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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒02‒01
33 papers chosen by |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | The paper provides an overview and a comparison of land markets covering the three candidate countries for European Union membership: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. We analyse and compare agricultural land structures and factors driving land markets. The analyses are based on the available cross-section and time-series evidence on agricultural land structures and land productivity (yields). The land productivity measured by production per hectare of agricultural land varies between the three countries. Agricultural land structures are the result of historical evolution in land markets and land-leasing developments with additional different institutional environments and agrarian and land reforms. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:96&r=agr |
| By: | Ardjan Gazheli (Department of Economics, SLU); Luca Di Corato (Department of Economics, SLU) |
| Abstract: | In this paper a real option model is developed to examine the critical factors affecting the decision to lease agricultural land to a company installing a PV power plant. The leasing payment is certain while the net revenues from agriculture are uncertain. We identify the profit values at which the farmer decides to lease his plot vs. continue farming it. By applying the model to the province of Bologna (Italy), we illustrate the possible land-use change scenarios in this area. We conclude by discussing the importance of PV energy production as a source of income for farmers and its implications from a social perspective. |
| Keywords: | Land Allocation, Real Options, Renewable Energy, Solar farm, Uncertainty |
| JEL: | C61 D81 Q24 Q42 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.90&r=agr |
| By: | Lauriane MOUYSSET (CERSP, UMR 7204, CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, SADAPT, INRA, UMR 1048); Luc DOYEN (CERSP, UMR 7204, CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, GREThA, CNRS, UMR 5113); Fréderic JIGUET (CERSP, UMR 7204, CNRS-MNHN-UPMC) |
| Abstract: | The present paper analyses the role played by risk aversion in the reconciling of agricultural income and biodiversity. A bio-economic mode which articulates bird community dynamics and representative farmers selecting land uses within an uncertain macro-economic context is developed. It is spatialized and calibrated at a regional scale for France through national databases. The impact of risk aversion is assessed on economic, agricultural and ecological outputs through projections at the 2050 horizon. A high enough aversion proves sufficient to promote global bio-economic performance and multi-functional agriculture. This occurs through a diversification mechanism on regional land-uses. Spatial disparities however suggest that public incentives could be necessary to reinforce the diversification and bio-economic effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Aversion, Bio-economic modeling, Bird, Biodiversity, Diversification, Public good, Spatial |
| JEL: | Q15 Q20 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2012-03&r=agr |
| By: | Ciaian, Pavel; Pokrivcak, Jan |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the impact of subsidies from the EU’s common agricultural policy on farm bank loans. According to the theoretical results, if subsidies are paid at the beginning of the growing season they may reduce bank loans, whereas if they are paid at the end of the season they increase bank loans, but these results are conditional on whether farms are credit constrained and on the relative cost of internal and external financing. In the empirical analysis, we use farm-level panel data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network to test the theoretical predictions for the period 1995–2007. We employ fixed-effects and generalised method of moment models to estimate the impact of subsidies on farm loans. The results suggest that subsidies influence farm loans and the effects tend to be non-linear and indirect. The results also indicate that both coupled and decoupled subsidies stimulate long-term loans, but the long-term loans of large farms increase more than those of small farms, owing to decoupled subsidies. Furthermore, the results imply that short-term loans are affected only by decoupled subsidies, and they are altered by decoupled subsidies more for small farms than for large farms; however, when controlling for endogeneity, only the decoupled payments affect loans and the relationship is non-linear. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:100&r=agr |
| By: | Angelova, Biljana; Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | The undeveloped rural capital market in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is constrained by an urban–rural development gap, with limited capacities for rural development and imperfections in the rural capital market. Among the most striking hindrances are the illegal status of a large share of agricultural buildings and other real estate in rural areas, particularly on the individual family farms that prevail in the country, and the insufficient knowledge and abilities of individual farmers in applying for credit. National, EU and other donor funds are being used to improve knowledge, skills and other human resources, and to address the illegal status of buildings and facilities. During the most recent years, government support for agricultural, rural and regional development has been introduced to promote good agricultural practices, production and economic activity in rural areas. The elimination of imperfections and improvements to the functioning of the capital market – making access to credit and funds easier, especially for small-scale family farms and for rural development – are seen as measures contributing to agriculture and more balanced rural and regional development. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:110&r=agr |
| By: | Jimenez Porras, G. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:tilbur:urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-5014444&r=agr |
| By: | Javier Rivas; Miguel Flores |
