scholarly journals The impact of uptake of selected agricultural technologies on rice farmers’ income distribution in Ghana

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Addison ◽  
Kwasi Ohene-Yankyera ◽  
Patricia Pinamang Acheampong ◽  
Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa

Abstract Background Government of Ghana’s effort to reduce income inequality consistently poses a major challenge to public policy formulation. The promotion and dissemination of agricultural technologies as a pathway out of income inequality in rural Ghana have received widespread support. Yet, knowledge about the impact of agricultural technologies on rural income inequality remains low. The objective of the study is to evaluate the link between the uptake of improved rice technologies and income distribution in the study area. Methods This paper uses a survey data from 917 smallholder rice producers in selected communities in Ghana. The study employs the Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model, a two-stage model, to empirically analyse the role of agricultural technologies in rural income distribution. Results The empirical result shows that education, farm size, land ownership, participation in relevant extension training programmes enhance adoption, but gender (female) inhibits uptake of the selected technologies. The empirical result further shows that the uptake of the improved rice seed and fertilizer increases rice farmers’ net revenue significantly. The result further indicates that farmers’ choice of the selected agricultural technologies decreases the sample population income inequality, indicating the uptake of the technologies has an equalizing effect on rice farmers’ income distribution. Conclusion The study concludes that the use of the selected technologies has potential to fight rural poverty in Ghana. The findings have implications for National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) agenda of redistribution of wealth in Ghana.

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406612110014
Author(s):  
Glen Biglaiser ◽  
Ronald J. McGauvran

Developing countries, saddled with debts, often prefer investors absorb losses through debt restructurings. By not making full repayments, debtor governments could increase social spending, serving poorer constituents, and, in turn, lowering income inequality. Alternatively, debtor governments could reduce taxes and cut government spending, bolstering the assets of the rich at the expense of the poor. Using panel data for 71 developing countries from 1986 to 2016, we assess the effects of debt restructurings on societal income distribution. Specifically, we study the impact of debt restructurings on social spending, tax reform, and income inequality. We find that countries receiving debt restructurings tend to use their newly acquired economic flexibility to reduce taxes and lower social spending, worsening income inequality. The results are also robust to different model specifications. Our study contributes to the globalization and the poor debate, suggesting the economic harm caused to the less well-off following debt restructurings.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlai Chen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on urban-rural income inequality in China. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the provincial-level panel data and employs the fixed-effects instrumental variable regression technique to investigate empirically the impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality in China. Findings The study finds that while FDI has directly contributed to reducing urban-rural income inequality through employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, FDI has also contributed to increasing urban-rural income inequality through international trade. Practical implications The study has some policy implications. First, as the study finds that FDI not only contributes to reducing urban-rural income inequality through employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, but also contributes to increasing urban-rural income inequality through international trade, therefore, apart from improving local economic and technological conditions to attract more FDI inflows, China should re-design FDI policies by shifting away from encouraging export-oriented FDI to encouraging FDI flows into the industries and sectors in line with China’s overall economic structural adjustments and industrial upgrading. Second, policies should focus on increasing investment in infrastructure development and in public education, which not only can reduce urban-rural income inequality but also can attract more FDI inflows. And finally policies should be designed to accelerate urbanisation development by focusing on urban-rural integrated development, household registration system reform and proper settlement of rural migrants in urban areas, thus reducing urban-rural income inequality. Originality/value The paper makes two major contributions to the literature. First, the paper adopts the fixed-effects instrumental variable regression technique to deal with the endogeneity issues in estimating the impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality, producing more consistent estimates. Second, the paper investigates not only the direct impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality through the effects of employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, but also the indirect impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality through its activities in international trade, adding new empirical evidence to the sparse literature on the impact of FDI on income inequality in China.


1976 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 797-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Blecher

The issue of equality has become the focus of increasing attention in both China and the west in the past several years. But the empirical basis for analyzing the extent and nature of equality in modern China remains weak, relying as it has on impressions and scattered statistics brought back by visitors. The most systematic summary of available data on one form of equality – income distribution – is Professor Martin Whyte's recent article in The China Quarterly (No. 64) entitled “Inequality and stratification in China.” Whyte's measure of inequality is the ratio of the income of the highest earner to that of the lowest. In his treatment of rural income, Whyte reports intra-team ratios for 18 communes visited by Keith Buchanan as around 3:1, a ratio of 14:1 for Liu-lin village visited by Jan Myrdal in 1962, and 3:1 or 4:1 for villages in his own interview research. On the basis of this kind of data, Whyte concludes that income inequality within China's production teams is relatively low but not outstandingly so in comparison with pre-1949 China or with other Asian countries. He suggests that the “modest” level of income inequality in rural China today may be as much the result of a relatively equal distribution before 1949 as of post-Liberation agricultural development and redistribution of the means of production.


