Commodity Prices and Intra-Household Labor Allocation

Ulrik Beck, Saurabh Singhal and Finn Tarp

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2019, vol. 101, issue 2, 436-454

Abstract: Volatility in commodity markets poses a distinct risk to farmers in developing countries who rely on cash crop agriculture. We combine a time series of international coffee prices with a long-running panel on coffee-growing households in Vietnam to investigate coping mechanisms employed by farmers in a transitioning economy. We find that households cope with lower coffee prices by increasing wage labor of adults, with children and adolescents substituting for adults on the farm. Heterogeneity analysis indicates a stronger substitution pattern among women, ethnic minorities, and households with fewer assets. A variety of robustness checks corroborate these findings. Account of this finding should be taken in formulating and implementing social protection and inclusive growth policies.

Keywords: Commodity prices; income shocks; intra-household allocation; labor supply; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:101:y:2019:i:2:p:436-454.

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