Browsing by Author "Xing, Zhongwei"

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    Agriculture and rural development : the case of Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Economics, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Xing, Zhongwei
    Agricultural growth remains a key pillar for economic development in developing agriculture-based economies, however difficulties remained to integrate rural development, food value chains, technological and institutional innovations, environmental constraints that have changed in the context of agriculture’s role. The renewed attention on ‘new agriculture for development’ framework started to emerge to achieve several dimensions of development. This thesis empirically investigates the issues pertaining to new agriculture for development that can benefit economic growth and address the socio-economic dimensions of development in the case of Fiji. Utilising Fiji’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2008-09 dataset the study examines macro-micro-level role of agriculture that corresponds to new objectives and apply this approach to evaluate the agricultural efficiency-development linkages. The empirical methodologies apply appropriate time series, novel cross-sectional approaches, new agricultural indicators and its determinants that examines (1) the impact of agriculture and other sectors to enhance agriculture efficiency; (2) moving beyond farm income by assessing off-farm labour participation and supply allocation decisions in the agricultural households. To achieve desired dimensions of development beyond those driven by market competiveness, (3) the role of remittances in the agricultural production estimations provide a new direction and finding to increase income and identify the causes of success for scaling up agricultural output, followed by (4) reducing poverty and inequality in agricultural households. In addition to contributing to the broader debates about agriculture-economic development nexus, the findings are also the first on applying new agriculture for development framework in Fiji’s case. Results demonstrate that there exist sectoral linkages and to increase economic diversification developing forward linkages through innovations are crucial and advantageous for growth. Findings of double-hurdle factors indicate the push and pull factors that influence household heads’ decision to participate and allocate time in off-farm income-generating activities. This implies that demand for labour, even for low-wage workers will not increase without a dynamic rural economy. The failure of low-wage and subsistence living depends on availability of land tenure and investment in agro-based industry clusters. The effects of remittances on agricultural production and diversification show that remittances tend to encourage households to be more diversified in farming, and to grow more cash crops. Findings show that non-farm household income sources contribute significantly towards poverty reduction of the agricultural households. Policies aimed at low-wage to reduce income gaps and creating employment opportunities could exhibit higher labour productivity.
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    Socio-economic determinants for poverty reduction : the case of Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Economics at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2010) Xing, Zhongwei
    Poverty is a multi-dimensional issue, which encompasses different dimensions of deprivation that relate to human capabilities including food security, health, education, rights, voice, security, dignity, income and consumption. Above all, poverty is denial of human rights (United Nations, 2009). Despite Fiji's as a most developed island economy, and plays an affluent role among the Pacific Island nations, its history of coups and vulnerability to external shocks have created major obstacles to reducing poverty by half by 2015. The study demonstrates that knowledge on the characteristics of the poor is vital not only because it is essential to tackle the roots of poverty but also shape the policies and strategies to reducing poverty. The study found that, in particular, the households headed by females and people with disability are most prone to poverty. Rural households are more likely subjected to poverty than urban households. The Indo-Fijian households face greater income inequalities than Fijian households, and the urban households endure greater inequalities in comparison to rural households. Being educated and employed are the key fundamental elements in reducing the likelihood of remaining poor. The study shows that people from the lowest income to the highest income groups all benefit from formal education, but it is tertiary education which has the ability to sustainably prevent people falling into poverty when the unseen event occur in the future. Also, employment in manufacturing, construction, trade and services, transportation and communications sectors are all vital determinants of poverty reduction. In particular, the manufacturing sector helps rural households in increasing the possibility of meeting the basic needs, while the transportation and communication sector helps urban households to increase the probability of meeting their basic needs. The research findings suggest that poverty reduction polices and programmes should focus on the core areas of integration and targeting, promotion of human assets, provide resources and transportation linkages for rural and urban activities, promotion of income-job-creation and income redistribution. Releasing land for commercial agriculture farming could contribute to poverty reduction in rural areas and its linkages in the urban sector could also reduce poverty in urban areas.