scholarly journals Farm Labor Monopsony: Farm Business And The Child Hierarchical Model Of Fertility

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Douglas B. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Labor Demand ◽  
Farm Labor ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Farm Business ◽  
Low Wages

Arthur Lewis (1954) classic article on duel labor markets suggests that subsistence labor, due to high fertility and overpopulation, causes low wages.  Basu (1999) and Dessy (2000) show a compelling theory for high fertility in developing countries where regions go into a poverty trap of low labor demand, low wages and overpopulation.  An alternative explanation for overpopulation has to do with a simple farm business model where farming families have a labor monopsony for their own child labor.  Child labor, not from society at large but from the farm family’s own children, can be a source of labor to run a farm business.  The farm business model shows how, due to simple monopsony characteristics, it may be cheaper for a farmer to use fertility induced, family child labor, rather than expensive non-family labor, to provide his labor supply and increase his rent.  Children can provide the farmer with labor that has a psychological barrier to exit, making it easy to add human capital without paying a high wage.  However, due to sibling rivalry and child psychological growth stages of binding, delegating and expelling, older children will be forced to leave the farm inducing greater fertility to replace them.  We assume capital investment options and the use of technology are limited for such farms due to monsoon rainy seasons, dense forests or steep hills, which suggests the need for labor intensive farms.  The end result is that child labor is a way to provide significant profit to a farm business. 

Airbnb and the paradox of the body: The biopolitical management of hosts in four tourist towns in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 144078332110001
Author(s):  
Stella Pennell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Part Time Work ◽  
Low Wages

Airbnb is emblematic of a set of business practices commonly known as ‘the sharing economy’. It is a disruptive business model of homestay accommodation that has exploited conditions of growing precarity of work since 2008. Work precarity is particularly evident in regional tourist areas in New Zealand, which historically experience seasonal, part-time work and low wages. Airbnb draws specifically on the rhetoric of micro-entrepreneurism, with focus on individual freedom and choice: appealing concepts for those experiencing precarity. This article challenges the rhetoric of Airbnb and investigates notions of home, authenticity and hospitality that are reconceptualized under a specific regime of digital biopolitics. Drawing on research conducted in four regional tourist towns in New Zealand this article analyses the biopolitical interpellations that impact hosts’ subjectivities as entities in motion and considers the ways that the rationalities of Airbnb’s algorithms modulate the embodied behaviours of its hosts.

Rethinking Labor Demand

2020 ◽  
pp. 174-194
Author(s):  
Phillip Brown
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Labor Demand ◽  
Occupational Structure ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Orthodox Theory ◽  
Investments In Education ◽  
And Training

This chapter turns to questions of labor demand at the heart of the new human capital. It rejects Gary Becker’s claim that orthodox theory offered an entirely new way of looking at labor markets, where the main focus is on labor scarcity and a skills competition, in which individuals, firms, and nations compete on differential investments in education and training. It also rejects David Autor’s claim that the issue is not that middle-class workers are doomed by automation and technology, but instead that human capital investment must be at the heart of any long-term strategy for producing skills that are complemented by rather than substituted for by technological change. The chapter argues that the new human capital rejects the view that demand issues can be resolved through a combination of technological and educational solutions. Rather a jobs lens is required to shed new light on changes in the occupational structure, transforming the way people capitalize on their education, along with the distribution of individual life chances.

scholarly journals Gender Bias in Agricultural Child Labor: Evidence from Survey Design Experiments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Galdo ◽  
Ana C Dammert ◽  
Degnet Abebaw
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Farm Labor ◽  
Agricultural Labor ◽  
Gender Stratification ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Rural Ethiopia ◽  
Labor Statistics

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.

scholarly journals Implications of Water Scarcity for Water Productivity and Farm Labor

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 308
Author(s):  
James F. Booker ◽  
W. Scott Trees
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Labor Supply ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Labor Demand ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Farm Labor ◽  
Seasonal Workers ◽  
Response To Water

Increasing water scarcity causes a variety of pressures on agricultural production given current and growing food demands. This paper seeks to add to our understanding of water scarcity adaptations by explicitly addressing linkages between water scarcity, water productivity, cropping choices, and farm labor. We challenge the widespread claim that tightening foreign (especially Mexican) labor supply will necessarily result in less labor-intensive crop choices. Instead, by linking water scarcity and farm labor through the lens of water productivity we illustrate scenarios under which climate and technological change result in greater future labor demand in agriculture, including temporary and seasonal workers, largely due to water productivity increases resulting from switching to more labor-intensive crops. We conclude that a focus on crop choices is central to understanding changes in water productivity, labor demand, and technological innovations in response to water scarcity.

scholarly journals Pekerja Anak dan Goncangan Pertanian di Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayu Kharisma
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Wealth Effect ◽  
Farm Business

