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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2006‒05‒20
thirteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Miranowski, John |
| Abstract: | The objectives of this paper on energy demand and the capacity to adjust in the agricultural sector are: first, to establish a baseline for energy demand in agricultural production in the aggregate, by region, and by major type of crop and livestock farm; second, to evaluate the capacity of agricultural producers to adjust to real energy price changes and shocks as well as supply disruptions through input substitution and output adjustments; third, to assess how changing technology, improving energy efficiency, and growing agriculture productivity alter the capacity to adjust over time; and finally, to discuss the potential roles of government to achieve food and energy security. |
| Date: | 2006–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12629&r=agr |
| By: | Kristina Toderich (Department of Desert Ecology and Water Resources Research, Samarkand Division of Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan); Tsuneo Tsukatani (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Munimjon Abdusamatov (Specialized Inspectorate of the State Control on Water Use and Preservation of Water Resources, State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry); Rahmon Rahmatulloev (Republican Center for Farm Privatization Support under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan); Rustam Latipov (Specialized Inspectorate of the State Control on Water Use and Preservation of Water Resources, State Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry); Timur Khujanazarov (Technical State University) |
| Abstract: | We carried out an assessment of natural resources use and management along with the on-farm observations and experience gathered through a fieldwork expedition along the riparian basin of Pyandzh River from Tajik side. It is described the natural vegetation irrigation history, technologies, agriculture, crops diversity and farmer development system through this vast area of Khatlon Province of Southwestern Tajikistan. Target area is Kumsangir District and Mumin Farm in the district along Pyandzh River. By performing this survey, we could further examine our preliminary studies on the potentials for agriculture using of Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) technique on the right bank of Pyandzh River. Many of the local farmers, pastoralist communities, and some of the agricultural authorities and governmental leaders were interviewed to help understand the history of their irrigation infrastructures, their concerns on the issue of land use and agricultural activities, and their outlook and desires to implement cost-effective watershed-scale water saving technologies. |
| Keywords: | natural resources, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), Pyandzh, Amu Darya, Kumsangir, water quality |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:619&r=agr |
| By: | Takahiro Ito; Takashi Kurosaki |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of weather risk on the offfarm labor supply of agricultural households in India. Faced with the uninsurable risk of output fluctuations, poor farmers in less developed countries have various options to smooth income. One of these options is to diversify labor allocation across activities, which this paper focuses on. A key feature of this paper is that it pays particular attention to differences in the covariance between weather risk and agricultural wages on the one hand and between weather risk and nonagricultural wages on the other. We develop a theoretical model of household optimization, which predicts that the impact of weather risk on the offfarm labor supply is larger in the case of nonagricultural wage work than in the case of agricultural wage work when agricultural wages off the farm are positively correlated with own farm income. To test this prediction, we estimate a multivariate tobit model of labor allocation using household data from rural areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India. The regression results show that the share of the offfarm labor supply increases with the weather risk, and the increase is much larger in the case of nonagricultural wage work than in the case of agricultural wage work. Simulation results based on the regression estimates show that the sectoral difference is substantial, implying that empirical and theoretical studies on farmers' labor supply response to risk should distinguish between the types of offfarm work involved. |
| Keywords: | corvariate risk, non-farm employment, self-employment, food security, India |
| JEL: | Q12 O15 J22 |
| Date: | 2006–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:hstdps:d06-161&r=agr |
| By: | Reich, Denis; Kliebenstein, James |
| Keywords: | Breeding, Gestating, Hogs |
| Date: | 2006–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12613&r=agr |
| By: | Kliebenstein, James; Hurley, Terence; Orazem, Peter; Miller, D.; May, S. |
| Keywords: | Employment |
| Date: | 2006–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12616&r=agr |
| By: | Nader Ghotbi (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University); Tsuneo Tsukatani (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University) |
| Abstract: | Depletion of water resources requires us to search for non-conventional strategies for water preservation and irrigation. Sustainable management of such water resources along with the development of sustainable irrigation systems will contribute to the stability of agricultural yield that is a primary concern in all riparian countries (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan). This paper is an attempt to identify the priorities in the reconstruction assistance planned for all riparian states on Amu Darya river. The problem of growing, processing and traffic of illicit drugs in Afghanistan is then analysed, searching for the economic, social and political causes, with an emphasis on its implications for the future development and the geopolitical picture of the Central Asian region. |
| Keywords: | Afghanistan, Amu Darya River, Central Asia, Drug control programs, Subsurface Drip Irrigation(SDI), Poppy fields, Uzbekistan, Water resources. |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:612&r=agr |
| By: | Brumm, M.; Buhr, B.; Holtkamp, D.; Kliebenstein, James |
| Keywords: | Pig Space |
| Date: | 2006–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:12618&r=agr |
| By: | Matthew Brzozowski; Yuqian Lu |
| Abstract: | Utilizing the 1996 Canadian Food Expenditure survey matched with Canadian Nutrient File, we separate actual food consumption from observed expenditure and test the Permanent Income/Life Cycle Hypothesis on the true consumption data. We find that the lower food expenditure during periods of unemployment or retirement (previously reported in the literature), does not translate into poorer nutrition. Household calorie intake and major nutrient intake seem to be unaffected by changes in employment status. We find evidence that unemployed or retired households substitute food purchased from restaurants for food purchased for at home consumption. Further, with the 1998 Time Use Survey we find that individuals who are not employed devote more time for food preparation. Finally we present limited evidence that unemployed and retired households substitute precooked meals for meals made from primary ingredients. |
