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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2013‒04‒20
37 papers chosen by |
| By: | Colson, Gregory; Ramirez, Octavio A.; Fu, Shengfei |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ugeofs:146993&r=agr |
| By: | Kelly, Valerie A.; Murekezi, Abdoul Karim; Me-Nsope, Nathalie Mongue; Perakis, Sonja Melissa; Mather, David |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the role that cereal markets have played in stimulating farm-level productivity growth and marketing of staple foods, in responding to changing demand patterns, in satisfying minimum food security needs, and in contributing to poverty reduction in both urban areas (through reductions in food prices) and rural areas (through increases in farm incomes). The paper uses a case study approach based on the Malian experience. Mali presents a particularly good case study of cereal market development because of (1) a unique approach to donor and government coordination during the early stages of market liberalization, (2) the contrasting development paths of the irrigated rice and the rainfed coarse grains subsectors, (3) Mali’s growing role in West Africa’s regional cereal trade, and (4) on-going policy debates that are relevant to the entire region. These policy debates include questions such as (1) how to balance consumer and producer interests via trade, tax, and safety net policies, (2) how to shape land policies that encourage a mix of family and commercial farms capable of meeting both national food production goals and poverty reduction objectives, and (3) how to provide incentives that reduce rural poverty by assisting resource poor farmers while also stimulating greater productivity among better-off farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:146935&r=agr |
| By: | Smale, Melinda; Mason, Nicole M. |
| Abstract: | The successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia is a major achievement in African agriculture. Since independence in 1964, and most notably from the 1970s, the commitment of the Government of Zambia (GoZ) to ensuring food security through the involvement of smallholder farmers was an important aspect of this process. Most recently, the commitment of the GoZ has entailed the re-introduction of input subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:146929&r=agr |
| By: | Jacoby, Hanan G. |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the welfare and distributional consequences of higher relative food prices in rural India through the lens of a specific-factors, general equilibrium, trade model applied at the district level. The evidence shows that nominal wages for manual labor both within and outside agriculture respond elastically to increases in producer prices; that is, wages rose faster in rural districts growing more of those crops with large price run-ups over 2004-09. Accounting for such wage gains, the analysis finds that rural households across the income spectrum benefit from higher agricultural commodity prices. Indeed, rural wage adjustment appears to play a much greater role in protecting the welfare of the poor than the Public Distribution System, India's giant food-rationing scheme. Moreover, policies, like agricultural export bans, which insulate producers (as well as consumers) from international price increases, are particularly harmful to the poor of rural India. Conventional welfare analyses that assume fixed wages and focus on households'net sales position lead to radically different conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,Agribusiness,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6412&r=agr |
| By: | Kojin, Emi |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to explore the entities that have developed private farms (trang trai) in Vietnam. Various types of private farms have emerged in the last ten years. It is noteworthy that the owners of private farms are not necessarily agricultural households but also include government officials and the urban rich. Based on data collected from the author’s field surveys in Vietnam from 2006 to 2011, the paper attempts to categorize patterns in the development of private farms and analyze their differences. The paper argues that private farms developed by agricultural households are still limited because of the difficulty of consolidating land. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, Land tenure, Agriculture, Private farm, Trang trai, Business history, Agricultural household, Land market |
| JEL: | O13 Q12 Q15 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper408&r=agr |
| By: | Deschamps-Laporte, Jean-Philippe (Department of Business, Economics, Statistics and Informatics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of the adoption of technological packages in agriculture Kenya on the farming households, as promoted by the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme (NALEP), a program run by the Government of Kenya. To this end, we collected data on beneficiaries through a survey of 1000 households in the district of Lugari, in Western Kenya. We use propensity score matching to compute the average treatment effect on the treated. We find evidence that: I) program beneficiaries picked up a set of practices and technologies; II) treated households increased their fertilizer dosage by at least 24.91%; III) treated households were more likely to use improved water harvesting techniques; IV) in terms of production, treated household appear to have followed the promoted practices of crop rotation, yet productivity per acre is not affected by the treatment; V) treated households also improved post-harvesting handling and marketing. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Extension; Kenya; Propensity Score Matching; Maize; Fertilizer; Water Harvesting; Productivity |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q16 |
