Proportion Of Total Income Research Articles

Characterizing shrimp-farm production intensity in Thailand: Beyond technical indices

This study examines shrimp farmer behaviour in relation to production intensity along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, and its embeddedness in the wider socio-economic context of shrimp farming households. The integrative agent-centred (IAC) framework was used as a basis for designing a structured survey to collect semi-quantitative data for a range of explanatory variables that potentially drive shrimp farmer behaviour. The results show that shrimp farming intensity is associated with a combination of technical (e.g. farm area, pond size, stocking density and production), economic (shrimp selling price, production costs and farm revenue), social (e.g. farm operating years, the use of family labour, engagement in shrimp farming and with other shrimp farmers), and ecological factors (e.g. farmer reliance on natural pond productivity, and constraints brought about by environmental change and fluctuations in productive areas). In addition, the results indicate that a number of external and internal socio-economic factors are related to the decision to adopt a certain level of production intensity, including training received on farming practices, access to technical equipment, proportion of total income from shrimp farming, season-specific changes in production, risk perception, and subjective culture (social norms and roles). This study therefore illustrates that levels of shrimp farming intensity are in fact an indicator of a diversity of socio-economic conditions and behavioural choices, which need to be targeted by sustainability policies differentially and beyond the technical sphere. In showing this, we conclude that national standards aimed at achieving aquaculture sustainability should be designed to reflect the diversity needed to support such a diverse sector, and should be adjustable to better represent different socio-economic contexts.

HOW EMPLOYMENT SHAPES INCOME INEQUALITY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE U.S.

ABSTRACT In this study, we analyze the relationship between the development of occupational structure and income inequality in Brazil and the U.S. While both Brazil and the U.S. face high levels of inequality, low socioeconomic development in Brazil notably reduces the proportion of total income that accrues in the bottom two quintiles of the income distribution. In the U.S., inequality is mostly due to unobserved differences within occupations and has grown in large part because of higher earnings among high-skilled workers. Our results highlight that the effects of occupational structure are generally more pronounced at lower levels of economic development. At the higher level of economic development found in the U.S., inequality appears to increase largely due to rising inequality among high-skilled employees, which may be a function of unobserved organizational variables such as firm productivity and market advantage.

Income and Consumption Pattern of Punjab Cultivators

The threat to food security arises from purchasing power of the population groups. Mere availability of food does not guarantee nutritional security to all. Punjab has witnessed tremendous increase in production and productivity of cereal crops in the wake of adoption of new technology. It was found maximum on mechanized farms and least in case of non-mechanized farms. However, net returns were found to be positive in all the three categories under study, though in case of bullock operated farms, maximum proportion of total income was accruing to non-farm sources. Food has emerged as the main component of domestic expenditure in all the three categories, though its proportion decreased at higher level of mechanization. Within food segment, milk and milk products, wheat and sugar have shown a higher share in total food expenditure. The value of food items furnished by the farm itself was found to be higher on semi-mechanized farms and mechanized farms as compared to non-mechanized farms. In case of wheat consumption, the main staple diet of Punjab, 91 per cent was self produced in all the categories. The nutritional status of selected cultivators when compared with Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) depicted a similar pattern across the categories with a bias towards high energy food items like cereals, milk and fats, but was deficit in porteinous and protective food materials like fish, meat, eggs etc.

Forest-Based Livelihoods Strategies Conditioned by Market Remoteness and Forest Proximity in Jharkhand, India

Summary. — The study uses a novel method to investigate the role of forest proximity, market remoteness, and caste in determining household income, especially forest income, in an underdeveloped region of India. A high (>50%) proportion of total income is earned in cash. Forest products contribute substantially to total income, with fuelwood as the most important forest product. Proximity to forest is associated with higher forest incomes as expected, but remote villages do not have higher forest incomes or lower cash incomes than less remote villages. Higher off-farm income is associated with better road access and higher income households generally. 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-SA license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-sa/3.0/).

Disability and Income

It has long been recognized that people with disabilities usually have less earnings than workers who do not have disabilities. The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)-911 data for 2012 were examined to determine the “true” income of workers with disabilities. The 2012 database included 579,312 cases closed during that year. The benefits and earnings of the whole data set and of 17 disability groups were examined. That is, the amount of earnings (at application for Vocational Rehabilitation [VR] services and at case closure) were combined with the amount of benefits to determine (a) whether total income increased from application for VR services to case closure, (b) the proportion of total income from benefits versus earnings, and (c) how total income for these consumers compared with the poverty level. Overall, those data revealed a 326% increase in total income from application to closure. At application, the proportion of total monthly income from earnings was 42%, whereas at closure, it had shifted to 83% of total income from earnings. Income relative to the poverty threshold was 57% for all clients at application, but had increased to 185% at closure. Results are also provided for each of the 17 disability groups.