Author(s):  
Леонид Басовский ◽  
Leonid Basovskiy ◽  
В. Бабанов ◽  
V. Babanov ◽  
Елена Басовская ◽  
...  

In order to assess the extent to which the institutions of government in the current conditions in recent years in Russia — the activity of government officials and local governments affected economic growth, the correlation of the number of this category of workers with the growth rates of the economy was evaluated. The results show that by 2002 the positive correlation between the number of employees of state bodies and local self-government and the rate of economic growth was a negative one. The activities of employees of state and local governments began to slow down economic growth in the country. In order to assess how the change in the level of inequality of income distribution in modern Russia is due to the activities of employees of state-shock authorities and local self-government, its relation to the number of employees in this category of funds, which reflects the degree of income inequality, was evaluated. The results show that by 2011 the negative relationship between the number of employees of state bodies and local governments and the level of inequality of income distribution of growth replaced by a positive relationship. The activities of employees of state and local governments began to contribute to reducing the level of inequality of income distribution in the country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
pp. 04003
Author(s):  
Andryan Setyadharma ◽  
Shanty Oktavilia ◽  
Sri Utami ◽  
Audina Rizka Noormalitasari

Income inequality may hinder rural development and education is seen an important tool in rural development processes as well as it become an effective way in reducing rural income inequality. Human capital theory suggests that higher education can increase income, and it will decrease income inequality. The first objective of this study is to examine the effect of education on rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study also examines the relationship between environmental deterioration and rural income inequality. Studies about the impact of higher levels of inequality on environmental deterioration are not new, but the opposite studies are rare. Therefore, the second objective of this study is to examine the effect of environmental deterioration on rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study applies panel data from 32 provinces in Indonesia during 2012 to 2018. The results show that higher education resulting in lower rural income inequality in Indonesia. Furthermore, the finding also shows that the efforts to reduce environmental deterioration resulting in lower rural income inequality in Indonesia. This study suggests that it is vital to improve education level and to apply nature-friendly approaches to reduce income gaps in rural areas so the rural development goals can be achieved.


Author(s):  
Neşe Algan ◽  
Erhan İşcan ◽  
Duygu Serin Oktay

Ensuring a fair income distribution to increase social welfare is one of the main objectives of economic policies. With the acceleration of innovations in information and communication technology in the 20th century, the developments in technology have been characterized as the main reason for growth, welfare and productivity growth. However, rapid technological developments have revealed that significant changes in the dynamics of income inequalities occur at the same time. The growth in income inequality has increased significantly in many countries recently. Accordingly, the notion that the spread of technology has led to growth in income inequality has attracted attention in recent years. In the light of this information, the aim of the study is to reveal the impact of the spread of new technologies on income inequality and the factors underlying the income inequality dynamics. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technology spillovers on income inequality of selected OECD countries including Turkey using panel data analysis. The data for all countries obtained from the World Bank’s Development Indicators and OECD. Stat. The empirical conclusion indicated the effect of the technology spillovers on income inequality. This empirical finding contributed to promote the existing literature, and also draws main attention of policymakers. Because, knowing the factors underlying income inequality, which is seen as an important economic and social problem, is important in determining effective policies to ensure a more equitable income distribution.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matthew Nolan