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh goncangan gagal panen terhadap pekerja anak dan peran aset yang digunakan oleh rumahtangga, baik farm business dan non-farm business dapat mengurangi pengaruh dari goncangan tersebut. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa bencana gagal panen tidak berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap pekerja anak pada usia 5-14 tahun. Hal ini mengidikasikan bahwa pada saat terjadi goncangan gagal panen, rumahtangga tidak menggunakan strategi coping dengan menambah pekerja anak untuk meredam berbagai guncangan tersebut. Sementara itu, aset yang digunakan untuk non farm business mampu mengurangi permintaan untuk pekerja anak (demand for child labor). Disisi lain, farm business assets berpengaruh positif terhadap pekerja anak usia 5-14. Hal ini mengindikasikan adanya fenomena wealth effect yang terjadi di Indonesia.

scholarly journals Vertical integration vs. specialization: a nonparametric conditional efficiency estimate for the global semiconductor industry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangshun Qiao ◽  
Zhan-ao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Vertical Integration ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Semiconductor Industry ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Nonparametric Approach ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Integrated Device ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper applies a two-stage nonparametric approach to compare companies operating in different business models in the global semiconductor industry. Using panel data over 1999–2018 on 470 companies in the global semiconductor industry, we explore the operating performance of the semiconductor companies conditional on capital investment and between the integrated device manufacturers and the fabless-foundry business model. We find that vertically integrated device manufacturers are constrained heavily by capital investment. Disentangling the effects of capital investment and business model by a second-stage nonparametric regression, this paper identifies that the vertically specialized fabless-foundry business model helps to improve pure efficiency and mitigate the impact of business-cycle in the global semiconductor industry.

Understanding abusive child labor practices in the shadow of the Arab spring

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeb F. Al Ganideh ◽  
Linda K Good
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Refugee Child ◽  
Working Children ◽  
Labor Practices ◽  
Syrian Civil War

Purpose – The Syrian civil war that forced hundreds of thousands of Syrian women and children into Jordan as refugees dramatically increased the number of child labourers in that country. The current investigation aims to establish a body of knowledge on the issues surrounding child labour in Jordan by providing an exploratory diagnosis of the phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to explore verbal and physical abusive practices towards working children and investigate whether there are differences between the treatment of domestic and Syrian refugee child labourers. Design/methodology/approach – The research design is quantitative; however, we use a qualitative technique to support and expand the research findings. Data were collected from 124 Jordanian and Syrian working children over a seven-month period in 2013. Findings – The results reveal that it is poverty that forces Jordanian children into work while Syrian children are driven by the need for asylum. Of the abusive practices directed towards working children, verbal abuse is the most common. Older children, children from unstable families and those who work long hours are more vulnerable to this form of abuse, while children from unstable family structures and who work long hours are more likely to experience physically abuse. The results reveal that Syrian children are paid much less, are less verbally abused, had better schooling and perceive working conditions more positively than do their Jordanian counterparts. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this research arise from the size the sample. Social implications – The current study aims to raise awareness about the importance of preventing abusive practices towards local and refugee children working in Jordan. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, very little is known about refugee child labour and how it might differ from domestic child labour.

The Hazards of Child Labor

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-313
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
The United States ◽  
Farm Labor ◽  
Family Farms ◽  
American Children ◽  
Fair Labor

Child labor is the paid employment of children under 18 years of age. Today, more than 4 million children and adolescents in the United States are legally employed.1 Illegal child labor is also widespread and apparently has increased in frequency over the past decade. An estimated 1 to 2 million American children and adolescents are employed under unlawful, often exploitative conditions—working under age, for long hours, at less than minimum wage, on dangerous, prohibited machinery. Widespread employment of children in sweatshops—establishments that repeatedly violate fair labor as well as occupational health and safety standards—has been documented.2,3 Tens of thousands of children are employed in illegal farm labor. Detected violations of child labor laws increased fourfold from 1983 to 1989.4 LEGAL CONTEXT Since 1938, child labor in the United States has been regulated under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).5 Under this Act, employment in any hazardous nonagricultural occupation is prohibited for all children less than 18 years old. No child under 18 may work in mining, logging, construction, on a motor vehicle, or with power-driven machinery. The Act imposes additional restrictions on the employment of children under age 16 and sets limits on the number of hours a child may work on school days (no more than 3 hours per day for 14- and 15-year-olds). In agriculture, where legal restrictions are much less stringent, work with power-driven equipment and hazardous pesticides is prohibited only until age 16, and all work on family farms is exempt from legal protection. Work permits are a central aspect of the administration of FLSA.

