Poverty, consumption risk, and soil conservation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shively, GE
• 署名单位: Purdue University System; Purdue University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3878(01)00137-7
• 发表日期: 2001
• 页码: 267-290
• 关键词: poverty; Consumption risk; soil conservation

摘要

This paper studies the impact of poverty and uninsured consumption risk on incentives to invest in soil conservation. A stochastic dynamic model is used to show how consumption risks and costs of investment influence incentives to adopt soil conservation measures on low-income farms. The model is calibrated using production data from hillside farms in the Philippines. Simulations with the model demonstrate how the value of soil conservation depends on the cost of investing, the risk characteristics of the soil conservation method and differences among households in capacity to bear risk. Model predictions are compared with empirical adoption patterns, as described by a probit model and nonparametric kernel regressions of adoption probability. Empirical findings show how differences in farm size, tenure security, risk exposure, and access to credit help to explain patterns of soil conservation adoption. Implications for policy are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.