|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2014‒11‒28
120 papers chosen by |
| By: | Capitani, Daniel H. D. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170267&r=agr |
| By: | Tyszko, Joanna Pawłowska |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:169393&r=agr |
| By: | Rao, Xudong |
| Abstract: | Land fragmentation, also known as scattered land holdings, is a common phenomenon in agriculture around the world. In some cases, it has even persisted through government-supported land consolidation programs that aim to improve agricultural productivity. This study evaluates the effect of land fragmentation on agricultural production and hypothesizes that it may be beneficial to farmers by diversifying risk onto separate land plots that usually have heterogeneous growing conditions. Applying a stochastic frontier model to the Tanzania Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) data, we find evidence to support the risk-reduction hypothesis and indications that land fragmentation may be conducive to efficiency. This second finding may seem counter-intuitive but is also supported by similar studies. We further argue that accounting for risk preferences that are absent from current framework in future research may help explain the double bonuses of land fragmentation. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural productivity, land fragmentation, risk management, stochastic production frontier, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, Q12, Q15, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169436&r=agr |
| By: | Mizik, Tamas |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:169392&r=agr |
| By: | Berazneva, Julia; Conrad, Jon; Guerena, David |
| Abstract: | The strong link between poverty, natural resources and the environment is apparent in smallholder agriculture: farmers are making repeated land use and management decisions while facing diverse resource endowments and significant environmental constraints on production. To investigate the likely effects of changes in agricultural practices on the natural resource base and on farmer welfare, we develop a bio-economic dynamic model of agricultural households in the western Kenya highlands. Our modeling framework extends economic farm household models to incorporate the dynamic nature of natural resource management and its implications for household welfare, and to permit a meaningful interface with biophysical processes through soil carbon management. Using an eight-year panel data set, the model combines econometrically estimated production and soil carbon flow equations in a dynamic programming framework. We use the model to determine the optimal management of the farming system over time in terms of the quantity of mineral fertilizer and crop residues to apply, taking into consideration initial resource endowments and prices. Understanding how soil resources respond to the combined applications of mineral and organic resources is important for improved resource allocation at the farm level and for national agricultural policy decisions. |
| Keywords: | natural resource management, agricultural productivity, bio-economic model, soil carbon dynamics, western Kenya, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170171&r=agr |
| By: | Keeney, Roman; Ogle, Tamara; Miller, Alan; Mintert, James; Langemeier, Michael; Hurt, Chris |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:inpuer:189098&r=agr |
| By: | O'Donoghue, Erik |
| Keywords: | crop insurance, premium subsidies, demand for crop insurance, Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169451&r=agr |
| By: | Lordkipanidze, Nasibrola; Tomek, William |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudasp:189185&r=agr |
| By: | Kafle, Kashi R.; Pullabhotla, Hemant K |
| Abstract: | Food vs. Fuel, Cointegration analysis, VECM, agricultural prices, fuel prices |
| Keywords: | fuel, food, agricultural commodities, cointegration, VECM, Granger causality, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170273&r=agr |
| By: | Otitoju, Moradeyo Adebanjo |
| Abstract: | Ph.D. dissertation awarded by the DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. SUPERVISORS: PROF. E.C. NWAGBO DR. A.A. ENETE |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:dissdr:187217&r=agr |
| By: | Anonymous; Wigier, Marek; Dudek, Michał |
| Abstract: | Global food market – new conditions for national sectors. Flexible adaptation of farms to the requirements of the CAP in the new financial perspective after 2014. Phenomena occurring in agriculture of the EU Central and Eastern European countries after 2004 and conclusions for the future. Programming Process of Rural Development Measures 2014-2020 in Austria. Situation in the Czech agriculture after 9 years of EU accession – a research position to strategic challenges for a future policy after 2013. The new CAP reform: an analysis of impacts at the sub-national level. The case of Tuscany. The state and insurance in agriculture– implications for the CAP 2013+. Foreign exchange hedge. Sustainable development of family farming in Poland. The political aspect. Socio-economic view of the contemporary situation in the Czech agriculture and countryside. Institutions acting for rural development – future challenges. Development of biofuels production and food security – Implications for economic policy. Innovation opportunities in Hungarian agriculture and rural development. Analysis of the actual indicators of competitiveness in the Serbian agricultural sector. Alignment of agricultural and rural development policy in the Western Balkans with the European acquis: cases of Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia. Competitiveness of Ukrainian foodstuff. Problems and perspectives of sustainable development in Belarusian Agriculture. The Hungarian horticulture sector: analysis of outdoor and greenhouse farms. Review of some agrostatistical indicators that characterize Bulgarian vegetable production in the context of Common Agricultural Policy. The new solutions |
| Keywords: | food market, CAP, rural development, agriculture, food security, economic policy, food market, countryside, Europe, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepr:164838&r=agr |
| By: | Banterle, Alessandro; Vandone, Daniela |
| Abstract: | The paper aims at analysing rice-price volatility over the last five years, and at identifying strengths and weaknesses of financial-risk management tools other than derivatives. In particular, it focuses on innovative insurance products and on their potential use in the EU Mediterranean area, specifically in Italy that is the main rice producer in this area. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural commodity price volatility, rice price volatility, risk management, revenue insurance, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, Q10, Q13, Q14, Q18, G10, G22, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164766&r=agr |
| By: | Wahida; Yi, Dale; Umberger, Wendy; Stringer, Randy; Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | In response to (a) growing demand for high safety and quality fresh food products; (b) increasingly stringent standards on chemical residues, and (c) concern regarding the sustainability of chemical input intensive agriculture, the adoption of sustainable production systems (IPM, Pesticide-Free, organic) in agriculture is rapidly expanding. This study uses data from 2011 Shallots Growers Survey in Indonesia to compare the productivity, technical efficiency of APM-adopter and conventional (non-adopter) shallots farmers. We also measure yield loss that may associate with technology adoption. Self-selectivity may cause the frontier production function to differ between the adopters and non-adopters. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method is used to address self-selectivity before we continue the analysis with Stochastic Production Frontier (SPF). We reject the homogenous technology hypothesis and interestingly the result indicates that on average yield loss that associated with adopting APM farming practices only 1.5%. The yield loss itself can be gradually improved by implementing a proper training and extension methods and empowering the role of farmers’ group among shallot farmers. |
| Keywords: | Alternative Pest Management, Shallots, Technical Inefficiency, Propensity Score Matching, Indonesia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:171424&r=agr |
| By: | Kovacs, Attila |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:169396&r=agr |
| By: | Wachenheim, Cheryl; Lesch, William; Fontaine, Cordell |
| Keywords: | Conservation Reserve Program, environment, conservation, decision-making, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170489&r=agr |
| By: | Jiang, Xiaojiao; Brady, Michael P.; Gallardo, R. Karina |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169391&r=agr |
| By: | Augustyn, Anna; Nemes, Gusztav |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:168921&r=agr |
| By: | Liu, Xiangping; Smith, Henrik; Stjernman, Martin; Olsson, Ola; Sterner, Thomas |
| Abstract: | We investigate farmers’ decision to engage in organic production. Our objective is to identify the key factors that promote or hinder the update of organic farming. In particular, we focus on neighborhood factors and the spatial allocation of organic land parcels. A rich spatial panel data of all agricultural parcels is compiled and the information on land use, soil quality, biodiversity, local landscapes, and neighborhood characteristics are extracted using ArcGIS techniques. We carry out both cross-sectional analyses and panel data models. In the cross –sectional analysis, we focus on the duration that a parcel stays in organic production: to temporarily enroll into organic farming program for subsidy or to convert to organic production permanently. In the panel data model, we analyze whether a parcel stays in organic production in a period by assuming there is or there is no temporary correlation. We find that neighborhood characteristics do have significant effects on farmers’ decision. Such effects manifest in the following four areas: 1) a farm with a higher share of organic land in its adjacent neighborhood is more likely to be organic temporarily or permanently; 2) a neighborhood with a higher share of ley and grass land, hence, a higher potential for biological control, can promote conversion to organic production; 3) a parcel with a larger shared border per unit area with other parcels are less likely to be engaged in organic production; and 4), a neighborhood with abundant floral species and more floral spices that are suitable to traditional agricultural production has more parcels being converted to organic production. We also find that highly productive land is less likely to be enrolled into organic farming programs, which confirms the finding from literature that profits is an important factor that affects farmers’ decision. Farmers tend to convert parcels that are far away from their houses to organic while keep the parcels close by in conventional production. Small farms and farms that are more diversified are more likely to be shifted to organic production. Our findings are hence in favor of the policy suggestions on agglomeration payments in biodiversity conservation. |
| Keywords: | Organic farming, Neighborhood effect, Neighboring effect, Edge effect, Biodiversity, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q01, Q18, Q24, Q38, Q57, Q58, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170564&r=agr |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Vardges; Bozic, Marin |
| Abstract: | Price endogeneity has been ignored in previous analyses of food demand in China. We examine agricultural input price data from the China National Bureau of Statistics and use reduced-form price equations to account for price endogeneity in this setting. Applying our unique econometric approach to the analysis of provincial-level food demand in China, we find strong statistical evidence of price endogeneity. Models that ignore price endogeneity result in substantially biased elasticities and misleading estimates of future food demand in China. |
| Keywords: | Consumer welfare, expenditure endogeneity, food demand in China, Generalized Quadratic AIDS, price endogeneity., Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Q11, Q13, Q17, |
| Date: | 2014–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169767&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Xiaofei; Florax, Raymond; Waldorf, Brigitte |
| Keywords: | urbanization, agricultural productivity, economic openness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169908&r=agr |
| By: | Bellemare, Marc F.; Carnes, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | It seems paradoxical that until recently, developed countries have continued subsidizing agriculture even though their agricultural sectors had been declining in relative importance since the middle of the 20th century. What drives support for agricultural protection—the broad array of subsidies to farmers and taxes and quotas imposed on agricultural imports—in developed countries? We answer this question by testing three competing hypotheses about what drives support for agricultural protection in the US: (i) legislator preferences, (ii) electoral incentives, or (iii) lobbying. Using data on the roll call votes of the members of the 106th through the 110th Congresses (1999-2009) and the scores given to each legislator by the Farm Bureau, our findings suggest electoral incentives explain a great deal of the variation in support for agricultural protection, but that legislator preferences and lobbying might play a role, too. Moreover, legislator preferences and electoral incentives appear to be substitutes for one another. Why does Congress support agricultural protection? Because many members have electoral incentives to—and because many of those who do not still have other personal or strategic interests at stake. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Policy, Agricultural Protection, Farm Bill, Congress, Voting, Lobbying, Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy, Q18, D72, |
| Date: | 2013–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169816&r=agr |
| By: | Fogarasi, József; Kristkova, Zuzana; Ratinger, Tomáš; Rokicki, Bartłomiej; Tóth, Kristóf; Wieliczko, Barbara |
| Abstract: | EU financial perspective for 2014-2020 and the CAP. Impact of EU funds on the development of Poland. Evaluation of the impact of the CAP on the development of Poland and the situation of Polish agriculture. Analysis of the absorption of the CAP support in the programming period 2007-2013. Impact assessment of the EU “agricultural budget” for 2014-2020 on the financial situation of national agriculture and the entire Polish economy. Impact assessment of the EU “agricultural budget" for 2014-2020 on the financial situation of the Polish farms. The implications of multiannual financial framework in Hungary for the years 2014-2020. CAP’s second pillar – some remarks from the Czech perspective. |
| Keywords: | financial perspective, Common Agricultural Policy, Polish agriculture, financial situation, Polish economy, Polish farms, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepr:179499&r=agr |
| By: | Hector, Nuñez; Andres, Trujillo-Barrera |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170620&r=agr |
| By: | Shittu, Adebayo M.; Obayelu, Oluwakemi A.; Salman, Kabir K. |
