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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2014‒05‒17
forty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Fan, Shenggen; Brzeska, Joanna |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Prices, volatility, Climate change, Agricultural policies, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:16&r=agr |
| By: | Linda Kleemann; Rainer Thiele |
| Abstract: | Large-scale agricultural land acquisitions might entail substantial welfare implications for the affected rural population. Whether the impacts are indeed as devastating as the popular notion of "land grabs" would suggest depends on a number of factors, including the size of compensation payments, productivity spillovers on smallholders, employment opportunities for displaced farmers, and changes in food prices. We study the local welfare effects of land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa using a theoretical model that captures the major channels through which land deals might affect rural African populations. We distinguish two basic scenarios. In the first scenario, the investor plants capital intensive staple food crops. Displaced farmers compete for a very limited number of jobs on the investment farm and spillovers to the remaining local farmers are rare. In the second scenario, where the investor is assumed to plant cash crops, potential spillovers through contract farming are larger and production is more labor intensive and hence provides better employment prospects. In both scenarios the crop produced on the investment farm is exported. The net welfare outcome varies with the relative strengths of the contradicting effects of spillovers, wages and food prices. We determine the minimum size of compensation payments for displaced farmers that would leave them as well off as staying on their plot |
| Keywords: | large-scale land acquisitions, local populations, welfare effects, displacement, food prices |
| JEL: | O13 Q12 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1921&r=agr |
| By: | Ecker, Olivier |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Rural development, Conflict, Food prices, income, Off farm employment, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:14&r=agr |
| By: | Otsuka, Keijiro; Place, Frank |
| Abstract: | Due to increasing population pressure on limited cultivable land in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), farm size has been shrinking, fallow periods have been shortened, and soil fertility has been declining. In accordance with the Boserupian evolutio |
| Keywords: | population pressure, soil degradation, investments in land improvement, strengthened individual land rights, agricultural intensification |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-051&r=agr |
| By: | Lazzaroni, S.; Bedi, A.S. |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of weather variations on food consumption in rural Uganda. The paper relies on two-period panel data (2005/06-2009/10) combined with data on rainfall, number of rainy days and maximum and minimum temperatures. We find that higher temperatures have an adverse effect on food consumption. In contrast, food consumption is not substantially affected by rainfall variations. While evidence from qualitative interviews and trends in agricultural production suggest that households are adopting mitigation measures, the conclusion from the evidence assembled in this paper is that higher temperatures are associated with a decline in crop yields and food consumption. |
| Keywords: | weather variability, risk, food consumption, Uganda |
| Date: | 2014–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:euriss:51272&r=agr |
| By: | María Alejandra Arias; Ana María Ibáñez; Andrés Zambrano |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper examines the effect of conflict on agricultural production of small farmers. First, an inter-temporal model of agricultural production is developed, in which the impact of conflict is transmitted through two channels: violent shocks and uncertainty brought about by conflict. The model shows how conflict induces sub-optimal agricultural decisions in terms of land use and investment. We test the model using a unique household survey applied to 4,800 households in four micro-regions of Colombia. The survey collects detailed information on household economic conditions, incidence of violent shocks, and the presence of non-state armed actors. The results show that conflict affects agricultural production through different channels. In regions with intense conflict, households reduce the amount of land allocated to perennial crops, increase production of seasonal crops and pasture, and cut back investments. Households seem to learn to live amid conflict. Recent presence of non-state armed actors induces farmers strongly to cut back land use for perennial crops, pasture, and investments. As presence is more prolonged, farmers increase land use for perennial crops and pasture, and investments rebound. However, total agricultural production may be lower because shocks and presence result in more land being idle. Households habituate to conflict, yet at a lower equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | conflict, uncertainty, agricultural production, small-farmers, developing economies |
| JEL: | D13 D74 Q1 |
| Date: | 2014–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:011005&r=agr |
| By: | Zseleczky, Laura; Yosef, Sivan |