| Abstract: | The costs associated to unhealthy food consumption are not only paid by those suffering from overweight but by all members of society in terms of higher costs for the social security system in place. With this in mind, we study the effectiveness of a tax, a subsidy and cash incentives in reducing unhealthy food consumption. We proceed by calibrating and simulating to US and UK data an intertemporal rational choice model with habit. Our findings suggest that cash incentives may be the most effective policy in reducing unhealthy food consumption yet it is the most costly one. Taxes are relatively ineffective in reducing unhealthy food consumption. Subsidies have the best balance between effectiveness and monetary benefits to the society. |
| Keywords: | Habit; Junk Food; Overweight; Public Policy; Rational Addiction |
| JEL: | D11 D04 H31 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:11/47&r=agr |
| By: | Luca Di Corato (Department of Economics, SLU); Michele Moretto (Department of Economics, University of Padova, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Centro Studi Levi-Cases); Sergio Vergalli (Department of Economics, University of Brescia, and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | In this paper stochastic dynamic programming is used to investigate land conversion decisions taken by a multitude of landholders under uncertainty about the value of environmental services and irreversible development. We study land conversion under competition on the market for agricultural products when voluntary and mandatory measures are combined by the Government to induce adequate participation in a conservation plan. We study the impact of uncertainty on the optimal conversion policy and discuss conversion dynamics under different policy scenarios on the basis of the relative long-run expected rate of deforestation. Interestingly, we show that uncertainty, even if it induces conversion postponement in the short-run, increases the average rate of deforestation and reduces expected time for total conversion in the long run. Finally, we illustrate our findings through some numerical simulations. |
| Keywords: | Optimal Stopping, Deforestation, Payments for Environmental Services, Natural Resources Management |
| JEL: | C61 D81 Q24 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.84&r=agr |
| By: | Myyrä, Sami,; Pietola, Kyosti; Heikkilä, Anna-Maija |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to describe and highlight the key issues of farm capital structures, the dynamics of investments and accumulation of farm capital, and the financial leverage and borrowing rates on farms in selected European countries. Data collected from the Farm Account Data Network (FADN) suggest that the European farming sector uses quite different farm business strategies, capabilities to generate capital revenues, and segmented agricultural loan market regimes. Such diverse business strategies have substantial, and perhaps more substantial than expected, implications for the financial leverage and performance of farms. As an illustration, the financial risks clearly increased in the Danish agricultural sector with loan rates following an upward sloping trend in 2006; the first sign of the forthcoming financial crisis that may also severely hit highly leveraged agricultural firms. By using standard measures for farm assets and lending rates, we reveal that countries adopt different approaches to evaluating agricultural assets, or the agricultural asset markets simply differ substantially depending on the country in question. This has implications for most of the financial indicators. In those countries that have seen rapidly increasing asset prices at the margin, which were revised accordingly in the accounting systems for the whole stock of assets, firm values increased significantly, even though the firms had been disinvesting. If there is an asset price bubble and it bursts, there may be serious knock-on effects for some countries. The large variation in leverage positions and their substantial decrease over time raises new issues to be addressed in more analytical studies. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:105&r=agr |
| By: | Ian Coxhead (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison); Vu Hoang Linh (University of Economics and Business - Vietnam National University); Le Dong Tam (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison) |
| Abstract: | World food prices have experienced dramatic increases in recent years. These ?shocks? affect food importers and exporters alike. Vietnam is a major exporter of rice, and rice is also a key item in domestic production, employment and consumption. Accordingly, rice price shocks from the world market have general equilibrium impacts and as such, their implications for household welfare are not known ex ante. In this paper we present a framework for understanding the direct and indirect welfare effects of a global market shock of this kind. We quantify transmission of the shock from global indicator prices to domestic markets. Then we use an applied general equilibrium model to simulate the economic effects of the price changes. A recursive mapping to a nationally representative household living standards survey permits us to identify in detail the ceteris paribus effects of the shock on household incomes and welfare. In this analysis, interregional and intersectoral labor market adjustments emerge as key channels transmitting the effects of global price shocks across sectors and among households. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, rice, poverty, labor mobility, general equilibrium, microsimulation. |
| JEL: | I32 D58 Q17 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpc:wpaper:3212&r=agr |
| By: | Ciaian, Pavel; Fa?kowski, Jan; d’Artis, Kanc; Pokrivcak, Jan |
