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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2014‒08‒20
47 papers chosen by |
| By: | Bruno Lanz; Simon Dietz; Tim Swanson (Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | We study the interactions between global population, technological progress, per capita income, the demand for food, and agricultural land expansion over the period 1960 to 2100. We formulate a two-sector Schumpeterian growth model with a Barro-Becker representation of endogenous fertility. A manufacturing sector provides a consumption good and an agricultural sector provides food to sustain contemporaneous population. Total land area available for agricultural production is finite, and the marginal cost of agricultural land conversion is increasing with the amount of land already converted, creating a potential constraint to population growth. Using 1960 to 2010 data on world population, GDP, total factor productivity growth and crop land area, we structurally estimate the parameters determining the cost of fertility, technological progress and land conversion. The model closely fits observed trajectories, and we employ the model to make projections from 2010 to 2100. Our results suggest a population slightly below 10 billion by 2050, further growing to 12 billion by 2100. As population and per capita income grow, the demand for agricultural output increases by almost 70% in 2050 relative to 2010. However, agricultural land area stabilizes by 2050 at roughly 10 percent above the 2010 level: growth in agricultural output mainly relies on technological progress and capital accumulation. |
| Keywords: | Economic growth; Population projections; Technological progress; Endogenous fertility; Endogenous innovations; Land conversion; Food security |
| JEL: | O11 O13 J11 C53 C61 Q15 Q24 |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_25&r=agr |
| By: | Kyle, Steven |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180170&r=agr |
| By: | Laure Latruffe (Structures et Marchés Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires, INRA); Laurent Piet (Structures et Marchés Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires) |
| Abstract: | Agricultural land fragmentation is widespread and may affect farmers’ decisions and impact farm performance, either negatively or positively. We investigated this impact for the western region of Brittany, France, in 2007. To do so, we regressed a set of performance indicators on a set of fragmentation descriptors. The performance indicators (production costs, yields, revenue, profitability, technical and scale efficiency) were calculated at the farm level using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data, while the fragmentation descriptors were calculated at the municipality level using data from the cartographic field pattern registry (RPG). The various fragmentation descriptors enabled us to account for not only the traditional number and average size of plots, but also their geographical scattering. We found that farms experienced higher costs of production, lower crop yields and lower profitability where land fragmentation (LF) was more pronounced. Total technical efficiency was not found to be significantly related to any of the municipality LF descriptors used, while scale efficiency was lower where the average distance to the nearest neighbouring plot was greater. Pure technical efficiency was found to be negatively related to the average number of plots in the municipality, with the unexpected result that it was also positively related to the average distance to the nearest neighbouring plot. By simulating the impact of hypothetical consolidation programmes on average pre-tax profits and wheat yield, we also showed that the marginal benefits of reducing fragmentation may differ with respect to the improved LF dimension and the performance indicator considered. Our analysis therefore shows that the measures of land fragmentation usually used in the literature do not reveal the full set of significant relationships with farm performance and that, in particular, measures accounting for distance should be considered more systematically. |
| Keywords: | agricultural land fragmentation, farm performance, cartographic field pattern registry, france |
| JEL: | Q12 Q15 D24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:205550&r=agr |
| By: | Katsushi S. Imai (School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK) and RIEB, Kobe University (Japan)); Raghav Gaiha (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, India and Statistics and Studies for Development(SSD) Division, Strategy and Knowledge Management Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Italy); Constanza Di NUCCI (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, India and Statistics and Studies for Development(SSD) Division, Strategy and Knowledge Management Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Italy) |
| Abstract: | Drawing upon panel data estimations, we have analysed the relationships among agricultural productivity, employment, technology, openness of the economy, inequality in land distribution and poverty. First, we have identified a number of important factors affecting agricultural productivity, such as agricultural R&D expenditure, irrigation, fertilizer use, agricultural tractor/machinery use, reduction in inequality of land distributions, or reduction in gender inequality. Second, while agricultural wage rate is negatively associated with agricultural productivity and food price in levels, the growth in agricultural wage rate is positively correlated with the growth in agricultural land or labour productivity as well as with the growth in food price, particularly after 2000. Contrary to the ILO's (2012) claim that the gap has widened recently, this suggests the narrowing gap between wage and labour productivity once we focus on the conditional relationship between the two. Third, agricultural employment per hectare tends to increase agricultural productivity after taking account of the endogeneity of the former, while the growth in agricultural employment per hectare tends to increase the growth in non-agricultural employment over time with adjustment for endogeneity of the former. In this context, we have reviewed the recent literature and emphasised the importance of enhancing agricultural productivity and employment. Fourth, both agricultural growth and non-agricultural growth tend to lead to reduction in overall inequality. Finally, increase in agricultural productivity which is treated as endogenous will reduce poverty significantly through the overall economic growth. Overall, policies to increase agricultural productivity and agricultural employment are likely to increase non-agricultural growth, overall growth and reduce poverty, where guaranteeing gender inequality is likely to be one of the key factors. |
| JEL: | C20 I15 I39 O13 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2014-32&r=agr |
| By: | Nguyen, Huy |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impacts of land fragmentation on economic diversity of farm households in Vietnam. To develop the empirical analysis, a model is presented in which the estimated impact of land fragmentation on economic diversification allows for non-neutral technical change. The paper tests the theoretical predictions of this model by providing empirical evidence of the impact of land fragmentation on farm and nonfarm outcomes such as labour supply, profits, labour intensity and productivity. By using different methods aimed at verifying and checking the consistency of the results, we find that land consolidation may reduce farm labour supply, labour intensity, and improve farm profits and productivity. Similarly, it may release more farm labour to nonfarm sectors and increase nonfarm profits. The empirical results also show that factor-biased technical change plays an important role in explaining the impact of agricultural technical change on economic diversification in Vietnam. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural technical change, land fragmentation, land consolidation, labour allocation, and elasticity of substitution, nonfarm sectors, and economic diversification |
| JEL: | D13 J2 Q15 |
| Date: | 2014–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57643&r=agr |