<p>This dissertation investigates the role tax and transfer policy changes played in the evolution of New Zealand disposable income inequality between 1988 and 2013. Across five papers, the key changes in tax and transfer policies are identified, the labour supply response of individuals to the changes are estimated, and the impact of these changes on the income distribution is quantified. Overall, nearly 40% of the increase in income inequality during this period is attributable to changes in the tax-transfer system.  The tax and transfer payment changes investigated in this dissertation cover the gradual flattening of the tax scale over the 1980/90s, the reduction in benefit payments following the 1991 Mother of All Budgets, the introduction of Working for Families in 2005, and the erosion of transfer payments relative to the average wage throughout the period.  Given these changes, the efficacy of the tax transfer system for meeting vertical and horizontal equity goals is evaluated using data from the Household Economic Survey (HES). The redistributive effect of tax-transfer policy fell from 22.6 Gini points to 18.2 Gini points between 1988/91 and 2011/13, with a corresponding decline in the amount of vertical equity in the tax-transfer system. Between the same periods the degree of horizontal inequity rose,although this was predominantly the result of greater targeting in the tax-transfer system.  The adjustment in the structure of the tax-transfer system not only leads to a change in tax liabilities and transfer payments, but also generates a behavioural change by individuals with regards to the number of hours they would be willing to work. Preference parameter estimates over hours of work and income are generated for individuals in the sample, with imputed wages estimated for those who are out of work.  A tax-transfer microsimulation model, that utilises wage and preference parameter estimates, is then used to construct counterfactual scenarios where the tax-transfer system of a given year is applied to the population of other years. For example, the tax-transfer system of 1988-1991 is applied to the population in 2010-2013 in order to create a scenario representing what the disposable income distribution in 2010-2013 would look like with the 1988-1991 tax-transfer system. Estimates from this process suggest that nearly 40% of the increase in disposable income inequality between the 1988/91 and 2010/13 periods was due to the change in payments and labour supply behaviour associated with tax-transfer policy adjustments.  Other potential drivers of income inequality change were investigated by reweighting the HES data of one period to more closely represent the population of another period. Although shifts in the share of individuals in part time work also generated an increase in income inequality, the lift in higher educational attainment over this period is estimated to have reduced income inequality more sharply (by nearly 22%). The shift in the age distribution towards prime-aged work was not associated with any change in the aggregate income inequality measure.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Mares

ABSTRACTThis article examines how government policy affects the sustainability and inclusiveness of national development after the boom. The impact of the latest commodity boom (2003-2014) on the sustainability and inclusiveness of Latin American national development varies, but not by whether governments were ideologically left. I present the economic results of the commodity boom for the major Latin American countries, followed by the social results as measured by the reduction in poverty rates and income inequality. I examine potential countervailing economic factors that could mitigate the importance of the political economic determinants of the use of resource wealth. Finding the countervailing economic factors inadequate to explain the variation in social results, I propose that the political economy of linking resource wealth with economic and social outcomes is the key determinant. I conclude the paper with a discussion of current challenges post-commodity boom.Keywords: Commodity Boom; Poverty; Income Inequality. RESUMOEste artigo examina como a política do governo afeta a sustentabilidade e a inclusão do desenvolvimento nacional após o boom. O impacto do último boom das commodities (2003-2014) na sustentabilidade e inclusão do desenvolvimento nacional da América Latina varia, mas não pelo fato de os governos serem ideologicamente de esquerda. Apresento os resultados econômicos do boom das commodities para os principais países da América Latina, seguidos pelos resultados sociais medidos pela redução das taxas de pobreza e desigualdade de renda. Examino os possíveis fatores econômicos compensatórios que podem mitigar a importância dos determinantes político-econômicos do uso de recursos financeiros. Considerando os fatores econômicos compensadores inadequados para explicar a variação nos resultados sociais, proponho que a economia política de vincular os recursos financeiros a resultados econômicos e sociais seja o principal determinante. Concluo o artigo com uma discussão dos desafios atuais do pós boom das commodities.Palavras-chaves: Boom de Commodities; Pobreza; Desigualdade De Renda.


Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaozhun Peng ◽  
Hongyou Lu

“Creating conditions for more people to have property income” has become a national policy after the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Based on the micro survey data from Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and the macro panel data at the provincial level, a logarithmic linear equation was built to estimate the impact of micro and macro factors on property income. Furthermore, the contribution of fiscal expenditure and financial development on property income equality can be recognized using the regression-based inequality decomposition method. This research revealed that fiscal expenditure improves residents’ property income and slightly reduces the inequality of property income distribution. With respect to financial development, it improves residents’ property income but aggravates the inequality of property income distribution. However, there is a significant difference between the different regions. In eastern and central regions, inequality of property income distribution greatly benefits from fiscal expenditure, while in northwest regions, fiscal expenditure makes property income inequality even worse. Therefore, the focus of financial sustainable development is to reduce property income inequality through the establishment of an effective government and the improvement of the rule of laws.


Author(s):  
Buhari Doğan ◽  
Muhlis Can ◽  
Osman Değer

Regardless of their level of developments, the income distribution problem is one of the most important economic and social problems the countries face. In recent years, scholars have performed multiple studies to determine the factors affecting income distribution. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of military expenditures on income inequality in a sample of North American countries (the USA, Canada, and Mexico), within the context of the Kuznets curve. The study covers between 1995-2013. In unit root Peseran approach, in cointegration analysis, Durbin-Hausmann approach were employed. The findings show that the coefficient of the military expenditures series is positive and the coefficient of square of the military expenditures is negative. This situation shows that military expenditures first increase and then reduce income inequality. Findings indicate that there is an inverse “U” relationship between military expenditures and income inequality. Moreover, it has been detected that as economic growth increases income inequality decreases.


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