, Poverty, and Shifting Cultivation: An Example from Mexico

<i>A bioeconomic model is used to explore the potential impacts of price policies on land use under shifting cultivation. The model is calibrated with household level and agroecological data from Yucatan, Mexico. Besides the direct effect of the liberalization of maize prices, the results indicate that changes in real wages in post-NAFTA Mexico may have non-expected effects on the labor diversification and land-use decisions of households. Further, it is shown that income may well be inversely related to both the suboptimal level of forest clearing, and the state of soil fertility, albeit in a non-monotonic (U-shape) way.</i> (JEL O13, Q24)

Land use intensification potential in slash-and-burn farming through improvements in technical efficiency

Much attention is being paid to find alternative land use options in slash-and-burn (SaB) farming (or forest–fallow-based shifting cultivation) systems. The conservation objective is often twofold; that is, to discourage farmers from expanding into the forest frontier and to reduce the ecological damage from burning plots. Options include the total abandonment of forest plots, the adoption of productivity increasing green revolution-type technologies, and the application of modern ‘evergreen’ agroforestry knowledge. This paper evaluates another alternative: the intensification of land use by improving technical efficiency in farming. This involves the reduction of land clearing while at the same time maintaining crop output levels and the local (and traditional) low-input technology. The potential for such land use intensification is empirically assessed with ecological and socioeconomic household data from Yucatan (Mexico). The methodology is based on both parametric and nonparametric output and input distance functions. In addition, the sources of inefficiency are addressed. The results of the analysis suggest that on-and off-farm labour diversification can play a key role to help shifting cultivating households to improve their technical efficiency in farming and thus to help to intensify land use. Furthermore, while the empirical results point towards the positive effect of soil fertility, mainly determined by the length of forest fallows, on crop output levels, farmers appear to overcome the ecological constraint of farming in less fertile soils by being more technically efficient.

Migration and Incomes in Source Communities: A New Economics of Migration Perspective from China

The objective of this paper is to understand the effects of China’s migration on source communities and to discuss their policy implications. We draw from New Economics of Labor Migration (NELM) theory to understand how migration and migrant remittances can relax or tighten market constraints in China’s rural economy. Using simultaneous-equation econometric techniques and household survey data from China, we estimate net, sectorspecific effects of migration on rural household income, focusing on farm production and self-employment. Our econometric findings indicate that the loss of labor to migration has a negative effect on household cropping income in source areas. However, we provide evidence that remittances sent home by migrants positively compensate for this lost-labor effect, contributing to household incomes directly and indirectly by stimulating crop and possibly self-employment production. This finding offers evidence in support of the NELM hypothesis that remittances loosen constraints on production in the imperfect-market environments characterizing rural areas in less developed countries. Taking into account both the multiple effects of migration and the change in household size, participating in migration increases household per-capita income between 14 and 30 percent. Migration and Incomes in Source Communities: A New Economics of Migration Perspective from China China is experiencing the largest peacetime flow of labor out of agriculture ever witnessed in world history (Solinger, 1999; Rozelle et al., 1999). Despite the rapid expansion of labor migration, China’s work force is still disproportionately employed in agriculture compared to other countries at similar levels of per-capita GDP (Taylor and Martin, 2001). Hence, as China’s economy continues to expand, the flow of labor to urban areas will continue and even accelerate (Johnson, 1999). The massive flow of labor away from farms has intensified research interest in China’s migration in recent years. However, as in the broader literature on migration in less developed countries, most recent studies on China’s migration have focused on determining the size and composition of the labor flow, macroeconomic implications of increased migration, and the effects of migration on urban areas (Zhao, 1999; Yang, 1999; 1997). Less emphasis has been placed on researching the effects of migration on the rural communities that migrants leave, even though evidence shows that the rural household in the village of origin is typically the central concern of all those involved in migration– both those who leave and those who stay behind (exceptions include Wang and Zuo, 1999; Bai, 2001). Moreover, the recent increase in migration has left policy makers particularly concerned regarding the way source communities will be affected (MOA, 1999). They are concerned that as labor flows away from farms, food production and crop income will decline, potentially threatening China’s food security. Furthermore, policy makers are concerned about the increasing gap between urban and rural household incomes. If migration exacerbates this gap, some fear that as it grows rural residents eventually will flood cities ill-equipped to absorb them. Others fear that discontent over a rising urban-rural income gap could even spill over into political unrest (Yang, 1999). Because China’s markets and other modern economic institutions are still relatively undeveloped, migration may play a pivotal role in creating or overcoming constraints caused by the lack of well-functioning markets and/or institutions (Knight and Song, 1999; Benjamin and Brandt, 2000). The “new economics of labor migration” (NELM) literature analyzes migration as a household decision rather than as an individual decision (Stark, 1991). The NELM hypothesizes that rural households facing imperfect market environments decide

