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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2012‒07‒08
119 papers chosen by |
| By: | Saravia-Matus, Silvia L.; Acs, Szvetlana; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio |
| Keywords: | FARM NET INCOME, SIERRA LEONE, VIABILITY, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, O1 - Economic Development, Q12 - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets, Q18 - Agricultural Policy, Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125437&r=agr |
| By: | Saravia-Matus, Silvia L.; Gomez y Paloma, Sergio |
| Abstract: | In a world of environmental limits, sustainable and productive agriculture is crucial to foster socioeconomic development and food security, primarily in low income economies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges and potential opportunities for Latin American countries which are characterised by tropical agriculture and (semi)subsistence farming. Policy support based on institutional coordination, investment in tropic-specific agricultural technology and the promotion of joint private- public initiatives are evaluated and identified as key factors to increase agricultural development. |
| Keywords: | tropical agriculture, latin america, extension services, innovation strategies, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Q16 - R&D, Agricultural Technology, Biofuels, Agricultural Extension Services Q17 - Agriculture in International Trade Q18 - Agricultural Policy, Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125439&r=agr |
| By: | Uregia, Nigussie Tefera; Desta, Mulat Demeke; Rashid, Shahidur |
| Abstract: | Ethiopia has experienced high food prices, especially since 2005. This paper examines the welfare impacts of rising food prices in rural Ethiopia using Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) approach controlled for expenditure endogeniety and zero consumption expenditure. The elasticity coefficients from QUAIDS are used to estimate Compensated Variations (CV), which explicitly accounts for profit function and substitution effects. The study uses Ethiopia Rural Household Survey (ERHS) panel data, encompassing both low and high price periods. Prices of all food and agricultural products increased during the entire survey period of 1994 to 2009 but the increases were much higher in recent years, 2004 – 2009, compared to the earlier period of 1994 - 2004. The results have shown that the price hikes in recent years increased welfare gain of rural households by about 10.5% on aggregate, as compared to less than 1% for the reference period (1994 - 2004). The welfare gains further improved to 18% for the high price period and 7.2% for the low price period with substitution effects. It could be argued that the welfare gains at aggregate level is not equally distributed among rural households as 37 to 46% of the sample households were net-cereal buyers (major staple crops) during the survey period. However, the analysis revealed that high food and agricultural prices benefit not only net-cereal sellers but also autarkic and net-cereal buying families. Autarkic households and net-cereal buyers apparently seem to have benefited from high prices of commodities such as pluses, fruits & vegetables, live animals and animal products. They also appear to have gained from increased off-farm income as average income from wage and transfer has indeed increased in 2009. Only very poor families with limited farm and non-farm income need to be supported with safety net programs (both input and consumption support). In the long-run, high agricultural prices would encourage net-sellers to expand production, leading to lower food prices for net-buyers. More importantly, many current net buyers could become net-sellers if grain prices are stable and remunerative for producers. |
| Keywords: | welfare, rising food prices, panel data, rural Ethiopia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126261&r=agr |
| By: | Jaleta, Moti; Kassie, Menale; Shiferaw, Bekele |
| Abstract: | Crop residue use for soil mulch and animal feed are the two major competing purposes and the basic source of fundamental challenge in conservation agriculture (CA) where residue retention on farm plots is one of the three CA principles. Using survey data from Kenya and applying bivariate ordered Probit and bivariate Tobit models, this paper analyzes the tradeoffs in maize residue use as soil mulch and livestock feed in mixed farming systems. Results show that both the proportion and quantity of maize residue used for soil mulch and livestock feed are strongly affected by agroecology and livestock holding. Farmer knowledge about alternative use of crop residues and farmer perception of soil erosion risk (proxied through plot steepness) positively affect the amount of residue farmers retain on maize plots. Results imply that crop residue use as soil mulch in conservation agriculture is challenged in mixed crop-livestock systems and particularly by smallholder farmers owning cross-bred and exotic dairy animals. In general, reducing the demand for crop residues as livestock feed through the introduction of alternative feed sources, better extension services on the use of crop residue as soil mulch and designing agroecology specific strategies and interventions could facilitate the adoption and expansion of CA-based practices in mixed crop-livestock systems. |
| Keywords: | Maize residue, Mixed farming system, Conservation agriculture, Bivariate model, Kenya, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126282&r=agr |
| By: | Guo, Yongtian; Gong, Jin; Zhang, Huijie |
| Abstract: | Based on the time sequential data from 1980 to 2009 and by using the impulse response function and forecast variance, this paper establishes vector autoregressive model to analyze the dynamic relation between the rise of agricultural input price and the income of sugarcane farmers. The results indicate that sugarcane farmers’ net income shows negative response to the rising of agricultural input price, which tends to be stable; but the increase of agricultural input price shows faint response to the increase of sugarcane farmers’ net income. To prevent the negative impact of sharply the increasing agricultural input price on sugarcane farmers’ income, government should improve the controlling mechanism of agricultural input, eliminate subsidy policies for the production and circulation of agricultural input, provide subsidies for sugarcane farmers directly, expand the range of subsidies for agricultural input, improve the service of agricultural extension, reduce the cost of farmers’ using agricultural input, make the regular laws protect the benefit of sugarcane farmers. |
| Keywords: | agricultural input price, farmers’ income, vector autoregressive model, impulse response function, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126201&r=agr |
| By: | S. Mahendra Dev (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the roles and challenges of small holding agriculture in India. It covers trends in agricultural growth, cultivation patterns, participation of small holding agriculture, productivity performance of small holders, linking small holders with markets including value chains, role of small holders in enhancing food security and employment generation, differential policies and institutional support for small holders and, challenges and future options for small holding agriculture including information needs. It also provides lessons from the experience of India on small holding agriculture for other countries. |
| Keywords: | Small and marginal farmers, food security, livelihoods, value chains, institutions |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2012-014&r=agr |
| By: | Schaller, Lena; Drosler, Matthias; Hoper, Heinrich; Kantelhardt, Jochen |
| Keywords: | CO2 abatement cost, climate change mitigation strategies, microeconomic consequences, organic soil management, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125219&r=agr |
| By: | Cunha, Denis Antonio da; Coelho, Alexandre Braganca; Feres, Jose; Braga, Marcelo Jose |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to analyze the effects of climate change on Brazilian agriculture considering irrigation adoption as an adaptation strategy. Investigation on how climatic variability influences irrigation adoption was performed as well as whether this adaptation measure actually reduces producers’ vulnerability to climate change. We used matching methods to analyze the choice of irrigation in the first stage and the land values for two types of farmer (irrigators or dryland) in the second stage. Temperature and precipitation projections for the 2010-2099 time period were used, considering different climate scenarios, according the 4th Assessment Report of IPCC (2007). Simulation results showed that irrigation can be a very effective tool to counteract the harmful effects of climate change. Land values for irrigated production are less vulnerable than those of rainfed production. Farmers’ income tends to grow on lands where irrigation techniques are practiced, while on those where agricultural production is exclusively rainfed, losses can sum to approximately 14% in relation to current period. These conclusions confirm the need to invest in adaptation strategies in order to make Brazil ready to cope with the adverse effects of global climate change. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Agriculture, Adaptation, Irrigation, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q12, Q54, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126223&r=agr |
| By: | Kallas, Zein; Baba, Yasmina; Rabell, Maria Cristina |
| Abstract: | This paper explores farmer-specific cultural, social and economic objectives within the extensive rice system in the Kolda region (south of Senegal). We classify and characterize farmers according to the relative importance of their multifunctional goals. The empirical analysis uses farm-level data collected through a face-to-face questionnaire to a sample of rice farmers. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to measure farmers’ primary and secondary objectives importance in planning their activities, and Cluster Analysis (CA) to classify and characterize farmers according to their priorities. Results suggest that within the “economic” role, the most important goals are “maximization of total farm income” followed by “improving rice quality”. Farmers are willing to “minimize fertilizers use”, both to reduce cost and to preserve environment. They recognize their potential role in “minimizing illegal immigration”. Results can be useful in guiding policy makers by considering farmers’ priorities at local level |
| Keywords: | Farmers’objectives, Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP), Agricultural multifunctionality, Rice, Senegal, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Q18, Q19, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125980&r=agr |
| By: | Anonymous |
| Abstract: | This 2012 report provides an economic overview of the Canadian agriculture and agri-food system. It is meant to be a multi-purpose reference document to provide: an introduction to the agriculture and agri-food system; a snapshot of structural changes that are occurring throughout the system in response to various factors; and background data and information to inform public discussions on challenges and opportunities facing the Canadian agriculture and agri-food system. Charts and tables with brief accompanying texts are used to summarize information and to provide base performance indicators. The 2012 report begins with a special feature section that provides a description of employment trends in Canada's agriculture and agri-food system. It also discusses characteristics of the agriculture labour force such as its age distribution and educational attainment. The publication continues by reviewing each segment of the system, starting downstream with consumers to food distribution, and heading upstream to food and beverage processing, primary agriculture and input suppliers. It also contains a section that considers the environmental impacts of agricultural production in Canada including how Canada's agricultural producers are addressing environmental concerns. The report concludes with a review of government expenditures in support of agriculture and agri-food, including international comparisons of government measures of support. It describes the Canadian agriculture and agri-food system as a modern, highly complex, integrated, internationally competitive and growing part of the Canadian economy. It is a resilient system, responding to the challenges and opportunities it faces by restructuring and adapting to changing consumer demands, advancing technology, North American integration and globalization. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, agri-food, R&D, consumers, GDP, employment, exports, imports, innovation, young farmers, farm typology, Income, government support, trade, productivity, food processing, food manufacturing, environment, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaacem:126213&r=agr |
| By: | Benfica, Rui M.S. |
| Abstract: | This analysis uses measures of Compensating Variation (CV) and Net Benefit Ratios (NBR) to assess the short-run effects of higher prices on different income groups in rural and urban areas of Malawi. Compensating Variation analysis indicates that urban households, particularly the poorest are the most severely affected both in the aggregate consumption and also in terms of food consumption. In rural areas, relatively better off households are more negatively affected by overall price increases, but the poorest are the group that suffers the most with food price shocks. A fifty percent supply response of agricultural production would result in significant positive effects on rural household welfare. A significantly larger response would be required in maize production to yield significant benefits among households. Results are translated into tangible policy and programmatic recommendations to inform the design of interventions aimed at mitigating those effects and promoting economic growth and poverty reduction. This analysis suggest that policies should be oriented towards facilitating a supply response by households resulting in a significant increase in maize, other staple food and non-food production, supporting household livelihoods diversification, while putting in place programs to assist the most vulnerable groups. |
| Keywords: | Compensating variation, distributional impacts, Malawi, net benefit ratio, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125394&r=agr |
| By: | Reyes, Alvaro; Lensink, Robert; Kuyvenhoven, Arie; Moll, Henk |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors that determine productivity of fruit and vegetable growers in central Chile, focusing especially on the effect of short-term credit on farm productivity for market-oriented farmers. We explicitly test for possible selection bias using a panel data set from a survey conducted in 2006 and 2008 with 177 farmers. Our results indicate that short-term credit does not have an impact on farm productivity, while other factors as education and the type of activity do. These results suggest that other providers of credit, such as informal credit institutions, may relax short-term credit constraints in rural financial markets in Chile. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, credit constraint, medium-scale farmers, Chile, Agricultural and Food Policy, Financial Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126217&r=agr |
| By: | Bashir, Muhammad Khalid; Schilizzi, Steven; Pandit, Ram |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of livestock for household food security of small farmers in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Household level data were collected from 576 small farmers of 12 districts of the province using stratified sampling technique. According to the results, about 19% of the sample households were measured to be food insecure. It was found that both large (cows and buffalos) and small (goats and sheep) livestock assets significantly improve food security. An increase of one animal in both assets increases the chances of a household to become food secure by 10.1 and 148.6%, respectively. Other important factors found to improve food security were monthly income, total earners in a household and education level of graduation and above. Furthermore, increasing family size deteriorates household food security. Rural household food security can be improved by focussing on livestock sector especially the small animals. |
| Keywords: | Livestock, food security determinants, small farmers, Punjab, Pakistan, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, I30, Q18 and R20., |
| Date: | 2012–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:126034&r=agr |
| By: | Anderson, Kym |
| Abstract: | For decades, earnings from farming in many developing countries have been depressed by a pro-urban bias in own-country policies, as well as by governments of richer countries favouring their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Both sets of policies reduced global economic welfare and agricultural trade, and almost certainly added to global inequality and poverty. Progress has been made over the past three decades in reducing agricultural protection in high-income countries and agricultural disincentives in developing countries, but the propensity of governments to insulate their domestic food market from fluctuations in international prices has not waned. Both food-importing and food-exporting countries engage in insulating behaviour, which contributes to the amplification of international food price fluctuations yet does little to advance their national food security. Thus much scope still remains to improve economic welfare and to reduce poverty by removing remaining trade distortions. This paper summarizes indicators of these trends and fluctuations in farm trade barriers before examining what unilateral or multilateral trade arrangements, together with complementary domestic measures, could help advance global food security. |
| Keywords: | Long-term trade policy trends, policy responses to price volatility, relative rates of assistance, Agricultural and Food Policy, F13, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125692&r=agr |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Murshid, K.A.S.; Reardon, Thomas |