| Abstract: | Recent policy statements refer to increasingly frequent and intense shocks as one of the main reasons for focusing attention and investments on building resilience for food and nutrition security. This paper investigates whether shocks have actually increased in frequency, severity, scope, and impact by looking at historical 25â€year trends for five different types of shocks: conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, food price volatility, and health crises related to food safety and agriculture. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Conflict, Natural disasters, volatility, Food safety, Disease, Epidemics, Risk, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:5&r=agr |
| By: | Ceballos, Francisco; Robles, Miguel |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Weather, Insurance, Risk, Poverty, rural areas, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:10&r=agr |
| By: | Breisinger, Clemens; Ecker, Olivier; Maystadt, Jean-François; Trinh Tan, Jean-François; Al-Riffai, Perrihan; Bouzar, Khalida; Sma, Abdelkarim; Abdelgadir, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | One and a half billion people still live in fragile, conflict affected areas. People in these countries are about twice as likely to be malnourished and to die during infancy as people in other developing countries.2 This outcome is often a direct consequence of conflict: conflict reduces food availability by destroying agricultural assets and infrastructure. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Conflict, Food prices, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:3&r=agr |
| By: | Derek Eaton (The Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | The trade-offs involved in the extent of appropriability conferred by intellectual property right (IPR) protection to innovators remains an area with many unanswered questions. This paper considers the case of IPRs for product innovations where the product is an intermediate good used to produce a final consumer good. Producers of the final good purchase an innovation from a monopolist, represented in a vertical product differentiation framework. The innovation is subject to an IPR for which the extent of appropriability is determined by a policy maker. The analysis reveals some novel aspects of the traditional innovation versus diffusion tradeoff. More productive producers of the final good benefit from stricter appropriability and the resulting higher level of innovation. Less productive producers, and also consumers, are better off with a moderate level of appropriability. The paper is motivated by the agricultural sector in which an innovator uses genetic resources to produce new crop varieties to be marketed to a farm sector that displays heterogeneity in its ability to profit from the innovation. The scope of the exclusive rights granted over plant varieties has increased in various countries over the past four decades, partly as a result of the TRIPS Agreement, and has been the subject of much policy debate at international, as well as national, levels, partly given potential implications for food security. For these reasons, the model is extended to a two country setting consisting of North and South, which highlights both the interest of the South in maintaining lower levels of appropriability, but also the pressure from farmers in the North for the South to raise its standards. This would not necessarily benefit global consumers. |
| Keywords: | innovation, intellectual property, agriculture, vertical product differentiation, input markets, trade. |
| JEL: | Q16 L13 F12 |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_19&r=agr |
| By: | Andreas Exenberger; Andreas Pondorfer; Maik H. Wolters |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of climate change on agricultural production in a panel of 127 countries from 1961 to 2002. In contrast to the existing literature we account for cross-sectional dependence and technology heterogeneity. We find no significant impact of climate change on agricultural production in high income countries, but significant adverse effects in middle and low income countries. These adverse effects include a moderate negative impact of increases in temperature on agricultural output and for low income countries also negative effects of reductions in precipitation and of increases in the frequency of droughts. The latter two effects are particularly strong in Sub-Sahara Africa where low-tech rain-fed agriculture with very limited climate change adjustment capacities dominates. Thus, our findings reinforce the importance of proper adaptation strategies to climate change considering heterogeneous production technologies across countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural production, climate change, panel data, cross-sectional dependence, parameter heterogeneity, common correlated effects estimator |
| JEL: | C33 N50 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2014-16&r=agr |
| By: | Breisinger, Clemens; Ecker, Olivier; Maystadt, Jean-François; Trinh Tan, Jean-François; Al-Riffai, Perrihan; Bouzar, Khalida; Sma, Abdelkarim; Abdelgadir, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | Food insecurity at the national and household level not only is a consequence of conflict but can also cause and drive conflicts. This paper makes the case for an even higher priority for food security–related policies and programs in conflict-prone countries. |