| By: | Banse, Martin; Rothe, Andrea; Tabeau, Andrzej; Meijl, Hans van; Woltjer, Geert |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the consequences of enhanced biofuel production in regions and countries of the world that have announced plans to implement or expand on biofuel policies. The analysis considers biofuel policies implemented as binding blending targets for transportation fuels. The chosen quantitative modelling approach is two-fold: it combines the analysis of biofuel policies in a multi-sectoral economic model (MAGNET) with systematic variation of the functioning of capital and labour markets. This paper adds to existing research by considering biofuel policies in the EU, the US and various other countries with considerable agricultural production and trade, such as Brazil, India and China. Moreover, the application multi-sectoral modelling system with different assumptions on the mobility of factor markets allows for the observation of changes in economic indicators under different conditions of how factor markets work. Systematic variation of factor mobility indicates that the ‘burden’ of global biofuel policies is not equally distributed across different factors within agricultural production. Agricultural land, as the pre-dominant and sector-specific factor, is, regardless of different degrees of inter-sectoral or intra-sectoral factor mobility, the most important factor limiting the expansion of agricultural production. More capital and higher employment in agriculture will ease the pressure on additional land use – but only partly. To expand agricultural production at global scale requires both land and mobile factors adapted to increase total factor productivity in agriculture in the most efficient way. |
| Keywords: | Capital markets, agricultural land, biofuel policies, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:155706&r=agr |
| By: | Viaggi, Davide; Raggi, Meri; Puddu, Marco; Bartolini, Fabio |
| Abstract: | Among the different production factors, land is the one that most often limits farm development and one of the most studied. The connection between policy and other context variables and land markets is at the core of the policy debate, including the present reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The proposal of the latter has been published in October 2011 and in Italy it will include the switch of the payment regime from an historical to a regional basis. The authors’ objective is to simulate the impact of the proposed policy reform on the land market, particularly on land values and propensity to transaction. They combine insights and data from a farm household investment model revised and extended in order to simulate the demand curve for land in different policy scenarios and a survey of farmers stated intention carried out in the province of Bologna (Italy) in 2012. Based on these results, the authors calibrate a mathematical programming model of land market exchanges for the province of Bologna and use this model form simulation. The results of the model largely corroborate the results from the survey and both hint at a relevant reaction of the land demand and supply to the shift from the historical to the regionalised payments. As effect, the regionalisation would result in increased rental prices and in a tendency to the re-allocation of land. |
| Keywords: | policy simulations, policy reform, agricultural land, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:157113&r=agr |
| By: | Chatterjee, Urmilla; Kanbur, Ravi |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180157&r=agr |
| By: | Petrick, Martin; Kloss, Mathias |
| Abstract: | The classical problem of agricultural productivity measurement has regained interest owing to recent price hikes in world food markets. At the same time, there is a new methodological debate on the appropriate identification strategies for addressing endogeneity and collinearity problems in production function estimation. We examine the plausibility of four established and innovative identification strategies for the case of agriculture and test a set of related estimators using farmlevel panel datasets from seven EU countries. The newly suggested control function and dynamic panel approaches provide attractive conceptual improvements over the received ‘within’ and duality models. Even so, empirical implementation of the conceptual sophistications built into these estimators does not always live up to expectations. This is particularly true for the dynamic panel estimator, which mostly failed to identify reasonable elasticities for the (quasi-) fixed factors. Less demanding proxy approaches represent an interesting alternative for agricultural applications. In our EU sample, we find very low shadow prices for labour, land and fixed capital across countries. The production elasticity of materials is high, so improving the availability of working capital is the most promising way to increase agricultural productivity. |
| Keywords: | Factor Productivity, Factor Markets, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:144004&r=agr |
| By: | Kaditi, Eleni |
| Abstract: | The labour force engaged in the agricultural sector is declining over time, and one can observe the reallocation of labour from family members to hired workers. Using farm-level data, this paper analyses the on-farm labour structure in Greece and assesses the factors driving its evolution over the period 1990-2008. The impact of agricultural policies and farm characteristics is examined in a dynamic panel analysis. Family and hired labour are found to be substitutes rather than complements, while agricultural support measures appear to negatively affect demand for both family and hired labour. Decoupled payments and subsidies on crops are found to have a significant impact on both sources of labour, as well as subsidies for rural development that do not favour on-farm labour use. The paper also finds that structural labour adjustments are the result of farm characteristics, such as farm size and location. The results are robust to various estimation techniques and specifications. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural employment, agricultural policy, farm households, Labor and Human Capital, J43, Q18, Q12, |
| Date: | 2013–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:157914&r=agr |
| By: | Alan Matthews (Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin); |
| Abstract: | The European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has long been criticised for its damaging effects on developing countries, and developing country agriculture in particular. This paper reviews whether these criticisms are still valid in the light of the recent reforms of the CAP. It reviews some of the ways in which the EU's agricultural policy can affect developing countries and examines the likely impact, in particular, of the changes made to the CAP regulations in the 2013 CAP reform. It concludes that the CAP now has relatively minor impacts on world markets in aggregate, although for particular commodities and particular countries, its importance can be greater. The revisions to the CAP regulations agreed in the 2013 CAP reform will have mixed and contradictory impacts on the EU's supply capacity and thus on developing countries. On balance, it represents a missed opportunity to build a more robust system of global food security. Developing countries will be disappointed that the opportunity was not taken to set a final date for the ending of export subsidies. A more ambitious CAP reform, in which the targeting of direct payments was pursued more ambitiously and coupled payments were phased out, would have had a greater impact in removing the remaining distortions caused by the CAP to world markets. |
| Keywords: | common agricultural policy, EU, developing countries, cap reform |
| JEL: | F13 Q18 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp454&r=agr |
| By: | Banse, Martin; Shutes, Lindsay; Dixon, Peter; van Meijl, Hans; Rimmer, Maureen; Tabeau, Andrzej; Woltjer, Geert; Rothe, Andrea |
