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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2013‒06‒04
63 papers chosen by |
| By: | Josephson, Anna Leigh |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149562&r=agr |
| By: | Adong, Annet; Mwaura, Francis; Okoboi, Geofrey |
| Abstract: | While government of Uganda and its development partners are targeting farmer groups as the vehicle for agricultural development, there is limited empirical evidence on what drives membership to these groups. Using the Uganda Census of Agriculture 2008/9 data, this paper reveals low levels of membership both at individual and household levels with a marked regional dimension. The key policy variables found to influence participation in farmer group included education attainment, distance to extension service and quality of road infrastructure. Increasing membership to farmer groups requires government and its development partners to target more resources towards less educated farmers and those who live far from extension workers. The use of the local language in publicity materials is also important in ensuring participation among the illiterate and the less educated. Overall, there is a need for concerted efforts by all institutions supporting groups to ensure that existing groups have improved access to agricultural technologies and noticeable outcomes are achieved so as to attract more farmers. |
| Keywords: | Farmer group Membership, Decision Making, Uganda Census of Agriculture, Adong, EPRC, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:148950&r=agr |
| By: | Ding, Yulian; Veeman, Michele; Adamowicz, Wiktor |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149007&r=agr |
| By: | Ben McKay (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | With roughly 1 billion people unable to meet their minimum daily caloric intake, the issue of food security is imperative to overcoming rural poverty. The way in which we produce food plays an extremely important role in solving the hunger epidemic and reaching the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating extreme hunger and poverty. The dominant model of agricultural development practised by many countries today is based on chemical-intensive agro-industrial complexes growing monocultures for export. This model of corporate-controlled agro-industry has failed to produce positive results economically, environmentally or socially. As one of the main contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, the agro-industrial model is exacerbating global climate change, degrading arable land, deteriorating public health, decreasing food quality and disrupting traditional rural livelihoods. Although this model was deemed to produce higher yields and increase productivity, it has failed to increase food security around the world. In fact, since the United Nations? Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started calculating the number of undernourished persons worldwide in 1969, the number of hungry people has increased by about 8 per cent ?from 878 million in 1969 to an estimated 925 million in 2010 (FAO, 2012). (?) |
| Keywords: | A Socially Inclusive Pathway to Food Security: The Agroecological Alternative |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:23&r=agr |
| By: | Singbo, Alphonse G.; Emvalomatis, Grigorios; Alfons, Oude Lansink |
| Abstract: | A non-neutral stochastic distance function model is used to examine whether output specialization has an impact on the economic performance of vegetable producers in Benin. Specialization is assumed to have an effect on the production frontier and on the distance to the production frontier (technical inefficiency). The technology is found to exhibit diseconomies of scope, indicating that vegetable producers have an incentive for specialization. At the same time, the degree of specialization has a positive effect on technical efficiency. From a policy perspective, the findings imply that current government policies to encourage diversification may lead to a lower performance. |
| Keywords: | Farm performance, Specialization, Impact, Input distance function, Non-neutral stochastic frontier, Benin, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, C34, C52, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149172&r=agr |
| By: | Beckman, Jayson; Borchers, Allison; Jones, Carol |
| Abstract: | Rising energy prices and changing energy and environmental policies have transformed the relationship between the energy and agriculture sectors. Traditionally, the relationship has been one-way, with agriculture using energy products as an input in production; during the past decade, however, the energy sector’s use of agricultural products as renewable-fuel feedstocks has increased substantially. This report examines both sector and farm-level responses to changing market and policy drivers such as the increased production of biofuel crops and other sources of renewable energy, together with changes in production practices to economize on energy-based inputs like fertilizer. We provide insight into how farmers have adapted to the changes and update and provide new data on the evolving linkages between the energy and agricultural sectors. |
| Keywords: | energy, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel, biofuels, renewable energy, ARMS, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:149033&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Jun; Huang, Jikun; Msangi, Siwa; Rozelle, Scott; Weersink, Alfons |
| Abstract: | The emergence of biofuels has led to an increase in crop price and subsequently global food prices but the extent of the impact is subject to debate. Fully understanding the role of biofuels on agricultural markets requires properly accounting for the response of all affected inputs and outputs. Previous studies have generally forced the amount of cultivated land, the largest input, to remain fixed regardless of price change. This study overcomes this limitation by setting alternative growth rates in farmland expansion within a general equilibrium model (GTAP-E) with a focus on agricultural and energy markets. The simulation of the model under alternative biofuel policies and market conditions reveals that a fuller utilization of available land resources significantly reduces the rise in feedstock prices brought about by biofuel policies and/or higher energy prices. Implicit land supply price elasticies calculated by the model are consistent with previous studies and lend support to the approach taken within the study. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, land supply, markets, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q11, Q15, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149614&r=agr |
| By: | Mbowa, Swaibu; Shinyekwa, Isaac; Lwanga, Musa |
| Abstract: | The Dairy sector in Uganda has responded positively to agricultural sector liberalisation policies that took effect in the 1990s. Total national milk production has grown from 460 million litres in 1990 to 1.6 billion litres in 2011, with per capita milk consumption growing from 16 litres in 1986to 58 litres by 2010. A variety of dairy products that were previously imported are now being produced locally in the country. Driven largely by dairy, the livestock sector has maintained positive growth rates averaging 3 percent per annum compared to the declining (and often negative) growth rates registered in the food and cash crop sub sectors. Milk production increased primarily from growth in cattle population, and secondarily from adoption of higher milk yielding cattle. While milk production remains concentrated in the Western milk shed, there is evidence of dairy activities spreading to other non-traditional milk producing regions of the country especially in the Central and Eastern regions of Uganda. Development of the value chain in the dairy sector has led to employment creation and income generation not only for about 700,000 dairy farming households, but also for farm input dealers, dairy equipment dealers, dairy ingredients dealers, raw milk traders, milk transporters, mini-dairies, large scale milk processors, and distributors... |
| Keywords: | Milk production, Dairy farmers, Milk processing, Mbowa, EPRC, Shinyekwa, Lwanga, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrr:148954&r=agr |
| By: | Rada, Nicholas E.; Rosen, Stacey; Beckman, Jayson |
