Income Strategies Among Rural Households in Mexico: The Role of Off-farm Activities

Off-farm activities generate on average more than half of farm households' incomes in the Mexican ejido sector. Participation in these activities helps reduce poverty and contributes to greater equality in the distribution of income. This paper analyzes the determinants of access to off-farm so...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:World development 2001-03, Vol.29 (3), p.467-480
Main Authors: Janvry, Alain de, Sadoulet, Elisabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Employment
Ethnicity
Households
income
Income distribution
Latin America
Mexico
off-farm employment
Poverty alleviation
Rural areas
Rural development
Rural economics
Rural employment
rural households
Statistical analysis
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Off-farm activities generate on average more than half of farm households' incomes in the Mexican ejido sector. Participation in these activities helps reduce poverty and contributes to greater equality in the distribution of income. This paper analyzes the determinants of access to off-farm sources of income across households. We find that education plays a major role in accessing better remunerated nonagricultural employment. Adults of indigenous ethnic origin suffer from an educational lag and have less access to off-farm nonagricultural employment than non-indigenous adults at identical educational levels. The regional availability of off-farm employment strongly affects participation. In addition, women are differentially limited by distance to urban centers in their ability to gain off-farm employment.
ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/S0305-750X(00)00113-3