| Keywords: | Conflict, food security, subsidies, Climate change, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:3&r=agr |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra; Blom, Sylvia |
| Abstract: | In the wake of the food and financial crises of 2007–2008 and 2011, building resilient food systems to achieve food security for all has become one of the top goals of the development agenda. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Capacity building, Institutions, resilience, food systems, knowlege gaps, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:6&r=agr |
| By: | Kosec, Katrina; Khan, Huma; Seyoum Taffesse, Alemayehu; Tadesse, Fanaye |
| Keywords: | food security, rural areas, Weather, resilience, weather shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:19&r=agr |
| By: | Mabiso, Athur; Maystadt, Jean-François; Vandercasteelen, Joachim; Hirvonen, Kalle |
| Keywords: | food security, resilience, refugees, internally displaced persons, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:2&r=agr |
| By: | Calderone, Margherita Bernal; Headey, Derek D.; Maystadt, Jean-François |
| Keywords: | Climate change, food security, Conflict, resilience, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:12&r=agr |
| By: | Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla; David Orden; Andrzej Kwieciński |
| Abstract: | The key contribution of this report lies in developing a typology to structure the components of the enabling environment for agricultural growth and competitiveness, and in constructing an illustrative Agricultural Growth Enabling Index (AGEI) to summarise a wide array of available information in a coherent manner. The construction of the preliminary AGEI is based on four blocks with 40% of the weight on agriculture/rural factors and 20% each on broader economy-wide governance, capital availability and market operation. The AGEI can be used to provide across-country comparisons or single-country evaluations using the index itself or its components. It allows the decomposition within each main block to show the relative strength and weaknesses of each country across various sub-indices. It has been applied here to a selected set of twenty emerging and developing countries. The preliminary results demonstrate that the AGEI brings together information relevant to the enabling environment for agricultural growth and competitiveness, and which is largely consistent with more in-depth studies of the selected countries. While constrained in some respects, the AGEI appears to be the first index completed with this objective. Further expansion and refinement of the included set of indicators to better reflect key determinants of agriculture’s enabling environment would help provide an important input into better policy decisions. |
| Keywords: | agricultural policy, agricultural productivity, agricultural growth and competitiveness, agricultural indicators and indices, determinants of agricultural growth, agricultural performance, typology |
| JEL: | O13 Q10 Q18 |
| Date: | 2014–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:67-en&r=agr |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra; Blom, Sylvia |
| Abstract: | Food systems face shocks varying in breadth and duration from a wide array of sources. These shocks can affect all aspects of a country’s food system, threatening the food security of its citizens. Low levels of capacity to address food system shocks are a major development challenge. This paper presents a conceptual framework for assessing the capacity of a food system to become more resilient, regardless of what kind of threat it faces. It suggests that food systems can be categorized into three subsystems: a policy system; markets, trade, and institutions; and a production system. Within each of these systems, three dimensions of capacity are analyzed: individual capacity, organizational capacity, and system capacity. The paper explores examples of building capacity within this framework and identifies key knowledge and research gaps. It also presents a typology as a possible tool for prioritizing investments in capacity building for resilience across countries. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Capacity building, Institutions, resilience, food systems, knowlege gaps, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:6&r=agr |
| By: | Eléonora MORGANTI (IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail - IFSTTAR - PRES Université Paris-Est); Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - CNRS : UMR5593 - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État [ENTPE] - Université Lumière - Lyon II) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes last mile logistics for fresh food products and the food deliveries schemes to urban food outlets, i.e. corporate retail chains, independent retailers and hotel, restaurants and catering (Ho.Re.Ca.) sector. We present two concepts: that of food hub and that of last food mils, as well as an analysis framework to understand food last mile distribution. To illustrate it, two experiences of urban food distribution are compared to a reference situation using the proposed framework. |
| Keywords: | food hub; last food mile; urban distribution center (UDC); city logistics; profession knowledge |
| Date: | 2014–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00986647&r=agr |
| By: | Davis, Kristin E.; Babu, Suresh Chandra; Blom, Sylvia |
