Giovanni Andrea Cornia

Farm size, land yields and the agricultural production function: An analysis for fifteen developing countries

Abstract The paper analyzes the relationship between factor inputs, land yields and labor productivity for farms of different size on the basis of FAO farm management data for 15 developing countries. For all but three countries a strong negative correlation is found between farm size on the one side, and factor inputs and yields per hectare on the other. The fitting of unconstrained production functions to the above data suggests that in only few cases the decline in yields for increasing farm size can be attributed to decreasing returns to scale. The higher yields observed in small farms are mainly to be ascribed to higher factor inputs and to a more intensive use of land. Therefore, where conspicuous labor surpluses exist, the superiority of small farming provides solid arguments in favor of land redistribution. Such an agrarian reform would determine higher output, higher labor absorption and a more equitable income distribution, thus contributing in a decisive manner to the alleviation of rural poverty. The paper also provides estimates of cross-sectional production functions for the 15 countries analyzed. Empirical relations are found between the output elasticities of land, labor and intermediate inputs and physical indicators of their scarcity. The paper concludes by proposing a simple method for deriving a long-term production function for agriculture.

Causes of the Russian mortality crisis: Evidence and interpretations

Abstract During 1992–1994 life expectancy at birth in Russia dropped by 6.1 years for men and by 3.3 years for women. Very little individual-level evidence linking mortality experience with social conditions and behaviors is available. This article puts together evidence from analysis of routinely collected data on changes in Russian mortality. These data suggest that the mortality upsurge cannot be attributed to absolute deprivation, collapse of the health system or environmental pollution. Instead, psychological stress caused by the shock of an abrupt and severe economic transition is likely to have played a major role mediated in part by the adverse health effects of excessive alcohol consumption.

Income Distribution under Latin America's New Left Regimes

Abstract This paper reviews the decline in income inequality that has taken place over 2002–2007 in most Latin American countries against the background of its steady increase over 1980–2002. The paper then analyzes the factors that could explain this trend reversal. It focuses in particular on favorable external conditions, cyclical factors, improvements in the distribution of educational achievements and the subsequent drop in skill‐premium, and changes in macro‐economic and social policies introduced in several countries, particularly by a growing number of left‐of‐center governments that have come to power during the past decade. An econometric test for the years 1990–2007 using a sample of countries covering the majority of the population in the region indicates that, in addition to a favorable business cycle and external conditions, a decline in skill premium and the new policy model of fiscally prudent social‐democracy that is emerging this decade in much of Latin America impacted favorably the distribution of income. If this approach will survive the current crisis, much of the recent inequality decline is likely to become permanent.

Has the relation between income inequality and life expectancy disappeared? Evidence from Italy and top industrialised countries

Objective: To investigate the relation between income inequality and life expectancy in Italy and across wealthy nations. Design and setting: Measure correlation between income inequality and life expectancy at birth within Italy and across the top 21 wealthy countries. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to study these relations. Multivariate linear regression was used to measure the association between income inequality and life expectancy at birth adjusting for per capita income, education, and/or per capita gross domestic product. Data sources: Data on the Gini coefficient (income inequality), life expectancy at birth, per capita income, and educational attainment for Italy came from the surveys on Italian household on income and wealth 1995–2000 and the National Institute of Statistics information system. Data for industrialised nations were taken from the United Nations Development Program’s human development indicators database 2003. Results: In Italy, income inequality (β = −0.433; p<0.001) and educational attainment (β = 0.306; p<0.001) were independently associated with life expectancy, but per capita income was not (β = 0.121; p>0.05). In cross national analyses, income inequality had a strong negative correlation with life expectancy at birth (r = −0.864; p<0.001). Conclusions: In Italy, a country where health care and education are universally available, and with a strong social safety net, income inequality had an independent and more powerful effect on life expectancy at birth than did per capita income and educational attainment. Italy had a moderately high degree of income inequality and an average life expectancy compared with other wealthy countries. The cross national analyses showed that the relation between income inequality and population health has not disappeared.

The Fiscal System, Adjustment and the Poor

It is now widely accepted that in many countries the poor suffered additional deprivation during the stabilization and adjustment that took place in the 1980s (Cornia et al. 1987, passim; Helleiner 1985, Addison and Demery 1985, World Bank 1989a). Downward pressure on the conditions of living of poor groups arose from three sources: reductions in real incomes from employment, as employment levels fell and real wages declined; rapid rises in the prices of the goods the poor consume, especially food, following devaluation, increased producer prices for food and the reduction or removal of subsidies; and cuts in government provided services — health, education and economic services — to which the poor had access.