| Abstract: | Global agriculture must significantly increase production to meet by mid-century the demands for food, feed, and fiber posed by the world’s enlarging population. An important requirement to meeting those demands is a lifting of agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates. The present analysis evaluates the impact global agricultural TFP growth may have on food security in developing countries over the next decade. The results present an encouraging picture of developing countries’ food security status, especially in Asia and Africa. It finds that a continuation of last decade’s agricultural performance significantly accelerates food security reductions, highlighting the important role agricultural productivity plays in a country’s food security strategy. It also finds that TFP growth alleviates food insecurity primarily through a balanced approach between production and trade in Asia and Latin America but gains in Africa appear heavily tilted toward imports. There are, however, limitations to our approach, such as possible overestimation of import capacity in some countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural productivity growth, TFP, GTAP, value-added, gross output, food security, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149548&r=agr |
| By: | Ryan Nehring (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | The current discussions about how to tackle hunger in developing countries highlight the adoption of a two-track approach as an effective framework (FAO, 2011). This strategy uses a combination of providing immediate emergency access to food for the poor people while and supporting a sustainable rural development path as a long-term solution. Immediate assistance for access to food is being sought through social protection policies such as cash transfer schemes and in-kind subsidies. Likewise, support for agricultural prices and transfers aim to increase the availability and production of domestic agricultural products. However, the long-term approach to promoting sustainable development has yet to be realised or well defined. A sustainable development path should link social protection with support for smallholder production that has a two-fold effect in alleviating rural poverty and promoting stable food security. (?) |
| Keywords: | Linking Social Protection and Agricultural Production: The Case of Mexico |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:21&r=agr |
| By: | Marasteanu, I. Julia; Jaenicke, Edward C. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper to provide added insight into clustering as it pertains to the United States organic sector. I identify clusters of United States certified organic operations by showing how a formal definition of spatial clusters can emerge from an estimated model that accounts for spatial dependency. I also analyze how county-level variables impact the distribution of certified organic operations while controlling for spatial autocorrelation. My results indicate that the spatial distribution of certified organic operations displays statistically significant spatial autocorrelation as well as spatial heterogeneity. The results also indicate that county-level factors related to policy, economics, demographics, and land assets impact the distribution of certified organic operations. As research on firm and industry agglomeration, in general, typically finds that clustering benefits economic development, the results of this paper provide motivation for further research on the formation and impact of clustering in the U.S. organic sector. |
| Keywords: | Organic Agriculture, Industry Agglomeration, Agribusiness, Spatial Econometrics, Agricultural Commodity Markets, Production Economics, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149551&r=agr |
| By: | Marasteanu, I. Julia; Liang, Chyi-Lyi; Goetz, Stephan; Ahearn, Mary; Brown, Jason |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research is to investigate factors impacting farmers’ decisions to engage in multifunctional activities, which are hypothesized to enhance the sustainability and prosperity of farms and their communities. To achieve this research goal, I will break it up into two specific objectives. The first objective is to identify statistically significant hot spots of farms participating in multifunctional activities (i.e., clusters of postal areas with highly correlated, large numbers of farms participating in multifunctional activities). The second objective is to investigate the variables that impact the spatial distribution of farms participating in multifunctional activities. The results of this research may have implications for policies related to encouraging farm participation in multifunctional activities. |
| Keywords: | Multifunctional Activities, Multifunctional Farms, Agribusiness, Spatial Econometrics, Agglomeration, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149573&r=agr |
| By: | Barbier, Edward B. |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence indicates that in many developing regions, the extreme poor in more marginal land areas form a"residual"pool of rural labor. Structural transformation in such developing economies depends crucially on labor and land use decisions of these most-vulnerable populations located on abundant but marginal agricultural land. Although the modern sector may be the source of dynamic growth through learning-by-doing and knowledge spillovers, patterns of labor, land and other natural resources use in the rural economy matter in the overall dynamics of structural change. The concentration of the rural poor on marginal lands is essentially a barometer of economy-wide development. As long as there are abundant marginal lands for cultivation, they serve to absorb rural migrants, increased population, and displaced unskilled labor from elsewhere in the economy. Moreover, the economy is vulnerable to the"Dutch disease"effects of a booming primary products sector. As a consequence, productivity increases and expansion in the commercial primary production sector will cause manufacturing employment and output to contract, until complete specialization occurs. Avoiding such an outcome and combating the inherent dualism of the economy requires both targeted polices for the modern sector and traditional agriculture on marginal lands. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Rural Poverty Reduction,Economic Growth |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6456&r=agr |
| By: | Rada, Nicholas E. |
| Abstract: | India has enjoyed rapid economic growth over the past forty years, GDP per capita (PPP$) accelerating from less than 1% in the 1970s to over 5.8% in the 2000s. As incomes have risen, consumer demand has shifted from staple grains toward higher valued foods, such as horticultural and livestock products. Indian farmers appear to be meeting these new growth opportunities. But as production shifts, questions are being raised about agriculture’s ability to meet the basic food needs of India’s 1.24 billion citizens. Central to these questions has been the waning impact of cereal grain technologies typified by the Green Revolution. Our purpose is to examine the productivity growth implications of farmers’ decisions to diversify production and to assess new sources of growth in Indian agriculture. In doing so, we construct new production and productivity accounts and evaluate total factor productivity (TFP) growth, from 1980 to 2008, at the national, regional, and state levels. Results suggest renewed growth in aggregate TFP growth despite a slowdown in cereal grain yield growth. TFP growth appears to have shifted to the Indian South and West, led by growth in horticultural and livestock products. |
| Keywords: | agricultural growth, India, Tornqvist-Thiel, TFP growth, agricultural diversification, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149547&r=agr |
| By: | Parcell, Joe; Gedikoglu, Haluk |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production can degrade water sources through leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural land to surface and ground water sources. To minimize the pollution from agricultural production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes adoption of conservation practices. Previous studies that analyzed adoption of new technologies did not incorporate the two important features of technologies that are primarily used to conserve the environment; common resource and interaction between farmers. The current study develops a conceptual framework using a differential game to analyze adoption of new technologies that impact the water quality. The results of the current study show that the single agent optimization models of the previous studies would not lead to the optimal solution of the differential game. Current study also shows that if farmers act cooperatively, they devote more capital to conserve the environment. |
| Keywords: | Technology Adoption, Water Quality, Optimal Control, Differential Game, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149619&r=agr |
| By: | Smale, Melinda; Mason, Nicole M. |
