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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒01‒09
37 papers chosen by |
| By: | Gary B. Teves |
| Abstract: | For several decades, the government has sought to develop the agriculture sector through programs like agrarian reform, agricultural modernization and rural finance, but farmers and fisherfolk remain to be the poorest sector in the Philippines. This paper seeks to explore ways to improve small farmers and fisherfolks’ access to credit provided by formal financial institutions. The government needs to implement and improve on its existing programs, identified in this study, and combine these with policy reforms and new strategies to fast-track the development of the food and agriculture sector to make economic growth more inclusive. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Financial Institutions and Services, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Credit |
| JEL: | G21 O13 Q14 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phs:dpaper:201415&r=agr |
| By: | Tandon, Sharad; Landes, Maurice |
| Abstract: | Food prices across the world rose dramatically between 2006 and 2008. The causes of the price rise were complex, and the event has led to heightened concerns regarding the implications of rising food prices on the prevalence of food insecurity and household welfare, particularly in developing countries. Given widespread and chronic malnutrition in India and the country’s large share of the world’s total food-insecure population, this report estimates how Indian households coped with the rise in domestic food prices that accompanied global price patterns in 2006-08. Exploiting differential spikes in rice and wheat prices, we find that households affected the most by rising food prices significantly decreased dietary diversity, delayed medical expenditures, and delayed purchases of clothing and durable goods. Given the existence of significant food and nonfood coping mechanisms, findings suggest that the rise in food staple prices in India had wide-ranging effects on household welfare. |
| Keywords: | Food security, India, food price crisis, nutrition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:189793&r=agr |
| By: | Katsuhiro Sakurai; Ataru Nakamura; Shintaro Kobayashi; Hiroyuki Shibusawa; Hajime Tanji |
| Abstract: | To this day in Japan, the water supply service for agricultural use has been formed as the supply-driven system. In fact, the farmers can use the utilization volume of agricultural water and they have to pay the price of agricultural water fee decided by water supplier side. However, diverse functions are being desired to irrigation facilities in recent years, not only conventional water supply. Those include reflection of the farmersÂf various needs and provision of hydrophilic environment as typical examples. Thus agricultural water supply should be regarded as irrigation services and it is needed to consider requirements for providing desired services as well as efficient water distribution. Therefore, we made case study at Aichi-Yosui (Aichi Waterworks, Japan) by following processes: investigate the demands and potential needs of farmers about irrigation services, on it, grasp the agricultural conditions quantitatively from an economic viewpoint by such as estimation of the demand function. From the interview survey, it is observed that the rice farmers of Japan have diversity in management structure and sense of values. Besides, the model analysis based on the interview survey, there is a possibility to respond each farmer having own sense of values by introducing price fluctuation policy. That means, in the scenario of price fluctuation policy satisfied two different demands concurrently, increase of profit in profit seeking farmers and decrease of the cost in balanced and cost-containment farmers. Furthermore, it is notable that agricultural production costs and profit of the entire region were also increased in addition to the immediate benefits. It is suggested as the factors of them that the most efficient planting time were selected for each farmers since this system is a measure based on market principles compared to conventional systems. In addition, this system also expected to play the role that help small-scale farmersÂf farming activities that may go out of business due to constraints of capital and human resources. For future works, we believe that following two points are important, (1) To clarify the current situation and issues in agricultural water services via field studies, (2) To derive concrete measures and their effectiveness via simulation analysis such as Multi Agent System. |
| Keywords: | Demand-driven management; agricultural water use; irrigation facilities; water demand |
| JEL: | Q15 Q25 C61 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p292&r=agr |
| By: | V.E. Ball; R. Färe; S. Grosskop; D. Margaritis |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of energy on U.S. agricultural productivity using panel data at the state level for the period 1960-2004. We first provide a historical account of energy use in U.S. agriculture. To do this we rely on the Bennet cost indicator to study how the price and volume components of energy costs have developed over time. We then proceed to analyze the contribution of energy to productivity in U.S. agriculture employing the Bennet-Bowley productivity indicator. An important feature of the Bennet-Bowley indicator is its direct association with the change in (normalized) profits. Thus our study is also able to analyze the link between profitability and productivity in U.S. agriculture. Panel regression estimates indicate that energy prices have a negative effect on profitability in the U.S. agricultural sector. We also find that energy productivity has generally remained below total farm productivity following the 1973-1974 global energy crisis. |
| Keywords: | Energy, Bennet-Bowley indicator, Agricultural productivity |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we1424&r=agr |
| By: | Akpalu, Wisdom; Bezabih, Mintewab |
| Abstract: | Land tenure arrangements in Africa are generally skewed in favour of males. Compared to males, female plot owners face complex sets of constraints and systemic high tenure insecurity which culminate in low yields. In order to obtain better returns, some f |
| Keywords: | climate variability, female-headed households, productivity, tenure insecurity |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-140&r=agr |