The transition's population crisis: An econometric investigation of nuptiality, fertility and mortality in severely distressed economies

In most of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (hereafter referred to in brief as `Eastern Europe) the economic and political reforms of the last six years have been accompanied by an unprecedented fall in output a rapid impoverishment of large sections of society increasing uncertainty about the future and an exceptional population crisis....Neither fashionable explanations nor major demographic and household behaviour models seem to be able to explain the transition population crisis of Eastern Europe....This paper aims at debunking the traditional approach and at testing the hypothesis that the current transition population crisis is the result of growing economic instability social stress unfavourable expectations about the future and inadequate policy action. If this hypothesis is verified the most suitable solution to the current mortality and fertility crisis of Eastern Europe would require not only stronger measures in the field of health and family policy but also more aggressive initiatives to support employment minimum wages and social transfers enhance tax collection and control inflation. (EXCERPT)

From adjustment to development in Africa : conflict, controversy, convergence, consensus?

List of Tables - List of Figures - Foreword: R.Jolly - Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - List of Abbreviations - Introduction G.A.Cornia & G.K.Helleiner - PART 1: CHANGING APPROACHES TO ADJUSTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT - From Adjustment to Develoopment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Consensus and Continuing Conflict G.K.Helleiner - Structural Adjustment: Its Origins, Rationale and Achievements L.Demery - An African Perspective on Long-term Development in Sub-Saharan Africa B.Degefe - The Consistency between Long-term Development Objectives and Short-term Policy Instruments in Fund Activities V.Tanzi - Are Short-term Policies Consistent with Long-term Development Needs in Africa? F.Stewart - Beyond Structural Adjustment: Policies for Sustainable Growth and Development in Africa O.Ojo - Macroeconomic Adjustment, Uncertainty and Domestic Private Investment in Selected African Countries T.W.Oshikoya - PART 2: POLITICAL DIMENSION OF REFORMS - Adjustment, Political Conditionality and Democratisation in Africa T.Mkandawire - Adjustment Programmes and Politico-Economic Interactions in Developing Countries: Lessons from an Empirical Analysis of Africa in the 1980s C.Morrisson, J- D.Lafay & S.Dessus - The Political Economy of Privatisation in Africa T.Mkandawire - PART 3: AGRICULTURE AND SOCIAL IMPACT: KEY ISSUES - Neglected Issues in the Decline of African Agriculture: Land Tenure, Land Distribution and R&D Constraints G.A.Cornia - Policy and Capital Market Constraints to the African Green Revolution: A Study of Maize and Sorghum Yields in Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe P.Mosley - The Impact of Macroeconomic Adjustment on Incomes, Health and Nutrition: Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s D.E.Sahn - The Social Impact of Adjustment in Africa A.Pio - PART 4: EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS AND POLICIES - External Resource Flows, Debt Relief and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa G.K.Helleiner - The Output and Inflationary Impact of Devaluation in Developing Countries: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Five Low-Income Countries R.Faini - New Trade Issues: Traditional Versus Non-traditional Exports S.Wangwe - Long-term Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Would Regional Integration Help? T.A.Oyejide & M.I.Raheem - References - Index

The lack of social gradient of health behaviors and psychosocial factors in Northern Italy

