Explore the vast range of titles available.

Individuals relying on natural resource extraction for their livelihood face high income variability driven by a mix of environmental, biological, management, and economic factors. Key to managing these industries is identifying how regulatory actions and individual behavior affect income variability, financial risk, and, by extension, the economic stability and the sustainable use of natural resources. In commercial fisheries, communities and vessels fishing a greater diversity of species have less revenue variability than those fishing fewer species. However, it is unclear whether these benefits extend to the actions of individual fishers and how year-to-year changes in diversification affect revenue and revenue variability. Here, we evaluate two axes by which fishers in Alaska can diversify fishing activities. We show that, despite increasing specialization over the last 30 years, fishing a set of permits with higher species diversity reduces individual revenue variability, and fishing an additional permit is associated with higher revenue and lower variability. However, increasing species diversity within the constraints of existing permits has a fishery-dependent effect on revenue and is usually (87% probability) associated with increased revenue uncertainty the following year. Our results demonstrate that the most effective option for individuals to decrease revenue variability is to participate in additional or more diverse fisheries. However, this option is expensive, often limited by regulations such as catch share programs, and consequently unavailable to many individuals. With increasing climatic variability, it will be particularly important that individuals relying on natural resources for their livelihood have effective strategies to reduce financial risk.

This study, using cross sectional data from 170 farmers, empirically established that agroforestry positively affects food security and significantly reduces income variability among farmers in Bundelkhand region lying in semi-arid tropics of central India. A 1% increase in the tree density and tree diversity on farm significantly increases food security status by 0.231% and 0.141% points, respectively. Further variability in income reduces by around 0.38% and 0.16% with unit percentage increase in tree density and diversity, respectively. Therefore, amid the epoch of global climate change, agroforestry practice can be a crucial climate smart agriculture option. Farmers’ challenges were also identified and ranked by using Problem Confrontation Index (PCI). The study unveils that, efforts towards controlling stray animals, creating marketing environment, strengthening and streamlining the extension services for more technological and input support requires a strategic institutional framework as a key to upgrade agroforestry in the region.

Recent decades have seen increases in the variability of family income, tepid income growth rates for all but the richest families, and widening income inequality. These trends are concerning for child well-being, given the importance of income to parental investments and parenting practices. Growing evidence suggests that a high level of change is disruptive to family processes and that chronic stress affects physiology as well as psychology. This study used the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement to estimate associations between three dimensions of childhood income dynamics—level, variability, and trend—and child achievement and behavior. After income level was controlled for, income variability during childhood was not associated with child achievement or behavior, but an increasing five-year trend in income-to-needs was modestly beneficial to behavior measures. Subgroup analysis suggests some adverse effects of income variability and trend on reading and behavior for non-White children but no clear patterns by child’s age or family income or wealth levels.

Crop diversification is a climate-smart agricultural technique which helps to improve resilience for farmers in the face of volatile weather due to climate change. Previous research on its effects on technical efficiency has shown mixed results. Despite burgeoning literature on the subject, an important research question that remains uninvestigated is: does crop diversification involve a compromise between technical efficiency and resilience (income stability) for rural farmers? Using nationally representative rural household survey data from Zambia, this study empirically answers this research question. We employ the Data Envelopment Approach (DEA) for efficiency and a two- step least-squares approach for income variability. Our results show evidence that crop diversification significantly improves income stability but significantly reduces technical efficiency. The paper provides useful implications for policies that promote crop diversification in Zambia and other countries.

Agriculture occupies the most prominent position in Himachal Pradesh, as it is the mainstay of more than 69 per cent of the state's population. Since the state is exposed to constraints such as shrinking land holdings coupled with perceptible changes in weather and climate, protected cultivation has emerged as the best alternative for using land and other resources efficiently. The main aim of this technology is to enhance the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. Therefore, the present study was conducted to analyse the cropping pattern, production and productivity of major crops being cultivated under protected conditions and to study its impact in crop productivity, employment and income (farm income and total household income) generation and income variability. In order to have a better insight, the factors under consideration were compared to the open-field conditions. The study is based on primary data collected through survey method for the agricultural year 2015-16. The data had been collected from 60 tomato (30 open-field and 30 polyhouse) growers, selected through proportional allocation method from Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh. The study revealed that protected cultivation had a significant impact in enhancing the crop productivity and was approximately three times higher in comparison to the openfield conditions. The labour utilization pattern on protected cultivation was found to be almost four times higher than that of the open- field cultivation indicating a significant contribution in enhancing the employment opportunities. The average farm and household income of the protected growers was observed to be increased by about 25 and 11 per cent, respectively with the adoption of protected technology in the study area. The income variability of the protected growers was also found to be less in comparison to the open-field growers indicating lesser risk and higher stability of income generated by the protected growers in the study area. Therefore, it can be concluded that protected cultivation has a significantly positive impact in improving the socio-economic conditions of the farmers in the study area and suits well to the agro-climatic conditions prevailing in the hilly areas like Himachal Pradesh.

