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Fertility, agricultural labor supply, and production: Instrumental variable evidence from Uganda:

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  • Van Campenhout, Bjorn

Abstract

Human fertility is likely to affect agricultural production through its effect on the supply of agricultural labor. Using the fact that in traditional, patriarchal societies sons are often preferred to daughters, we isolated exogenous variation in the number of children born to a mother and related it to agricultural labor supply and production outcomes in Uganda—a country that combines a dominant agricultural sector with one of the highest fertility rates in the world. We found that fertility has a sizable negative effect on household labor allocation to subsistence agriculture. Households with lower fertility devote significantly more time to land preparation and weeding, while larger households grow less matooke and sweet potatoes. We found no significant effect on agricultural productivity as measured in terms of yield per land area.

Suggested Citation

  • Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2014. "Fertility, agricultural labor supply, and production: Instrumental variable evidence from Uganda:," IFPRI discussion papers 1406, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1406
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    Cited by:

    1. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2015. "The dynamics of smallholder marketing behavior: Explorations using Ugandan and Mozambican panel data:," IFPRI discussion papers 1478, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Jie Zhang & Meiqiu Chen & Chang Huang & Zhaohao Lai, 2022. "Labor Endowment, Cultivated Land Fragmentation, and Ecological Farming Adoption Strategies among Farmers in Jiangxi Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, May.
    3. Twongyirwe, Ronald & Bariyo, Rogers & Odongo, Hannington & Muchunguzi, Charles & Kemigisha, Prudence & Nyakato, Viola, 2020. "Good intentions, bad extension systems? How the ‘Garden Store Approach’ crippled tea expansion in Kigezi sub-region, SW Uganda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    4. Bjorn van Campenhout & Haruna Sekabira & Dede H. Aduayom, 2014. "Consumption Bundle Aggregation in Poverty Measurement: Implications for Poverty and its Dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Van Campenhout, Bjorn & Ssekabira, Haruna & Aduayom, Dede H., 2014. "Consumption bundle aggregation in poverty measurement: Implications for poverty and its dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    Keywords

    Gender; households; Labor supply; Population growth; Sociology; fertility; instrumental variables; boy preference;
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