| Abstract: | Drawing on a unique, farm-level panel dataset with 37,409 observations and employing a matching estimator, this paper analyses how farm access to credit affects farm input allocation and farm efficiency in the Central and Eastern European transition countries. We find that farms are asymmetrically credit constrained with respect to inputs. Farm use of variable inputs and capital investment increases up to 2.3% and 29%, respectively, per €1,000 of additional credit. Our estimates also suggest that farm access to credit increases total factor productivity up to 1.9% per €1,000 of additional credit, indicating that an improvement in access to credit results in an adjustment in the relative input intensities on farms. This finding is further supported by a negative effect of better access to credit on labour, suggesting that these two are substitutes. Interestingly, farms are found not to be credit constrained with respect to land. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:99&r=agr |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses agricultural and rural capital factor markets in the three European Union candidate countries: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. Aggregate capital market indicators and their dynamics, and factors driving agricultural and rural capital markets are analysed and compared in these countries. In general, agricultural and rural capital markets show similarities with general capital market developments, but agricultural and rural capital markets are facing specific credit constraints related to agricultural assets and rural fixed asset specificities, which constrain their mortgages and collateral use. Credit market imperfections have limited access to the investment credits necessary for the restructuring of small-scale individual farms. Government transfers are used to differing extents in the candidate countries, but generally tend to increase over time. Remittances and donor funds have also played an important role in agricultural and rural economy investments. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:108&r=agr |
| By: | Pietola, Kyösti; Myyrä, Sami; Heikkilä, Anna-Maija |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the aggregate rural capital markets of the EU and the main differences between the markets of its member countries. The results of our study suggest that the agricultural credit markets are still quite segmented and the segments are country- rather than currency- or region-specific. Financial instability in Europe is also penetrating the agricultural sector and the variation of interest rates for agricultural credit is increasing across countries. Perhaps the most dramatic signal of growing financial instability is that the financial leverage (gearing rate) of European farms rose in 2008 by almost 4 percentage points, from 14 to 18%. The 4 percentage-point annual rise was twice the 2 percentage-point rise observed during the economic recession in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The distribution of the financial leverage of agriculture across countries does not, however, reflect the distribution of country-specific risk premiums in the manner that they are observed in government bond yields. Therefore, in those countries that have the weakest financial situation in the public sector and in which the bond markets are encumbered with high country-specific risk premiums, the agricultural sector is not directly exposed to a very large risk of increasing interest rates, since it is not so highly leveraged. For example in Greek and Spanish agriculture, the financial leverage (gearing) rate is only 0.6% and 2.2% respectively, while the highest gearing rates are found elsewhere (in Denmark), reaching 50%. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:97&r=agr |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan; Janeska, Verica |
| Abstract: | The significant changes in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of human resources in rural Macedonia can be explained by the continued trend of emigration from villages to urban areas and abroad. The intensity of emigration has altered the demographic structure and reproductive base of the rural population, along with the income of rural households. The rural and agricultural labour market faces a mismatch with respect to the unfavourable age, education and spatial distribution of the total labour force. A reduction in the participation of women in the agricultural labour force is a new feature. The overall transformation is apparent in the income structure of rural households. An increase in the share of households with mixed income sources notably stems from households that receive remittances and foreign currency funds from family members abroad. The demographic revitalisation of rural areas depends on economic revitalisation, with a more rational use of the labour force and human resources, as well as a restructuring of agricultural production and agricultural holdings. In addition, improvements are necessary in the functioning of market institutions to better meet the needs of smaller farmers and the rural economy. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:101&r=agr |
| By: | NZINGA H. BROUSSARD (The Ohio State University); STEFAN DERCON (University of Oxford); ROHINI SOMANATHAN (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | We study the distribution of food aid in Ethiopia between 1994 and 2004 using data from the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey. Over this period village leaders had considerable discretion in disbursing aid subject to official guidelines and periodic monitoring. We use a principal-agent model and household panel data for approximately 940 households to understand biases in the allocation of aid. The model shows that correlations between aid and observed measures of need are not a good measure of targeting because agents have incentives to distort allocations within targeted classes. Consistent with the model, we find that the aid recipients match official criteria but disbursements are negatively correlated with determinants of need that are not easily observable by monitoring agencies, namely pre-aid consumption, self-reported power and involvement in village-level organizations. Our results suggest informal structures of power within African villages influence the extent to which food aid insulates some of the world's poorest families from agricultural shocks but also that policy guidelines do constrain permissible deviations from need-based allocations. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:208&r=agr |