| Date: | 2013–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2013_005&r=agr |
| By: | K N Ninan (Institute for Social and Economic change); Satyasiba Bedamatta |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture covering a cross section of crops, seasons and regions based on existing literature. The study notes that the impact of climate change will vary across crops, regions and climate change scenarios. The evidences indicate a decrease in production of crops in different parts of India with an increase in temperature. A number of studies indicate a probability of 10 % to 40% loss in crop production in India with increases in temperature by 2080-2100.In areas located above 27° N latitude yields of irrigated and rainfed wheat are projected to rise in response to climate change whereas in all other locations yields are projected to decline by -2.3% to -23.9 %. Temperature rises of between 2° C to 3.5 ° C is projected to lead to a loss of 3-26 % in net agricultural revenues. Increasing climate sensitivity of Indian agriculture will lead to greater instability of India’s food production which will also impact on poverty and livelihoods. How quickly Indian farmers are able to adjust their farming practices to adapt to climate change, and what policies or technologies will enable rapid adaptation to climate change are issues that merit attention. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Impact, Agriculture, India |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sch:wpaper:277&r=agr |
| By: | Arslan, Aslihan; McCarthy, Nancy; Lipper, Leslie; Asfaw, Solomon; Cattaneo, Andrea |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to literature on agricultural technology adoption by using a novel data set that combines data from two large-scale household surveys with historical rainfall data to understand the determinants and the intensity of adoption of Conservation Farming (CF)practices in Zambia. Conservation agriculture (CA), defined as practicing minimum soil disturbance, cover crops and crop rotation, has the technical potential to contribute to food security and adaptation to climate change. It has been actively promoted in seven of Zambia’s nine provinces since the 1980s in the form of CF including planting basins and dry season land preparation in addition to the 3 CA practices. Rigorous analyses of the determinants of adoption/dis-adoption of these practices, however, are still scarce. This paper fills this gap using panel data from two rounds of the Supplemental Survey to the Central Statistical Office’s 1999/2000 Post Harvest Surveys, which were implemented in 2004 and 2008, as well as (district level) historical rainfall estimate (RFE) data obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (NOAA-CPC) for the period of 1996-2011. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:147461&r=agr |
| By: | Chernoff, Alex W. |
| Keywords: | Canada, dairy, quota, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:catptp:146977&r=agr |
| By: | Hoppe, Robert A.; MacDonald, James M. |
| Abstract: | The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) farm typology was originally developed to classify farms into relatively homogeneous groups based on their gross farm sales, the primary occupation of their operators, and whether the farms are family farms. Nearly 15 years have passed since ERS first released its farm typology; in this report, we update it to reflect commodity price inflation and the shift of production to larger farms. We also make a technical change, switching the measure of farm size from gross farm sales to gross cash farm income (GCFI), the total revenue received by a farm business in a given year. After the price adjustment, small farms are defined as those with GCFI less than $350,000, up from the original $250,000 cutoff. To adjust for the upward shift in production, two groups are added to the typology for farms with GCFI of $1 million or more, and a midsize group is added for farms with GCFI between $350,000 and $999,999. |
| Keywords: | classifying farms, family farms, farm businesses, farm operators, farm operator household income, farm size, farm structure, farm typology, large farms, large-scale farms, midsize farms, million-dollar farms, small farms, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:147120&r=agr |
| By: | Kelly, Valerie A.; Mather, David |
| Abstract: | Many African governments responded to the dramatic increases in international and domestic grain prices of 2008 and 2009 through a mixture of trade policy changes and input/output market subsidies. In the case of Mali, the Government put in place a rice promotion program at the beginning of the 2008/09 production season. The program, called Initiative Riz (IR or Rice Initiative), made subsidized fertilizer available to rice producers nationwide with a particular focus on farmers in the Office du Niger, where roughly 50% of Mali’s rice is produced. The goal of the program was to increase domestic rice production by 50% over the 2007/08 level, thereby increasing marketable surpluses and putting downward pressure on cereal prices. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:146941&r=agr |
| By: | Mason, Nicole M.; Jayne, Thomas S.; Shiferaw, Bekele A. |
| Abstract: | Wheat consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is increasing rapidly, faster than any other major food grain. Between 2000 and 2009, per capita wheat consumption in SSA increased at a rate of 0.35 kilogram (kg)/year, outpacing maize and rice. Total wheat consumption increased by nearly 650,000 Metric tons (MT)/year. Staple grain consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa is rising at the same time that the region is becoming more dependent on imported staples. Wheat consumed in SSA is increasingly coming from imports from non-SSA countries as wheat production in SSA has failed to keep up with growing demand. Africa’s growing reliance on imported staples including wheat received a great deal of attention in the 1980s and 1990s, yet there has been relatively little research on this issue in recent years. This paper takes stock of trends in wheat consumption and net imports in SSA since 1980, and identifies the drivers of growing demand for wheat at country-level in SSA. It also discusses the potential dilemmas posed by SSA’s increasing reliance on imported staples, and examines the pros and cons of various options for African countries to meet their staple grain needs. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:146936&r=agr |
