This paper deals with structural changes that are observed in farm sectors in many developed economies: the increase in farm size and in farm specialization. Using panel data on Israeli farm communities for the years 1992-2001, we estimate a system of simultaneous equations in which these...

This paper examines why developed countries are monogamous while rich men throughout history have tended to practice polygyny (multiple wives). Wealth inequality naturally produces multiple wives for rich men in a standard model of the marriage market. This paper argues that the sources of...

We evaluate relationships among time allocation decisions for farm operators and their spouses and endogenous farm structure. We consider two aspects of farm structure{ farm scale, represented by acreage operated and harvested, and farm scope, which is represented by an index of diversification....

We estimate jointly three types of discrete-choice labor decisions of farm couples: farm work, off-farm work, and hired farm labor. Using a 16-choice multinomial logit model, we find that operators' and spouses' farm labor are substitutes. Hired farm labor increases with farmers' qualifications,...

This paper analyzes structural transformation on Israieli family farms using longitudinal village-level data for the years 1992-2001, with particular emphases on the effects of the 1985 debt crisis and the subsequent 1992 debt settlement legislation. Dynamic panel GMM estimation reveals a...

Global Climate Change (GCC) can bring about changes in ecosystems and consequently in their services value. Here we show that the urban population in Israel values the green landscape of rangelands in the mesic Mediterranean climate region and is willing to pay for preserving it in light of the...

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of changing land allocation among crops as a mechanism for increasing social welfare, where production profits and amenity benefits are augmented. A positive mathematical programming model is calibrated and applied to the northern part of Israel, using a...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dependence of health and physical fitness indicators on the socio-economic situation of rural families in Southern Ethiopia, with particular emphasis on the role of inequality. The literature shows mixed results about the effect of inequality on...