| Abstract: | Against the background that domestic policies in Nigeria have been linked to an endemic - high, volatile and rising food prices in the country, this paper empirically examined the transmission of key monetary policy variables to domestic food prices in Nigeria. Furthermore, the study employed estimates of policy induced price changes from estimated cointegrating relations between commodity prices and policy variables, and demand elasticities from a system of household demand equations to estimate the associated compensating variation as a measure of the welfare impacts on farm households. The study found that government management of exchange rates and money supplies as well as withdrawal of subsidies from petroleum products have been the main driver of rising food prices in the country. While an average farmer was found to have benefited from the policy induced rising food prices with the mean compensated variation of -3.3% of the household budget, most of the farm households ended up being losers. The gainers were mostly owners of the relatively few large farms (-36.9%) including the commercial livestock farms (-38.9%), rice farm (-35.0%), and fish farms (-27.8%). Smallholders, which constituted about three-quarter of the farm households, lost on the average, about 8.1% of their purchasing power to the rising food prices, with female headed households also loosing 6.6% of their purchasing power. |
| Keywords: | Welfare Effects, Policy-induced price changes, QUAIDS Model, Farm Households, Nigeria, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, D12, E42, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170697&r=agr |
| By: | Wille, Nicola; Mitchell, Paul; Dong, Fengxia; Knuteson, Deana; Wyman, Jeffery; Moore, Virginia |
| Abstract: | Sustainable agriculture is garnering renewed interest as more customers and retailers from both the U.S. and the world markets demand more sustainably sourced products and ingredients. Processed vegetables (canned and frozen) such as sweet corn and green beans face this same growing demand. To respond to this growing demand for sustainability data and programs, the Midwest Food Processors Association and the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association chose the National Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (http://wisa. cals.wisc.edu/nisa) approach. This approach develops a farmer self-assessment survey that documents grower adoption of multiple sustainable practices, and then analyzes the data using data envelope analysis with principal components to develop a “sustainability score” for both individual growers and the industry as a whole. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Agriculture, Practice Adoption, Best Management Practices, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170548&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Yanliang; Davis, George C.; Muth, Mary K. |
| Keywords: | Money Price, Time Price, Nutrients, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170669&r=agr |
| By: | Meng, Ting; Florkowski, Wojciech J.; Sarpong, Daniel B.; Chinnan, Manjeet S.; Resurreccion, Anna V. A. |
| Keywords: | joint distribution, conditional distribution, cross equation correlation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170192&r=agr |
| By: | Harris, Leah M.; Swinton, Scott M.; Shupp, Robert S. |
| Abstract: | Research on payments for environmental services (PES) largely focuses on two contract types – cost-share and annual stewardship payments. But other types of transactions, such as tax credits, green insurance, and price premiums tied to environmental stewardship certification, can also promote conservation. Using experimental conservation procurement auctions we evaluate farmers’ willingness to adopt agricultural best management practices (BMPs) that reduce phosphorus runoff from farm land in the Maumee watershed to help abate damaging algal blooms in western Lake Erie. We determine how bids change depending on the type of transaction offered (e.g. payment, payment with green BMP insurance, tax credit, price premium tied to stewardship certification) to identify cost-effective incentive mechanisms that reduce the most phosphorus runoff per dollar of payment. Two kinds of transactions were found to be less cost-effective: a price premium for product certification and PES with green insurance to protect against yield loss from BMP adoption. The certification price premium cannot spatially target conservation practices to vulnerable locations, so average impact per dollar of payment (and hence cost-effectiveness) is reduced. Green insurance is perceived to have high transaction costs so it elicits demand for higher payments, reducing its cost-effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q15, C93, Q57, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170287&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Jin; Wang, Hui; Jin, Songqing; Chen, Kevin; Riedinger, Jeffrey; Peng, Chao |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of local off-farm employment and migration on rural households’ technical efficiency of crop production using a five-year panel dataset from more than 2,000 households in five Chinese provinces. While there is not much debate about the positive contribution of migration and local off-farm employment to China’s economy, there is an increasing concern about the potential negative effects of moving labor away from agriculture on China’s future food security. This is a critical issue as maintaining self-sufficiency in grain production will be critical for China to feed its huge population in the future. Several papers have studied the impact of migration on production and yield with mixed results. But the impact of migration on technical efficiency is rarely studied. Methodologically, we incorporate the correlated randomeffects approach into the standard stochastic production frontier model to control for unobservable that are correlated with migration and off-farm employment decisions and technical efficiency. The most consistent result that emerged from our econometric analysis is that neither migration nor local off-farm employment has a negative effect on the technical efficiency of grain production, which does not support the widespread notion that vast-scale labor migration could negatively affect China’s future food security. |
| Keywords: | migration, local off-farm, agriculture, efficiency, China, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Productivity Analysis, D24, O12, O13, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:177591&r=agr |
| By: | Ferrari, Emanuele; Boulanger, Pierre; Gonzalez-Mellado, Aida; McDonald, Scott |
| Abstract: | The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is moving away from coupled payments towards an increasing emphasis on decoupled payments. However current CGE models to study effects of decoupled payments remain limited. This paper introduces the application of a CGE model framework for a comparative analysis of possible effects caused by coupled and decoupled support on agricultural and food sectors in an economy. The CGE model used is the STAGE_AGR which is an extension of the STAGE model containing equations that permit modellers to introduce different system of decoupled payment representation. We have taken as empirical example the case of Ireland for modelling agricultural payments either as fully or partially decoupled. |
| Keywords: | CAP, Decoupling, CGE, Ireland, Agricultural and Food Policy, C68, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170397&r=agr |
| By: | Tambo, Justice A.; Wünscher, Tobias |
| Abstract: | With the rapidly changing economic environments and numerous challenges hindering smallholders’ adoption of externally developed technologies, it is often argued that farmers’ innovations may be essential in the livelihoods of rural farm households and need to be promoted. Yet a rigorous assessment of the impacts of farmer innovation is lacking. Consequently, we analyse the effect of farmer innovation on household welfare, measured by farm and household income, consumption expenditure and food security. Using data from a recent field survey of rural farm households in northern Ghana and endogenous switching regression which controls for non-random selection bias, we estimate the welfare gains for innovators from innovating, and non-innovators had they innovated. We find that farmer innovation significantly improves both household income and consumption expenditure for innovators. It also contributes significantly to the reduction of food insecurity among innovative households by increasing household food consumption expenditure, reducing the length of food shortages, and decreasing the severity of hunger. However, we find that the positive productivity and income effects of farmer innovation do not significantly translate into nutritious diet, measured by household dietary diversity. The results also indicate that farmer innovation would have heterogeneous welfare effects for non-innovators, had they decided to innovate. Overall, our results show positive and significant welfare effects of farmer innovation, hence, support increasing arguments on the need to promote farmer innovation as a complement to externally promoted technologies in food security and poverty reduction efforts. |
| Keywords: | Farmer innovation, Endogenous switching regression, Ghana, Household welfare, Impact assessment, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170087&r=agr |
| By: | Brinkman, Daryl; Chen, Kuan; Dickerson, Chris; Dorn, Tony; Garber, Samuel Chad; Gorsak, Mark; Hagedorn, Joseph; Joshua, Troy; Taylor, Christopher W. |
| Abstract: | The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys each year on topics related to the U.S. agricultural industry. One important set of data published by NASS is the Prices Received and Prices Paid Index Series. These index series, as mandated by legislation, provide a measure of the general level of price change compared to a base reference period for agricultural commodities sold and farm inputs purchased by farmers. This Selected Poster outlines future price index methodology research questions NASS will be working on. Special attention is devoted to the role of the price relative estimator. Example index calculations for the Feed Grain Prices Received Index are provided using three different price relative estimators. |
| Keywords: | Price Index Methdology, USDA-NASS Prices Received Index Series, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C43, C18, E31, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:179817&r=agr |
| By: | Kolodinsky, Jane; Roche, Erin; Desai, Sona; Campbell, Erica |
| Abstract: | Building strong local and regional food systems has been suggested as a way to revitalize rural communities, preserve the rural landscape, and improve nutrition of citizens. The challenges of increasing local food consumption focus on key drivers of demand that include geographic proximity, relationships with farmers, and support for local economies. There are also complicated demographic, psychographic and behavioral attributes of local food consumers, and issues of consumer access and affordability. The purported benefits of increasing consumption of locally grown food include improved farm profitability and viability, farmland conservation, improved public health, and closer social ties between farmers and consumers. An online survey of independent grocers was conducted in 2013 to determine the viability of using this retail channel to sell more local food in Vermont. Results show potential for distributing local products through the independent retailer supply chain. The most potential exists for the newer spirits category and the historically profitable local grocery items. There is also potential for increases in sales of prepared foods and meats. And, while there is demand for other product categories, revenue streams are lower. Importantly, the location and size of independent retailers, and population density of these locations, must be considered along with knowledge of demand. |
| Keywords: | local food, independent retailers, demand, market opportunity, Agribusiness, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170306&r=agr |
| By: | Suh, Dong Hee; Moss, Charles B. |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the U.S. agricultural production systems, focusing on the interactions between the crop and livestock sectors. The estimation results of the differential input demand system suggest that the demand for hired labor, self-employed labor, intermediate goods, capital, and land significantly increases as crop outputs increase. In addition, the results show that the demand for inputs (except for hired labor) is very inelastic, suggesting that agricultural producers may have little flexibility in adjusting the demand for inputs in response to rapid changes in the prices of inputs. The substitutable relationships among hired labor, self-employed labor, intermediate goods, and capital contribute to alleviating the pressure on production cost in response to a surge in input prices. Statistical evidence also reveals the complementary relationship between capital and land, suggesting that an investment in durable equipment increases proportionally to the expansion of agricultural areas. Furthermore, the estimation results of the differential output supply system suggest that agricultural supply is not very responsive to the respective price changes. There also exists statistical evidence that relative changes in the prices of crop and livestock products alter the composition of crop and livestock supply due to the substitutable relationship. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170149&r=agr |
| By: | Shaneyfelt, Calvin R.; Schoengold, Dr. Karina |
| Abstract: | The paper estimates an irrigation water demand function using disaggregate climate and well data over a 32 year time period. Aggregating climate information over long periods, like a year, loses important details on temporal climatic variation, while aggregating climate information over space loses important details on spatial variation. This analysis uses disaggregate climate variation at a temporospatial level to determine the effects of climate on groundwater use. Results show that increased heat, measured in cooling degree-days, correlates with increased water use, while increased precipitation correlates with decreased water use. However, the effects are generally magnified for later summer months, and are generally lower earlier in the growing season, with a few notable exceptions. Other factors that significantly affect groundwater irrigation demand are soil type, the price of corn, pumping rate, and the number of certified irrigated acres. |
| Keywords: | groundwater, irrigation demand, climate change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170586&r=agr |
| By: | Marasteanu, I. Julia; Liang, Chyi-Lyi (Kathleen); Goetz, Stephan |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to understand how farm-level factors are associated with a farmer’s perceived success of Multifunctional Activities (MFAs) and desire to continue participating in MFAs. Using the responses from a survey of farmers in New England, we use logistic and ordered logistic models to determine how farm-level factors are associated with the probability of: 1) the farmer believing that his participation in MFAs is successful; 2) the farmer believing that his participation in MFAs has achieved a certain level of success; and 3) the probability that the farmer expresses a desire to continue participating in MFAs. We provide new and interesting insights into MFA success and participation by using a unique, detailed survey of New England farmers and by focusing on success as it is perceived by the farmer. |
| Keywords: | Multifunctional Activities, Diversified Farming, New England, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Q12, Q13, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170320&r=agr |
| By: | Yorobe, Jose Jr; Pede, Valerien; Rejesus, Roderick; Velarde, Orlee; Wang, Huaiyu; Ali, Jauhar |