| Abstract: | One objective of Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models is the analysis of economy-wide effects of policy measures. The focus of the Factor Markets project is to analyse the functioning of factor markets for agriculture in the EU-27, including the Candidate Countries. While agricultural and food markets are fully integrated in a European single market, subject to an EU-wide common policy, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), this is not the case for the agricultural factor markets capital, labour and land. There are partly serious differences with regard to member state regulations and institutions affecting land, labour and capital markets. The presentation of this heterogeneity of factor markets amongst EU Member States have been implemented in the CGE models to improve model-based analyses of the CAP and other policy measures affecting agricultural production. This final report comprises the outcome of a systematic extension and improvement of the Modular Applied GeNeral Equilibrium Tool (MAGNET) model starting from an overview of the current state of the art to represent factor markets in CGE models to a description of work on labour, land and capital in MAGNET. |
| Keywords: | Factor Markets, General Computable Equilibrium, Agricultural Finance, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:155705&r=agr |
| By: | Petrick, Martin; Kloss, Mathias |
| Abstract: | The aim of this Working Paper is to provide an empirical analysis of the marginal return on working capital and fixed capital in agriculture, based on data gathered by the Farm Accountancy Data Network from seven EU member states. Particular emphasis is placed on the detection of credit market imperfections. The key idea is to provide farm group-specific estimates of the shadow price of capital, and to use these to analyse the drivers of on-farm capital use in European agriculture. Based on Cobb Douglas estimates of farm-type specific production functions, we find that working capital is typically used in more than economically optimal quantities and often displays negative marginal returns across countries and farm types. This is less often the case with regard to fixed capital, but it is only in a small set of sectors where access to fixed capital appears severely constrained. These sectors include field crop and mixed farms in Denmark, dairy farms in East Germany, as well as mixed farms in Italy and the UK. The relationship between farm financial indicators and the estimated shadow prices of capital varies considerably across countries and sectors. Among the farms with a high shadow price for fixed capital in Denmark, high debt levels and little owned land tended to induce more intensive capital use, which may reflect the liberal Danish banking system. In East Germany, Italy and the UK, high debt levels made farmers more tightly capital constrained. Hence, in the latter group of countries, more traditional mechanisms of capital allocation based on debt capacity seemed to be at work. As a general conclusion, EU agriculture appears to be characterised by overcapitalisation rather than by credit constraints. |
| Keywords: | credit market, Farm Accountancy Data Network, on-farm capital use, capital productivity, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:132838&r=agr |
| By: | Tocco, Barbara; Davidova, Sophia; Bailey, Alastair |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of exit from agriculture under the implementation of CAP payments in four selected EU countries (France, Hungary, Italy and Poland) in the period 2005-08. The study employs micro-data from the European Union Labour Force Survey and regional data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network. We differentiate among the different measures of farm payments, looking at the individual impact of Pillar 1 instruments, i.e. coupled and decoupled payments, and at those in Pillar 2, targeted at rural development. The main results suggest that total subsidies at the regional level are negatively associated with the out-farm migration of agricultural workers in the two New member states, Hungary and Poland, so that the CAP would seem to hinder the exit of labour from agriculture. Conversely, the non-significant results for the ‘old’ member states may be interpreted as the result of opposing effects of coupled payments and rural development support. The diverse impact of CAP on the likelihood of leaving agriculture in the four countries reflects the heterogeneity across European member states, due to different market and production structures, which does not allow a common and simple generalisation of the effect of the CAP on labour allocation. |
| Keywords: | Common Agricultural Policy, Farm Exit, European Union, Labor and Human Capital, J43, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:160742&r=agr |
| By: | Bhorat, Haroon; Hirsch, Alan; Kanbur, Ravi; Ncube, Mthuli |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180150&r=agr |
| By: | Claassen, Roger; Duquette, Eric; Horowitz, John; Kohei, Ueda |
| Abstract: | Conservation payments lead to improvement in environmental quality only if farmers and ranchers who receive them adopt conservation practices that would not have been adopted without the payment. When a voluntary payment causes a change in practice(s) that lead(s) to improved environmental quality, these changes are “additional.” We estimate this “additionality” for a number of common conservation practices that are frequently supported by existing conservation programs. We find that the level of additionality varies by practice and that additionality is high for structural and vegetative practices while the risk of nonadditionality appears to be higher for management practices. While the risk of nonadditionality cannot be completely eliminated, it can be reduced. We discuss a number of approaches to managing nonadditionality in both conservation programs and environmental offset programs. |
| Keywords: | Additionality, conservation programs, conservation practices, conservation payments, offsets, greenhouse gas, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:180414&r=agr |
| By: | Charalampos Konstantinidis |
| Abstract: | Although organic farming is considered the poster child of rural development in Europe, there is little empirical evidence assessing its success in achieving the ambitious socio-economic objectives of support for small farms and employment generation that it is purported to assist. I present empirical evidence from the growth of organic farming in Europe over the past two decades that questions the highly optimistic claims of policy makers. I show that the rise in a region's share of agricultural land farmed under organic methods is associated with higher average farm size. Additionally organic farms in Europe display larger average sizes and lower rates of labor intensity than their conventional counterparts. Since the agricultural labor intensity in a region (the labor application per hectare) is not positively related with the share of organic area, the efficacy of organic farms to generate employment is set in doubt. I assert that this these developments point to the "conventionalization" of organic farming and present a serious challenge to European policy-making. Finally I suggest that the success of organic farming should be evaluated by the numbers of organic farmers, rather than by area covered, as has been the predominant approach so far. |
| Keywords: | organic farming, agricultural policy, European Union |
| JEL: | O13 Q18 R11 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mab:wpaper:2013_05&r=agr |
| By: | Latruffe, Laure; Salanié, Julien; Minvie, Jean Joseph |
| Abstract: | Using data from individual transactions for the period 1994-2010 in the French NUTS2 region Brittany, the authors investigated how environmental regulations and transaction land regulations influence the price of sold plots. Regressions on three sub-samples of buyers were performed in order to assess whether different buyers have different attitudes or plans regarding the farmland purchased: a sub-sample including only farmer-buyers, a sub-sample including non-farmer individual buyers, and a sub-sample including non-farmer non-individual buyers. Estimations were performed ignoring and accounting for spatial interactions (model SARAR). Results indicate that the price of land decreases when buyers are farmers, that the nitrate surplus area zoning increases the price of land, even more so for farmer-buyers. Regarding land transaction regulations, there is a negative effect, on land price, of the purchaser being the current tenant or being the land regulating public body SAFER. Estimating the model on different sub-samples depending on the buyers’ type shed light on the factors that are more important for each buyer. |
| Keywords: | land, environmental regulations, land transactions, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:157111&r=agr |