| Abstract: | In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh—one of the poorest countries in Asia, where rice accounts for almost 70 percent of consumers’ caloric intake—the share of the less expensive coarse rice is shown to be rapidly decreasing in rice markets and the quality premium for the fine rice has been consistently on the rise in the last decades. It thus seems that the role of rice as only a cheap staple food is being redefined. The increasing demand for the more expensive varieties is seemingly associated with a more important off-farm food sector—in particular, milling, retailing, and branding—as well as a transformed milling industry. We further find that the labor rewards for growing different rice varieties are not significantly different and that farmers do not benefit directly from consumers’ increased willingness to pay for rice. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, rice, markets, value chains, Asia, quality, milling, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125280&r=agr |
| By: | Kalamkar, Shrikant S.; Shroff, Sangeeta |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is the predominant sector of economies of all South Asian countries and poverty and hunger are the most serious problems faced by this region. Agriculture in this region is caught in a low equilibrium trap with low productivity of staples, supply shortfalls, high prices, low returns to farmers and area diversification which threaten food security. Despite rapid growth of some of the economies, dependence on agriculture as an economic activity has seen a negligible decline. Future growth of this sector holds the key to livelihood security, eradication of poverty, sustainable progress of the economy of each of the nations |
| Keywords: | Food Security, South Asian Countries, Poverty, Food Prices, Sustainability, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Q18, N55, I32, Q11, Q01, |
| Date: | 2012–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125864&r=agr |
| By: | Zhang, Lei; Herzfeld, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the impact of a water allocation priority policy for a specific crop on farmers’ acreage allocation to different crops. To accomplish this, a system of crop acreage demands conditional on output yields, prices of variable inputs and levels of quasi-fixed inputs is estimated. The analysis based on a two-year farm household panel data from an arid region in northwest China. The results show that the water policy change results in a lower elasticity of land demand not only for Atlantic potatoes (i.e. the preferential crop), but also for the other crops. Acreage allocation to grains differs from other crops due to their use within the farm household. Moreover, the estimated elasticities of quasi-fixed inputs reveal that whereas the area of cash crops and Atlantic potatoes increases with increased use of own labour before the policy change, it does so only for cash crops after the policy change. With respect to own and exchanged labour Atlantic potatoes behave like grains and regular potatoes after the policy change. |
| Keywords: | Water scarcity, priority allocation, cropping decision, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125216&r=agr |
| By: | Kirchweger, Stefan; Eder, Michael; Kapfer, Martin; Kantelhardt, Jochen |
| Keywords: | Rural Development programmes, causal effects, Direct Matching, Propensity-Score Matching, difference-in-difference estimator, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q10, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126204&r=agr |
| By: | Ladislav Kristoufek; Karel Janda; David zilberman |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the relationships between the prices of biodiesel, ethanol and related fuels and agricultural commodities with a use of minimal spanning trees and hierar- chical trees. We find that in short-term, both ethanol and biodiesel are very weakly connected with the other commodities. In medium-term, the biofuels network becomes more structured. The system splits into two well separated branches - a fuels part and a food part. Biodiesel tends to the fuels branch and ethanol to the food branch. When the periods before and after the food crisis of 2007/2008 are compared, the connections are much stronger for the post-crisis period. This is the first application of this methodology on the biofuels systems. |
| JEL: | C38 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:camaaa:2012-29&r=agr |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha; Nidhi Kaicker; Katsushi Imai; Ganesh Thapa |
| Abstract: | Our analysis illustrates one pathway between agriculture and nutrition through production of nutrients by crop and size as well as through livestock. As this pathway is subsumed in agriculture and nutrition studies focusing on anthropometric outcomes, and hardly any light is thrown on the contribution of smallholders, it is emphasised that they play an important role as producers of nutrients. Specifically, despite various disadvantages (e.g. inadequate access to extension, technology, credit and markets), they contribute largest shares of calories, protein and fats. However, profits earned (using an approximate measure) are considerably lower among them than among medium and large landholders. At least two reasons are identified in our analysis: one is limited access to markets and another is lower crop prices. A much greater emphasis on enabling higher investment, access to technology and markets through better rural infrastructure would help increase profitability of crop production. Equally important are market imperfections that manifest in lower crop prices for smallholders. How economies of scale could be exploited through farmers’ groups needs careful scrutiny. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, food crops, livestock, smallholders, calorie, protein and fat |
| JEL: | I15 Q18 N35 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-06&r=agr |
| By: | Noltze, Martin; Schwarze, Stefan; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Natural resource management practices, such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), have been proposed to tackle agricultural challenges such as decreasing productivity growth and environmental degradation. Yet, the benefits of system technologies for farmers are often debated. Impacts seem to be context-specific, which is especially relevant in the small farm sector with its large degree of agroecological and socioeconomic heterogeneity. This was not always considered in previous research. We analyze the impacts of SRI adoption on rice yield and household income among smallholder farmers in Timor Leste. Heterogeneity is accounted for in an endogenous switching regression framework. Comparing mean yield and income levels, we find no significant differences between SRI adopters and non-adopters. This is due to negative selection bias; SRI seems to be adopted more on plots and by farmers with less than average yields. Controlling for this bias reveals significant yield and income gains. Poor and non-poor households benefit from SRI adoption; small farms benefit more than larger farms. The results also suggest that SRI may not be beneficial when compared to conventional rice grown under favorable conditions and with best management practices. |
| Keywords: | Impact assessment, endogenous switching regression, system of rice intensification, Timor Leste, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, C31, D22, Q16, Q55, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125595&r=agr |
| By: | Ayinde, Opeyemi Eyitayo; Muchie, Mammo; Babatunde, Rapheal O.; Adewumi, Matthew Olaniyi; Ayinde, Kayode; Ibitoye, Olalekan |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the impact of income inequality on agricultural production among sample of farm households in rural and urban areas of Ekiti-state, Nigeria. The study used primary and secondary data. Descriptive analysis, Gini coefficient and Regression analysis were used to analyzed the data. The results showed the socio-economic characteristics of farm households in both rural and urban areas. The results also indicated that income inequality is higher in urban than in the rural areas and that income level, farm size and household size are the factors that contribute to inequality in both rural and urban areas. The study however recommends that production technology should be improved, infrastructural facilities should be provided, access to credit and land should be made easier and that large family size should be discouraged to facilitate a more equitable distribution of income and increase agricultural production. |
| Keywords: | Income Inequality, Agricultural Production, Rural, Urban and Nigeria, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126228&r=agr |
| By: | Nizalov, Denys; Thornsbury, Suzanne; Loveridge, Scott; Woods, Mollie; Zadorozhna, Olha |
| Abstract: | Risk and uncertainty over the results of agricultural production were always considered as impediments for the development of agricultural sector and rural areas. Besides traditional weather and market related sources of uncertainty, agriculture in transition economies is facing one more major factor of risk – changes in the institutional protection of property rights. This paper illustrates how such institutional uncertainty affects the land use and crop mix patterns in Ukraine. Ukraine is a country with some of the richest arable land in the world and is among the largest agricultural producers. Land reform started in Ukraine in 1990. It transfers land from state to private ownership. However, a market for land sales has not been established yet. Moreover, its establishment has been postponed several times since 2001. Thus, the design of this institution remains unknown, which brings uncertainty about the rights of owners, state, tenants and investors. To test if unsecured property rights for land lead to under-investments and impact the crop mix, this paper uses different sensitivity to institutional uncertainty of investments in annual vs. perennial crops. Data from Ukrainian State Statistic Committee for years 2004-2010 is used. This unique set contains panel data on a very large sample of farming entities. It shows that almost 95% of Ukrainian agricultural land is rented. Such structure creates incentives for investments in relatively more secure annual crops. The results of seemingly unrelated regression analysis show that a higher share of rented land is associated with a lower share of land used for perennial crops. At the same time, farms rent more land to increase share of annual crops. The difference in response to uncertainty is found significant between the two crop types. It implies that extension of moratorium on land sales in Ukraine leads to under-investments in Ukrainian agriculture in general and into more capital intensive crops in particular. The uncertain property right makes the tenant deviate from the “optimal” crop mix reducing the productivity of tenant farms. Thus, Ukraine faces significant losses in agricultural production and GDP in the short run. Moreover, the uncertainty leads to underinvestment into new technologies including adaptation to the climate change. Such underinvestment affects productivity and vulnerability of Ukrainian agriculture in the longer run |
| Keywords: | property rights, agricultural development, crop mix, transition economy, Ukraine, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Q15, Q12, O13, O17, O24, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125828&r=agr |
| By: | Franklin, Bradley; Knapp, Keith C.; Schwabe, Kurt A. |
| Abstract: | Perennial crop production is inherently dynamic due to several salient physical characteristics including an establishment period of several years with low or no yields, long lives in commercial production (40 years or more), and path-dependence of yields on input use and other exogenous factors, such as weather. While perennial crop production is properly regarded as a dynamic investment, the literature on regional agricultural production is typically static or uses simplified two-stage dynamics, and rarely if ever are the dynamic biophysical elements of perennial crops represented. This paper seeks to address some of the shortcomings of the literature by developing a dynamic regional model of irrigated agriculture with representative perennial and annual crops. The model explicitly accounts for the age composition of perennial stocks including crop establishment period and age-dependent yields and input use. The age composition of perennial stocks provides a parallel to forestry economics and allows us to derive a Faustmann rule for perennial crops. The model is applied to wine grape production in the Riverland region of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in Australia. Over two-thirds of irrigated land in the region is typically planted in perennial crops. During the recent severe drought experienced in the MDB, water allocations to farmers in the Riverland were cut drastically leading to a variety of adaptations by perennial crop producers including changes in irrigation at the intensive and extensive margins. The Australian government has responded to the drought by creating a plan to buy water rights which would then be allocated to an environmental water holder with the express purpose of ensuring the long-term sustainability of river-dependent ecosystems and the economic activity which depends upon them. The fact that the plan calls for the purchase of up to 35% of existing water rights in the Riverland underscores the need for a more robust model of perennial production in order to inform policymakers of the potential effects on the agricultural sector. Given the vast majority of agricultural enterprises in Australia are family-owned, we analyze joint consumption and investment decisions of a utility-maximizing representative agricultural household. Borrowing is allowed but the household faces an interest rate schedule that is increasing in the amount of debt held. We explore the dynamic properties of the model including the existence and uniqueness of a steady state and the conditions required for convergence to the steady state or other periodic solutions. The effects of liquidity constraints and annual crop cultivation on the dynamics of the model are explored as well. Because the state-space required for an age-explicit regional model is too large for conventional dynamic programming methods (i.e., the curse of dimensionality), a running horizon algorithm is used to approximate an infinite horizon dynamic programming solution. We investigate the effects of the age structure of initial perennial plantings. Preliminary findings from the deterministic model suggest that maximizing the net present value of profits from agricultural production with an initial age distribution of grapevine stocks different from those at the steady state levels leads to cycles in area planted by vintage and hence quantity supplied of wine grapes. However, given a CRRA utility function, over very long time horizons the cycles in area planted are shown to be dampened oscillations which eventually converge to a steady state with an equal age distribution analogous to a normal forest in the theoretical forestry literature. Since time to convergence increases with age heterogeneity of the initial land distribution and perennial stocks are path-dependent on irrigation history, stochastic water supplies may imply that convergence will rarely occur in practice. Nevertheless, a steady state perennial age distribution may be useful for the analysis of changes in water policy. The impacts from changes in economic and biophysical characteristics are estimated under both deterministic and stochastic frameworks, the latter of which is based on historical water allocations within the region. Finally, the long-run water demand for perennial crops is identified by systematically running simulations over varying water allocation levels and capturing the farmer’s marginal willingness to pay for more water. |
| Keywords: | perennial, dynamic, irrigation, agricultural production, water demand, Australia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125212&r=agr |
| By: | Kleinwechter, Ulrich; Grethe, Harald |
| Abstract: | In this paper we apply a simulation model of a village economy in Guizhou province, China, to assess impacts of trade reform at the household and the village level under alternative land market regimes. Putting special emphasis on the modeling of household migration a trade reform scenario is simulated with and without the existence of a land rental market in the village. Significant impacts of the land market on the policy outcome regarding household production, income and welfare are found. The possibility to trade land within the village leads to increasing specialization into agriculture and migration among the households as a response to the policy shock. In a situation with a land market, incomes of households which expand agricultural production are less negatively affected by trade reform than incomes of households which migration more. At the village level, a land market does not influence the poverty outcome of the reform but reduces its inequality enhancing impact. Village migration and exports of agricultural outputs increase. |
| Keywords: | China, Regional Migration, Agricultural Household Model, Land Markets, Poverty, Inequality, Computable General Equilibrium, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Q12, Q15, C68, R23, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125860&r=agr |
| By: | Haldar, Surajit; Honnaiah, T.B.; Govindaraj, G. |
| Abstract: | The economic analysis of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) vis-à-vis conventional method of rice cultivation was assessed in Bardhaman district of West Bengal during 2009-10. The cost-returns analysis of SRI method revealed that the cost of raising nursery for one ha main field transplantation was comparatively lower (Rs 954 and Rs 995) than conventional method (Rs 3654 and Rs 4503) in kharif and rabi season, respectively. However, cost of cultivation in SRI method was comparatively higher in kharif (Rs 44833), but less in rabi season (Rs 43862) as compared to conventional method (Rs 40627 and Rs 44853 in kharif and rabi) of rice cultivation. The total return per rupee of total cost was higher in SRI method (1.58 and 1.92) than in conventional method (1.25 and 1.37) in both the seasons. SRI farmers were found to be technically more efficient than conventional rice farmers. The probability of adoption increases as the literacy level increases and farmers located far away from canal. Difficulties in management practices like water management, intercultural operations along with lack of skilled labour and water scarcity especially in rabi season were the major factors constraining the adoption of SRI method. |
