Virtuous interactions in removing exclusion

Working Paper 2009-122

Abstract

We devise a retrospective panel data approach to evaluate the effects of fair trade affiliation on the schooling decisions of a sample of Thai organic rice producers across the past 20 years. We find that the probability of school enrolment in families with more than two children is significantly affected by affiliation years. The finding is robust when dealing with endogeneity and heterogeneity issues in the estimate. The non-positive preaffiliation performance documents that our result is not affected by selection bias and that fair trade affiliation generates a significant break in the schooling decisions of affiliated households.

Authors: Leonardo Becchetti , Pierluigi Conzo, Fabio Pisani.