| Abstract: | With the increasing frequency of extreme climatic events, the new challenge is to develop rice varieties that are tolerant of drought, water submergence, and salinity. There are now new high yielding GSR cultivars developed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) with increased tolerance of multiple abiotic stresses, such as drought, submergence, and salinity. But a clear understanding of the economic benefits of these varieties under farmers’ production environments is not yet fully understood. In this paper we assess the yield and income effects of GSR rice varieties using a two-year panel data from one province. We use the survey data and a fixed-effects model within a difference-in-difference (DID) framework to estimate the yield effects. The income effects were evaluated with a profit function using the parameter estimates from the yield/production function model. The results of the OLS and DID fixed-effects regressions both reveal significant and positive effects of GSR varieties on yield. The most important finding is that the benefits from these varieties are more strongly felt when there is flooding, which traditional varieties cannot withstand because of sensitivity to submergence. We also find that farmers who achieved higher yield through the use of GSR rice varieties in the presence of abiotic stresses, also obtained higher net farm income per hectare. These findings have very important implications for food security in the Philippines. With the dramatic climatic shifts, particularly in areas where rice production is dominant and extensive, the benefits that the GSR varieties could offer may be significant to secure more rice and alleviate poverty in the country. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption, multiple abiotic stress-tolerant rice, impact evaluation, fixedeffects, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169635&r=agr |
| By: | Skreli, Engjell; Imami, Drini; Zvyagintsev, Dmitry |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:169394&r=agr |
| By: | Yoon, Haengku |
| Abstract: | Recent legal restrictions on water exports in the Southern Delta to protect listed fish populations have brought public attention to the trade-off relationship between fish conservation and agricultural economy. The restrictions may result in losses of agricultural returns in the Central Valley. This paper aims to examine the economic costs of conserving the endangered Winter-run Chinook salmon for two water year assumptions: one without environmental correlations and the other with the environmental correlations. The combination of a modified statewide agricultural production model and a multistage Winter-run Chinook salmon model allows me to assess the economic costs per age 3 and 4 adult for two cases. The estimated costs range from $1,304 to $114,966 for the first case and from $864 to $721,120 for the second case. They generally increase at an increasing rate as the pumping cuts back from 10% to 100%. The consideration of environmental correlations does not change the order of cost estimates: critical, dry, wet, above normal, and below normal. The results provide policy-makers with economic data on the tradeoffs in water management for the Southern Delta. One important factor in determining the agricultural losses is a climatic condition and the corresponding dependency of the farms on water exports. |
| Keywords: | Statewide Agricultural Production Model, Multistage Winter-run Chinook Salmon Population Model, Water Export, Economic Cost, Ecological Benefit, Trade-off, Water Management, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169766&r=agr |
| By: | Ridler, B.J.; Anderson, W.J.; Fraser, P.; McCallum, R.L. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar14:187404&r=agr |
| By: | Nadella, Karthik; Deaton, Brady; Lawley, Chad; Weersink, Alfons |
| Abstract: | Approximately 40% of farmland is rented in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011). In our survey, approximately ninety-five percent of the farmers that rent land also farm on their own land. This provides a unique empirical opportunity to assess the influence of ownership on farmers’ decision to adopt conservation practices. This empirical assessment is important given the conflicting results in previous literature. One group of studies find that owner-operators are more likely to adopt conservation practices than tenants (Belknap and Saupe, 1988; Lynne et al., 1988). This finding is consistent with the idea that owner-operators have a longer planning horizon than tenants and are therefore in a better position to realize the long-term benefits of current investment in conservation practices. However, another set of studies (Rahm and Huffman, 1984; Norris and Batie, 1987) find no differences between owner-operators and tenants with respect to the adoption of conservation practices like conservation tillage. This conflict in literature can be potentially explained by the differences in the present value of expected returns across conservation practices. The adoption of cover crops, for example, involves a tradeoff between costs which occur in the short term and increases in the productivity of the land which occur in the longer term. In our theoretical model the expected returns of long-term investments are influenced by a tenure security measure. Farmers are expected to face a lower level of tenure security on the land they rent relative to the land that they own and are therefore hypothesized to be less likely to plant cover crops on rented land. On the other hand, the adoption of conservation tillage could be profitable in the short-term once the farmer has acquired the machinery and might not be necessarily influenced by tenure status. The empirical analysis (fixed effects) regresses the adoption of conservation practices against a number of explanatory variables. Our data set allows us to examine this decision for the same farmer and thereby eliminates differences that may be explained by characteristics of the farmer. The key explanatory variable of interest is land tenure, which is modeled by observations regarding whether the land is owned or rented. We examine the sensitivity of this to alternative specifications of the model by accounting for the length of time the farmer has rented the land. The data for this analysis comes from a survey of 425 farmers who operate on both owned and rented land in Ontario and Manitoba. The data was collected over a two-week period in April 2013. Farmers provided information about their production practices on both owned and rented properties. (We also gather information from farmers who farm only their own land. This expands the data set to 810 observations.) The key dependent variable is the adoption of conservation practices: i.e., cover crops and conservation tillage. For example, 26% of farmers adopt cover crops on their own land while 15 % adopt cover crops on rented land. The key explanatory variables are measures of land tenure: e.g., whether the land is owned or rented. Additional explanatory variables include measures, which account for variation in land characteristics and crop choice. The data also allows for exploration of a number of important issues, for example, we are able to gather data on characteristics of the farmland owner. For instance, approximately 40% of the landlords in Ontario can be characterized as Non-Farmer Investors while approximately 11% can be characterized as widows or widowers. In total we group landlords into seven categories. In the linear probability model with fixed effects, tenure status is not found to be a statistically significant factor on the probability of the adoption of conservation tillage. However, tenure status is found to be a statistically significant factor on the probability of the adoption of cover crops. These results confirm the hypotheses generated by our theoretical model, which suggests that the influence of tenure status varies on the adoption of conservation practices varies depending on the type of practice that is being considered. These results are also found to be robust under different model specifications. |
| Keywords: | tenure, conservation practice, rental contract, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170633&r=agr |
| By: | Visser, Jurriaan; Trienekens, Jacques; van Beek, Paul |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the opportunities for farmers to produce for local consumers, based on a case study in the Dutch horticulture sector. Main requirements for the set-up of a local chain of supply chain actors are investigated. Producer requirements are added value, availability of time, infrastructure and training. Retailer requirements are quality of food, purchasing volumes, food safety, communication to consumers and traceability of products. For consumers taste/freshness, sustainability, health benefits and authenticity are important attributes of local foods. Based on literature review and interviews with stakeholders four possible strategies for local food chains are defined. The ‘keep it local’ strategy means that the local food supply chains will not make use of the current infrastructure of the marketing coop that acts as chain coordinator. Deliveries are directly between farmer and retail outlet. The local products - conventional supply chain strategy implies that current (non-local) supply chains are used to distribute local products. The supply chain planning will be more complex since products need to be separated per grower and distributed to several local supermarkets. In the ‘enabling producers’ strategy the marketing coop/chain coordinator is going to enable its member producers to sell their products locally. The marketing coop can support producers in for instance, billing and payments, marketing, logistics. The fourth strategy aims at strengthening current consumer communication strategies. It is argued that connecting producers and consumers, regardless of where they live is advantageous. Conclusion is that strategy 3; ‘Enabling producers’, in combination with strategy 4; ‘Strengthening current consumer communication strategies’ are the most promising options in setting up local food supply chains. Strategies 1 and 2, where the marketing coop/chain coordinator itself takes on the challenge of setting up local food supply chains meets too much resistance from the retail companies (head-office level) and offers too little opportunities for providing added value to both producers and retailers. |
| Keywords: | Food supply chain, local production, consumer preferences, producer requirements, retail requirements, chain coordination., Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164758&r=agr |
| By: | Zaveri, Esha; Fisher-Vanden, Karen; Wrenn, Douglas H.; Nicholas, Robert E. |
| Abstract: | How will future changes in precipitation affect irrigation demand and supply in India? This paper provides econometric evidence for the demand side of the analysis by examining the relationship between monsoon changes and irrigation variability for one of the world’s most water stressed countries, India. Using detailed crop-wise agriculture and weather data spanning 35 years, the econometric model isolates the historical impact of the distribution and total supply of monsoon precipitation on irrigation demand via the use of irrigated area for crops grown in the dry(Rabi) and wet(Kharif) seasons. We find differential impacts of the monsoon by crop, by season and by source of irrigation. In general, for crops grown in the wet season, irrigation is sensitive to both distribution and total monsoon rainfall but not to ground or surface water availability. For crops grown in the dry season, total monsoon rainfall matters most, and its effect is sensitive to groundwater availability. Over the historic period of analysis, the effect of the monsoon on irrigation has remained relatively stable. The econometric analysis, when combined with a process based hydrology model that accounts for the supply side response of water availability, can help quantify the (un)sustainable water use trajectory that different regions within India will face. |
| Keywords: | climate change, adaptation, agriculture, irrigation, monsoon, India, Environmental Economics and Policy, O13, Q15, Q54, Q56, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170583&r=agr |
| By: | Cicia, Gianni; Caracciolo, Francesco; Del Giudice, Teresa; Sannino, G.; Verneau, Fabio |
| Abstract: | sensory profiles promoted by the Extra-virgin olive oil (EVO) is an important element of the Mediterranean diet and a valuable agricultural crop for Southern Europe countries in terms of both farm income and cultivated area. Moreover, given the increased popularity of the Mediterranean diet among consumers in US, Canada, Australia and large parts Asia, EVO consumption has grown almost worldwide. In Italy olive-oil production has switched from low yields and low-input cultivation to a capital intensive farming system involving innovations of both agricultural practices and processing techniques: sensory characteristics of the product were significantly improved, changing the traditional taste from “neutral odour and flavour” and well known organoleptic features, to new complex sensory profiles. This evolution is due to the developments that have taken place in the sensory analysis of olive oil and the use of trained panel responses as a means of monitoring and guidance in the production of quality oils. Currently, agricultural research and sensory panels managed not only to identify what aspects of taste and smell are indicators of quality of the oil but also the correlation of these with the production techniques. The situation today is that consumers can find on the market EVOs characterized by well-differentiated sensory profiles. On the consumption side, however, buyers seem still to prefer neutral flavour oils with little or no personality. This aspect deserves a central position in present research on EVOs because consumer preferences risk undermining all efforts to improve the quality of the product made from the production side. In the following work, the role of sensory components in the consumers preferences of EVOs will be explicitly evaluated through an Hedonic Price model. During October 2012, a sample of 68 EVOs available on the shelf of a Supermarket belonging to one of the largest big retailers operating in Italy were bought. The 68 different EVOOs were also evaluated by a panel of expert tasters to get a precise sensory profile for each of them. The results estimation of a simultaneous two equations model well highlighted the idiosyncrasy of the consumers’ preferences towards the trained experts. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164738&r=agr |
| By: | Willis, David B.; Rainwater, Ken; Tewari, Rachna; Stovall, Jeff; Hayhoe, Katharine; Hernandez, Annette; Mauget, Steven A.; Leiker, Gary; Johnson, Jeff |
| Abstract: | This research estimates the impact that eight alternative climate change scenarios are likely to have on agricultural returns and the useful life of the Ogallala aquifer in the Southern High Plains (SHP) over a 90-year planning horizon, relative to the situation where climate conditions are maintained at the historical average condition for 1960 to 2009. The empirical analysis is accomplished with the aid of an integrated water policy model that couples a dynamic economic optimization model to a detailed aquifer model of the Southern Ogallala Aquifer. The integrated model controls for the effects of spatial heterogeneity in land use practices and aquifer characteristics. For each climate scenario, changes in annual economic returns, irrigated acres, water use, and aquifer storage levels are measured relative to respective estimates derived from the historic no change climate scenario. The annual 90-year time path of economic returns, water use, and cropping patterns under the eight climate change scenarios significantly varies from the baseline forecast. Moreover, relative to a baseline condition that estimates significant annual decreases in economic returns due to continued groundwater mining, the climate change scenarios generally suggest climate change will mitigate the cost of increasing groundwater scarcity due to a complimentary effect between crop yields and the various climate change scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170705&r=agr |
