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Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard. Choosing to catalyze a shift toward more effective, efficient, and climate-resilient public spending in agriculture can accelerate change and unleash growth. Not only does agricultural public spending in Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind other developing regions but its impact is vitiated by subsidy programs and transfers that tend to benefit elites to the detriment of poor people and the agricultural sector itself. Shortcomings in the budgeting processes also reduce spending effectiveness. In light of this scenario, addressing the quality of public spending and the efficiency of resource use becomes even more important than addressing only the level of spending. Improvements in the policy environment, better institutions, and investments in rural public goods positively affect agricultural productivity. These, combined with smarter use of public funds, have helped lay the foundations for agricultural productivity growth around the world, resulting in a wealth of important lessons from which African policy makers and development practitioners can draw. 'Reaping Richer Returns: Public Spending Priorities for African Agriculture Productivity Growth' will be of particular interest to policy makers, development practitioners, and academics. The rigorous analysis presented in this book provides options for reform with a view to boosting the productivity of African agriculture and eventually increasing development impact.

This study is part of the African Regional Studies Program, an initiative of the Africa Region Vice-Presidency at the World Bank. These studies aim to combine high levels of analytical rigor and policy relevance, and to apply them to various topics important for the social and economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa. This book well demonstrates, agricultural spending in Sub-Saharan Africa not only significantly lags behind other developing regions, its impact is also vitiated by subsidy programs and transfers that tend to benefit elites to the detriment of poor people and the agricultural sector itself. Shortcomings of the budgeting processes also reduce spending effectiveness. In light of this scenario, addressing the quality of public spending and the efficiency of resource use becomes an even more important issue than simply addressing the level of spending. The rigorous analysis presented in this book provides options for reform with a view to enhancing investment in the sector and eventually development impact. The evidence show that the efficient use of public funds has been instrumental in laying the foundations f or agricultural productivity growth around the world, providing important lessons for African policymakers and development partners. Investments in rural public goods, combined with better policies and institutions drive agricultural productivity growth. The dividends from investments to strengthen markets, develop and disseminate improved technologies and expand irrigation can be enormous. Similarly, improvement of the policy environment through trade and regulatory policy complements spending by enhancing incentives for producers and innovators to take advantage of public goods, thereby crowding in private investment. Reforming the design and implementation of these subsidy programs while prioritizing government spending in favor of high-return core public goods and policies could produce significant gains. For this reason, this book argues for a rebalancing of the composition of public agricultural spending in order to reap robust development dividends. The authors hope that the findings presented here will resonate with policymakers concerned with agricultural policies, and more specifically with public spending programs that aim to improve the productivity of African agriculture.

In 2005, as the result of a World Trade Organization mandate, India implemented a patent reform for pharmaceuticals that was intended to comply with the 1995 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Exploiting variation in the timing of patent decisions, we estimate that a molecule receiving a patent experienced an average price increase of just 3–6 percent, with larger increases for more recently developed molecules and for those produced by just one firm when the patent system began. Our results also show little impact on quantities sold or on the number of pharmaceutical firms operating in the market. (JEL K33, L11, L13, L65, O14, O34, O38)

This paper examines whether and to what extent amendments in inheritance legislation impact women's physical and human capital investments, using disaggregated household level data from India. The authors use inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu Succession Act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property that were denied to daughters in the past. The causal effect is isolated by exploiting the variation in the timing of father's death to compare within household bequests of land given to sons and daughters in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The analysis shows that the amendment significantly increased daughters' likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment substantial bias persists. The results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.

Front Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary: The Elusive Promise of Productivity -- 1. Sources of Growth in Agriculture -- Improving Agricultural Productivity: Traversing the Last Mile toward Reducing Extreme Poverty -- Poverty Reduction, Productivity Growth, and Economic Transformation -- Trends in Land and Labor Productivity -- Conceptualizing Sources of Agricultural Growth -- The Increasing Importance of TFP in Driving Agricultural Output Growth -- What Will Accelerate Agricultural TFP? -- Annex 1A. Issues in Measuring Agricultural Productivity -- Notes -- References -- 2. Misallocation and Productivity Growth -- The Potential for Productivity Gains from Reallocation -- Insights on Farm Size and Productivity -- Labor Productivity and Structural Transformation -- Annex 2A. Microdata Sources for Measuring Labor Productivity in China and India -- Annex 2B. Distribution of Workdays by Farm and Nonfarm Activities in a Typical Month for an Average Adult Worker in India -- Annex 2C. Labor Productivity Differences by Farm Size -- Annex 2D. Labor Productivity Differences by Education Level -- Annex 2E. Drivers of Wage Differentials between Farm and Nonfarm Work in China -- Notes -- References -- 3. Investing in Innovation -- Agriculture Innovation Policy in a Changing Global Context -- Agriculture R& -- D Spending Worldwide: Increasing but Uneven -- Revitalizing Public Research -- Providing Incentives for Private Innovation -- Concluding Remarks -- Annex 3A. Market Liberalization in Africa's Maize Seed Industry -- Annex 3B. Do Plant Breeders' Rights Stimulate Investment in Crop Improvement? -- Annex 3C. Herbicide Demand and Regional Harmonization of Regulations in Africa -- Notes -- References -- 4. Improving the Enabling Environment for Technology Adoption.

