Showing papers on "Rural area published in 1999"

Ecology and urban planning

Abstract: Urban areas harbour diverse nature ranging from semi-natural habitats to wastelands, parks and other highly human-influenced biotopes with their associated species assemblages. Maintenance of this urban biodiversity for the residents and for its intrinsic value in the face of increasing population and expanding cities requires that ecological knowledge should be better integrated into urban planning. To achieve this goal understanding of ecological patterns and processes in urban ecosystems is needed. The first step in the necessary urban ecological research is to find out what kind of nature exists in cities. Second, knowledge about ecological processes important in urban nature is required. Although ecological processes in cities are the same as in rural areas, some of them, such as invasion by alien species, are more prevalent in urban than in rural conditions. Third, based on ecological knowledge, management schemes maintaining the diversity of urban nature should be designed. These procedures should also include protection of urban nature, e.g. in urban national parks. Finally, as ecology alone cannot provide the complex information about human influence on urban ecosystems, interdisciplinary research involving natural and social sciences is imperative for a holistic approach to integrating ecology into the process of urban planning.

Rural livelihood diversity in developing countries: evidence and policy implications

Abstract: This paper examines livelihood diversification as a survival strategy of rural households in developing countries. Although still of central importance, farming on its own is increasingly unable to provide a sufficient means of survival in rural areas. The paper’s objectives are first, to increase awareness of livelihood diversification in approaches to rural development; second, to consider the interactions among diversification and poverty, farm productivity, natural resource management and gender relations in rural areas; and third, to advance the policy understanding of diverse rural livelihoods.

Leaving the countryside: rural-to-urban migration decisions in China.

Abstract: This paper employs a simple theoretical model of labor allocation within rural households given existing land arrangements in an attempt to explain why rural Chinese do not fully participate in labor migration. It first explores the mechanisms by which individual household and community characteristics affect the migration decision. Empirical results are then presented to substantiate the derived hypotheses. The paper further explores the question of whether the migration decision is permanent by analyzing the responses of household consumption to income from migration. (EXCERPT)

Ecology and urban planning

Abstract: Urban areas harbour diverse nature ranging from semi-natural habitats to wastelands, parks and other highly human-in uenced biotopes with their associated species assemblages. Maintenance of this urban biodiversity for the residents and for its intrinsic value in the face of increasing population and expanding cities requires that ecological knowledge should be better integrated into urban planning. To achieve this goal understanding of ecological patterns and processes in urban ecosystems is needed. The ®rst step in the necessary urban ecological research is to ®nd out what kind of nature exists in cities. Second, knowledge about ecological processes important in urban nature is required. Although ecological processes in cities are the same as in rural areas, some of them, such as invasion by alien species, are more prevalent in urban than in rural conditions. Third, based on ecological knowledge, management schemes maintaining the diversity of urban nature should be designed. These procedures should also include protection of urban nature, e.g. in urban national parks. Finally, as ecology alone cannot provide the complex information about human in uence on urban ecosystems, interdisciplinary research involving natural and social sciences is imperative for a holistic approach to integrating ecology into the process of urban planning.

Access to Markets and the Benefits of Rural Roads

Abstract: Transport infrastructure plays a central role in rural development, yet little is known about the size - or, especially, the distribution - of benefits from road investments. Among other benefits, rural roads provide cheaper access to both markets for agricultural output and for modern inputs. The author develops and implements a method for nonparametrically estimating the benefits from road projects at the household level. The idea is that since these benefits get capitalized in land values, they can be estimated by examining how the value of farmland falls with distance from agricultural markets. Household-level benefits from hypothetical road projects are calculated from the predicted appreciation in value of the household's farmland. These predicted benefits are then related to household per-capita expenditures to assess their distributional consequences. The empirical analysis, using data from Nepal, shows large benefits from extending roads into remote rural areas, much of these gains going to poorer households. But rural road construction is not the magic bullet for poverty alleviation. The benefits are neither large enough nor targeted well enough to reduce income inequality appreciably.