| By: | Tandon, Sharad |
| Abstract: | World grains prices dramatically increased between 2007 and 2008, but rice prices especially surged. Utilizing the much larger spike in rice prices than in wheat, this article compares the response of Indian households consuming rice as the staple grain to households consuming wheat. Households worse affected by the crisis sacrificed diet diversity, spent less on labor-saving durable goods, sent fewer children to school, and increased the amount of children performing domestic work. These results demonstrate a direct link between food insecurity and human capital investments, and suggest significant non-health costs to the rising food prices of the past two decades. |
| Keywords: | World Food Price Crisis, Education, Nutrition, India, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, D12, I25, J24, O12, O53, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169751&r=agr |
| By: | Scherpf, Erik; Newman, Constance; Prell, Mark |
| Keywords: | SNAP, food assistance, poverty, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:174295&r=agr |
| By: | Yuko Nakano (University of Tsukuba); Yuki Tanaka (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies); Keijiro Otsuka (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of training provided by a large-scale private farm on the performance of surrounding small-scale rice farmers in a rain-fed area in Tanzania. We found that the training effectively enhances the adoption of improved rice cultivation practices, paddy yield, and profit of rice cultivation by small-holder farmers. In fact, the trainees achieve paddy yield of 5 tons per hectare on average, which is remarkably high for rain-fed rice cultivation. Our results suggest high potential of small-scale rain-fed lowland rice cultivation and extension services by private large scale farms. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:14-21&r=agr |
| By: | Duangbootsee, Uchook; Myers, Robert J. |
| Abstract: | The rice price support program (PSP) in Thailand is designed to support rice prices and raise incomes of rice farmers. However, it has been argued that the program only attracts participation from certain types of farmers, in particular larger and more efficient farmers with higher farm incomes. This raises the question of whether there is a difference in the technical efficiency of program participants and non-participants. This paper investigates two issues: (a) what are the key determinants of farmers’ decision to participate in the PSP? and (b) do program participants and non-participants use different rice production technologies and have different levels of technical efficiency. We take a stochastic frontier approach to answering these questions but because farmers self-select into the PSP the standard stochastic frontier model may lead to biased estimation. In response we augment the standard stochastic frontier model with a participation equation explaining the decision to participate in the PSP, and then use Heckman’s two-step estimation and Greene’s sample selection stochastic production frontier model to explore levels of technical efficiency among participants and non-participants. Results indicate that the participation decision is governed by key factors that include land size and the financial position of the farm. Results also show there is no strong evidence to support the presence of selectivity bias in the stochastic frontier estimates. In addition, a likelihood-ratio test indicates that participants and non-participants use the same frontier production technology. The analysis of technical efficiency reveals that participants are more technically efficient than non-participants. The findings therefore suggest that larger farmers participate more in the PSP and that these program participants tend to be more technically efficient farmers. |
| Keywords: | Technical efficiency, stochastic production frontier, selectivity bias, jasmine rice, Thailand, price support program, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170713&r=agr |
| By: | Ziętara, Wojciech |
| Abstract: | Place and role of cattle production in Polish agriculture and in selected countries. Evaluation of production potential, organization of production, costs and effects on dairy farms (type 45) of the surveyed countries, depending on the economic size in 2008-2010. Assessment of production potential, organization of production, costs and effects on farms specializing in cattle (type 49) in the surveyed countries, depending on the economic size in 2008-2010. Comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of farms with cattle production in the surveyed countries. Efficiency of farms with cattle production by economic size, calculated using the DEA method. Factors significantly determining the change in income from agricultural activities on Polish dairy farms and cattle farms. Status and trends in beef production in Poland. |
| Keywords: | cattle production, Polish agriculture, dairy farms, production potential, organization of production, costs, effects, beef production, cattle farms, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepr:179225&r=agr |
| By: | Lymperis, Georgios |
| Abstract: | MSc Banking and Finance, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance. Supervisor: Dario Maimone Ansaldo Patti |
| Keywords: | ethanol, crude oil, wheat, corn, soybean, time-series analysis, causality, impulse response., Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:thesms:184723&r=agr |
| By: | Gilligan, Daniel; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John; Roy, Shalini; Schwab, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | Aid agencies often provide transfers in food rather than cash out of a paternalistic belief that food transfers will better improve household food security. However, evidence from Latin America shows that cash transfers often increase the share of food in consumption, counter to Engel’s Law. This finding suggests households treat transfer income differently, with previous literature arguing that transfers shift intrahousehold bargaining. Until now, there has been little rigorous evidence on how the effects of transfers on food consumption patterns differ by context or by transfer modality. We use experimental data from three countries, Ecuador, Uganda and Yemen, to test the relative impact of food transfers and cash transfers (and vouchers in Ecuador) on the food share of consumption, food Engel curves, and the composition of food consumption. We find that, in all three countries, there are no significant differences by modality in the impacts of transfers on overall food share or food Engel curves. In particular, in Ecuador, transfers in the form of food, cash, or vouchers all increase the share of food in total consumption, representing outward shifts of the food Engel curves, but there are no significant differences by modality in these shifts. In Uganda, neither food nor cash significantly changes the food share of consumption. In Yemen, there is also no significant difference in Engel curves between food and cash beneficiaries. However, we find in all three countries that there are differences by modality in impacts on the composition of food consumption. In two of the three countries, food transfers lead to increased food group shares of the items included in the food ration, and in all three countries, cash transfers lead to larger improvements in dietary diversity. We find no evidence of changes in intrahousehold bargaining power due to any transfer modality in all three countries, suggesting another factor may be responsible for shifting Engel curves in Ecuador. |
| Keywords: | Transfers, Consumption, Engel Curve, Food aid, Cash transfers, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, D12, J16, O12, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:171159&r=agr |
| By: | Ferris, Jeffrey; David, Newburn |
| Keywords: | Land Use, Forest Conservation, Ecosystem Services Accounting, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170337&r=agr |
| By: | Ferris, Jeffrey; David, Newburn |
| Keywords: | Land Use, Forest Conservation, Accounting of Ecosystem Services, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170321&r=agr |
| By: | Gvillo, Rejeana; Capps, Oral; Dharmasena, Senarath |
| Abstract: | Fluid milk consumption has been on a decline in the United States for several years. The check off program funded by producers and processors of fluid milk provides generic advertising targeted at fluid milk consumption. Exploring how generic advertising affects fluid milk type consumption delineated by milk fat type is examined by incorporating a polynomial distributed lag advertising variable into an incomplete demand system. Seemingly unrelated regression results indicate that generic advertising indeed affects milk type consumption differently. The optimal advertising lag is five months. Whole milk has no significant advertising effects while low-fat and skim milks have positive, significant effects. |
| Keywords: | Fluid Milk, Generic Advertising, PDL, Incomplete Demand, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, D11, D12, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170265&r=agr |
| By: | Clancy, Matthew; Moschini, GianCarlo |
| Abstract: | One prominent feature of the US biofuels sector is its reliance on mandates to enforce use. The performance of this policy tool has been mixed, with corn-based ethanol production successfully meeting targets but cellulosic ethanol falling well short of them. A crucial difference in this setting is that corn-based ethanol relies on a mature technology whereas the prospect of meeting cellulosic ethanol mandates was always predicated on the development of new technologies. Is it reasonable to expect that mandates would work well as an incentive for innovation? To address this question, we develop a partial equilibrium model with endogenous innovation to examine the incentives for innovation in production under a mandate and compare this policy to two benchmark situations: laissez-faire and a carbon tax. We find that a mandate creates relatively strong incentives for investment in R&D in low-quality innovations, but relatively weak incentives to invest in high-quality innovations. Moreover, mandates are likely to underperform carbon taxes in welfare terms. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, innovation, mandates, carbon tax, technology policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170182&r=agr |
| By: | Shiva, Layla; Bessler, David A.; McCarl, Bruce A. |
| Abstract: | We model the energy–agriculture linkage through structural vector autoregression (VAR) model. This model quantifies the relative importance of various contributing factors in driving prices in both markets. The LiNGAM algorithm from the machine learning literature is used to help identify structural parameters in contemporaneous time. We perform conditional forecasting, taking into account the renewable fuel standards policies, and compare the forecasted path of prices with and without the renewable fuels mandates. |
| Keywords: | ethanol, vector autoregression, renewable fuel standard, graph theory, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169780&r=agr |
| By: | Bakucs, Zoltan; Jambor, Attila |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa142:169793&r=agr |
| By: | Oded Galor; Ömer Özak |
| 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 natural land productivity and their impact on the return to agricultural investment have had a persistent effect on the distribution of long-term orientation across societies. In particular, exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of 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. |
| JEL: | O1 O4 Z1 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20438&r=agr |
| By: | Homolka, Fruzsina; Hegyi, Adrienn; Sebők, András |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study was to identify challenges and barriers related to sustainability issues within the Hungarian agri-food sector. Within the SALSA EU FP7 project a survey was carried out which helped to evaluate the current status of the Hungarian food supply chains related to sustainability challenges. The specific issues, which have to be considered, is the use of soy products and ingredients containing soy products in food, the consumer concerns about the use of GMO, and the sustainability of the soy and beef supply chains. In Hungary the general interest related to the sustainability issues is still lower than within the North-West European countries. The results of the survey will be delivered in the presentation and discussed several topics according to the status of the Hungarian agri-food chains members’ awareness related to the “Triple Bottom Line”. |
| Keywords: | sustainability, GMO, supply chain, stakeholders, awareness, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164764&r=agr |
| By: | Deininger, Klaus; Monchuk, Daniel; Nagarajan, Hari K; Singh, Sudhir K |
| Abstract: | Although a large literature discusses the productivity effects of land fragmentation, measurement and potential endogeneity issues are often overlooked. This paper uses several measures of fragmentation and controls for endogeneity and crop choice by looking at inherited paddy and wheat plots to show that these issues matter empirically. While crop choice can mitigate effects, fragmentation as measured by the Simpson index increases production cost and fosters substitution of labor for machinery, especially for small and medium farmers. Greater distances between fragments have a smaller effect. Creating opportunities for market-based consolidation could be one step to limit fragmentation-induced cost increases. |
| Keywords: | Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,Crops and Crop Management Systems,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Regional Economic Development |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7085&r=agr |
| By: | Duncan, Ronlyn |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar14:187497&r=agr |
| By: | Paolo Giordani; Nadia Rocha; Michele Ruta |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between trade policy and food prices. We show that, when individuals are loss averse, governments may use trade policy to shield the domestic economy from large food price shocks. This creates a complementarity between the price of food in international markets and trade policy. Specifically, unilateral actions give rise to a "multiplier effect": when a shock drives up the price of food, exporters respond by imposing restrictions while importers wind down protection, thus exacerbating the initial shock and soliciting further trade policy activism. We test the key prediction of the theory with a new dataset that comprises monthly information on trade measures across 77 countries and 33 food products for the period 2008-11, finding evidence of a multiplier effect in food trade policy. These findings contribute to inform the broader debate on the proper regulation of food trade policy within the multilateral trading system. |
| Keywords: | Food prices;Commodity price shocks;Trade policy;Econometric models;Loss aversion; Trade policy; Multiplier effect; Food crisis. |
| Date: | 2014–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:14/182&r=agr |
