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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒02‒22
37 papers chosen by |
| By: | Dawe, David; Morales-Opazo, Cristian; Balie, Jean; Pierre, Guillaume |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197175&r=agr |
| By: | Pardey, Philip G.; Alston, Julian M.; Chan-Kang, Connie |
| Abstract: | Over the past century and more, research and development (R&D) has contributed to a transformation of the U.S. food and agricultural sectors. R&D has fueled productivity growth, enabling U.S. farmers to do more with less. It has helped U.S. farmers to remain competitive in increasingly integrated global commodity markets and better achieve an environmentally sustainable supply of biofuels, fiber, and feed, as well as safe, nutritious, and affordable food. But support for U.S. public agricultural R&D has waned at a time when U.S. farm productivity growth is slowing. In what follows we describe the evolving patterns of support for public agricultural and food R&D, the shifting emphasis of spending within the broad portfolio, and some potential policy approaches to revitalize U.S. agricultural research. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umisbr:150382&r=agr |
| By: | Pardey, Philip G.; Beddow, Jason; Hurley, Terrance |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umisbr:197625&r=agr |
| By: | Martin, Will; Fukase, Emiko |
| Abstract: | This paper uses resource-based cereal equivalent measures to explore the evolution of China’s demand and supply for food. Although demand for food calories is probably close to its peak level in China, the ongoing dietary shift to animal-based foods, induced by income growth, is likely to impose considerable pressure on agricultural resources. Estimating the relationship between income growth and food demand with data from a wide range of countries, China’s demand growth appears to have been broadly similar to the global trend. On the supply side, output of food depends strongly on the productivity growth associated with income growth and on the country’s agricultural land endowment, with China appearing to be an out-performer. The analyses of income-consumption-production dynamics suggest that China’s current income level falls in the range where consumption growth outstrips production growth, but that the gap is likely to begin to decline as China’s population growth and dietary transition slow down. Continued agricultural productivity growth through further investment in research and development, and expansion in farm size and increased mechanization, as well as sustainable management of agricultural resources, are vital for ensuring that it is primarily China that will feed China in the 21st century. |
| Keywords: | cereal equivalents, China, food self-sufficiency, livestock, income growth, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Q11, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197164&r=agr |
| By: | Mofya-Mukuka, Rhoda; Kulhgatz, Christian H. |
| Abstract: | With only a few months remaining, Zambia still has a long way to achieving the millennium development goal of halving the number of stunted children by the end of 2015. Almost half of the children in Zambia remain undernourished and 40% of them have stunted growth, a long term malnutrition effect. This makes Zambia one of the countries with the highest levels of malnutrition in the world. The most vulnerable are the children from rural households which depend entirely on rainfed seasonal agricultural production and income, and survive on diets that are deficient in proteins and other important nutrients. |
| Keywords: | Zambia, Malnutrition, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:198189&r=agr |
| By: | Zulauf, Carl; Orden, David |
| Abstract: | This chapter assesses the political economy of the 2014 farm bill, which eliminated annual fixed direct payments but offers enhanced downside risk protection against low prices or declining revenue. The farm bill secured substantial bipartisan majorities in a politically contentious Congress. The countercyclical structure of U.S. support is reaffirmed and crop insurance is enhanced as a safety net pillar. Open policy issues include the distribution of benefits among crops, the design of multiple year support around moving-average revenue benchmarks versus fixed references prices, and questions related to crop insurance, including the overall level of premium subsidies. In an international context, we conclude the 2014 farm safety net likely would not have been enacted had multilateral agreement been reached on the 2008 Doha Round negotiating documents; conversely, the 2014 safety net makes achieving those limits more difficult. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policy, 2014 farm bill, farm subsidies, commodity programs, crop insurance, conservation, WTO, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q17, Q18, Q28, K33, N52, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197160&r=agr |
| By: | Beghin, John; Meade, Birgit; Rosen, Stacey |
| Abstract: | A parsimonious demand modeling approach has been developed for the annual USDA-ERS International Food Security Assessment. The approach incorporates price effects, food quality variation across income deciles, and consistent aggregation over income deciles and food qualities. The approach is based on a simple PIGLOG demand approach for four food categories. It relies on the existing sparse data available for the assessment, complemented by own-price and income elasticities and available price data. Beyond exact aggregation, the framework exhibits desirable characteristics: food quality is increasing with income; price and income responses become less sensitive with increasing income; and increasing income inequality decreases average per capita food consumption. The proposed approach is illustrated for Tanzania. We then use the calibrated model to decompose the impact of income, prices, and exchange rates on food consumption. |
| Keywords: | international food security, PIGLOG demand, aggregation, income inequality, food prices, shocks, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, F17, Q17, D31, |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197167&r=agr |