| Abstract: | Spurred by current debates about beneficiary bias in the new generation of input subsidies implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa, we test explicitly the hypotheses that subsidies on hybrid seed change maize production, total household income, the poverty gap, and income inequality among smallholder maize growers in Zambia. The analysis contributes to the literature by measuring the effects of seed (as compared to fertilizer) subsidies, with a focus on indicators of household well-being rather than input demand. To address potential sources of endogeneity, we apply the fixed effects instrumental variables estimator and correlated random effects Tobit with the control function approach to a nationally representative panel of over 3,500 smallholder maize-growing households. Our findings demonstrate that in its initial years, hybrid maize seed delivered through the subsidy program enhanced the well-being of smallholder maize growers according to each indicator, but by small magnitudes. |
| Keywords: | hybrid maize seed, input subsidy programs, poverty, income inequality, Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q12, Q18, H20, I38, N57, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149546&r=agr |
| By: | Pawlowski, Ira |
| Abstract: | The region of Central Asia, and in particularly the agricultural sector, is extremely vulnerable to climate change risks. The countries have started to develop adaptation strategies and climate risk management strategies, most of them described in the National Communications on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These and other efforts are presented and commented in this paper. -- |
| Keywords: | climate change,climate risk management,Central Asia |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:59&r=agr |
| By: | Shingo Kimura; Christine Le Thi |
| Abstract: | This report analyses the farm performance data contributed through the OECD Network for Farm-level Analysis. It first compares the distribution of four economic performance indicators across nine participating countries or regions for selected farm types (output and input ratio, and net operating income per unit of labour, land and net worth). The comparative analysis shows significant differences in farm economic performances within countries as well as across countries. It implies that promoting the adoption of existing best practice and improving the resource allocation can lead to a significant improvement in the sector’s performance. The factor analysis found that large farm size is a factor of high economic performance for most types of farms across countries, but it also identified other relevant factors of high performance independent of the farm size factor, such as younger age, higher education, and use of financial leverage. See also OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers No. 46 “Distribution of support and income in agriculture” (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kgch21wkmbx- en). |
| Keywords: | factor analysis, resource allocation, producer support, farm performance, farm size, output and input ratio, off-farm income |
| JEL: | D31 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:60-en&r=agr |
| By: | Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob; Mason, Nicole; Jayne, Thomas; Darko, Francis; Tembo, Solomon |
| Abstract: | An important hypothesized benefit of large-scale input subsidy programs in Africa is that by raising maize production, the subsidies should put downward pressure on retail maize prices to the benefit of urban consumers and the rural poor who tend to be net food buyers. To inform debates related to this rationale for input subsidies, this study estimates the effects of fertilizer subsidies on retail maize prices in Malawi and Zambia using market or district-level panel data covering the 2000/01 to 2011/12 maize marketing years. Results indicate that roughly doubling the size of Malawi’s subsidy program (i.e., increasing the amount of subsidized fertilizer distributed to each district by 4,000 metric tons per year) reduces maize prices by 1.2% to 1.6% on average. In Zambia, roughly doubling the scale of the country’s subsidy program (i.e., increasing the amount of subsidized fertilizer distributed to each district by 1,000 metric tons per year) reduces maize prices by 1.8% to 2.4% on average. The results are robust across countries and model specifications, and indicate that the fertilizer subsidy programs in Malawi and Zambia have had a minimal effect on reducing retail maize prices. |
| Keywords: | Input subsidies, maize prices, Malawi, Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, E65, G38, O13, O20, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149259&r=agr |
| By: | Pablo Martinelli |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds new light on the agricultural side of the Italian regional divide from an economic geography perspective, following a Von Thünen approach. The central hypothesis is that the development of the non-agricultural economy in Northern cities drove the location of agricultural output and inputs during the interwar years. A new database on Italian agriculture around 1930 fully confirms the key role of access to domestic markets in shaping agricultural activity. Thus, the causes of the falling behind of Southern agriculture are uncovered: it is not very surprising that an agricultural divergence joined an already ongoing industrial divergence during a period in which international markets collapsed. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Access to markets, Economic Geography, Italy |
| JEL: | Q10 N54 O13 R12 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:wp12-12&r=agr |
| By: | Niu, Luyuan; Wohlgenant, Michael K. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how a price subsidy affects demand for the three fruit and vegetable products for two income groups of households. This study combines the results of conditional elasticity estimates from previous study and develops a two-stage budgeting approach to estimate demand for fruits and vegetables using 1986-2010 quarterly CEX data. Precise stand errors are estimated by bootstrapping the entire two-stage estimation procedures. Results show that low-income households have larger total expenditure elasticities but smaller unconditional price elasticities than high-income households. Fruits and vegetables and all other goods are found to be net substitutes. Assuming that supplies for fruits and vegetable are perfectly elastic, a 10% price subsidy increases consumption of processed fruits and vegetables, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits by 3.27% (10.68%), 3.29% (10.73%) and 3.50% (11.42%) for low-income (high-income) households, and only causes a small change in consumption of all other goods. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149248&r=agr |
| By: | Meng, Ting; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Sarpong, Daniel; Resurreccion, Anna V. A.; Chinnan, Manjeet |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149000&r=agr |
| By: | Weaver, Amanda S.; Lusk, Jayson |
| Abstract: | Current restrictions on the food stamp program include alcohol and cigarettes, and present research on food stamps focuses on whether more food restrictions would encourage this population to lead a healthier life, or at least limit the prevalence of obesity and resulting obesity-related mortality. However, current restrictions have not eliminated the consumption of the items of interest in this paper, alcohol and tobacco products, which are also leading causes of mortality. Using a tobit model and double hurdle model, we find no significant results for alcohol grams consumed, but food stamp participation is found to have significant correlation with more tobacco usage in both models. |
| Keywords: | food stamp restrictions, benefit cost, net effect, food policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149438&r=agr |
| By: | Reeling, Carson J.; Horan, Richard D. |
| Keywords: | biosecurity, livestock, strategic complementarities, strategic substitutes, expectations, coordination failure, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149004&r=agr |