| By: | Marasteanu, I. Julia; Jaenicke, Edward C. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of clusters of certified organic operations on county-level general economic indicators in order to assess the potential of organic clustering as an economic development tool. We first identify clusters of organic operations using the Local Moran’s I test statistic, which tests the null hypothesis of no spatial autocorrelation, and data from the National Organic Program and the U.S. Census. We then use these spatially defined clusters, as well as county-level data from publicly available sources such as the U.S. Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the USDA’s Census of Agriculture, and the USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), to analyze the impact of clustering on county-level economic indicators. To do this, we use a treatment effects model in which the dependent variable is a county-level economic indicator and the treatment is being in a cluster of organic operations. For comparison, we also perform these analyses for general agricultural establishments. |
| Keywords: | Organic Agriculture, Regional Economic Development, Spatial Econometrics, Hotspots, Treatment Effects, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Q13, R11, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170336&r=agr |
| By: | Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge; Valle, Karen |
| Abstract: | A notable feature of the adoption of genetically engineered (GE) corn is the rapid growth in seed prices accompanied by rapid increases in GE corn with multiple (stacked) traits, which have often seen to offer several advantages to farmers, particularly increased yields. This paper presents preliminary empirical results on the estimation of the pricing of seed traits for corn using 2010 data. The hedonic approach used entails expressing the price of seed as a function of their “quality characteristics.” The quality characteristics considered in our hedonic function are three insect resistance traits (Bt to control the European corn borer, corn rootworm, and corn earworm), GE herbicide tolerance traits (glyphosate, glufosinate), and non-GE herbicide tolerance traits (IMI-corn). The conventional seed was considered as the base. |
| Keywords: | biotechnology, genetically engineered crops, corn seed, hedonic models, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169667&r=agr |
| By: | Michael R. Carter; Rachid Laajaj; Dean Yang |
| Abstract: | We report the results of a randomized experiment testing impacts of subsidies for modern agricultural inputs in rural Mozambique. One-time provision of a voucher for fertilizer and improved seeds leads to substantial increases in fertilizer use, which persist through two subsequent agricultural seasons. Voucher receipt also leads to large, persistent increases in household agricultural production and market sales, per capita consumption, assets, durable good ownership, and housing improvements. Consistent with learning models of the adoption decision, we find positive treatment effects on farmers' estimated returns to the input package. We also document positive cross-household treatment spillovers: one's own fertilizer use rises in the number of social network members receiving vouchers. Our findings are consistent with theoretical models predicting persistence of impacts of temporary technology adoption subsidies, in particular due to learning effects. |
| JEL: | O13 O16 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20465&r=agr |
| By: | Delbridge, Timothy A.; King, Robert P. |
| Keywords: | Organic, yields, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170561&r=agr |
| By: | Umberger, Wendy J.; He, Xiaobo; Minot, Nicholas; Toiba, Hery |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship between the use of modern food retailers and health outcomes, using data from a survey of 1180 urban households in Indonesia. The dependent variables include adult and child body-mass index (BMI) and the share of individuals overweight and obese. After controlling for individual and household characteristics and using standard and Lewbel instrumental variable approaches to control for unobservable characteristics, we do not find a statistically significant relationship between use of supermarkets and adult nutrition measures. On the other hand, there is mixed evidence for a negative effect of supermarkets on child nutrition, particularly for those in high-income households. |
| Keywords: | supermarket, diet, nutrition, BMI, Indonesia, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, I15, P46, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:177168&r=agr |
| By: | Beddow, Jason; Pardey, Philip; Hurley, Terrance |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:172415&r=agr |
| By: | Zenebe, Addisalem; Peterson, Wesley; Wamisho, Kassu |
| Abstract: | The African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) which was signed into law in 2000 as part of U.S. trade legislation has the objectives of increasing trade and investment between the U.S. and eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, by reducing or eliminating tariffs applied to African exports of different products. This Act represents a promising approach to economic growth and development in SSA through international trade. This research paper examines the impact of AGOA on African agricultural exports. The study uses the gravity trade model framework and panel data depicting annual agricultural trade from 35 eligible SSA countries to the United States over years both before and after AGOA’s implementation (1990-2011). There is wide variation in trade flows and the economic characteristics of the panel data obtained from the 35 SSA countries include numerous observations of zero trade flows. As the gravity equation is generally estimated in logarithms which are not defined for zero values, alternative statistical estimation methods, the Heckman model and the Poission family of regression modeling techniques, were used to test whether the inclusion of the zero values would change the parameter estimates significantly. The study differs from previous empirical analyses of AGOA which did not attempt to account for zero trade flows. In addition, most of these studies were based on data from the early years of AGOA while this study includes more recent data and is based on a longer time period. The statistical results indicate that the AGOA trade preferences do not have a statistically significant impact on SSA agricultural exports, although some of the model results indicate that AGOA may have a positive effect on SSA agricultural exports to the United States. Results from some of the models indicate that an increase in per capita GDP in the SSA countries decreases agricultural exports to the United States. Likewise, currency appreciation of the SSA countries decreases the agricultural trade flows. A tariff rate quota and the exclusion of some agricultural products from the legslation still limit AGOA’s broader positive economic impact. Further liberalization, reform and extension of AGOA for a longer time, investment to improve trade facilitation services, agricultural productivity and processing to meet high quality standards, and adoption of a comprehensive development assistance policy are needed if the African countries are to realize sustained economic growth and development. Keywords: AGOA, Agriculture, SSA, United States, Gravity Model |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170590&r=agr |
| By: | Kalkuhl, Matthias |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the transmission from global commodity to domestic food prices for a large set of countries. First, a theoretical model is developed to explain price transmission for different trade regimes. Drawing from the competitive storage model under rational expectations, it is shown that domestic prices can respond instantaneously to global prices even if no trade takes place but future trade is expected. Using a global database on food prices, we construct national and international grain price indices. With an autoregressive distributed lag model, we empirically detect countries in which food prices are influenced by global commodity prices, including futures prices. Mapping transmission elasticities with the size of the population below the poverty line which spends typically a large share of its income on food, we are able to estimate the size of vulnerable population. Our empirical analysis reveals that 90 percent of the global poor (income below 1.25$/day) live in countries where domestic food prices respond to international prices - but the extent of transmission varies substantially. For 360 million poor people, international prices transmit to their country at rates of 30 percent or higher within three months. |
| Keywords: | time series econometrics, poverty, trade, storage, market integration, volatility, shocks, price indices, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, C22, E3, F1, F6, Q1, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169798&r=agr |
| By: | Atallah, Shady S.; Gómez, Miguel I. |
| Abstract: | Research on climate change in recent decades has disproportionately focused on predicting impacts while largely ignoring adaptation strategies. How agricultural systems can adapt to minimize the uncertainty caused by rising temperatures is one of the most important research issues today. We focus on the coffee berry borer, the most important coffee pest worldwide, which has recently expanded across the tropics as a result of rising temperatures, threatening coffee farms worldwide. Intercropping shade trees with coffee trees is being promoted as a promising climate change adaptation strategy that can protect coffee plantations from microclimate variability and reduce pest infestations. Little is known, however, on whether or not the benefits of the ecological services provided by shade trees justify the ensuing yield reduction associated with shade-grown coffee production systems. We develop a computational, bioeconomic model to analyze the ecological and economic sustainability of switching from a sun-grown to shade-grown coffee system as a climate change adaptation strategy. In particular, we model the spatial-dynamic pest diffusion at the plant level and evaluate alternative shading strategies based on farm expected net present values. Using parameters from Colombia, preliminary model findings suggest that the ecological benefits of shade-grown planting systems justify the forgone revenues from lower per acre yields only for high levels of shading. We solve for the threshold net price premium of shade-grown coffee that would make this climate change adaptation strategy cost-effective at moderate shading levels. |
| Keywords: | Bioeconomic Models, Cellular Automata, Computational Methods, Pest Control, Coffee Berry Borer, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C63, Q54, Q57, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170215&r=agr |
| By: | David Wüpper; Johannes Sauer; Linda Kleemann |
| Abstract: | Sustainable intensification of Ghana’s smallholder farming is critical to mitigate rural poverty. Innovations for sustainable intensification include agro-ecological practices, which build up soil fertility, and mulching, which conserves soil moisture. To stimulate the adoption of these innovations, development organizations and business stakeholders provide training for farmers, to demonstrate proper usage and convince the farmers of their profitability. Using unique panel data, we analyze whether the provided training increases adoption-rates. We find effect of training is significant for the adoption of agro-ecological practices but not for mulching. The explanation is that agro-ecological practices are complex but inexpensive, so that information is the main constraint. Mulching in contrast is already a little more diffused, easier to understand but more expensive. Therefore, mulching is less constrained by lacking information and mostly by finance, which includes restricted credit access and uninsured risk |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Training; Sustainable Intensification; Development Organizations; Social Learning; Agro Ecological Practices; Mulching; Ghana |
| JEL: | C3 C5 O2 O3 D8 Q1 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1973&r=agr |
| By: | Sheahan, Megan; Olwande, John; Kirimi, Lilian; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | A new wave of “market smart” modern input subsidy schemes has emerged in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade with the promise of increasing input use and grain yields while building or complementing private sector efforts. We study the extent to which geographic and household level targeting under Kenya’s National Accelerated Agricultural Input Access Program (NAAIAP) has remained true to its “market smart” objectives using household level panel data from before and during the initial years of program implementation (2007-2010). |
| Keywords: | Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:188572&r=agr |
| By: | Huttel, Silke; Wildermann, Lutz |
| Abstract: | This paper sets out to empirically analyse land price formation in Saxony-Anhalt with the aim to quantify the impact of sellers’ and acquiring parties’ structural identity on land prices. We use a hedonic price regression with a detailed data set covering the years 2009–2010. Besides productivity, neighbourhood and location attributes, we control for the major privatization agency as a seller, farmers as sellers or buyers and if tenants purchase the land. The model is estimated using spatial-econometric techniques where weight matrices are not only based on pure air distances, but also on travel time. We further take into account that price levels of adjacent parcels have an impact but only if they are observed prior to the respective price formation process. We find that prices realised by the major privatization agency are on average higher, and if the former tenant purchases the land, a lower price is realized. |
| Keywords: | farmland prices, hedonic model, spatial correlation, spatio-temporal model, Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, Q 11, Q 15, D 44, C 21, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi14:187596&r=agr |
| By: | Motallebi, Marzieh; Hoag, Dana; O’Connell, Caela; Osmond, Deanna |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the amount of farmers’ trading cost in Jordan Lake will be estimated based on farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) for participating in water quality trading (WQT) program and then the amount of innovative premium will be interpreted based on the trading cost. In order to achieve this goal, a survey was done by person in Jordan Lake watershed from 90 farmers. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169064&r=agr |
| By: | Miranda, Juan Jose; Corral, Leonardo; Blackman, Allen (Resources for the Future); Asner, Gregory; Lima, Eirivelthon |
| Abstract: | Protected areas are a cornerstone of forest conservation in developing countries. Yet we know little about their effects on forest cover change or the socioeconomic status of local communities, and even less about the relationship between these effects. This paper assesses whether “win-win” scenarios are possible—that is, whether protected areas can both stem forest cover change and alleviate poverty. We examine protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon using high-resolution satellite images and household-level survey data for the early 2000s. To control for protected areas’ nonrandom siting, we rely on quasi-experimental (matching) methods. We find that the average protected area reduces forest cover change. We do not find a robust negative effect on local communities. Protected areas that allow sustainable extractive activities are more effective in reducing forest cover change but less effective in delivering win-win outcomes. |
| Keywords: | conservation, deforestation, protected areas, poverty, land use, land conservation |
| JEL: | Q56 Q23 Q24 R14 R52 |
| Date: | 2014–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-14-efd&r=agr |
| By: | Kuhns, Annemarie; Volpe, Richard |
