IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v23y2022i1d10.1007_s10902-021-00391-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Buffer Stock Operations and Well-Being: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Emmanuel Abokyi

    (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
    University of Groningen)

  • Dirk Strijker

    (University of Groningen)

  • Kofi Fred Asiedu

    (KAAF University College)

  • Michiel N. Daams

    (University of Groningen)

Abstract

This study investigates the possible causal relationship between buffer stock operations in Ghanaian agriculture and the well-being of smallholder farmers in a developing world setting. We analyze the differences in the objective and subjective well-being of smallholder farmers who do or do not participate in a buffer stock price stabilization policy initiative, using self-reported assessments of 507 farmers. We adopt a two-stage least square instrumental variable estimation to account for possible endogeneity. Our results provide evidence that participation in buffer stock operations improves the objective and subjective well-being of smallholder farmers by 20% and 15%, respectively. Also, with estimated coefficient of 1.033, we find a significant and robust relationship between objective well-being and subjective well-being among smallholder farmers. This relationship implies that improving objective well-being enhances the subjective well-being of the farmers. We also find that the activities of intermediaries decrease both the objective and subjective well-being of farmers. This study demonstrates that economic, social, and environmental aspects of agricultural life could constitute priorities for public policy in improving well-being, given their strong correlation with the well-being of farmers. Based on the results of this study, we provide a better understanding, which may aid policy-makers, that public buffer stockholding operations policy is a viable tool for improving the well-being of smallholder farmers in a developing country.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Abokyi & Dirk Strijker & Kofi Fred Asiedu & Michiel N. Daams, 2022. "Buffer Stock Operations and Well-Being: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in Ghana," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 125-148, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00391-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-021-00391-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-021-00391-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-021-00391-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phumsith Mahasuweerachai & Siwarut Pangjai, 2018. "Does Piped Water Improve Happiness? A Case from Asian Rural Communities," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1329-1346, June.
    2. Senakpon F. A. Dedehouanou & Johan Swinnen & Miet Maertens, 2013. "Does Contracting Make Farmers Happy? Evidence from Senegal," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59, pages 138-160, October.
    3. Mark Western & Wojtek Tomaszewski, 2016. "Subjective Wellbeing, Objective Wellbeing and Inequality in Australia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Hualin Xie & Bohao Wang, 2017. "An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Agricultural Product Price Fluctuations on China’s Grain Yield," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1733-1749, April.
    6. Kornher, Lukas & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2013. "Food Price Volatility in Developing Countries and its Determinants," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 52(4), pages 1-32, November.
    7. Steven Jacob & Fern Willits, 1994. "Objective and subjective indicators of community evaluation: A Pennsylvania assessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 161-177, June.
    8. Ed Diener & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2002. "Will Money Increase Subjective Well-Being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 119-169, February.
    9. Heinz Welsch & Jan Kühling, 2009. "Using Happiness Data For Environmental Valuation: Issues And Applications," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 385-406, April.
    10. Clark, Andrew E., 1997. "Job satisfaction and gender: Why are women so happy at work?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 341-372, December.
    11. Des Gasper, 2005. "Subjective and Objective Well-Being in Relation to Economic Inputs: Puzzles and Responses," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 177-206.
    12. Barbara Dluhosch & Daniel Horgos & Klaus Zimmermann, 2014. "Social Choice and Social Unemployment-Income Cleavages: New Insights from Happiness Research," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1513-1537, December.
    13. Namrata Chindarkar & Yvonne Jie Chen & Yogendra Gurung, 2019. "Subjective Well-Being Effects of Coping Cost: Evidence from Household Water Supply in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2581-2608, December.
    14. Anke Plagnol & Richard Easterlin, 2008. "Aspirations, Attainments, and Satisfaction: Life Cycle Differences Between American Women and Men," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 601-619, December.
    15. Bruno Frey & Matthias Benz & Alois Stutzer, 2004. "Introducing Procedural Utility: Not Only What, but Also How Matters," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 160(3), pages 377-401, September.
    16. Dolan, Paul & Layard, Richard & Metcalfe, Robert, 2011. "Measuring subjective well-being for public policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35420, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413.
    18. Kalyuzhnova, Yelena & Kambhampati, Uma, 2008. "The determinants of individual happiness in Kazakhstan," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 285-299, September.
    19. Thomas Markussen & Maria Fibæk & Finn Tarp & Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, 2018. "The Happy Farmer: Self-Employment and Subjective Well-Being in Rural Vietnam," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1613-1636, August.
    20. Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Shaheen Akter & Ismat Ara Begum & Md. Mojammel Haque, 2021. "Determinants of the farm-level stocks of rice and effectiveness of rice procurement program in Bangladesh," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 116-139, January.
    21. Lane, Tom, 2017. "How does happiness relate to economic behaviour? A review of the literature," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 62-78.
    22. William Alonso, 1960. "A Theory Of The Urban Land Market," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 149-157, January.
    23. Cragg, John G. & Donald, Stephen G., 1993. "Testing Identifiability and Specification in Instrumental Variable Models," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 222-240, April.