| By: | Mofya-Mukuka, Rhoda; Kabwe, Stephen; Kuteya, Auckland N.; Mason, Nicole M. |
| Abstract: | The Farmer Input Support Program (FISP, formerly the Fertilizer Support Program) has expanded the scale of its fertilizer distribution from 48,000 metric tons (MT) in 2002/03, when the program started, to nearly 183,000 MT in the 2012/2013 farming season. Yet, after more than a decade of input subsidies, rural poverty rates have remained persistently high at around 80%. Poor targeting of FISP inputs may partially explain the lack of progress on addressing persistently high rural poverty levels over the last decade. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:146939&r=agr |
| By: | Chen, Songjiao; Wilson, William W.; Larsen, Ryan A.; Dahl, Bruce L. |
| Abstract: | There has been massive investment in agricultural assets including farmland, handling and trading, technology, fertilizer, and others. Studies about investing in farmlands have been extensive, but have limited focus on investing IN non-farmland agricultural assets. This paper analyzes the role of farmland and other agricultural investments in class-specific portfolios. We use the Copula-VaR and Copula-VaR with restrictions methods to find, compare, and contrast the optimal portfolio compositions among US farmlands, classified agricultural equities, and grain futures. The results illustrate that farmland is attractive as an investment. However, as risk tolerance is increased, a shift to other agricultural assets would potentially bring higher returns. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:147053&r=agr |
| By: | Olivia Koland; Martin Schönhart; Erwin Schmid |
| Abstract: | TTRIOPOL studies the role of domestic bioenergy potentials for agriculture, the wider economy and international trade for Austria. In particular, agricultural biomass pro-duction can contribute to significant shares of energy provision in Austria. A detailed scenario is developed to explore the opportunities and challenges of enhanced domestic biomass production based on short rotation forestry (SRF) for heat supply which is currently among the most competitive technologies. To that end, TRIOPOL establishes a model linkage between a sectoral supply-model for Austrian agriculture and a national small open economy general equilibrium model. Model results show that a biomass premium of 65 € per ton dry matter is required to support 250,000 ha of SRF on cropland in Austria by 2020. The thus provided bioheat covers some 33 petajoule (PJ) heat energy demand in Austria; taking into account the likely rising of energy prices by 2020, this number rises to 47 PJ. Substantial land use changes may also be compensated by increases in land use intensity and as well as changes in imports and exports. Scenario results suggest that domestic food production of non-meat commodities falls by 1.3%. The sector meat products profits from the high competitiveness of Austrian livestock production and responds by a slight increase in net exports. The results of the quantitative analysis shall support the scientific and political debate on securing food and energy supply as well as economic development goals. |
| Keywords: | Bioenergie, Landwirtschaft, Nahrungsmittelproduktion, Landnutzung, Wärmebereitstellung, Außenhandel, Modellstudie, Modellkopplung |
| JEL: | C63 C68 E20 F10 Q18 Q21 Q42 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsr:ecbook:2013:i:iv-004&r=agr |
| By: | Fung Kwan (Department of Economics, University of Macau); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia); Shuaihe Zhuo (Department of Economics, University of Macau) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the pool of studies of rural underemployment in China. It is devoted to the conceptualization and measurement of surplus labour. The agricultural labour requirement function is estimated by the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) with China’s prefecture-level data. Surplus labour or inefficient labour is obtained by subtracting the required labour from the actual labour participated in agriculture. Our analysis indicates that the existing size of agricultural surplus labour in rural China is still significantly large with the continued practice of the household registration system and China’s WTO membership. However, the size has been decreasing over the last decade. We thus conclude that China is probably experiencing the second stage of the Lewis-Fei-Ranis dualistic economic framework. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:12-25&r=agr |
| By: | Barham, Jim; Tropp, Debra; Dimitri, Carolyn |
| Abstract: | This is a PDF of a Powerpoint presentation. |
| Keywords: | food hub, local food, Agribusiness, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uamstt:147447&r=agr |
| By: | Mathenge, Mary K.; Smale, Melinda; Olwande, John |
| Abstract: | The development and diffusion of hybrid maize seed in Kenya is a widely documented success story. Yet, to our knowledge, a missing link in existing research on maize hybrids in Kenya has been a rigorous analysis of the impacts of seed adoption on farmer welfare. The objective of this study is to initiate that research, using econometric methods applied to a balanced panel of 1,243 maize-growing households surveyed in 2000, 2004, 2007, and 2010. Data were collected by Tegemeo Institute of Egerton University in collaboration with Michigan State University. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:146931&r=agr |