| By: | Feichtinger, Paul; Salhofer, Klaus |
| Abstract: | This study gives an overview of the theoretical foundations, empirical procedures and derived results of the literature identifying determinants of land prices. Special attention is given to the effects of different government support policies on land prices. Since almost all empirical studies on the determination of land prices refer either to the net present value method or the hedonic pricing approach as a theoretical basis, a short review of these models is provided. While the two approaches have different theoretical bases, their empirical implementation converges. Empirical studies use a broad range of variables to explain land values and we systematise those into six categories. In order to investigate the influence of different measures of government support on land prices, a meta-regression analysis is carried out. Our results reveal a significantly higher rate of capitalisation for decoupled direct payments and a significantly lower rate of capitalisation for agri-environmental payments, as compared to the rest of government support. Furthermore, the results show that taking theoretically consistent land rents (returns to land) and including non-agricultural variables like urban pressure in the regression implies lower elasticities of capitalisation. In addition, we find a significant influence of the land type, the data type and estimation techniques on the capitalisation rate. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:112&r=agr |
| By: | Bojnec, Štefan |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview and comparison of labour markets in agricultural and rural areas in the three candidate countries for the EU membership: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. We analyse and compare the labour market structures and the factors driving them. The analyses are based on the available cross-section and time-series data on agricultural labour structures and living conditions in rural areas. Considerable differences are found among the candidate countries in the importance of the agricultural labour force, between rural and urban labour, and in poverty and living conditions in rural areas. Agricultural and rural labour market structures are the result of demographic and education processes, in addition to labour flows between agricultural and non-agricultural activities, from rural areas to urban ones and migration flows abroad. Declines in the agricultural labour force and rural population are foreseen for each of the candidate countries, but with significant variations between them. Showing different patterns over time, labour market developments in the sector and rural areas have been shaped by the overall labour market institutions, conditions and other factors in each country, such as the legal basis, educational attainment and migration flows, as well as the presence of non-agricultural activities in rural areas. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:102&r=agr |
| By: | Yuki Tanaka (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies); Alistair Munro (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | Experiments measuring risk and time preferences in developing countries have tended to have relatively small samples and geographically concentrated sampling. This large-scale field experiment uses a Holt-Laury mechanism to elicit the preferences of 1289 randomly selected subjects from 94 villages covering six out of seven agro-climatic zones across rural Uganda. As in previous studies we find evidence of risk aversion and loss aversion amongst most subjects. In addition we find significant heterogeneity in risk attitudes across agro-climatic zones. Especially, the farmers in the agro-climatically least favourable zone, the uni-modal rainfall zone, are the most risk averse, loss averse and impatient. We also find significant relationships between risk attitudes and village level predictors such as the distance to town and the road conditions. After controlling for the village level factors, we find that the level of schooling still positively correlates with the individual’s level of loss tolerance and patience. The main results are not altered by allowing for probability weighting in subjects’ choices. Overall the results provide clear evidence that within one country there may be significant regional variations in risk and time attitudes. We conjecture that the agro-climatic conditions that affect farmers’ livelihoods may also affect their risk and time preferences and village level development in infrastructure could improve the household perception of investment related policies. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:11-19&r=agr |
| By: | RAM SINGH (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on two issues--the problems with the compulsory acquisition of land, and the regulatory and institutional impediments that obstruct voluntary land transactions. We argue that any compulsory acquisition based process is intrinsically inefficient and unfair, even if it is accompanied by presumably benevolent schemes such as land-for-land and the R&R packages. Moreover, it is inherently prone to litigation. We demonstrate how what we call the 'regulatory hold-up' precludes a large number of potential transactions in agriculture land, and puts a downward pressure on land prices. The paper offers suggestions for reforming the legal and regulatory framework governing the land and its use. Finally, we discuss the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011. We show that the bill leaves open several backdoors for the states to favour companies. Movreover, it fails to address the fundamental causes behind rampant disputes and litigation over compensation. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:209&r=agr |