| By: | Ujjayant Chakravorty (Department of Economics, Tufts University, USA); Marie-Helene Hubert (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1, France); Beyza Ural Marchand, (Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Canada) |
| Abstract: | Many countries have adopted energy policies that promote biofuels as a substitute for gasoline in transportation. For instance, more than 40% of U.S. grain is now used for energy and this share is expected to rise under the current Renewable Fuels Mandate. This paper examines the distributional effects of this energy mandate on India using micro-level survey data. First, we use a model with endogenous land use to estimate the effect of the biofuel policy on the world price of selected food commodities - rice, wheat, sugar and meat and dairy, which together provide almost 70% of Indian food calories. Their world prices are predicted to increase between 5% and 11%. Uncertainty in model parameters is incorporated using Monte Carlo techniques that generate standard errors on these price predictions. The effect of these price increases on household welfare is then estimated using data on consumption and wage incomes. We estimate pass-through elasticities from time-series data then compute the negative consumption effects and positive wage impacts under perfect and imperfect pass-through from world to domestic prices. Under perfect pass-through, the mandate leads to a reduction in rural poverty by about 39 million people, and an increase in the number of urban poor by 4 million people. Under imperfect price pass-through, both rural and urban poverty increase by a total of 8 million people. Our study suggests that the US biofuel mandate may lead to modest increase in food prices, but have sizable global welfare impacts, which may differ across rural and urban households. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, Food Prices, HouseholdWelfare, Renewable Fuel Standards, Poverty |
| JEL: | D31 O12 Q24 Q42 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:201501&r=agr |
| By: | Smale, Melinda; Kergna, Alpha; Assima, Amidou; Weltzien, Eva; Rattunde, Fred |
| Abstract: | Sorghum is one of the world’s most important cereals in terms of total production. Grown largely as livestock feed in the US, sorghum is a primary food staple and source of cash for smallholder farming families in the West African savannah. The dominant type of sorghum produced in this region is the Guinea race, which has unique traits that enable it to adapt well to irregular, uncertain rainfall conditions and resist endemic pests. |
| Keywords: | Mali, sorghum, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:198186&r=agr |
| By: | Fernando Avalos; Marco Jacopo Lombardi |
| Abstract: | Biofuel policies are frequently mentioned in the policy and academic debates because of their potential impact on food prices. In 2005, the United States authorities passed legislation under which corn-based ethanol became in practice the only available gasoline additive. Some studies have then argued that ethanol and biodiesel subsidies in advanced economies may have strengthened the link between the prices of oil and those of some food commodities. This paper tests whether the response of food commodity prices to global demand shocks and to oil-specific demand shocks has changed following the introduction of this legislation. Our results show that corn prices exhibit a stronger response to global demand shocks after 2006. Some short-lived but statistically significant response to oil-specific demand shocks is also documented. Close substitutes of corn in the feedstock business (eg soybeans and wheat) exhibit comparable but more muted responses, while other food commodities unaffected by biofuel policies do not change their behaviour. We also report some evidence that global liquidity is a factor driving global demand shocks, and through that channel may have affected food commodity prices. |
| Keywords: | oil price, corn price, food prices, ethanol, biofuel, VAR |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:487&r=agr |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi; Wada, Kazuya |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we comprehensively describe spatial patterns of long-term changes in Indian agriculture at the district level. Variables of concern include the land use intensity, the ratio of rice and wheat in areas under foodgrains, the ratio of non-foodgrains in gross cultivated area, the fertilizer use intensity, and individual crop shares in gross cultivated areas. As a byproduct of the descriptive analysis, we propose a new regional classification of Indian districts based on their similarity in rainfall, the initial cropping and land-use patterns, and the initial condition and changes in irrigation. The proposed classification has a reasonable explanatory power in describing the spatial patterns of long-term changes at the district level. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:primdp:60&r=agr |
| By: | Chernoff, Alex W. |
| Abstract: | In this paper I use farm-level data from the Quebec dairy industry to estimate the relationship between productivity and participation in the Commercial Export Milk (CEM) program (2000-2003). Under the CEM program farmers could sell milk without production quota and faced a farm price that was approximately half of the domestic price under supply management. I find a positive correlation between participation in the CEM program and farm-level total factor productivity (TFP). I then use a difference-in-difference research design with inverse propensity weights to test for causality in the relationship between participation in the CEM program and TFP. I find evidence of a positive and statistically significant effect in two of four regression specifications. A number of economists have argued that the Canadian dairy industry could benefit from trade liberalization through export market growth and returns to scale in production. My results suggest that trade liberalization would also lead to additional productivity and welfare gains from farm-level selection and the direct effects from exposure to a competitive pricing environment. |
