Indirect employment and income distribution effects of agricultural development strategies, a simulation approach applied to Nigeria

The interrelationships between the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors are first reviewed within the conventional two-sector framework with attention to employment and income distribution variables. It is concluded that a generalized analysis of these interactions requires a model that explicitly considers the several types of interactions in product and factor markets, that analyses the labor market in more detail, that assumes an open economy and that disaggregates the nonagricultural sector into at least a labor intensive sector and a capital intensive sector. Simulation is proposed as a versatile approach to theoretical and applied analysis of this type of economic system. A simulation model is developed to analyse the indirect effects of alternative food and export promotion strategies in the Nigerian economy.