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Journal of African Economies Advance Access published online on January 30, 2006
Journal of African Economies, doi:10.1093/jae/ejk001
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© The author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved

Article

Macroeconomic Shocks, Human Capital and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from West African Rice Farmers

Christopher B. Barrett 1 *, Shane M. Sherlund 2 *, and Akinwumi A. Adesina 3 *

1 Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-7801, USA
2 Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Mail Stop 93, Washington, DC 20551, USA
3 Associate Director, Food Security, Rockefeller Foundation, 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018-2702, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Christopher B. Barrett, E-mail: cbb2{at}cornell.edu
Shane M. Sherlund, E-mail: shane.m.sherlund{at}frb.gov
Akinwumi A. Adesina, E-mail: aadesina{at}rockfound.org


  Abstract

Little empirical work has quantified the transitory effects of macroeconomic shocks on farm-level production behaviour. We develop a simple analytical model to explain how macroeconomic shocks might temporarily divert managerial attention, thereby affecting farm-level productivity, but perhaps to different degrees and for different durations across production units. We then successfully test hypotheses from that model using panel data bracketing massive currency devaluation in the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire. We find a transitory increase in mean plot-level technical inefficiency among Ivorien rice producers and considerable variation in the magnitude and persistence of this effect, attributable largely to ex ante complexity of operations, and the educational attainment and off-farm employment status of the plot manager.


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