| By: | Magali Aubert (Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs, INRA); Zouhair Bouhsina (Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs, INRA); Jean Marie Codron (Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs, INRA); Sylvain Rousset (UR ADBX, Institut National de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies pour l'Environnement et l'Agriculture) |
| Abstract: | Fresh produce pesticide safety risk has grown into a major concern of North European consumers and governments for the last twenty years. Our study expands on safety control issues and gives insights into how fresh vegetable chains organize to comply with retail private safety standards and thus get access to export and modern domestic markets. Most studies on the adoption of good agricultural practice certifications and integrated pest management overlook the influence of food chain organization. Building on Transaction Cost Economics, our paper aims to fill this gap by studying the influence of vertical linkages, more precisely the incentives and managerial procedures crafted by packing stations in order to control farmers'behavior and manage the pesticide safety risk. Two surveys have been conducted to that purpose in the Moroccan SoussMassa-Drâa region. Our first survey of thirty tomato packers provides only mixed results about our first hypothesis: that the more the supply chain is integrated (from contracted growers to full ownership) the more the control of pesticide safety risk is achieved through direct supervision rather than outcome-based incentives. Our second survey of 86 producers confirms that integrated chains are more efficient in safeguarding specific investments in safety management, which results in greater diffusion of biocontrol and good agricultural practice certification within the greenhouses that are owned by private packers rather than independent farmers. |
| Abstract: | La sécurité sanitaire pour les fruits et légumes frais est depuis une vingtaine d’années une préoccupation majeure pour les consommateurs et les gouvernements, notamment ceux du Nord de l’Europe. Notre étude s’intéresse au contrôle de la sécurité sanitaire pour les filières de légumes frais. Elle précise notamment comment s’organisent ces filières pour se conformer aux standards privés de la grande distribution et ainsi pouvoir accéder aux marchés d’exportation et aux marchés nationaux dits modernes. La plupart des travaux traitant de l’adoption de référentiels certifiés de bonnes pratiques agricoles ou de techniques de protection intégrée ne prennent pas en compte l’organisation de la filière et les interactions entre les acteurs de cette filière. Pour pallier ce manque, l’article analyse l’influence des relations verticales en se basant sur la Théorie des Coûts de Transaction. Plus précisément, on considère les incitations et les procédures de gestion mises en Å“uvre par les stations de conditionnement pour contrôler les producteurs et gérer le risque lié aux pesticides. Deux enquêtes ont été réalisées dans la région du Souss-Massa-Drâa au Maroc. La première considère trente stations spécialisées en tomate. Elle fournit des résultats contrastés quant à l’hypothèse selon laquelle, plus la filière est intégrée et plus le contrôle est réalisé à travers une supervision directe, et moins à travers la mise en Å“uvre d’un système incitatif. La seconde enquête considère 86 producteurs. Elle confirme que les filières les plus intégrées sont les plus efficaces en termes de protection des investissements spécifiques dans la production raisonnée. L’adoption de la lutte biologique et des référentiels de bonnes pratiques agricoles est ainsi plus importante lorsque les serres sont détenues par des stations privées, plutôt que par des producteurs indépendants des stations. |
| Keywords: | food safety, pesticides, integrated pest management, IPM, good agricultural practices, gap, transaction costs, vertical organization, fresh vegetables, sécurité sanitaire, norme, protection intégréefruit, legume frais, produit frais, intégration verticale, filière fruits et légumes, tomatepesticidecoût de transactionmaroc |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:192816&r=agr |
| By: | Ana María Ibáñez Londoño; Juan Carlos Muñoz Mora; Philip Verwimp |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the importance of the risk of violence on the decision making of rural households, using a unique panel data set for Colombian coffee-growers. We identify two channels. First, we examine the direct impact of conflict on agricultural production through the change in the percentage of the farm allocated to coffee. Second, we explore how conflict generates incentives to substitute from legal agricultural production to illegal crops. Following Dercon and Christiaensen (2011), we develop a dynamic consumption model where economic risk and the risk of violence are explicitly included. Theoretical results are tested using a parametric and semi-parametric approach. We find a significant negative effect of the risk of violence and the presence of illegal crops on the decision to continue coffee production and on the percentage of the farm allocated to coffee. Results are robust after controlling for endogeneity bias and after relaxing the normality assumption. |
| Keywords: | selection model, armed conflict, and agricultural production |
| JEL: | C21 C34 D13 D74 |
| Date: | 2013–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:011465&r=agr |
| By: | Le, Quang Bao; Nkonya, Ephraim; Mirzabaev, Alisher |
| Abstract: | Land degradation is a global problem affecting negatively the livelihoods and food security of billions of people, especially farmers and pastoralists in the developing countries. Eradicating extreme poverty without adequately addressing land degradation is highly unlikely. Given the importance and magnitude of the problem, there have been recurring efforts by the international community to identify the extent and severity of land degradation in global scale. As discussed in this paper, many previous studies were challenged by lack of appropriate data or shortcomings of their methodological approaches. In this paper, using global level remotely sensed vegetation index data, we identify the hotspots of land degradation in the world across major land cover types. In doing so, we use the long-term trend of inter-annual vegetation index as an indicator of biomass production decline or improvement. Besides the elimination of technical factors, confounding the relationship between the indicator and the biomass production of the land, we apply a methodology which accounts for masking effects of both inter-annual rainfall variation and atmospheric fertilization. We also delineate the areas where chemical fertilization could be hiding the inherent land degradation processes. Our findings show that land degradation hotpots cover about 29% of global land area and are happening in all agro-ecologies and land cover types. Land degradation is especially massive in grasslands. About 3.2 billion people reside in these degrading areas. However, the number of people affected by land degradation is likely to be higher as more people depend on the continuous flow of ecosystem goods and services from these affected areas. As we note in the paper, this figure, although, does not include all possible areas with degraded lands, it identifies those areas where land degradation is most acute and requires priority actions in both in-depth research and management measures to combat land degradation. Our findings indicate that, in fact, land improvement has also occurred in about 2.7% of global land area during the last three decades, providing a support that with appropriate actions land degradation trend could be reversed, and that the efforts to address land degradation need to be substantially increased, at least by a factor, to attain the vision of Zero Net Land Degradation. We also identify concrete aspects in which these results should be interpreted with caution, the limitations of this work and the key areas for future research. |
| Keywords: | land degradation hotspots, mapping, carbon fertilization, Economics of Land Degradation, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Q01, Q15, Q23, Q24, Q56, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:177961&r=agr |
| By: | Shah, Deepak |
