This paper investigates the determinants of farm households? participation in export cropping
and the impact of export cropping on household welfare, using cross-sectional data obtained
from the Ghanaian living standards survey 2005-6. Given the problem of selectivity bias that
arise when households self-select into export cropping, we employ the full information
maximum likelihood approach to analyze the participation decision, and generalized
propensity matching approach to examine the welfare impacts of participation. The empirical
results indicate that farmers facing lower transport costs and having better access to credit
facilities are more likely to participate in export cropping. Estimates of the welfare impacts of
export cropping generally reveal a positive relationship between engagement in export
cropping and farm household welfare. However, a consideration of the impact of extent of
export cropping shows a non-linear relationship with household welfare indicators, with per
capita expenditures rising and poverty declining only at higher levels of export specialization.