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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2014‒09‒29
thirty papers chosen by |
| By: | Cortignani, Raffaele; Dono, Gabriele; Giraldo, Luca |
| Abstract: | Sustainable management of natural resources and climate action together form one of the three objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020. They are addressed by replacing the existing direct payments under Pillar 1 with a basic payment topped up by an additional payment conditional on farmers undertaking “agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment”, under a policy referred to as greening. In this study, the impact of greening was assessed using a Discrete Stochastic Programming model that describes the farm production in a Mediterranean agricultural area in different climate scenarios. The results show that greening is not beneficial throughout the study area. Some farm types are particularly affected because of the recent price increase for maize silage for biogas. However, greening appears to have a positive impact on chemical use, particularly nitrogen. The application of the measures greening in the current climate scenario seems to have a more significant impact respect to the future climate scenario. |
| Keywords: | greening measures, agricultural supply analysis, mathematical programming, sustainability, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C61, Q01, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173098&r=agr |
| By: | Magrini, Emiliano; Montalbano, Pierluigi; Nenci, Silvia; Salvatici, Luca |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the causal impact of trade policy distortions on food security. This is an hot issue since restrictions to agricultural trade have been generally applied by national governments, especially in developing countries, as a tool to insulate domestic markets from international prices turmoil. The added value of this work is twofold: i) the use of a non parametric matching technique with continuous treatment, namely the Generalised Propensity Score (GPS) to address the self selection bias; ii) the analysis of treatment (by commodities) as well as outcome heterogeneity (i.e., different dimensions of food security). The outcomes of our estimates show clearly that trade policy distortions are, overall, signficantly correlated with the various dimensions of food security under analysis but on the opposite direction than hoped for by policy-makers: countries less prone to adopt trade distortion policies tend to be better off in all the dimensions of food security (food availability, access, utilisation) with the relevant exception of food stability. |
| Keywords: | Food security, International trade, Trade measures, Impact evaluation, GPS, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C21, F14, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173091&r=agr |
| By: | CHATZINIKOLAOU, PARTHENA; MANOS, BASIL; KIOMOURTZI, FEDRA |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a model for sustainable planning and optimization of agricultural production. The model is a mathematical programming model, based on multicriteria techniques, and is used as a tool for the analysis and simulation of agricultural production plans, as well as for the study of impacts of the various policies in agriculture. The model can achieve the optimum production plan of an agricultural region combining in one utility function different conflicting criteria as the maximization of gross margin and the minimization of fertilizers used, under a set of constraints for land, labour, available capital, common agricultural policy etc. The proposed model was applied to the region of Thessaly, in central Greece. In all prefectures, the optimum production plan achieves greater gross return, les fertilizers use, and less irrigated water use than the existent production plan. |
| Keywords: | sustainable planning, multicriteria analysis, optimization of agricultural production, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173105&r=agr |
| By: | Cooper, Joseph; Delbecq, Benoit |
| Abstract: | The 2014 U.S. Farm Act passed into law in early February, 2014, after approximately three years of hearings. Much debate in the negotiations leading to this Farm Act focused on new programs for providing producers with support payments covering “shallow losses” in revenue. We develop an approach to examine the sensitivity of the farmer’s downside risk protection to marginal changes in the deductible in shallow loss program scenarios. The copula approach we use simultaneously considers price and yield correlation across all U.S. counties producing several major field crops. We find that average payments under the shallow loss program scenarios are elastic with respect to the program’s payment coverage rate. To empirically assess where shallow loss is likely to most benefit producers, we map at the county level the ratios of expected shallow loss payments to crop insurance premiums for corn, soybeans, cotton, and winter wheat. As tail dependencies among individual crop yield densities may vary spatially, we propose a method for grouping counties in a t-copula that allows for heterogeneity in tail dependencies. |
| Keywords: | 2014 farm act, copula, nonparametric yield density, shallow revenue loss, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q10, Q11, Q18, C14, C15, C51, C55, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173108&r=agr |
| By: | Coderoni, Silvia; Esposti, Roberto |
