Completed research projects

Economic theory suggests that risk aversion and time discounting should decline in wealth. As a conclusion, poorer households, especially in developing countries, are considered to be more risk averse and more impatient than wealthier households, which in turn lead the poorer to take management decisions that could perpetuate their lives in poverty. However, our understanding of the complex and dynamic interactions between risk and time preferences, risk management and poverty, especially in different dimensions of well-being, is still quite limited, because of data limitations and highly compartmentalized research methods.

This research project applies a holistic approach, where the dynamic interrelations between risk and time preferences, risk management and the multiple dimensions of poverty will be disentangled in order to derive longer-term prospects for sustainable development of rural households in transition economies.

The emerging market economy of Thailand, which has seen a considerable decline in poverty but remains strongly vulnerable to adverse risks, is a suitable stage to effectively investigate the dynamic interactions between preferences, risk management and poverty.

The research project investigates these interactions by differentiating between two levels of risk management strategies, i.e. (i) risk management at the individual level such as diversifying income sources, and (ii) risk management at the group level such as sharing risks with other households in social networks. Drivers and impacts of risk management strategies at both levels are the objects of investigation. The investigation of drivers of risk management decisions will go beyond standard economic theory and incorporate alternative theories such as prospect theory and quasi-hyperbolic discounting. Among the impacts of risk management strategies, both monetary indicators and non-monetary indicators of well-being will be taken into account.

Overall objectives: To assess the extent to which certified alternative agricultural systems like organic agriculture and fair trade management can contribute towards sustainable livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries.

Specific objectives:

• To examine the drivers that influence the adoption of such alternative farming systems;
• To investigate the extent to which organic and fair trade certified agriculture impacts production and welfare of smallholder farmers;
• To compare and do a meta-analysis on how these systems effects smallholder farmers in the continents on Asia, Africa and Latin America and derive the success factors of such farming technologies.

Overall objectives:
To improve the sustainable livelihoods of resource-poor livestock producers in smallholder production systems through improved control of trypanosomiasis.

Special objectives:

• To improve capacity and capability of African laboratories and veterinary services to detect trypanocide resistance  and to conduct quality control of trypanocidal drugs;
• To improve the effectiveness of available trypanocides in livestock;
• To promote and monitor the use of the technical and structural innovations developed in partnership at a regional and continental scale.

Specific objectives:
1. Analyze different adoption decisions by using econometric models to identify key factors that drive smallholder rubber farmer’s decision.
2. Conduct a comprehensive economic analysis of different farming systems (rubber monoculture, intercropping, traditional agriculture), giving account of the cost structures, productivity, cash income generation and poverty levels.
3. Conduct an economic impact assessment by use of a “difference-in-difference model” and “normative household models” based on the concept of typical farms.
4. Investigate the potential economic effects of alternative land use strategies in terms of income generation, income inequality, food security, and poverty and vulnerability reduction.
5. Analyze the barriers and required incentives for small-scale farmers to adopt economically sustainable land use and management concepts.