There are two mechanisms by which modern genetically modified organism (GMO) products can affect productivity in developing countries. The first is the ‘Genes for Rent’ mechanism where a recipient country agrees with a GMO company to incorporate a GMO product (e.g., a Bt gene in cotton...

Labor markets in all economies are subject to transaction costs associated with recruiting, monitoring and supervising workers. The level of transaction costs affects labor and land contract choices and family labor advantages. Rural labor markets in developing economies, where institutions such...

This paper present a model of the Green Revolution in India, in which the development and diffusion of HYVs, the expansion of irrigation and the expansion of multiple-cropping are treated as endogenous responses to more basic investments in agricultural technology and infrastructure, as well as...

Long-Run Structural and Productivity Change in U.S. Agriculture: Effects of Prices and Policies by Wallace E. Huffman and Robert E. Evenson The paper presents (1) a conceptual framework for structural change when farms may be multiproduct or specialized and (2) an econometrics examination of...

The paper examines effects of agricultural extension on crop yields in Kenya controlling for other determinants of yields, notably the schooling of farmers and agro-ecological characteristics of arable land. The data we use were collected by the Government of Kenya in 1982 and 1990, but the...

Rice is the most important food grain in developing countries. Rapid population growth in developing countries during the 1950s and 1960s presented a massive challenge to rice producers. Rice production would have to be expanded at historically unprecedented rates to maintain per capita rice...

Labor markets in all economies are subject to transaction costs associated with recruiting, monitoring and supervising workers. Rural labor markets in developing economies, where institutions such as labor and contract law and formal employment assistance mechanisms are not in place, are...

The paper aims to measure transaction costs and its effects on labor market participation and on wage earnings. The observed differences between between buying and selling prices of rice across households are used to calculate transaction costs indices for villages which are incorporated into...

Genetically Modified Crops (GMO foods) have been widely available to farmers since 1996. The Gene Revolution, based on recombinant DNA (rDNA) genetic engineering techniques, is seen by proponents as both supplanting Green Revolution varieties, based on conventional plant breeding techniques, and...

This paper examines, within the new growth theory framework, the contribution of international technological spillovers using panel data for eleven Asian countries over the period 1970-93. A country's productivity growth is shown to depend not only on its domestic R&D investment but also on the...