Effect of intercropping forage peas (Pisum sativum L.) with winter wheat (Tritium vulgare L.) or triticale (Triticale hexaploide Lart.) on DM yield, nutritive characteristics when harvested at different stages of growth

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 949 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Jacobs ◽  
G. N. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Total Contribution ◽  
Winter Cereal ◽  
Winter Cereals ◽  
Boot Stage

An experiment was undertaken over 2 years (2007–09) to determine the effect of intercropping forage peas with either forage winter wheat or triticale for whole-crop silage. Monocultures of triticale (T100), wheat (W100) and forage peas (P100) and plus cereal–pea combinations of 75% triticale : 25% pea (T75), 50% triticale : 50% pea (T50), 25% triticale : 75% pea (T25), 75% wheat : 25% pea (W75), 50% wheat : 50% pea (W50), 25% wheat : 75% pea (W25), with ratios based on sowing rate, were evaluated for DM yield and nutritional characteristics at a range of growth stages. It was hypothesised that an increase in the ratio of peas to cereal would not adversely affect DM yield and would have a positive impact on nutritive characteristics across a range of harvest times based on growth stages of the cereal component of mixes. In Year 1, at the boot stage of growth of cereals, P100 had a lower DM yield than W100 and all triticale-based treatments, while in Year 2 P100 had a lower DM yield than all other treatments. By the soft dough growth stage in Year 1, all triticale treatments except T25 had higher DM yields than P100 and in Year 2 P100 had a lower DM yield than all triticale treatments and W100. The crude protein (CP) concentration of P100 at the boot stage of growth was higher than T100, T75, T50, W100 and W50 in Year 1 and all treatments in Year 2. At soft dough, P100 had a higher CP concentration than all other treatments in both years, while T25 and W25 had higher CP concentrations than their respective monocultures. In Year 1 at soft dough, W100 had a lower estimated ME concentration than other wheat treatments and P100, while in Year 2, T50 and W50 had higher values than T100 and W100, respectively. Bi-cropping forage peas with winter cereal forage crops did not adversely affect DM yields at a range of different harvest times, but did not consistently and significantly improve nutritive characteristics. Despite relatively high sowing rates of forage peas, their total contribution in mixes with cereals to DM yield was low, indicating that their ability to compete with winter cereals under the high fertility conditions of the experiment was low. When grown as a monoculture peas tended to produce lower DM yields but had higher CP concentrations and a higher harvested CP/ha at the soft dough stage of growth. The timing of harvesting will affect DM yields and nutritive characteristics and can be manipulated depending upon the end use of the feed grown and also to allow greater flexibility in the sowing of subsequent forages. Consideration should also be given to the growing of monocultures of winter cereals and forage peas and developing systems to mix during ensiling to capture both DM yield potential and optimum nutritive characteristics.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Labor Demand and Supply in the Sugarcane Industry of Puerto Rico

1969 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-32
Author(s):  
Reinaldo Calero ◽  
Parimal Choudbury ◽  
George E. Pringle
Keyword(s):  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Response Function ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Labor Demand ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Farm Labor ◽  
Demand And Supply ◽  
Daily Wage ◽  
Sugarcane Industry

Farm-labor demand and supply relations were estimated for the agricultural sector of the sugarcane industry. The analysis is based on time-series data for the period covering 1950-51 to 1965-66. A linear regression model was used because of its suitability and convenience. The results indicated that about 89 percent of the variation (R2 = 0.8908) of farm-labor requirements could be accounted for by the combined effects of: 1, Annual acreages of sugarcane grown; 2, labor productivity per man-day; and 3, average wage for hired farm-labor. The equation for the postulated functional relationship indicates that an increase of 1 acre of sugarcane land is associated with an increase in demand of 16.23 man-days of farm hired labor. In the opposite direction, an increase in labor productivity of 0.10 of cane per man-day and $1 in average daily wage tend to reduce farm labor demand by 902,800 man-days and 1,809,500 man-days, respectively. On the other hand, it was postulated that the quantity of labor available to the agricultural sector of the sugarcane industry is a function of: 1, Average daily wage paid for hired farm labor; 2, population change; and 3, period of time. The estimated response function strongly supported this postulation. About 96 percent of the variation (R2 = 0.9596) in labor availability in the agricultural sector of the sugarcane industry is explained by these three variables. Both factors, population growth and higher wages for hired farm labor, tend to increase labor availability in the agricultural sector of the sugarcane industry, but in the long run, changing conditions related to time cause the opposite. For instance, an increase of $1 in average daily wage for farm labor and one unit change in the index of population are associated, respectively, with an increase of 854,000 and 367,000 man-days in the quantity of labor available. But, over time, labor availability in this sector of the sugarcane industry is associated with a reduction of 1,607,000 man-days according to the estimated response function.

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