| Abstract: | Our paper examines the great recession’s impact on households’ food-at-home (FAH) purchase decisions. Specifically, we test if the percentage of consumers’ FAH shopping baskets comprised of healthy food, as defined by the Center for Nutrition and Policy Promotion (CNPP), changed significantly as a result of the great recession. Controlling for a number of covariates associated with economic downturns, as well as rigorous household characteristics, we identify that the recession was responsible for a 4-8% increase in the dietary quality of U.S. grocery purchases. The finding is robust to specification and raises several important questions regarding consumer behavior. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170485&r=agr |
| By: | Parcell, Joe; Cain, Wayne |
| Abstract: | This research used stochastic dominance with respect to a function to evaluate producer preference for cropping systems under uncertainty. Six alternative cropping systems were compared for seven different crops. Many times a producer is familiar a developing market opportunity for a specialty crop and the producer has to make a production decision based on yield uncertainty. This research analyzed by how much alternative crop and bio-energy crop yields would need to change to make a producer indifferent between the most preferred (dominant) cropping system and an alternative cropping system. For the current study, the stochastic dominance results indicate that the change in yield necessary is sufficiently large enough to keep producers from accepting the risk of engaging in alternative crop or bio-energy crop production. The paper concludes with study limitations, which the reader is encouraged to review. |
| Keywords: | </dc:subject><dc:subject>Specialty Crops, Agronomic Alternative Crops, Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170663&r=agr |
| By: | Suter, Jordan; Sahan, Dissanayake; Lynne, Lewis |
| Abstract: | Habitat destruction and fragmentation resulting from land development has motivated considerable public and private expenditures on land conservation initiatives. In addition to direct expenditures related to the procurement of conservation land, legislators have also put in place incentives aimed at encouraging private landowners to voluntarily donate conservation easements. Many landowners have taken advantage of these incentives, as private land held under conservation easement increased nearly five-fold between 2000 and 2010 (Land Trust Alliance 2010). This research seeks to inform the design and implementation of public incentives for conservation easements by analyzing how the tax incentives already in place have influenced the distribution of conservation easements and behavior of land trusts throughout the United States. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170706&r=agr |
| By: | Sharp, Misti; Hoag, Dana |
| Abstract: | For over a decade, engineers and scientists have been studying water flow and quality in Colorado’s Lower Arkansas River Valley (LARV). Key findings indicate that dissolved selenium (Se) in the water system exceeds the chronic standard, which can endanger aquatic life and livestock. The presence of this naturally occurring element is exacerbated by excess irrigation water and nitrogen seeping into the groundwater and interacting with shale formations, producing harmful levels of Se. Nonpoint source pollution such as Se can be mitigated by Best Management Practices (BMPs) that would reduce the amount of Se that reaches the river. Four BMPs are under consideration: improved irrigation technology, sealing and/or lining of the irrigation canals, lease fallowing and reduced fertilizer loading. These solutions are a mixture of private and public efforts in order to integrate the underlying incentive structure and modeling capabilities. The objective of this study is to map the trade-off between costs of BMP implementation and Se reduction in a traditional Pareto frontier, but with the added innovation to account for institutional constraints (e.g. water law) that affect the slope, continuity and concavity of the tradeoff curve. The purpose is to examine how policies and economic incentives of farmers and mutual canal companies influence the efficiency of tradeoffs that are technically, but not necessarily institutionally, attainable. For example, the legal environment is in place for land owners to lease water rights to the municipalities; however, the relationships that would be necessary to make this a possible solution may not be present. These institutional constraints are examined to determine the impact they have on the ability to trade off reduced Se for farm profits. A companion study in engineering utilizes regional-scale groundwater flow and reactive transport models to simulate Se loading to the river for 3 implementation levels of the 4 considered BMPs as well as a few targeted combinations of the BMPs in the river basin. Enterprise budgets are utilized to identify costs of the BMPs under various farm characteristics. Using the outputs from the numerical hydro-chemical models and the enterprise budgets, a traditional Pareto trade-off curve is mapped showing the technical feasibility of trading off BMP costs for reduced Se. Finally, institutional limitations are added, and the curves adjusted, to determine the opportunity costs of institutional constraints. Institutional constraints and incentive structures do impact the costs associated with the BMPs as well as the relative impact the BMPs can have on Se reduction. Moreover, they introduce discontinuities and non-concavities in the trade-off curve and impact society’s ability to benefit as a result of the policy due to the complex interaction of private incentives that are influenced by the institutional setting. This method provides an attractive platform from which to demonstrate gains that could be made by addressing constraints. |
| Keywords: | Non-point source pollution, BMPs, selenium, watershed management, public versus private solutions, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170389&r=agr |
| By: | Kim, Hyeyoung; House, Lisa; Kim, Tae-Kyun |
| Abstract: | Voluntarily implemented carbon labels have shown that there is a lack of motivation by companies to develop technology to reduce carbon emissions. This study examined consumer values for mandatory carbon labels in South Korea. Considering the altruistic nature of carbon labels, we asked about individuals’ perceptions about the impact of climate change on their personal lives to measure consumer preference for carbon labels. Significant preference for mandatory carbon labels reflected Koreans’ high level of concern about climate change. As an increasing number of consumers feel the impact of climate change, the gap of WTPs between low carbon labels and carbon measured labels is sufficient. The lower value of low-carbon labels as compared to GM labels indicates that consumers’ guilt is not an appropriate strategy with carbon labels. |
| Keywords: | Carbon-labels, Willingness-to-pay, South Korea, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170190&r=agr |
| By: | Hand, Michael S.; Eichman, Henry; Triepke, F. Jack; Warziniack, Travis |
| Keywords: | public rangelands, grazing, climate change, Southwest United States, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170666&r=agr |
| By: | Daniele Girardi |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the correlation of agricultural prices with stock market dynamics. We discuss the possible role of financial and macroeconomic factors in driving this time-varying relation, with the aim of understanding what caused positive correlation between agricultural commodities and stocks in recent years. While previous works on commodity-equity correlation have focused on broad commodity indices, we study 16 agricultural prices, in order to assess patterns that are specific to agricultural commodities but also differences across markets. We show that an explanation based on a combination of financialization and financial crisis is consistent with the empirical evidence in most markets, while global demand factors don't appear to play a significant role. The correlation between agricultural prices and stock market returns tends to increase during periods of financial turmoil. The impact of financial turmoil on the correlation gets stronger as the share of financial investors in agricultural derivatives markets rises. Our findings suggest that the influence of financial shocks on agricultural prices should decrease as global financial tensions settle down but also that, as long as agricultural markets are 'financialized', it might rise again when it is less needed, i.e. in the presence of new financial turmoil. |
| JEL: | Q11 Q13 G12 G13 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:701&r=agr |
| By: | Bi, Xiang; House, Lisa; Gao, Zhifeng |
| Abstract: | While federal rules require specific meat and poultry products to carry nutrition information labeling, these rules do not extend to fresh seafood products. This paper focuses on the extent to which the provision of nutrition information could impact consumer demand for seafood, with a special focus on parents with children, who influence the food preferences of future generations. Using a choice experiment, we found that providing nutrition information similar to the nutrition facts panel increased the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for all types of seafood studied; whereas information on the health benefit of Omega-3 fatty acids increased the MWTP for some types of seafood. This finding can inform the industry and policy-makers on the potential impact of introducing nutrition labels for raw seafood. |
| Keywords: | seafood, nutrition information, health information, Omega-3 fatty acids, choice experiment, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Q13, Q18, M31, C35, C90, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170266&r=agr |
| By: | Jarzebowski, Sebastian; Bezat-Jarzeboski, Agnieszka; Klepacki, Bogdan |
| Abstract: | Due to the nature of the food supply chain an important aspect in the context of increasing the efficiency of agri-food companies may be an increase of the integration's degree in the chain. Therefore, exploring the relationships among these variables was found as an important research area and adopted as the goal of the paper. The paper is focused mainly on the theoretical background showing relationship between integration and performance. A description of the theoretical and methodological aspects of performance measurement and its extension (including the integration aspect) was also made in the paper. For an empirical illustration of the analyzed relationships two steps will be made. Firstly, the integration's degree in the food chain was measured. Secondly, the efficiency of the companies from the cereals processing industry in Europe was assessed. The SFA models (e.g. trans-logarithmic and Cobb-Douglas functional form) were used for assessment of efficiency. By using stochastic method (e.g. the SFA), one may show the influence of external variable (the integration in the supply chain) on the economic performance of enterprises. |
| Keywords: | integration, food supply chain, economic performance, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164749&r=agr |
| By: | Liu, Boying; Shumway, C. Richard |
| Abstract: | This paper reports meta-regressions of substitution elasticities between greenhouse-gas (GHG) polluting and nonpolluting inputs in agricultural production. We treat energy, fertilizer, and manure collectively as the “polluting input” and labor, land, and capital as nonpolluting inputs. We estimate meta-regressions for samples of Morishima substitution elasticities for labor, land, and capital vs. the polluting input. Much of the heterogeneity of Morishima elasticities can be explained by type of primal or dual function, functional form, type and observational level of data, input categories, the number of outputs, type of output, time period, and country categories. Each estimated long-run elasticity for the reference case, which is most relevant for assessing GHG emissions through life-cycle analysis, is greater than 1.0 and significantly different from zero. Most predicted elasticities remain significantly different from zero at the data means in the long run. These findings imply that life-cycle analysis based on fixed proportions production functions could provide grossly inaccurate measures of GHG of biofuel. |
| Keywords: | greenhouse gas polluting inputs, input substitution, life-cycle analysis, meta-regression, Morishima elasticity, production function., Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, greenhouse gas polluting inputs, input substitution, life-cycle analysis, meta-regression, Morishima elasticity, production function., |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170822&r=agr |
| By: | Shiratori, Sakiko |
| Abstract: | Reducing child malnutrition is one of the most important development goals. This study adopts a quantile regression approach to estimate the socioeconomic determinants of a child’s nutritional status and to explore for whom policy intervention matter the most. Using the data of children under five in Tanzania, the effects of several variables on child’s height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and hemoglobin level are examined. HAZ is influenced by age, sex, preceding birth interval, mother’s height and body-mass-index (BMI), and wealth, among others. The results from quantile regressions suggest that the intervention to improve mother’s education, especially higher than primary school, is effective to reduce the child’s malnutrition at the lower end of distribution. The interventions to upgrade drinking water or toilet facilities may not be sufficient in raising malnourished child’s nutritional status. Hemoglobin level is influenced by age, sex, mother’s hemoglobin level, parental education, and household size, among others. Conditional distributions make little difference with regard to hemoglobin level. Since common interventions of deworming or sleeping under the net are not significant, other interventions such as nutritional ones might be more effective for reducing anemia. 3 Large effects of mother’s nutritional status on child’s nutritional status imply that malnutrition is handed down from one generation to another, which could keep children trapped in the cycle of poverty. It would be effective to carefully integrate applicable interventions according to the objective and target population in order for wellbeing of individuals and for the development of the country. |
| Keywords: | Anemia, Child Nutrition, Intervention, Malnutrition, Quantile Regression, Stunting, Tanzania, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170304&r=agr |
| By: | Guerrero-Escobar, Santiago; Juarez-Torres, Miriam; Martinez Cruz, Adan |
| Abstract: | We propose a reliable indicator of vulnerability to climate change in agriculture that allows assessing within the system the main components of vulnerability at a local level: stressors exposure (SE), stressors sensitivity (SS), and adaptive capacity (AC). Also, this indicator will allow identifying main vulnerability drivers and planning policies to increase system resiliency as well as designing climate change adaptation policies at the local level. |
| Keywords: | local vulnerability to Climate change in agriculture Brazil Tocantins, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170685&r=agr |
| By: | Deng, Xueting; Woods, Timothy |
