IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v39y2008i1p1-15.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Isolation and agricultural productivity

Author

Listed:
  • David Stifel
  • Bart Minten

Abstract

This article examines the mechanisms that transmit isolation into productivity. In particular, we study the effect of isolation and transport infrastructure on welfare and agricultural productivity in the case of Madagascar. Madagascar is a good case study given the bad shape of its infrastructure and therefore the significant variation in isolation. Based on comprehensive household survey data combined with a census of communes, we discover a strong poverty–isolation relationship. Further we find the inverse relationship between agricultural productivity and isolation to be surprisingly strong. We isolate the following reasons why productivity might decline with isolation: (i) transportation‐induced transaction costs, (ii) the inverse relationship between plot size and productivity, (iii) increasing price variability and extensification onto less fertile land, and (iv) insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • David Stifel & Bart Minten, 2008. "Isolation and agricultural productivity," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(1), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:39:y:2008:i:1:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00310.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00310.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00310.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe De Vreyer & Javier Herrera & Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, 2002. "Consumption growth and spatial poverty traps: an analysis of the effects of social services and community infrastructures on living standards in rural Peru," Working Papers DT/2002/17, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation), revised Oct 2003.
    2. Masahisa Fujita & Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561476, December.
    3. Ahmed, Raisuddin & Hossain, Mahabub, 1990. "Developmental impact of rural infrastructure in Bangladesh:," Research reports 83, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 335-356, February.
    2. Klaus Desmet & Esteban Rossi‐Hansberg, 2010. "On Spatial Dynamics," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 43-63, February.
    3. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Narayanan, Suresh, 2018. "Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Paulo B. Brito, 2022. "The dynamics of growth and distribution in a spatially heterogeneous world," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(3), pages 311-350, September.
    5. Stephen J. Redding, 2010. "The Empirics Of New Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 297-311, February.
    6. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2008. "A Search For Multiple Equilibria In Urban Industrial Structure," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 29-65, February.
    7. Wolfgang Keller, 2002. "Geographic Localization of International Technology Diffusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 120-142, March.
    8. Tasso Adamopoulos, 2011. "Transportation Costs, Agricultural Productivity, And Cross‐Country Income Differences," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(2), pages 489-521, May.
    9. Kadeřábková Jaroslava & Jetmar Marek, 2010. "Selected issues of the development of small municipalities in the Czech Republic, financing of municipalities," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 2(2), pages 102-117, January.
    10. Jean-Marc Callois & Carl Gaigné, 2010. "Attitudes Towards Foreign Products and Welfare with Capital Mobility," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 751-770, November.
    11. Biller, Dan & Andres, Luis & Cuberes, David, 2014. "A dynamic spatial model of rural-urban transformation with public goods," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7051, The World Bank.
    12. Francesc Amat & Pablo Beramendi & Miriam Hortas-Rico & Vicente Rios, 2020. "How inequality shapes political participation: The role of spatial patterns of political competition," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 2002, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    13. Alberto Díaz Dapena & Fernando Rubiera Morollón & Mônica de Moura Pires & Andréa da Silva Gomes, 2017. "Convergence in Brazil: new evidence using a multilevel approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(50), pages 5050-5062, October.
    14. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    15. Pomerlyan, Evgeniya & Belitski, Maksim, 2023. "Integration - Growth relationship: A literature review and future research agenda using a TCCM approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1106-1118.
    16. Pierre Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Henry G. Overman, 2005. "Agglomeration and the adjustment of the spatial economy§," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(3), pages 311-349, August.
    17. Alberto Franco Pozzolo, 2004. "Research and Development, Regional Spillovers and the Location of Economic Activities," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 72(4), pages 463-482, July.
    18. Klarl, Torben Alexander, 2015. "Urban-rural migration and congestion costs revisited: is there a triple dividend for cities in developing countries?," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112829, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Sulekha Hembram & Souparna Maji & Sushil Kr. Haldar, 2019. "Club Convergence among the Major Indian States During 1982–2014: Does Investment in Human Capital Matter?," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 20(2), pages 184-204, September.
    20. Theodore Tsekeris & Klimis Vogiatzoglou, 2011. "Spatial agent-based modeling of household and firm location with endogenous transport costs," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 77-98, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:agecon:v:39:y:2008:i:1:p:1-15. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    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.