This title was first published in 2003.The principal economic units in most developing countries are family based farm households. Empirical models that recognize the dual role of the farm household as producer and consumer in a theoretically consistent manner are essential tools for policy analyses. This book provides an important extension of the conventional farm household model by developing an analytical framework that allows for efficiency differences between family and hired labour as inputs in farm production. The model is estimated with survey data from the southern lowland region of Nepal. The estimation strategy is a two-step process. The first step estimates a farm-level production function in which is embedded a test for heterogeneity between family and hired labour. The labour heterogeneity detected in the production function estimation is incorporated, at the second step, in the labour supply estimation in a theoretically consistent manner. The methodological novelty is to relate the shadow wage rate for family labour to the observed market wage rate for hired labour, adjusted for the differential productivity of family and hired labour detected in the production function estimation.

About the Author
Prem Jung Thapa, Dr, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Reviews
'This book makes an important contribution to the economics of rural labour markets in developing countries. Its findings have implications for a range of policy issues, including the effects of land reform.' Professor Peter Warr, Australian National University, Australia 'Scholars interested in issues of family-based agriculture and agricultural development in Nepal and other developing countries will find this book stimulating and useful. The author makes an important contribution to the emerging literature on farm household decision making in traditional agriculture.' Professor Anil Deolalikar, University of Washington, USA. '...Dr. Thapa's book breaks new analytical and empirical ground by providing an analytical foundation for such differences and tracing their implications for farm production and labour supply. This book should be mandatory reading for all interested in agricultural development in LDCs.' Professor Raghbendra Jha, Australian National University, Australia '...Dr Thapa's study enriches the empirically based literature in the agricultural economics of developing economies and will be welcomed everywhere by researchers and policy advisers concerned with development.' Professor Alan A. Powell, Monash University, Australia



Book Information
ISBN 9781138712188
Author Prem Jung Thapa
Format Paperback
Page Count 236
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g