| Abstract: | The assumption underlying this hypothesis is that farmers lack the knowledge, resources, or both to adequately prevent, anticipate, prepare for, cope with, and recover from shocks. Extension and advisory services may be able to rectify this information asymmetry, or knowledge inequality, by providing or facilitating access to a variety of assets. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Smallholders, extension activities, Weather, Advisory services, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:13&r=agr |
| By: | Zseleczky, Laura; Yosef, Sivan |
| Abstract: | Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers frequently cite an increase in shocks around the world as a reason for focusing on resilience. But have shocks actually increased or become more severe and farâ€reaching? What does the landscape of shocks look like? |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Natural disasters, Conflict, Droughts, Flooding, Food prices, Climate change, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:5&r=agr |
| By: | Arnaud Costinot; Dave Donaldson; Cory B. Smith |
| Abstract: | A large agronomic literature models the implications of climate change for a variety of crops and locations around the world. The goal of the present paper is to quantify the macro-level consequences of these micro-level shocks. Using an extremely rich micro-level dataset that contains information about the productivity---both before and after climate change---of each of 10 crops for each of 1.7 million fields covering the surface of the Earth, we find that the impact of climate change on these agricultural markets would amount to a 0.26% reduction in global GDP when trade and production patterns are allowed to adjust. |
| JEL: | F0 O0 Q0 R0 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20079&r=agr |
| By: | Mabiso, Athur; Maystadt, Jean-François; Vandercasteelen, Joachim; Hirvonen, Kalle |
| Abstract: | An emerging literature shows how the mass arrival of refugees induces both short- and long-term consequences to hosting countries. The main contribution of this paper is to conduct a selective review of this literature from a food-security and resilience perspective. First, the paper identifies a number of direct and indirect food-security consequences of hosting refugees. It provides a conceptual framework for discussing these various channels through which refugee inflows influence food security in the hosting countries. Second, the literature review finds that the impact of large-scale influxes of refugees on host communities and on their food security is unequally distributed among the local population. |
| Keywords: | Refugees, food security, Food aid, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:2&r=agr |
| By: | Salant, Stephen W. (Resources for the Future); Yu, Xueying |
| Abstract: | Over the past 65 years, forest tenure in China has oscillated unpredictably between private and common property regimes. This policy-induced uncertainty has distorted the harvesting decisions of individuals granted rights to grow trees and has lowered the value of China’s forest output. We provide an analytical framework for assessing these effects quantitatively. Understanding the consequences of this policy-induced uncertainty is particularly important since China is currently engaged in an ambitious plan to increase its domestic supply of timber. We estimate that net revenue from nonstate forests would approximately double if farmers had entirely secure use rights to grow trees. Contrary to the standard result in the literature that catastrophic risk makes farmers harvest earlier, we find that they may delay harvesting if the government pays sufficient compensation for the loss. |
| Keywords: | forest tenure risk, Faustmann model, optimal rotation period under uncertainty |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2014–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-13-08-rev&r=agr |
| By: | Derek Eaton (The Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has continued to be fiercely debated between North and South, par- ticularly with respect to its provisions for the agricultural sector. Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement requires WTO member countries to offer some form of intellectual property protection for new plant varieties, either in the form of patents (common in the U.S.) or plant breeder's rights (PBR). This paper analyzes the effects of the introduction of PBRs in almost 80 importing countries on the value of exports of agricultural seeds and planting material from 10 exporting EU countries, including all principal traditional exporters of seeds, as well as the US. A dynamic penalized fixed effects quan- tile regression model, based on a general specication for the gravity model for international trade, is estimated using panel data covering 19 years (1989-2007) of export flows in order to assess the effect of International Convention on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) membership on seed imports. Basing inference on the panel bootstrap, we find no signicant effect from UPOV membership on seed imports. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, inputs, trade, intellectual property rights |
| JEL: | F13 O34 Q17 |
| Date: | 2013–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_20&r=agr |