Land degradation and population relocation in Northern China

AbstractOvergrazing in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia following market reform in China has led to severe soil degradation and desertification. In an effort to revive the ecological environment in northern pastoral areas, the government of China recently adopted an intervention policy to relocate families from areas where excess grazing pressure was seriously compromising land and the environment. A survey was conducted in three villages to determine how well the relocated families have adapted to their new living conditions and the factors that affect their willingness to stay in the new villages. Regression analysis revealed that the most important factors were age of the head of the household, length of time the family has resided in the new village, proportion of total income that is made up of government payments and level of fixed, durable and current assets.

Migrants, Welfare Systems and Social Citizenship in Ireland and Britain: Users or Abusers?

AbstractPublic discourse on migrant interactions with state welfare systems has often assumed exploitative motivations on the part of migrants, with charges of welfare tourism a recurring theme among segments of the political spectrum. Academic research has also tended to characterise migrant welfare utilisation in simple dichotomous terms where migrants are either ‘welfare dependent’ or not. This article argues for the analytic utility of disaggregating the concept of welfare utilisation into distinct component parts, denoting usage, participation and dependency with regard to state-provided cash welfare benefits. Using EU survey data, these distinct components of welfare utilisation among migrants are assessed in comparative cross-national context, comparing welfare and labour market outcomes for similar cohorts of migrants faced with dissimilar incentive structures. The results have direct implications for policy-makers, and for migrant experiences of social citizenship, in so far as they show little support for the moral hazard view of migrant interactions with welfare systems. Migrants in Ireland's relatively more generous welfare system are seen to have no greater likelihood of welfare dependency, and in fact show a lower usage of welfare (as a proportion of total income) than similar migrants in Britain, controlling for characteristics. Intriguingly, however, the likelihood of forming a partial labour market attachment is seen to respond to increasing levels of welfare usage in Ireland, but not in Britain, suggesting that migrants may be taking an active role in how they define their position in the work-welfare nexus in response to welfare system incentives.

The Funding of Local Voluntary Organisations

This paper reports the findings of an intensive study of the funding experience of a small sample of voluntary agencies in the north of England. It shows that the income of the sample organisations increased from just over £1m in 1989-90 to just over £2m in 1993-94, with statutory funding becoming a larger proportion of total income. The paper looks at changing patterns of funding, at reasons for greater or less success in securing funding, and at the costs offunding success to the organisation. Through a case study approach it explores and explains the paradox of financial growth and constraint.

Impacts of Big Game on Private Land in South-Western Montana: Landowner Perceptions

Increasing populations of big game animals are a problem for private landowners in some parts of western North America. Influence of bit game costs, hunting-related income, noneconomic benefits, size of private land holding, and proportion of total income from agriculture upon landowner management goals as well as perception of damage to forage resources were studied in 1989-1990 using a mail survey of 858 randomly selected southwestern Montana landowners. They reported that elk (Cervus canadensis) populations increased, did not change, or decreased on 71%, 25%, or 4% of their private lands, respectively. Similar trends were reported for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginia), and antelope (Antilocapra americana). More than 50% of the respondents thought that bit tame damaged forage and crop yields, while less than 2% of the respondents thought that bit game was beneficial to forage and crop yields. Big Same consumed a mean of 511 AUMs per private landowner, which contributed to the mean big game cost of $6,353 per landowner. Respondents desiring fewer elk, deer, and antelope outnumbered those desiring more by a 4-to-1 margin. As costs of big game increased and as dependency on agricultural income for livelihood increased, respondents desired fewer big game animals and perceived the impact of big game to be more harmful to forage and crop yields. Landowner attitudes toward big game were not significantly affected by economic returns from big game. Although owners with larger land holdings were more likely to allow hunters access to hunt big game, owners of large- and of small-sized ranches generally regarded big game populations similarly. Results from this survey should be useful in forming natural resource policy.

Global Food Prospects: Goodnews

The author presents evidence to refute Lester R Browns pessimistic views regarding global food prospects. If historical trends continue the food situation can be expected to improve rather than worsen. Browns forecasts about declining food production and price rises stem from his tendency to examine short-run rather than long-run trends. Long-run data indicate an impressive 2.5% increase/year in food production/person. The data further indicate long-run declines in food prices whether measured relative to wages as a proportion of total income or relative to the prices of consumer goods. US soil surveys provide no support for Browns contention that soil erosion has reached alarming levels; in fact the quality of cropland has been improved by shifts in land use. Similarly US agricultural productivity including corn and soybean yields continues to increase rather than decline. The discrepancy between the authors conclusions and those of Brown is attributed to Browns failure to offer trend data pertaining to the issues in dispute.

Medical care: its social and organization aspects. Twentieth-century attitudes toward health and their effect on medicine.

AMERICANS today are spending more, using more and apparently expecting more from their physicians, their hospitals and their clinics than ever before in history. The increased demand by the American public for medical care in general has affected every phase of the entire health and medical-care complex, as indicated by the following trends: gradual rise in the proportion of total income spent on medical care; more prepayment coverage for health care in an increasing variety of plans; demand for more health information by the general public and from more informed sources in addition to attending physicians; the growth of group . . .