• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

G²LM|LIC

  • About
    • History
    • Investigators
    • Team
  • Projects
    • GLM|LIC
      • Agricultural Labour Markets
      • Gender and Employment
      • Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries
      • Migration
      • Skill Training
    • G²LM|LIC
      • Fact & Policy
      • Fertility & Labour markets
      • Barriers to gender parity
      • The Future of Work
      • Policies & Welfare
    • COVID-19
  • Publications
    • Policy Briefs
    • Synthesis Papers
    • Working Papers
    • Published Articles
    • Book
    • Datasets
  • Events
  • Evidence Finder
  • Jobs of the World

Should Farmers Farm more? Comparing Marginal Products within Malawian Households

It is well known within the field of development economics that farming is an economic activity confronted with risk. It is thought that farmers usually confront the risk of having their crop wasted by natural forces that vary in duration and frequency, by substituting farm- to non-farm labor. In this sense, economic literature would further predict, that while doing so, households are also motivated by the fact that non-farm work tends to be more productive. Thus, policies and efforts in many developing countries have been directed to strengthen the non-farm sector and enable its development.

Analyzing 3 waves of the Malawi Integrated Household Survey, the authors of the Working Paper investigate the impact of risk on the allocation decisions of agricultural households, and confront the claim that the non-farm sector is more productive and that the labor transition to it is motivated by more profits. To undergo their research question, the authors turn to the metric of the Marginal Revenue Product of Labor (MRPL), which describes what a further effective unit of labor brings about in terms of revenue. What they find, is that the MRPL is, on average, higher in farm- than in non-farm labor. Correspondingly, different types of risk influence household’s labor decision and thus prevent them from undergoing the choices that would bring about the higher mean income. Read the detailed Working Paper here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « SME’s During COVID-19
Next Post: Jobs of the World Project Launch »

Primary Sidebar

COVID-19

News from our Twitter Account

  • In a new @GLMLIC #PolicyBrief, @AndrewBrudevold, @PJakiela, Gerald Ipapa, Maddalena Honorati, and @OwenOzier compar… https://t.co/8e04V1LZXa January 31, 2023 12:46 pm
  • In a new @GLMLIC #PolicyBrief, @nihasingh06 and @SharvariRavish1 explore how access to information about local labo… https://t.co/9BCssO5vD0 January 25, 2023 1:30 pm
  • Watch here the Programme Coordinator of the G²LM|LIC Programme, Prof. @orianabandiera, discussing poverty traps, la… https://t.co/Aqht7PPkRI January 10, 2023 1:28 pm
Twitter

Footer

IZA Logo

Established in 1998 in Bonn, Germany, IZA is an independent, non-profit research institution supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation with a focus on the analysis of global labour markets. It operates an international network of about 1,500 economists and researchers spanning across more than 50 countries.

Based on academic excellence and an ambitious publication strategy, IZA serves as a place of communication between academic science and political practice.

DFID Logo

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) leads the UK's work to end extreme poverty. We're ending the need for aid by creating jobs, unlocking the potential of girls and women, and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.

FCDO is a ministerial department, supported by 12 agencies and public bodies.

© 2012–2023 | IZA – Institute of Labor Economics | Code of Conduct | Imprint