This book documents frontier knowledge on the drivers of agriculture productivity to derive pragmatic policy advice for governments and development partners on reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The analysis describes global trends and long-term sources of total factor productivity growth, along with broad trends in partial factor productivity for land and labor, revisiting the question of scale economies in farming. Technology is central to growth in agricultural productivity, yet across many parts of the developing world, readily available technology is never taken up. We investigate demand-side constraints of the technology equation to analyze factors that might influence producers, particularly poor producers, to adopt modern technology. Agriculture and food systems are rapidly transforming, characterized by shifting food preferences, the rise and growing sophistication of value chains, the increasing globalization of agriculture, and the expanding role of the public and private sectors in bringing about efficient and more rapid productivity growth. In light of this transformation, the analysis focuses on the supply side of the technology equation, exploring how the enabling environment and regulations related to trade and intellectual property rights stimulate Research and Development to raise productivity. The book also discusses emerging developments in modern value chains that contribute to rising productivity. This book is the fourth volume of the World Bank Productivity Project, which seeks to bring frontier thinking on the measurement and determinants of productivity to global policy makers.

Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard. Choosing to catalyze a shift toward more effective, efficient, and climate-resilient public spending in agriculture can accelerate change and unleash growth. Not only does agricultural public spending in Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind other developing regions but its impact is vitiated by subsidy programs and transfers that tend to benefit elites to the detriment of poor people and the agricultural sector itself. Shortcomings in the budgeting processes also reduce spending effectiveness. In light of this scenario, addressing the quality of public spending and the efficiency of resource use becomes even more important than addressing only the level of spending. Improvements in the policy environment, better institutions, and investments in rural public goods positively affect agricultural productivity. These, combined with smarter use of public funds, have helped lay the foundations for agricultural productivity growth around the world, resulting in a wealth of important lessons from which African policy makers and development practitioners can draw. The rigorous analysis presented in this book provides options for reform with a view to boosting the productivity of African agriculture and eventually increasing development impact

Front Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- Ongoing Challenges -- Reasons for the Persistence of Rural Poverty -- Weak Growth of Agricultural Productivity -- Limited Opportunities to Engage in Nonfarm Activities -- Imperfect Safety Nets in a Context of High Economic Insecurity -- Achieving Prosperity in Rural Malawi -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 1 Recent Trends in Growth, Poverty, and Shared Prosperity in Rural Malawi -- Introduction -- Trends in Growth -- Progress in Some Nonmonetary Dimensions of Well-Being -- Ongoing Challenges -- Summary -- Framework for Understanding Rural Poverty in Malawi -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 2 Agriculture and Poverty -- Introduction -- Status of Agriculture in Malawi -- Agricultural Productivity Growth and Poverty Reduction -- Inefficiencies in Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Program -- Stronger Participation in Markets -- Summary -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 3 Nonfarm Self-Employment Activities and Poverty -- Introduction -- Structural Transformation in Malawi -- NFSE Activities as a Means to Improve Rural Welfare -- Lower Returns on NFSE Activities in Rural Areas (Relative to Urban Areas) and for the Poor -- Determinants of Participation in and Returns to NFSE Activities -- Summary -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 4 Social Protection and Poverty -- Introduction -- Malawi's Imperfect Social Protection Programs -- Possible Reasons for Low Impacts of MASAF-PWP -- Lessons Learned from Public Work Programs in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries -- Summary -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 5 Toward a Dynamic Rural Economy -- Introduction -- Create Conditions for Macroeconomic Stability and Structural Transformation -- Increase Agricultural Productivity -- Seek a More Dynamic and Inclusive Structural Transformation