| By: | Laurent Alfandari (IDS - Information Systems / Decision Sciences Department - ESSEC Business School); Agnès Plateau (CEDRIC - Centre d'Etude et De Recherche en Informatique du Cnam - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)); Xavier Schepler (LMAH - Laboratoire de Mathématiques Appliquées du Havre - Université du Havre) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study a multi-periodic production planning problem in agriculture. This problem belongs to the class of crop rotation planning problems, which have received increased attention in the literature in recent years. Crop cultivation and fallow periods must be scheduled on land plots over a given time horizon so as to minimize the total surface area of land used, while satisfying crop demands every period. This problem is proven strongly NP-hard. We propose a 0-1 linear programming compact formulation based on crop-sequence graphs. An extended formulation is then provided with a polynomial-time pricing problem, and a Branch-and-Priceand- Cut (BPC) algorithm is presented with adapted branching rules and cutting planes. The numerical experiments on instances varying the number of crops, periods and plots show the effectiveness of the BPC for the extended formulation compared to solving the compact formulation, even though these two formulations have the same linear relaxation bound. |
| Keywords: | OR in agriculture ; crop rotations ; production planning, column generation ; branch-and-price-and-cut |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00987708&r=agr |
| By: | Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Serge Garcia (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Anne Stenger (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Gengyang Tu (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Natura 2000 is a European Union network of protected areas. In France, all forest owners whose forests are located in a Natura 2000 site are eligible to enroll in a biodiversity conservation program by signing a Natura 2000 contract. In this case, the forest owner benefit from financial support that covers all additional costs for conservation and restoration measures and is also exempt from certain taxes such as land tax. Natura 2000 contracts were created as incentive-based conservation tools to enhance landholders’ participation to improve some identified ecological outcomes. Since landowners are very heterogeneous in terms of their preferences and values, it is crucial to understand the determinants of participation for those who signed the proposed contracts. Our study has several objectives: first, to ascertain whether the conservation program is attractive for the private forest owners who want to conserve the biodiversity of their land; second, to investigate which types of forest owners are the most likely to participate; and third, to determine the type of region the most conducive to implementing Natura 2000 programs. |
| Keywords: | Forest, Natura 2000, incentive contracts, participation. |
| JEL: | D2 D8 Q2 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-02&r=agr |
| By: | Barrett, Christopher B.; Headey, Derek D. |
| Abstract: | Much of the world’s chronically poor and malnourished population lives in an increasingly volatile world. The dangerous nexus of climate change, rapid population growth, conflict, and economic stagnation has already pushed several poor regions into states of permanent crisis, even as the rest of the world has enjoyed unprecedented progress against poverty. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, malnutrition, Risk, Poverty, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:1&r=agr |
| By: | Ciscar, Juan-Carlos; Feyen, Luc; Soria, Antonio; Lavalle, Carlo; Raes, Frank; Perry, Miles; Nemry, Françoise; Demirel, Hande; Rozsai, Máté; Dosio, Alessandro; Donatelli, Marcello; Srivastava, Amit Kumar; Fumagalli, Davide; Niemeyer, Stefan; Shrestha, Shailesh; Ciaian, Pavel; Himics, Mihaly; Van Doorslaer, Benjamin; Barrios, Salvador; Ibáñez, Nicolás; Forzieri, Giovanni; Rojas, Rodrigo; Bianchi, Alessandra; Dowling, Paul; Camia, Andrea; Libertà, Giorgio; San-Miguel-Ayanz, Jesús; de Rigo, Daniele; Caudullo, Giovanni; Barredo, Jose-I.; Paci, Daniele; Pycroft, Jonathan; Saveyn, Bert; Van Regemorter, Denise; Revesz, Tamas; Vandyck, Toon; Vrontisi, Zoi; Baranzelli, Claudia; Vandecasteele, Ine; Batista e Silva, Filipe; Ibarreta, Dolores |
| Abstract: | The objective of the JRC PESETA II project is to gain insights into the sectoral and regional patterns of climate change impacts in Europe by the end of this century. The study uses a large set of climate model runs and impact categories (ten impacts: agriculture, energy, river floods, droughts, forest fires, transport infrastructure, coasts, tourism, habitat suitability of forest tree species and human health). The project integrates biophysical direct climate impacts into a macroeconomic economic model, which enables the comparison of the different impacts based on common metrics (household welfare and economic activity). Under the reference simulation the annual total damages would be around €190 billion/year, almost 2% of EU GDP. The geographical distribution of the climate damages is very asymmetric with a clear bias towards the southern European regions. More than half of the overall annual EU damages are estimated to be due to the additional premature mortality (€120 billion). Moving to a 2°C world would reduce annual climate damages by €60 billion, to €120 billion (1.2% of GDP). |