| By: | Francis Ng (World Bank); M.Ataman Aksoy (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to update the information on net food importing countries, using different definitions of food, separating countries by their level of income, whether they are in conflict and whether they are significant oil exporters. The study also estimates the changes in net food importing status of these countries over the last two and a half decades, and, most important, the study measures the relative importance of these net food imports in the import basket of the countries. Our results show that while many low-income countries are net food importers, the importance and potential impact of the net food importing status has been highly exaggerated. Many low-income countries that have larger food deficits are either oil exporters or countries in conflict. Food deficits of most low-income countries are not that significant as a percentage of their imports. Our results also show that only 6 low-income countries have food deficits that are more than 10 percent of their imports. Last two decades have seen a significant improvement in the food trade balances of low-income developing countries. SSA low-income countries are an exception to this trend. On the other hand, there are a group of countries which are experiencing civil conflicts which are large importers of food, and these countries can not meet their basic needs. They also need special assistance in the distribution of food within their boundaries. Therefore, one should modify the WTO Ministerial Declaration, and focus on these conflict countries rather than the broad net food importers. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2013/1&r=agr |
| By: | Dismukes, Robert; Coble, Keith H.; Miller, Corey; O'Donoghue, Erik |
| Abstract: | Producers’ increased reliance on crop insurance has led to concerns about losses producers could incur that are not covered by crop insurance. In the current farm bill debate, several proposals that would be based on area (county) revenue and are intended to cover a portion of producers’ crop insurance deductibles, referred to as “shallow loss” programs, have been advanced. We analyze, using an empirically-based simulation model and a certainty equivalent criterion, how shallow loss coverages might affect optimal coverage levels of farm-level revenue insurance for a moderately risk-averse producer. Our analysis suggests that area-based revenue insurance designs have some potential for causing producers to reduce coverage levels for farm-level revenue insurance, though the marginal differences in the certainty equivalents are often relatively small on a percentage basis. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2013–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149545&r=agr |
| By: | Gustavo Barbosa Mozzer (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA)) |
| Abstract: | In the agricultural sector it is undeniable that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arise both from the consumption of fossil fuels and the biogenic process, including anaerobic decomposition processes. Agriculture can also contribute to soil degradation and deforestation of natural ecosystems when poorly managed. As such, GHG emissions from this sector are not only associated with the energy-intensive consumption of fossil fuels but are also intrinsically related to the nature of practices in the sector. (?) |
| Keywords: | Agriculture and Cattle Raising in the Context of a Low Carbon Economy |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:157&r=agr |
| By: | Almánzar, Miguel; Torero, Máximo; Grebmer, Klaus von |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the effects of media coverage of commodity prices increases and decreases on the price of the commodity and how media coverage in other commodities affects prices. We provide evidence of the relationship between media coverage and its intensity to the price level of agricultural commodities and oil futures. We find that price movements are correlated with the media coverage of up movements, or increase in prices. The direction of the correlation is robust and positive for media coverage of increases in prices, and negative for decreases in prices. These results point to increases in prices being exacerbated by media attention by 8%. In addition, we find interesting countervailing effects of this reinforcing price pressures due to media activity in the previous days. Finally, we find that even though volatility is higher for the set of days where there is media coverage, this hides important dynamics between media coverage and volatility. The volatility of market adjusted returns is negatively correlated with the media coverage, both up and down media coverage. Markets days with intense media coverage of commodity prices tends to have lower volatility. |
| Keywords: | prices, future prices, volatility, media, food security, time series, commodity returns, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, G13, Q11, C53, C58, D84, D82, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:149414&r=agr |
| By: | Ryan Nehring (IPC-IG); Ben McKay (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | Global poverty largely remains a rural phenomenon. Close to 70 per cent of the developing world?s 1.4 billion people living in extremely poverty inhabit rural areas (IFAD, 2011). Further, agriculture is found to be a source of livelihood for over 80 per cent of rural people, highlighting the importance of supporting this activity as a means to fight poverty (World Bank, 2007; IFAD, 2011). This is darkly ironic: rural areas are where most of the world?s food is produced and also where the majority of the world?s extreme poor and malnourished reside. (...) |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:106&r=agr |
| By: | Mason, Nicole M.; Jayne, T.S.; Walle, Nicolas van de |
| Abstract: | Agricultural input subsidies often have implicit or explicit political economy objectives. Using panel data from Zambia, this article empirically tests whether election outcomes affect targeting of subsidized fertilizer and whether fertilizer subsidies win votes. Results suggest that the Zambian government allocated substantially more subsidized fertilizer to households in constituencies won by the ruling party in the last election, and more so the larger its margin of victory. However, past subsidized fertilizer allocations had no statistically significant effect on the share of votes won by the incumbent president. Rather, voters rewarded the incumbent for reductions in unemployment, poverty, and income inequality. |
| Keywords: | fertilizer subsidies, political economy, voting patterns, election outcomes, fractional response, Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Political Economy, P16, D7, H2, H4, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149580&r=agr |
| By: | Roehlano M. Briones (Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)) |
| Abstract: | Expansion of global trade has been heralded as a great boon for agriculture. However, benefits of such expansion has been seen by some quarters as inequitable due to the role of large agribusiness firms and conglomerates. This study synthesizes existing research on the market structure of agro-industry trade Its key findings are as follows : • The dominance of large-scale operations is more pronounced in the downstream stages. Moreover, distribution for foreign markets is the most concentrated part of the global chain. • Increasing horizontal concentration, and vertical coordination, arises from a set of supply drivers (e.g. technological change), demand drivers (e.g. rising purchasing power), policies, and institutional factors. • There is some evidence for significant market power being exercised in among the more concentrated value chains. Furthermore indications that market concentration can also be leveraged to widen the exercise of market power via coordination along a supply chain. However the association is not absolute. • At the farm level the evidence is more solid : size of land asset or scale of production, by itself, does not seem to disqualify smallholders from supplying to consolidated value chains, as there are a enabling schemes such as supervised contract growing, cooperatives, farmer associations and the like. More critical however are human capital, farm management practices, and other assets such as equipment and irrigation facilities. Despite the great volume of relevant literature, the tentative nature of the findings stated above indicate wide scope for further research in this area. Better information and analysis could perhaps pave way towards design of policies towards more equitable and yet productive and efficient global value chains. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Trade, global value chain, market structure, distribution |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:tradew:23420&r=agr |
| By: | Shen, Zhiwei; Odening, Martin; Okhrin, Ostap |