African rural labour, income diversification and livelihood approaches: a long-term development perspective

Abstract: The upsurge in nonagricultural income diversification which has taken place on the African continent during the last fifteen years represents large-scale agrarian labour displacement within an accelerated process of depeasantization. The literature's current preoccupation with market response and prescriptive behaviour based on Western norms and formal economic models clouds perception of what is actually taking place. The confusion begins with limiting the focus to the household as the unit of analysis while tacitly assuming that such households operate within a clearly delineated formal/informal/peasant three-sector economy. One by one, the components of the three-sector model are changing; national economies represent an amalgam of these three sectors into one 'formless' sector. This paper presents colonial and postcolonial perspectives on the African rural labour question, specifically with respect to Tanzania, in order to lend historical depth and sociopolitical dimension to the current focus on income diversification. To ground the analysis, case study observations are presented from four Tanzanian villages: two situated in the Mbeya region and two in Iringa region. The new 'sustainable rural livelihoods' (SRL) approach is a response to the complexity of rural livelihoods and their growing nonagricultural character.

Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America

Abstract: This work takes us to three remote rural areas in the USA to hear the tales of the residents - the poor, the rich, and those in between - as they talk about their families, work, hard times, and their hopes. It provides an insight into the dynamics of poverty, politics and community change.

International Students’ Image of Rural Pennsylvania as a Travel Destination

Abstract: This exploratory examination of the image international students have of rural tourism areas in Pennsylvania documents that they have distinct images and that their responses to them differ depending on travel behavior and sociodemographic variables.

Rural health in the United States

Abstract: 1: Populations and Places in Rural American 2: Access to Care for Rural Patients 3: Physicians and Rural America 4: Nonphysician Professionals and Rural America 5: Federal Programs and Rural Health 6: Medicare Programs in Rural Areas 7: State Laws and Programs that Affect Rural Health Delivery 8: Medicaid Mananged Care in Rural Areas 9: Hospitals in Rural America 10: Rural Managed Care 11: Rural Health Care Networks 12: Rural Maternal and Perinatal Health 13: Rural Children's Health 14: Mental Health and Substance Abuse 15: Rural Elderly and Long Term Care Epilogue

Rural Futures: The Consumption Countryside and its Regulation

Abstract: The paper outlines some of the main features of the ‘political and social economy of rural space’ from a British perspective. It details the trajectory of what is termed the ‘consumption countryside’ that is, the sets of increasingly diverse ruralities which tie rural space and people to the provision of goods and services that can be consumed by those in and beyond their particular boundaries. These trends have significance for the development of European rural social science; and particularly the development of a comparative rural sociology which can analyse the differentiation of rural space. In doing so, the paper suggests the need to forge a critical and interpretative set of new relations with the state (supra, national and, regional and local), and to play a much more engaging part in the differential evolution of new rural governance structures.

Measuring Poverty in South Africa

Abstract: This paper sets out the methodological issues for the measurement of poverty before presenting a poverty profile of South Africa. It tests the sensitivity of the poverty profile to choices around the metric used to measure well-being, the equivalence scale used and the level of the poverty line. The key finding is that the defining features of South African poverty are so pronounced that the profile of poverty is robust to changes in the underlying measurement assumptions. Gauteng, South Africa's economic powerhouse, has long been dependent on immigration to supply its labour requirements, a phenomenon deeply rooted in the provinces early economic history and the development of mining and heavy industry. Although migration has contributed to the development of the province, it also poses challenges to the provincial government partly through the added burden on state-financed services and programmes. In this context, this study aims to quantify and describe migration to and migrant labour in Gauteng by using the 2001 Census and the September 2002 Labour Force Survey. South African immigrants to the province (or in-migrants) were defined in one of two ways: individuals who were born in South Africa, but outside of Gauteng, or individuals whose most recent move in the 1996-2001 period was to Gauteng from one of the other eight provinces. In-migrants are described in terms of their demographics and educational and employment status. Further, in-migrants access to public services including electricity and water and other indicators of their living standards, such as housing, were analysed. As far as possible, the analysis compared in-migrants to non-migrants and intra-Gauteng migrants in order to provide insight into special benefits or challenges that in-migrant households may present. The Labour Force Survey module on migrant labour allowed the profiling of migrant labourers and the approximation of economic links between Gauteng and other provinces as represented by remittances. The study found that a large proportion of Gauteng residents were born outside the province, or moved into the province in the inter-census period, indicating a relatively mobile population. Although in-migrants constitute approximately half of the population with post-matric qualifications, they are overall less educated than the rest of the Gauteng population and are more often engaged in relatively lower skilled occupations and sectors. It is concluded that significant levels of in-migration are likely to continue for at least the medium-term, with in-migrants posing important challenges specifically in the areas of health, housing and infrastructure provision. Through remittances, the economic situation of the province and of migrant workers may also have important consequences in the rural areas of the provinces of Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga

A Program to Increase the Number of Family Physicians in Rural and Underserved Areas: Impact After 22 Years

Abstract: ContextThe shortage of physicians in rural areas is a longstanding and serious problem, and national and state policymakers and educators continue to face the challenge of finding effective ways to increase the supply of rural physicians.ObjectiveTo determine the direct and long-term impact of the Physician Shortage Area Program (PSAP) of Jefferson Medical College (JMC) on the rural physician workforce.DesignRetrospective cohort study.Participants and SettingA total of 206 PSAP graduates from the classes of 1978 to 1991.Main Outcome MeasuresThe PSAP graduates currently practicing family medicine in rural and underserved areas of Pennsylvania, compared with all allopathic medical school graduates in the state, and with all US and international allopathic graduates. All PSAP graduates were also compared with their non-PSAP peers at JMC regarding their US practice location, medical specialty, and retention for the past 5 to 10 years.ResultsThe PSAP graduates account for 21% (32/150) of family physicians practicing in rural Pennsylvania who graduated from one of the state's 7 medical schools, even though they represent only 1% (206/14,710) of graduates from those schools (relative risk [RR], 19.1). Among all US and international medical school graduates, PSAP graduates represent 12% of all family physicians in rural Pennsylvania. Results were similar for PSAP graduates practicing in underserved areas. Overall, PSAP graduates were much more likely than their non-PSAP classmates at JMC to practice in a rural area of the United States (34% vs 11%; RR, 3.0), to practice in an underserved area (30% vs 9%; RR, 3.2), to practice family medicine (52% vs 13%; RR, 4.0), and to have combined a career in family practice with practice in a rural area (21% vs 2%; RR, 8.5). Of PSAP graduates, 84% were practicing in either a rural or small metropolitan area, or one of the primary care specialties. Program retention has remained high, with the number of PSAP graduates currently practicing rural family medicine equal to 87% of those practicing between 5 and 10 years ago, and the number practicing in underserved areas, 94%.ConclusionsThe PSAP, after more than 22 years, has had a disproportionately large impact on the rural physician workforce, and this effect has persisted over time. Based on these program results, policymakers and medical schools can have a substantial impact on the shortage of physicians in rural areas.

Inside China's Cities: Institutional Barriers and Opportunities for Urban Migrants

Abstract: One of the most glaring legacies of 20thcentury Chinese socialism is a sharp and widened divide between China's urban and rural areas. China's widened urban-rural divide arose from a socialist industrialization process, which created a hastened heavy-industrial base at the expense of its rural population. China's vast rural population not only endured a standard of living far below that in the urban sector, they were also denied access to many social welfare benefits and social-mobility opportunities (Martin King Whyte, 1996). This urban-rural gap in social and economic wellbeing, together with a massive reservoir of rural surplus labor and an acute shortage of consumer goods, formed the driving forces for China's change of migration-control policy and for the rapid increase of rural migrants in Chinese cities. Though the exact number of migrants is still hard to ascertain, due to both a lack of consensus in the definition of migrant and the absence of an authoritative national survey, migrants' prominent presence in Chinese cities is hardly disputable. In China's largest cities, for instance, it is often quoted that at least one out of every five persons is a migrant, and most likely a migrant from rural areas. In Shanghai, the number of migrants rose tenfold in one decade: from 0.26 million in 1981 to 2.81 million in 1993. The percentage of local residents who were migrants correspondingly rose from less than 5 percent in the early 1980's to 21.7 percent in 1993 (Changming Sun, 1997). In Beijing, the number of migrants was 3.29 million in 1994, compared to a locally registered population of 10.63 million for the whole municipality, and 6 million for its city districts (Dangsheng Ji et al., 1996 p. 95). In city districts, one out of every three persons in Beijing is a temporary migrant from elsewhere. Most of these recorded migrants are also genuine migrants, not short-term visitors: more than 60 percent had stayed for more than half of a year, and only 17 percent had been in Beijing for less than one month. Three-quarters of all the surveyed migrant population listed business or employment as their purpose of stay (Ji et al., 1996 pp. 96-97). Rural migrants account for over threequarters of all migrants in large Chinese cities. In Shanghai, for instance, a survey in 1995 found that 88.1 percent of all migrants had their place of household registration in the countryside (Wang and Zuo, 1997). Similarly, in Beijing, where one expects to see a higher circulation of urban to urban migrants, close to 80 percent of migrants surveyed in late 1994 were peasants before moving into Beijing (XiuhuaLiu, 1996 p. 112).