| Abstract: | The major issues discussed in this study revolve around export potential of India in non-traditional agricultural commodities in relation to traditional ones and domestic demand and supply aspects of various commodities with special emphasis on non-traditional ones in particular and traditional ones in general with a view to evaluate India’s export trade in these commodities in the near future and direction of trade. The study shows that the agricultural exports of India have always been fraught with high fluctuations. In spite of significant production expansions in many agricultural commodities, India’s global agricultural trade has remained at lower ebb. A lack of vision and a directionless agricultural export planning on the part of our policy planners seem to be responsible for this not so-encouraging scenario. However, it is to be further noted that though India’s share for most of the selected commodities in the total Asian and world exports encompassing them fluctuated during the past two decades, a fillip received to their exports in the wake of liberalization of policies also meant encouraging trends. Notwithstanding the dwindling India’s share of world agricultural exports, it is hoped that a regime of liberal trade policy measures will propel this country’s international market share in these commodities in future, in general. And, adoption of such international trade friendly measures is likely to benefit India’s horticultural exports, in particular. Further, though the study shows horticultural exports of India to forge ahead even in the face of wide international price fluctuations and high burgeoning demand for these high value commodities, the development of horticultural products in the country still suffers from several constraints, which are not only general but also crop specific in nature. In brief, it deserves mention that the country’s strength lies in its rich bio-diversity, diversity in agro-climatic conditions, a large labour force, the low use of agro-chemical. All this can provide a boost to the export trade of India in agricultural products. |
| Keywords: | Liberalization Agricultural Exports India |
| JEL: | Q17 |
| Date: | 2012–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56575&r=agr |
| By: | Ager, Philipp; Ciccone, Antonio |
| Abstract: | Building on the idea that religious communities provide mutual insurance against some idiosyncratic risks, we argue that religious membership is more valuable in societies exposed to greater common risk. In our empirical analysis we exploit rainfall risk as a source of common economic risk in the nineteenth-century United States and show that religious communities were larger in counties where they faced greater rainfall risk. The link between rainfall risk and the size of religious communities is stronger in counties that were more agricultural, that had lower population densities, or that were exposed to greater rainfall risk during the growing season. |
| Keywords: | Religious community size , agricultural risk , informal insurance |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnh:wpaper:36848&r=agr |
| By: | Rigoberto A. Lopez (University of Connecticut; University of Connecticut); Nataliya Plesha (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | This report, produced at the request of the Dairy Committee of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Association, assess es the economic and dairy farm sustainability impacts of Connecticut’s Public Act 09 - 229 . Th e Act established a dairy farm sustainability and safety net program by providing payments to dairy farmers when ever the federal milk price falls below a minimum sustainable monthly cost of production . The Act has provide d $ 1 6. 72 million in payments between 2010 and 2012. T o this end, three supportive objectives are pursued: 1) to examine recent trends in Connecticut dairy farming and policies; 2) to assess the impact of the Act on dairy farming sustainability; and 3) to assess the economic impact of payments under the Act. The focus is on dairy farming and does not take into account impacts beyond the farm gate or impacts on open space and other environmental benefits. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zwi:outrep:18&r=agr |
| By: | Olper, Alessandro; Raimondi, Valentina; Bertoni, Danilo; Cavicchioli, Daniele |
| Abstract: | The inter-sectoral migration of agricultural labour is a complex but fundamental process of economic development largely affected by the growth of agricultural productivity and the evolution of the agricultural relative income gap. Theory and some recent anecdotal evidence suggest that as an effect of large fixed and sunk costs of out-farm migration, the productivity gap between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors should behave non-monotonically or following a U-shaped evolution during economic development. Whether or not this relationship holds true across a sample of 38 developing and developed countries and across more than 200 EU regions was empirically tested. Results strongly confirm this relationship, which also emphasises the role played by national agricultural policy. |
| Keywords: | Off-farm migration, income gaps, factor markets, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2013–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:144006&r=agr |
| By: | Marco Gonzalez-Navarro (University of Toronto); Kyle Emerick (UC Berkeley); Elisabeth Sadoulet (University of California at Berkeley); Alain de Janvry (University of California at Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | We show that removing the link between active land use and ownership through certification can result in increased outmigration. Using the rollout of the Mexican land certification program from 1993 to 2006 we find that households obtaining land certificates were subsequently 28% more likely to have a migrant member. This response was differentiated by initial land endowments, land quality, outside wages, and initial land security, as predicted by our model. Effects on land under cultivation were heterogeneous: in high land quality regions land under cultivation increased while in low quality ones it declined. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed014:138&r=agr |
| By: | Jorgensen, Christian; Persson, Morten |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the degree of segmentation of the market for agricultural machinery and equipment in the EU. We focus on agricultural tractors, the most common and biggest investment in machinery and equipment in the agricultural sector. By using country price data for individual tractor models, we test the law of one price, i.e. the existence of a common price for tractors across EU member states. We find that significant price differences exist, yet unlike most other studies we find that large price deviations are penalised within a short time. The study also shows that transport costs are an important source of price differences, as domestic production leads to lower prices on the domestic market and as price convergence is negatively correlated with distance. Finally, price differences should not solely be understood from a geographical perspective, as evidence supports the idea that farmers’ buying power is significant in explaining price differences within countries. |
| Keywords: | Tractors, Price differences, Convergence, Factor Markets, Demand and Price Analysis, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:144005&r=agr |
| By: | Tocco, Barbara; Bailey, Alastair; Davidova, Sophia |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to explore the determinants to leave agriculture and change occupational sector. We adopt a 3-step multivariate probit where we control for selection bias at two stages in the decisions to work and, at a later stage, exit agriculture. The analysis is based on the European Union Labour Force Survey data expanded with additional regional indicators. The main results suggest that younger individuals are more likely to leave farming activities, although the largest outflows of agricultural labour are mainly associated with the retirement of people. Self-employed and family workers are generally less likely to leave agriculture and those with low levels of educations are found to be significantly constrained in entering the non-farm economy. Moreover, labour market conditions at the regional level do matter for switching occupational sector. Differences in the results among the selected new member states and the EU-15 can be explained by the diverse production structures, suggesting different capacities to release and absorb labour. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Employment, Labour mobility, Sample Selection Bias, Labor and Human Capital, J43, J62, Q12, J24, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:155704&r=agr |