| Keywords: | Food Production, Nutrition, Consumption Smoothing |
| JEL: | I31 J22 J26 |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:sedapp:151&r=agr |
| By: | Jim Hight; Grant Ferrier |
| Abstract: | One of the key challenges to ensuring adequate supplies of fresh water and sanitary wastewater systems is to build the capacity of various stakeholders to manage and deliver water and sanitation services. One element of such capacity building is technological and includes the wide deployment of water quality monitoring and analysis equipment. This report explores four cases in China, India, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei, where water-quality monitoring and protection capacity has been improved through the use of imported water-quality monitoring equipment combined with indigenous implementation. |
| Keywords: | trade, developing countries, environmental goods, Malaysia, India, water quality, China, Chinese Taipei |
| Date: | 2006–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaaa:2006/3-en&r=agr |
| By: | Anna Maria Mayda; Chad Steinberg (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | South-South trade agreements are proliferating: developing countries signed 70 new agreements between 1990 and 2003. Yet the impact of these agreements is largely unknown. In this paper, we focus on the static effects of South-South preferential trade agreements that take place through changes in trade patterns. We estimate the impact of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Uganda's imports between 1994 and 2003. We use detailed import and tariff data at the 6-digit Harmonized System level for over 1,000 commodities. Based on a difference-indifference estimation strategy, we find evidence—in contrast to aggregate statistics—that COMESA’s preferential tariff liberalization has not considerably increased Uganda’s trade with member countries, on average across sectors. The effect, however, is heterogeneous across sectors. Finally, we find no evidence of trade-diversion effects. Classification-JEL Codes: F13, F14, F15, O24 |
| Keywords: | South-South Trade Agreements, Trade Creation, Trade Diversion |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~06-06-03&r=agr |
| By: | Ian J. Bateman (University of East Anglia); Michael P. Cameron (University of Waikato); Antreas Tsoumas (University of the Aegean) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the nature of stated preferences for reducing air pollution impacts. Specifically a contingent valuation (CV) experiment is designed to elicit individuals’ values for reducing these impacts and to examine how these may change when multiple schemes for reducing differing impacts are valued. The novel survey design allows simultaneous testing for the presence of several anomalies reported in the CV literature within the same context, including (i) scope sensitivity (ii) part-whole or substitution effects (iii) ordering effects and (iv) visible choice set effects. Results indicate some scope sensitivity and interaction between ordering effects and visible choice set effects, as well as substantial part-whole or substitution effects between two exclusive schemes. A practical consequence of these findings is that estimates of the value of combined programmes may not readily be obtained by summing the values of their constituent parts obtained using the CV method. |
| Keywords: | air pollution; contingent valuation; stated preferences; part-whole effect; experimental surveys |
| JEL: | C42 C90 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2006–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:08/06&r=agr |
| By: | Chiara M. Travisi (DIG, Politecnico di Milano, and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Roberto Camagni (DIG, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy); Peter Nijkamp (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | A sound empirical and quantitative analysis on the relationship between different patterns of urban expansion and the environmental or social costs of mobility is rare, and the few studies available provide at best a qualitative discussion of these issues. Some recent tentative studies on the metropolitan area of Milan have empirically explored whether different patterns of urban expansion generate different levels of land use and heterogeneous impacts of urban mobility. The results confirmed the expectation that a higher environmental impact of mobility may result from more extensive and sprawling urban development, from recent urbanisation processes and from residential specialisation. The present paper extends the previous empirical analysis to seven major Italian metropolitan areas (namely, Bari, Florence, Naples, Padua, Perugia, Potenza and Turin) in order to corroborate the previous tentative results for the Italian context. The novelty of the prese! nt paper is threefold. First, we are interested in exploring the changes that have occurred due to the increased intensity of mobility across a ten-year period, from 1981 to 1991, which corresponds to the Italian economic boom years. Secondly, using an econometric analysis of cross-section data, we consider several metropolitan areas simultaneously, and are therefore able to explore whether there are significant differences in the way the model explains variations in the mobility impact across various Italian urban areas. And finally, we offer a structural interpretation of the causal chain in the explanation of the mobility impact intensity by using Causal Path Analysis as a statistical test framework. |
| Keywords: | urban mobility; sprawl; environmental costs; self-containment capacity; causal path analysis |
| JEL: | Q56 R14 R41 |
| Date: | 2006–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20060042&r=agr |
| By: | Duarte, Clara Costa; Sa, Maria A. Cunha e |
| Abstract: | In the current paper we examine the role of forest carbon sequestration benefits in optimal forest management. When carbon benefits are considered not only the forested area is relevant, but also the flow of carbon between land and the atmosphere through the carbon cycle. To account for all these impacts a multi-vintage forest setting is used, following Salo and Tahvonen (2004). The model is extended to three different carbon accounting methods to measure the benefits form carbon sequestration: carbon flow regime, tonne-year crediting and average storage. In the case of the carbon flow regime, the impact on the optimal management and allocation of land will depend upon the amount of carbon released when the forest is harvested. Under the other two accounting systems optimal steady state forest area will be increased, and in cases where optimal management imply cyclical harvesting, considering carbon benefits will always increase cycles dimension. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp482&r=agr |