| Abstract: | Although there is an increasing interest in index-based insurances in many developing countries, crop data scarcity hinders its implementation by forcing insurers to charge higher premiums. Expert knowledge has been considered a valuable information source to augment limited data in insurance pricing. This article investigates whether the use of expert knowledge can mitigate model risk which arises from insufficient statistical data. We adopt the Bayesian framework that allows for the combination of scarce data and expert knowledge, to estimate the risk parameter and buffer load. In addition, a benchmark for the evaluation of expert information is created by using a richer dataset generated from resampling. We find that expert knowledge reduces the parameter uncertainty and changes the insurance premium in the correct direction, but that the effect of the correction is sensitive to different strike levels of insurance indemnity. |
| Keywords: | expert knowledge, data scarcity, crop insurance pricing, Bayesian estimation, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, C14, Q19, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149431&r=agr |
| By: | Ina, Porras; Bruce, Alyward; Jeff, Dengel |
| Abstract: | Payments for watershed services (PWS) are schemes that use funds from water users (including governments) as an incentive for landholders to improve their land management practices. They are increasingly seen as a viable policy alternative to watershed management issues, and a means of addressing chronic problems such as declining water flows, deteriorating water quality and flooding. In some places, local governments, donor agencies and NGOs are actively trying to upscale and replicate PWS schemes across the area. While their apparent success and progress in launching new initiatives is encouraging, there is still much to be learned from formative experiences in this field, especially with regard to monitoring and evaluation. In this paper we discuss the monitoring and evaluation criteria behind compliance or transactional monitoring, which ensures that contracts are followed, and effectiveness conditionality, which looks at how schemes manage to achieve their environmental objectives regardless of the degree of compliance. Although the two are usually linked, a high degree of compliance does not necessarily ensure that a scheme is effective. This is because a poorly designed scheme may target the wrong land managers and land that is at least risk, meaning that payments do not generate the desired hydro-ecological or conservation benefits. As the levering capacity to demand payments for better watershed management increases, so does the need to understand the dynamics of such activities and demonstrate their impacts. While the growing interest in such schemes shows that participants believe in the principle of land management, evidence of their impact is needed to determine which initiatives genuinely add value and are worth pursuing. |
| Keywords: | Payments for watershed services; environmental impacts; monitoring and evaluation; land use; low- and middle-income countries |
| JEL: | Q50 Q57 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47185&r=agr |
| By: | Baffes, John; Dennis, Allen |
| Abstract: | It is becoming increasingly apparent that the post-2004, across-the-board, commodity price increases, which initially appeared to be a spike similar to the ones experienced during the early 1950s (Korean War) and the 1970s (oil crises), have a more permanent character. From 1997-2004 to 2005-12 nominal prices of energy, fertilizers, and precious metals tripled, metal prices went up by more than 150 percent, and most food prices doubled. Such price increases, especially in food commodities, not only fueled a debate on their key causes, but also alarmed government officials, leading to calls for coordinated policy actions. This paper examines the relative contribution of various sector and macroeconomic drivers to price changes of five food commodities (maize, wheat, rice, soybeans, and palm oil) by applying a reduced-form econometric model on 1960-2012 annual data. The drivers include stock-to-use ratios, crude oil and manufacturing prices, the United States dollar exchange rate, interest rate, and income. Based on long-run elasticity estimates (approximately -0.25 for the stock-to-use ratios, 0.25 for the oil price, -1.25 for the exchange rate, and much less for others), the paper estimates the contribution of these drivers to food price increases from 1997-2004 to 2005-12. It concludes that most of the price increases are accounted for by crude oil prices (more than 50 percent), followed by stock-to-use ratios and exchange rate movements, which are estimated at about 15 percent each. Crude oil prices mattered most during the recent boom period because they experienced the largest increase. |
| Keywords: | Markets and Market Access,Emerging Markets,Food&Beverage Industry,Climate Change Economics,Energy Production and Transportation |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6455&r=agr |
| By: | Lee, Sang Hyeon; Lee, Ji Yong; Han, Doo Bong; Nayga, Rodolfo M. Jr |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to estimate Korean consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for beef products with BSE testing and country of origin labeling. We use a choice experiment to examine consumers’ valuation for beef products with these labels. In addition to analysis using the pooled sample, we also conduct sub-sample analyses based on consumers’ level of risk perception about beef consumption and selected socio-demographic characteristics. Results suggest that Korean consumers value BSE tested beef. They also have a preference for domestic beef vis-à-vis imported beef. When we conducted separate analysis between respondents who have low vs high risk perception about beef consumption, results suggest that those with high risk perception tend to value BSE testing more than country of origin labeling while those with low risk perception value country of origin labeling more than BSE testing. Moreover, results from separate analysis between respondents who have higher education vs lower education and between older vs younger respondents suggest that young or high educated respondents tend to value BSE testing and imported beef from countries which have not experienced BSE outbreaks more than do older or lower educated respondents. |
| Keywords: | Willingness-to-Pay, BSE test label, Risk Perception, Country of Origin, Choice Experiment, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149615&r=agr |
| By: | Ina, Porras |
| Abstract: | The Payments for Environmental Services (PES) Programme is one of several instruments addressing conservation issues in Costa Rica. It pays private landowners directly for the positive effect their sustainable land management has on the environment. The Programme is part of a mix of instruments, which includes stricter laws on deforestation, zoning and conservation in protected areas. The product of learning by doing, PES has provided a fertile ground for policy and technological experiments, generating considerable capacity building in the process. Fair Ideas conference, held in June 2012, provided a platform for a prominent group of expositors from different levels to share their experience on PES, from the Minister of Environment, state and NGO facilitators, national and international academics, to farmers and indigenous groups. This document compiles the key points of these presentations, and provides links to the organisations they represent. |
| Keywords: | Payments for environmental services, Costa Rica |
| JEL: | Q0 Q5 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:47186&r=agr |
| By: | Stefania Lovo |
| Abstract: | Tenure insecurity can have important consequences for the conservation of natural resources. Land titling is often considered a solution to the problem of weak investment incentives under tenure insecurity. Using a large plot-level dataset from Malawi, this paper shows that land titling alone might not induce greater investment in soil conservation under the existing customary inheritance systems and that a reform of the rental market is in order. The paper focuses on two main sources of tenure insecurity: informal short-term tenancy contracts and customary gender-biased inheritance practices. Both sources of insecurity matter for soil conservation investments and are likely to be unaffected by the introduction of land titling alone. Further evidence suggests that soil erosion can have adverse distributional effects and that tenure insecurity accounts for one-third of the long-term loss in land productivity. |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp114&r=agr |
| By: | M. H. Suryanarayana (International Poverty Centre) |
| Abstract: | Excessive public expenditure as a result of leakages, inefficiencies and high transaction costs of social welfare programmes is a major policy concern in India today. The 2004?05 National Sample Survey showed that 70 per cent of thebeneficiaries of the targeted Below Poverty Line (BPL) food distribution andAntyodaya Anna Yojana programmes in rural areas and 43 per cent in urbanareas had an income above the eligibility level (Government of India, 2007). (?) |
