Macroeconomic Shocks, Human Capital and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from West African Rice Farmers

Posted: 29 Feb 2008

See all articles by Christopher B. Barrett

Christopher B. Barrett

Cornell University - Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management

Shane M. Sherlund

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Akinwumi A. Adesina

The Rockefeller Foundation

Date Written: September 2006

Abstract

Little empirical work has quantified the transitory effects of macroeconomic shocks on farm-level production behaviour. We develop a simple analytical model to explain how macroeconomic shocks might temporarily divert managerial attention, thereby affecting farm-level productivity, but perhaps to different degrees and for different durations across production units. We then successfully test hypotheses from that model using panel data bracketing massive currency devaluation in the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire. We find a transitory increase in mean plot-level technical inefficiency among Ivorien rice producers and considerable variation in the magnitude and persistence of this effect, attributable largely to ex ante complexity of operations, and the educational attainment and off-farm employment status of the plot manager.

Suggested Citation

Barrett, Christopher B. and Sherlund, Shane M. and Adesina, Akinwumi A., Macroeconomic Shocks, Human Capital and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from West African Rice Farmers (September 2006). Journal of African Economies, Vol. 15, Issue 3, pp. 343-372, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1096819 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejk001

Christopher B. Barrett (Contact Author)

Cornell University - Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management ( email )

315 Warren Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
United States
607-255-4489 (Phone)
607-255-9984 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://aem.cornell.edu/faculty_sites/cbb2/

Shane M. Sherlund

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th and C Streets, NW
Mailstop 93
Washington, DC 20551
United States
202-452-3589 (Phone)
202-728-5887 (Fax)

Akinwumi A. Adesina

The Rockefeller Foundation ( email )

420 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018-2702
United States

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