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How Important are Locational Characteristics for Rural Non-agricultural Employment? Lessons from Brazil

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  • Jonasson, Erik
  • Helfand, Steven M.

Abstract

Summary By paying particular attention to the local economic context, this paper analyzes the factors that influence rural non-agricultural employment and earnings. The empirical analysis is based on the Brazilian Demographic Census, allowing for disaggregated controls for the local economy. Education stands out as one of the key factors that shape employment outcome and earnings potential. Failure to control for locational effects, however, can lead to biased estimation of the importance of individual and household characteristics. The empirical results show that local market size, distance to population centers, and other proxies for transactions costs play an important role in shaping non-agricultural employment prospects and earnings.

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  • Jonasson, Erik & Helfand, Steven M., 2010. "How Important are Locational Characteristics for Rural Non-agricultural Employment? Lessons from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 727-741, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:5:p:727-741
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    10. Van Hoyweghen, Kaat & Van Den Broek, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Understanding the importance of wage employment for rural development: Evidence from Senegal," Working Papers 272323, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    11. Atamanov, Aziz & Van den Berg, Marrit, 2011. "Microeconomic analysis of rural nonfarm activities in the Kyrgyz Republic: What determines participation and returns?," MERIT Working Papers 2011-011, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Branco, D. & Feres, J., 2018. "Weather Shocks and Labor Allocation: Evidence from Northeastern Brazil," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277736, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Fitz, Dylan, 2018. "Evaluating the impact of market-assisted land reform in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 255-267.
    14. Danyelle Branco & José Féres, 2021. "Weather Shocks and Labor Allocation: Evidence from Rural Brazil," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(4), pages 1359-1377, August.
    15. Xiaoyu Sun & Weijing Zhu & Aili Chen & Gangqiao Yang, 2022. "Land Certificated Program and Farmland “Stickiness” of Rural Labor: Based on the Perspective of Land Production Function," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-24, September.
    16. Fitz, Dylan, 2013. "Development Chutes and Ladders: A Joint Impact Evaluation of Asset and Cash Transfers in Brazil," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150254, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Mohammod Lutful Kabir, 2015. "Gender Considerations for Rural Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 16(2), pages 309-324, September.
    18. Kimhi, Ayal & Sarit Menahem-Carmi, 2017. "Does rural household income depend on neighboring urban centers?Evidence from Israel," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 13(1), pages 26-35, JUNE.
    19. Amare, M. & Waibel, H., 2015. "Climate Variability, Shocks and Non-farm Employment: Evidence from Rural Household in Northeast Thailand," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 50, March.
    20. Amare, Mulubrhan & Waibel, Herman, 2014. "Climate Variability, Shocks and Non-farm Employment: Evidence from Rural Households in Northeast Thailand," 54th Annual Conference, Goettingen, Germany, September 17-19, 2014 187571, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    21. Vasco, Cristian & Tamayo, Grace Natalie, 2017. "Determinants of non-farm employment and non-farm earnings in Ecuador," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    22. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Hardy, Daniel, 2015. "Addressing poverty and inequality in the rural economy from a global perspective," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63257, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Hans Grinsted Jensen & Nick Vink & Ron Sandrey, 2014. "The rise of Brazilian agriculture: some lessons for South Africa," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 79-100, September.

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