| By: | Strand, Jon |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an analytical discussion of several interconnected resource allocation problems from under-pricing of electricity used by farmers for groundwater extraction. In these situations, groundwater extraction is inefficiently high even without electricity under-pricing. Moreover, part of the electric power supply intended for farmers is often diverted to other unauthorized uses (notably illicit consumption). The paper demonstrates that unless non-price electricity rationing imposes severe constraints on demand, the range of resource allocation problems includes insufficient incentives to provide high-level service by the power utility, insufficient incentives for farmers to install and operate efficient equipment, and losses due to political"rent seeking"activities to influence water allocations. It also shows that diversion of electricity to illicit uses can increase overall economic efficiency when this leads to less electricity use by farmers, thus somewhat ameliorating the problem of excessive groundwater extraction as well as the inefficiencies related to under-pricing of electricity. Systemic reforms for overcoming these problems may face severe political obstacles. |
| Keywords: | Energy Production and Transportation,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Wastewater Treatment,Electric Power |
| Date: | 2012–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5955&r=agr |
| By: | Banerjee, Simanti; Kwasnica, Anthony M; Shortle, James S |
| Abstract: | Tackling the problem of ecosystem services degradation is an important policy challenge. Different types of economic instruments have been employed by conservation agencies to meet this challenge. Notable among them are Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes that pay private landowners to change land uses to pro-environmental ones on their properties. This paper focuses on a PES scheme - an auction for the cost-efficient disbursal of government funds for selection of spatially contiguous land management projects. The auction is structured as an iterative descending price auction where every bid is evaluated on the basis of a scoring metric - a benefit cost ratio. The ecological effectiveness and economic efficiency of the auction is tested with data generated from lab experiments. These experiments use the information available to the subjects about the spatial goal as the treatment variable. Analysis indicates that the information reduces the cost-efficiency of the auction. Experience with bidding also has a negative impact on auction efficiency. The study also provides an analysis of the behavior of winners and losers at the final auction outcome as well as during the entire lifetime of the auction. Winners and losers are found to have significantly different behavior in this analysis. Behavior is also found to be significantly affected by the treatments as well. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Contiguity; experiments Ecosystem Services; Conservation Aucti ons |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2011-19&r=agr |
| By: | Oskar Lecuyer (EDF R&D - EFESE and CIRED); Ruben Bibas (CIRED) |
| Abstract: | In addition to the already present Climate and Energy package, the European Union (EU) plans to include a binding target to reduce energy consumption. We analyze the rationales the EU invokes to justify such an overlapping and develop a minimal common framework to study interactions arising from the combination of instruments reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy (RE) production and reducing energy demand through energy efficiency (EE) investments. We find that although all instruments tend to reduce emissions and a price on carbon tends to give the right incentives for RE and EE too, the combination of more than one instrument leads to significant antagonisms regarding major objectives of the policy package. The model allows to show in a single framework and to quantify the antagonistic effects of the joint promotion of RE and EE. We also show and quantify the effects of this joint promotion on ETS permit price, on wholesale market price and on energy production levels. |
| Keywords: | Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Climate Policy, Policy Interaction |
| JEL: | Q28 Q41 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.98&r=agr |
| By: | Yoshiko Nagano |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the distinctive features of the Philippine National Bank, particularly through its lending practices in agriculture. First by examining the enactment and revision of the National Bank Act, the Bank's characteristics as an organization and operations are discussed. Second, the process by which the Bank began its operations and administration of agricultural loans is traced. Third, the 1918 dispute over lending in agriculture is depicted as a striking example of the nature of its banking operations, before presenting the dual structure of agricultural loans provided by the National Bank as the conclusion. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd11-212&r=agr |
| By: | Eiji Satoh |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether the Japanese scheme of nontransferable water rights results in technical inefficiency. Using data on 1,263 Japanese retail water suppliers for 2008, their technical efficiency is measured employing data envelopment analysis. Next, a bootstrapped truncated regression model is specified to examine the determinants of technical efficiency. The estimation results reveal that the nontransferability of water rights leads to technical inefficiency of retail water suppliers. Furthermore, the costs of this efficiency amount to about 462 billion yen. This result suggests the government should reallocate water rights flexibly in order to ensure efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Bootstrapped Truncated Regression, Data Envelopment Analysis, Technical Efficiency, Water Rights |
| JEL: | Q25 L51 L95 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd11-211&r=agr |
