Browsing by Author "Valdes, Alberto"

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    Reflections on the Role of Agriculture in Pro-Poor Growth
    (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2010) Valdes, Alberto; Foster, William
    This paper assesses the importance of agriculture poverty reduction, largely through its impact on overall economic growth, drawing on evidence from Latin America and other developing regions. The econometric evidence strongly suggests that the sector contributes to growth more than its share of GDP, certainly in Latin America but also elsewhere. Cross-country studies show that, on average in the developing world, agriculture tends to have an impact on both national growth and poverty reduction that is greater than its simple share of national GDP. The results reinforce the argument against taxing agriculture relative to other sectors and that in assigning government expenditures to public goods one should take into account the historical relationship between agricultural growth and the subsequent non-agricultural growth. The paper also considers approaches to stimulate the rural economy. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    The Constraints to Escaping Rural Poverty: An Analysis of the Complementarities of Assets in Developing Countries
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC, 2011) Foster, William; Valdes, Alberto; Davis, Benjamin; Anriquez, Gustavo
    Based on Food and Agriculture Organization data for 15 developing countries, we examine household characteristics, asset bundles and income-generating activities of the rural poor. Assets aid in exiting poverty, not independent of one another, but rather in combination. We develop an approach to estimate the complementarities between education, farm size and infrastructure. Limited access to the three assets of interest here (susceptible to medium-and long-term interventions) might prevent moving a large number of small farmers out of poverty in the short-term (even with support programs). Increased land holding often has lower poverty-reducing potential, and when its potential is high, it is in countries where most land is divided among small operations (for example, Bangladesh). Education is confirmed as highly poverty-alleviating, and has a high complementarity with infrastructure.