| Abstract: | This paper firstly aims at proposing and applying a methodology to reconstruct the agricultural GHG emissions and the consequent Carbon Footprint at the farm level. This allows investigating how the emission performance of Italian farms evolves over time also distinguishing among different typologies of farms and territories. Secondly, the paper attempts to put forward some hypotheses explaining the observed heterogeneous evolution of the farm-level CF. In particular, the attention focuses on the possible role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) here intended both as the 2005 reform of its first pillar and those second pillar’s measures targeted to activities and practices that have a direct impact on the CF. The empirical analysis concerns a balanced panel of Italian FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) farms observed over years 2003-2007. This period covers the 2003/2005 reform of the first pillar of the CAP as well as the full application of the second pillar’s measures for the 2000-2007 programming period. A tentative estimation of the farm-level CF and its link to the farm-level delivery of CAP payments is thus provided. Results, although interesting and encouraging, deliver unclear and ambiguous evidence on the role of both aspects of the CAP on the observed CF performance and evolution. Several improvements seem needed to achieve more conclusive evidence putting forward appropriate theoretical concepts, models and econometric approaches to make this assessment more sound and robust, in order to inform the debate and the decisions about the proper policies to mitigate agricultural GHG emission. |
| Keywords: | agricultural greenhouse gases emissions, carbon footprint, farm-level data, CAP, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, O130, Q120, Q150, Q540, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173012&r=agr |
| By: | Poleman, Thomas T. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Political Economy, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudasp:183691&r=agr |
| By: | Turner, Eleanor; Mughisha, Johnny; Haggblade, Steven; Hendriks, Sheryl; Terblanche, Fanie; Yaye, Aissetou |
| Keywords: | This article argues that current agricultural education systems are in need of fundamental reform to support improvements in global food security and environmental sustainability. Constraints and opportunities are presented relative to improving the quality of higher education in agriculture globally. Challenges discussed are the lack of global cooperation, the limited frame of reference associated with educational nationalism, underutilized sources of knowledge, the need for globalization of educational content, gender imbalances among students and faculty members, narrow disciplinary approaches used in organizing learning, and the narrow definition of scholarship and its impact on recognition systems at institutions engaged in higher education in agriculture. Advances in communication technology coupled with a rebirth of global cooperation make it possible to achieve significant advances in higher education in agriculture., Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:183416&r=agr |
| By: | Dudu, Hasan; Cakmak, Erol H |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of climate change and trade liberalization on Turkish Economy between 2008 and 2099 by using a recursive dynamic CGE model. Results of a crop-irrigation requirement model are used to generate climate change shocks. The results suggest that the effects of climate change will be effective especially after 2030s with acceleration after 2060s. GDP loss gets as high as 3.5 percent. Main drivers of the loss in GDP are the significant decline in private consumption and up to two percent increase in imports. A trade liberalization scenario where tariffs on imports from EU are eliminated unilaterally by Turkey is also simulated to investigate the interaction between climate change and trade liberalization. Trade policy alleviates the negative effects of climate change only marginally for Turkey, as suggested by the literature for many other regions in the world. Trade liberalization with EU causes a trade diversion effect and decreases imports from other trading regions. The main adjustment mechanism of the economy under trade liberalization works through the substitution of factors for intermediate goods, imported consumption goods and intermediate inputs for domestic goods. Maize, oilseeds, fruits and processed food benefit from trade liberalization while production of other crops generally decline. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Trade Liberalization, Agriculture, Computable General Equilibrium, Turkey, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C68, Q54, Q17, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:172964&r=agr |
| By: | Schaller, Lena; Ehmeier, V; Kapfer, M; Kantelhardt, J |
