Aya Suzuki
Professor, Empirical International Development Studies
Keywords: Development Economics, Applied Micro Econometric Analyses, Agricultural Economics
Lab webpage

Degree

Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics (University of California, Davis)

Current research topics

• Labor productivity in the cut flower industry in Ethiopia
• Compliance of good practices and information spillover among farmers in the shrimp aquaculture industry in Vietnam
• Impact evaluation of SME support programs

Selected publications

• Does efficient provision of business development services yield better results for SMEs?: Evidence from a networking project in Thailand. Journal of Development Effectiveness Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2019): 203-229. (with K. Igei)

• Marketing Risks and Standards Compliance: Challenges in Accessing the Global Market for High-value Agricultural and Aquacultural Industries. in Tsunekawa, K. and Y. Todo Edited Emerging States at Crossroads, Springer (2019): 163-184. (with V.H. Nam)

• Earnings, Savings, and Job Satisfaction in a Labor-intensive Export Sector: Evidence from the Cut Flower Industry in Ethiopia. World Development Vol. 110 (2018):176-191. (with Y. Mano, and G. Abebe)

• Local Personal Networks in Employment and the Development of Labor Markets: Evidence from the Cut Flower Industry in Ethiopia. World Development Vol. 39, Issue 10 (2011):1760-1770. (with Y. Mano, T. Yamano, and T. Matsumoto)

• Partial Vertical Integration, Risk Shifting, and Product Rejection in the High value Export Supply Chain: The Ghana Pineapple Sector. World Development Vol. 39, Issue 9 (2011):1611-1623. (with L.S. Jarvis and R.J. Sexton)

Research

My main research motivation is how developing countries can achieve poverty reduction. To do so, creating employment opportunities and developing industries is critical, and thus, I study the process of agricultural and industrial development. In the past decades, the high-value export agriculture has received attention for its potential role in reducing poverty in developing countries. I have conducted empirical research relating to questions such as how this export sector has developed, whether the farmers have benefited from it, and what the impacts on the communities are. Research method involves formulating hypotheses based on the fieldwork, collecting micro-level data (household, firm), and testing hypotheses using econometrics. Currently my main research topics include the labor productivity, adoption of good practices, and information spillovers among farmers, for cases of the cut flower industry in Ethiopia and the shrimp aquaculture industry in Vietnam. I aim to offer useful policy implications for the practitioners in development field.