| By: | Ruiqing Miao; Hongli Feng; David A. Hennessy (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)); Xiaodong Du |
| Abstract: | Strong demand for agricultural commodities, high crop prices and pressure to reduce government budget deficits heighten the need for land retirement programs to be designed to maximize environmental benefits for any given budget outlay. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest land retirement program while the federal crop insurance program (FCIP) is the largest federal program supporting U.S. agriculture. We examine the environmental and budgetary implications of alternative CRP enrollment mechanisms in the context of the program’s interactions with FCIP. We demonstrate that the current CRP enrollment mechanism is inconsistent with cost-effective targeting. We also identify a cost-effective targeting enrollment mechanism that maximizes total environmental benefits under a budget constraint. Since federal crop insurance subsidies will not be incurred when a tract of land is retired from agricultural production, we consider the impacts when avoided subsidies are accounted for in designing a land-retirement program. Based on contract-level CRP offer data in 2003 and 2011 across the contiguous United States, we find that adopting the cost-effective targeting enrollment mechanism can increase CRP acreage by up to 45% and total environmental benefits by up to 21% while leaving government outlay unchanged. Incorporating crop insurance subsidies into the land retirement design can increase avoided subsidies caused by CRP enrollment and environmental benefits obtained from CRP. The government can enroll significant acres at zero real cost. Under cost-effective targeting, CRP acreage and payments would increase in the Great Plains and the Southeastern states but would decrease in the Midwest. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:14-wp553&r=agr |
| By: | Prakash K. Karn |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the sensitivity of rice yield in Nepal to changes in climate variables and the magnitude of potential impacts on rice productivity in the future. Our findings draw attention to the differential impacts on rice yield depending on which stage of rice development is affected. We estimate that a 1°C rise in day-time maximum temperature during the ripening phase of rice increases harvest by 27 kg. Ha-1, but our analyses also suggests that productivity declines when the daytime maximum temperature goes beyond 29.9°C. Since the average maximum temperature is already higher than this threshold, rice yield will likely diminish with any further increases in maximum temperature. Rainfall appears to have a strong negative effect on yield if it occurs when rice plants are in the nursery stage. Overall, under a double CO2 scenario predicted for 2100, rice yield in Nepal is expected to drop by about 4.2 per cent relative to current production levels. However, this prediction is does not account for any long-term positive effects from adaptation and carbon fertilization or negative effects from extreme events triggered by climate change. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, productivity changes, agricultural impact, rice yields, Nepal. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:85&r=agr |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Jensen, Hans G. |
| Abstract: | When prices spike in international grain markets, national governments often reduce the extent to which that spike affects their domestic food markets. Those actions exacerbate the price spike and international welfare transfer associated with that terms of trade change. Several recent analyses have assessed the extent to which those policies contributed to the 2006-08 international price rise, but only by focusing on one commodity or using a back-of-the envelope (BOTE) method. This paper provides a more-comprehensive analysis using a global economy-wide model that is able to take account of the interactions between markets for farm products that are closely related in production and/or consumption, and able to estimate the impacts of those insulating policies on grain prices and on the grain trade and economic welfare of the world’s various countries. Our results support the conclusion from earlier studies that there is a need for stronger WTO disciplines on export restrictions. |
| Keywords: | commodity price stabilization; distorted incentives; domestic market insulation; international price transmission |
| JEL: | F14 Q17 Q18 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10076&r=agr |
| By: | James B. ANG (Division of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological Univer- sity. Address: 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637332.) |
| Abstract: | This paper tests Jared Diamond’s influential theory that an earlier transition from a hunter-gatherer society to agricultural production induces higher levels of technology adoption. Using a proxy for the geographic diffusion barriers of Neolithic technology and an index of biogeographic endowments to isolate the exogenous component of the timing of agricultural transition, the findings indicate that countries that experienced earlier transitions to agriculture were subsequently more capable of adopting new technologies in 1000 BC, 1 AD and 1500 AD. These results lend strong support to Diamond’s hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption; agricultural transition; early economic development |
| JEL: | O30 O40 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1412&r=agr |
| By: | Martina Sartori; Stefano Schiavo |
| Abstract: | We analyze the link between virtual water trade, that is, the flow of water embodied in the international trade of agricultural goods, and vulnerability to external shocks from the vantage point of network analysis. While a large body of work has shown that virtual water trade can enhance water saving on a global scale, being especially beneficial to arid countries, there are increasing concerns that more openness makes countries more dependent on foreign food suppliers and especially more susceptible to external shocks. Our evidence reveals that the increased globalization witnessed in the last 30 years is not associated with the increased frequency of adverse shocks (in either precipitation or food production). Furthermore, building on recent advances in network analysis that connect the stability of a complex system to the interaction between the distribution of shocks and the network topology, we find that the world is more interconnected, but not necessarily less stable. |