| Abstract: | This study explores wine expenditure driven factors for consumers in the United States by employing a four-state consumer behaviors study. A market segmentation method is applied to investigate spending patterns of 1,609 wine consumers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Determinants including wine consumption frequency, preference of differently priced wines, wine knowledge, past wine experience, and “local” involvement are investigated and compared for their significance in driving expenditure on wine in general, as well as on locally produced wine specifically. This study also investigated the effect of the determinants on local wine to total wine expenditure ratio. Finally, this study recommends market strategic insights for wine business in general and local wine in specific. |
| Keywords: | local wine, market segmentation, wine expenditure, wine knowledge, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170452&r=agr |
| By: | Dreyer, Heiko |
| Abstract: | This contribution argues and proves empirically that trade in agricultural products could be the higher the more distant two trading partners are. Distance in agricultural trade does not only reflect transport costs but also differences in climatic and cultivation conditions and, thus, in resource endowment of two trading partners. A gravity model is enhanced by different variables that capture differences in factor endowment. The model is estimated for an annual panel of agricultural trade flows of nearly 10,000 country pairs for the period 1970 to 2010. We show that the interpretation of the distance coefficient as transport costs’ effect is misleading as the transport cost related effect of distance is underestimated if the model does not account for differences in growing conditions. Particular, a trade increasing effect for North South distance shows up. Moreover, we find that this pattern is clearer the more disaggregated the product group is. |
| Keywords: | Trade, Transport costs, distance, North South, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170455&r=agr |
| By: | Huang, Pei; McCarl, Bruce A. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169828&r=agr |
| By: | Moser, Stefan; Mußhoff, Prof. Dr. Oliver |
| Abstract: | Palm oil production creates negative externalities, e.g. through intensive fertiliser application. If policy wants to determine externalities an effective and efficient measurement seems desirable. Embedded in an extra laboratory field experiment on Sumatra, a business simulation game tests several incentives for reducing the use of fertiliser. These incentives are differently designed, i.e., either reward or punishment, varying in their magnitude and probability of occurrence but constant in the effect on expected income. Results show that participants react significantly different depending on the incentive design. A high reward with a low probability to occur was found to be the most effective and sustainable incentive design. For efficiency, a low and certain reward is indicated to be the best design. |
| Keywords: | policy measurement, effective incentive, efficient inventive, field experiment, business simulation game, Indonesia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi14:187432&r=agr |
| By: | Asci, Serhat; Borisova, Tatiana |
| Abstract: | The study examines effectiveness of price- and non-price residential water demand management programs. Household-level water use data for Alachua County, Florida, were analyzed using three methods: IV, 2SLS, and 3SLS. Residential water demand is examined separately for households with combined water meters, as well as separate indoor and outdoor irrigation water meters. Preliminary results show that the price-base program (i.e., inclining block rate pricing) and non-price programs (i.e., residential irrigation restrictions with an enforcement component) have a significant effect on monthly household water use. |
| Keywords: | Residential Water Demand, Price and Non-Price Conservation Programs, irrigation restrictions., Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170687&r=agr |
| By: | Ross, Kara; Shanoyan, Aleksan; Zereyesus, Yacob |
| Keywords: | child malnutrition, Ghana, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170632&r=agr |
| By: | Zhou, Wei; Babcock, Bruce A. |
| Abstract: | A rational expectations competitive storage model for U.S. corn and RIN (Renewable Identification Numbers) markets is built to study the impacts of different ethanol policy scenarios. The model considers corn use for ethanol, storage and all other uses in each period, accounting for two random variables: oil prices and corn yields. Borrowing and banking provisions of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) mandate are also integrated into the model. We use the model to provide estimates of the impact on corn prices, corn plantings and ethanol production under two ethanol mandate scenarios for six marketing years from 2014/15. The first scenario is one in which corn ethanol mandates stay the same as required in the RFS and additional E85 stations are introduced that allow for compliance with higher mandates. The second scenario is one in which no investment occurs and the Environmental Protection Agency reduces the mandate to 13 billion gallons. We find that corn prices drop about 6 percent from reduced mandates or about 26 cents per bushel, while RIN prices drop from around 54 cents to nearly zero. The results suggest that meeting the more broad policy objectives of energy policy and not the price of corn or RINs should determine the level of ethanol mandates. |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170581&r=agr |
| By: | Bonanno, Alessandro; Costanigro, Marco; Bimbo, Francesco; Oude Lansink, Alfons; VIscecchia, Rosaria |
| Abstract: | Food manufacturers use health claims to signal higher product quality and attract health oriented consumers. However, consumers’ willingness to pay for health-related attributes may not be large enough to repay firms of the high costs associated with developing, certifying, and marketing such products. We investigate the impact of several health-related credence attributes on product’s price, and what may help manufacturers to reach consumers with the highest willingness to pay for yogurt. To achieve our goals we use a large database of yogurt sales in Italy and two empirical approaches recently introduced in the hedonic price literature: Quantile Regression (QR) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Results show that the implicit prices of health claims differ across price levels (i.e. quantiles), and that manufacturers differ in their ability to target consumers with high willingness to pay. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic price, Price Dispersion, Incomplete Information, Quantile Regression, Stochastic Frontier, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q11, Q13, I12, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170585&r=agr |
| By: | Jessoe, Katrina; Manning, Dale; Taylor, J. Edward |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effects of annual fluctuations in temperature and precipitation on labor allocation in rural Mexico. We use a 28-year panel of individuals to investigate how people adjust their sector and location of work in response to year-to-year variation in weather. Controlling for state-year and individual fixed effects, we find that individuals are less likely to work locally in years with a high occurrence of extreme heat. This reduction in labor occurs for both agricultural and non-agricultural jobs, with larger reductions among wage workers. Extreme heat early in the year or for individuals located close to the U.S. border increases the likelihood that individuals respond by migrating to the United States. Under two medium-emissions climate change scenarios, our results imply that increased temperatures will lead to a 1.2-3% decrease in local employment and a 1-2% increase in domestic migration from rural to urban areas. These results provide an important example of how climate change could impact rural labor markets in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | climate change, weather, rural employment, migration, Mexico, Environmental Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170556&r=agr |
| By: | Lott, Corey; Tchigriaeva, Elena; Rollins, Kimberly; Stoddard, Shawn |
| Keywords: | Water demand, disaggregated data, climate change, water policy, elasticity, outdoor residential water use, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q54, Q25, D12, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170660&r=agr |
| By: | Su, Ye; Cook, Michael L. |
| Abstract: | Originating from a bold idea, Organic Valley currently reigns as the largest organic cooperative in North America. In 1988, from the non-glaciated, hilly part of Southwestern Wisconsin, seven progressive rural entrepreneurs started a courageous and visionary journey. The founders’ original objectives were to create an organization that would provide stable pay-prices to farmers and a sustainable family farm life style. For much of its more than 25 year history, Organic Valley has achieved this mission. However, in the past few years a more hostile economic environment emerged testing the resolve of George Siemon, CEO, and the Organic Valley leadership team. This case shares the evolution of a determined, idealistic group of mostly small rural producers leading a farmer owned firm from nothing but a dream to a complex international cooperative facing an important set of challenges. The current quandary: can the original mission of Organic Valley – to simultaneously deliver a stable producer pay-price and a sustainable life style to member suppliers – be maintained? |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Industrial Organization, A22, A23, Q01, Q11, Q13, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:174399&r=agr |
| By: | Richards, Timothy J.; Gómez, Miguel I.; Printezis, Iryna |
| Abstract: | The existence of price thresholds in grocery retailing is well-documented. Most authors explain the existence of price thresholds using Assimilation-Contrast Theory (ACT), Adaptation Level Theory (ALT) or Prospect Theory (PT). However, each of these theories is untenable if consumers are believed to behave rationally. We offer a theoretical explanation grounded in Real Options Theory (ROT) and economic hysteresis. We test the ROT hypothesis against three plausible alternatives using a maximum likelihood friction model that we augment for unobserved heterogeneity. Our findings support the ROT hypothesis, and suggests that the existence of price thresholds in aggregate data are driven by a common recognition of real option values, which do not disappear with the inclusion of consumer heterogeneity. |
| Keywords: | consumer search, hysteresis, reference prices, real options, retail prices, thresholds., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, D12, D83, L13, L81., |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:164872&r=agr |
| By: | Minarelli, Francesca; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide |
| Abstract: | The importance of networking as a way to enhance innovation has been pointed out in many scientific papers, in particular for SMEs. A great number of scientific studies clearly establish the significant role of SMEs in economic growth, promoting flexibility and innovation in an economy. The process of successfully engage in a network represents a key for enhancing competitiveness. In order to improve effectiveness of network is pivotal the achievement of a better understanding of SME behavior. The presented work aims to identify factors that characterize food SMEs entering in innovation networks by integrating findings from the literature review with a survey of food SMEs. |
| Keywords: | Network, food SMEs, innovation, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164740&r=agr |
| By: | Golub, Alla; Hertel, Thomas; Rose, Steven |
| Keywords: | ethanol, land use, dynamic model, CGE, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170230&r=agr |
| By: | Capitani, Daniel H. D.; Mattos, Fabio; Xavier, Carlos E. O. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170270&r=agr |
| By: | Baerenklau, Kenneth A.; Schwabe, Kurt; Dinar, Ariel |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effect of introducing a fiscally neutral increasing block-rate water budget price structure on residential water demand. We estimate that demand was reduced by at least 18 percent, although the reduction was achieved gradually over more than three years. As intermediate steps the study derives estimates of price and income elasticities that rely only on longitudinal variability. We investigate how different subpopulations responded to the pricing change and find evidence that marginal, rather than average, prices may be driving consumption. Additionally, we derive alternative rate structures that might have been implemented, and assess the estimated demand effects of those rate structures. |
| Keywords: | Block rate pricing, DCC model, residential water demand, water budgets, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q21, Q25, Q28, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170019&r=agr |
| By: | Tchigriaeva, Elena; Lott, Corey; Kimberly, Rollins |
| Keywords: | Water demand, disaggregated data, landscaping, water policy, elasticity, outdoor residential water use, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q25, Q28, D12, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170605&r=agr |
| By: | Zaffou, Madiha; Campbell, Benjamin L.; Martin, Jennifer |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the importance of different attributes of three major product categories: fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants, in order to understand the relative effect of these attributes on consumer’s choice. Using an online survey we implemented a choice based conjoint experiment. Respondents were asked to randomly evaluate two of the ten products being tested in the survey. A mixed logit model was used to analyze the data and determine willingness to pay for each product attribute. We further tested for the impact of purchase behavior and any randomization effect. Results for most of the products we analyzed demonstrate that consumers value locally grown products more than national products. Furthermore, results show that consumers tend to pay more money for farm and organic produce, but less for the latter one if consumers do not have prior experience buying organic. We also find a randomization effect that should be accounted for when evaluating multiple products in a survey. |
| Keywords: | Willingness to Pay, Choice Based Conjoint Analysis, Specialty Crops, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q13, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:176910&r=agr |
| By: | Lichtenberg, Erik; Majsztrik, John; Saavoss, Monica |
| Abstract: | Water scarcity is likely to increase in the coming years, making improvements in irrigation efficiency increasingly important. An emerging technology that promises to increase irrigation efficiency substantially is a wireless irrigation sensor network that uploads sensor data into irrigation management software, creating an integrated system that allows real-time monitoring and control of moisture status that has been shown in experimental settings to reduce irrigation costs, lower plant loss rates, shorten production times, decrease pesticide application, and increase yield, quality, and profit. We use an original survey to investigate likely initial acceptance, ceiling adoption rates, and profitability of this new sensor network technology in the nursery and greenhouse industry. We find that adoption rates for a base system and demand for expansion components are decreasing in price, as expected. The price elasticity of the probability of adoption suggests that sensor networks are likely to diffuse at a rate somewhat greater than that of drip irrigation. Adoption rates for a base system and demand for expansion components are increasing in specialization in ornamental production: Growers earning greater shares of revenue from greenhouse and nursery operations are willing to pay more for a base system and willing to purchase larger numbers of expansion components at any given price. We estimate that growers who are willing to purchase a sensor network expect investment in this technology to generate significant profit, consistent with findings from experimental studies. |