| Keywords: | system of rice intensification, efficiency, logit analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126234&r=agr |
| By: | Gaigne, Carl; Le Mener, Leo |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we set up a simple model that explains the relation between low input price, high exit rates and industrial oncentration. More precisely, we argue that falling input prices force firms with low productivity to exit and induce expansion of more efficient incumbents at the expense of less productive producers. Our model helps reconcile some well‐established empirical results regarding the food processing industry. Indeed, agricultural prices have been declining between the early 1900s until 2006 while, over the same period, concentration and firm productivity have been increasing in the agri‐food industry. |
| Keywords: | Input price, Downstream industry, Entry/exit, Industrial concentration, Firm heterogeneity, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, D24, L11, L25, L66, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:125221&r=agr |
| By: | Kathage, Jonas; Qaim, Matin; Kassie, Menale; Shiferaw, Bekele |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1990s, liberalization of the seed market in Tanzania has attracted several foreign companies that now market maize hybrids in the country. In this article, we analyze the impacts of proprietary hybrids on maize yields, production, and household living standards. We build on a recent survey of smallholder maize farmers in two zones of Tanzania. Hybrid adoption rates are 48% and 13% in the North and East, respectively. Average net yield gains of hybrids are 50-60%, and there are also significant profit effects. Geographical disaggregation reveals that the benefits have mostly occurred in the North, which also explains higher adoption there. In the North, hybrid adoption caused a 17% increase in household living standards. We conclude that proprietary hybrids can be suitable for semi-subsistence farms and that seed market liberalization has generated positive socioeconomic developments. |
| Keywords: | seed market liberalization, farm survey, technology adoption, household living standards, Tanzania, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, I31, Q12, Q13, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126231&r=agr |
| By: | Revoredo-Giha, Cesar |
| Keywords: | Malawi dairy supply chain, development economics, industrial organisation, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Political Economy, Productivity Analysis, O, L, |
| Date: | 2012–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125274&r=agr |
| By: | Ferreira Filho, Joaquim Bento de Souza |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the social implications of ethanol expansion in Brazil. The evolution of the labor market in sugar cane production in the country is analyzed together with its regional patterns of expansion, to illustrate how the changes in the recent expansion are modifying the traditional pattern of labor demand in the activity. At the same time, the distributional effects of sugar cane expansion, as well as it´s impacts on food security and land use change was approached with the aid of general equilibrium simulation models. The analysis shows that both the average earnings and the average years of schooling in sugar cane production are actually higher than in general agriculture in Brazil, and that this is linked to the fast increase in production in Southeast and Center-west. Sugar cane production in those regions is more capital intensive and has much higher productivity than in other traditional regions in Northeast Brazil. The study concludes that the expansion in sugar cane production in the actual patterns is poverty friendly, and has small impacts on food prices and deforestation. The increase in the regional economic imbalances inside the country seems to be the problem to deserve attention. |
| Keywords: | sugar cane expansion, social impacts, labor market, food security, deforestation., Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Q15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126158&r=agr |
| By: | Hironori, Yagi |
| Abstract: | An empirical bid-rent model is applied with a multinomial logit (MNL) for analyses of rice production in Japan, which is characterized by cultivation by producers working with various farm sizes. By combining plot and farm databases, the distances to respective field plots from potential holders in different farm size classes are examined using the model. The impact of land resource scarcity on farm size is explained by interpreting the distance effect. Results clarify that field plots at a greater distance from a farm command less rent. Especially in steeper areas with scarce land resources, large farms have no advantage in bid-rent competition with smaller farms. |
| Keywords: | land use, farm size, bid rent, land resource scarcity, rice production, multinomial logit, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Q15, R14, Q12, |
| Date: | 2012–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125390&r=agr |
| By: | Gurgel, Angelo Costa |
| Abstract: | The Brazilian government has announced volunteer targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the 2009 COP meeting in Copenhagen. In this paper we estimate the economic impacts from alternative policies to achieve such targets, including actions to cut emissions from deforestation and agricultural production. We employ a dynamic-recursive general equilibrium model of the world economy. The main results show that deforestation emissions in Brazil can be reduced at very low costs, but the costs of cutting emissions from agricultural and energy use may reach 2.3% loss in GDP by 2020 if sector specific carbon taxes are applied. Those costs may be reduced to 1.5% under a carbon trading scheme. The negative impacts of carbon taxes on agricultural production indirectly reduce deforestation rates. However, directly cutting emissions from deforestation is the most cost-effective option, since it does not hurt agricultural production, which still expands on lower yield and underutilized pasture and secondary forest areas. |
| Keywords: | Climate policies, Brazil, deforestation, general equilibrium, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q54, Q58, Q15, C68, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125937&r=agr |
| By: | Fekete-Farkas, Maria; Szucs, Istvan; Varga, Tibor |
| Abstract: | Hungary became the member of European Union in 2004. The authors want to show that, though, many sectors of Hungarian agriculture have been operating at low level of technology and efficiency; there was a big expectation about the fast catching up with accession to European Union. This paper investigates the effect of EU membership on the productivity performance of Hungarian agriculture based on the years 2005 and 2009 using Data Envelopment Analyses and Malmquist index. The analysis showed that there were considerable reserves of efficiency in the presented two main branches (wheat and pig fattening) of the Hungarian agriculture, and the reserves slightly decreased in wheat production, but they increased in the pig sector by EU accession. The implication for agricultural reform of future productivity growth has also been assessed. |
| Keywords: | total factor productivity, agriculture, EU membership, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, D24, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126120&r=agr |
| By: | Litina, Anastasia |
| Abstract: | This research advances the hypothesis that reversal of fortunes in the process of economic development can be traced to the effect of natural land productivity on the desirable level of cooperation in the agricultural sector. In early stages of development, unfavorable land endowment enhanced the economic incentive for cooperation in the creation of agricultural infrastructure that could mitigate the adverse effect of the natural environment. Nevertheless, despite the beneficial effects of cooperation on the intensive margin of agriculture, low land productivity countries lagged behind during the agricultural stage of development. However, as cooperation, and its persistent effect on social capital, have become increasingly important in the process of industrialization, the transition from agriculture to industry among unfavorable land endowment economies was expedited, permitting those economies that lagged behind in the agricultural stage of development, to overtake the high land productivity economies in the industrial stage of development. Exploiting exogenous sources of variations in land productivity across countries the research further explores the testable predictions of the theory. It establishes that: (i) reversal of fortunes in the process of development can be traced to variation in natural land productivity across countries. Economies characterized by favorable land endowment dominated the world economy in the agricultural stage of development but were overtaken in the process of industrialization; (ii) lower level of land productivity in the past is associated with higher levels of contemporary social capital; (iii) cooperation, as reflected by agricultural infrastructure, emerged primarily in places were land was not highly productive and collective action could have diminished the adverse effects of the environment and enhance agricultural output. |
| Keywords: | Land productivity; Cooperation; Social Capital; Economic development; Agriculture; Industrialization |
| JEL: | O11 O41 O13 O33 O50 O14 |
| Date: | 2012–06–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:39702&r=agr |
| By: | Gajigo, Ousman; Schwab, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | We analyze the consequences of seasonal variation in maternal consumption on child health using two nationally representative Gambian household surveys. Seasonal fluctuation in consumption stems from difficulties borrowing when incomes are low during the rainy season and saving when they peak after harvest. The resulting fluctuations in maternal nutritional intake can affect birth outcomes and lactational performance. Using mother fixed effects to isolate the effect of birth season, we find that child health—measured by weight-for-age and height-for-age—varies significantly with birth timing. Children in farm households born during dry seasons (February-June) fare considerably worse than siblings born in other seasons. |
| Keywords: | Child, Maternal Health, Consumption, Agriculture, Seasonal, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, D13, I12, I15, Q12, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125788&r=agr |
| By: | Heringa, Pieter W.; van der Heide, Martijn M.; Heijman, Wim J.M. |
| Abstract: | Abstract Multifunctional agriculture is a broad concept lacking a precise and uniform definition. Moreover, little is known about the societal importance of multifunctional agriculture. This paper is an empirical attempt to fill this gap. To this end, an input-output model is constructed for multifunctional agriculture in the Netherlands. The definition used includes four multifunctional agricultural activities: (i) green care, (ii) tourism, recreation and education, (iii) on-farm sales, and (iv) green services. Multiplier values – indicating the chain impacts of these multifunctional activities in the rest of the economy – are calculated for four Dutch regions. The results show that, in terms of output and employment, multifunctional agriculture is not a main driver for economic growth. Moreover, from the input-output model it appears that multifunctional agriculture leads in particular to more expenditures in the agricultural sector itself, rather than in any other economic sector. As such, the indirect feedback effects of multifunctional agriculture on the non-agricultural sectors in the Dutch economy are rather small. The input-output model also show that multiplier values differ over the regions, mainly due to differences in the composition of multifunctional activities. And although the absolute size of employment in multifunctional agriculture is very small, the employment per unit of output is high, especially when compared to the employment/production rate in primary agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Key words: input-output modelling, multifunctional agriculture, regional economics, multipliers, Netherlands, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125593&r=agr |
| By: | Bashir, Muhammad Khalid; Schilizzi, Steven; Pandit, Ram |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the situation of food security for the landless rural households of the Punjab province in Pakistan. Primary data from 576 landless households were collected from 12 districts of the province. About 27% of the sample households were measured to be food insecure. Household’s monthly income and household head’s education levels of middle and intermediate were positively impacting household food security. On the other hand, household heads’ age and family size were negatively associated with household food security. Rural household food security can be improved by focussing on education, creation of income generating opportunities and family planning programs. |
| Keywords: | landless households, determinants, food security, rural areas, Punjab, Pakistan, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, I30, Q18 and R20., |
| Date: | 2012–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:126035&r=agr |
| By: | Anonymous |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this data book is to provide easy access to key economic and financial indicators for the farm sector and information on government assistance to the agriculture and agri-food industry. The information is prepared in consultation with the provincial ministries responsible for Agriculture. Assistance is also provided by other members of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as by officials in other federal and provincial departments. This issue provides the most up-to-date key economic and financial indicators. |
| Keywords: | farm income, farm financial conditions, government expenditures, estimates of support to agriculture, farm cash receipts expenses and income, operating revenues, farm family income, farm debt, assets, liabilities, net worth, Producer Support Estimate, PSE, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Financial Economics, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaacem:126215&r=agr |
| By: | Ohe, Yasuo; Adriano, Ciani |
| Keywords: | diversification of agritourism, local cultural heritage, facility-based activity, internalization of externalities, cultural capital, ordered logit model, hedonic pricing, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126187&r=agr |
| By: | Mujawamariya, Gaudiose; Burger, Kees; D’Haese, Marijke |
| Abstract: | Farmers face monopsonist/oligopsonist structures in agricultural or forest products markets because of the limited choice of traders/buyers. As a consequence, these farmers and traders alike, in successive transactions along the supply chain, may get lower prices in selling their products. This leads to a problem of double (or even multiple) marginalisation. We investigate oligopsonist tendencies in the trade of gum arabic, a non-timber forest product which is widely used as an additive in food and non-food industries. We compute traders’ shares and a corresponding Herfindahl index in primary, transport and wholesale markets of gum arabic in Senegal to analyse the market concentration; through a gllamm procedure we analyse determinants of these market shares and finally by a weighted least square regression, we analyse determinants of marketing margins of individual traders. The computed Herfindahl index was found too low to have any influence on margins and hence oligopsonist powers could not be confirmed. Instead traders’ margins depend on costs, risk and uncertainty that they face. Consequently, traders were not found exploitative; their power is derived from access to capital and market characteristics. |
| Keywords: | oligopsony, double marginalisation, Herfindahl index, market accession, market exit, risk, marketing margins., Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126236&r=agr |
| By: | Otieno, David Jakinda; Hubbard, Lionel J.; Ruto, Eric |
| Abstract: | The stochastic metafrontier method is applied to estimate technical efficiency levels in beef cattle production in Kenya. Subsequently, a Tobit model is used to assess factors that might influence efficiency. Results show that the average efficiency level is 0.69, suggesting that there is considerable scope to improve beef production in Kenya. Considering the importance of the livestock enterprise to rural livelihoods and its potential role in poverty reduction, there is need for appropriate development strategies for enhanced efficiency. In particular, livestock development policies should focus on provision of technology-related services. For instance, promoting use of controlled cattle crossbreeding methods would enhance productivity gains. Effective institutional support is also necessary in order to improve efficiency, including improved access to market contracts, better farm management skills and off-farm income opportunities. Key words: Beef production; technical efficiency determinants; Kenya. JEL classifications: D24; O32; Q18. |
| Keywords: | Beef production, technical efficiency determinants, Kenya, Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D24, O32, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125853&r=agr |
| By: | Jara-Rojas, Roberto; Bravo-Ureta, Boris; Moreira, Victor; Diaz, José |
| Abstract: | This study estimates a stochastic production frontier to measure technical efficiency (TE) using farm-level survey data for a random sample of small-scale farmers in Central Chile. Socioeconomic and productive information was collected in season 2005/06 through a survey of 319 farmers in the Province of Linares. An important issue in the paper is the effect of adoption of soil and water conservation practices on productivity. The results reveal a positive relationship between the adoption of soil and water conservation and farm-level TE. The results also indicate that improvements in TE, when associated with conservation practices, not only lead to higher output and thus improvements in net returns, but also contribute to environmental sustainability. Moreover, the analysis reveals a positive relationship between TE and human capital variables such as education and agricultural extension. |