| Abstract: | The use and valorisation of landscape services provided in agricultural landscapes are assumed to create socio-economic benefits, which in turn can enhance the competitiveness of rural regions. However, the causal relationships between the valorisation of landscape and the socio-economic benefits are complex and up to now not comprehensively understood. Results of a stakeholder workshop held in a rural area in the northern Austrian Alps indicate, that functioning networks of regional actors are of utter importance for successful landscape valorisation. Also literature reveals that the successful involvement of stakeholders is a major factor for an effective management of complex social processes. Against this background our paper analyses the contribution of social networks to landscape valorisation in the Austrian study region “Mittleres Ennstal”. We apply a Social Network Analysis (SNA) on a closed stakeholder network of altogether 22 institutions representing agriculture, tourism, local administration, local economy, nature conservation and rural development. We combine SNA with an expert evaluation of different strategies of landscape valorisation and assess how regional socio-economic benefits from landscape valorisation potentially impact on regional competitiveness. The study gives insights about the density of stakeholder networks in rural areas and about the different strategies of landscape valorisation pursued by different stakeholder groups. The method applied is suitable to show the potentials of stakeholder networks in fostering landscape valorisation. It furthermore is able to detect strategic gaps and thus can reveal potential starting points for the improvement and bundling of landscape valorisation strategies aiming at the enhancement of regional competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | Social Network Analysis, Stakeholder networks, Landscape valorisation strategies, Agricultural landscape, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q15, Q180, Q51, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:174944&r=agr |
| By: | Weersink, Alfons; Deaton, B. James |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the rental rates that tenants can afford to pay given alternative price and yield conditions. Over the last several years, harvest prices and yields have generally tended to be higher than their expected values when rates were negotiated with landlords. The benefits have accrued to the tenants if the farmland rental contract was a fixed, cash rental arrangement. Since the downside risk in net returns is likely greater than the upside risk, the paper also looks at alternative share arrangements that minimize the downside risk to tenants and allow landlords to enjoy an increase in returns if prices move higher than expected. |
| Keywords: | farmland, rents, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uguiwp:182714&r=agr |
| By: | Souleymane Soumahoro (University of Oklahoma) |
| Abstract: | TI exploit the emergence of two de facto states in Côte d'Ivoire during the 2002-2007 political crisis to examine the effects of an export tax reduction for cocoa beans on the living standards of farming households. Combining both spatial and temporal variations in exposure to a set of dichotomous tariff policies, I find that farmers in low tariff districts significantly increased their consumption expenditure relative to farmers in high tariff districts. I also provide evidence that the transmission of border prices to local farmers is a relevant mechanism through which the reduction of trade barriers enhances cocoa farmers' living standards. |
| Keywords: | Trade Liberalization; Agricultural Commodity; Household Consumption |
| JEL: | D60 F10 O10 Q10 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:182&r=agr |
| By: | Minde, Isaac; Madakadze, Casper; Bashaasha, Bernard |
| Abstract: | This study sought to assess the technical and institutional capacity of tertiary agricultural education and training (AET) institutions in Africa with specific reference to three institutions in eastern and southern Africa—Makerere University, University of Pretoria and Sokoine University of Agriculture. The aim of the assessment was to determine the existing gaps between them and what we envisage a 21st century university to be. The technical assessment refers to the quality and quantity of programmatic side of things such as the number and quality of instructors for a given population of students, the types and relevance of the curricula, the research output and its relevance to the communities and linkages with the public and private sectors. The institutional capacity referred to the quality and adequacy of physical and infrastructure to support teaching, research and outreach activities. The rules of the game that govern the running of these institutions also fall into this institutional category. |
| Keywords: | agricultural education and training, Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:183867&r=agr |
| By: | Tirtha Chatterjee (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | Inter-state diversity has been a perennial feature of Indian agriculture. The study probes if per capita income in Indian agriculture has converged across states in the last four and a half decades. It finds strong evidence in favour of beta convergence but not in favour of sigma convergence. Spatial econometric techniques used in the study aid in identifying the impact of spatial neighbours on the growth of a state. Results indicate significant spatial dependence among states. The study also identifies the drivers of growth agriculture in the last four and a half decades and results indicate that infrastructure like roads, irrigation, electricity aid in growth and so do quality of human capital. Hence, investments targeting higher quality of infrastructure, both physical and human and efficient water management will aid in agricultural growth in India. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, growth, regional convergence, spatial dependence |
| JEL: | O13 O18 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2014-035&r=agr |
| By: | Banerjee, Simanti; de Vries, Frans P.; Hanley, Nick; van Soest, Daan |