| By: | Ruiqing Miao; David A. Hennessy (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)); Hongli Feng |
| Abstract: | There have long been concerns that federal crop insurance subsidies may significantly impact land use decisions. It is well known that classical insurance market information asymmetry problems can lead to a social excess of risky land entering crop production. We provide a conceptual model to show that the problem will arise absent any information failures. This is because the subsidy is (a) proportional to acres planted, and (b) greatest for the most production risky land. Using field-level yield data, we follow this observation through to establish the implications of subsidies for the extent of crop production, with particular emphasis on the US Prairie Pothole Region, where cropland growth is likely to have marked adverse environmental impacts. Simulation results show that up to 3% of land under federal crop insurance would have not been converted from grassland if there had been no crop insurance subsidies. Sodsaver, a provision that eliminates crop insurance and Supplemental Revenue Assistance payments in the first five years of crop production on new breakings, will reduce grassland conversion by 4.9% or less. |
| Keywords: | crop insurance, copula, grassland, land use, Sodsaver, Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments JEL Code: Q15, Q18, Q24. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:12-wp530&r=agr |
| By: | Me-Nsope, Nathalie Mongue; Staatz, John M. |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to provide evidence of shifts in food consumption patterns in the ECOWAS countries of West Africa from 1980 through 2009.1 In particular, the analysis is intended to identify major contributors to diets, changes in the levels as well as in the composition of food supply at the country-level, and to enhance understanding of the food supply situation within the ECOWAS zone using national-level FAOSTAT food balance sheet data from 1980-2009. The paper provides detailed displays of per capita food availability for each of the 15 countries, which will serve as the basis for more detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis in subsequent reports. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:146942&r=agr |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Khan, Hidayat Ullah |
| Abstract: | Based on a three-year panel dataset of households collected in rural Pakistan, we first quantify the extent to which farmers are vulnerable to attacks by wild boars; we then examine the impact of an intervention on households’ capacity to reduce related income losses. A local nongovernmental organization implemented the intervention as a randomized controlled trial at the beginning of the second survey year.This experimental design enabled us to cleanly identify the impact of the intervention. We find that the intervention was highly effective in eliminating the crop-income loss of treated households in the second year, but that effects were not discernible in the third year. The finding from the third year could be due to the high implicit cost incurred by the households in implementing the treatment. Regarding the impact of the intervention on a number of consumption measures, the difference-in-difference estimate for the impact on consumption was insignificant in the second year, but highly positive in the third year when estimated without other controls. A part of this consumption increase was because of changes in remittance inflows. The overall results indicate the possibility that treatment in the absence of subsidies was costly for households due to hidden costs, and hence, the income gain owing to the initial treatment was transient. |
| Keywords: | wild animal attack, agriculture, consumption, randomized controlled trial, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O13 O15 Q12 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:37&r=agr |
| By: | Couturier, Anna; Thaimai, Kannika |
| Abstract: | Environmentalism has become a central concern for European Union (EU) policy makers and citizens alike as the extent of the bio-crisis has become better understood. Projects aimed at reducing the environmental costs of European living, industry, and commerce have grown in number and scope in the last twenty years. Strategies for reform have focused on the ways in which established market forces can be mobilised to create change within European systems of production and consumption. For food products, the EU has undertaken two innovative projects focused on reforming both consumers and producers: the EU Ecolabel and the EU Organic logo. Similar in design yet unique in function, these product-labelling endeavours instrumentalise the normative philosophy of ecological modernisation in the hopes that incentive-based, incremental transformation in the processes of production and consumption can adequately address the challenges of environmental degradation. We find that while some opportunities for reform of the nature of the EU food market is made possible through the EU labelling schemes, the projects have limited impact on the overall food production and consumption practices and, therefore, are not able to institute substantial and much needed ecological reform. -- |
| Keywords: | Ecological Modernisation,Consumer Society,Sustainable Consumption,Bio-crisis,EU Ecolabel,EU Organic logo |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:202013&r=agr |
| By: | Ronette R. Briefel; er Wilson; Charlotte Cabili; Allison Hedley Dodd |