| Keywords: | soil and water conservation, stochastic frontiers, technical efficiency, sustainability., Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q2, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126227&r=agr |
| By: | Jia, Lili; Petrick, Martin |
| Abstract: | This study provides a deeper theoretical understanding of the linkages between land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply and investigates this relationship empirically in a more direct and robust way than in the existing literature. Drawing upon a rural household panel dataset collected in Zhejiang, Hubei and Yunnan provinces from 1995-2002, we estimate the effects in two steps. First, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on labor productivity. Second, we estimate the effect of land fragmentation on off-farm labor supply. The production function results show that land fragmentation indeed leads to lower agricultural labor productivity, implying land consolidation will make on-farm work more attractive and thus decrease off-farm labor supply. However, the effect of land consolidation on off-farm labor supply cannot be observed in the presence of imperfect labor market and this conclusion is supported by a direct estimation of the effect of land fragmentation on off-farm labor supply. |
| Keywords: | Land fragmentation, off-farm, labor supply, China, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Q15 Q24 J22 R23, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126263&r=agr |
| By: | Kirui, Oliver K.; Okello, Julius Juma; Nyikal, Rose Adhiambo |
| Abstract: | Information Communication Technology (ICT) |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones, Money Transfer, M-PESA, Impact, Smallholder Farmers, Kenya, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125738&r=agr |
| By: | Fousseini TRAORE; Félix BADOLO |
| Abstract: | Between January 2006 and April 2008, the prices of most of the agricultural products considerably rose in international markets. Empirical studies show that this spike in world food prices has increased the number of poor households in developing countries, but the magnitude is not the same in all countries. This paper assesses the impact of rising rice price on poverty and income inequality in Burkina Faso. We use a methodology based on the concept of compensating variation combined with the net benefit ratio (NBR) developed by Deaton (1989) and living standard survey (QUIBB, 2003). The results show that higher rice prices have a negative impact on income and poverty in the regions with a large proportion of households who are net buyers of rice. The poverty rate increases by 2.2 to 2.9 percentage points depending on the assumptions. The increase in poverty increase is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Rising rice prices also increase income inequality. Income inequality particularly increases in urban areas and in relatively rich regions, but it decreases in poor regions with an important proportion of rice producers. |
| Keywords: | Measuring and analysis of poverty, farm household, Price |
| JEL: | Q11 Q12 I32 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1369&r=agr |
| By: | Bashir, Muhammad Khalid; Schilizzi, Steven; Pandit, Ram |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the factors affecting rural household food security in three different regions of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. For this it used Binary Logistic regression modelling based on primary data source from 3 districts each of South and North and 6 districts of Central Punjab. According to the results, Central Punjab was found to be the most food insecure region where about 31% of the sample households were measured to be food insecure. In South and North Punjab, 13.5% and 15% of the sample households were measured as food insecure, respectively. It was found that monthly income and livestock assets improve and family size deteriorates household food security across all the three regions. In Central Punjab, education level of graduation and above had a positive impact on food security while in North Punjab both middle and intermediate levels had positive impacts. Additionally, household heads’ increasing age deteriorated food security in Central Punjab. On the other hand, total number of earners in the household improved food security in the North Punjab. Food security can be improved by targeting the neediest households. |
| Keywords: | Logistic regression, rural food security, regional food security, Punjab, Pakistan, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, I30, Q18 and R20., |
| Date: | 2012–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:126033&r=agr |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra |
| Abstract: | Public agricultural extension systems often fail due to inadequate consultation of farmers about their information needs and poor understanding of their information search strategies. In discussing and implementing extension programs and advisory services, the following questions need to be addressed: What information do the farmers need? How and where do they search for information? What factors determine their search behavior? How much are they willing to pay for their information? While the first two sets of questions are addressed fairly well in the literature, the latter two have not yet been attempted in the context of developing countries. Using a case study of two districts in South India, we examine farmer information needs and their information search behavior, factors affecting their search behavior, and their willingness to pay for information. Cluster analysis on access, frequency and use of information sources identified four farmer information search behaviors – high, medium, semi-medium and low. The groups differed significantly by post-high school studies, household economic status, cultivated land area, agricultural income, and membership to a farmer-based organization (FBO) and a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank (PACB). We use these four information search behaviors to examine differences in information needs, sources used and preferred sources. The important information needs related to rice included pest and disease management, pesticide and fertilizer application, seed variety, seed treatment. Rice production practices and credit information was more important for the low search group. Private input dealers and the state department of agricultural extension staff were the main information sources, though use of these two sources decreased with greater information searching. High and medium searchers used a greater number of sources, which also included print media and TV. The major constraints to information access, common to all search groups, were poor reliability and timeliness. The preferred medium of information was interpersonal contacts followed by information via mobile phones, where a helpline or voice messages was preferred over SMS. Through a contingent valuation technique it was found that farmers’ willingness to pay for voice-based mobile phone messages was low. The results show that the delivery of agricultural information, tailored to the different information search behaviors of farmers, is important to consider for extension programs. |
| Keywords: | Information Economics, Farmer's Information needs, Search Behavior, Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services, India, Asia., International Development, |
| Date: | 2012–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126225&r=agr |
| By: | Jolejole-Foreman, Maria Christina; Baylis, Kathy; Lipper, Leslie |
| Keywords: | land degradation, instrumental variables, spatial patterns of land degradation, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126251&r=agr |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra |
| Abstract: | Public agricultural extension systems often fail due to inadequate consultation of farmers about their information needs and poor understanding of their information search strategies. In discussing and implementing extension programs and advisory services, the following questions need to be addressed: What information do the farmers need? How and where do they search for information? What factors determine their search behavior? How much are they willing to pay for their information? While the first two sets of questions are addressed fairly well in the literature, the latter two have not yet been attempted in the context of developing countries. Using a case study of two districts in South India, we examine farmer information needs and their information search behavior, factors affecting their search behavior, and their willingness to pay for information. Cluster analysis on access, frequency and use of information sources identified four farmer information search behaviors – high, medium, semi-medium and low. The groups differed significantly by post-high school studies, household economic status, cultivated land area, agricultural income, and membership to a farmer-based organization (FBO) and a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank (PACB). We use these four information search behaviors to examine differences in information needs, sources used and preferred sources. The important information needs related to rice included pest and disease management, pesticide and fertilizer application, seed variety, seed treatment. Rice production practices and credit information was more important for the low search group. Private input dealers and the state department of agricultural extension staff were the main information sources, though use of these two sources decreased with greater information searching. High and medium searchers used a greater number of sources, which also included print media and TV. The major constraints to information access, common to all search groups, were poor reliability and timeliness. The preferred medium of information was interpersonal contacts followed by information via mobile phones, where a helpline or voice messages was preferred over SMS. Through a contingent valuation technique it was found that farmers’ willingness to pay for voice-based mobile phone messages was low. The results show that the delivery of agricultural information, tailored to the different information search behaviors of farmers, is important to consider for extension programs. |
| Keywords: | information need, information source, search behavior, agricultural extension and advisory service, willingness to pay., International Development, |
| Date: | 2012–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126226&r=agr |
| By: | Spolador, Humberto Francisco Silva; Roe, Terry L. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the contribution of the Brazilian agriculture to economic growth of the Brazilian economy. It draws upon the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) data base, and other time series data to construct a multi-sector Ramsey model that shows the transition growth of the Brazilian agricultural sector and its effects on growth of the Brazilian economy, with particular emphasis given to the years 1994–2010. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, economic growth, macroeconomics variables, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, O10, O11, Q1, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125822&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, Qingbin; Zhang, Guangxuan |
| Abstract: | Using primary data of 3,327 Chinese farmers and their villages collected through a survey in 2010, this study identifies the factors that affect farmers’ decision to raise hogs and the factors that determine the hog farmers’ production scale and discusses the likely future of small-scale hog production and its potential impacts on China’s pork market and trade. Estimation results of a Heckman model suggest that labor availability, the opportunity of earning income from nonfarm jobs, and the existence of large-scale hog farms and processing facilities in the local area are among the major factors of the participation and scale decisions. As China’s demand for pork has been increasing at a relatively stable rate, China’s pork imports from the U.S. and other nations are increasingly determined by its domestic pork supply, especially the production of small-scale hog farmers due to its sensitivity to price, disease, subsidy, and other factors. |
| Keywords: | China’s pork market, U.S. pork exports, Heckman model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125288&r=agr |
| By: | Kirui, Oliver K.; Okello, Julius Juma; Nyikal, Rose Adhiambo |
| Abstract: | Information Communication Technology (ICT) |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones, money transfer M-PESA m-banking services, use, intensity of use/adoption, smallholder farmers, Kenya, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Marketing, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125739&r=agr |
| By: | Wainaina, Priscilla; Okello, Julius Juma; Nzuma, Jonathan M. |
| Abstract: | Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination largely aimed at correcting the market failure associated with spot markets that arise due to imperfect information. However the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Kenya is not well understood. While some authors have argued that contact farming improves access to ready markets by smallholder farmers, other studies have suggested that contract farming lowers the incomes of smallholder farmers because the contractors wield greater market power over the farmers. Consequently, it is seen as a blessing by some and a necessary evil by others. This study uses a propensity score matching technique to shed light on the impact of contract farming on smallholder farmers. The study also examines the conditioners of participation in contract farming. It uses data collected from 180 smallholder poultry farmers stratified by participation in contract production. The study finds that, on average, contracted farmers earned more net revenue per bird compared to the independent farmers, by approximately 27 percent, and as such participating in contract farming could improve the welfare of these small holder poultry farmers. This finding suggests that getting smallholder commercial poultry farmers to participate in contract farming can help improve their welfare through increasing the net revenues from these birds and thereof incomes. |
| Keywords: | Contract farming, smallholder farmers, impact, propensity score matching, poultry production, Kenya., Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126196&r=agr |
| By: | Jambor, Attila; Hubbard, Lionel |
| Abstract: | In 2004, Hungary joined the European Union (EU) along with nine other countries. One of the major changes resulting from this was the transformation of these countries’ agri-food trade. The paper analyses the effects of EU accession on Hungarian primary and processed agri-food trade, using revealed symmetric comparative advantage based on the most recent available data. Results suggest that accession has enhanced the value of trade relations with the EU. Hungary’s agri-food imports have increased faster than agri-food exports, but the trade balance remains at around €1 billion, similar to its pre-accession level. Both exports and imports are highly and increasingly concentrated, by country and by product group, with exports based mainly on bulk raw materials and imports based principally on processed products. Revealed comparative advantages have weakened after accession. Indeed, the majority of products reveal a comparative disadvantage over the entire period, and this majority was larger in the post-accession period. Regarding stability, accession has radically changed the survival time of agri-food trade, in that revealed comparative advantage is shown not to be persistent. From the policy perspective, there is a clear need for radical structural changes in Hungarian agriculture and the agri-food sector. The most important long-term goal should be the production and export of higher value-added processed products based on domestic raw materials. |
| Keywords: | EU accession, agri-food trade, revealed comparative advantages, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126237&r=agr |
| By: | Ihle, Rico; Rubin, Ofir D. |
| Abstract: | Israel’s imposition of military security measures in the Palestinian territories as a consequence of the long-lasting violent conflict yields depressing economic effects to all parties involved. One crucial implication is the limited ability to carry out trade which brings about welfare losses. This paper assesses the consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on price dynamics of agricultural trade between Israel and the West Bank by analyzing daily wholesale prices subject to movement restrictions. An exogenous regime switching cointegration model is estimated using a novel extension of the Johansen estimation method. We find Hebron and Tel Aviv wholesale markets to be integrated for the main trading products. Deviations from price equilibrium are quickly adjusted for. The model suggests that the movement restrictions temporarily cut off both markets from each other. Welfare implications of the closures depend on the direction of trade, harming both Palestinian and Israeli consumers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural trade, cointegration, exogenous regime-switching, Israel, Middle East, Palestinian territories, price transmission, violent conflict, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, C32, D74, Q11, Q13, F15, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125392&r=agr |