| By: | William Nikolakis (Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University); Quentin Grafton (Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this work is to understand what incentives exist to encourage integration in land and water management across northern Australia. Integration is seen as important in improving planning and management of resources in the context of climate change and development pressure. The north Australian region is made up of three jurisdictions, the two states of Queensland and Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. It is a sparsely populated region, with over a quarter of the Australian estate and only 2% of the nation’s population. However, the region makes a significant contribution to national exports and is recognized for its ecological values, and its prominent Indigenous population who have customary rights to land and water. The region produces over half the nation’s annual runoff during the wet season.Increasingly there is a focus on northern Australia as the next frontier for irrigation development. A report by the North Australian Land and Water Taskforce in 2009 suggested irrigation could expand by up to 200% in the region, though in a form that is distinct from southern Australia given soil, hydrological and biophysical characteristics of the region. Population is increasing and climate change projections point to increased temperatures and evapotranspiration, as well as more intense rainfall and cyclonic events, and in coastal areas storm surges and erosion, while in inland areas there is predicted greater incidence of drought and bushfire (CSIRO, BOM and BRS 2010a, b). The linear and non linear forces that may shape northern Australia’s landscape highlight the need for integrated land and water management as a tool for adaptation. Integration can improve the coordination of government adaptation programs, as well as efforts between government and non government actors (vertical integration), and encourage coordination between sectors (horizontal integration). |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:eenhrr:10109&r=agr |
| By: | Valentina Bosetti (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Sergey Paltsev (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)); John Reilly (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)); Carlo Carraro (University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | In the absence of significant greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, many analysts project that atmospheric concentrations of species identified for control in the Kyoto protocol could exceed 1000 ppm (carbon-dioxide-equivalent) by 2100 from the current levels of about 435 ppm. This could lead to global average temperature increases of between 2.5 and 6°C by the end of the century. There are risks of even greater warming given that underlying uncertainties in emissions projections and climate response are substantial. Stabilization of GHG concentrations that would have a reasonable chance of meeting temperature targets identified in international negotiations would require significant reductions in GHG emissions below “business-as-usual” levels, and indeed from present emissions levels. Nearly universal participation of countries is required, and the needed investments in efficiency and alternative energy sources would entail significant costs. Resolving how these additional costs might be shared among countries is critical to facilitating a wide participation of large-emitting countries in a climate stabilization policy. The 2°C target is very ambitious given current atmospheric concentrations and inertia in the energy and climate system. The Copenhagen pledges for 2020 still keep the 2°C target within reach, but very aggressive actions would be needed immediately after that. |
| Keywords: | Emissions Pricing, Climate Stabilization |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.80&r=agr |
| By: | Aruga, Kentaka |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how efficiently the price premium for non-genetically modified (non-GM) soybeans at the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE) react to an announcement to change the contract unit, suppliers, and expiration date on the conventional soybean futures contract. Intervention analysis is used for this purpose. The results reveal that the price premium for non-GM soybeans increases after the change and this effect remains at least for a month. Hence, prices of the two soybean futures markets did not respond quickly to the announcement and there was an informational inefficiency after the announcement occurred. |
| Keywords: | price premium; non-genetically modified soybeans; conventional soybeans; intervention analysis; Tokyo Grain Exchange |
| JEL: | O13 C1 |
| Date: | 2011–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36088&r=agr |
| By: | Jones, Benjamin; Keen, Michael; Strand, Jon |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a primer on the fiscal implications of climate change, in particular the policies for responding to it. Many of the complicated challenges that arise in limiting climate change (through greenhouse gas emissions mitigation), and in dealing with the effects that remain (through adaptation to climate change impacts), are of a fiscal nature. While mitigation has the potential to raise substantial public revenue (through charges on greenhouse gas emissions), adaptation largely leads to fiscal outlays. Policies may unduly favor public spending (on technological solutions to limit emissions, and on adaptation), over policies that lead to more public revenue being raised (emissions charges). The pervasive uncertainties that surround climate change make the design of proper policy responses even more complex. This applies especially to policies for mitigation of emissions, since agreement on and international enforcement of cooperative abatement policies are exceedingly difficult to achieve, and there is as yet no common view on how to compare nearer-term costs of mitigation to longer-term benefits. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Climate Change Economics,Carbon Policy and Trading,Energy Production and Transportation,Environment and Energy Efficiency |
| Date: | 2012–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5956&r=agr |
| By: | R. Quentin Grafton; Michael B. Ward; Hang To; Tom Kompas |
