Search

Human health is frequently omitted from household-level studies on agricultural productivity, land-use choices, and forest degradation and deforestation. Intuition, however, suggests that it could be an extremely important factor. This dissertation is built on three essays that use household survey data from the Brazilian Amazon to examine the conditions under which human health and other critical market conditions are important factors in determining household agriculture production choices and efficiency. Essay I (Chapter 2) examines how health affects the labor allocation and production choices of migrant smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon. We show that the impacts of illness on household decisions depend critically on labor market function in the rural areas of the tropics. Furthermore, results from a formal statistical test of the labor markets shows that they do not work well, in other words are incomplete or thin, in the study area. These results are important both in specification of future smallholder household economic models and in targeting policies to better alleviate poverty and encourage more sustainable use of forest and land resources in similar tropical regions. Essay II (Chapter 3) investigates the role of health as a productive input and non-input factor of production. By using a non-neutral stochastic production approach, the impact of health is decomposed into direct effect on the production function and indirect effects on technical efficiency. The finding of the essay suggests that poor health has significant negative impacts on rural household production. The most important policy implication is that careful designing of agriculture development and rural settlements programs is important, and the provision of health care should be tied to these development projects. Essay III (Chapter 4) examines the demand for labor applied to land clearing, staple food production, livestock, working off-farm, and time taking care of sick people in the ho

Human health is frequently omitted from household-level studies on agricultural productivity, land-use choices, and forest degradation and deforestation. Intuition, however, suggests that it could be an extremely important factor. This dissertation is built on three essays that use household survey data from the Brazilian Amazon to examine the conditions under which human health and other critical market conditions are important factors in determining household agriculture production choices and efficiency. Essay I (Chapter 2) examines how health affects the labor allocation and production choices of migrant smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon. We show that the impacts of illness on household decisions depend critically on labor market function in the rural areas of the tropics. Furthermore, results from a formal statistical test of the labor markets shows that they do not work well, in other words are incomplete or thin, in the study area. These results are important both in specification of future smallholder household economic models and in targeting policies to better alleviate poverty and encourage more sustainable use of forest and land resources in similar tropical regions. Essay II (Chapter 3) investigates the role of health as a productive input and non-input factor of production. By using a non-neutral stochastic production approach, the impact of health is decomposed into direct effect on the production function and indirect effects on technical efficiency. The finding of the essay suggests that poor health has significant negative impacts on rural household production. The most important policy implication is that careful designing of agriculture development and rural settlements programs is important, and the provision of health care should be tied to these development projects. Essay III (Chapter 4) examines the demand for labor applied to land clearing, staple food production, livestock, working off-farm, and time taking care of sick people in the ho

This thesis defense presentation explores the gendered dimensions of conservation agriculture through the following research questions

Lifelong learning in China is explored in terms of China’s developing modernization in the areas of agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Issues involving labor distribution allocation, skill and training, and potential problems are addressed. The role of adult learning in China is contrasted with Western ideas and traced through time to show how it has changed to accommodate the country’s needs in terms of illiteracy and skill development and used to be inexplicably intertwined with the country’s political agenda and educational policy, El artículo explora el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China en relación a la modernización del desarrollo en las áreas de agricultura, industria, industria militar, y ciencia y tecnología. Se tratan temas relacionados con la distribución del factor trabajo, habilidades y formación, y problemas potenciales. El papel del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China se contrasta con ideas de mundo occidental y se analiza a lo largo del tiempo para mostrar cómo ha cambiado para adaptarse a las necesidades del país en términos de analfabetismo y desarrollo de habilidades y cómo, inexplicablemente, se ha entrelazado con la agenda política y educativa del país

Lifelong learning in China is explored in terms of China’s developing modernization in the areas of agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Issues involving labor distribution allocation, skill and training, and potential problems are addressed. The role of adult learning in China is contrasted with Western ideas and traced through time to show how it has changed to accommodate the country’s needs in terms of illiteracy and skill development and used to be inexplicably intertwined with the country’s political agenda and educational policy, El artículo explora el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China en relación a la modernización del desarrollo en las áreas de agricultura, industria, industria militar, y ciencia y tecnología. Se tratan temas relacionados con la distribución del factor trabajo, habilidades y formación, y problemas potenciales. El papel del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China se contrasta con ideas de mundo occidental y se analiza a lo largo del tiempo para mostrar cómo ha cambiado para adaptarse a las necesidades del país en términos de analfabetismo y desarrollo de habilidades y cómo, inexplicablemente, se ha entrelazado con la agenda política y educativa del país

This paper extends Romer's (1990) endogenous growth model by incorporating the heterogeneity of skills among workers. Based on this heterogeneous characteristic, our model has an endogenous labor allocation mechanism determined by the shape of the skill distribution of the workers. Workers are divided between the research and production sectors according to the demand and supply conditions of the economy for their specific skills. We also show that the long-run growth rate of the economy can be characterized by the allocation mechanism.

Lifelong learning in China is explored in terms of China’s developing modernization in the areas of agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Issues involving labor distribution allocation, skill and training, and potential problems are addressed. The role of adult learning in China is contrasted with Western ideas and traced through time to show how it has changed to accommodate the country’s needs in terms of illiteracy and skill development and used to be inexplicably intertwined with the country’s political agenda and educational policy, El artículo explora el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China en relación a la modernización del desarrollo en las áreas de agricultura, industria, industria militar, y ciencia y tecnología. Se tratan temas relacionados con la distribución del factor trabajo, habilidades y formación, y problemas potenciales. El papel del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China se contrasta con ideas de mundo occidental y se analiza a lo largo del tiempo para mostrar cómo ha cambiado para adaptarse a las necesidades del país en términos de analfabetismo y desarrollo de habilidades y cómo, inexplicablemente, se ha entrelazado con la agenda política y educativa del país

Lifelong learning in China is explored in terms of China’s developing modernization in the areas of agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Issues involving labor distribution allocation, skill and training, and potential problems are addressed. The role of adult learning in China is contrasted with Western ideas and traced through time to show how it has changed to accommodate the country’s needs in terms of illiteracy and skill development and used to be inexplicably intertwined with the country’s political agenda and educational policy, El artículo explora el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China en relación a la modernización del desarrollo en las áreas de agricultura, industria, industria militar, y ciencia y tecnología. Se tratan temas relacionados con la distribución del factor trabajo, habilidades y formación, y problemas potenciales. El papel del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida en China se contrasta con ideas de mundo occidental y se analiza a lo largo del tiempo para mostrar cómo ha cambiado para adaptarse a las necesidades del país en términos de analfabetismo y desarrollo de habilidades y cómo, inexplicablemente, se ha entrelazado con la agenda política y educativa del país

This thesis defense presentation explores the gendered dimensions of conservation agriculture through the following research questions

Recent efforts by the Government of Lesotho, non-government organizations (NGOs), and international attention have focused on developing conservation agriculture (CA) practices adapted to the cultural, economic, and agro-ecological conditions. In particular, understanding the influence of the introduction of CA technologies on soil erosion, yields, labor allocation and gender roles is of critical importance for developing sustainable agriculture technologies. This research is a collaborative effort between The National University of Lesotho and The University of Tennessee.

Recent efforts by the Government of Lesotho, non-government organizations (NGOs), and international attention have focused on developing conservation agriculture (CA) practices adapted to the cultural, economic, and agro-ecological conditions. In particular, understanding the influence of the introduction of CA technologies on soil erosion, yields, labor allocation and gender roles is of critical importance for developing sustainable agriculture technologies. This research is a collaborative effort between The National University of Lesotho and The University of Tennessee.