Research projects Prof. Dr. Hermann Waibel

Poverty dynamics and sustainable development: A long term panel project in Thailand and Vietnam - Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel (TVSEP)

Objectives The objective of this project is to extend the panel household surveys in Thailand and Vietnam for another 9 years (6 waves of rural household and two waves for migrant surveys) to generate a much deeper understanding of income and poverty dynamics in rural areas of rapidly changing emerging economies. This will be achieved by providing high-quality data and making them accessible to an international community of researchers, and by pursuing aspects of this research agenda as part of this project. By facilitating data access and providing advice the project will promote significant advances in research in development and agricultural economics by high-profile research groups worldwide.
Methodology Continued panel surveys at village and household level, and in addition: Migrant tracking surveys; in cooperation with National Research Data Collection Centers in Thailand and Vietnam; Maintenance of a central panel database for use by researchers worldwide
WebsiteTVSEP
Contact

Hermann Waibel in collaboration with Ulrike Grote and Stephan L. Thomsen (Leibniz Universität Hannover) and Krisztina Kis-Katos (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)

Partners Department of Economics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen,
Ubon Ratchathani University (URU), Thailand,
Center for Rural Development in Central Vietnam (CRD) at Hué University, Vietnam.
Period 2016 - 2018 (Phase I)
2019 - 2021 (Phase II)
Funding/ Sponsor DFG - Project No 626864
Budget Phase 1 ca. 1,3 Mio. €
Phase 2 ca. 1,6 Mio. €
Keywords Panel data, Sustainable development, Vulnerability, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Vietnam

Transformation of the rural economy in rubber producing areas in Southwest China

Objectives The objective of the project is to advance the understanding of the factors that drive the transformation of rural economies in the mountainous regions of Southwest China and assess their impacts for household welfare and the environment.
Methodology The project is a follow-up of an earlier BMBF funded research consortium on  “Sustainable Rubber in the Mekong Region” (SURUMER), where   in cooperation with Chinese research partners  a unique two-waves household panel of some 600 rubber farmers in the prefecture of Xishuangbanna (XSBN), the Province of Yunnan has been established. In this project  is another panel wave and an expanded sample to include also non rubber farmers will be administered. The three periods of panel data spanning over a period of eight years offers the unique opportunity to generate a deeper understanding of agricultural transformation in less favoured and ecologically sensitive areas in the Mekong Region facilitates scientifically rigorous empirical studies on agricultural transformation and food security.
Contact

Hermann Waibel, Shaoze Jin, Haowen Zhuang

Partners Center for Agricultural Policy, Peking University (Prof. Dr. Jikun Huang), College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University (Prof. Dr. Shi Min); China Agricultural University, Beijing, (Prof. Dr. Junfei Bai)
Laufzeit 2018 – 2021
Funding/ Sponsor DFG
Budget270 000 €
Keywords Rural transformation, Natural rubber, Poverty, Environment, Panel data

Structural change and transformation of rural villages in Thailand

Objectives

The main objective of this project is to establish a better understanding of rural household’s livelihood change within a decade of economic development in an emerging market economy.

Specific objectives:

  1. to describe the socioeconomic transformation of a typical rural village in Thailand and observe the change of their income portfolio and agriculture activities within a decade;
  2. to identify the determinants of rural-urban migration, and its contribution to household well–being;
  3. to assess the future role of rural villages in Thailand and their contribution to the economy and society

Methodology

The follow up household survey, migrant surveys, and in-depth interviews in a typical rural village of Thailand will be conducted to establish a panel data set after a decade. Econometric and Positive Mathematical Programming will be used.

Contact

Chompunuch Nantajit, Hermann Waibel, Rattiya S. Lippe

Period 10/2017 – 09/2021
Funding/ Sponsor Ramkhamhaeng University, and Thailand Research Fund (TRF)
Budget80 000 €
Keywords Rural development, Migration, Agricultural transformation, Thailand, Positive Mathematical Programming

Poverty in Saudi Arabia

Objectives

The main research objective is to determine the causes of poverty among Saudi nationals. In order to achieve this objective, the project addresses the following sub-questions: 

(A) What are the demographic, economic and social determinants of urban poverty in Saudi Arabia?
(B) Are female-headed households more vulnerable to poverty than male-headed ones? If so, why?
(C) What is the correlation between poverty and risk and time preferences in the Saudi context?

Methodology

The project is based on a household survey and a field experiment conducted in Saudi Arabia in 2019. In the household survey, 496 Saudi households were interviewed in Dammam. Households were randomly selected via systematic sampling across all poor neighbourhoods. In addition, every third household was randomly selected to take part in a field experiment to determine the household head’s risk and time preferences. In total, 166 household heads took part in the field experiment.

Contact

Miriam Al Lily

Partners Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia
Period 2017-2021
Funding/ Sponsor Ramkhamhaeng University, and Thailand Research Fund (TRF)
Budget15 000 €
Keywords Determinants of poverty, Feminisation of poverty, Risk and time preferences, Arabs, Saudi Arabia