| Abstract: | This study estimated the mean calories from added sugars saved by switching sugar-sweetened beverages (including soda, fruit-flavored drinks, and sport drinks) and flavored milks consumed to unflavored low-fat milk (less than 1 percent fat) at meals and water between meals. These changes, which were simulated to demonstrate the potential effects of improving school nutrition policies, translated to a mean of 205 calories or a 10 percent savings in energy intake across all students (8 percent among children in elementary school and 11 percent in middle and high schools). |
| Keywords: | Child Obesity, Sweetened beverages, Added Sugars, School Nutrition Policy; Home food environment |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2013–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7712&r=agr |
| By: | Aubert, M.; Bouhsina, Z.; Codron, J.M.; Rousset, S. |
| Abstract: | Fresh produce pesticide safety risk has grown into a major concern of North European consumers and governments for the last twenty years. Our study expands on safety control issues and gives insights into how fresh vegetable chains organize to comply with retail private safety standards and thus get access to export and modern domestic markets. Most studies on the adoption of good agricultural practice certifications and integrated pest management overlook the influence of food chain organization. Building on Transaction Cost Economics, our paper aims to fill this gap by studying the influence of vertical linkages, more precisely the incentives and managerial procedures crafted by packing stations in order to control farmers'behavior and manage the pesticide safety risk. Two surveys have been conducted to that purpose in the Moroccan SoussMassa-Drâa region. Our first survey of thirty tomato packers provides only mixed results about our first hypothesis: that the more the supply chain is integrated (from contracted growers to full ownership) the more the control of pesticide safety risk is achieved through direct supervision rather than outcome-based incentives. Our second survey of 86 producers confirms that integrated chains are more efficient in safeguarding specific investments in safety management, which results in greater diffusion of biocontrol and good agricultural practice certification within the greenhouses that are owned by private packers rather than independent farmers. ....French Abstract : La sécurité sanitaire pour les fruits et légumes frais est depuis une vingtaine d’années une préoccupation majeure pour les consommateurs et les gouvernements, notamment ceux du Nord de l’Europe. Notre étude s’intéresse au contrôle de la sécurité sanitaire pour les filières de légumes frais. Elle précise notamment comment s’organisent ces filières pour se conformer aux standards privés de la grande distribution et ainsi pouvoir accéder aux marchés d’exportation et aux marchés nationaux dits modernes. La plupart des travaux traitant de l’adoption de référentiels certifiés de bonnes pratiques agricoles ou de techniques de protection intégrée ne prennent pas en compte l’organisation de la filière et les interactions entre les acteurs de cette filière. Pour pallier ce manque, l’article analyse l’influence des relations verticales en se basant sur la Théorie des Coûts de Transaction. Plus précisément, on considère les incitations et les procédures de gestion mises en œuvre par les stations de conditionnement pour contrôler les producteurs et gérer le risque lié aux pesticides. Deux enquêtes ont été réalisées dans la région du Souss-Massa-Drâa au Maroc. La première considère trente stations spécialisées en tomate. Elle fournit des résultats contrastés quant à l’hypothèse selon laquelle, plus la filière est intégrée et plus le contrôle est réalisé à travers une supervision directe, et moins à travers la mise en œuvre d’un système incitatif. La seconde enquête considère 86 producteurs. Elle confirme que les filières les plus intégrées sont les plus efficaces en termes de protection des investissements spécifiques dans la production raisonnée. L’adoption de la lutte biologique et des référentiels de bonnes pratiques agricoles est ainsi plus importante lorsque les serres sont détenues par des stations privées, plutôt que par des producteurs indépendants des stations. |
| Keywords: | FOOD SAFETY; PESTICIDE; INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT; IPM; GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES; GAP; TRANSACTION COSTS; VERTICAL ORGANIZATION; FRESH VEGETABLES |
| JEL: | D23 Q13 Q16 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201304&r=agr |
| By: | Wada, Kazuya |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of changes in non-agricultural sectors in India on investments in children's education. By using data from the Census of India (1981, 1991, and 2001) and the India Human Development Survey 2005 (IHDS), this study seeks to capture changes in Indian economic situation for the two decades between 1981 and 2001 and examine the effects of those changes on children's educational attainments in 2005. The results of empirical analysis suggest that changes in the first and second decades have different characteristics in terms of expansion among the non-agricultural sectors. In addition, estimation results imply that the expansion of non-agricultural sectors in the 1990s have had positive effects on investments in girls' education, leading to the alleviation of gender disparity in education. However, it should be noted that such expansion may aggravate income inequality in the future because it adversely affects children from poor households. |
| Keywords: | Non-agricultural Sectors, Investments in Children’s Education, Disparity |
| JEL: | O15 I25 J16 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:36&r=agr |