| By: | Branca, Giacomo; Felix, Erika; Maltsoglou, Irini; Rincon, Luis E.; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the greenhouse gas emissions and economic impacts from producing biofuels in Tanzania. Sequentially-linked models capture natural resource constraints; emissions from land use change; economywide growth linkages; and household poverty |
| Keywords: | biofuels, economic growth, greenhouse gas emissions, poverty, Tanzania |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-018&r=agr |
| By: | Torkelsson, Asa |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is a main contributor to pro-poor growth in Africa, but gender inequalities in the sector hold back agricultural growth and affect household welfare negatively. The sector has been characterized by a lack of gender-disaggregated data and patch |
| Keywords: | poverty reduction, agriculture, gender, markets, Kenya |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-024&r=agr |
| By: | Tocco, Barbara; Bailey, Alastair; Davidova, Sophia |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an empirical methodology for studying the reallocation of agricultural labour across sectors from micro data. Whereas different approaches have been employed in the literature to better understand the mobility of labour, looking at the determinants to exit farm employment and enter off-farm activities, the initial decision of individuals to work in agriculture, as opposed to other sectors, has often been neglected. The proposed methodology controls for the selectivity bias, which may arise in the presence of a non-random sample of the population, in this context those in agricultural employment, which would lead to biased and inconsistent estimates. A 3-step multivariate probit with two selection and one outcome equations constitutes the selected empirical approach to explore the determinants of farm labour to exit agriculture and switch occupational sector. The model can be used to take into account the different market and production structures across European member states on the allocation of agricultural labour and its adjustments. |
| Keywords: | Farm Labour, Reallocation, Micro-Data, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:155703&r=agr |
| By: | Xavier Irz (MTT Agrifood Research Finland); Pascal Leroy (Alimentation et Sciences Sociales, INRA); Vincent Requillart (Groupe de Recherche en Economie Mathématique et Quantitative, INRA); Louis Georges Soler (Alimentation et Sciences Sociales, INRA); Olivier Allais (Alimentation et Sciences Sociales, INRA) |
| Abstract: | Because food choices have important implications for human health and the environment, consumers are increasingly urged to modify their purchasing and eating habits so as to comply with a set of norms (e.g., eat at least five portions of fruits & vegetables a day; reduce meat consumption). However, the effect of compliance with those norms on the composition of the entire diet is uncertain because of potentially complex substitutions. To lift this uncertainty, we propose a model which extends the theory of the consumer under rationing to the case of multiple linear constraints. The effect on the diet of compliance with norms is derived from information on consumer preferences (price and expenditure elasticities of demand), consumption levels, and technical coefficients for each food (e.g., nutritional composition, GHG emissions). The model is then used to simulate how the French diet would respond to a five percent increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as the related changes in diet quality and greenhouse gas emissions. |
| Keywords: | food choice, sustainability, rationing, sustainable diet, france |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:185106&r=agr |
| By: | Nina Latouillle; Karine Latouche; Samira Rousselière |
| Abstract: | This article aims at understanding the internationalization of French agri-food cooperatives through two components: i) the presence of subsidiaries of cooperatives abroad and; ii) export of either the cooperatives or their affiliate(s). Merging the AMADEUS dataset on French agri-food cooperatives, containing information on the cooperative network, with customs data, providing data on French agri-food exports, allows us to provide some answers. The main result shows that the export activities of the cooperatives and those of its subsidiaries are complementary. |
| Keywords: | agri-food cooperative groups, subsidiaries, territorial link, export performance, foreign implantation |
| JEL: | F23 L25 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201405&r=agr |
| By: | Çakır, Metin; Nolan, James |
| Abstract: | The use of complementary inputs is a key characteristic of the production process in many food related industries. In this article we explore how market power in a complementary input sector compares to the exertion of market power in a downstream sector for both producer and consumer welfare, as well as for policy. We develop a model of a homogenous product market that encompasses both bilateral and complementary relationships. The model focuses on the primary input sector and allows for exertion of market power by both complementary input suppliers and downstream firms. We use comparative statics analyses and numerical simulations to study the economic equilibrium under different scenarios of market power exertion. With respect to the welfare of primary input suppliers, our main finding is that market power exercised by the supplier of a complementary input generates greater negative effects than the same level of market power exercised by the downstream firms. We provide a discussion of the implications of the results for policy in the context of current problems within the Canadian grain handling and transportation system. |
| Keywords: | Supply Chain Competitiveness, Complementary Sectors, Market Power, Grain Handling and Transportation System, Production Economics, D43, L13, Q13, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:179168&r=agr |
| By: | Sahrbacher, Christoph; Ostermeyer, Arlette; Sahrbacher, Amanda |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impacts of high interest rates for borrowed capital and credit restrictions on the structural development of four European regions. The method used is the model AgriPoliS which is a spatial-dynamic agent-based model. It is able to provide aggregated results at the regional level, but very individual results as well by considering farms as independent entities. Farms can choose between different investment options during the simulation. Several scenarios with different interest rates for borrowed capital on the one hand as well as with different levels of credit restrictions on the other hand are tested and compared. Results show that higher interest rates have less impact on declining production branches than on expanding ones. If they have the possibility farms invest in the most profitable production branch which relative profitability might have changed with high interest rates. Credit restrictions lead farms to choose smaller and cheaper investments than expensive and large ones. Results also show that income losses in both cases due to under-investment compared to the reference situation are partially compensated by lower rental prices. The impacts on structural change also differ depending on the region and the initial situation. In summary, credit subsidies or imperfections on credit markets might have indirect impacts on the type of dominant investment and therefore on the whole regional agricultural sector as well. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2013–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:157114&r=agr |
| By: | Christopher Ksoll (Ottawa University); Helene Bie Lilleør (The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Jonas Helth Lønborg (University of Southern Denmark); Ole Dahl Rasmussen (University of Southern Denmark & DanChurchAid) |