| Keywords: | The Direct Benefit Transfer System: Made in India |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:200&r=agr |
| By: | Sehring, Jenniver |
| Abstract: | Being a country with very low forest cover, forests are usually not in the focus of research and strategies of natural resource management in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, forests play an important ecological role, especially in maintaining conditions for agriculture and hydrological regimes. The paper gives a description of the state of the resource and the administrative regulations on forestry in Kazakhstan. It outlines the impacts of climate change on forestry and the potential role of forests in adaption and mitigation are described. Finally, it takes stock of current forest policies, which are less based on climate change considerations but on the country's green growth strategy. -- |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:60&r=agr |
| By: | Bernal-Escobar, Adriana; Cuervo-Sánchez, Rafael; Pinzon-Trujillo, Gonzalo; Maldonado, Jorge H. |
| Abstract: | This work was financed by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), and leaded by the Center of Studies for Economic Development (CEDE) from Universidad de los Andes and the Latin-American and the Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP), through the project “The Strengthening of Capacities for Economic Research on Climate Change Adaptation”. This is an initiative of joint efforts of Environment for Development – Central America) and LACEEP. |
| Keywords: | Water use, glaciers and paramos, framed economic experimental games, behavioral responses to scarcity., Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149005&r=agr |
| By: | Olivia D’Aoust (Université Libre de Bruxelles (SBS-EM, ECARES) and FNRS); Olivier Sterck (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Philip Verwimp (Université libre de Bruxelles (SBS-EM, ECARES, Centre Emile Bernheim)) |
| Abstract: | In 2009, hostilities were brought to an end in Burundi when the FNL rebel group laid down weapons. In exchange for peace, ex-rebels benefited from a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) program to finance their return to civilian life. A few years earlier, another rebel group (CNDD-FDD) had gone through the same program. In this paper, we assess the impact of this complex program from a theoretical and an empirical viewpoint. First, we develop an agricultural model in order to predict the impact of demobilization cash transfers on beneficiary and non-beneficiary households. Then, we test the theoretical model by using a household panel dataset collected in rural Burundi. We find that, in the short run, the cash payments received by ex-combatants had a positive direct impact on purchases and investments of beneficiaries, as well as an indirect positive impact on non-beneficiaries. We also find that the direct and indirect impacts on purchases vanish in the long run. These results suggest that reinsertion grants may favour the acceptation of ex-combatants in their local communities in the short run, but are most likely not sufficient for peace to hold. More generally, it emphasizes the importance of considering spillovers in the evaluation of development programs. |
| Keywords: | Civil Conflict, Burundi, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Program, Cash Transfer, Spillovers |
| JEL: | D74 O12 I32 I38 N47 |
| Date: | 2013–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2013009&r=agr |
| By: | Grogan, Kelly |
| Abstract: | Recent survey data revealed that many California citrus growers did not know whether or not important beneficial insects were found on their fields while other growers were relying heavily or even entirely on these insects for pest control. Some pesticides are toxic both to the targeted pest and the predaceous or parasitic insect that could provide pest control. Alternative pesticides with fewer or no negative effects on the beneficial insect often exist but can be more expensive. Additionally, some beneficial insects are commercially available and can be purchased and released in the field. This paper models the pest control decisions of a grower who optimally utilizes a pesticide and a predaceous insect to control the crop pest and compares these decisions to that of a grower who does not know that the predaceous insect exists. The results show that the latter grower will drive the predator population to zero and will overutilize chemical control. The optimal decisions involve entirely mitigating the negative effects of the pesticide as well as releasing additional predators. |
| Keywords: | beneficial insect, dynamic optimization, pest control, pesticide, Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149610&r=agr |
| By: | Jeanne Lafortune; José Tessada; Carolina González-Velosa |
| Abstract: | Can shifts in output mix or technologies attenuate the impact of immigration on wages? We explore this using immigration-induced changes in relative labor supply at the county level in US Censuses of Agriculture in early 20th century. An increase in labor supply induced a shift away from capital-intensive crops and a reduction in farm size. Crop mix adjustments were more likely in counties less specialized in a given crop while adjustments in technological and organization changes were more marked in the rest. Suggestive evidence indicates that crop mix adjustments, but not organizational changes, were sufficient to limit wage impacts. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Agriculture, Output mix, Technological change |
| JEL: | J43 J61 N51 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:431&r=agr |
| By: | de Gorter, Harry; Drabik, Dusan; Timilsina, Govinda R. |
| Abstract: | Using an empirical model, this study provides some insights into the functioning of the oilseed-biodiesel-diesel market complex in a large country that determines the biodiesel price, reflecting market equilibrium changes resulting from volatility in the crude oil price. Oilseed crushing produces joint products -- oil and meal –-- and this weakens the link between the biodiesel and oilseed feedstock prices. Higher crude oil prices increase biodiesel prices if biofuel benefits from a fuel tax exemption, but lower them with a blending mandate (minimum biofuel content requirement in marketed fuel). When both canola and soybeans are used to produce biodiesel, an increase in the crude oil price leads to higher canola prices, but the effect on soybean prices is ambiguous and depends on relative elasticities of meal demand and canola supply because canola produces more oil than soybeans. An oil price shock with a blending mandate results in a smaller change in oilseed prices compared with a fuel tax exemption. Jumps in world crude oil prices have differential impacts on commodity prices and welfare in developing countries, depending on which policy determines the biodiesel price in OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | Energy Production and Transportation,Markets and Market Access,Renewable Energy,Oil Refining&Gas Industry,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6453&r=agr |
| By: | Nicole M. Aulerich; Scott H. Irwin; Philip Garcia |
| Abstract: | The “Masters Hypothesis” is the claim that unprecedented buying pressure from new financial index investors created a massive bubble in agricultural futures prices at various times in recent years. This paper analyzes the market impact of financial index investment in agricultural futures markets using non-public data from the Large Trader Reporting System (LTRS) maintained by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The LTRS data are superior to publicly-available data because commodity index trader (CIT) positions are available on a daily basis, positions are disaggregated by contract maturity, and positions before 2006 can be reliably estimated. Bivariate Granger causality tests use CIT positions in terms of both the change in aggregate new net flows into index investments and the rolling of existing index positions from one contract to another. The null hypothesis of no impact of aggregate CIT positions on daily returns is rejected in only 3 of the 12 markets. Point estimates of the cumulative impact of a one standard deviation increase in CIT positions on daily returns are negative and very small, averaging only about two basis points. The null hypothesis that CIT positions do not impact daily returns in a data-defined roll period is rejected in 5 of the 12 markets and estimated cumulative impacts are negative in all 12 markets; the opposite of the expected outcome if CIT rolling activity simultaneously pressures nearby prices downward and first deferred prices upward. Overall, the results add to the growing body of literature showing that buying pressure from financial index investment in recent years did not cause massive bubbles in agricultural futures prices. |
