Critics of globalization claim that U.S. manufacturing firms are being driven by the prospects of cheaper labor to shift employment abroad. Yet the evidence, beyond anecdotes, is slim. Using firm-level data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), we estimate the impact on U.S....

We investigate the Philippine government's price stabilization policy for rice. Seemingly Unrelated Regressions are used to examine the effectiveness of the program at regional and national levels over a 21-year period (January 1983 to December 2003). Results of the regional analysis indicate...

This paper tests a series of prominent hypotheses regarding the determinants of per-capita income using a novel spatial econometric approach to control for spillovers among neighboring countries and for spatially correlated omitted variables. We use simultaneous equations to identify alternative...

We analyze the correlation between farm productivity and market participation using comparable household data from Tanzania, Vietnam and Guatemala. Each farm’s input use and output levels provide a within-sample measure of relative productivity, which we relate to that household’s level of...

This dissertation evaluates the impact of quality certification on the demand for locally-produced infant foods. To avoid stunting or wasting, most children aged 6-24 months need to complement breastmilk with processed foods having higher energy density than adult foods. Donors have subsidized...

Innovations in cassava production are critical for food security and poverty alleviation among many of the most vulnerable populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In the West African context, new varieties have been developed by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (HTA)...

Poverty is higher among farmers with low market participation and low productivity. Governments and international organizations often target either one or the other to improve farmer's income. But the way in which market participation and agricultural productivity affect each other remains...

Food insecurity and extreme poverty are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 70 percent of the African population relies on agriculture. Improving farm productivity and promoting market access are both important strategies to help farmers increase sales and alleviate poverty, but the...