| Abstract: | Seventy percent of the world’s poorest live in rural areas in developing countries with poor access to finance. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) have become an increasingly widespread intervention aimed at improving local financial intermediation. Using a cluster randomized trial, we investigate the impact of VSLAs in forty-six villages in Malawi. We find positive and significant intent-to-treat effects on the number of meals consumed per day, total household consumption, and number of rooms in the dwelling over a two-year period. This effect is linked to an increase in savings and credit obtained through the VSLAs, which has increased agricultural investments. |
| Keywords: | Saving groups; Village Savings and Loan Associations; VSLA; Malawi; Impact evaluation; cluster-randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | O16 O13 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rok:spaper:56&r=agr |
| By: | Ubilava, David |
| Abstract: | Climate anomalies affect agricultural production in different parts of the world and can impact price behavior of internationally traded commodities. This research examines the effect of a particular climate phenomenon, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), on wheat prices from the major exporting regions. The study adopts a smooth transition modelling framework to addresses nonlinear dynamics and asymmetric price transmissions in response to the climate anomalies. Results suggest that a positive ENSO shock, i.e. El Nino, reduces wheat prices, while a negative ENSO shock, i.e. La Nina, increases wheat prices. The price changes vary across the export regions, but on average are within the three percent magnitude. The price increase due to La Nina is of a larger magnitude as compared to the price decrease due to El Nino. Moreover, price responses to ENSO shocks are more amplified (up to seven percent) during the La Nina regime, as compared to the El Nino regime. These findings are indicative of and consistent with the economics of grain price volatility and the theory of storage. |
| Keywords: | Asymmetric Dynamics; El Niño Southern Oscillation; International Wheat Prices; Smooth Transition Modelling |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:syd:wpaper:2014-06&r=agr |
| By: | Iwona Muller-Fraczek (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland); Joanna Muszynska (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland); Michal Bernard Pietrzak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of expenditure on food of households in Poland in the years 1999-2010. Since their level and dynamics can be used as a measure of well-being of society this process was used to examine internal social convergence of regions, in this case the voivodeships. The aim of this paper was to validate the hypothesis about the process for ß-convergence in the share of household expenditure on food in total expenditures. The research has allowed the identification of long-term tendency of the level of expenditure on food in Polish households. Based on the analysis of conditional convergence, the article indicates household disposable income as a strong determinant of social convergence process in Poland. For the verification of hypotheses dynamic panel models were applied. The analysis was based on data from the CSO website. All calculations were performed in the Gretl. |
| Keywords: | convergence, household, panel data model |
| JEL: | C23 D12 R20 O12 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2013:no34&r=agr |
| By: | Heikkila, Anna-Maija; Myyra, Sami; Pietola, Kyosti |
| Abstract: | In the long term, productivity and especially productivity growth are necessary conditions for the survival of a farm. In this paper, we focus on the technology choice of a dairy farm, i.e. the choice between a conventional and an automatic milking system. Our aim is to reveal the extent to which economic rationality explains investing in new technology. The adoption of robotics is further linked to farm productivity to show how capital-intensive technology has affected the overall productivity of milk production. In our empirical analysis, we apply a probit model and an extended Cobb-Douglastype production function to a Finnish farm-level dataset for the years 2000–10. The results show that very few economic factors on a dairy farm or in its economic environment can be identified to affect the switch to automatic milking. Existing machinery capital and investment allowances are among the significant factors. The results also indicate that the probability of investing in robotics responds elastically to a change in investment aids: an increase of 1% in aid would generate an increase of 2% in the probability of investing. Despite the presence of non-economic incentives, the switch to robotic milking is proven to promote productivity development on dairy farms. No productivity growth is observed on farms that keep conventional milking systems, whereas farms with robotic milking have a growth rate of 8.1% per year. The mean rate for farms that switch to robotic milking is 7.0% per year. The results show great progress in productivity growth, with the average of the sector at around 2% per year during the past two decades. In conclusion, investments in new technology as well as investment aids to boost investments are needed in low-productivity areas where investments in new technology still have great potential to increase productivity, and thus profitability and competitiveness, in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Dairy farms, robotics, factor markets, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:144002&r=agr |
| By: | Clementina Sebillote (INRA-UR1303 ALISS) |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes co-regulation as a policy instrument that makes it possible to achieve synergy between public support and private efforts in the food sector. Our objective is to demonstrate the interest and the limits, as well as the conditions of the effectiveness of this instrument, through the analysis of the French voluntary agreements for nutritional improvements. We compared our interpretation of the French model for political action on the nutritional quality of the food offer to the results of our assessment of the agreements. We observed a gap between the political aspirations declared, the model designed and the actually trajectory that was followed: this public intervention is a response to the seriousness of the problem but not to its urgency. This analysis deals with two key dimensions of the modification of the offer by voluntary commitments: the intrinsic quality of the commitments and the part of the overall offer covered by these commitments. Should we attempt to minimally improve a large part of the offer or, instead, to try to obtain a radical improvement that may only involve a small part of it? We attempt here to provide new insights into this question. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary Agreements, Nutrition Policy, Voluntary Commitments, Public-Private Coregulation, Nutritional Environment, Quality of Food Offer, Charter Network, Obesity |
| JEL: | I18 D22 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ali:wpaper:2013-03&r=agr |
| By: | Shenkute, Awraris Getachew; Getachew, Yemisrach; Assefa, Dejen; Adgaba, Nuru; Ganga, Gebeyehu; Abebe, Workneh |
| Abstract: | Southwest parts of Ethiopia particularly Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones are endowed with very diverse and dense natural forests. This favours for the existence of dense honeybee population and production of large volume of honey. However, detail information on honey production systems of the area was lacking. In this study five representative districts were selected and data on beekeeping practice and its major constraints were collected. Traditional beekeeping system is practiced by more than 99% of beekeepers. The average traditional hives owned/household in Masha and Gesha were significantly higher (P |
| Keywords: | Forest, beekeeping practice, honey, beekeepers, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | D1 D13 D19 D2 Y50 Y80 Z10 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56580&r=agr |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Asante, Felix; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | Long-run economic development in Ghana is potentially vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change given the country.s dependence on rainfed agriculture, hydropower, and unpaved rural roads. We use a computable general equilibrium model, informed by detaile |
