What is driving the 'African Growth Miracle'?

McMillan, Margaret; Harttgen, Kenneth

doi:10.3386/w20077

Cited by 137 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…At the same time, the labor share in agriculture is typically much larger than agriculture's share of value added. Recent literature has argued that this apparent misallocation of workers is an important determinant of cross-country income differences (Restuccia, Yang, and Zhu 2008;Duarte and Restuccia 2010;McMillan and Harttgen 2014). For the specific case of Mexico that we consider in this paper, in the early 1990s, agriculture accounted for only 3.8 percent of GDP while 34.4 percent of the population lived in rural areas.…”

Section: In Many Developing Countries Property Rights Over Rural Landmentioning

confidence: 94%

Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico

Janvry

Emerick

Gonzalez-Navarro

et al. 2015

American Economic Review

265

116

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Well-defined and secure property rights over land have long been recognized as essential for economic development (Demsetz 1967;North and Thomas 1973;De Soto 2000). There are, however, different ways in which these rights can be established. Contrary to the norm in developed countries where rights are established by land titles, in many developing countries they are established by contingent use of the land. In this case, security of access requires evidence of productive use by the occupant himself, with the implication that leaving the land idle or letting it to others creates a substantial risk of loss of rights. This can be inefficient for two reasons. First, it imposes conditions on the amount of labor used on the land by requiring that it be kept in production at an accepted standard of use, ignoring the return to labor in alternative activities. Second, the common prohibition to land transactions prevents land from being reallocated from less productive to more productive users. With a focus on increasing the efficiency of land use, land certification and titling programs that remove constraints on land use and allow land transactions have been widely sponsored by national governments and international development agencies (Heath 1990).

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Section: In Many Developing Countries Property Rights Over Rural Landmentioning

confidence: 94%

Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico

Janvry

Emerick

Gonzalez-Navarro

et al. 2015

American Economic Review

265

116

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“…One of the major structural changes in the second half of the twentieth century was the reallocation of agricultural labor in the develo ping world, particularly in Southeast Asia and Latin America (Ocampo et al, 2009). In the last decade, the share of agricultural labor in Africa has also declined by almost 10%, and this is one of the main explanations for its recent spurt of growth (McMillan and Harttgen, 2014). However, the reallocation of labor to other sectors is not complete, and surplus labor remains the main feature of developing economies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural Change and Income Inequality – Agricultural Development and Inter-sectoral Dualism in the Developing World, 1960-2010

Andersson¹,

Palacio²

2016

oasis

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Structural change consists of the long-term changes in the sectoral composition of output and employment. We introduce a structural change perspective to the study of income inequality in 27 countries of the developing world for the period 1960-2010. The service sector has become the main employer, but the agricultural sector is central to the income distribution because poverty is mostly rural, and the labor surplus is high. We decompose the sectoral composition of aggregate labor productivity at the country level, divide the countries into agrarian, dual (beginner, intermediate and advanced), and mature economies and use the inter-sectoral productivity gap to test the effect of structural change on income inequality. We confirm increases in agricultural productivity everywhere and find that the inter-sectoral gap is positively associated with income inequality. The effect is negligible in agrarian and advanced economies but powerful in dual beginner economies: an increase of 1% in the inter-sectoral gap increases income inequality by 0.5%. The effect peters out in dual intermediate economies and disappears completely in dual advanced economies. Finally, redistribution has been the key to compensating the losers in the income changes, particularly for those entering the non-agricultural economy.

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“…Nevertheless, in order to end malnutrition, more needs to be done, including (1) ratification of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2016). 4 As in several other countries south of the Sahara, labor is gradually flowing out of agriculture and into more productive sectors of the economy, contributing to Ghana's high economic growth McMillan, Rodrik, and VerduzcoGallo 2014;McMillan and Harttgen 2014). Associated with structural transformation of the economy, the urban population increased from an estimated 33 percent in 1984 to an estimated 54 percent in 2014 (UN- DESA 2016).…”

Section: Figure C12-underlying Determinants Of Malnutrition In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving a nutrition revolution for Africa: The road to healthier diets and optimal nutrition

Ayalew¹,

Hoffmann²,

Lindahl³

et al. 2016

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Focusing the 2015 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) on nutrition will contribute to a broader understanding of the critical role of nutrition in achieving international, continental, and national economic growth targets through agriculture, food security, and nutrition. This report presents information and analysis in support of evidence-based policy making that should inform the second generation of CAADP national investment plans now being developed. This is an important moment for shaping the region’s future and ensuring that the much-needed agriculture-led growth and development agenda can simultaneously deliver on improving nutrition, saving lives, improving productivity and health, and curbing nutrition-related diseases and the associated public health expenditures. These investment plans should address not only the usual elements of undernutrition but also widespread micronutrient deficiencies (termed “hidden hunger”) and the growing problem of overweight and obesity that is associated with economic growth.1 introduction 2 The African union policy environment toward enabling action for nutrition in Africa 3 Africa’s progress toward meeting current nutrition targets 4 Economic development and nutrition transition in Ghana: taking stock of food consumption patterns and trends 5 Making African agriculture and food systems work for nutrition: what has been done, and what needs to be done? 6 Lessons learned from the evaluation of Helen Keller International’s enhanced homestead food production program 7 The role of biofortification as part of more diverse diets in Africa: progress, challenges, and opportunities 8 The role of mycotoxin contamination in nutrition: the aflatoxin story 9 The challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned in evidence-informed decision making in Africa 10 Evaluating nutrition-sensitive programs: challenges, methods, and opportunities 11 Supporting multisectoral action: capacity and nutrition leadership challenges facing Africa 12 Tracking key CAADP indicators and implementation processes 13 Summary and policy recommendations: toward a nutrition revolution for AfricaReportPRIFPRI1; ReSAKSS; HarvestPlus; B Promoting healthy food systemsDSGD; WCAO; ESAO; HarvestPlus; PHND; A4NH; MTIDCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

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What is driving the 'African Growth Miracle'?

Cited by 137 publications

References 17 publications

Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico

Delinking Land Rights from Land Use: Certification and Migration in Mexico

Structural Change and Income Inequality – Agricultural Development and Inter-sectoral Dualism in the Developing World, 1960-2010

Achieving a nutrition revolution for Africa: The road to healthier diets and optimal nutrition

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