| By: | Anonymous |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this document is to describe the features of the Medium Term Outlook (MTO) covering the period 2011 to 2021. The MTO is a plausible future for the international and domestic agri-food sectors based on current policies in Canada and other countries as of Fall 2011. It serves as a benchmark for discussion and scenario analysis. The outlook makes specific assumptions and outlines their implications. Since it assumes that policies remain unchanged in the future it is therefore an extrapolation of what could occur based on current trends and underlying macroeconomic projections. In particular, there are no assumptions made regarding the outcome of the Doha round of trade negotiations. It also assumes no impact from climate change and from policy to mitigate climate change nor significant animal disease outbreaks or unusual climatic conditions over the period of the outlook. The starting point of the MTO is world agricultural commodities price projection based on the OECD/FAO Agricultural Outlook for 2009/2019 adjusted with more recent information. The Canadian macro-economic forecasts are from the Conference Board of Canada outlook published in September 2011 In addition, short-term price forecasts have been updated using United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projections released in November 2011. |
| Keywords: | Outlook, Agriculture, Cereals, Oilseeds, Bio-fuels, Livestock, Red meats, Milk, Dairy products, Chicken, Turkey, Eggs, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Financial Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaacem:126214&r=agr |
| By: | Kalamkar, Shrikant S.; Shroff, Sangeeta |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is the predominant sector of economies of all South Asian countries and poverty and hunger are the most serious problems faced by this region. Agriculture in this region is caught in a low equilibrium trap with low productivity of staples, supply shortfalls, high prices, low returns to farmers and area diversification which threaten food security. Despite rapid growth of some of the economies, dependence on agriculture as an economic activity has seen a negligible decline. Future growth of this sector holds the key to livelihood security, eradication of poverty, sustainable progress of the economy of each of the nations. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, South Asian Countries, Poverty, Food Prices, Sustainability, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125501&r=agr |
| By: | Huang, Jikun; Yang, Jun; Yang, WenQian |
| Abstract: | China has a biosafety regulatory framework in place for both domestic GM crop commercialization and imports. China imported about four times as many soybeans as it produced domestically in 2010 and is also expected to become a major importer of maize in the near future. Both China’s soybean and maize imports are dominated by GM varieties, with most soybean imported from the US, Brazil and Argentina and maize imported mainly from the US. China’s import approval process takes on average 2-3 years, and can only commence when a submitter for import approval has already received full regulatory approval in their country of origin, resulting in significant asynchronicity (for maize, for example, only 11 out of some 29 GM events authorized in the US had been approved in China by late 2010). The China paper indicates that trade disruptions due to China’s zero threshold approach to LLP could result in a slight increase in domestic maize price and large rise in soybean price, with knock-on effects on the livestock sector and overall social welfare, and also have repercussions in the export markets. The paper also points out that although China has commercialized several GM crops and has a significant number in the research and regulatory pipeline, it has so far not opted to seek approval of its GM crop events in any foreign country. This could lead to trade disruptions affecting Chinese rice exports, although these exports are declining, but also growing exports of processed rice products. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural biotechnology varieties, Low level presence, Asynchronous authorizations, China, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125215&r=agr |
| By: | Keil, Alwin; Nielsen, Thea |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers’ land allocation decisions in marginal areas of developing countries typically involve a substantial element of risk, especially when they concern input intensive cash crops. Hence, apart from farmers’ resource endowment, their individual level of risk aversion is a potentially important determinant of such decisions. However, in microeconometric models a measure of individuals’ risk preferences is usually lacking. We address this shortcoming by testing the explanatory power of a wide range of risk preference measures based on hypothetical and non-hypothetical elicitation methods in a model explaining land allocation to commercial hybrid maize production in a fragile upland area of Vietnam. Based on data collected in a random sample of 300 households, we find that the poorest farmers are particularly specialized in commercial maize production, but they are highly dependent on relatively disadvantageous input supply and marketing arrangements offered by maize traders, making this specialization particularly risky. Our study confirms the relevance of decision-makers’ risk preferences in addition to their asset endowment in the land allocation decision. The inclusion of risk preference measures as explanatory variables is found to not cause any significant endogeneity bias. However, only risk preference measures that are based on hypothetical maize related scenarios have explanatory power. We conclude that (1) risk preferences are to a certain extent decision domain specific and (2) hypothetical scenarios that are closely related to farmers’ real-life decisions may produce more reliable results than unfamiliar, non-agricultural scenarios or lottery-based methods, which may be difficult to grasp for respondents with limited formal education. |
| Keywords: | Risk preference elicitation, commercial maize production, marginal uplands, tobit regression, Vietnam, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, C93, D81, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126054&r=agr |
| By: | Serra, Serra; Gil, Jose M. |
| Abstract: | This article studies US corn price fluctuations in the past two decades. Price volatility is explained by volatility clustering, the influence of energy prices, corn stocks and global economic conditions. A multivariate GARCH specification that allows for exogenous variables in the conditional covariance model is estimated both parametrically and semiparametrically. Findings provide evidence of price volatility transmission between ethanol and corn markets. They also suggest that macroeconomic instability can increase corn price volatility. Finally, stock building is found to significantly reduce corn price fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | corn price, ethanol, stocks, garch, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, c32, q11, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126055&r=agr |
| By: | Manazza, Jorge F.; Iglesias, Daniel H. |
| Abstract: | The high agricultural process of the Argentine humid pampas forces the intensification and relocation of cattle and dairy systems into subhumid and semiarid region to keep their competitiveness. In consequence, there is an increasing water demand scenario in these fragile areas in relation with this productive transformation process. Water footprints of UHT milk and cheese agrifood chain in La Pampa and San Luis provinces have been assessed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, including virtual water indicators. Milk chain of La Pampa presents high self-sufficiency water ratio and high primary production proportion in virtual water exports. Water footprint of San Luis milk chain is highly externalized with a low self-sufficiency water ratio. |
| Keywords: | Life Cycle Assessment, Milk Agrifood Chain, Virtual Water, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126174&r=agr |
| By: | Pant, Krishna Prasad |
| Abstract: | The study assessed the on-farm rice straw utilization practices of the farmers and estimated the level of actual cash payment necessary to stop the practice of rice straw burning. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment, non-market valuation, Agriculture and environment, rice straw burning, black carbon, supply of ecosystem services., Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, Q15 - Agriculture and Environment, Q52 - Pollution Control Adoption Costs, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126195&r=agr |
| By: | Salazar-Ordonez, Melania; Rodriguez-Entrena, Macario |
| Abstract: | Applying gene technology in agricultural production, which results on the so-called genetically modified (GM) foods, is one of the most controversial scientific, political and social debates. In the EU, the underdevelopment of biotech crops is attributed to the social distrust in transgenic food. The potential consumers’ reactions towards Genetically Modified (GM) food influence the commercial feasibility and determine the economic agent decisions. This paper studies the underlying factors involved in determining consumers’ choice behaviour towards GM foods, examining the potential role of people literacy what is an issue barely studied by literature. The research is performed in Southern Spain using variance-Structural Equation Modelling, Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique. The results indicate that perceived risks and benefits from GM food act as antecedent of consumers’ purchase decisions and some differences are found in the patterns of behavioural intentions between scientific-technical literacy and social-humanistic literacy group. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, GM food, Consumers’ purchase intentions, People literacy, Partial Least Squares, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126107&r=agr |
| By: | Spielman, David J.; Kolady, Deepthi; Cavalieri, Anthony |
| Abstract: | The rapid expansion of hybrid rice cultivation in China has contributed significantly to improving food security in the country since the 1980s. However, few other Asian countries have seen similar expansions in hybrid rice cultivation or the associated yield and output gains. This paper examines the technical challenges, market opportunities, and policy constraints related to hybrid rice in Asia, with specific emphasis on India and Bangladesh. The paper sets the discussion within a novel analytical approach to agricultural science, technology, and innovation that focuses on improving the efficiency with which new technologies are transformed into economically relevant products and services. |
| Keywords: | Hybrid rice, agricultural research and development, technological change, innovation, South Asia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q16, Q18, O31, O33, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125694&r=agr |
| By: | Hayashi, Takashi; Yamamoto, Mitasu |
| Abstract: | The world is facing serious resource shortage and environmental problems. Eco-efficiency is more attention for sustainable development not only in manufacturing sector but also agricultural sector. This study investigates whether Japanese agriculture improves its eco-efficiency. To conduct the analysis, we, first, develop a System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) for agriculture and forestry, and then estimate the eco-efficiencies and Factor values (FVs) of the agricultural sector, using a case study in Japan. Eco/energy-efficiencies and FVs are estimated based on greenhouse gas emission, acidification, eutrophication, air pollution, and energy and water use in every five year from 1985 to 2005. The results shows that although the absolute amounts of environmental impact and resource use have declined, eco/resource-efficiencies have worsened and FVs are less than 1 throughout the estimation period. Further governmental support for farmers is required to achieve improved eco-efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Eco-efficiency, Factor value, System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA), Agriculture, Japan, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126199&r=agr |
| By: | Melo, Oscar; Engler, Alejandra; Nahuelhual, Laura; Cofre, Gabriela; Barrena, Jose |
| Abstract: | Increasing awareness of food safety issues has brought a boost in sanitary and phytosanitary regulations and standards. Although is likely that these regulations have increased health and welfare in the countries that impose them, they may also have an important effect in exporting countries, affecting especially small producers in developing countries. Other papers have found that individual quantitative measures of regulatory stringency have an impact on trade, but none has looked into broader SPS regulation stringency indicators. Through a survey that asked Chilean fresh fruit exporters to evaluate the stringency for 16 countries and four fresh fruits, we create and index that incorporates several aspects of SPS regulation. Our estimations suggest that, on average, quality standards and packaging and labeling issues are considered the most stringent. We also estimate a gravity model and find that SPS regulatory stringency, measured by this broad index, has negative and significant effect on traded volume |
| Keywords: | Sanitary and Phytosanitary regulations, standards, non tariff barriers, gravity model, fruit trade, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125298&r=agr |
| By: | Amikuzuno, Joseph; Donkor, Samuel |
| Abstract: | Cross-border trade in food commodities within sub-regional economic blocks in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is believed to be faster, cheaper, more convenient and welfare-enhancing than overseas trade between SSA countries and the USA, EU or the BRIC countries. The difficulty of commodity arbitrage across international borders in SSA is however a fundamental constraint to price transmission, market integration and realization of the welfare-enhancing role of cross-border trade in Africa. This study examines the impact of border and distance on price transmission between tomato markets in Ghana and Burkina-Faso. The analysis applies a regime-switching vector error correction model to estimate semi-weekly, wholesale prices of tomato in four tomato markets in Ghana and a production centre in Burkina-Faso. Estimated parameters of price transmission contain evidence of border and distance effects. This is expected since high transfer costs, including cross-border tariffs are incurred by traders in moving tomato across the border. Moreover, the perishable nature of tomato, and the poor quality of roads and transportation facilities may imply additional costs of risks to arbitrageurs. The findings have both theoretical relevance and practical implications for facilitating cross-border trade in West Africa, especially for trade between landlocked countries like Burkina-Faso and coastal ones like Ghana. |
| Keywords: | Price Transmission, Border, Tomato, Ghana, Burkina-Faso, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, C32, Q11, Q13, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126173&r=agr |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha; Nidhi Kaicker; Katsushi Imai; Vani S. Kulkarni; Ganesh Thapa |
| Abstract: | Our study examines changes in diets over the period 1993-2009. Diets have shifted away from cereals towards higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, oils and livestock products. Using household data, a food diversity index (FDI) is constructed, based on five food commodities. Significant price effects that vary over time are confirmed, as also income/expenditure effects. Over and above these effects, more sedentary life styles and less strenuous activity patterns played a significant role in shaping dietary patterns. An important finding is slowing down of dietary transition among the poor - especially in rural areas - in the more recent sub-period 2004-09. Clues relate to weakening of agreed food price, expenditure and life-style effects. |
| Keywords: | Diets, Demand, Prices, Income, Environment, India |
| JEL: | C23 D12 I32 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-07&r=agr |
| By: | Barungi, M.; Ng’ong’ola, D.H.; Edriss, A.; Mugisha, Joseph Y.T.; Waithaka, Michael M.; Tukahirwa, J. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125743&r=agr |
| By: | Serra, Teresa; Gil, Jose M. |
| Abstract: | This article studies the capacity of biofuels to reduce motor fuel price fluctuations. For this purpose, we study dependence between crude oil and biodiesel blend prices in Spain. Copula models are used for this purpose. Results suggest that the practice of blending biodiesel with diesel can protect consumers against extreme crude oil price increases. |
| Keywords: | biodiesel, crude oil, dependency analysis, copula models, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, c32, q11, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126056&r=agr |
| By: | Bogale, Ayalneh; Genene, Wubshet |
| Abstract: | The study seeks to analyze impact of livestock credit and simulate the effect of change in covariates of poverty on households’ consumption expenditure. Data was generated through in person interview of sampled rural households in the Ethiopian Productive Safety Net area. Descriptive statistics, poverty indices, multiple regression, and simulation techniques were applied. The results identified covariates with statistically significant coefficients. The specific contribution in increasing consumption expenditure and reduction in poverty indices as a result of marginal change in covariates was examined. These specific factors need to be considered in designing poverty reduction strategies depending on magnitude of their contribution. |
| Keywords: | FGT poverty indices, Household Expenditure, Productive Safety Net, Simulation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126157&r=agr |
| By: | Serra, Teresa |
| Abstract: | In this article, a review of the price transmission literature addressing volatility interactions between biofuel and food and fossil fuel markets is presented. The data used, the modeling techniques and the main findings of this literature are discussed. Future extensions of this flourishing research area are proposed and late developments introduced. |
| Keywords: | time series, biofuels, volatility, literature review, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, q11, c32, q42, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126057&r=agr |
| By: | Khor, Ling Yee; Zeller, Manfred |
