Taylor, J. Edward

May, 2015

Agricultural Efficiency and Labor Supply to Common Property Resource Collection: Lessons from Rural Mexico

By: Manning, Dale T.; Taylor, J. Edward
Most common property resource (CPR) collection in developing countries occurs in imperfect market environments, in which endogenous prices link the economic returns in non-resource activities (i.e., agriculture) with effort supplied to CPR collection. A model of an imperfectly integrated rural household demonstrates the theoretically ambiguous connection between agricultural productivity and resource collection. Using unique panel data from rural Mexico, we find evidence that households with higher agricultural efficiency supply less labor to CPR collection. Interventions that raise agricultural productivity thus may complement resource conservation efforts.
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August, 2010

Health Care Reform and Farm Women’s Off-Farm Labor Force Participation: Evidence from Taiwan

By: Liao, Pei-An; Taylor, J. Edward
Do non-wage fringe benefits affect women’s off-farm work decisions? We test the impact of the 1995 introduction of universal National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan on off-farm labor force participation (LFP) among farm wives. Our results, based on a difference-in- differences approach, indicate that employment-delinked NHI reduced farm wives’ off-farm LFP by 9.6 to 13.6 percentage points. The larger impact was for wives from small farm households. The health insurance reform had a larger negative impact on overall LFP among married women in agricultural households than in nonagricultural households.
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August, 2003

Farm Employment, Immigration, and Poverty: A Structural Analysis

By: Martin, Philip L.; Taylor, J. Edward
This study tests for structural change in the poverty-farm employment relationship between 1980 and 1990. Econometric findings from a partially simultaneous block triangular regression model estimated with census data reveal a circular relationship between farm employment and immigration that was associated with a significant decrease in the number of people in impoverished U.S. households in 1980. However, in 1990, the farm employment-poverty relationship reversed: an additional farm job was associated with an increase in poverty. Our findings suggest immigration to fill low-skilled farm jobs is transferring poverty from rural Mexico to communities in the United States.
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April, 2003

Welfare Reform in Agricultural California

By: Green, Richard D.; Martin, Philip L.; Taylor, J. Edward
When welfare reforms were enacted in 1996, a higher than average percentage of residents in the agricultural heartland of California, the San Joaquin Valley, received cash assistance. Average annual unemployment rates during the 1990s ranged from 12% to 20%, and 15% to 20% of residents in major farming counties received cash benefits. This analysis develops and estimates a two-equation cross-sectionally correlated and timewise autoregressive model to test the hypothesis that in agricultural areas, seasonal work, low earnings, and high unemployment, as well as few entry-level jobs that offer wages and benefits equivalent to welfare benefits, promote welfare use and limit the potential of local labor markets to absorb ex-welfare recipients.
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