Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/125555 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 723
Publisher: 
University of California, Economics Department, Santa Cruz, CA
Abstract: 
Why do the poor have so many economic activities? According to one theory the poor do not specialize because relying on one income source is risky. I test the theory by measuring the response of Thai rice farmers to conditional volatility in the international rice price. Households expecting a harvest take on 1 extra activity when the volatility rises by 21 percent. I confirm the decrease in specialization costs households foregone revenue. I find no evidence to back a second theory in which households under-specialize because they cannot afford lumpy business investments.
Subjects: 
risk
specialization
occupation
rice
Thailand
JEL: 
D13
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.