The purpose of this thesis was to assess the economic implications of an export promotion policy on poverty reduction and inter-industry growth of Ethiopia. The study was conducted in four steps. The first and the second steps involved simulation scenarios. Scenario 1 simulated the change in the...

Since Senegal's independence in 1960, groundnuts (peanuts) have been the dominant agricultural export crop. Currently, groundnut output levels are on the decline and no clear reason for the downward trend has been found. Privatization efforts are underway as the government explores ways to...

There is growing interest in learning the impacts of agricultural technologies especially in developing economies. Economic analysis may entail assessment of employment and time allocation effects of new technologies. An issue of importance in South Asia is the impacts of technological change on...

The overall objective of this study is to develop a framework to predict the impacts of government policies on agricultural production in Albania. The specific goal of this study is to provide some empirical estimates of the farmers' short-run supply response to government policies that effect...

Cost-effective extension strategies are needed to promote widespread adoption of agricultural technologies in developing countries. Integrated pest management (IPM) practices, for example, can offer economic, health, and environmental benefits but remain largely underused. This study evaluates...

Experimental auctions were used to determine factors affecting the willingness to pay (WTP) of Ugandan rural and urban populations to avoid consuming pesticide residues. Information or type of proxy good did not affect WTP, while education had no effect in the urban population and had a negative...

The objective of this study is to determine whether there are inadequacies in the rural financial markets of Virginia. The analysis is based on data from a survey of farm and non-farm small businesses, in five rural counties in Virginia. A Probit model is used to determine whether the financing...

The state of Virginia has been a leader in the design and implementation of welfare reform measures. State welfare reforms were enacted in 1996 and federal reforms followed shortly after in 1996. Initial decreases in program caseloads and the movement of former recipients from unemployment to...

This dissertation contains three related papers. The first paper revisits the concept of integrated rural development and provides examples on how to design balanced development work programs for the Trifinio region, a small rural region shared by 3 Central American countries. Work programs...