| Keywords: | Environmental economics; greenhouse gas emissions reduction; green tax reform; energy tax; energy-intensive sectors; competitiveness; multi-sectoral; computable general equilibrium model (CGE); scenario-building techniques; climate change impacts and adaptation assessment; data-transformation modelling; integrated modelling; Semantic Array Programming; Relative distance similarity; Europe; Agriculture; Forest; Tourism; Tipping points; Water resources; Coastline; Transport infrastructure; Forest Fires; River floods; Human health; Tree species habitat suitability; Sea level rise; Droughts; |
| JEL: | C15 C6 Q1 Q4 Q5 Q51 Q54 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55725&r=agr |
| By: | Little, Peter D.; McPeak, John G. |
| Abstract: | The recent popularity of the term resilience in the development discourse concerning arid and semiarid lands in Africa can be traced to two major international issues. The first is climate change, concerned with how to build resilient communities in the face of increasingly extreme weather events. The other is recurrent humanitarian crises, especially traced to the most recent drought†and conflictâ€induced 2011 disaster in the Horn of Africa. |
| Keywords: | food security, Nutrition security, Pastoralism, Climate change, Weather, resilience, shocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cb:9&r=agr |
| By: | Pavla Blahova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Karel Janda (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and University of Economics, Prague); Ladislav Kristoufek (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This paper connects the biofuels literature with genetic modifications literature by considering the potential of genetic modifications for increasing the efficiency of cellulosic biofuels production. This is done for one particular case through analyzing the effect of genetically modified corn adoption on overall yields of corn for silage. Our econometric model confirms that the use of genetically modified corn with inserted MON810 gene increases the overall corn biomass yield in the production and environmental conditions of the Central Europe, in particular in the Czech Republic. |
| Keywords: | Cellulosic Biofuels; Genetic Modifications |
| JEL: | C23 Q16 Q42 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2014_02&r=agr |
| By: | Antonello Lobianco (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Sylvain Caurla (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Ahmed Barkaoui (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of FFSM++ is to link the evidence arising from biological models with socioeconomic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main drivers. An inventory-based forest dynamic model is hence coupled with a market module and a management one in a national level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). In this paper we show that only considering the environment heterogeneity, and hence considering the local characteristics of the forest under management, we can realistically model the micro-based management module. In particular, an application is proposed that spatialises the forest growth rate and long-term scenarios (until 2100) are run to examine the effects on the forest dynamic, and notably the interaction with forest management strategies, of a potential increase of coniferous mortality in certain areas due to climate change. |
| Keywords: | Forest sector modelling, Spatial model, Bio-economic model, Forest mortality. |
| JEL: | C63 L52 Q23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-04&r=agr |
| By: | Hoddinott, John |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a structured overview of the concept of resilience for use in discussions surrounding food security and nutrition. It defines resilience as the capacity that ensures adverse stressors and shocks do not have long-lasting adverse development consequences. It links the discourse on resilience to earlier work on vulnerability, noting both common features and differences, and discusses implications of the conceptualization of resilience for measurement and for policy and practice. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:8&r=agr |
| By: | Ashima Goyal (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Akash Kumar Baikar (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes causes of movements in Indian wages for rural unskilled male laborers, and assesses their impact on inflation. Theoretical priors derived from an analytical framework based on the concepts of fair wages, salience and over-reaction are tested using a State level rural wage data panel. The model predicts that a rise in food price inflation, non-traded wages and productivity, reduction in net labor supply, rise in labor demand and employment in the traded goods sector would raise wages in the traded goods sector, while changes in the exchange rate could have ambiguous effects. In dynamic panel regressions, food price inflation and the fiscal deficit share were two variables that were consistently high and significant, with the effect of the first three times larger. The spread of MGNREGS did not raise wages, but the sharp jump associated with wage indexation, itself a response to high food prices, did. The set of government programs impacted wages, more than a single one. Cyclical or policy variables had a minor impact. The results are in line with the predictions of the model and support psychological and social as compared to cyclical factors. The impact of wages on rural food prices was not as large, indicating some rise in productivity. Since multiple supply shocks impacted food prices and special circumstances drove the unusual rise in real wages, large nominal wage growth may not persist if food inflation and the fiscal deficit moderate. |
