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This paper shows that the level of deforestation in Indonesia is positively related to the degree of ethnic fractionalization. To identify a causal relation, we exploit the exogenous timing of variation in the level of ethnic heterogeneity due to the creation of new jurisdictions. We provide evidence consistent with a lower control of politicians, through electoral punishment, in more ethnically fragmented districts. Our results are consistent with the literature on (under)provision of public goods in ethnically diverse societies.

Malnutrition is a major issue in developing countries with long-term implications for economic development. Agricultural diversification has been recognized as a strategy to improve nutrition and human health, and a risk coping strategy in the face of climate change. We use the 2008-2010 Tanzania National Panel Survey, which includes about 3,700 children, to investigate the effect of crop diversification on child health. We use an instrumental variable approach and estimate the effect of crop diversification on child growth by controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. We show that crop diversification has a positive and significant impact on long-term child nutritional status.

Asset endowments and market imperfections shape households' labor allocation decisions and lead to different production regimes within rural farm households in South Africa. This article uses a farm household model to explain the presence of three main household groups determined on the basis of the labor regime adopted: small peasants (working both on and off farm), self-cultivators (autarkic in labor) and hiring-in households. A partial generalized ordered logit is used to test the main predictions of the model and a Brant test on threshold constancy is performed to identify the household-specific factors affecting labor market participation. The results show that liquidity constraints and market imperfections matter in the choice of the labor strategy adopted. Liquidity-constrained households are more likely to sell labor off farm while access to information facilitates the hiring in of workers.JEL classifications: Q12, J22, J43