Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Climate and Rural Income

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper tests whether climate has an impact on per capita rural income. The study finds that total (agricultural and nonagricultural) income in rural counties and municipios in the US and Brazil are affected by climate. The study demonstrates that this income effect is due to changes in the net value of agriculture. Regions with better climates for agriculture support higher rural incomes and regions with poor climates have more rural poverty. The results also suggest that global warming will likely increase rural poverty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Basist, A., Peterson, N., Peterson, T., and Williams, C.: 1998, ‘Using the special sensor microwave imager to monitor land surface temperature, wetness, and snow cover’, J. Appl. Meteor. 37, 888–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basist, A., Williams Jr., C., Grody, N., Ross, T. E., Shen, S., Chang, A., Ferraro, R., Menne, M. J.: 2001, ‘Using the special sensor microwave imager to monitor surface wetness’, J. of Hydrometeorology 2, 297–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, D. and Sachs, J.: 1998, ‘Geography, demography, and economic growth in africa’, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2, 207–295.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bryceson, D.: 2002, ‘The scramble in Africa: Reorienting rural livelihoods’, World Development 30, 725–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, C. and Otsuka, K. (eds.): 1994, Modern Rice Technology and Income Distribution in Asia. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

  • Ellis, F.: 2000, ‘The determinants of rural livelihood diversification in developing countries’, Journal of Agricultural Economics 51, 289–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanjouw, J. and Lanjouw, P.: 1995, ‘Rural nonfarm employment: A survey’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 1463, World Bank, Washington DC.

  • Mendelsohn, R. and Dinar, A.: 2003, ‘Climate, water, and agriculture’, Land Economics 79, 328–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R. and Nordhaus, W.: 1996, ‘The impact of global warming on agriculture: Reply’, American Economic Review 86, 1312–1315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R. and Nordhaus, W.: 1999, ‘Reply to Quiggin and Horowitz’, American Economic Review 89, 1046–1048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R., Nordhaus, W., and Shaw, D.: 1994, ‘The impact of global warming on agriculture: A ricardian analysis’, American Economic Review 84, 753–771.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R., Nordhaus, W., and Shaw, D.: 1996, ‘Climate impacts on aggregate farm values: Accounting for adaptation’, Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 80, 55–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, R., Dinar, A., and Sanghi, A.: 2001, ‘The effect of development on the climate sensitivity of agriculture’, Environment and Development Economics 6, 85–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reardon, T.: 1997, ‘Using evidence of household income diversification to inform study of the rural nonfarm labor market in Africa’, World Development 25, 735–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, J., et al.: 1996, ‘Agriculture in a changing climate: Impacts and adaptations’, in Watson, R., Zinyowera, M., Moss, R., and Dokken, D. (eds.), IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Climate Change 1995: Impacts, Adaptations, and Mitigation of Climate Change: Scientific-Technical Analyses Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

  • Sachs, J. and Warner, D.: 1997, ‘Sources of slow growth in african economies’, J. of African Economies 6, 335–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanghi, A.: 1998, ‘Global Warming and Climate Sensitivity: Brazilian & Indian Agriculture.’ Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, Chicago.

  • Weiss, H. and Bradley, R.: 2001. ‘What drives societal collapse?’, Science 291, 609–610.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank: 2003, Reaching the Rural Poor: A Renewed Strategy for Rural Development, Washington DC: World Bank.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Mendelsohn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mendelsohn, R., Basist, A., Kurukulasuriya, P. et al. Climate and Rural Income. Climatic Change 81, 101–118 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-9010-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-9010-5

Keywords

Navigation