Despite the widespread diffusion of productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies the world over, agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa has typically stagnated. This paper develops a quantitative model in order to shed light on the sources of low labor productivity in African agriculture. The model provides a vehicle for understanding the mechanisms leading to low agricultural labor productivity, in particular, how the interactions between factor endowments, government investment and technology adoption may have culminated in agricultural stagnation. I calibrate the model to data for four Sub-Saharan African economies, and use this calibrated model to provide insight into policy aimed at increasing agricultural productivity in these four countries. Policies aimed at improving rural infrastructure or productivity in the non-agricultural sectors, or allowing for land transferability, would be most effective for increasing agricultural labor productivity, and would further bring increases in household welfare for each of the countries I calibrate to.

Within the off-reserve Canadian Aboriginal population, high school graduation rates are about 45 percent lower in Northern communities (North) than the rest of Canada (South). Using data from the Aboriginal Peoples' Surveys for 2000 and 2005, we document that economic incentives do not appear to be important in explaining the North–South gap in graduation rates. We then consider individual-specific and schooling-related determinants of high school graduation and find that these factors can explain between 31 percent and 59 percent of the North–South gap in the probability of graduation for those who had graduated by the time of the survey. Further, much of the gap is attributable to a respondent speaking/understanding or being taught an Aboriginal language. We discuss the possible implications of these results for language and curricular programming in the North.

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Inequality of agricultural labour productivity across the developing world has increased substantially over the past 40 years. This article asks: to what extent did the diffusion of Green Revolution seed varieties contribute to increasing agricultural labour productivity disparity across the developing countries? We find that 22 per cent of cross-country variation in agricultural labour productivity can be attributed to the diffusion of high-yielding seed varieties across countries, and that the impact of such diffusion differed significantly across regions. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy directed at increasing agricultural labour productivity in the developing world.

This paper documents the association between water and sanitation infrastructure and health indicators in Canada for First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals living on and off-reserve in Canada. We use two data sources: the Aboriginal Peoples Survey and a survey conducted in a First Nations community in northern Manitoba-St. Theresa Point First Nation. We find statistically significant relationships between water infrastructure and health status in both sources of data. In particular, among individuals living off-reserve, contaminated water is associated with a 5-7% lower likelihood of reporting good self-rated health and a 4% higher probability of reporting a health condition or stomach problem. Those in St. Theresa Point First Nation without running water are four times more likely to report an illness relative to those with running water. Off-reserve, this likely suggests a need for improved public education on the management of private water supplies and more frequent water testing. Our case study suggests that further investment in water/sanitation infrastructure and housing is needed in the community.