| JEL: | D84 G12 G13 G14 Q13 Q41 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19065&r=agr |
| By: | Mairon G. Bastos Lima (Institute for Environmental Studies) |
| Abstract: | This brief examines the social dimensions of the rapid expansion of biofuels as a key element of ?green economies? in the making. It compares three different contexts (Brazil, India and Indonesia) in the developing world, where biofuels have been often promoted under the arguments of poverty alleviation, social inclusion and rural development. The assessment reveals a general mismatch between the social discourse and the biofuel policy instruments adopted. Benefits to poor people in rural areas have been very limited, and far too often they have been left worse off after being incorporated in biofuel production chains under disadvantageous conditions. Better outcomes depend crucially on: (i) building on traditional livelihoods, rather than attempting to replace them; (ii) involving social movements in policy- and decision-making to ensure due consideration of the needs and interests of poor people in rural areas; and (iii) inserting provisions that allow smallholders to climb up the value chain, thus addressing the inequality structures that keep poor people poor. (?) |
| Keywords: | Adjusting Biofuel Policies to Meet Social and Rural Development Needs: Analysing the Experiences of Brazil, India and Indonesia |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:40&r=agr |
| By: | Himanshu; Lanjouw, Peter; Murgai, Rinku; Stern, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | This paper assembles data at the all-India level and for the village of Palanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to document the growing importance, and influence, of the non-farm sector in the rural economy between the early 1980s and late 2000s. The suggestion from the combined National Sample Survey and Palanpur data is of a slow process of non-farm diversification, whose distributional incidence, on the margin, is increasingly pro-poor. The village-level analysis documents that the non-farm sector is not only increasing incomes and reducing poverty, but appears as well to be breaking down long-standing barriers to mobility among the poorest segments of rural society. Efforts by the government of India to accelerate the process of diversification could thus yield significant returns in terms of declining poverty and increased income mobility. The evidence from Palanpur also shows, however, that at the village-level a significant increase in income inequality has accompanied diversification away from the farm. A growing literature argues that such a rise in inequality could affect the fabric of village society, the way in which village institutions function and evolve, and the scope for collective action at the village level. Failure to keep such inequalities in check could thus undermine the pro-poor impacts from the process of structural transformation currently underway in rural India. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Inequality,Labor Markets |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6451&r=agr |
| By: | Chaddad, Fabio |
| Abstract: | This invited case study presents the business model and organizational architecture of BrasilAgro - a large-scale, farmland development and farming corporation in Brazil. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness management, organizational architecture, corporate farming., Agribusiness, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:148964&r=agr |
| By: | Chung, Chanjin; Eom, Young Sook; Yang, Byung Woo; Han, Sungill |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of bilateral imperfect competition between processors and retailers and of import supply on optimal advertising intensity, advertising expenditures, and checkoff assessment rates. First, comparative static analyses were conducted on the newly developed optimal advertising intensity formula. Second, to consider the endogenous nature of optimal advertising, a linear market equilibrium model was developed and applied to the U.S. beef industry. Results showed that the full consideration of retailer-processor bilateral market power lowered the optimal values of assessment rates, advertising expenditures, and advertising intensity for the checkoff board while consideration of importers increases the optimal values. The results indicate that ignoring the import sector in optimal generic advertising modeling should underestimate these optimal values, while ignoring the bilateral market power between processors and retailers overestimates the values. |
| Keywords: | bilateral market power, checkoff, import supply, oligopoly, oligopsony, optimal advertising, processor, retailer, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Industrial Organization, Marketing, L13, L66, M37, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149582&r=agr |
| By: | Vassalos, Michael; Dillon, Carl R.; Coolong, Timothy |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Farm Management, Q13, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149476&r=agr |
| By: | Jan Schiefer; Stefan Hirsch; Monika Hartmann; Adelina Gschwandtner |
| Abstract: | We decompose the variance of food industry return-on-assets into industry, firm, year and country effects. After determining significance in a nested ANOVA, we estimate the magnitude using components of variance in a large sample of corporations. As a robustness check, we estimate a multilevel model that additionally allows us to estimate the impact of several covariates at each level. The results show that firm characteristics are more important than industry structure in determining food industry profitability. In particular, firm size seems to be an important driver of profitability while firm risk, age and, surprisingly market share have a negative influence. |
| Keywords: | ROA; decomposition; variance components; MBV; RBV |
| JEL: | L00 C22 L66 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1309&r=agr |
| By: | Tewari, Rachna; Malaga, Jaime; Johnson, Jeff; Mitchell, Donna |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the impact of climatic variability on ethanol trade between Brazil and the U.S utilizing a partial equilibrium model of ethanol import demand and export supply. The results suggest that climatic factors play an important role in the feedstock production for ethanol, in the two countries of study. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Ethanol Trade, United States, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149549&r=agr |
| By: | Kyriakopoulou, Efthymia (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Xepapadeas, Anastasios (Dept of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Environmental conditions and pollution levels have been proven to affect firms' and households’location decisions in various ways. In this paper, we study the optimal and equilibrium distribution of industrial and residential land in a given region. Industries produce a single good using land and labor and generate emissions of a pollutant, and households consume goods and residential land and dislike pollution. The trade-off between the agglomeration and dispersion forces, in the form of industrial pollution, environmental policy, production externalities, and commuting costs, determines the emergence of industrial and residential clusters across space. We also show that the joint implementation of a site-specific environmental tax and a site-specific labor subsidy can reproduce the optimum as an equilibrium outcome.<p> |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration; land use; spatial policies; pollution; environmental tax; labor subsidy |
| JEL: | H23 R14 R38 |
| Date: | 2013–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0566&r=agr |
| By: | Maximilian Auffhammer; Solomon M. Hsiang; Wolfram Schlenker; Adam Sobel |
| Abstract: | Economists are increasingly using weather data and climate model output in analyses of the economic impacts of climate change. This article introduces weather data sets and climate models that are frequently used, discusses the most common mistakes economists make in using these products, and identifies ways to avoid these pitfalls. We first provide an introduction to weather data, including a summary of the types of datasets available, and then discuss five common pitfalls that empirical researchers should be aware of when using historical weather data as explanatory variables in econometric applications. We then provide a brief overview of climate models and discuss two common and significant errors often made by economists when climate model output is used to simulate the future impacts of climate change on an economic outcome of interest. |