| Abstract: | [1] Household survey data for ten countries are used to quantify and test the importance of price and non-price factors on residential water demand and investigate complementarities between household water-saving behaviors and the average volumetric price of water. Results show: (1) the average volumetric price of water is an important predictor of differences in residential consumption in models that include household characteristics, water-saving devices, attitudinal characteristics and environmental concerns as explanatory variables; (2) of all water-saving devices, only a low volume/dual-flush toilet has a statistically significant and negative effect on water consumption; and (3) environmental concerns have a statistically significant effect on some self-reported water-saving behaviors. While price-based approaches are espoused to promote economic efficiency, our findings stress that volumetric water pricing is also one of the most effective policy levers available to regulate household water consumption. |
| Keywords: | causality, energy, economic growth |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:crwfrp:1114&r=agr |
| By: | Joseph E. Aldy (Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School; Nonresident Fellow, Resources for the Future; and Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research); Robert N. Stavins (Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; University Fellow, Resources for the Future; and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Because of the global commons nature of climate change, international cooperation among nations will likely be necessary for meaningful action at the global level. At the same time, it will inevitably be up to the actions of sovereign nations to put in place policies that bring about meaningful reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Due to the ubiquity and diversity of emissions of greenhouse gases in most economies, as well as the variation in abatement costs among individual sources, conventional environmental policy approaches, such as uniform technology and performance standards, are unlikely to be sufficient to the task. Therefore, attention has increasingly turned to market-based instruments in the form of carbon-pricing mechanisms. We examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the major options for carbon pricing: carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reductions. |
| Keywords: | : Global Climate Change, Market-Based Instruments, Carbon Pricing, Carbon Taxes, Cap-and-Trade, Emission Reduction Credits, Energy Subsidies, Clean Energy Standards |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 Q40 Q48 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.82&r=agr |
| By: | Aldy, Joseph E. (Harvard University); Pizer, William A. (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | The pollution haven hypothesis suggests that unilateral domestic emission mitigation policies could cause adverse "competitiveness" impacts on domestic manufacturers as they lose market share to foreign competitors and relocate production activity--and emissions--to unregulated economies. We construct a precise definition of competitiveness impacts appropriate for climate change regulation that can be estimated exclusively with domestic production and net import data. We use this definition and a 20+ year panel of 400+ U.S. manufacturing industries to estimate the effects of energy prices, which is in turn used to simulate the impacts of carbon pricing policy. We find that a U.S.-only $15 per ton CO2 price will cause competitiveness effects on the order of a 1.0 to 1.3 percent decline in production among the most energy-intensive manufacturing industries. This amounts to roughly one-third of the total impact of a carbon pricing policy on these firms' economic output. |
| JEL: | F18 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp11-047&r=agr |
| By: | Dionissi Aliprantis |
| Abstract: | The international community has pledged $11 billion to Haiti, a country where nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provide nearly all public goods and services. This raises at least two questions: How can NGOs most effectively perform their own work, and how can NGOs integrate their programs into broader efforts organized by public institutions? This paper addresses these questions by evaluating the community-based model of Haiti Outreach (HO) that focuses on training communities to manage wells after they have been constructed. The effect of this management training is identified by comparing the outcomes of HO’s wells with a control group of wells that were refurbished by HO in the aftermath of the January 12, 2010, earthquake but then subsequently managed by other groups. Wells managed under the community-based approach are 8.7 percentage points more likely to be functioning after only one year. We also propose a social planner’s problem to quantify the tradeoff between equity and efficiency created by user fees that may be applied to many development programs. A social planner indifferent between standard and community-based interventions has strong preferences for sporadically providing water to the poorest members of a community at the expense of sustainably providing water to the majority of community members. Policy-makers deciding between alternative interventions should also give consideration to the community-based approach for its ability to build political institutions. |
| Keywords: | Water-supply ; Rural development |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1201&r=agr |
| By: | Aruga, Kentaka |
| Abstract: | The market linkages among the non-genetically modified (non-GM) soybean, conventional soybean, and cor futures markets at the Tokyo Grain Exchange are investigated to find out if the two soybean futures markets and the corn futures market share price information in the presence of unknown breaks. The results reveal that there are market linkages between the non-GM and conventional soybean futures prices and between the non-GM soybean and corn futures prices and that these markets do influence one another. Yet the breaks found in the soybean futures price affected these linkages and there were periods where the two soybean and corn futures markets were not cointegrated. Hence these markets are efficient when the effect from the breaks is not apparent but they become inefficient when the breaks are affecting the three markets. |
| Keywords: | non-genetically modified soybeans; conventional soybeans; corn; cointegration test; structural change |
| JEL: | G14 Q13 Q14 |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:36101&r=agr |