The Effect of Market Participation on Productivity: Evidence from Cambodian Rice Farmers

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This webinar was recorded on August 25, 2022.

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Abstract

Rice is a major crop in many Asian countries including Cambodia. This study attempts to understand the underlying issues of low rice productivity and whether increasing the intensity of market participation plays a role in improving it. The study is based on an instrumental variable analysis of the data from the Cambodia Inter-Censal Agriculture Survey in 2019 and the Cambodia Agriculture Census in 2013. We use a plot level measure of the Household Crop Commercialization Index as an indicator for the intensity of market participation, and the annual crop harvest per hectare of cultivated land as the dependent variable. Employing a two-stage least square to address the endogeneity issue, our preliminary results show that the extent of market participation strongly affects rice productivity. In addition, enhancing productivity hinges, among other things, on improvements in general education and the expansion of irrigation and pesticide usage. The findings from this study offer added perspectives on the issues and will, we hope, contribute to potential policies and reforms.

Speakers

Dr. Channary Khun graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2013. She was a consultant for the International Fund for Agriculture Development and is currently working as an advisor at the Asian Vision Institute. Her current research agenda includes agricultural economics, the economics of child adoption, and trade and happiness. Her work has been published in various journals including, but not limited to, the Economic Inquiry, Economic Modelling, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, International Research Journal of Applied Finance, International Research in Business and Economics Journal, and Empirical Economics Letters. Dr. Khun is currently the Center for Khmer Studies Senior Research Fellow.

Dr. Sokchea Lim is an Associate Professor of Economics at John Carroll University in Ohio, USA. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Illinois University, USA, an M.A. in International Development from the International University of Japan, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Royal University of Law and Economics. His specialties are in the areas of Macroeconomics, International Economics, and Development Economics. He has written on the macroeconomics of international migration and remittances, child adoption, culture and economic growth, and more recently Cambodian agricultural development.

Moderator

Ms. Samedy Suong, CKS Deputy Director

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