ZEF Bonn

Rural labour markets are highly distorted, and their efficiency depends on appropriate
natural resource management. As wages from agricultural labour are often the
main source of income in rural areas, it is necessary to determine the existing rigidities
and to fully understand how rural labour markets work in order to assess their
impact on household welfare and poverty. Although they are further advanced,
many Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries seem to show similar patterns
of economic transition to those of developing countries. Can we learn from the
transition experiences of CEE economies and draw lessons for developing countries
and vice versa? This ZEF project, which is funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation,
Stuttgart, compares the linkages between rural labour markets, natural resource
management and poverty in Romania with Tanzania. Ultimately, overall economic
growth critically depends on the functioning of (factor) markets and their agents,
which suggests the application of a multi-sector economy-wide modelling framework
that features macro, mezzo, and micro elements and allows the integration of
bio-economic modelling components for our particular purposes. ZEF plays a
pioneering role in this field of research.
2.2.3 Environmental, food safety and social standards in the context of WTO
The collapse of trade negotiations in Seattle in December 1999 and the Ministerial
Declaration of Doha have brought the debate on social and environmental standards
as well as food safety issues to the forefront of post-Uruguay Round multilateral
trade talks. There are major frictions of different country groups under the World
Trade Organization (WTO). Research at ZEF sheds light on the relevant WTO agreements
dealing with technical as well as sanitary and phytosanitary standards and
potential outcomes of setting standards. A list of alternative policy responses and
strategies to tackle environmental issues in the context of international trade is proposed
that includes eco-labelling and other labelling schemes, reducing subsidies,
multi-lateral environmental agreements, or technical assistance, and mutual recognition
of equivalent standards. In addition, broader issues related to the demand for
including minimum labour standards in the form of a social clause in the WTO have
been reviewed, and the impact of social labelling has been analysed. Furthermore,
ZEF research has looked at the issue of how to integrate the interests of developing
countries more effectively into the new development round.
2.3 Efficiency in Resource Utilisation and Technologies
for Development
At ZEF, special attention is paid to the four natural resources forests, water, land
and biodiversity as well as the institutional perspective of natural resource management
(NRM). The efficiency of NRM in turn also depends on new technologies like
information and communication technology (ICT) and biotechnology, which are
included in ZEF's research agenda too.
2.3.1 Management of tropical forests
Stabilisation of forest margin areas through poverty alleviation can contribute to
lowering the pressure on forest areas. Technical and institutional progress and new
policies offer means to increase productivity and to improve smallholder livelihoods.
ZEF's research project on “Smallholders in the Eastern Amazon: Interactions between
eco-system and social system in the management of tropical forests" is cofunded
by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part
of the bilateral SHIFT (Studies on Human Impact on Forests and Floodplains in the
Tropics) project. It evaluates agricultural innovations for smallholders operating in
Research
ZEF's research on smallholders
in the Eastern Amazon evaluates
agricultural innovations for
smallholders operating in fallow
systems in the region. The
evaluation includes a bio-economic
modelling approach to
quantify land use decisions
under different policy scenarios
and a comparative analysis
to assess the significance of
the results for other areas in
the Amazon.
51