| Keywords: | virtual water trade, vulnerability, complex network, shocks. |
| JEL: | F14 F18 Q25 Q56 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcu:iefewp:iefewp73&r=agr |
| By: | Kibriya, Shahriar; Xu, Zhicheng; Ghimire, Narishwar |
| Abstract: | This article is a unique attempt to discover the impact of exile on the most basic human necessity, food entitlement. We argue that exile from society followed by reintegration attempts cause mental and physical trauma, emotional distress, cultural shock, depletion of technical skills, political oppression, loss of social cohesion and articulation. We use survey data randomized on levels of conflict and propensity of migration from 312 rural households in 22 Liberian villages from Loma, Nimba, and Grand Bassa counties. Our findings suggest that accounting for household demographics, farm size, attributes, and income; duration of exile increases the probability of food entitlement failure. |
| Keywords: | Food entitlement; Exile; Migration; Conflict; Social reintegration |
| JEL: | R22 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60190&r=agr |
| By: | Dillon, Brian; Barrett, Christopher B. |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the recently collected Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture Initiative data sets from five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide a comprehensive overview of land and labor market participation by agrarian households and to formally test for failures in factor markets. Under complete and competitive markets, households can solve their consumption and production problems separately, so that household factor endowments do not predict input demand. This paper implements a simple, theoretically grounded test of this separation hypothesis, which can be interpreted as a reduced form test of factor market failure. In all five study countries, the analysis finds strong evidence of factor market failure. Moreover, those failures appear general and structural, not specific to subpopulations defined by gender or geography. |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7117&r=agr |
| By: | DAO, Nguyen Thang (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, Belgium; Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Berlin, Germany.); , |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that the development from an agricultural regime through industrialization to a manufacturing regime occurs simultaneously to the demographic transition and the change in labor structure towards an increasing fraction of skilled labor due to technological progress. The manufacturing sector is economically viable when the technological level is sufficiently high. During the industrialization, the technological progress makes technology become more complementary to skilled labor than to unskilled labor, so that individuals tend to decrease the number of unskilled offspring in order to increase the number of skilled ones. This paper also shows that a geographical advantage for agriculture helps an economy to be more prosperous in the agricultural regime, but delays the timing of industrialization and the timing of demographic transition. Hence, an economy with more geographical advantage for agriculture may be overtaken in the development process by another with less geographical advantage for agriculture when the level of technology is high enough. |
| Keywords: | agricultural sector, manufacturing sector, technological level, technological progress, geographical advantage for agriculture |
| JEL: | J11 J13 O11 O41 |
| Date: | 2014–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2014025&r=agr |
| By: | Ager, Philipp; Ciccone, Antonio |
| Abstract: | Building on the idea that religious communities provide mutual insurance against some idiosyncratic risks, we argue that religious membership is more valuable in societies exposed to greater common risk. In our empirical analysis we exploit rainfall risk as a source of common economic risk in the nineteenth-century United States and show that religious communities were larger in counties where they faced greater rainfall risk. The link between rainfall risk and the size of religious communities is stronger in counties that were more agricultural, that had lower population densities, or that were exposed to greater rainfall risk during the growing season. |
| Keywords: | agricultural risk; informal insurance; religious community size |
| JEL: | D1 D8 N31 N51 O1 Q10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10079&r=agr |
| By: | Kishor Goswami; Hari Kanta Choudhury |
| Abstract: | This study examines factors that determine the adoption and continued production of Jatropha in plantations in North East India. The study is based on a sample of 144 current-farmers, 137 previousfarmers, and 145 non-growers of Jatropha in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The findings suggest that farmer characteristicssuch as their willingness to take risks, whether they have land that is not in use in agriculture, and knowledge of the product play an important role. Institutional factors such as availability of credit, and structural issues related to product and labor markets and travel time and distance are important considerations in whether Jatropha is adopted and plantations are continued. The study shows that, although there are serious bottlenecks to increasing Jatropha production, these problems can be remedied with some important institutional interventions. The study recommends extension of government credit facilities to farmers since the opportunity costs of labor and land, the initial low return, and the approximately 7-year payback period from Jatropha cultivation reduce farmer interest in continuing with Jatropha cultivation. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:82&r=agr |
| By: | Elena Pagliarino; Monica Cariola; Sara Pavone; Alessandro Manello |