| Abstract: | Household survey responses regarding levels of input use are sometimes affected by bias of which even the households themselves are not aware. Some examples include poor quality seed with a mixture of the fertile and infertile types, and pesticide content that has been substituted with less effective chemicals. We analyze in our paper the effect of low quality fertilizer, which contains less nitrogen than is advertised on the packaging. We show that this could lead to bias in the estimation of marginal effect and technical efficiency. Using panel data from the Hebei province of China, we calculate the magnitude of the bias across different levels of fertilizer quality. We find that the bias could be between -2% and -7% for marginal effect of fertilizer at mean input levels, and between 1% and 4% for technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Low quality fertilizer, Estimation bias, Production function, Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126212&r=agr |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impacts of prenatal conditions on child growth using recent data from Indonesia. There is seasonality in birthweight: This measure is significantly higher immediately after the main rice harvest in the country. The empirical results show that an increase in birthweight improves child growth outcomes as measured by the height and weight z-scores, as well as schooling performance as measured by age at start of schooling and number of grades repeated. The interactions of ecological variations affect early childhood human capital formation and can have long-term impacts on children’s outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126163&r=agr |
| By: | Aisabokhae, Ruth A.; Bizimana, Jean Claude; Pancharatnam, Padmaja |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125282&r=agr |
| By: | Duvaleix-Treguer, Sabine; Gaigne, Carl |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the impact of farm size on the production cost and evaluate the marginal costs and margins by taking into account that input prices may change with the scale of production. By using French data at the hog farm level, we estimate a system of equations including feed price equation, input demand functions, a output supply function based on a technology approximated by a combined generalized Leontief‐Quadratic form. Our results suggest the marginal costs are over‐estimated whether the endogeneity of feed prices is not controlled for. We show also that cost economies associated with output size are related to lower feed prices and not to a better use of labor. More specifically, cost economies for large farms (enjoying highest levels of profits) arise from feed prices and not by technological scale economies. In contrast,farms with no hired labor exhibit technological scale economies and reach higher pricecost margins than the larger farms. |
| Keywords: | Marginal cost, Farm size, Scale economies, Input prices, Price‐cost margins, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q12, D24, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:125261&r=agr |
| By: | Zhigang Li; Xiaohua Yu; Yinchu Zeng; Rainer Holst |
| Abstract: | Using unique survey data on agricultural traders in China in 2004, this study provides direct evidence on the significance of inter-regional trade barriers and their key components. Our major findings are as follows. (1) The trade barriers within China are fairly small, accounting for about 20 percent of trade value. (2) Transport-related costs and artificial barriers contribute about equally to the trade barriers. (3) Labor and government taxes are the two largest proportions of total transport costs, and account for 35% and 30%, respectively. (4) Road quality is crucial for reducing transport costs within China. Increasing transport speed by 1 km per hour would, mainly due to improved fuel-burning efficiency and reduced labor requirements, decrease total transport costs for Chinese agricultural traders by 0.6 percent. |
| Keywords: | Transport Costs, China, Agricultural Traders, Infrastructure |
| JEL: | E58 R21 R28 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:1209&r=agr |
| By: | Börner, Jan; Shively, Gerald; Wunder, Sven; Wyman, Miriam |
| Abstract: | Unanticipated events can cause considerable economic hardship for poor rural households. Some types of negative shocks, for example weather-related agricultural losses and vector-borne diseases, are expected to occur more frequently as a result of climate change. This paper measures the role of household- and location-specific characteristics in conditioning behavioral responses to idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. We use data from more than 8000 households in 25 developing countries, compiled in the global database of the Poverty Environment Network (PEN). We employ a hierarchical multinomial logit model to identify the importance of characteristics observed at different levels of aggregation on a set of responses to economic shocks. Results indicate that in response to idiosyncratic shocks, households tend to deplete financial and durable assets, whereas covariate shocks predominantly result in reduced consumption. Households in sites characterized by high asset wealth tend to respond to shocks more proactively than in sites with average or below average asset wealth; savings emerge as an important determinant of shock response behavior at the household level. We also find that a higher concentration of land ownership at the village level reduces the prevalence of natural resource-based coping strategies. Overall, rural households are less reliant on natural resource extraction for coping than expected from the case-study literature. Our findings have implications for rural development and climate change adaptation strategies. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, economic development, forest use, poverty, vulnerability, safety nets, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty, I3, O1, Q2, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126143&r=agr |
| By: | DiSegni, Dafna M.; Zvika, Neeman; Feder, Amity |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125278&r=agr |
| By: | Sekabira, Haruna; Bonabana, Jackline; Narathius, Asingwire |
| Abstract: | Use of ICTs by smallholder farmers in accessing agricultural market information |
| Keywords: | ICT adoption in markets, determinants and ICT components and small-holder farmers, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, G033, |
| Date: | 2012–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126112&r=agr |
| By: | Anania, Giovanni; Nistico, Rosanna |
| Abstract: | Price dispersion, i.e. a homogeneous product being sold at different prices by different sellers, is among the most replicated findings in empirical economics. The paper assesses the extent and determinants of spatial price dispersion for 14 perfectly homogeneous food products in more than 400 retailers in a market characterized by the persistence of a large number of relatively small traditional food stores, side by side large supermarkets. The extent of observed price dispersion is quite high, suggesting that monopolistic competition prevails as a result of the heterogeneity of consumers and services offered. When prices in an urban area (where the spatial concentration of sellers is much higher and consumer search costs significantly lower) are compared with those in smaller towns and rural areas, differences in search costs and the potentially higher degree of competition do not yield lower prices; quite the contrary, they are, on average, higher in the urban area for 11 of the 14 products considered. Supermarkets proved to be often, but not always, less expensive than traditional retailers, although average savings from food shopping at supermarkets were extremely low. Finally, the results of the study suggest that retailers have different pricing strategies; these differences emerge both at the firm level and for supermarkets within the same chain. The results presented in the paper suggest that what is important in explaining price dispersion is the contemporaneous heterogeneity of retailers (in terms of services) and consumers (in terms of search and shopping preferences), which makes it possible for a monopolistic competition structure of the market to emerge and for small traditional food retailers to remain in business. |
| Keywords: | price dispersion, retail pricing, food markets., Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, L81, D83, D43, Q13., |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125594&r=agr |
| By: | Alemu, Zerihun Gudeta |
| Abstract: | This paper has the objective of identifying dominant livelihood strategies in rural South Africa. It differs from previous studies done for South Africa in that it analyses a recent large household survey; classifies livelihood strategies into four broad and eight specific livelihood strategy groups and matches them with welfare strata of rural households; and analyzes socio-economic constraints poor households face to enter into high return livelihood strategies. Two approaches are applied to achieve these objectives -stochastic dominance test and multinomial logistic regression. It finds that households that generate income from wage employment in non-farm and farm activities are better off than other households. Analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of rural households also reveals that age, labour endowment, education, and community characteristics in terms of access to basic infrastructure are some of the barriers that poor households in rural areas face to enter into high-return livelihood strategies. |
| Keywords: | Rural areas, Livelihood strategies, stochastic dominance test, multinomial logistic regression, South Africa, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125411&r=agr |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Benfica, Rui M.S.; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | We use a gendered dynamic CGE model to assess the implications of biofuels expansion in a low-income, land-abundant setting. Mozambique is chosen as a representative case. We compare scenarios with different gender employment intensities in producing jatropha feedstock for biodiesel. Under all scenarios, biofuels investments accelerate GDP growth and reduce poverty. However, a stronger trade-off between biofuels and food availability emerges when female labor is used intensively, as women are drawn away from food production. A skills-shortage amongst female workers also limits poverty reduction. Policy simulations indicate that only modest improvements in women’s education and food crop yields are needed to address food security concerns and ensure broader-based benefits from biofuels investments. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, gender, growth, poverty, land abundance, Africa, Food Security and Poverty, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125395&r=agr |
| By: | Gebremedhin, Berhanu; Hoekstra, Dirk; Tegegne, Azage |
| Abstract: | The literature on commercial transformation of smallholders makes little distinction between market orientation and market participation. This paper analyzes the determinants of market orientation and market participation in Ethiopia separately and examines if market orientation translates into market participation. Results show that subsistence requirements, market access, and production factors affect market orientation, while market access and volume of production affect market participation. Results also show that market orientation translates strongly into market participation. The key implication of this study is that interventions aimed at promoting commercial transformation of subsistence agriculture should follow two-pronged approach: improving market orientation of smallholders at production level, and facilitation of market entry and participation of households in output markets. Focusing on either may not be as effective in achieving the transformation. Keywords: commercialization, smallholders, market orientation, market participation. |
| Keywords: | commercialization, smallholders, market orientation, market participation, Agribusiness, Marketing, C21, C24, Q12, Q13, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125847&r=agr |
| By: | Mensah, Edouard R.; Karantininis, Kostas; Adegbidi, Anselme; Okello, Julius Juma |
| Abstract: | Forming and using cooperatives as marketing channel is usually advised to African smallholder farmers for overcoming the constraint of market access. However, limited evidence of cooperative behavior in marketing has been observed. In this paper, we estimate a two-stage model of commitment to cooperatives by cashew nut farmers in Benin, West Africa. In the first stage, we use data on 109 non-members and 168 members and estimate a binary Logit model of farmer’s discrete choice with respect to committing to membership. In the second stage, we use the members’ data to estimate a Tobit model of the proportion of produce delivered to the cooperative, after controlling for the endogeneity of the proportion of presales. Empirical results reveal that the commitment to membership depends on the assessment of prices offered by the marketing channels, the farmer’s preferences for the specific attributes of the channels, the total farm size, and some psycho-sociological factors; the commitment to business depends on prices and transaction costs in the channels. Our findings call cooperatives for improving commitment by considering the subjective and economic reasoning of the farmers, and setting formal contracts between members and their organization. |
| Keywords: | Benin, contracts, cooperatives, market access, prices, transaction costs, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125946&r=agr |
| By: | Mosheim, Roberto; Ribaudo, Marc |
| Abstract: | The overuse of nitrogen fertilizer primarily by large scale agriculture has polluted streams and lakes, and, in turn, coastal waters around the world. One consequence is the contamination of drinking water sources relied on by millions of consumers. Nitrogen is toxic to human health. Clean Water Act regulations require that drinking water supplied by public utilities contain less than 10 ppm of nitrogen. Water utilities in regions with high nitrogen concentrations must install expensive treatment systems to meet the nitrogen limit. This necessity creates an externality from agricultural production. This poster seeks to estimate the cost to utilities of abating nitrogen coming from agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125276&r=agr |
| By: | Nazli, Hina; Orden, David; Sarker, Rakhal; Meilke, Karl D. |
| Abstract: | Among the four largest cotton-producing countries, only Pakistan had not commercially adopted Bt cotton by 2010. However, the cultivation of first-generation (Cry1Ac) Bt cotton, unapproved and unregulated, increased rapidly after 2005. Using the propensity score matching method, this paper examines the economic impact of the available Bt varieties on farmers’ wellbeing. The analysis is based on data collected through structured questionnaires in January-February 2009 from 206 growers in 16 villages in two cotton-growing districts, Bahawalpur and Mirpur Khas. The results indicate a positive impact of Bt cotton on the wellbeing of farmers in Pakistan. However, the extent of impact varies by agro-climatic conditions and size of farm. Bt cotton appeared most effective in the hot and humid areas where pest pressure from bollworms is high. The per-acre yield gains for medium and large farmers are higher than for small farmers. This suggests that additional public-sector interventions may be complementary to introduction of Bt cotton to make this technology widely beneficial in Pakistan. |
| Keywords: | Bt cotton, Pakistan, propensity score matching, selection bias, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, O3, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126172&r=agr |
| By: | Bastiaensen, Johan; Merlet, Pierre |
| Abstract: | A key issue in the context of increasing large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries is how poor populations can prevent their land rights being encroached upon by more powerful actors. To date, the majority of policy recommendations have been directed towards the legal recognition and formalization of land rights in order to safeguard local and historical land rights holders, as well as towards the design and implementation of ‘voluntary’ guidelines or codes of conduct which should regulate large-scale investments in land, in order to contribute to positive development outcomes. We argue, however, that these types of recommendations tend to depoliticize the debate surrounding access to land and natural resources. This paper therefore aims to reintroduce a political dimension into the analysis, by proposing a framework based on the socio-institutional definition of land rights consistent with the legal pluralist approach. It acknowledges a multiplicity of land rights and rights holders, governed by the existence of several superimposed normative orders and social fields. It also implies that state and non-state normative orders interact to determine land management practices and, as a result, also the actual ‘rules in use’ that are followed and enforced locally. We demonstrate the analytical potential of this theoretical framework using case studies from Ghana and Madagascar, two countries with different legal traditions and distinct levels of recognition of non-state tenure systems. Our tentative analysis reveals that what is fundamentally at stake are power relations and social struggles between actors in a variety of social fields. The key is therefore to strengthen the bargaining capacity of weaker actors within certain political arenas when it comes to land. Their capacity is not unrelated to the nature of formal national and international legal orders, since these co-shape and affect actors’ bargaining position, but we should not expect a one-way relationship between formal rules and the effective enforcement of the rights of the poor. Related issues that will also play a critical role in the analysis are broader discursive struggles regarding the concept of ‘idle land’; the role of small-scale family production versus large-scale entrepreneurial production in agricultural development; and the requirements of social and environmental sustainability. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:dpaper:2012002&r=agr |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha; Nidhi Kaicker; Katsushi Imai; Ganesh Thapa |
