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Health and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Zambia

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  • Fink, Günther
  • Masiye, Felix

Abstract

We evaluate the productivity effects of investment in preventive health technology through a randomized controlled trial in rural Zambia. In the experiment, access to subsidized bed nets was randomly assigned at the community level; 516 farmers were followed over a one-year farming period. We find large positive effects of preventative health investment on productivity: among farmers provided with access to free nets, harvest value increased by US$ 76, corresponding to about 14.7% of the average output value. While only limited information was collected on farming inputs, shifts in the extensive and the intensive margins of labor supply appear to be the most likely mechanism underlying the productivity improvements observed.

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  • Fink, Günther & Masiye, Felix, 2015. "Health and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 151-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:42:y:2015:i:c:p:151-164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.04.004
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    4. S. Cicognani & M. Cioni & M. Savioli, 2016. "The secret to job satisfaction is low expectations: How perceived working conditions differ from actual ones," Working Papers wp1083, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    5. Cohen, Jessica & Saran, Indrani, 2018. "The impact of packaging and messaging on adherence to malaria treatment: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 68-95.
    6. Simona Cicognani & Martina Cioni & Marco Savioli, 2017. "Conditions at work: how actual and expected working conditions drive perception," Working Paper series 17-17, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    7. Gabriel Picone & Assi José Carlos Kimou & Désiré Kanga, 2023. "Medical emergencies and farm productivity in Côte d'Ivoire," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1630-1648, August.
    8. Pan, Yao & Singhal, Saurabh, 2019. "Agricultural extension, intra-household allocation and malaria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 157-170.
    9. Krieger, Tommy, 2020. "Elite structure and the provision of health-promoting public goods," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-064, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Kristina Czura & Andreas Menzel & Martina Miotto, 2023. "Improved Menstrual Health and the Workplace: An RCT with Female Bangladeshi Garment Workers," CESifo Working Paper Series 10289, CESifo.
    11. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Dennis Asante & Jesse Nuamah Brako & Zhao Ding & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "The Relationship between Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases of Fish Farm Household Members and Production Efficiency: The Case of Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    12. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Abbas Ali Chandio & Ghulam Raza Sargani & Isaac Asare & Huaquan Zhang, 2022. "Off-Farm Employment and Agricultural Credit Fungibility Nexus in Rural Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    13. Atsushi Iimi, 2020. "Performance-Based Road Contracts in Zambia," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(1), pages 107-129, August.
    14. Pascaline Dupas & Edward Miguel, 2016. "Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries," NBER Working Papers 22235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Melvin Stephens, Jr. & Desmond J. Toohey, 2018. "The Impact of Health on Labor Market Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from MRFIT," NBER Working Papers 24231, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2016. "Risk and Sustainable Crop Intensification," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246917, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    17. Saurabh Singhal & Yao Pan, 2015. "Income and Malaria: Evidence from an agricultural intervention in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 092, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Alexis Rulisa & Luuk van Kempen & Dirk-Jan Koch, 2022. "When Local Trade-Offs between SDGs Turn Out to Be Wealth-Dependent: Interaction between Expanding Rice Cultivation and Eradicating Malaria in Rwanda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, February.
    19. Yao Pan & Saurabh Singhal, 2015. "Income and malaria: Evidence from an agricultural intervention in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-092, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Chisanga, Brian & Bulte, Erwin & Kassie, Menale & Mutero, Clifford & Masaninga, Freddie & Sangoro, Onyango Peter, 2023. "The economic impacts of house screening against malaria transmission: Experimental evidence from eastern Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    21. Wenmei Liao & Jiawei Wang & Ying Lin & Yao Wang, 2021. "Chronic Illness and Income Diversification in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    22. Xin Deng & Miao Zeng & Dingde Xu & Feng Wei & Yanbin Qi, 2019. "Household Health and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Theoretical Mechanism and Empirical Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-13, September.
    23. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Hongyun Zheng & Love Offeibea Asiedu-Ayeh & Anthony Siaw & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Access to Financial Services and Its Impact on Household Income: Evidence from Rural Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 869-890, August.
    24. Fink, Günther & Venkataramani, Atheendar S. & Zanolini, Arianna, 2021. "Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment; Health; Productivity; Agriculture; Malaria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets

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