| Keywords: | irrigation technology adoption, precision irrigation, sensor network, moisture sensor, water saving technology, willingness to pay, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q25, Q16, |
| Date: | 2014–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:168211&r=agr |
| By: | Lawley, Chad; Yang, Wanhong |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of spatial interactions in conservation easements placed on prairie pothole habitat in western Canada. One of the goals of the conservation easement program we study is to protect contiguous habitat. We identify endogenous spatial interactions among conservation easements and government protected land, independent of spatially correlated landscape features and local economic shocks that influence easement enrollment. We present evidence that easements increase the likelihood of subsequent easements on neighboring land. Government-protected land appears to have little effect on the location of conservation easements. These results imply that conservation agencies have leveraged past conservation effort to enroll more contiguous habitat in permanent easements through a combination of targeting and positive social interactions among neighboring landowners. |
| Keywords: | Conservation easements, Prairie potholes, Land conservation, Conservation planning, Social interactions, Contiguous habitat, Spatial spillovers, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170323&r=agr |
| By: | Konar, Avishek; Roe, Brian; Irwin, Elena G. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170808&r=agr |
| By: | MacLachlan, Matthew; Springborn, Michael |
| Abstract: | In the context of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) control in New Zealand cattle, we address the problem of management under uncertain disease prevalence by integrating a model of disease transmission and Bayesian learning from testing. We show the implications of accounting for the full dynamic value of information for setting levels of investment in, and targeting of, disease control measures. In the process, we provide a methodology to addressing problems in which learning occurs regarding an uncertain and endogenous state variable. bTB is an infectious and potentially fatal disease of both animals and humans that persists throughout much of the world. In addition to health impacts, trade may be restricted by potential importers that are averse to the possibility of direct transmission via live cattle movements and via animal products to consumers. Despite intensive and sustained control efforts in New Zealand, eradication has been encumbered by characteristics of the pathogen and environmental and anthropogenic factors: a long incubation period, a pervasive but elusive wild host (the common brushtail possum), imperfect testing methods, and the diffuse nature of production. These features have allowed bTB to remain endemic among New Zealand cattle and deer herds since the mid-to-late 20th century, and substantially increased the difficulty of determining prevalence. For an endemic disease such as this, there may be an especially high value to the central veterinary authority in understanding the prevalence of the disease, particularly at a regional scale. More specifically, test results may be used to better inform future testing choices. Modifications of existing bioeconomic models are necessary to capture the value of additional information regarding prevalence. Implicit in existing bioeconomic models of bTB control is the unrealistic assumption that the central veterinary authority knows perfectly the number of facilities that are latently infected without knowing specifically which facilities are infected. We address uncertainty over the true state of disease prevalence by specifying a belief distribution. We then obtain results by using Bayesian and dynamic programming methods to optimize a dynamical system of disease spread and control in which the central authority’s beliefs regarding prevalence is modeled as a partially observed Markov decision processes. The belief distribution is characterized by two parameters that replace the true but uncertain state variable in the dynamic programming problem. The dynamics are complicated by the fact that decision makers are learning about a moving target: an evolving and endogenous disease prevalence. In each period, the central veterinary authority must update its beliefs using the information gained from testing, and using its understanding of the changes in prevalence that result from infections and recoveries. These physical processes are determined in part by the number of facilities that receive testing and subsequent targeted treatment, making prevalence endogenous. This extension allows us to examine efficient testing and application of targeted controls while explicitly modeling uncertainty and learning about the unobserved state. Our model captures both the gains from targeting animal movement restrictions and culling efforts and from using additional information to inform future testing decisions. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170711&r=agr |
| By: | Vassalos, Michael; Li, Yingbo |
| Abstract: | One of the most frequently used arguments to explain the increased use of contractual arrangements is that risk drives the choice of contracts. However, there is limited empirical support for this argument. A Bayesian ordered probit formulation is utilized in this study to examine the impact of fresh vegetable producers’ personal characteristics on the probability of adopting marketing contracts. Among the characteristics examined are: risk aversion levels, risk perception, age, education, income, location. The findings indicate that age, farm size and the potential to expand the operation are parameters that affect the choice of contracts. On the other hand, the results do not support the risk shifting hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Marketing Contracts, Bayesian Ordered Probit, Risk, Agribusiness, Marketing, Q12, Q13, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170233&r=agr |
| By: | Kloss, Mathias; Petrick, Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of labour force composition on productivity in EU arable farming. We test the heterogeneity of family and hired labour for a set of eight EU member states. To this end, we estimate augmented production functions using FADN data for the years 2001-2008. The results reject the notion that hired labour is generally less productive than family workers. In fact, farms with a higher share of hired workers are more productive than pure family farms in countries traditionally characterised by family labour, namely France, West Germany and Poland. Here, an increase in reliance on hired labour or the shift of family labour to more productive tasks could raise productivity. This finding calls into question a main pillar of the received family farm theory. In about half the countries, there are no statistically different effects of both types of labour. For the United Kingdom, we find the classical case with family farms being more productive than those relying on hired labour. In this situation supervision by family members could increase productivity. As a side result, we find little evidence of non-constant technical returns to scale. |
| Keywords: | Labour productivity, production function estimation, European Union, FADN, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi14:187353&r=agr |
| By: | Andrango, Graciela; Bergtold, Jason; Shanoyan, Aleksan; Archer, David; Flora, Cornelia |
| Keywords: | Latent class model, biofuel, oilseeds, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170702&r=agr |
| By: | Heinen, Sarah; Hartmann, Monika |
| Abstract: | Due to manifold scandals meat production and processing has been in the spotlight of public concern over the last decades. CSR can safeguard an enterprise against risks following e.g. food safety, environmental or social incidences in a sector. To reap the full benefit of their CSR involvement it is essential for firms to communicate their activities to their stakeholders in a credible way. Given this background, the objective of the paper is to find answers to the following questions: To what extent pursue and communicate German meat companies CSR activities, what factors determine their CSR involvement and communication and regarding the latter, how do those companies evaluate a CSR standardization? The results of our study are based on a standardized survey of 68 North Rhine-Westphalian companies in the pork value chain. The data is analysed using descriptive as well as uni- and multivariate methods. The findings show that companies of the pork sector already are active in the area of CSR. They also communicate their activities, however, not yet to a great extent. The level and kind of CSR performance and CSR communication vary between companies depending on firm characteristics (e.g. size). Main motives for firms to engage in CSR are differentiation from competitors and consideration of stakeholders’ requirements. In addition the analysis provides some indication that doing good has not to be at the expense of doing well. A CSR standard that could inform stakeholders in a credible way about companies’ CSR activities is evaluated very heterogeneously. The complementary implementation of voluntary more demanding and quasi-obligatory minimum CSR standards could be a solution to this problem. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Social Responsibility, Pork Value Chain, Communication, Standardization, Germany, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164733&r=agr |
| By: | Vieider, Ferdinand M.; Beyene, Abebe; Bluffstone, Randall; Dissanayake, Sahan; Gebreegziabher, Zenebe; Martinsson, Peter; Mekonnen, Alemu |
| Abstract: | Risk aversion has generally been found to decrease in income or wealth. This may lead one to expect that poor countries will be more risk averse than rich countries. Recent comparative findings with students, however, suggest the opposite, giving rise to a riskincome paradox. We test this paradox by measuring the risk preferences of over 500 household heads spread over the highlands of Ethiopia. We do so using certainty equivalents, which have rarely been used in developing countries, but permit us to relate the findings to a host of evidence from the West. We find high degrees of risk tolerance, in agreement with the student comparisons finding higher risk tolerance in poorer countries. We also find risk tolerance to increase in income proxies, thus completing the paradox. We thereby use income proxies that can be considered as exogenous, allowing us to conclude that at least part of the causality must run from income to risk tolerance. We furthermore provide extensive methodological discussions on measuring and estimating risk preferences in development settings. |
| Keywords: | risk preferences,development,experimental methodology |
| JEL: | C93 D03 D80 O12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbrad:spii2014401&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Xiaoshu; Boyle, Kevin J.; Preisser, Evan; Holmes, Thomas; Moeltner, Klaus; Orwig, David |
| Abstract: | In the hedonic model, when an investigator wishes to merge property sale data with spatial data on an environmental amenity, one problem encountered in the matching process is that the environmental data are usually limited. A challenging task is how to scale site and time specific environmental data to all property sales within a defined geographical area. Inverse distance weighting, Kriging and splines are three commonly used geo-statistical methodologies to make spatial interpolation. In this study, we investigate the effect of these spatial interpolation methods on the estimation of a hedonic model in the context of an invasive forest pest, the hemlock wooly adelgid. Our results indicate a statistically significant relationship between hemlock health and residential property values at the 0.1 km level. Comparing through different interpolation methodologies, Kriging provides the most reliable interpolation results which provides us a useful tool to scale up our analysis from specific sample sites to broad geographical area. |
| Keywords: | hemlock woolly adelgid, forest damage, spatial interpolation, hedonic model, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170641&r=agr |
| By: | Huang, Pei |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper studies the demand structure of the blue crab market in the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to providing empirical results regarding the economically important fishery, the paper offers a useful example of the potential for inverse demand system estimations for seafood where quantities are often defined prior to prices, and a variety of products are obtained from a single system. This is done with a nonlinear Inverse Almost Ideal Demand System coupled with seasonal patterns and controlling for endogeneity. The model used in this paper is able to address seasonality in demand in terms of varying flexibilities over seasons and deals with endogeneity in accordance with biological stock assessment data. Empirical results show significant season-varying market behaviors. The results also indicate the presence of endogeneity in the demand system. The flexibilities are calculated according to the estimates before and after controlling for endogeneity. Most market categories are price inflexible across seasons. The #1 Male, #2 Male, Female, and Mixed categories are necessities, while the Soft and Peeler category is a luxuary. Cross-category flexibilities suggest that most categories are quantity substitutes. |
| Keywords: | endogeneity, seasonality, blue crab, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169827&r=agr |
| By: | Sesmero, Juan; Balagtas, Joseph Valdes; Pratt, Michelle |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a model of spatial competition nesting the classical Zhang and Sexton (2001) duopsony and spatial monopsony in order to evaluate the effects of alternative stover market structures on stover prices, supply of biofuels, and firm profits. We show theoretically, as well as in an empirical implementation calibrated to reflect supply conditions in Indiana, that spatial competition may significantly increase feedstock cost, reduce profits of biofuels plants, and decrease a plant’s optimal scale of production and supply elasticity. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, spatial competition, corn stover, Nash equilibrium, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170595&r=agr |
| By: | Kim, Jong-Jin; Zheng, Xiaoyong |
| Abstract: | We propose a stylized model that elucidates the two channels through which alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) can affect the spot market price in livestock markets. The direct effect of AMAs on spot market price works through their effect on demand and supply conditions in the spot market. This effect has been widely studied in the literature. The indirect effect works through their effect on spot market price volatility. This effect has been ignored in the literature. We then estimate a dynamic (time series) model with data from the U.S. hog market to test our model implications and quantify the two effects. We find increases in the use of AMAs increase spot market price volatility and decrease spot market price level. The short-run effects are small but the long-run effects are nontrivial. |
| Keywords: | Alternative Marketing Arrangements, Hog, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries, Q13, L66, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:168759&r=agr |