Summary.Objectives: To examine inequalities in health behaviors and psychosocial factors in Northern Italy.Methods: The study was based on a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) of 4 002 non-institutionalized adults living in the Veneto region of Italy.Results: Cigarette smoking, binge drinking, fruit and vegetables consumption and stress failed to show a social gradient. Only physical activity was significantly associated with social class. Stress was a significant predictor of physical inactivity, smoking and low fruit and vegetable intake. Lack of emotional support was associated with smoking and physical inactivity among males, and low fruit and vegetable intake for both genders.Conclusions: Three proposed explanations may account for the lack of consistent social gradient of health behaviors in Northern Italy: a) socio-economic context; b) uncompleted epidemiological transition of behavioral risk factors across social classes; c) lack of systematic health promotion efforts. Future research is needed to examine the plausibility of such explanations.Zusammenfassung.Das Fehlen eines Sozialgradienten bei Gesundheitsverhalten und psychosozialen Faktoren in NorditalienFragestellung: Untersuchen der Ungleichheiten von Gesundheitsverhalten und psychosozialen Faktoren in Norditalien.Methoden: Die Studie basierte auf 4002 computerassistierten Telefoninterviews (CATI) mit Erwachsenen, die nicht in Institutionen leben, in der Veneto-Region in Italien.Ergebnisse: Für Zigarettenrauchen, exzessiven Alkoholkonsum, Frucht- und Gemüseverzehr und Stress liess sich kein Sozialgradient erkennen. Einzig bei physischer Aktivität zeigte sich ein signifikanter Zusammenhang mit sozialer Klasse. Stress war hingegen ein signifikanter Prädiktor für körperliche Inaktivität, Rauchen und kleinen Frucht- und Gemüseverzehr. Mangel an emotionaler Unterstützung stand in Zusammenhang mit Rauchen und körperlicher Inaktivität bei Männern und geringer Frucht- und Gemüseeinnahme bei beiden Geschlechtern.Schlussfolgerungen: Drei konkurrierende Erklärungen können das Fehlen eines Sozialgradienten bei Gesundheitsverhalten in Norditalien begründen: a) der sozioökonomische Kontext; b) unvollständige epidemiologische Durchdringung von Verhaltensrisikofaktoren aller sozialer Klassen; c) Mangel an systematischen Bestrebungen in der Gesundheitsförderung. Weitere Forschung ist erforderlich, um die Plausibilität solcher Erklärungen zu untersuchen.Résumé.Manque de gradient social pour les comportements en matière de santé et les facteurs psychosociaux en Italie du NordObjectifs: Examiner les inégalités face aux comportements de santé et aux facteurs psychosociaux en Italie du Nord.Méthodes: L’étude a interrogé par téléphone (Computer Assistsed Telephone Interview (CATI)) 4 002 adultes non institutionnalisés et vivant dans la région italienne de la Vénétie.Résultats: Le tabagisme, l’alcoolisation excessive, la consommation de fruits et légumes ainsi que le stress n’ont pas montré de gradient social. Seule l’activité physique était significativement associée avec la classe sociale. Le stress était un prédicteur significatif de l’inactivité physique, du tabagisme et d’une consommation limitée de fruits et de légumes. Le manque de support émotionnel était associé avec le tabagisme et avec l’inactivité physique chez les hommes, ainsi qu’avec une consommation limitée de fruits et de légumes chez les deux sexes.Conclusions: Trois explications complémentaires pourraient expliquer cette absence de gradient social des comportements de santé en Italie du Nord: a) le contexte socio-économique, b) le fait que la transition épidémiologique des facteurs de risques comportementaux ne soit pas encore achevée à travers toutes les classes sociales, c) un manque d’efforts systématiques en promotion de la santé. Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour corroborer ou non ces potentielles explications.

Health Improvements and Health Inequality during the Last 40 Years

The debate on the pace of improvement and convergence in levels of wellbeing between and within countries has acquired a particular relevance during the recent decades of economic liberalization and globalization. Though trends in wellbeing can be, and indeed are, affected by non-economic and non-policy factors, sustained improvements and convergence over time in wellbeing indicators across and within countries could be interpreted as an indication of the success of the liberal approach to policy making (Dollar 2001). In turn, slow progress and growing divergence might reinforce the claims of the critics who argue that globalization is inefficient and that — both globally and within each nation — it mainly benefits the upper income groups. The attention received by this debate in policy circles has substantially soared with the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that have set clear targets for many indicators of wellbeing, including health wellbeing indicators such as infant mortality rate (IMR) and under-five mortality rate (U5MR). The explicit inclusion of health indicators among the MDGs is essential for various reasons. Health is a fundamental dimension of human wellbeing, good health is instrumental for improving other dimensions of wellbeing, and intertemporal and inter-country comparisons based on health wellbeing indicators are less fraught with statistical problems than comparisons effected, for instance, in the monetary space. For all these reasons, this chapter focuses on changes in the level and distribution of health wellbeing.

Transition, Structural Divergence,and Performance: Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union over 2000-2007

During the socialist era the communist regime attempted to reduce development differentials among states and social classes. In contrast, during the last 20 years, the economies in transition experienced considerable divergence in the economic, social, demographic and political areas. As a result, these countries can now be grouped into four structurally different clusters alternatively dependent on manufactured exports, high- and low-tech services, commodities exports, and migrant remittances. Between 2000 and 2007, the cluster with the fastest growth was not that which most reformed its economy and institutions, but that of commodity exporters where, however, life expectancy improved far less than in other clusters.