| JEL: | Q0 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19087&r=agr |
| By: | Daniela P. Stoycheva (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | Access to basic services is a universal human right, and access to a decent ?quality? of water, energy and food are key to sustainable human development. With them, people?s capabilities, opportunities and basic freedoms can expand exponentially. This interconnectedness between the quantity and quality of resources is expressed in the definition of energy access by the UN Secretary General in his declaration of 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All and the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEE4ALL) initiative. Defined as ?the physical availability of modern energy services, including electricity and improved end-use devices such as cookstoves, to meet basic human needs at affordable price? (Sustainable Energy for All, 2012), ?access? thus relates to more than availability; it also captures factors such as affordability and relevance. For poor people, this implies that the price of modern energy should be, to some extent, in line with their ability to pay and comparable to the cost and effort of accessing traditional fuels. (?) |
| Keywords: | Green Innovations: Reducing Energy Poverty and Inequitable Access |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:24&r=agr |
| By: | BRECHET, Thierry (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE and Louvain School of Management, Belgium); TULKENS, Henry (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | That climate policies are costly is evident and therefore often creates major fears. But the alernative (no action) also has a cost. Mitigation costs and damages incurred depend on what the climate policies are, and in addition, they are substitutes. This brings climate policies naturally in the realm of benefit-cost analysis. In this paper we illustrate the "direct" cost components of various policies, and then confront them with the benefits generated, that is, the damage cost avoided. However, the sheer benefit-cost criterion is not a sufficient incentive to induce cooperation among countries, a necessary condition for an effective global climate policy. Thus, we also explore how to make use of this criterion in the context of international climate cooperation. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, integrated assessment, cost-benefit analysis, climate coalitions |
| JEL: | Q2 D9 |
| Date: | 2013–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2013002&r=agr |
| By: | Bonnet, Céline; Dubois, Pierre; Klapper, Daniel; Villas Boas, Sofia B. |
| JEL: | C13 L13 L41 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:toulou:http://neeo.univ-tlse1.fr/3454/&r=agr |
| By: | Khor, Ling Yee; Zeller, Manfred |
| Keywords: | fertilizer use intensity, low quality fertilizer, perceived quality, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149249&r=agr |
| By: | Fernando Borraz; Juan Dubra; Daniel Ferrés; Leandro Zipitría |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of supermarket entry on the exit of small stores in the food retailing sector in Montevideo between 1998 and 2007. We use detailed geographical information to identify the link between supermarket entry and the exit of nearby small stores. Entry of supermarkets using small- to medium-size formats creates a competitive threat for the existing small stores, decreasing their probability of survival. The result is robust to several model specifications and varying definitions of what constitutes a supermarket. The impact of supermarket entry is unequivocal for groceries, bakeries, fresh pasta shops, and butcher shops. |
| Keywords: | Supermarket entry; competition; small store attrition. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:1303&r=agr |
| By: | Ronaldo Seroa da Motta (IPEA); Jorge Hargrave (IPEA); Gustavo Luedemann (IPEA); Maria Bernadete Sarmiento Gutierrez (IPEA) |
| Abstract: | Current levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations are already worryingly high, and scientists predict that the average temperature on the planet could rise between 1.8°C and 4°C by 2100, which would cause drastic damage to the environment. (?) |
| Keywords: | Climate Change in Brazil: Economic, Social and Regulatory Aspects |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:153&r=agr |
| By: | Thiago Fonseca Morello (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics); Vitor Schmid (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics); Ricardo Abramovay (Socioenvironmental Economics Centre, University of São Paulo, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A Goldman Sachs study (2008) estimates that between 60 and 80 million people are introduced to the consumer market of durable goods annually, forming a kind of new worldwide middle class. The environmental impacts of these new consumers are not insignificant, and motivate important international negotiations regarding limits to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a matter of concern even if the technological innovations aimed at the ?decarbonisation? of economies advance faster in the future than currently. Typically, one would expect that improving the living standards of poor people would almost unavoidably result in an increase in GHG emissions. However, this relationship may not be valid for all types of changes in consumption, especially those observed at lower income levels. (?) |
| Keywords: | The Trade-off Between Poverty Alleviation and GHG Mitigation: Is it True for all Income Levels in Brazil? |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:156&r=agr |
| By: | Huijuan, Cao; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | Beijing organized the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and the main goal of the Chinese government regarding this event was to hold a Green Olympics. A difference-in-differences approach was used to estimate the environmental impact the Olympic Games on air quality improvement in Beijing, compared to improvements in other areas in China. The results indicate that compared to other regions, air quality in Beijing improved for a short period of time. These improvements were largely due to the implementation of several temporary measures, including factory closures and traffic control. However, there is no evidence indicating that the Olympic Games reduced the concentration of sulfur dioxide in Beijing. -- |
| Keywords: | Olympic Games,Beijing,air pollution,impact estimate,difference-in-differences approach |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 L83 G14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201330&r=agr |
| By: | Nikolas Mittag |
| Abstract: | Survey misreporting is known to be pervasive and bias common statistical analyses. In this paper, I first use administrative data on SNAP receipt and amounts linked to American Community Survey data from New York State to show that survey data can misrepresent the program in important ways. For example, more than 1.4 billion dollars received are not reported in New York State alone. 46 percent of dollars received by house- holds with annual income above the poverty line are not reported in the survey data, while only 19 percent are missing below the poverty line. Standard corrections for measurement error cannot remove these biases. I then develop a method to obtain consistent estimates by combining parameter estimates from the linked data with publicly available data. This conditional density method recovers the correct estimates using public use data only, which solves the problem that access to linked administrative data is usually restricted. I examine the degree to which this approach can be used to extrapolate across time and geography, in order to solve the problem that validation data is often based on a convenience sample. I present evidence from within New York State that the extent of heterogeneity is small enough to make extrapolation work well across both time and geography. Extrapolation to the entire U.S. yields substantive differences to survey data and reduces deviations from official aggregates by a factor of 4 to 9 compared to survey aggregates. |
| Keywords: | measurement error, survey errors, misreporting, food stamps, poverty. |
| JEL: | C15 C81 I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-28&r=agr |