| By: | Adam Rabinowitz (University of Connecticut); Jiff Martins (University of Connecticut) |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zwi:outrep:12&r=agr |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comparative analysis of asset dynamics among low-income farmers facing various types of income shocks in pre- and post-independence Pakistan. Focusing on the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as North-West Frontier Province: NWFP), Pakistan, we first investigate the long-run data at the district level beginning from 1902. The results show that agriculture in colonial NWFP was subject to substantial shocks due to natural disasters such as droughts, hailstorms, and floods. The livestock population, the major asset of farmers, substantially declined in response to these shocks. In the post-independence period, vulnerability of crop agriculture to natural disasters continued, although less substantial, while the response of livestock to such shocks was indiscernible in district-level data. To examine microeconomic mechanisms underlying the asset dynamics, we analyze a panel dataset collected from about 300 households in three villages in NWFP du ring the late 1990s. The results show that the dynamics of household landholding and livestock is associated with a single long-run equilibrium. When human capital is added, the dynamics curve changes its shape but not non-linear enough to produce statistically-significant multiple equilibriums. Livestock was depleted widely when the village economy was hit by macroeconomic stagnation, while landholding was depleted only in a village with inferior access to markets. The asset dynamics patterns found from historical and contemporary analyses are consistent with limited but improving access to consumption smoothing measures in the study region over a century. |
| Keywords: | natural disaster, agriculture, livestock, consumption smoothing, Pakistan |
| JEL: | O13 O44 N55 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:39&r=agr |
| By: | Kragt, Marit Ellen; Llewellyn, Rick S. |
| Abstract: | The potential for computer-based decision support tools (DSTs) to better inform farm management decisions is well-recognised. However, despite considerable investment in a wide range of tools, the uptake by advisers and farmers remains low. Greater understanding of the demand and the most valued features of decision support tools has been proposed as an important step in improving the impact of DSTs. Using a choice experiment, we estimated the values that Australian farm advisers attach to specific attributes of decision support tools, in this case relating to weed and herbicide resistance management. The surveys were administered during dedicated workshops with participants who give weed management advice to grain growers. Results from various discrete choice models showed that advisers’ preferences differ between private fee-charging consultants, those attached to retail outlets for cropping inputs, and advisers from the public sector. Reliably accurate results were valued, but advisers placed a consistently high value on models with an initial input time of three hours or less, compared to models that are more time demanding. Results from latent class models revealed a large degree of personal preference heterogeneity across advisers. Although the majority of advisers attributed some value to the capacity for DST output that is specific to individual paddocks, approximately one quarter of respondents preferred generic predictions for the district rather than greater specificity. The use of a novel non-market valuation approach can help to inform development of decision support tools with attributes valued by potential users. |
| Keywords: | Decision support, Weed management, Herbicide resistance, Adoption, Agriculture, Choice Modelling, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q19, Q51, |
| Date: | 2013–03–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:147031&r=agr |
| By: | Nassima Rabhi (UP1 UFR02 - Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR d'Économie - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne - PRES HESAM) |
| Abstract: | Access to clean water and sanitation are essential for human life, dignity and developement. Since the 1990s, there are growing calls to privatize water services in order to improve both the coverage of the network and the quality of water, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1996, Senegal has implemented a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the water sector, viewed as an example of success in the region. In this paper, using difference-in-differences matching methods on pseudo-panel data, I measure the degree to which the increasing access to piped water in Senegal is due to the private participation. I also gauge whether the PPP has induced an improvement in the quality of water, by the first children's water-related disease, diarrhea. The results show that the participation of the private sector is associated to enhancement in water private connections, as well as less childrens' diarrheas. The first impact is greater for the poor, wheareas the second is only for the rich. Yet, the results should be taken with caution, as the privatization was partial, coincided with more aid flows and a public's investments and prices management. |
| Keywords: | eau, distribution, Sénégal, privatisations, partenariat public-privé, maladies d'origine hydrique |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00811476&r=agr |
| By: | Parton, Kevin A.; O'Brien, Melissa J. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare92:147088&r=agr |