    24. Rashida Haq & Uzma Zia, 2013. "Multidimensional Wellbeing: An Index of Quality of Life in a Developing Economy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 997-1012, December.
    25. Meng-Wen Tsou & Jin-Tan Liu, 2001. "Happiness and Domain Satisfaction in Taiwan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 269-288, September.
    26. Tuyen Quang Tran & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Huong Vu, 2018. "Does Economic Inequality Affect the Quality of Life of Older People in Rural Vietnam?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 781-799, March.
    27. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2011. "Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(493), pages 345-361.
    28. Benjamin Musah Abu & Haruna Issahaku & Paul Kwame Nkegbe, 2016. "Farmgate versus market centre sales: a multi-crop approach," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    29. Noraini Noor & Anjli Gandhi & Ismahalil Ishak & Saodah Wok, 2014. "Development of Indicators for Family Well-Being in Malaysia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 279-318, January.
    30. Narasimha D. Rao & Jihoon Min, 2018. "Decent Living Standards: Material Prerequisites for Human Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 225-244, July.
    31. Ming-Chang Tsai, 2009. "Market Openness, Transition Economies and Subjective Wellbeing," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(5), pages 523-539, October.
    32. François J Dessart & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & René van Bavel, 2019. "Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 417-471.
    33. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
    34. Jacqueline Zweig, 2015. "Are Women Happier than Men? Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 515-541, April.
    35. Stephen Hicks & Lucy Tinkler & Paul Allin, 2013. "Measuring Subjective Well-Being and its Potential Role in Policy: Perspectives from the UK Office for National Statistics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 73-86, October.
    36. Devereux, Stephen, 2016. "Social protection for enhanced food security in sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 52-62.
    37. Hansen, Christian & Hausman, Jerry & Newey, Whitney, 2008. "Estimation With Many Instrumental Variables," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 26, pages 398-422.
    38. Asiedu, Kofi Fred & Folmer, Henk, 2007. "Does Privatization Improve Job Satisfaction? The Case of Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1779-1795, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nurul Atiqah binti Mohd Suib & Norlida Hanim Mohd Salleh & Md Shafiin Shukor & Norshamliza Chamhuri & Shahida Shahimi & Kamalrudin Mohamed Salleh & Khairuman Hashim, 2023. "The Influence of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) on the Productivity and Well-Being of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)-Certified Independent Smallholders in Malaysia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.
    2. Thomas Markussen & Maria Fibæk & Finn Tarp & Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, 2018. "The Happy Farmer: Self-Employment and Subjective Well-Being in Rural Vietnam," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1613-1636, August.
    3. Rubén Arrondo & Ana Cárcaba & Eduardo González, 2021. "Drivers of Subjective Well-being in Spain: Are There Gender Differences?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2131-2154, October.
    4. Stephen Knowles & P. Dorian Owen, 2010. "Which Institutions are Good for Your Health? The Deep Determinants of Comparative Cross-country Health Status," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 701-723.
    5. Ferreira, Susana & Akay, Alpaslan & Brereton, Finbarr & Cuñado, Juncal & Martinsson, Peter & Moro, Mirko & Ningal, Tine F., 2013. "Life satisfaction and air quality in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-10.
    6. Zeynep B. Ugur, 2021. "Does Money Buy Happiness in Turkey?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1073-1096, June.
    7. Mamidi, Varsha & Marisetty, Vijaya B. & Thomas, Ewan Nikhil, 2021. "Clean energy transition and intertemporal socio-economic development: Evidence from an emerging market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Edsel L. Beja Jr., 2017. "Subjective well-being approach for testing money illusion-evidence using data from Social Weather Stations," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 54(1), pages 47-62, June.
    9. Ricardo Pagán, 2013. "Job Satisfaction and Domains of Job Satisfaction for Older Workers with Disabilities in Europe," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 861-891, June.
    10. Vieira, Flávio & MacDonald, Ronald & Damasceno, Aderbal, 2012. "The role of institutions in cross-section income and panel data growth models: A deeper investigation on the weakness and proliferation of instruments," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 127-140.
    11. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    12. Doko Tchatoka, Firmin Sabro, 2012. "Specification Tests with Weak and Invalid Instruments," MPRA Paper 40185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Leduc, Elisabeth & Tojerow, Ilan, 2020. "Subsidizing Domestic Services as a Tool to Fight Unemployment: Effectiveness and Hidden Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 13544, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Jeon, Sung-Hee & Pohl, R. Vincent, 2019. "Medical innovation, education, and labor market outcomes of cancer patients," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    15. Hanley, Nick & Tinch, Dugald & Angelopoulos, Konstantinos & Davies, Althea & Barbier, Edward B. & Watson, Fiona, 2009. "What drives long-run biodiversity change? New insights from combining economics, palaeoecology and environmental history," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 5-20, January.
    16. Kube, Roland & von Graevenitz, Kathrine & Löschel, Andreas & Massier, Philipp, 2019. "Do voluntary environmental programs reduce emissions? EMAS in the German manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    17. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).
    18. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.
    19. Heywood, John S. & Siebert, W. Stanley & Wei, Xiangdong, 2009. "Job Satisfaction and the Labor Market Institutions in Urban China," IZA Discussion Papers 4254, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Diego A. Cerdeiro & Andras Komaromi, 2021. "Trade and income in the long run: Are there really gains, and are they widely shared?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 703-731, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00391-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.