Rural Poverty, Income Shocks, And Land Management: An Analysis Of The Linkages In El Salvador
Data collected in surveys of more than 700 Salvadoran households carried out in 1996 and 1998 are used in an econometric analysis of linkages between land and labor use. Particular emphasis is offered on how poor households allocated labor resources in response to the El Nino weather phenomenon of 1997. Implications for resource conservation are offered.
Collective action for public goods provision in low-income groups: a model and evidence from Peru
Under what circumstances does collective action arise? What contributes to the likelihood that a particular collective initiative will succeed? To what extent are poor communities capable of organizing themselves to improve their quality of life? These questions are not new, and economic researchers have studied a number of models in rural settings. Yet the research on collective action in urban areas seems to be more in the political sciences, and an economic model is still lacking. The fundamental question remains: How are public goods produced and maintained by poor urban communities? This paper presents a set of hypotheses on collective action determinants. Collective action in poor neighborhoods faces three key barriers to success: the Olsonian free-rider problem, the Maslowian problem, and the exclusion problem. The empirical portion of this paper uses data collected in poor urban and peri-urban areas of Lima, Peru, in six types of community organizations.
Soil conservation in developing countries : project and policy intervention
Soil degradation in many developing countries constitutes a serious ecological and economic problem. Assessing ecosystems that are susceptible to soil erosion and measuring the extent and cost of damage is difficult and often subjective. While the technical aspects of soil conservation are important to policy work, the focus of this review is on socioeconomic analysis and interpretation. Nearly every relationship in soil erosion and land conservation systems is either difficult to define or is inherently random. Much erosion is associated with extreme events that occur rarely but cause the bulk of the damage. Factors that are positively associated with soil conservation include income (on and off farm); access to low cost credit, especially when targeted to conservation; a low rate of discount or a long policy planning horizon; a high level of education among farmers; access to sound technical advice; and secure land tenure. Barriers include : high subsidies on inputs (e.g. fertilizer, irrigation water); and high population pressures. Government sponsored research is necessary and must be undertaken at many sites in diverse ecosystems. It is clear that much more long term research is required before policymakers are reasonably well informed about the options and opportunities available to them.