| Abstract: | The Agglomeration Bonus (AB) is a mechanism to induce adjacent landowners to spatially coordinate their land use for the delivery of ecosystem services from farmland. This paper uses laboratory experiments to explore the performance of the AB in achieving the socially optimal land management configuration in a local network environment where the information available to subjects varies. The AB poses a coordination problem between two Nash equilibria: a Pareto dominant and a risk dominant equilibrium. The experiments indicate that if subjects are informed about both their direct and indirect neighbors’ actions, they are more likely to coordinate on the Pareto dominant equilibrium relative to the case where subjects have information about their direct neighbors’ action only. However, the extra information can only delay – and not prevent – the transition to the socially inferior risk dominant Nash equilibrium. In the long run, the AB mechanism may only be partially effective in enhancing delivery of ecosystem services on farming landscapes featuring local networks. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration bonus, agri-environment schemes, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, information spillovers, Payments for Ecosystem Services, spatial coordination, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:sirdps:570&r=agr |
| By: | Vergamini, Daniele; Cuming, David; Viaggi, Davide |
| Abstract: | The new technologies in the field of food processing provide the opportunity to revive some productions that are crushed by the global market and environmental issues. However in the citrus sector the lack of investment and difficulties to manage economic cost are likely to slow down the take-off of these innovations. Starting from the results of the 7FP European Project NAMASTE, this paper provides a methodology for the computation of the full cost of several citrus by-products and an attempts to analyse through a simulation model the decision making problem of a citrus firm who decide to upgrade citrus waste in order to obtain several by-products. The results show the importance of using the full cost in the management of resources. However, the possibility of producing from citrus wastes are constrained by production capacity resources and by the overall efficiency of production technologies. The economic sustainability can be achieved by an increases in production efficiency, improving the technologies and the ability to reuse waste. However, a large amount of investment is still required, which only the large firms can support, at least in the short term. |
| Keywords: | Food industry by-products, full cost accounting, citrus by-products., Agribusiness, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173122&r=agr |
| By: | Anastasia Litina (CREA, Université de Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This research advances the hypothesis that natural land productivity in the past, and its effect on the desirable level of cooperation in the agricultural sector, had a persistent effect on the evolution of social capital, the process of industrialization and comparative economic development across the globe. Exploiting exogenous sources of variations in land productivity across a) countries; b) individuals within a country, and c) migrants of different ancestry within a country, the research establishes that lower level of land productivity in the past is associated with more intense coope- ration and higher levels of contemporary social capital and development, |
| Keywords: | Land productivity, Cooperation, Social Capital, trust, Growth, development, Agriculture, Industrialisation |
| JEL: | O11 O13 O14 O31 O33 O41 O50 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:14-16&r=agr |
| By: | Victor Oviedo Treiber |
| Abstract: | Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. This study analyzes whether rural poverty increases the incidence of food insecurity and whether food insecurity perpetuates the condition of poverty among the rural poor in Bolivia. In order to achieve this aim, the risks that households face and the capacity of households to implement coping strategies in order to mitigate vulnerability shocks are identified. We suggest that efforts by households to become food secure may be difficult in rural areas because of poverty and the vulnerability associated with a lack of physical assets, low levels of human capital, poor infrastructure, and poor health; as well as the precarious regional environment aggravating the severity of vulnerability to food insecurity. |
| Keywords: | Bolivian economy, rural poverty, food insecurity, poverty alleviation policies |
| JEL: | O2 O5 I3 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:pecpap:03&r=agr |
| By: | Bonanno, Alessandro; Castellari, Elena; Sckokai, Paolo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess the impact of the LD 114/1998 on the structure of the Italian food retailing industry. We use difference–in–difference technique, comparing the level of concentration, number of stores, average store size and level of service offered to consumers in regions enacting mandated consistent with the LD 114/1998, versus those that did not. Results show that, once the endogenous nature of policy changes is controlled for, the policy appears more effective than expected, in terms of its impact on concentration, consumers’ access, store size and level of service to consumers. While the decree overall seems to have help the consumer to have more access and more in-store services, our analysis suggests food retailing became more concentrated in response to the implementation of the LD 114/1998. Further, the effect of the liberalization seems to have stronger effects in regions where the level of liberalization implemented is “low”. |
