The dynamics of agricultural production and the calorie-income relationship: Evidence from Pakistan

Panel data on farm households from rural Pakistan are used to estimate the calorie response to different components of income in an analysis that takes into account the sequential nature of agricultural production, labor and capital market imperfections, heterogeneity, and productivity effects of calories. The estimates indicate that the income-calorie relationship depends importantly on production stage, the form of income, the liquidity of assets, and the extent to which income is anticipated. The planting-stage wage-calorie elasticity is 0.61, but income increases in the food-abundant harvest stage have only small effects on calorie consumption confined to households with below-average wealth.