| 61. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Decision-making within the Household: The Role of Autonomy and Differences in Preferences
- 2018
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We use a field experiment to identify how differences in preferences and autonomy in decision-making result in sub-optimal adoption of technologies that can maximize the welfare of all members of the household. We create income-earning opportunities and elicit willingness- to-pay (WTP) for energy-efficient cookstoves through a real stove purchase experiment with randomly chosen wives, husbands and couples. Experimental results suggest that women, who often are responsible for cooking and for collecting fuelwood, reveal a higher preference than men for the improved stoves. Using an instrumental variables tobit estimator, we show that women who have higher decision-making autonomy reveal higher WTP than those who have lower decision-making autonomy. A follow-up survey conducted 15 months after the stove purchase show that autonomy does not affect stove use. Our findings highlight the importance of considering division of labor, different preferences, and bargaining power differences within the household when promoting adoption of new household technologies.
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| 62. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Do Safety Nets Promote Technology Adoption? Panel data evidence from rural Ethiopia
- 2013
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We use panel data from rural Ethiopia to investigate if participation in a safety net program enhances fertilizer adoption. Using a difference-in-difference estimator and inverse propensity score weighting we find that participation in Ethiopia’s food-for-work program increased fertilizer adoption. Results also indicate that the likelihood of adopting and the intensity of fertilizer usage increased with livestock holdings for food-for-work-participant households providing some evidence that the intervention helped asset-rich farm households more than asset-poor households. We find no significant effects of free distribution on fertilizer adoption or intensification. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that safety nets can be viewed as mechanisms that allow households to take on more risk to pursue higher profits. The paper highlights important policy implications related to the inter-related dynamics of safety nets and extension services that aim at promoting productivity enhancing modern agricultural technologies.
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| 63. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Does Fertilizer Use Respond to Rainfall Variability? Panel Data Evidence from Ethiopia
- 2009
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In this paper we use farmers' actual experiences with changes in rainfall levels and their responses to these changes to assess if patterns of fertilizer use are responsive to changes in rainfall patterns. Using plot and farm level panel data from the central Highlands of Ethiopia matched with corresponding village level rainfall data; results show that both the current year?s decision to adopt and the intensity of fertilizer adoption is positively associated with higher rainfall levels experienced in the previous year. Furthermore, we find a concave relationship between previous season rainfall levels and fertilizer adoption, indicating that too much rainfall discourages adoption. Abundant rainfall in the previous year could depict relaxed liquidity constraints and increased affordability of fertilizer, which makes rainfall availability critical in severely credit constrained environments. In light of similar existing literature, the major contribution of the study is its use of plot level panel data, which permits us to investigate the importance of plot characteristics in fertilizer adoption decisions.
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| 64. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Improving Welfare through Climate-friendly Agriculture: The Case of the System of Rice Intensification
- 2015
-
In: Environmental and Resource Economics. - Göteborg : University of Gothenburg. - 0924-6460 .- 1573-1502. ; 62:2
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We use rich survey data to investigate the impact of a climate-friendly rice farming method known as the system of rice intensification (SRI) on the welfare of rain-dependent small-holder farmers in Tanzania. SRI reduces water consumption by half, which makes it a promising farming system in the adaptation to climate change in moisture-constrained areas, and it does not require flooding of rice fields, resulting in reduced methane emissions. Endogenous switching regression results suggest that SRI indeed improves yield in rain-dependent areas, but its profitability hinges on the actual market price farmers face. SRI becomes profitable only when the rice variety sells at the same market price as that of traditional varieties, but results in loss when SRI rice sells at a lower price. We argue that the effort of promoting adoption of such types of climate-friendly agricultural practices requires complementary institutional reform and support in order to ensure their profitability to small-holder farmers.
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| 65. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
International Remittances and Private Inter-household Transfers: Exploring the Links
- 2015
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We investigate the effect of remittances from migrated family members on informal inter- household transfers - an issue that has received limited attention in the literature. Using rich panel data from urban Ethiopia, we show that receiving international remittances significantly increases the value of private domestic inter-household transfers, whereas receiving domestic remittances does not have any effect. We also show that the transfers sent respond to shocks to a great extent. Our results provide new evidence on the trickle-down effects of interna- tional remittances, effects important to consider when analyzing the impact of international remittances on household outcomes in recipient countries.