| Keywords: | Food Retailer Structure, Trade Liberalization, Industrial Organization, Marketing, L81 L22 L52, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173090&r=agr |
| By: | Cathal Buckley (Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland); Paul Murphy (Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Wexford, Co. Wexford); David Wall (Johnstown Castle Research Centre, Teagasc, Wexford, Co. Wexford.) |
| Abstract: | This study establishes farm gate N and P balances and use efficiencies based on the average of 2 years of Teagasc National Farm Survey data in 2009 and 2010. The weighted average farm gate N surplus for this nationally representative sample of specialist dairy farms was 143.4 kg N ha-1. Average farm gate nitrogen use efficiency was 23.2%. For dairy farms operating under an EU Nitrates Derogation, the average N surplus was higher at 181.8 kg N ha-1 and averageN use efficiency was slightly lower at 22.2%. The total average farm gate P balance was 4.1 kg ha-1 in surplus, and P use efficiency averaged 83.9%. P balance ranged from -7.3 to 23.0 kg ha-1. A total of 27% had a negative P balance. The average P surplus for farms with a Nitrates Derogation was below the average of all farms at 3.5 kg P ha-1 and average P use efficiency for these Derogation farms was above the average of all farms at 90%. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tea:wpaper:1302&r=agr |
| By: | Adrien Hervouet (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272); Marc Baudry (EconomiX - CNRS : UMR7166 - Université Paris X - Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) |
| Abstract: | This article deals with the impact of legislation in the seed sector on incentives for variety creation. The first category of rules consists in intellectual property rights and is intended to address a problem of sequential innovation and R&D investments. The second category concerns commercial rules that are intended to correct a problem of adverse selection. We propose a dynamic model of market equilibrium with vertical product differentiation that enables us to take into account the economic consequences of imposing either Plant Breeders' Rights (PBRs) or patents as IPRs and either compulsory registration or minimum standards as commercialisation rules. The main result is that the combination of minimum standards and PBRs (patents) provides higher incentives for sequential and initial innovation and may be preferred by a public regulator when sunk investment costs are low (high) and the probability of R&D success is sufficiently high (low). |
| Keywords: | Intellectual Property Rights; Plant Breeders' Rights; Catalogue; Product differentiation; Seed market; Biodiversity |
| Date: | 2014–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01060565&r=agr |
| By: | Schwartz, Nancy E.; Blandford, David |
| Abstract: | The relative decline in wheat consumption in the developed countries is reducing the potential stabilizing effect on the world market of freer trade in these countries. Furthermore, the growing role of centrally planned countries as importers is increasing the potential instability in world wheat import demand. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, International Development, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudasp:183827&r=agr |
| By: | Pieters, Hannah; Curzi, Daniele; Olper, Alessandro; Swinnen, Jo |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of a political regime transition on food security and more specifically on child mortality. Using a new estimation approach, the Synthetic Control Method, we find that a political reform towards a democracy does not systematically reduce child mortality. Of the 33 country case studies, we find a significant and positive relation between food security and political reforms for 4 countries, while for the remaining 29 countries no impact was found. These results are in contrast with the results from the traditional difference-in-difference estimations |
| Keywords: | food security, political reform, synthetic control method, Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Political Economy, I18, O15, P16, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173092&r=agr |
| By: | Scheltema, Nico; Meyer, Ferdi; Ejobi, Francis; Tinga, Jorge; Tschirley, David |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the skills requirements and the development thereof among 109 interviewed formal sector agribusiness companies in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, and South Africa. The study was conducted in the context of anticipated dramatic changes in Africa’s food consumption patterns over coming decades, driven by rising incomes and urban populations, and the need for new and better skills in the workforce in order to satisfy this demand. Among the key findings are (1) except for South Africa, companies predominantly employ O-level graduates but (in all countries including South Africa) expect demand for graduates beyond A-Level to grow the fastest over the next five years; (2) while companies see a need for improved technical skills, “soft” skills were also seen as critically important and an area of relative dissatisfaction by the companies; (3) to improve the skills of their workforce, companies in four of the five countries dominantly rely on in-house training, and in three of those four, the option of paying for college or university training ranked 3rd or 4th out of four options; (4) results on relationships with vocational training institutions were varied, with companies in South Africa with a more technical or production related core business typically showing a strong relationship with them, whereas companies with a more financial core business showed a poor to non-existent relationship; and (5) a general concern seen most clearly in South Africa related the quality of primary and secondary education (especially as regards math and science), and the lack of practical and relevant industry experience of entry level employees after completing tertiary education. |