Segmenting Tourism in Rural Areas: The Case of North and Central Portugal

Abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to segment and profile the needs of rural tourists so as to provide a better understanding of rural tourism in Portugal. A self-administered survey in four languages was obtained from 200 visitors in the study area. Four useful benefit segments were identified, and implications for market development are discussed.

‘Push’ versus ‘pull’ factors in migration outflows and returns: Determinants of migration status and spell duration among China's rural population

Abstract: The tremendous abundance of labour in rural areas is one of the most perplexing issues currently facing policy‐makers in the People's Republic of China. Central and municipal authorities fear that large‐scale labour movement out of rural China will have politically and socially destabilising effects on the cities and towns to which workers migrate. Recognising that there may be positive economic aspects associated with rural labour outflow, this research seeks to shed light on the transfer process with an emphasis on identifying the factors which motivate the observed frequent movement of migrants between their origin and destination points. Using household data collected in rural China, we investigate both out migration and return migration decisions. We demonstrate that observed migration patterns are the outcome of informed, rational responses to an environment filled with uncertainty and incomplete markets. To the extent that policymakers wish to minimise the more transient component of rural out‐migr...

Prevalence and pattern of epilepsy in India.

Abstract: Summary: Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of epilepsy in India by meta-analysis of previously published and unpublished studies and to determine patterns of epilepsy by using community-based studies. Methods: We attempted to identify as many previously published and unpublished studies as possible on the prevalence of epilepsy in India. The studies were assessed with regard to methods and definitions. The prevalence rates for rural and urban populations and for men and women were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The studies that provided details on age structure, age-specific rates, and patterns of epilepsy were chosen for meta-analysis. Both crude values and age-standardized prevalence rates were calculated after accounting for heterogeneity. Results: Twenty studies were found involving a sample population of 598,910, among whom 3,207 had epilepsy. This resulted in a crude prevalence of 5.35/1,000. After a correction for heterogeneity due to interstudy variation, the overall prevalence per 1,000 (and its 95% CI) was 5.33 (4.25-6.41); with urban areas at 5.11 (3.49-6.73); rural areas, 5.47 (4.04–6.9); men, 5.88 (3.89-7.87); and women 5.51 (3.49-7.53). After correction for Ihe variability in estimates of heterogeneity, agestandardized rates (from five studies) revealed that the prevalence rates per 1,000 (and the 95% CI), were as follows: overall, 5.59 (4.15-7.03); men, 6.05 (3.79-8.31); women, 5.18 (3.04–7.32); urban, 6.34 (3.43-9.25); rural, 4.94 (3.12-6.76). Urban men and women had a higher prevalence of epilepsy compared with rural ones, however the difference was not statistically significant. Age-specific prevalence rates were higher in the younger age group, with the onset of epilepsy reported mostly in the first three decades of the sample population's lives. The treatment gap (i.e., the percentage of those with epilepsy who were receiving no or inadequate treatment) was more than 70% in the rural areas. Conclusions: Based on the total projected population of India in the year 2001, the estimated number of people with epilepsy would be 5.5 million. Based on a single study on the incidence of epilepsy, the number of new cases of epilepsy each year would be close to half a million. Because rural population constitutes 74% of the Indian population, the number of people with epilepsy in rural areas will be 4.1 million, three fourths of whom will not be getting any specific treatment as per the present standard.

The impact of war, famine, and economic decline on marital fertility in Ethiopia.

Abstract: We examine recent fertility trends in Ethiopia for evidence of short- and long-term responses to famine, political events, and economic decline. We use retrospective data on children ever born from the 1990 National Family and Fertility Survey to estimate trends in annual marital conception probabilities, controlling for women’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The results of our analysis provide evidence of significant short-term declines in conception probabilities during years of famine and major political and economic upheaval. In the longer term, marital fertility in both urban and rural areas declined in the 1980s after increasing moderately in the 1970s.

When is growth pro-poor? Evidence from the diverse experiences of India's states

Abstract: The authors use 20 household surveys for India's 15 major states, spanning 1960-94, to study how initial conditions and the sectoral composition of economic growth interact to influence how much economic growth reduced poverty The elasticities of measured poverty to farm yields and development spending did not differ significantly across states But the elasticities of poverty to (urban and rural) non-farm output varied appreciably, and the differences were quantitatively important to the overall rate of poverty reduction States with initially lower farm productivity, lower rural living standards relative to those in urban areas, and lower literacy experienced a less pro-poor growth process

The Intermingling of Business and Family Finances in Family-Owned Businesses

Abstract: This study uses data from a national survey of 673 business-owning households to assess factors associated with intermingling business and family finances. Logit analysis indicates that the use of family resources in the business is more likely in sole proprietorships; when the business owes money to financial institutions; and when the business owner is older, more experienced, and without children in the household. Family use of business resources is more likely if the business is incorporated, is located in a rural area or small town, and borrows money.

