scholarly journals Hired Farm Labor and Policy Direction on Agricultural Labor Markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Seop Kim
2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-232
Author(s):  
Gustavo Anriquez ◽  

This paper identifies the major long-term trends in agricultural labor markets in Chile. The document shows the increasing aging, feminization, and seasonality of the agricultural labor force. Long-term projections are made regarding the evolution of labor supply and demand based on demographic and economic trends. These projections suggest the continuation of the already existing trends of a decreasing supply of labor and an increasing demand for agricultural labor, mostly driven by the substitution of crops into labor-intensive but higher-value export crops. Hence, the paper predicts a continuation of the trend of rapidly increasing labor costs in agriculture. The paper discusses the challenges imposed on farmers and policy-makers of confronting these rapidly growing labor costs by continually raising farm labor productivity.


Author(s):  
Alexandra E. Hill ◽  
Izaac Ornelas ◽  
J. Edward Taylor

The labor supply response to agricultural wages is critical to the viability of crop production in high-income countries, which hire a largely foreign farm work force, as well as in low-income countries, where domestic workers move off the farm as the agricultural transformation unfolds. Modeling agricultural labor supply is more challenging than modeling the supply of other agricultural inputs or of labor to other sectors of the economy owing to unique features of agricultural production and farm labor markets. Data and econometric challenges abound, and estimates of agricultural labor supply elasticities are sparse. This review explains the importance and challenges of modeling farm labor supply and describes researchers’ efforts to address these challenges. It summarizes estimates of agricultural labor supply elasticities over the last 80 years, provides insights into variation in these estimates, identifies priority areas for future research, and reviews the most influential empirical work related to this important topic. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R. Boyer

Historians have long acknowledged that London, because of its enormous size and rapidly growing demand for labor, acted as a powerful magnet for migrants from throughout southern England. However, while there is a large literature documenting the flow of migrants to London, there have been surprisingly few attempts to determine the consequences of this migration for southern labor markets. This article attempts to redress the imbalance in the literature by examining the influence of London on agricultural labor markets during the nineteenth century. In particular, the article examines the effect of distance from London on wage rates in southern England at various points in time, and the effect of labor market conditions in London on short-run changes in agricultural wage rates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 3351-3392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günther Fink ◽  
B. Kelsey Jack ◽  
Felix Masiye

Rural economies in many developing countries are characterized by a lean season in the months preceding harvest, when farmers have depleted their cash and grain savings from the previous year. To identify the impacts of liquidity during the lean season, we offered subsidized loans in randomly selected villages in rural Zambia. Ninety-eight percent of households took up the loan. Loan eligibility led to increases in on-farm labor and agricultural output, driving up wages in local labor markets. Larger effects for poorer households suggest that liquidity constraints contribute to inequality in rural economies. (JEL O13, O15, O18, Q11, Q12, R23)


Author(s):  
Jose Galdo ◽  
Ana C Dammert ◽  
Degnet Abebaw

ABSTRACT Agricultural labor accounts for the largest share of child labor worldwide. Yet, measurement of farm labor statistics is challenging due to its inherent seasonality, variable and irregular work schedules, and the varying saliencies of individuals’ work activities. The problem is further complicated by the presence of widespread gender stratification of work and social lives. This study reports the findings of three randomized survey design interventions over the agricultural coffee calendar in rural Ethiopia to address whether response by proxy rather than by self-report has effects on the measurement of child labor statistics within and across seasons. While the estimates do not report differences for boys across all seasons, the analysis shows sizable self/proxy discrepancies in child labor statistics for girls. Overall, the results highlight concerns on the use of survey proxy respondents in agricultural labor, particularly for girls. The main findings have important implications for policymakers about data collection in rural areas in developing countries.


Author(s):  
Zeki Bayramoğlu ◽  
Merve Bozdemir

Labor is the efficient part of the population in production. Total labor supply that occurs subject to the developments in the population and labor demand that shapes according to the economic conditions; are two basic elements of market formation. Labor markets can be defined as a social organization where supply and demand are met and wage occurs. Labor market among all market structures are in such position that is significantly affected by other units of the economy and highly affects them due to its functioning and features. Therefore, during the production process and planning, it is necessary to analyze the labor markets in detail. The agricultural labor market within the labor markets which forms the basis of the economy and contributes to other markets from various sources, needs to be analyzed. The agricultural labor should be analyzed and classified because of the following reasons; the agricultural labor has direct contribution in the use of natural resources and capital elements in agricultural sector; the labor is used more intensively in the unit area in agricultural activities compared to other sectors; transfer of labor is realized from the agricultural sector to other sectors; agricultural labor composes the source of the hidden unemployment and structural unemployment. In addition, labor in agricultural sector should be classified in order to determine the types of labor force to be used in data formation for public institutions / organizations and to facilitate access to the correct decision processes in the projects and policies to be created by contributing to obtaining reliable statistical data. In line with those determined objectives, this study was carried out to determine the types of labor force in the agricultural sector, to combine the conceptual definitions made and to provide semantic integrity in the literature.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakarsh Singh

Using micro-level farmer expenditure surveys, this article studies the insurgency in the Punjab region of India, thought to have cost over 20,000 lives. It finds that the violence is statistically associated with an 11.4 percent decline in spending on permanent agricultural labor but did not have a statistically significant effect on the use of temporary labor. Moreover, insurgency-related violence likely signaled an increase in future kidnappings of farm labor and may have incentivized labor away from longer duration contracts. Richer farmsteads appear to be more sensitive to insurgent violence than poorer ones in reducing their labor spending.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Sarah Ephrida Tione

This study assesses how growing land scarcity relative to family labor is influencing farm household decisions to trade in agricultural land and labor markets to improve their livelihood. Using the farm household model, I analyze decisions to rent-in land or hire out labor among smallholders in Malawi. I use data from two rounds of a nationally representative balanced-household panel and apply a systems approach to jointly estimate land rental and labor market decisions while controlling for simultaneity and unobserved heterogeneity. The results indicate that the falling owned-land-to-labor-endowment ratio can push households to participate in either land rental or seasonal agricultural labor markets. However, the probability of hiring out labor for casual work and short-term gains decreases when potential tenant households rent-in land. Based on asset-wealth-to-labor-endowment ratios, wealthier households are more likely to rent-in land while poorer households, including most smallholder households, are more likely to hire out labor. These results suggest higher friction in the land rental market compared to the agricultural labor markets and liquidity constraints dictating what is necessary to support agricultural operations and household needs. Accordingly, agricultural policy in Malawi should aim to reduce friction in factor markets.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document