| By: | Valeria Andreoni (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Arto Inaki (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Jose Manuel Rueda Cantuche (Pablo Olavide University); Genty Aurelien (European Commission – DG Enterprise); Villanueva Krzyzaniak Alejandro (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | In the recent decades, the increase in the world population, the economic expansion and the globalization of the economy have led to a dramatic growth in the use of some natural resources and in the levels of pollution. These trends have coincided with a growing concern about some critical questions for the future of humankind such as resource scarcity and depletion, climate change, environmental degradation, the limits of growth or the inequalities in the access to natural resources across countries. In this context arises the need to develop a comprehensive dataset of reliable and comparable economic and environmental information that contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of these issues, and supporting evidence-based policy-making. In order to comply with this need, this Pocketbook presents a series of indicators describing the evolution of the use of natural resources and the emission of air pollutants around the world, in relation to production, consumption and trade activities. Based on different analysis derived from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD), this publication includes information on 6 environmental dimensions: land use, material extraction, water use, and emission of acid substances, greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. The time frame covered is the period between 1995 and 2008, and the geographical scope includes the EU-27 Member States, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, the United States of America and the Rest of the World. The information presented in this publication can be classified into 3 different groups of indicators: 1. The "Production" or "Domestic" side indicators report for each country the use of resources as primary inputs (i.e. domestic extraction of materials or land cultivated) and the emissions directly generated by national economic activities. 2. The "Consumption" or "Footprint" indicators show the resources or pollution embodied in the domestic final demand of one country, regardless of where these resources/emissions were used/emitted. 3. The "Trade" indicators account for the resources/pollution embodied international trade. This article quantifies for the first time not only the domestic employment effects of foreign EU exports but also the correct number of jobs generated through intra-European trade (Single Market) in the production of such exported commodities. The literature has neglected very often the latter effects mainly due to the lack of an appropriate methodology and database. The empirical evidence shows that the EU has really progressed during the period 2000-2007 towards a more vertically integrated economy, reducing the labour intensity of the goods and services exported outside the EU, trading most prominently within the EU Single Market and subsequently, generating an increasing number of jobs. Despite the reduction in the labour intensity of the European exports, the associated employment grew from 22 to 25 million jobs, out of which 9 million jobs were created due to spillover and feedback effects associated to the Single Market |
| Keywords: | Water, Land, Emissions, Materials, Trade; Input-Output Analysis; EU27 |
| JEL: | Q56 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc71922&r=agr |
| By: | Valeria Andreoni (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Arto Inaki (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Jose Manuel Rueda Cantuche (Pablo Olavide University); Genty Aurelien (European Commission – DG Enterprise); Villanueva Krzyzaniak Alejandro (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | In the recent decades, the increase in the world population, the economic expansion and the globalization of the economy have led to a dramatic growth in the use of some natural resources and in the levels of pollution. These trends have coincided with a growing concern about some critical questions for the future of humankind such as resource scarcity and depletion, climate change, environmental degradation, the limits of growth or the inequalities in the access to natural resources across countries. In this context arises the need to develop a comprehensive dataset of reliable and comparable economic and environmental information that contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of these issues, and supporting evidence-based policy-making. In order to comply with this need, this Pocketbook presents a series of indicators describing the evolution of the use of natural resources and the emission of air pollutants around the world, in relation to production, consumption and trade activities. Based on different analysis derived from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD), this publication includes information on 6 environmental dimensions: land use, material extraction, water use, and emission of acid substances, greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. The time frame covered is the period between 1995 and 2008, and the geographical scope includes the EU-27 Member States, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, the United States of America and the Rest of the World. The information presented in this publication can be classified into 3 different groups of indicators: 1. The "Production" or "Domestic" side indicators report for each country the use of resources as primary inputs (i.e. domestic extraction of materials or land cultivated) and the emissions directly generated by national economic activities. 2. The "Consumption" or "Footprint" indicators show the resources or pollution embodied in the domestic final demand of one country, regardless of where these resources/emissions were used/emitted. 3. The "Trade" indicators account for the resources/pollution embodied international trade. This article quantifies for the first time not only the domestic employment effects of foreign EU exports but also the correct number of jobs generated through intra-European trade (Single Market) in the production of such exported commodities. The literature has neglected very often the latter effects mainly due to the lack of an appropriate methodology and database. The empirical evidence shows that the EU has really progressed during the period 2000-2007 towards a more vertically integrated economy, reducing the labour intensity of the goods and services exported outside the EU, trading most prominently within the EU Single Market and subsequently, generating an increasing number of jobs. Despite the reduction in the labour intensity of the European exports, the associated employment grew from 22 to 25 million jobs, out of which 9 million jobs were created due to spillover and feedback effects associated to the Single Market |