| Abstract: | In response to the Deaton and Dreze (2009) explanation of a downward shift in the calorie Engel curve in terms of lower requirements due to health improvements and lower activity levels in India, we develop an alternative explanation embedded in a standard demand theory framework, with food price and expenditure effects and shifting food and expenditure elasticities. The analysis is carried out with unit record data for three NSS rounds over the period 1993-2009: 50th, 61st and 66th. There are shifts in demands due to factors other than lower requirements. While an earlier analysis with the 50th and 61st rounds of the NSS over the period 1993-2004 (Gaiha et al., 2012) corroborated in part the Deaton-Dreze conjecture of lower requirements, the extended analysis for 1993-2009 reported here undermines this conjecture as time effects weaken over the more recent period (2004-2009). But there is also weakening of food price and expenditure elasticities over this period. Closer scrutiny of food preferences and taste for variety is necessary to understand better nutritional deprivation as also to design more effective policies to ameliorate it. |
| Keywords: | calories, protein, fat, food prices, expenditure, India |
| JEL: | C21 D12 I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-08&r=agr |
| By: | Ambec, Stefan; Langinier, Corinne; Marcoul, Philippe |
| Abstract: | We analyze the spatial distribution of genetically modified (GM) and organic crops. Because some organic crops will likely be contaminated by GM crops, not all of the non- GM crops can be sold as organic. Therefore, the choice of producing organic crops will depend on the surrounding crops. When producers follow individual strategies, many spatial configurations arise in equilibrium, some being more efficient than others. We examine how coordination among producers has an impact on the spatial distribution of crop varieties. We show that coordination among only a small number of producers can greatly improve efficiency. For instance, an organic producer who has two GM neighbors needs to coordinate only with one of them to reduce spatial externality and improve efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Genetically Modi.ed crops, externality, spatial localization, coordination, Crop Production/Industries, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, D62 (Externalities), L11 (Market Structure), |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:125232&r=agr |
| By: | Figiel, Szczepan; Hamulczuk, Mariusz |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the issue of price risk assessment in the agricultural commodity markets. Four the most frequently used approaches and related methods of measuring price risk in commodity markets were characterized and used to assess price risk in the wheat market in Poland. Results of the analysis showed that predictable and unpredictable components of the price series should be distinguished to properly evaluate real risk exposure. Some noticeable changes in the volatility of the wheat prices over the analyzed period indicate that exposure to the price risk in Polish wheat market after accession to the EU has increased. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, Risk and Uncertainty, C22, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126144&r=agr |
| By: | Raghav Gaiha; Nidhi Kaicker; Katsushi S. Imai; Ganesh Thapa |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:sespap:1213&r=agr |
| By: | Kleinwechter, Ulrich |
| Keywords: | food security, potatoes, partial equilibrium model, developing countries, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125735&r=agr |
| By: | Fadiga, Mohamadou L.; Okike, Iheanacho; Bett, Bernard |
| Abstract: | The risk of spread of HPAI in Nigeria was derived by using a compartmental model to outline endemic and burn-out scenarios. Two paths, low and high mortality risks, were associated to each of the scenarios. The estimated risk parameters were then used to stochastically simulate the trajectory of the disease; without intervention and with an intervention. The intervention costs the country US$ 41 million obtained through a World Bank IDA loan of US$ 50million yearly disbursed over the 2006-2010 period. The key output variables (net social welfare gain – with incremental net benefits as proxy, disease cost, and benefit cost ratio) were estimated for each randomly drawn risk parameter. On average, the results show that such an intervention would make economic sense under the endemic scenario with high mortality. The discounted costs (12% discount rate) of the disease without intervention would have amounted to US$ 145 million in total over the 2006-2010 period. The model indicates that the intervention could possibly have generated cost savings amounting to US$ 63.7 million, incremental net benefit of US$22.2 million, and a benefit cost ratio at 1.75 over the five-year period considered. |
| Keywords: | Avian Influenza, Risk, Expected Social Welfare, Disease Costs, Incremental Benefit, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125943&r=agr |
| By: | Joshi, Niraj Prakash; Maharjan, Keshav Lall; Piya, Luni |
| Abstract: | Poverty, being persistent and widespread, still remains core issue to be researched in Nepal. Moreover, there lacks study on dynamic aspects of poverty at the household level. Therefore, this study intends to capture the dynamics of poverty in poverty stricken Far-Western Rural Hill district of Baitadi based on panel data collected through field survey in 2001 and 2007. An empirical analysis is made by employing multinomial logit regression by dividing household into three categories; non-poor, transitory poor, and chronic poor. The results suggest that the incidence of poverty declined sharply between the study period, but is more favored in relatively well-off Village Development Committee (VDC), Patan. Similarly, excessively high proportion of Occupational Caste (OC) households are chronically poor, none of them were non-poor in both surveys. Moreover, the risk of them falling into chronic poverty is significantly higher. Also, female-headed household, and household with higher dependency ratio has significantly higher risk of falling into chronic poverty. However, landholding and irrigation coverage reduce the risk of households to fall into chronic poverty. Further, disaggregation of transitory poverty into move-into and move-out of poverty also shows higher risk of OC households to move-into poverty, mainly due to their limited socio-economic assets. In addition, the occurrence of natural disasters also increases the risk of households to move-into poverty. On the other hand, Increase in schooling years of household’s head and landholding help the household to move-out of poverty. Therefore, any poverty reduction program to deal with transitory as well as chronic poverty should focus relatively remote VDCs like Melauli. Similarly, OC households, whose major occupation is either agriculture or laboring, should be targeted. Poverty reduction programs should generate employment opportunities, which help to deal with both chronic as well as transitory poverty through a reduction in the dependency ratio. Similarly, introduction of temporary relief programs during occurrence of natural disasters will be very effective in dealing with transient poverty. |
| Keywords: | poverty, chronic poverty, Baitadi, socioeconomic, multinomial logit., Food Security and Poverty, I32, P46, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125785&r=agr |
| By: | Nabieyan, Sedigheh; Satrasala, Suryaprakash |
| Abstract: | After an inward-looking strategy during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), Iran has moved towards a more liberalized and open market structure. So this paper studied the effect of the process of economic globalization on agricultural sector of Iran. Sinha’s growth model was used to estimate the relationship between globalization factors and growth in agricultural sector. The stationarity of variables, Engle-Granger’s causal relationships and co-integration relationship between variables were determined. An error correction framework was applied to capture the short-run and the long-run dynamic in the growth model. Opened economy could be a cause of investing in agricultural sector, and agricultural investment could be cause of openness. No long-run equilibrium relationship observed between FDI and agricultural value addition and between FDI and agricultural investment. Openness would increase investment and growth in agricultural sector. Agricultural growth was observed to be based on labour than the investment in short-run, whereas in long-run it is mostly based on investment. |
| Keywords: | Engle-Granger’s causal relationships, Error correction model and Globalization, International Relations/Trade, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126192&r=agr |
| By: | Susan Randolph (University of Connecticut); Shareen Hertel (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Access to food is essential to human survival and the “right to food” is a fundamental human right whose fulfillment impinges on the realization of most other human rights. Yet the pervasiveness of human hunger worldwide starkly illustrates the ongoing failure to fulfill the "right to food." This chapter defines the right and analyzes its evolution in international human rights law. It then examines the extent to which commitments to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to food at the international and national levels are upheld in practice. The chapter finds that failure to fulfill the right to food in part reflects old challenges including the failure to integrate human rights law with the commitments, agendas, and laws governing international financial institutions, transnational corporations, trade agreements, and other aspects of the international economic governance architecture. Additionally, however, it reflects new challenges posed by climate change, increased meat consumption on the part of a growing global middle class, and the shift toward biofuel production. |
| Keywords: | Hunger, human rights |
| JEL: | H75 I3 K33 O19 O15 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:ecriwp:20&r=agr |
| By: | Lambert, Remy |
| Abstract: | The objective of this document is to provide non-economists the analytical tools to understand the economics of Canada's supply management programs. It begins with an overview of Canada's supply management programs and a discussion about their history. It then provides a review of basic economic concepts needed to understand how supply management policies affect the behavior of agents along supply chains. Interprovincial and international issues are discussed and differences between supply chains with and without supply management are analyzed. |
| Keywords: | supply management programs, agri-food supply chains, agricultural policy, Canada, Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:125246&r=agr |
| By: | Tubetov, Dulat; Maart, Syster Christin; Musshoff, Oliver |
| Abstract: | The agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan and Germany are at different development levels. One possible explanation for this might be the different investment behavior of farmers. We experimentally analyze whether the investment behavior of farmers is consistent with the normative benchmarks of the net present value criterion or the real options approach. Furthermore, we experimentally compare the investment behavior of farmers in the two countries in an agricultural and a non-agricultural treatment. In addition, farmers were confronted with the two treatments in a different order. Our results show that both theories cannot exactly predict the investment behavior of farmers. Farmers invest later than the net present value criterion suggests and earlier than the real options approach suggests. However, German farmers invest later than Kazakhstani farmers, which mean that the investment behavior of German farmers is closer to the superior real options approach. Therefore, the different investment behavior might partly be an explanation for different development levels of the agricultural sectors of the two countries. Moreover, results are independent from the framing of an agricultural and a non-agricultural treatment. However, farmers learn from their former investment decisions and consider the value of waiting over time. |
| Keywords: | Experimental Economics, Investment Timing, Real Options, Kazakhstan, Germany, Agricultural Finance, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, C91, D03, D81, D92, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125218&r=agr |
| By: | Sekabira, Haruna; Bonabana, Jackline; Asingwire, Narathius |
| Abstract: | ICT adoption in Market Information Seevices of Agricultural Markets. |
| Keywords: | ICT adoption in markets, determinants and ICT components and small-holder farmers, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, G033, |
| Date: | 2012–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126198&r=agr |
| By: | Erlend Berg; Sambit Bhattacharyya; Rajasekhar Durgam; Manjula Ramachandra |
| Abstract: | It has long been hypothesised that public works programmes, in addition to the welfare effect on those directly employed, can influence equilibrium wage rates. In this paper we test the impact of the Indian government’s major public works programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG), on agricultural wages. The rollout of NREG in three phases is used to identify difference-in-difference estimates of the programme effect. Using monthly wage data from the period 2000-2011 for a panel of 249 districts across 19 Indian states, we find that on average NREG boosts the real daily agricultural wage rates by 5.3 per cent. It takes 6 to 11 months for an NREG intensity shock to feed into higher wages. The wage effect appears to be gender neutral and biased towards unskilled labour. It is positive across different implementation stages and months. It remains significant even after controlling for rainfall; district and time fixed effects; and phase-wise linear, quadratic, and cubic time trends. The validity of our identification strategy is confirmed by placebo tests. We argue that since most of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and the poorest of the poor are agricultural wage labourers, rural public works constitute a potentially important anti-poverty policy tool. |
| Keywords: | Public works; Workfare; NREG; Agricultural wages |
| JEL: | O1 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2012-05&r=agr |
| By: | Kirsten, Johann F.; Vermeulen, Hester; Van Zyl, Karlien; Du Randt, Gerrie; Du Plessis, H.; Weissnar, Tessa |
| Abstract: | The difference between hypothetical and real values when evaluating consumers’ preferences (termed ‘hypothetical bias’) has received significant attention in scientific literature, as the outcome of this bias is often an overestimation of willingness to pay (WTP) values. This is the main focus of this paper as we unpack South African consumers’ perceptions and preferences for an origin based meat product through a set of different methodologies. These different approaches (sensory analysis, perception analysis, conjoint analysis, experimental auction and an in-store experiment) are all employed to illustrate the ‘hypothetical bias’ but also to establish beyond any doubt the market potential for a specific origin based meat product and also to test the consumers’ willingness to pay a premium, and the range of the premium obtained from different methodologies. This paper presents the results of a number of studies applying different methods related to the same product but with different groups of consumers in different locations. The different results suggest that there is sufficient evidence that suggest that the regional identity of the product is important. It is further also evident that the various willingness to pay estimates presented different results. It is however clear that the stated preference methods confirm the hypothesis that consumers recognise the reputation of the product and will be willing to pay premium. This conclusion is strengthened by the positive results from the stated preference methods (the experimental auction and in-store experiment). Together these results present a strong case for the marketing potential of origin based mutton / lamb which could sell at a price premium similar or slightly higher than comparable existing luxury and niche lamb brands on the South African market. |
| Keywords: | Meat of Origin, willingness to pay, consumer perceptions, experimental economics, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Agriucltural Marketing, Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125764&r=agr |
| By: | Huang, Delin |
| Abstract: | By establishing the database for and constructing the GTAP-E model of Reduction Potential and Control Policy for Chinese Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions, this paper simulates control policies and the reduction potential of Chinese Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The result is that with a 5% reduction China's GDP is reduced by 0.059%, social welfare is increased by 1.16 billion U.S. dollars, there is a 22.08% increase in the price of rice and a 2.9% increase in other crop prices. The price of cattle and sheep increases by 163.43%, the price of pigs and poultry by 0.57%, while other livestock prices fall by 0.98%. With a 5% reduction, the competitiveness of agricultural products in the international market will be reduced, and their export significantly reduced, but increased exports in other sectors result in China's net exports increasing by USD 4.55 billion. Tax levied on agricultural emissions will be USD 22.311 billion. |
| Keywords: | Chinese Agro-Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduction Potential, Control Policy., Environmental Economics and Policy, Q56, |
| Date: | 2012–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125693&r=agr |
| By: | Cerroni, Simone; Notaro, Sandra; Shaw, W. Douglass |