| Abstract: | The European Union has a common rural development policy, motivated by the fact that more than 90% of the entire European territory can be classified as rural and 56% of European citizens live in rural areas. Each Member State sets out a Rural Development Programme (RDP) focused on three main axes: economic development, environment protection and quality of life. Within the first axis, several measures are finalized to stimulate the investments for diversifying the agricultural activities; increasing the competitiveness of the businesses; improving the production and transformation processes and the commercialization towards a more sustainable direction. The measure 123 "Adding value to agricultural and forestry products" is one of the most important in terms of public resources spent. It aims at increasing the competitiveness of the agro-food industry and the value of products and it supports the investments in technological and organizational innovations in the transformation process. The policy is managed at regional level and every Italian Region is responsible for allocating the founds, selecting the enterprises that would benefit from the economic support and evaluating the impact of its financing. This paper presents the results of a research carried out to measure the impact of the 123 RDP measure in the Piedmont region, in Italy. The economic performances (ROI, ROE, ROA) of two different groups of firms ? beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the public support ? from the entire population of industrial agro-food enterprises of Piedmont, during the period 2005-2012, were compared. Despite the economic crises affected negatively all the firms analyzed in that period, those that benefited from the public funds showed better growth rates and profitability indexes. The authors propose different explanations for the results. From one hand, the RPD funds can be really determinant in sustaining the investments and improving the competitiveness of the firms involved in the programme. From the other hand, the beneficiaries are already the best performing firms of the territory and for this reason they are more competitive in the process of applying for the subsidy and selection of the beneficiaries, with a "picking the winners" effect. From a methodological point of view, the research demonstrates that the measurement of the economic performance indexes in a counterfactual analysis between a group of firms beneficiaries of public funds and a control group of firms that did not benefited from the aid is an efficient method to evaluate the impact of development policy in a systematic way. |
| Keywords: | European Union; rural development policy; agro-food industry; economic performance; impact; counterfactual analysis O13; Q16; Q18; Z18 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1126&r=agr |
| By: | Kibrom A. Abay (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Goytom Abraha Kahsay (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Guush Berhane (Development Strategies and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute) |
| Abstract: | In the absence of well-established factor markets, the role of indigenous institutions and social networks can be substantial for mobilizing factors for agricultural production. We investigate the role of an indigenous social network in Ethiopia, the iddir, in facilitating factor market transactions among smallholder farmers. Using detailed longitudinal household survey data and employing a difference-in-differences approach, we find that iddir membership improves households’ access to factor markets. Specifically, we find that joining an iddir network improves households’ access to land, labor and credit transactions between 7 and 11 percentage points. Furthermore, our findings also indicate that iddir networks crowd-out borrowing from local moneylenders (locally referred as Arata Abedari), a relatively expensive credit source, virtually without affecting borrowing from formal credit sources. These results point out the roles non-market arrangements, such as social networks, can play in mitigating market inefficiencies in poor rural markets. |
| Keywords: | Social networks, iddir networks, factor market imperfections, factor market transactions, crowding-out |
| JEL: | D02 D13 D71 D83 D85 O17 Q12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2014_12&r=agr |
| By: | Akpalu, Wisdom; Zhang, Xu |
| Abstract: | The rapid economic growth experienced within the past two decades in China highly correlates with childhood overweightness. The epidemic has become an issue of grave concern. A principal factor considered to be responsible for the epidemic in the literatu |
| Keywords: | child body mass index, fast-food consumption, endogenous switching regression model |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-139&r=agr |
| By: | Philipp Ager (University of Southern Denmark); Markus BrŸckner (National University of Singapore); Benedikt Herz (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Abstract: | In the beginning of the 1890s, counties located in the Cotton Belt of the American South were hit by an agricultural plague, the boll weevil, that adversely affected cotton production and hence the demand for labor. We use variation in the incidence of the boll weevil multiplied with countiesÕ initial cotton share to construct instrumental variables estimates of the labor supply curve. Controlling for county and state-by-time fixed effects, we find a significant positive response of labor supply to changes in labor income. The effect is particularly large for females, consistent with evidence that females had a comparative advantage in picking cotton. |
| Keywords: | Labor Supply, Female Labor Force Participation, Agricultural Productivity Shocks, US South, Boll Weevil |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0068&r=agr |
| By: | Marielle Brunette (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech); Stéphane Couture (Unité de mathématiques et informatique appliquées de Toulouse, INRA); Serge Garcia (Laboratoire d'Economie Forestière, INRA - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we estimate the demand of French private forest owners for forest insurance against fire risk. For this purpose, we combine experimental data and real-world data on forest owners’ characteristics. Our econometric approach consists in estimating both insurance participation and coverage-level decisions, while accounting for sample selection issues. Our results clearly show that the type of public assistance is a significant determinant in the insurance decision. Other attributes of the experiment such as the expected loss only explain coverage-level decisions, whereas the existence of an ambiguity concerning the probability of fire occurrence positively affects both insurance participation and coverage-level decisions. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Forest, Fire risk, Ambiguity, Public compensation, Experimental data |
