发展中国家的非农经济外文翻译.docx

发展中国家的非农经济外文翻译.docx

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发展中国家的非农经济外文翻译

本科毕业论文外文翻译

外文题目：

RURALNON-FARMINCOMEINDEVELOPINGCOUNTRIES

出处：

Zhongguoshehuikexue,1999,no.2

作者：

TomReardon

译文：

INTRODUCTION

Thetraditionalimageoffarmhouseholdsindevelopingcountrieshasbeenthattheyfocusalmostexclusivelyonfarmingandundertakelittleruralnon-farm（RNF）activity.1Thisimagepersistsandiswidespreadeventoday.Policydebatestilltendstoequatefarmincomewithruralincomes,andrural/urbanrelationswithfarm/non-farmrelations.IndustryMinistrieshavethusfocusedonurbanindustryandMinistriesofAgricultureonfarming,andtherehasbeenatendencyevenamongagriculturistsandthoseinterestedinruraldevelopmenttoneglecttheRNFsector.Nevertheless,thereismountingevidencethatRNFincome（i.e.incomederivedinthissectorfromwage-payingactivitiesandself-employmentincommerce,manufacturingandotherservices）isanimportantresourceforfarmandotherruralhouseholds,includingthelandlesspooraswellasruraltownresidents.Althoughthissourceaccountsforonlypartoftotaloff-farmincome（whichalsoincludesfarmwagesandmigrationearnings）,thischapterfocusesonRNFincomesoastoenableacloserexaminationofwhatcanbedonewithinruralareasthemselvestoincreaseoveralleconomicactivityandemployment.ThereareseveralreasonswhythepromotionofRNFactivitycanbeofgreatinteresttodevelopingcountrypolicy-makers.First,theevidenceshowsthatRNFincomeisanimportantfactorinhouseholdeconomiesandthereforealsoinfoodsecurity,sinceitallowsgreateraccesstofood.Thissourceofincomemayalsopreventrapidorexcessiveurbanizationaswellasnaturalresourcedegradationthroughoverexploitation.Second,inthefaceofcreditconstraints,RNFactivityaffectstheperformanceofagriculturebyprovidingfarmerswithcashtoinvestinproductivity-enhancinginputs.Furthermore,developmentofRNFactivityinthefoodsystem（includingagroprocessing,distributionandtheprovisionoffarminputs）mayincreasetheprofitabilityoffarmingbyincreasingtheavailabilityofinputsandimprovingaccesstomarketoutlets.Inturn,betterperformanceofthefoodsystemincreasesruralincomesandlowersurbanfoodprices.Third,thenatureandperformanceofagriculture,themselvesaffectedbyagriculturalpolicies,canhaveimportanteffectsonthedynamismoftheRNFsectortotheextentthatthelatterislinkedtoagriculture.Thissectorgrowsfastestandmostequitablywhereagricultureisdynamic–wherefarmoutputisavailableforprocessinganddistribution,wherethereareinputstobesoldandequipmentrepairedandwherefarmcashincomesarespentonlocalgoodsandservices.

Inthelightofthesefactors,thepresentreviewpursuestwomainpurposes:

itseekstosensitizegovernments,donorsanddevelopmentagenciestotheissueofRNFactivityanditsimportanceforagriculturalandruraldevelopmentaswellaspovertyalleviation;and,withaviewtofurtheringtheharmoniousgrowthofboththefarmandRNFsectors,itcitesbroadimplicationsthatRNFactivitymayhaveforagriculturalpolicyandforpolicyandinstitutionalcoordination.

REASONSFORHOUSEHOLDPARTICIPATIONINRNFACTIVITIES

DecisionsmadebyruralhouseholdsconcerningtheformandextentoftheirinvolvementinRNFactivities（eitherstartingenterprisesorenteringthewagelabourmarket）generallydependontwomainfactors:

•theincentivesoffered,suchastherelativeprofitabilityandriskoffarmandRNFactivities;

•thehousehold’scapacity（determinedbyeducation,incomeandassetsandaccesstocredit,etc.）toundertakesuchactivities.

HouseholdsaremotivatedtoundertakeRNFactivitybyeither"pull"or"push"factors.Inthecaseofenterprisessetupbyhouseholds,thechoiceoftechnologiesandproductswilllikewisebedeterminedbysimilarconditions.WhenoptingtoundertakeRNFactivities,farmhouseholds2maybemotivatedby:

•"pull"factors,suchasbetterreturnsinthenon-farmsectorrelativetothefarmsector;and•"push"factors,3whichincludeinparticular:

–aninadequatefarmoutput,resultingeitherfromtemporaryevents（e.g.adrought）orlongertermproblems（e.g.landconstraints）;–anabsenceoforincompletecropinsuranceandconsumptioncreditmarkets（touseasexpostmeasuresforharvestshortfalls）;–therisksoffarming,whichinducehouseholdstomanageincomeandconsumptionuncertaintiesbydiversifyingandundertakingactivitieswithreturnsthathavealowornegativecorrelationwiththoseoffarming;–anabsenceorfailureoffarminputmarketsorinputcreditmarkets,compellinghouseholdstopayforfarminputswiththeirowncashresources.