| Keywords: | climate change, economic impacts, CGE model, Ghana |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-020&r=agr |
| By: | Michal Bernard Pietrzak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland); Damian Walczak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The objective of the paper is to analyse the agrarian structure in Poland in the years 1921-2002 based on the example of the following selected provinces from the former three annexed territories: the wielkopolskie province from the Prussian partition, the ma³opolskie province from the Austrian partition, and the œwiêtokrzyskie province from the Russian partition. The subject of the evaluation of the changes in the agrarian structure is based on the comparisons made for the years 1921 and 2002. The Gini coefficient and the arable coefficient were applied in the analysis of the agrarian structure. As shown in the paper, despite the flow of many years, the transformations determining it, the changes in the agrarian structure within the three annexed areas were much alike. That means that in the provinces examined the agrarian structure is strongly conditioned by history. The differences in the agrarian structure between the three annexed territories have been maintained to date, despite the common agricultural and economic policies conducted within the area of Poland for almost 100 years. |
| Keywords: | agrarian structure, Gini coefficient, arable coefficient |
| JEL: | Q15 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2013:no31&r=agr |
| By: | Oded Galor; Omer Ozak |
| Abstract: | This research explores the origins of the distribution of time preference across regions. It advances the hypothesis, and establishes empirically, that geographical variations in the incentives to delay consumption in favor of lucrative investment opportunities have had a persistent effect on the distribution of long-term orientation across societies. In particular, exploiting a natural experiment associated with the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that agro-climatic characteristics in the pre-industrial era that were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment, triggered selection and learning processes that had a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era. |
| Keywords: | Time preference, Delayed Gratiffcation, Culture, Agriculture, Economic Development, Evolution |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2014-5&r=agr |
| By: | Charilaos Kephaliacos (LEREPS Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche sur l'Economie, les Politiques et les Systèmes Sociaux - 2 Rue du Doyen-Gabriel-Marty 31042 Toulouse FR, Université Toulouse - Capitole (Toulouse 1)); Jean Pierre Del Corso (LEREPS Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche sur l'Economie, les Politiques et les Systèmes Sociaux - 2 Rue du Doyen-Gabriel-Marty 31042 Toulouse FR, Université Toulouse - Capitole (Toulouse 1)); Geneviève N'Guyen (INRA -  FR, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique); Henri Tavernier |
| Abstract: | Le dernier rapport d'expertise de l'INRA-CEMAGREF met en avant la nécessité, d'une part, de référencer les différentes pratiques alternatives utiles pour réduire les impacts environnementaux liés à l'emploi de pesticides, et d'autre part, de considérer les conditions d'adoption et de mise en oeuvre de ces pratiques tant au niveau de l'exploitation agricole qu'au niveau de son environnement économique et social. Notre étude s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche PSDR/CCRDT Midi-Pyrénées visant à analyser les conditions d'adoption de techniques alternatives et innovantes en matière d'utilisation de phytosanitaires en agriculture. Nous nous sommes intéressés plus précisément au processus de la transmission de l'information technique qui accompagne la mise en oeuvre d'un projet innovant de MAET-DCE portée par une coopérative située sur un bassin versant de Midi-Pyrénées. Ce processus en cours a été analysé en mobilisant l'économie institutionnaliste. Pour aborder la question de la gestion des risques d'adoption des nouvelles pratiques par les acteurs parties prenantes nous avons préalablement mobilisé des approches traitant de l'incertitude (typologie des situations d'incertitude) et des modalités actuelles du conseil en agriculture (cadrage technique). Du point de vue économique et à partir du cas étudié, nous avons proposé une nouvelle interprétation des phénomènes pouvant avoir lieu lors de la mise en oeuvre des politiques environnementales visant le changement des pratiques de production et touchant de fait un ensemble de partenaires comme ceux intervenant dans une filière de production agroalimentaire. L'action de la coopérative est au centre de la création conjointe de plusieurs catégories de biens via plusieurs types des coordinations entre les acteurs concernés, individuels, collectifs ou d'organismes privés ou publics. Ce type de production jointe va au delà des phénomènes déjà identifiée dans la littérature économique à propos de la multifonctionnalité de l'agriculture et la gestion des ressources naturelles en général. Ils concernent plus particulièrement les processus d'apprentissage et la création multi-partenariale de connaissances nécessaires au changement technique mais aussi institutionnel qui est proposé ou imposé dans une optique de développement durable. |
| Abstract: | Adoption of pesticides reducing agricultural practices. The role of collective learning Based on an original multi-partnership experience of agri-environmental measure (MAET-DCE) carried by a cooperative, this study aims to analyse the role of collective learning on the reduction of risks associated with the adoption of alternative agricultural practices. The process of transmission of technical information and the associated forms of coordination have been analysed using a conceptual framework inspired by works done in institutional economics on uncertainty and extension service in agriculture. The analysis shows that the cooperative is at the center of the joint production of different categories of goods, based on different types of informational transactions |
| Keywords: | apprentissage collectif, conseil, coûts de transaction, incertitude, mesures agri-environnementales, produits phytosanitaires, bassin versant Adour-Garonne, collective learning, extension service, transaction costs, uncertainty, agri-environmental measures, pesticides, the Adour-Garonne River Basin |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:244068&r=agr |
| By: | Gervaise Debucquet (Audencia Recherche - Audencia); Josiane Cornet (IFREMER Nantes - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - Nantes - Université de Nantes); Isabelle Adam (IFREMER Nantes - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - Nantes - Université de Nantes); Mireille Cardinal (IFREMER Nantes - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - Nantes - Université de Nantes) |
| Abstract: | The search for new markets in the seafood sector, associated with the question of the continuity of raw oyster consumption over generations can be an opportunity for processors to extend their ranges with oyster-based products. The twofold aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of processing and social representation on perception of oyster-based products by French consumers and to identify the best means of development in order to avoid possible failure in the market. Five products with different degrees of processing (cooked oysters in a half-shell, hot preparation for toast, potted oyster, oyster butter and oyster-based soup) were presented within focus groups and consumer tests, at home and in canteens with the staff of several companies in order to reach consumers with different ages and professional activities. The results showed that social representation had a strong impact and that behaviours were contrasted according to the initial profile of the consumer (traditional raw oyster consumers or non-consumers) and their age distribution (younger and older people). The degree of processing has to be adapted to each segment. It is suggested to develop early exposure to influence the food choices and preferences of the youngest consumers on a long-term basis. |
| Keywords: | Oyster; Processing; Consumer perception; Disgust; Social representation |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00956940&r=agr |
| By: | Jablonski, B.B.R.; Schmit, T.M. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180117&r=agr |