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| 66. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Life Satisfaction in Urban Ethiopia: Trends and determinants
- 2012
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Most studies of subjective well-being in developing countries use cross-sectional data, which makes it difficult to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. In this paper, we use three rounds of panel data and robust non-linear panel data models to investigate the trends and determinants of life satisfaction in urban Ethiopia. Although Ethiopia exhibited rapid economic growth during the analyzed period, the average reported level of life satisfaction declined. Regression results show that despite the significant difference between urban Ethiopia and industrialized countries in terms of economic and social conditions, many of the determinants of life satisfaction are similar. This includes, age, marital status, health, unemployment, economic status, relative position and educational achievement. Our results also indicate that both individual (respondent) and household level versions of these variables are important determinants of life satisfaction. This provides some evidence on the interdependence of individual and household subjective well-being in developing countries. The fact that rapid economic growth was accompanied by a decline in citizens’ average reported level of life satisfaction brings the pro-poorness of the recent economic growth in Ethiopia into question. We argue that economic growth that trickles down to the poor and ensures creation of stable jobs would be welfare enhancing.
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| 67. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Migration as an Adaptation Strategy to Weather Variability: An Instrumental Variables Probit Analysis
- 2016
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- There is solid scientific evidence predicting that a large part of the developing world will suffer a greater incidence of extreme weather events, which may increase the incidence of displacement migration. We draw on the new economics of migration to model migration decisions of smallholder and rain-dependent farm households in rural Ethiopia and investigate both the ex-ante and ex-post impacts of climate variables. Using detailed household survey panel data matched with rainfall data, we show that weather variability - measured by the coeffcient of variation of rainfall - has a strong positive impact on the probability of sending a migrant. This implies that households engage in migration to cope with risk ex-ante. We also find evidence suggesting that rainfall shocks have ex-post impact on households' likelihood of migration, but the effect is not statistically significant at the conventional levels. Instrumental variables probit regression results also show that controlling for endogeneity of income using a credible instrument is important to identify its impact on the decision to send a migrant. Our findings have important implications for policies aiming to improve the capacity of vulnerable households to adapt to climate change.
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| 68. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Mind, Behaviour and Health - a Randomised Experiment
- 2016
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Behavioural attitudes toward risk and time, as well as behavioural biases such as present bias, are thought to be important drivers of unhealthy lifestyle choices. This paper makes the first attempt to explore the possibility of training the mind to alter these attitudes and biases, in particular health-related behaviours, using a randomized controlled experiment. The training technique we consider is a well-known psychological technique called "mindfulness", which is believed to improve self-control and reduce stress. We conduct the experiment with 139 participants, half of whom receive a four-week mindfulness training, while the other half are asked to watch a four-week series of historical documentaries. We evaluate the impact of our interventions on risk-taking and inter-temporal decisions, as well as on a range of measures of health-related behaviours. We find evidence that mindfulness training reduces perceived stress, but only weak evidence of its impact on behavioural traits and health-related behaviours. Our findings have significant implications for a new domain of research on training the mind to alter behavioural traits and biases that play important roles in lifestyle.
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| 69. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Mindfulness and Stress - a Randomised Experiment
- 2018
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We conduct a randomised controlled trial of an online course in mindfulness. Previous research has found evidence that mindfulness reduces stress; however, few studies have been carried out on non-clinical populations that have not self-selected into or paid for treatment. Our sample consists of 139 students with no pre-existing medical conditions and no prior information on the experiment and treatments. Half of them are asked to follow a four-week mindfulness training, while the other half are asked to watch a four-week series of historical documentaries. We follow participants for five consecutive weeks, with an additional post-intervention session five months later. We evaluate the effects of the mindfulness program on measures of chronic stress, and on the response to stressful situations, measured by cortisol and self-reports. We find strong evidence that mindfulness training reduces perceived stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale. However, the physiological responses to an acutely stressful situation do not differ significantly between the treatment and control groups.
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| 70. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
-
Modelling Household Cooking Fuel Choice: a Panel Multinomial Logit Approach
- 2015
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We use three rounds of a rich panel data set to investigate the determinants of household cooking fuel choice and energy transition in urban Ethiopia. We observe that the expected energy transition did not occur following economic growth in Ethiopia during the decade 2000-2009. Regression results from a random effects multinomial logit model suggest that households’ economic status, price of alternative energy sources, and education are important determinants of fuel choice in urban Ethiopia. The results also suggest the use of multiple fuels, or “fuel stacking behavior” by households. We argue that policy makers could target these policy levers to encourage transition to cleaner energy sources.
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