| JEL: | C51 D81 Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lef:wpaper:2014-12&r=agr |
| By: | Evita Pangaribowo; Nicolas Gerber; Maximo Torero |
| Abstract: | As the problems of food and nutrition insecurity are currently more complex, identifying and choosing relevant indicators is crucial. This paper identifies the need to go beyond the state-of-the-art because current FNS indicators do not account for the short-term economic shocks which have been identified as key factors for food and nutrition security. As the nature of food and nutrition security status is different between short- term and long-term causes, there is a need to differentiate between long-term and short-term indicators to design policy responses. This paper also assesses the existing indicators and their methodological and data related problems and then extends FNS indicators by taking into account dimensions that have been ignored or undervalued. In particular, this paper will emphasize the gender issues in FNS and the gender-related FNS status and risk indicators. |
| JEL: | Q18 I3 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:5&r=agr |
| By: | Kelley, Jonathan |
| Abstract: | Support for genetic modification in agriculture mainly stems from approval of food and agricultural goals. It is facilitated by trust in the judgment of scientific authorities and undermined by anxiety about the risks involved. But there are symptoms of danger: Any public opinion data that show significant correlations between perceptions of fact (risk, trust etc.) and background characteristics (age, sex, religion, politics) or goals (environmental, medical, economic) typically reflect emotional feedback effects as well as rational scientific ones. Estimates from regression are then biased and more complex models required. Our structural equation analyses of five large, representative national surveys of Australia (N = 8730) provide precise estimates of the magnitude of these effects, including reciprocal effects reflecting emotional influences. We also find that: (1) acceptance of the scientific worldview modestly increases support both directly and also indirectly through its influence on trust; (2) family socio-economic background increases knowledge of genetic engineering but is otherwise inconsequential; and (3) religious belief greatly hinders acceptance of the scientific worldview and slightly increases anxiety about risks. |
| Keywords: | trust, risk, genetic modification, genetic engineering, scientific worldview, religious belief, public opinion, reciprocal effects, SEM, Australia, survey research, rational choice, emotional feedback, irrational effects |
| JEL: | D81 I18 O33 Q55 Q57 Q58 Z13 Z18 |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60585&r=agr |
| By: | Fedoseeva, Svetlana |
| Abstract: | Each time the Euro starts appreciating, a discussion on how painful this might hit European exporters arises in media, making politician and economists work out the ways to mitigate possible shocks. Still, in his recent study, Verheyen (2013a) using aggregated European exports to the US as an example, showed, that in the long run exports react on exchange rate changes in a nonlinear way. Particularly his analysis revealed, that a positive impact on trade during the Euro depreciation seem to outweigh the losses caused by its appreciations. In this paper, I test whether this holds true for agri-food exports as well. To address this question, I apply a partial sum decomposition approach and the NARDL framework of Shin et al. (2013) to aggregated agri-food exports as well as to total exports of eleven European countries to the US, which is currently the major partner of the EU in agri-food trade. The outcomes suggest, that the exchange rate nonlinearities are even more pronounced in agri-food than in total exports. Despite the ongoing discussion regarding the nocent effect of a strong national currency on exports, the estimation results suggest that European agri-food exporters have found their way to cope with such negative effects. European exporters seem to benefit more from Euro depreciation, than its appreciation harm them. I interpret this finding as a sign of pricing strategies application (e.g., pricing-to-market) to the European agri-food exports. |
| Keywords: | agri-food exports,asymmetry,asymmetry, exchange rate nonlinearity,export demand,NARDL |
| JEL: | C22 F14 L66 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeudps:66&r=agr |
| By: | Valérie Angeon; Rebecca Bilon; Marie Chave |
| Abstract: | Industrial agriculture and its technological package (intensive farming, mechanization, use of chemicals) are no longer in position to ensure food security (Altieri et al., 2012). To overcome the strongly negative externalities produced by this model, agroecological transition may be considered as a privileged pathway. Nevertheless, two major evolutions of modern agriculture can be distinguished (Duru et al., 2014): the weak (implementation of "good practices" that intend to improve the efficiency of chemicals and/or reduce their use) versus strong (substitution of chemical inputs by biodiversity providing ecosystem services) ecologization of agriculture. In this article, we focus on the enhancement of mycorrhiza (symbiosis between roots and soil fungi), key elements of biodiversity becoming a momentum in matter of agroecological engineering. We study the complex interrelationship structure implying a diversity of actors that are closely linked, share norms of action, values. The result of their coordination (market and non-market) and the networks within these actors interact shape a "socio-technical regime" (Geels and Shot, 2007; Vanloqueren and Baret, 2009). This concept is close to Dosi's (1982) evolutionary approach of industrial processes and changes that are embedded in the systems of innovation approach. The aim of this article is to appraise the robustness of the socio-technical regime grounded on the use of mycorrhiza. We pay attention to the most widespread technology: the inoculation of industrial strains. We base our analysis on the identification of the set of actors who pilot the technological trajectory of this agroecological pattern (industrials, scientists, public