A review of household and community responses to the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract: This literature review focuses on household and community coping responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. A variety of coping response strategies are identified and categorized as follows: 1) improving food security; 2) raising and supplementing income; and 3) alleviating the loss of labor. The most frequently adopted strategies are those not requiring any cash such as the intra-household labor re-allocation taking children out of school and diversifying household crop production and decreasing the area cultivated. These responses are considered short-term strategies with long-term consequences for survival. Several policy options that can be adopted to strengthen the coping capacity of households with the impact of HIV/AIDS are also mentioned. The review also provides information on the different community initiatives that have sprung up to support and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. It further provides policy recommendations for the improvement of rural-household access to limited resources the provision of social assistance programs and the development of agencies that would help mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS.

The Effects of Education on Farmer Productivity in Rural Ethiopia

Abstract: The Ethiopian education system is characterised by extremely low participation rates, particularly in rural areas. This paper challenges the hypothesis that demand for schooling in rural Ethiopia is constrained by the traditional nature of farm technology and lack of visible benefits of schooling in terms of farmer productivity. The effects of schooling upon farmer productivity and efficiency are examined employing both average production functions and two-stage stochastic frontier production functions. Data drawn from a large household survey conducted in 1994 were used to estimate internal and external benefits of schooling in 14 cereal- producing villages. Empirical analyses reveal substantial internal (private) benefits of schooling for farmer productivity, particularly in terms of efficiency gains. However, a threshold effect is identified: at least four years of primary schooling are required to have a significant effect upon farm productivity. Evidence of strong external (social) benefits of schooling was also uncovered, suggesting that there may be considerable opportunities to take advantage of external benefits of schooling in terms of increased farm productivity if school enrolments in rural areas are increased. Acknowledgements The UK Department for International Development (DFID) supports policies, programmes and projects to promote international development. DFID provided funds for this study as part of that objective but the views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone. The author is indebted to John Knight for supervision of this work. Andre Croppenstedt generously provided his set of farm variables and advice on frontier estimation. Useful comments on drafts of this paper were contributed by Simon Appleton and participants at two CSAE seminars. Any errors are the author's responsibility.

V‐Goods and the Role of the Urban Informal Sector in Development

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of the urban informal sector in a developing country in relation to the performance of agriculture and other rural activities on the one hand and that of urban formal sector activities on the other. It decomposes the sectors into traditional and modernizing components traceable to production and consumption linkages with the rest of the economy as well as the character of government interventions over time. The paper contrasts success cases a la Taiwan in which the overall size of the urban informal sector remains modest the modernizing sub-sector grows in relative importance and the end of overall labor surplus is reached rather early with non-success cases a la the Philippines in which rapid rural-urban migration enhances the overall size of the urban informal sector the traditional sub-sector grows relatively and the end of the labor surplus condition is substantially delayed. (authors)

The Rural Rebound

Abstract: This article focuses on the rural population trends of America. Over the past 30 years a turbulent pattern of demographic changes in metropolitan America has been underway. Population change depends on a variety of factors such as prior organizational and technological change environmental changes shifts in social attitudes and residential preferences. Bill Frey and Alden Speare presented three perspectives for understanding population changes in rural America including period effects regional restructuring deconcentration and preferences. In addition this article describes the diversity of rural America and impact of rural rebound through the experiences of some selected counties including Mercer and Sullivan Chaffee Wolfe Jewell Walworth and Grand Traverse. Rural rebound created an impact on the different aspects of the community including agriculture and farming recreation environmental quality labor and employment and housing. Development pressures in rural America prompted the local governments to initiate growth-management strategies. However the absence of comprehensive development strategy and implementation consensus would sometimes cause competition among taxing districts. For this reason issues less central to development but critical to the long-term stability of the community may be shortchanged. Even to date demographic data suggest that rural rebound has been slowing down. The greatest challenge rural communities are facing is the incorporation of new residents and employers at the same time preserving the rural character as possible.

