We used a primary panel survey at the household level conducted in 18 remote natural villages over three waves in China to study how road access shapes farmers’ agricultural production patterns and input uses. Our results show that access to roads is strongly associated with specialization in...

Traditional economic theory posits that a well functioning capital market is a necessary condition for industrialization and economic growth. However, in reality it is observed that micro and small enterprises are ubiquitous because entrepreneurs can set up business in low-return activities with...

Understanding how small enterprises overcome capital barriers is the key to understanding China's rapid development. The literature traditionally emphasizes the development of financial market to raise small amount of loan. By studying the division of labor in the cashmere sweater cluster in...

Increased regional inequality has been a major concern in many emerging economies like China, India, Vietnam and Thailand. However, even a large inequality is observed within the lagging regions. The objective of this paper is to look into what are the sources of within region inequality using...

Wenzhou used to be one of the poorest regions in eastern China. With limited arable land, poor road access to major cities, and little support from the government, it seemed to lack all the necessary conditions for economic growth according to the standard textbook. However, over the past...

Ethiopia has experienced high food prices, especially since 2005. This paper examines the welfare impacts of rising food prices in rural Ethiopia using Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) approach controlled for expenditure endogeniety and zero consumption expenditure. The elasticity...

Ethiopia has experienced high food prices since early 2004. This paper examines the welfare impacts of rising food prices in rural Ethiopia using Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) approach controlled for expenditure endogeniety and zero consumption expenditure. The elasticity...

In 2005, Ethiopia implemented a major new social transfer program, the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) that involves some form of work requirement in exchange for either cash or in‐kind transfers (or a mix of the two), with the composition of the transfers administratively set to be...