INTENDED AND UNINTENDED IMPACTS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS IN AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION
INTENDED AND UNINTENDED IMPACTS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS IN AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION
Loading...
Files
(RESTRICTED ACCESS)
Publication or External Link
Date
2022
Authors
Castro Zarzur, Rosa
Advisor
Leonard, Kenneth
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
Agriculture and education are often considered crucial programmatic areas for governmentsaround the globe. In their search for economic growth and social well-being, governments
across the developing world implement policies aimed at enhancing human capital formation
and increasing agricultural productivity. In this dissertation I study the intended and unintended
impacts of three types of government programs commonly used to improve outcomes in agriculture
and education.
In countries where land was distributed to collectives or groups rather than to individuals,concerns about how collective ownership may hinder agricultural productivity led to a ”second
wave” of land reforms . In my first chapter, I study a land tenure transition from collective
to individual land rights, and present evidence on the impacts of the Philippine parcelization
program. Contrary to its objective, the implementation of this transitional stage has increased
tenure insecurity, albeit without affecting agricultural productivity for most farmers in the short
term. In turn, higher tenure insecurity has prompted land leases and a reallocation of labor to
the non-farm sector. These unintended effects are likely due to a nontransparent and lengthy
implementation process stemming from governmental capacity constraints.
My second and third chapters are on education. Teacher quality is one of the most relevantfactors influencing student learning and affecting human capital formation. Attracting the best
candidates to the teaching profession has become central to improving education systems around
the world. In my second chapter, I assess the effectiveness of an ability-based scholarship on
attracting top-performing students into teaching majors.
My third chapter is joint work with Miguel Sarzosa and Ricardo Espinoza. We studyhow free college, a policy that has been gaining momentum in Latin America, affects self-selection
into teaching majors. We find that free college decreased the relative returns to pursuing
a teaching career, making it substantially less popular among relatively poor high-performing
students who now self-select into programs with higher returns. We also find that the reform
reduced the academic qualifications of the pool of students entering teaching programs, which
can negatively affect long-term teacher quality.