European features for sustainable development: a contribution to the dialogue

Within the framework of agricultural policy-making, the world-wide demands for sustainable development in general are related to the sustainable development of rural areas in particular. According to the definitions of sustainability, four fundamental aspects are considered: (1) food security; (2) employment and income generation; (3) environmental and natural resource conservation; (4) people's participation and empowerment. Different priorities may be set in the implementation of these aspects, expressing different attitudes toward nature, society and the ethical decisions involved. In line with these differences, different strategies for agricultural development are favoured, each with specific consequences for rural development. In this paper, we consider some of the basic features of the above-mentioned problems, focusing on technical aspects but touching upon some underlying social and ethical issues as well. We compare basic requirements of sustainable development with some features of recent strategies, such as integrated agriculture (integrated pest management and integrated plant nutrition systems) and low external input sustainable agriculture (LEISA). Special attention is given to the principles underlying autonomous ecosystem management (AEM), as applied in organic types of agriculture (OA). By aiming for the multi-purpose efficiency of the agro-ecosystem and its subsystems, OA complies with the requirements for a sustainable use of natural resources. Its impact on the environment, nature and landscape meet the requirements of European Community (EC) and national policies. Its economic performance is remarkably similar to that of comparable conventional farms. Yields tend to be somewhat lower than those of high external input agriculture (HEIA), but enough to meet the EC's efforts to diminish overproduction, and OA seems to meet society's need for sufficient good-quality food. Also, higher labour demands in organic agriculture, labour diversification and upgrading at the farm, and the social networks between farmers and consumers make a significant contribution to sustainable social development. This presentation of various development perspectives can widen the options for choices. Far from offering a blueprint or turnkey solution, these considerations are meant as a contribution to a challenging dialogue on agriculture's role in sustainable rural development.

Migration, the family, and the care of the aged in rural Korea: An investigation of a village in the Y% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaqcaaCaaiqaj+eaga% afaaaa!37A1!\[\user1{\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{O} }\]ngs% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaqcaaCaaiqaj+eaga% afaaaa!37A1!\[\user1{\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{O} }\]region of Kangw% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaqcaaCaaiqaj+eaga% afaaaa!37A1!\[\user1{\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{O} }\]n province 1918?1983

Investigation of an outlying village in Kangwŏn Province, South Korea for the period 1918-1983 reveals that before 1960, the patrilineal stem families created when the eldest son remained home and brought in a wife ensured that most aged persons lived in households with adequate income and domestic labor for their maintenance. The rapid industrialization of South Korea which began in the sixties has induced a massive migration of the young and middle-aged from the countryside to the city. Care for parents by eldest sons remains, nevertheless, a legally enforceable duty. Although couples in their fifties and sixties now continue to work rather than retire, and often live alone, this is most commonly a result of the family labor diversification strategies rather than breakdown of the stem family. In spite of recent changes, the stem family continues to supply the primary care and support for the aged in rural Korea.