If farmers are risk averse, greater farm income variability should increase off-farm labor supply. This effect is confirmed for a sample of Kansas farmers. Off-farm employment of farmers and their spouses is also found to be significantly influenced by farm experience, off-farm work experience, farm size, leverage, efficiency, and farm-specific education. In addition, farm operators and spouses who receive significant income support through government farm programs are less likely to work off the farm. This may suggest that policy changes reducing farm income support payments may increase off-farm employment of farmers and their spouses.

This study models and investigates the presence of precautionary wealth among farm households, something few studies have attempted. Using pooled farm-level data, we find that self-employed farm households accumulate more wealth. Precautionary savings is about 8% of total household wealth. In addition, we find that age, education, occupation, and operation size are important factors influencing wealth accumulation by US farm households.

This paper investigates three questions in a poor and drought-prone region of western Orissa, India. Is aggregate income stable? How do a household's characteristics and its local environment influence both the level of its income and its variability? Does a short-lived, common shock cause significant income variability? The study is based on an original, three-season panel data set of 240 households, in which one monsoon season was marked by a severe drought. Aggregate income varied little, but there were considerable fluctuations in individual household incomes across seasons, the main sources of which were idiosyncratic shocks. This suggests that although current programmes are effective in stabilizing aggregate income against drought, massive additional intervention along the same lines is not an efficient way to combat a drought's effects. Rather, it is desirable to promote suitable insurance arrangements to deal with idiosyncratic shocks, measures which would complement those designed to raise incomes permanently. Cet article s'intéresse à trois questions dans la région pauvre et sujette aux sécheresses d'Orissa occidentale, en Inde. Le re venu global y est-il stable ? Comment les caractéristiques d'un ménage et son environnement local influencent-ils le niveau de son revenu et de sa variabilité ? Est-ce qu'un choc commun de courte durée peut être la cause d'une variabilité significative des revenus ? L'étude est basée sur un ensemble de données de panel de trois saisons, composé de 240 ménages, dans lequel une saison de mousson a été marquée par une sécheresse sévère. Le revenu global varie peu mais il y eut des variations considérables dans les revenus des ménages d'une saison à l'autre, dont les raisons furent des chocs idiosyncratiques. On peut en déduire que, malgré l'efficacité des programmes actuels sur le revenu global en cas de sécheresse, une intervention généralisée allant dans le même sens ne serait pas un moyen efficace de combattre les effets de la sécheresse. Il serait plutôt préférable de promouvoir des dispositifs d'assurance adéquats pour faire face aux chocs idiosyncratiques, mesures qui compléteraient celles destinées à accroître les revenus de façon permanente.

Among the different types of households, agricultural ones are perceived as the most exposed to the problem of income instability. Income fluctuations pose a threat not only to the financial stability of farming families but also to the sustainable development of the agriculture sector. Investigating the scale and factors of the variability of farmers’ household incomes is important in designing and monitoring agricultural policy measures that aim to stabilize farmers’ incomes. In this context, the main objective of this article is to assess the income variability of agricultural households in Poland and to identify the main correlates of farmers’ income fluctuations in the period 1996–2022. To emphasize the significance of the problem of income instability for agricultural households, a comparative assessment of income variability was performed (relative to non-agriculture households). Furthermore, two research subperiods (1996–2003; 2004–2022; before and after EU accession) were distinguished to capture the association between the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and the stability of agricultural income. The study focusses on associations between variables (regression and correlation analyses were used). The income of agricultural households was shown to exhibit greater variability (year-on-year) than the income of households of workers and of self-employed people, with a lower scale of fluctuations after 2004. Furthermore, the study reveals a group of factors that could be correlated with the variability of the income of agricultural households: income structure (share of income from agriculture), natural and climatic conditions (variability of the yields and agricultural production), and changes in prices of the means of agricultural production. The findings raise, however, a question about the effectiveness of CAP instruments in stabilizing agricultural income.

Offfarm investment decisions of farm households are analyzed. Farmlevel data for a sample of Kansas farms observed from 1994 through 2000 are utilized. A system of censored dependent variable models is estimated to investigate the factors that influence the composition of farm households portfolios. The central question underlying the analysis is whether farm income variability influences offfarm investment decisions. Previous analyses on the determinants of nonfarm investments have failed to consider the role of income variability. Results of this study indicate that higher farm income fluctuations increase the relevance of nonfarm assets in the farm household portfolio, thus suggesting these assets are used as farm household income risk management tools.