authorities, farmers). We then produce a heuristic map. Using the stakeholder analysis (Mitchell et al., 1997), we conduct around 30 interviews that permit (i) to characterize the nature of the relationships among agents (information sharing, subsidies, goods and services) and (ii) to specify in what extent these interactions stabilize the existing technological paradigm. We show that the agroecological pattern based on the inoculation of industrial strains corresponds to a weak form of ecologization of agriculture and hinders the emergence of alternative innovative niches (i.e. mobilization of indigenous mycorrhizal networks) that could support a strong modernization of agriculture. Our results then demonstrate that the prevailing socio-technical regime is deeply reinforced although changes occur in the production process. Key words: systems of innovation, evolutionary economics, socio-technical regime, technological paradigm, agroecological transition |
| Keywords: | systems of innovation; evolutionary economics; socio-technical regime; technological paradigm; agroecological transition code: |
| JEL: | B52 O33 Q01 Q55 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p897&r=agr |
| By: | Torben Dall Schmidt (University of Southern Denmark); Peter Sandholt Jensen (University of Southern Denmark); Amber Naz (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | This research evaluates the impact of the introduction of clover and potatoes on urbanization using a panel of Danish market towns from 1672 to 1901. We find evidence that both clover and potatoes contributed to urbanization using a difference-in-difference type estimation strategy which exploits that the breakthrough of clover and potatoes should have differential local effects because of soil suitability. To take into account the endogeneity of clover adoption, we instrument by suitability for growing alfalfa, which like clover is a legume. Importantly, alfalfa did not have its breakthrough in the period studied. Our IV estimates suggest that clover accounted for about 8 percent of market town population growth between 1672 and 1901, whereas roughly 6 percent can be attributed to potatoes. The analysis also indicates that the potato had its breakthrough later in Denmark than in many other countries as suggested by the historical narrative. |
| Keywords: | clover, potatoes, agricultural productivity, urbanization |
| JEL: | N1 N9 O1 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0065&r=agr |
| By: | Jahn, Malte |
| Abstract: | Climate change may affect subnational regions in very different ways. In this paper, a spatial computable general equilibrium (SCGE) model is constructed and a theoretical framework is developed to study impacts of climate change induced extreme weather events and of corresponding adaptation policies on a regional economy, focusing on water-related extreme events. The model makes use of regionalized input-output tables to represent the regional economy and takes into account different zones inside the region which have different socio-economic structures and also different levels of exposure to extreme weather. The model is used to estimate possible spatial effects and regional economic losses of climate change induced ood events in the city of Hamburg, Germany and to evaluate flood adaptation measures. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:154&r=agr |
| By: | Fanny Lepage (Université de Laval); Jean-Pierre Couderc (Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs, INRA; SupAgro Montpellier); Jean-Philippe PERRIER (Université Laval) |
| Abstract: | Cet article propose de mobiliser les théories de la gouvernance pour étudier le processus décisionnel des exploitants agricoles. Bien que cette approche ait été plus couramment appliquée au cas des grandes entreprises, elle est transposée ici de manière originale au cas des exploitations agricoles. L’analyse permet d’identifier les acteurs, mécanismes et leviers d’action constituant les systèmes de gouvernance des exploitations laitières françaises. Les résultats démontrent que pour la gestion de ces exploitations, tout comme dans les grandes entreprises, les acteurs établissent des mécanismes dont l’objectif est de discipliner les dirigeants, d’augmenter leurs compétences, ou de faciliter le fonctionnement de l’entreprise. Ce jeu d’acteurs délimite la latitude décisionnelle à l’intérieur de laquelle le dirigeant fait ses choix stratégiques. |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a theoretical renewal by mobilizing the governance theories to investigate the decision-making process of farmers. Although these theories are used since several years in researches of large-scale enterprises, its presence agricultural studies can be considered as a theoretical innovation. This paper has as objective to propose a framework of analysis of governance suitable for farms and then to identify actors, mechanisms and levers of action constituting the systems of governance of the French dairy farms. The results show that the management of these farms, as in large-scale enterprises, evolves in a system where actors establish mechanisms whose goal is i) to discipline manager, ii) to increase the skills of the manager, or iii) to facilitate the operation of the business. This game of actors delineating the decision-making latitude within which the leader made his strategic choice. |
| Keywords: | stratégie des acteursexploitation laitière, gouvernance, financement, investissement, gestion financièreanalyse qualitative |
| JEL: | G32 Q14 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inr:wpaper:270551&r=agr |
| By: | Charles Mueller |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the evolution of Brazilian agriculture analyzing its transition from low productivity and backwardness to its current status as major player in international markets and role model for other developing countries. Yet, rather than simply looking back and trying to find an ex-post reasoning that explains what has taken place, the analysis highlights the fact that throughout this path policy had very limited control over what actually took place and most agents had, and still have, a very poor understanding of how thing actually work. We highlight the importance of the underlying institutional setting on the impact of agricultural policy. The remarkable transformation in Brazilian agriculture only really emerged when inclusive institutions – strong presidentialsm subject to strong checks and balances – created a fiscal, monetary and political environment in which those policies could succeed. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:iriba_wp01&r=agr |