| Keywords: | Africa, skills requirements, agribusiness, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:183870&r=agr |
| By: | Donal Palcic; Eoin Reeves (Department of Economics, University of Limerick) |
| Abstract: | As one of Ireland’s largest agri-business companies the Irish Sugar company played a key role in the country’s economic development in the twentieth century. The company was privatised in 1991 (under the new name Greencore) and has since transformed from a largely commodity-based agri-business into an international convenience food company. This paper analyses the financial and economic performance of the company before and after privatisation. It finds that the change from public to private ownership was not strongly associated with improved financial performance and productivity as the company had experienced rapid growth and improvement in the pre-privatisation period. These findings run counter to perspectives such as public choice theory that suggest a positive relationship between privatisation and company performance. Performance in the post-privatisation period was strongly influenced by greater exposure to market forces in the company’s expanding food division. It is surprising that greater competition did not translate into improved overall performance. |
| Keywords: | privatisation, performance, productivity, Irish Sugar, British Sugar |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lim:wpaper:022013&r=agr |
| By: | Jared C. Carbone (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines); Nicholas Rivers (University of Ottawa) |
| Abstract: | When considering adoption of a domestic climate change policy, politicians and the public frequently refer to concerns about competitiveness. Competitiveness in this context does not have a precise economic definition. In this article, we discuss possible ways to anchor the concept of competitiveness in economic analysis. This framework then serves as the basis of a systematic survey the literature on the quantitative impacts of unilateral climate change policy derived from the results of computable general equilibrium (or CGE) models. We provide empirical estimates of the magnitude of competitiveness effects that might be associated with the adoption of unilateral climate change policies and a meta-analysis of the key sensitivities displayed by the models as a guide to future research. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, leakage, policy, carbon tax, climate change, computable general equilibrium |
| JEL: | C68 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201405&r=agr |
| By: | Castellari, Elena; Moro, Daniele Daniele; Platoni, Silvia; Sckokai, Paolo |
| Abstract: | Using a panel data set on the yogurt market for four hundred points of sale in Italy, we investigate, at the segment level, the interactions between private label (PL) market shares and national brand (NB) leader’s prices. We estimate a reduced form model which controls for the heterogeneity of point of sales and time using a two way fixed effect (FE) error components model (ECM). Consistently with several theoretical findings available in the literature, we expect retailers to use PL to discriminate prices among different groups of consumers. The analysis, however, shows not all segments of the market are influenced by PL shares. Specifically, for the most dynamic segments (functional and yogurt with snack), Pl shares are on average smaller and NB leader’s prices are not affected by their presence. Differently, in the most traditional segments (whole and skimmed yogurt), where PL exhibits on average a sizable presence, the analysis shows a positive effect between PL shares and NB prices. Results suggest leader’s product innovation and product introduction dynamics might play a role on retailer’s power to influence NB leader’s prices, retaining PL development. |
| Keywords: | Private Label, Dairy market, Price Competition, Agribusiness, Marketing, Q13 D40 L11, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173020&r=agr |
| By: | Chao Wei (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University); Shanjun Li (Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | During the recent economic crisis, many countries have adopted stimulus programs designed to achieve two goals: to stimulate economic activity in lagging durable goods sectors and to protect or even enhance environmental quality. The environmental benefits are often viewed and much advocated as co-benefits of economic stimulus. This paper investigates the potential tradeoff between the stimulus and environmental objectives in the context of the popular U.S. Cash-for-Clunkers (CFC) program by developing and estimating a dynamic discrete choice model of vehicle ownership. Results from counterfactual analysis based on several specifcations all show that the design elements to achieve environmental benets significantly limit the program impact on demand stimulus: the cost of vehicle demand stimulus after netting out environmental benets can be up to 77 percent higher under the program than that from an alternative policy design without the design elements aimed at the environmental objective. |
| Keywords: | Stimulus, Dynamic Discrete Choice Model, Vehicle Scrappage |