| Keywords: | Indian wage growth, food inflation, fair wages, dynamic panel, deficits, MGNREGS |
| JEL: | E24 E31 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2014-014&r=agr |
| By: | Bhanumurthy, N.R. (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Bose, Sukanya (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Panda, Swayamsiddha (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) |
| Abstract: | In the aftermath of global food fuel price spikes and the recent global financial crisis, understanding of external sector behaviour has become crucial. More specifically, the transmission mechanism of external sector shocks to domestic macroeconomic variables is essential for undertaking relevant policies to mitigate adverse impact of such shocks. Here an attempt has been made to review the theoretical and empirical issues relating to India's external sector behaviour and present a suitable analytical framework for macro modeling. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:14/138&r=agr |
| By: | Bruno Lanz; Allan Provins (The Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses avertive expenditures to estimate the demand for qualitative aspects of tap water supply. We focus on two characteristics that are of importance for water consumers: water hardness and aesthetic quality in terms of taste, smell and appearance. To elicit expenditures on substitute products, we survey more than 4,500 households in England and Wales. For water hardness, around 14% of households employ at least one water softener device, with mean and median yearly expenditure around £95 and £50 respectively. Substitutes for the aesthetic quality of tap water mainly include bottled water, water filter devices, or adding squash or cordial before drinking. Overall 39% of respondents report at least one such behaviour, with mean and median yearly expenditure around £92 and £60 respectively. These are substantial amounts given a yearly average household bill of £186 for water services. Matching household data to highly disaggregated records on regional water hardness, our econometric analysis suggests that a 10% reduction in water hardness is associated with a £1.50 reduction in avertive expenditures. We also exploit geographic variation in the aesthetic characteristics of tap water, and correlate self-reported quality ratings to expenditures. We find that a one-fifth increase in the rating of water taste is associated with a £19 reduction in yearly expenditures |
| Keywords: | Avertive expenditures, water quality, revealed preferences, non-market valuation, willingness to pay |
| JEL: | H4 L9 Q2 Q5 D1 |
| Date: | 2014–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_23&r=agr |
| By: | Antonello Lobianco (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Philippe Delacote (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech; Climate Economic Chair); Sylvain Caurla (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Ahmed Barkaoui (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of anthropogenic determinants in forest ecosystems within Europe, the objective of this paper is to link the evidence arising from biological models with socioeconomic determinants, where the expected returns of forest investments represent the main driver. An inventory-based forest dynamic model is hence coupled with a market module and a management one in a national level forest sector model for France (FFSM++). Running long-term scenarios (until 2100) we show the implications on the forest composition of an active management: when the most profitable option drives forest investments, coniferous forests are generally preferred over broadleaved ones. This result is however reappraised when the risk aversion of forest owners is explicitly considered in the model, given the higher risk associated with the former. We further show the strong stability of forest ecosystems that, due to the very long cycles, undergoes very small variations in volume stocks even in scenarios where the initial forest regeneration is strongly influenced. |
| Keywords: | Forest sector modelling, Investment, Risk Aversion. |
| JEL: | C63 L52 Q23 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-05&r=agr |
| By: | Eric Clark; Kenneth Hermele (Lund University, Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a review of research into financialisation of the environment, focusing on the role of financialisation in the interface between social and natural dimensions of sustainability, the geographical penetration of finance into environmental sectors, and its increasing control over the production of nature and environmental governance through regulating flows of capital and consequently material flows. Financialisation is conceptualised as a profoundly spatial process, forging financial ecologies with consequences crucial to conditions for sustainability of social-ecological systems. The paper introduces the theme by framing financialisation in historical contexts. Financialisation of the environment is then related to processes of commodification, privatisation, neoliberalisation and accumulation by dispossession within the broader context of intersections between political economy and political ecology, highlighting the distinction between use-value/object-oriented investments and exchange-value/’investor’-oriented investments, the right to inhabit place, and the shift from control and command to economic incentives, drawing out implications for sustainability. Research on financialisation of agriculture and land resources, and on financialisation in relation to economic and social dimensions, is reviewed, and current moves towards re-regulation are considered from the perspective of a Polanyian countermovement. Conclusions reconsider the nature of the relationship between financialisation and sustainability and the challenges of bringing financial systems into the service of achieving social and natural sustainability. |