| By: | Sumberg, James; Anyidoho, Nana Akua; Chasukwa, Michael; Chinsinga, Blessings; Leavy, Jennifer |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the current interest in addressing the problem of young people's unemployment in Africa through agriculture. Using notions of transitions and mobilities we set out a transformative work and opportunity space framework that privileges d |
| Keywords: | young people, transformation, agriculture, entrepreneurialism |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-080&r=agr |
| By: | Jensen, Nathaniel; Mude, Andrew; Barrett, Christopher |
| Abstract: | Basis risk – the remaining risk that an insured individual faces – is widely acknowledged as the Achilles Heel of index insurance, but to date there has been no direct study of its role in determining demand for index insurance. Further, spatiotemporal variation leaves open the possibility of adverse selection. We use rich longitudinal household data from northern Kenya to determine which factors affect demand for index based livestock insurance (IBLI). We find that both price and the non-price factors studied previously are indeed important, but that basis risk and spatiotemporal adverse selection play a major role in demand for IBLI. |
| Keywords: | Pastoralists, Index Insurance, Uptake |
| JEL: | D81 O16 Q12 |
| Date: | 2014–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60452&r=agr |
| By: | Ouraich, Ismail; Dudu, Hasan; Tyner, Wallace E.; Cakmak, Erol |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the interaction of globalization through trade liberalization and climate change, globally with a special focus on Morocco and Turkey. We use the GTAP model, which is a global general equilibrium model, to investigate trade liberalizat |
| Keywords: | climate change, adaptation, uncertainty, CGE model, trade liberalization |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-100&r=agr |
| By: | Pradumna B. Rana (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); Binod Karmacharya |
| Abstract: | Nepal’s lackluster economic performance during the post-conflict period (that is, after November 2006) has been driven by remittances from the export of labor services and the improved performance of the agricultural sector, which is still very much weather dependent. The authors make the case for a connectivity-driven development strategy for the country. They argue that improved connectivity within Nepal and cross-border connectivity with its neighbors in South Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that are converting Nepal from a landlocked into a land-linked state, could be important “engines of growth†for the country. It is argued that such a development strategy is not a new one for Nepal as in the past the country was strategically located on the Southwestern Silk Road (SSR). A number of factors have revived the case for making Nepal a land-linked state in Asia. Nepal has adopted a multi-track approach to promoting regional cooperation and integration in connectivity with its neighbors. But a lot more needs to be done, especially in the context of the difficult political situation in the country, and donors have an important role to play in this regard. Ten priority projects to convert Nepal into a land-linked state are identified, but a detailed impact analysis of these projects is beyond the scope of this paper. |
| Keywords: | Nepal, connectivity, land-locked, land-linked, connectivity-driven, Development Strategy |
| JEL: | F15 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:24422&r=agr |
| By: | Anna Gladysheva; Tatiana Ratnikova |
| Abstract: | Observed and unobserved regional determinants of FDI inflows: micro level analysis of the food industry firms in Russia The development of Russian food industry is strategically important. Theoretically, the foreign capital inflow will help to renovate, modernize it and increase the productivity. But is it also interesting for foreign investors? What do foreign companies take into account when they invest in Russian food industry enterprises? Could it be special aspects of regional development (observed or unobserved) or only firm level data matters? Does the institutional environment in Russian regions significantly stimulate the inflow of foreign direct investment in Russian food industry enterprises or is the investor interested only in the size of a market? Two samples for 2009 and 2012 years of correspondingly about 5000 and about 7000 food industry companies of different subindustries from different Russian regions are analyzed to give the answer to these questions. The main idea of this investigation is to determine significant regional factors which effect the distribution of the FDI or to show that these items are not important for foreign investors. Russia has more than 80 regions and all of them are highly heterogeneous in terms of climate, geographical characteristics, level of economic and institutional development, industrial specialization, etc. Moreover, enterprises of different industries and subindustrues are different. In this research we take into account these facts investigating a hierarchical structure of the FDI distribution levels. This research consists of several parts: the theoretical part with hypotheses and the overview of the background and the empirical part with testing whether different regional characteristics like the infrastructure, taxation and the regulations in the region and in the neighboring ones play an important role. Spatial effects of these factors and of the economic development are also of our interest. The estimation of a multilevel binary model with spatial effects of analyzed factors gives the idea for the possible solution on the problem discovered above. The comparison of the results for two samples for different years and the investigation of dynamics also are taken into consideration. Keywords: foreign direct investment; food industry enterprises in Russia; Russian regions; multilevel binary model; spatial effects. JEL classification: C21; C25; D92; L66; O18; R12. |
| Keywords: | foreign direct investment; food industry enterprises in Russia; Russian regions; multilevel binary model; spatial effects. C21; C25; D92; L66; O18; R12. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p111&r=agr |