| Abstract: | Using a laboratory experiment, we investigate the validity of stated risks elicited via the Exchangeability Method (EM) using an evaluation method based on de Finetti’s notion of coherence, under which probability estimates are valid if and only if they obey all axioms of probability theory. The validity of risk estimates elicited through the EM has been theoretically questioned because the chained structure of the game is thought to potentially undermine the incentive compatibility of the elicitation mechanism even when real monetary incentives are provided. We investigate this by designing and implementing four experimental treatments. Respondents are divided in two initial treatment groups: in the first, they are provided with real monetary incentives, and in the second, subjects are not. Each group is further sub-divided in two treatment groups, in the first, the chained structure of the experimental design made quite clear to the subjects, while, in the second, the chained structure is hidden by resorting the elicitation questions. The superiority of real monetary incentives is not evident when people are presented with chained experimental design. |
| Keywords: | Risk elicitation, Exchangeability, Validity, Pesticide residue, Apples, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Risk and Uncertainty, C44, D81, I10, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:125468&r=agr |
| By: | Olssen, Alex (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Zhang, Wei (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry); Evison, David (New Zealand School of Forestry, University of Canterbury); Kerr, Suzi C. (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we construct a dataset of annual expected forest profits in New Zealand from 1990–2008 at a fine spatial resolution. We do not include land values in any of our profit calculations. We estimate four measures of expected forest profits based around net present value (NPV), land expectation value (LEV), equal annual equivalent (EAE), and internal rate of return (IRR). Our estimates of expected profits are based on the assumption that land owners form their expectations adaptively; that is, they use recent data on prices and costs to form expectations. We illustrate our data by showing regional variation in each of our measures, changes over time in NPV on land in forest in 2008, and variation in NPV over space in 2008. The final dataset, working datasets, and the code used in this work are publicly available to the research community and can be accessed from the authors’ website: http://www.motu.org.nz/building-capacity /dataset/u10073_forest_profit_expectatio ns_dataset. |
| Keywords: | Forestry; expected profits; expected investment returns; New Zealand; dataset |
| JEL: | Q5 Q15 Q23 Q24 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:12_07&r=agr |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | Ecosystems supply a wide variety of valued commodities, including ecological services. Valuing these commodities and determining the implications of their valuation for the optimal management of ecosystems is challenging. This paper considers the optimal spatial use of forest ecosystems given that they can be utilised for conserving wildlife species and for producing logs. It takes into account the alternatives of selective logging and heavy (less selective) logging. It considers whether it is optimal to partition the use of a forest so that a portion of it is used exclusively for wildlife conservation with the remainder being utilised for heavy logging (a dominant use strategy) or to combine wildlife conservation and selective logging in at least part of the forest (a multiple use strategy) with any remainder of the forest being available for heavy logging. The assumed objective is to maximise the profit from logging subject to the population of a focal forest wildlife species being sustained at a particular level, that is at a level at least equal to its minimum viable population. The optimal use strategy cannot be determined a priori but requires alternatives forgone to be assessed. While orangutans are used as an example, the model can be applied to other species. It can also be applied (as is shown) to other ecological services such as the quality of water flowing from forested areas. Although the model may appear at first sight to be quite particular, its application can be extended in several ways mentioned. It demonstrates that the optimal spatial patterns of ecosystem use require individual assessment. |
| Keywords: | ecosystem services, forests, orangutans, reduced impact logging, selective logging, spatial optimisation of ecosystem use, valuation of ecological services, wildlife conservation., Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:126230&r=agr |
| By: | Rahman, A. |
| Abstract: | This thesis analyses intrahousehold resource allocation issues related to nutrition and food distribution, nutrient demand, and child health and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh using relevant microeconometric methods and their application to household surveys. Using a measure of bargaining power — spouses’ assets at marriage — that is culturally relevant and (weakly) exogenous to household decision making process, I find strong evidence of intrahousehold bargaining on nutrient allocation and on distribution of food from relatively expensive sources. In this regard, a wife’s bargaining power positively affect the allocation of the adult females at the expense of that of adult males. The bargaining effects are significant even after controlling for unobserved household characteristics and potential health-nutrition-labour market linkages. Spouses’ preference and bargaining also tend to vary at different income levels. At the low income level, a wife prefers preschooler boys to preschoolers girls while the preschooler girls to preschooler boys at the middle income level in intrahousehold food distribution. Son-preference in intrahousehold food distribution is also guided by cultural norms and appears to be prominent in non-poor households as opposed to poor households in Bangladesh. Using a characteristic demand framework, I also find that individuals’ intakes of calorie, macronutrients, and a set of micronutrients are inelastic to implicit calorie price while the own and cross implicit price elasticities for a range of critical micronutrients are highly elastic to implicit micronutrient prices. Calorie intake appears to be highly inelastic for both poor and non-poor while both the macro and micronutrient intakes of the poor compared to that of the non-poor are more responsive to implicit macro and micronutrient prices. Finally, analysing the effect of household structure on child outcomes, I find that child education, but not health outcomes, to be substantially better in nuclear families than in extended families. These findings have important implications in terms of malnutrition, food policy, and human capital formation in a poor rural economy. |
| Date: | 2012–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1348139/&r=agr |
| By: | Schroeter, Christiane; Wolf, Marianne McGarry |
| Abstract: | About 21% of U.S. college students are overweight. However, aside from the 1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS), the prevalence of health-risk behavior among college students has not been well characterized. The objective of this study is to investigate how college student’s body fruit and vegetable intake is affected by (1) demographics, (2) dietary habits, and (3) lifestyle. We collected data of college students enrolled at California Polytechnic State University. Sedentary habits such as watching TV, playing computer games, and surfing the web negatively impact both fruit and vegetable intake, which emphasizes the need to improve on-campus health education. |
| Keywords: | Obesity, Health-risk behavior, Lifestyle, Sedentary activity, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, I1, D12, I19, I23, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125742&r=agr |
| By: | Tamini, Lota Dabio; Doyon, Maurice; Simon, Rodrigue |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the effects of different liberalization scenarios in the international trade of eggs and egg products. We use a dynamic gravity model that takes into account the observed persistence of trading partners. The estimated parameters of the gravity model serve to quantify the impact of various liberalization scenarios on the probability of importing (extensive margin) and on trade volumes (intensive margin). The results indicate that even in the context of aggressive trade liberalization, trade gains at the extensive margin will be modest. Gains at the intensive margin of trade are present even in the context of partial liberalization - Doha type - of trade. |
| Keywords: | Eggs and eggs products, persistence in trade, trade liberalization, gravity model, random-effects dynamic probit, autoregressive panel, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q17, F13, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:125286&r=agr |
| By: | V. Kerry Smith; Carlos Valcarcel Wolloh |
| Abstract: | On the fortieth anniversary of the Clean Water Act this paper reports the first quantitative assessment of the aggregate trends in water quality in the U.S. using a single standard over the years 1975 to 2011. The analysis suggests that fresh water lakes for the nation as a whole are about at the same quality levels as they were in 1975. In short, viewed in the aggregate, nothing has changed. An assessment of the factors influencing the aggregates also suggests that water quality appears to be affected by the business cycle. This result calls into question the simple descriptions of the change in environmental quality with economic growth that are associated with the Environmental Kuznets Curve. |
| JEL: | Q50 Q53 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18192&r=agr |
| By: | Gonzalo Edwards; Oscar Cristi; Carlos Díaz |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes institutional arrangements that impose barriers to voluntary water transfers in the Loa basin, in northern Chile, and their impact on water prices in the market. We focus on restrictions imposed by the Chilean Water Authority (Dirección General de Aguas: DGA). These affect changes in water-diversion location and changes in the nature or type of water use. We hypothesize that these restrictions help explain why mining companies instead of acquiring additional water rights in the market prefer desalination, in spite of the high relative prices. With data for the Antofagasta Region, in Northern Chile, we provide evidence to support this hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Desalination, water markets, water rights, water regulation |
| JEL: | Q13 Q15 Q25 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:421&r=agr |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Vardges; Gould, Brian W. |
| Abstract: | The article tests for structural food preference change in urban China using province-level panel data from 2002 to 2010. We employ the Generalized Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System to represent consumer preferences and estimate demand for seven food groups in a dynamic setting. This relaxes many of the restrictions on the demand models used in the literature on structural preference change. Our findings suggest that Chinese food preferences are continuing to evolve. |
| Keywords: | Food preference, structural change, dynamic GQAIDS model, food demand in China., Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, D12, |
| Date: | 2012–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125978&r=agr |
| By: | Lu, Liang; Elbakidze, Levan |
| Abstract: | In this study, we formulate a stochastic dynamic framework for pest control over the growing season taking into account forecasts of weather conditions and pest infestation expectations. Using stochastic envelope theorem and stochastic comparative dynamics, we analytically show how the stochastic correlation between the prediction errors should affect optimal pesticide usage path. As a case study, we apply the analytical results of the paper for pesticide use in the Palouse region of Washington where pea aphid is the primary threat for lentil production. By stochastic dynamic programming, our simulation shows the optimal dimethoate usage path, which illustrates our findings in the analytical part. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic Optimal Control, Climate Change, Pest Management, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Q10, Q54, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125226&r=agr |
| By: | Raghbendra Jha; Woojin Kang; Hari K. Nagarajan; Kailash C. Pradhan |
| Abstract: | Using Vulnerability as Expected Utility (VEU) analysis that permits the decomposition of household vulnerability into its components on a unique data set this paper demonstrates that in rural India household vulnerability is most explained by poverty and idiosyncratic components. So far as risk coping strategies go households rely heavily on informal instruments such as their own saving, transfers or capital depletion. However, they also try to cope with covariate risks by participating in government programmes. Further, household consumption is highly covariate with income. This implies that existing informal insurance instruments are not sufficient to protect household consumption against income shocks. Government sponsored coping strategies reduce the idiosyncratic and risk component of vulnerability. Hence, an important policy implication of our analysis is that the government should provide readily accessible and well targeted public safety nets. The existing informal strategy is not very effective as a consumption insurance mechanism. Although the government coping programme is found to reduce vulnerability access to such programmes is constrained. Expansion of government sponsored coping programmes is likely to protect households effectively from negative shocks. |
| Keywords: | Vulnerability, Poverty, Covariate and Idiosyncratic shocks, REDS data, India |
| JEL: | C23 C25 C31 I32 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:asarcc:2012-05&r=agr |
| By: | Kabata, Tshepelayi |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:125936&r=agr |
| By: | Teuber, Ramona; Herrmann, Roland |
| Abstract: | Origin matters. This has been shown by numerous studies using either discrete choice or hedonic approaches to derive implicit prices for origin as a product attribute. In most of the hedonic studies, intercept dummies were introduced for specific regional origins and statistically significant coefficients of those variables were seen as an indication of either a superior or inferior reputation compared to products from other origins. We argue that hedonic pricing models of this type may be too simple to detect the true origin effects if assessments of a product’s sensory quality are available and interact with prior beliefs on reputation. Based on a supply-and-demand framework to explain auction prices, a reduced-form hedonic pricing model is suggested that includes intercept- as well as slope-dummy effects of the regional origin. As reputation and the objective product quality are particularly important on markets of differentiated, high-quality foods and beverages we analyze auction markets of specialty coffees. The findings for the Cup-of-Excellence data reveal that it is important to distinguish reputation, sensory quality and their interaction as determinants of coffee auction prices as well as varying origin impacts across market segments. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic Models, Specialty Coffee, Origin Effects, Reputation, Sensory Quality, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q11, Q13, Q17, D44, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126235&r=agr |
| By: | Reyes, Alvaro; Lensink, Robert; Kuyvenhoven, Arie; Moll, Henk |
| Abstract: | Using panel data from a survey conducted in 2006 and 2008 of 177 market-oriented farmers in central Chile, we investigate investment under imperfect capital markets. Specifically we determine the impact of formal credit constraints on fixed investment. By controlling for endogeneity problems, we find credit constraints to have a significant negative impact on fixed investment. In addition, a time trend is significant, which we understand as evidence of the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007. |
| Keywords: | Investment, credit constraint, medium-scale farmers, Chile, Agricultural Finance, Financial Economics, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126218&r=agr |
| By: | Mattos, Fabio |
| Abstract: | The disposition effect is one of the most common types of behavior documented in inancial markets, and reflects the notion that investors tend to hold losing positions too long and close winning positions too fast. This idea can also be applied to grain marketing. The disposition effect would be related to whether producers sell their grain more readily when prices are “high” and wait longer when prices are “low”. This question is relevant because this type of behavior can affect marketing performance. If grain is sold too early, producers can miss opportunities to sell at higher price later. If producers hold their grain too long, price can go down and they will end up selling at a lower prices. Examination of pricing strategies of 15,564 wheat producers between 2003/04 and 2008/09 shows evidence of disposition effect in their marketing decisions. They seem to be eager to sell when the price offered by marketing contracts is above their reference price, and wait longer to sell when the price offered by marketing contracts is below their reference price. |
| Keywords: | grain marketing, disposition effect, wheat, Financial Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, D0, D8, Q13, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:spaawp:125279&r=agr |
| By: | Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr; Glauben, Thomas; Teuber, Ramona; Grings, Michael |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is, based on the existing literature, to provide a general systematic characteristic of market structure models. We distinguish cost, production, profit, revenue functions, as well as the general identification approach as most plausible methods to measure the degree of market power. Using time-series data of the Ukrainian milk processing industry, as an example, we utilized the production approach to estimate the exercise of oligopsony power, test functional forms and verify estimation methods. The results of two-equation models did not produce any evidence suggesting the exercise of market power, whereas, the three-equation models revealed the presence of oligopsony. |
| Keywords: | New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO), Oligopsony power, Ukraine, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, L13, P23, R15, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:126203&r=agr |