FactorsconditioningincentivesandcapacityforRNFactivities

Incentivesandcapacityforundertakingnon-farmactivitiesmaydiverge.Thus,poorfarmersmayverywellhavestrongincentivestoparticipateinRNFactivitieswhilelackingthecapacitytodosobecauseofvariousconstraints.

Householdwealthandagroclimaticzone.4

IncentivestoparticipateinRNFactivitiesdifferaccordingtohouseholds’wealth.Poorerhouseholdsarelessabletotolerateorcopewithnegativeshockstotheirincomeandarethusmoreaversetothistypeofrisk.Theyarethereforemorelikelytodiversifyinfavouroflessriskyincomesourcesandactivities.Moreover,theagroclimaticcharacteristicsofthezone（favourableorunfavourable,moreorlessvariable）willinfluencefarmhouseholds’riskmotiveforincomediversificationintonon-farmactivities.Householdsinzoneswithahigh-riskagriculturewouldbemore"pushed"todiversifyintoRNFactivities.Alargershareofsuchactivitywouldbeundertakenmerelytocope（expost）withshockstofarmincome（suchasfromdrought）,althoughonewouldexpectdiversificationofincomealsoin"normal"years（e.g.non-droughtyears）soastoaccumulateresources（wealth）withwhichtoovercomenegativeshocks.Bycontrast,householdsinzoneswhereagricultureislessriskymightparticipateinRNFactivitiesmainlyforthehigherreturnstheygiveorinordertoalleviatecashandcreditconstraints.Eveniftheincentivestodiversify（forpushorpullreasons）arehigh,whetherthehouseholdwillreacttotheseincentivesdependsonitscapacitytodoso.Intheabsenceofwell-functioningcreditandinsurancemarkets（whichisfrequent,ifnottherule,inruralareasofdevelopingcountries）,thecapacitytoinvestinadiversifiedsetofactivitiesincreaseswithhouseholdwealth.Ifdiversificationiscostly（i.e.ifanactivityhashighentrybarriers–afactthatempiricalevidencetendstosupport）andinitiallyrisky,wealthyhouseholdsareinamorefavourablepositiontodiversifyintoRNFactivitiessincetheycanusetheirwealthforself-financingandasabufferagainstnegativeincomeshocks.

Profitabilityofruralnon-farmactivities.

Anumberofexogenousfactorsaffecttheprofitabilityandriskoffarmandruralnon-farmactivitiesandthusthemixofthetwotypesofactivityundertakenbyahousehold.TheprofitabilityofagivenRNFactivityisdeterminedbythepriceoftheproductproducedorthewagereceivedinthesectorandbythepricesofthearrayofinputsusedintheproductionprocessoremployment.Ingeneral,bothproductandinputpricesforRNFactivitieswillbeinfluencedbythetransmissionofeffectsofmacroeconomicandsectoralpoliciessuchasdevaluationofthecurrency,changesintheinterestrateandchangesintariffsonimportedfinalandcapitalgoodsaswellasbyfactorsinfluencingtransportandothertransactioncosts.Suchfactorsalsoinclude

theconditionofsoftinfrastructure（e.g.extension,marketinformationandeducation）andhardinfrastructure（e.g.roadsandtelephonelines）.Inresponsetotheseconditions,privatefirmscanlowertransactioncoststhroughcontractsandothercoordinationmechanismssoastoincreaseinteractionamongbusinessesacrosssectorsorsubsectorsandthusstrengthenintersectoralandintrasectorallinkages.

ThecapacityoflocalfactormarketstoprovideappropriateproductiveinputsandfinancialcapitalforRNFactivitieswillinfluencetheprevailinginputprices.Forexample,ifthelocallabourmarkethasaninsufficientnumberofskilledworkers,theskilledwageratetobepaidbyRNFentrepreneurswillbedrivenup.Iftherealestatemarketinaruraltownisconstrainedbybuildingregulations,purchasepricesandrentalratesforworkshopspacemayalsobeforcedupwards.

Developmentpoliciesandprogrammes.

Developmentprojectsdeserveaspecialmention:

asaninstrumentofdevelopmentpolicy,theseprojectsconstituteanimportantsetofdeterminantsofincentivesandcapacityforruralhouseholdstoparticipateinRNFactivities.Inasense,adevelopmentprojectisamini-packageofpublicpoliciesandinvestmentsthatapplytoarestrictedsetofactivitiesinspaceandtimeandaffectalimitednumberofparticipants.AtypicalexamplefromtheRNFsectorwouldbeadairyproject,coordinatedbyanNGOorthegovernmentandinvolvingtheprovisionoftrainersandequipmenttodevelopasmall-scaledairyactivitywithaselectedsetofruralhouseholds.Animmediateaimwouldbetofacilitatemilkmarketingwithprojectvehiclesanddonorexpertise.Thisformofsupportinfactconstitutesa（bounded）subsidypolicyforinputs（equipment,trainingservicesandmarketfacilities）targetedatagivenRNFsubsector,groupofactorsandtimehorizon.

Linkagesbetweenfarmandnon-farmactivities

Theconceptoffarm/non-farmlinkagesismostcommonlyusedtodescribetherelationbetweenthefarmandnon-farmsectors.Thesesectorscanbelinkeddirectlyviaproductionlinkages,inwhichcasethelinkageoccurseither