| By: | Hallegatte, Stephane; Bangalore, Mook; Bonzanigo, Laura; Fay, Marianne; Narloch, Ulf; Rozenberg, Julie; Vogt-Schilb, Adrien |
| Abstract: | Climate change and climate policies will affect poverty reduction efforts through direct and immediate impacts on the poor and by affecting factors that condition poverty reduction, such as economic growth. This paper explores this relation between climate change and policies and poverty outcomes by examining three questions: the (static) impact on poor people's livelihood and well-being; the impact on the risk for non-poor individuals to fall into poverty; and the impact on the ability of poor people to escape poverty. The paper proposes four channels that determine household consumption and through which households may escape or fall into poverty (prices, assets, productivity, and opportunities). It then discusses whether and how these channels are affected by climate change and climate policies, focusing on the exposure, vulnerability, and ability to adapt of the poor (and those vulnerable to poverty). It reviews the existing literature and offers three major conclusions. First, climate change is likely to represent a major obstacle to a sustained eradication of poverty. Second, climate policies are compatible with poverty reduction provided that (i) poverty concerns are carefully taken into account in their design and (ii) they are accompanied by the appropriate set of social policies. Third, climate change does not modify how poverty policies should be designed, but it creates greater needs and more urgency. The scale issue is explained by the fact that climate will cause more frequent and more severe shocks; the urgency, by the need to exploit the window of opportunity given to us before climate impacts are likely to substantially increase. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Safety Nets and Transfers,Regional Economic Development,Climate Change Economics,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7126&r=agr |
| By: | Pamuk, H. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | The five essays in the dissertation explore the interaction between economic development in Africa and three economic concepts from different fields: decentralized agricultural innovation systems, trust and saving practices. A relatively new view to boost agricultural growth is the implementation of the innovation system approach. The Sub Saharan African Challenge Program adopted this approach through the development of local decentralized Innovation Platforms (IPs) in eight African countries. The first and the second essay respectively evaluate the impact of those platforms, on poverty and the adoption of agricultural technologies. The studies reach to mixed results concerning average impact on poverty and technology adoption. Some platforms promote the adoption of some innovations and reduce poverty level, and others do not (yet). The third essay complements these studies and investigates whether this difference in IP performance is because they may not have equally implemented the principles of the approach. The essay shows that IPs which performed better in human capacity development at the field, ceteris paribus, are more successful. Theory suggests that trust fosters economic development via reduced transaction costs and increased specialization. A vicious cycle may materialize if increased specialization, via increased market integration, also fosters trust. To shed light on the latter, the fourth essay studies whether increased market integration fosters trust by using a comprehensive survey of households living in West Africa in the early stages of market integration. The study identifies a negative and causal relationship between market integration and trust, which is contradictory to the theory. Having limited access to finance, entrepreneurs in developing countries have to utilize business profits or save in order to invest in their businesses. At the same time they keep their savings in multiple practices (e.g bank account, moneylender, etc.), which potentially may have different efficiency levels, and therefore may have varying effects on business investments. The fifth essay studies how different saving practices affect the likelihood of business profit reinvestment. The study shows that the practice of saving in a deposit account of a formal financial institution is more likely to facilitate reinvestment compared to the practice of keeping savings within the household. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:c759f3ee-97a6-4689-a0d7-bb4322a25a4a&r=agr |
| By: | Malgorzata Ogonowska (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; GREDEG CNRS); Dominique Torre (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; GREDEG CNRS) |
| Abstract: | Awareness of the environment and the need to protect it has increased markedly in recent decades, and market actors, consumers and other stakeholders have been progressively more aware of ecological issues. Awareness of the pollution caused by mass tourism has resulted in the emergence of the concept of sustainable tourism which encompasses both environmental and societal concerns. This paper reviews work on sustainable tourism, highlighting the main issues which are illustrated by empirical examples in this new research framework. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Tourism, Environmental Economics, Sustainable Tourism, Certification, Vertical Differentiation, Stake-holders, Tourism Externalities |
| JEL: | L83 Q56 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2014-45&r=agr |
| By: | Katsushi S. Imai; Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah; Purnima Purohit |
| Abstract: | Abstract Using the recent estimates of rural, urban and aggregate poverty rates for 31 developing countries, the present study statistically examines the extent to which the rural sector contributes to aggregate poverty reduction. After adjusting for the effect of rural-urban migration, our results suggest that the rural sector makes a substantial contribution to aggregate poverty reduction across all five regions, consistent with earlier studies arguing for the importance of rural sector growth in poverty reduction. Recent studies giving greater priority to urbanisation-especially small and secondary towns-are thus mistaken. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:20814&r=agr |