Linkages between government spending, growth, and poverty in rural India

Abstract: "This research report on India addresses an important policy issue faced by policy-makers in many developing countries: how to allocate public funds more efficiently in order to achieve both growth and poverty-reduction goals in rural areas. This research is particularly important at a time when many developing countries are undergoing substantial budget cuts as part of macroeconomic reforms and adjustment. The econometric model employed in this research includes a broad range of government expenditure items. It traces their effects on productivity growth and poverty alleviation and ranks them, exploring the potential trade-offs and complementarities of the two goals. Of the various investments weighed, the report finds that investments in rural roads and agricultural research and development have the greatest impact, while government spending specifically targeted to poverty reduction such as rural development and employment pro rams have only modest effects. In the light of these results, many developing countries may want to take a second look at their policies for poverty reduction and growth." (Forward by Per Pinstrup-Andersen)

Incidence and outcome of injury in Ghana: a community-based survey.

Abstract: Injury is an increasingly significant health problem in most low-income countries. However, strategies for preventing injury have not been well addressed. The present study was carried out to measure the incidence and outcome of various mechanisms of injury in Ghana in order to provide data for use in developing priorities for injury prevention efforts. For this purpose, using two-stage cluster sampling and household interviews, we surveyed 21,105 persons living in 431 urban and rural sites. During the preceding year, 1609 injuries resulting in one or more days of loss of normal activity were reported. Injury-related mortality was slightly higher in the urban (83 per 100,000) than in the rural area (53 per 100,000). However, the burden of disability from nonfatal injuries, as assessed by disability days, was higher in the rural (4697 disability days per 1000 person-years) than in the urban area (2671 days per 1000 person-years). Based on incidence rates and disability times, the major types of injury in the urban area were transport-related injury and falls. In the rural area, agricultural injuries predominated, followed by falls and transport-related injury. In rural and urban areas combined, 73% of motor vehicle-related injuries involved commercial vehicles. In this and other similar developing-country settings, injury prevention efforts should focus on falls and on transport safety in both urban and rural areas, with special attention being paid to commercial vehicles. In rural areas, agricultural injuries contributed the largest burden of morbidity, and should be a priority for prevention efforts. Language: en

Community Water, Community Management: From System to Service in Rural Areas

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Changing epidemiology of Parkinson's disease in southwestern Finland.

Abstract: Objective: Investigation of the epidemiology of PD in southwestern Finland in 1992 (population 196,864), including urban and rural areas, with a comparison with a similar study, done in the same area in 1971, to evaluate the temporal pattern. Methods: Community-based method of patient ascertainment with personal investigation of cases. Results: The age-adjusted prevalence (to the Finnish general population in 1991) was 139 per 100,000 population in 1971 and 166 in 1992. Prevalence ratio for PD in men versus women was 1.2 (NS) in 1971 and 1.7 in 1992 ( p p = 0.013). The age-specific prevalence rates showed a male preponderance in all age groups in 1992 and a rural preponderance in the age groups over 60 years. In 1992, compared with 1971, the male and rural preponderance occurred in the age groups over 70 years. The age-adjusted incidence was 15.7 per 100,000 population in 1971 and 14.9 in 1992. Relative risk for PD in men versus women was 0.9 (NS) in 1971 and 1.9 ( p p = 0.093) in 1992. Conclusions: A very significant male and a significant rural predominance, not seen in 1971, suggests a possible environmental causative factor, perhaps more frequent in the rural environment, associated with PD. Men may be either more exposed to it or more susceptible to its effects than women.

Growth and poverty in rural India

Abstract: Unlike most developing countries, consistent poverty measures for India can be tracked over a long time. The authors used 20 household surveys for rural India for the years 1958-90 to measure the effects of agricultural growth on rural poverty and on the rural labor market and to find out how long it takes for the effects to be felt. They found that measures of absolute rural poverty responded elastically to changes in mean consumption. But agricultural growth had no discernible impact - either positive or negative - on the share of total consumption going to the poor. For the rural poor, the authors attribute the long-run gains from growth to higher average farm yields, which benefited poor people both directly and through higher real agricultural wages. And the benefits from higher yields were not confined to those near the poverty line - the poorest also benefited. The process through which India's rural poor participate in the gains from agricultural growth takes time, although about half of the long-run impact comes within three years. The long-run elasticity of the head-count index to farm yield was over 2 - of which 40 percent came through wages. Short-run elasticities were far smaller. Inflation adversely affected the rural poor by eroding their real wages in the short-run.