| JEL: | E62 H23 H31 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2014-12&r=agr |
| By: | Kent Deng; Patrick O'Brien |
| Abstract: | The Great Divergence Debate, initiated by the ‘California School’ in 1998 has revitalised a meta question for global history of “when,” “how,” and “why” the economies of Western Europe, on the one hand and the Ming-Qing Empire of East Asia, the Mughal empire of South Asia and the Ottoman Dominions of West Asia and the Balkans on the other, diverged economically and geopolitically over one long cycle of Eurasian economic development. This paper is designed to return to ‘basics’ by interrogating the estimates and proxies utilized by participants in the debate by placing them in a nutritional perspective to see whether and to what extent there was a common trajectory between the Yangtze Delta and England after 1500 for (1) a sustainable intake of food and (2) to support an increasingly urbanised, commercialised and industrialised economy. Our conclusion is that although the Yangtze Delta’s average living standards may have been respectable its economy was not modernising due to the mutually reinforcing factors of a physiocratic state, a labour-intensive farming sector, and low levels of urban development. A similar pattern might be shared by the Mughal and Ottoman empires in the same historical context? |
| Keywords: | Standards of living; Great Divergence; Global History |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 I18 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:59303&r=agr |
| By: | Rana, Pradumna B. (Asian Development Bank Institute); Karmacharya, Binod (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Nepal's lackluster economic performance during the post-conflict period (that is, after November 2006) has been driven by remittances from the export of labor services and the improved performance of the agricultural sector, which is still very much weather dependent. The authors make the case for a connectivity-driven development strategy for the country. They argue that improved connectivity within Nepal and cross-border connectivity with its neighbors in South Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are converting Nepal from a landlocked into a land-linked state, could be important "engines of growth" for the country. It is argued that such a development strategy is not a new one for Nepal as in the past the country was strategically located on the Southwestern Silk Road (SSR). A number of factors have revived the case for making Nepal a land-linked state in Asia. Nepal has adopted a multi-track approach to promoting regional cooperation and integration in connectivity with its neighbors. But a lot more needs to be done, especially in the context of the difficult political situation in the country, and donors have an important role to play in this regard. Ten priority projects to convert Nepal into a land-linked state are identified, but a detailed impact analysis of these projects is beyond the scope of this paper. |
| Keywords: | cross border infrastructure investments; south asia and southeast asia; seamless infrastructure; road and rail land corridor |
| JEL: | F15 |
| Date: | 2014–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0498&r=agr |
| By: | Jean Sorba (Développement de l'Elevage, INRA); Melissa AIT MOULOUD (Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs, INRA; Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes; Centre International d'Etudes Supérieures en Sciences Agronomiques) |
| Abstract: | Pastoralism has been discredited for a long time on the grounds that it would harm the agrarian activities. Today, it is generally acknowledged that pastoralism has positive qualities due to the grazing by herds of spontaneous resources., Pastoralism has become a matter of public interest because pastoral systems are low inputs, is environment-friendly and is associated to traditionh . However, the products from this type of breeding do not have a real economic benefit of this turnaround. The paper analyses the possibilities to qualify the Corsican cheeses as "pastoral products," taken for an ideal-type, to understand how and to what extent the professionals of the market act to translate the pastoral features of insular cheeses. A survey conducted among producers and users of cheeses (restaurateurs, specialty retailers and prescribers) in the island and outside (Languedoc and Provence) asks: - what are the components of the corsican breeding (local breed, flock management and forage resources) taken for “pastoral features†and associated with insular cheeses? - what are the similarities and the differences of their market translations in Corsica and outside the island ? First, we present the distinctive components of the insular pastoralism used by breeders and the actors surrounding production. Secondly, we consider how the professionals of the market develop commercial arguments and describe cheeses locally and outside the island. Then, practical ways of incorporating the conditions of production to the qualification operated by the market are presented. Finally, to highlight the mode of existence of Corsican pastoral cheeses we propose to define two ways of qualification that we name (i) associative logic in which market mediations connect productive practices - pastoral features - with consumption practices and (ii) dissociative logic that disconnect products from their conditions of production. |
| Keywords: | pastoralism, pastoral product, market mediation, associative logic, dissociative logic, pastoralisme, produit régionalproduit de terroircorse |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:270276&r=agr |