| Keywords: | financialisation, sustainability, commodification, political ecology, land |
| JEL: | Q14 Q15 Q24 Q57 R11 R51 Z10 |
| Date: | 2013–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper32&r=agr |
| By: | Blackman, Allen (Resources for the Future); Raimondi, Alicia; Cubbage, Frederick |
| Abstract: | Certification is intended to improve management of and environmental outcomes in developing country forests. Yet we know little about whether and how it actually generates such benefits. To address that question, we analyze 1,162 corrective action requests (CARs) issued after third-party inspections of a diverse set of 35 forests in Mexico certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). CARs detail the changes in procedures and on-the-ground conditions that forest managers must make to either obtain or retain certification. Our analysis indicates that a relatively small proportion of CARs required major changes in on-the-ground environmental conditions. The majority focused on social and legal issues, and the vast majority called for only minor procedural changes. In general, forest managers complied with CARs expeditiously, and the number of CARs they received declined over time. We hypothesize that these findings were at least partly driven by the tendency of FSC certification to attract already-sustainably managed forests and by the governance challenges of community forestry in developing countries. One implication is that policymakers using FSC certification to generate environmental benefits may want to target forests with less-than-stellar management—particularly in the case of reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) initiatives that emphasize improvement beyond business-as-usual—and to build the community and legal institutions needed for sustainable forestry. |
| Keywords: | forest certification, ecolabel, corrective action request, Mexico |
| JEL: | Q23 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2014–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-06&r=agr |
| By: | Ogundipe, Adeyemi; Alege, Philip; Ogundipe, Oluwatomisin |
| Abstract: | The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis asserts that pollution levels rises as a country develops, but reaches a certain threshold where pollution begins to fall with increasing income. In EKC analysis, the relationship between environmental degradation and income is usually expressed as a quadratic function with turning point occurring at a maximum pollution level. The study seeks to examine the pattern and nature of EKC in Africa and major income groups according to World Bank classification comprising low income, lower middle income and upper middle income in Africa. In ensuring the robustness of our study; the paper proceeded by ascertaining the nature of EKC in all fifty-three countries of Africa in order to confirm the results obtained from basic and augmented EKC model. The study could not validate EKC hypothesis in Africa (combined), low income and upper middle income but empirical and analytical evidences supports the existence of EKC in lower middle income countries. Likewise, evidences from the robustness checks confirmed the findings from the basic and augmented EKC model. The study could not attain a reasonable turning point as there are evidences that Africa could be turning on the EKC at lower levels of income. Also, there is need to strengthen institutions in order to enforce policies that prohibits environmental pollution and ensure pro-poor development. |
| Keywords: | Pollution, Income, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Africa |
| JEL: | N17 Q1 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2014–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55822&r=agr |
| By: | Barrett, Christopher B.; Headey, Derek D. |
| Abstract: | We propose the development of a multicountry system of high-frequency, long-term sentinel sites in the world’s most vulnerable regions. If implemented along the lines we conceive, this system could be a high-return investment for resilience-building efforts, since it would serve multiple purposes. This system offers the only rigorous means of monitoring vulnerability and resilience in the world’s most volatile regions. This system would bolster existing early-warning systems by complementing them with household-level indicators. This system would improve the targeting of emergency resources. This system would be instrumental for diagnosing the underlying sources of vulnerability, for identifying key thresholds of resilience, and for designing appropriate resilience-building strategies. And this system would provide a rigorous foundation for large-scale evaluations of resilience-building activities. |
| Keywords: | Risk, Poverty, malnutrition, food security, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:2020cp:1&r=agr |