| Keywords: | Water, Land, Emissions, Materials, Trade; Input-Output Analysis; EU27 |
| JEL: | Q56 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc71919&r=agr |
| By: | Christopher R. Knittel; Robert S. Pindyck |
| Abstract: | The price of crude oil in the U.S. never exceeded $40 per barrel until mid-2004. By 2006 it reached $70, and in July 2008 it peaked at $145. By late 2008 it had plummeted to about $30 before increasing to $110 in 2011. Are speculators at least partly to blame for these sharp price changes? We clarify the effects of speculators on commodity prices. We focus on crude oil, but our approach can be applied to other commodities. We explain the meaning of "oil price speculation," how it can occur, and how it relates to investments in oil reserves, inventories, or derivatives (such as futures contracts). Turning to the data, we calculate counterfactual prices that would have occurred from 1999 to 2012 in the absence of speculation. Our framework is based on a simple and transparent model of supply and demand in the cash and storage markets for a commodity. It lets us determine whether speculation is consistent with data on production, consumption, inventory changes, and convenience yields given reasonable elasticity assumptions. We show speculation had little, if any, effect on prices and volatility. |
| JEL: | G13 L71 Q40 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18951&r=agr |
| By: | Helene Maisonnave (Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada); Jonathan Pycroft (JRC IPTS, European Commission); Bert Saveyn (JRC IPTS, European Commission); Juan Carlos CISCAR (JRC IPTS, European Commission) |
| Abstract: | The European Union has committed itself to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% in 2020 compared with 1990 levels. This paper investigates whether this policy has an additional benefit in terms of economic resilience by protecting the EU from the macroeconomic consequences due to an oil price rise. We use the GEM-E3 computable general equilibrium model to analyze the results of three scenarios. The first one refers to the impact of an increase in the oil price. The second scenario analyses the European climate policy and the third scenario analyses the oil price rise when the European climate policy is implemented. Unilateral EU climate policy imposes a cost on the EU of around 1.0% of GDP. An oil price rise in the presence of EU climate policy does impose an additional cost on the EU of 1.5% of GDP, but this is less than the 2.2% of GDP that the EU would lose from the oil price rise in the absence of climate policy. This is evidence that even unilateral climate policy does offer some economic protection for the EU. |
| Keywords: | Oil price, general equilibrium, climate policy |
| JEL: | Q54 C68 Q40 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc68858&r=agr |
| By: | Arimoto, Yutaka; Sakurai, Takeshi; Tanaka, Mari; Tsilavo, Ralandison |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:38&r=agr |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | There are at least two policy regimes to be considered, one for environmental biotechnology, and another for industrial biotech. Environmental biotechnology is focused on biotechnologies for environmental clean-up, and much of the policy in this area is around compliance. Industrial biotechnology has quite different policy objectives and only started to grow as a field with the worldwide interest in biofuels. Much of the world now has targets for bioenergy and favourable policy regimes to stimulate production and use of biofuels, but sustainability is now a real issue for biofuels production. This should become an international theme as more countries start to adapt biofuels as part of their energy supply. |
| Date: | 2013–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:3-en&r=agr |
| By: | Mensi, Walid; Beljid, Makram; Boubaker, Adel; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a VAR-GARCH model to investigate the return links and volatility transmission between the S&P 500 and commodity price indices for energy, food, gold and beverages over the turbulent period from 2000-2011. Understanding the price behavior of commodity prices and the volatility transmission mechanism between these markets and the stock exchanges are crucial for each participant, including governments, traders, portfolio managers, consumers, and producers. For return and volatility spillover, the results show significant transmission among the S&P 500 and commodity markets. The past shocks and volatility of the S&P 500 strongly influenced the oil and gold markets. This study finds that the highest conditional correlations are between the S&P 500 and gold index and the S&P 500 and WTI index. We also analyze the optimal weights and hedge ratios for commodities/S&P 500 portfolio holdings using the estimates for each index. Overall, our findings illustrate several important implications for portfolio hedgers for making optimal portfolio allocations, engaging in risk management and forecasting future volatility in equity and commodity markets. |
| Keywords: | Stock markets, Commodity prices, Volatility spillovers, Hedge ratios, VAR-GARCH models, Energy price |
| JEL: | Q34 Q41 |
| Date: | 2013–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:44395&r=agr |