| Keywords: | Firm heterogeneity, Trade liberalization, Productivity, Agriculture, Supply Manage- ment, International Relations/Trade, Public Economics, D24, F14, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197182&r=agr |
| By: | Markus Eberhardt; Dietrich Vollrath |
| Abstract: | Using data for 128 countries we document low (high) elasticities of agricultural output with respect to labor in economies within temperate (tropical/highland) climate zones. Adopting a standard model of structural change we show that this technology heterogeneity determines the speed of structural transformation following changes in agricultural productivity and population size. Calibration exercises document shifts in sectoral labor allocation and living standards 2-3 times larger in temperate than in otherwise identical equatorial/highland regions for a given productivity shock. Eliminating technology heterogeneity can account for up to one-fifth of the observed differences in aggregate income per capita across countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural development, technology heterogeneity, agro-climatic environment, structural change |
| JEL: | O47 O11 C23 |
| Date: | 2014–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/2014-21&r=agr |
| By: | Cornelia-Madalina Suta (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Sergio Rene ARAUJO-ENCISO (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Ignacio PEREZ DOMINGUEZ (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Thomas Fellmann (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Fabien Santini (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report contains a summary and the presentations of the expert workshop 'Commodity Market Development in Europe – Outlook', held in October 2014 in Brussels. The workshop was held in order to present and discuss the preliminary results of the DG AGRI outlook on EU agricultural market developments. The workshop gathered high-level policy makers, modelling and market experts and provided a forum to present and discuss recent and projected developments on the EU agricultural and commodity markets, to outline the reasons behind observed and prospected developments, and to draw conclusions on the short/medium term perspectives of European agricultural markets in the context of world market developments. Special focus was given on the discussion of the influence of different settings/assumptions (regarding e.g. drivers of demand and supply, macroeconomic uncertainties, etc.) on the projected market developments. |
| Keywords: | agricultural markets, market developments, agricultural policy, agricultural trade |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc92558&r=agr |
| By: | Stefan Dercon; Daniel Ayalew; Klaus Deininger; Justin Sanefur; Andrew Zeitlin |
| Abstract: | We report on a randomized field experiment using price incentives to address both economic and gender inequality in land tenure formalization. During the 1990s and 2000s, nearly two dozen African countries proposed de jure land reforms extending access to formal, freehold land tenure to milions of poor households. Many of these reforms stalled. Titled land remains the de facto preserve of wealthy households and, within householsd, men. Beginning in 2010, we tested whether price instruments alone can generate greater inclusion by offering formal titles to residents of a low-income, unplanned settlement in Dar es Salaam at a range of subsidized prices, as well as additional price incentives to include women as owners or co-owners of household land. Estimated price elasticities of demand confirm that prices - rather than other implementation failures or features of the titling regime - are a key obstacle to broader inclusion in the land registry, and that some decree of pro-poor price discrimination is justified even from a narrow budgetary perspective. In terms of gender inequality, we find that even small price incentives for female co-titling achieve almost complete gender parity in land ownership with no reduction in demand. |
| Keywords: | land titling, formalization, gender, field experiment, Tanzania |
| JEL: | J16 K11 O12 O18 Q15 |
| Date: | 2014–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/2014-23&r=agr |
| By: | Laure Kuhfuss (Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews); Julie Subervie (INRA, UMR 1135 LAMETA, F-34000 Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the environmental policy of the European Union. Despite widespread interest and investment in AESs, few of these pro-grams have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about the effectiveness of voluntary programs. The purpose of this article is to estimate the additional effects of AESs targeting nonpoint source pollution from pesticides, focusing on one emblematic case study: herbicide use in vineyards. We use original data collected from winegrowers participating in AESs in the south of France, and we use exogenous variation in the timing of the implementation of the AESs as a natural experiment. We show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the program in 2012 was around 30% below what they would have used without the program, while the impact was significantly higher in 2011 - around 50% - presumably because of higher weed pressure. Although significant, these impacts remain smaller than what had been expected by policy makers. Focusing on the “zero herbicide between the vine rows” option, which is both the most often chosen as well as the least stringent among the measures, we moreover show the presence of windfall effects. Simple extrapolation of these results suggests that this level of effectiveness may not be sufficient to ensure water quality in the watersheds targeted by the AES. |
| Keywords: | Agri-environmental scheme, water quality, nonpoint source pollution, herbicides, pesticides, natural experiment. |
| JEL: | Q15 Q18 Q25 Q28 Q53 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2015-05&r=agr |
| By: | Romain Gaté; Laure Latruffe |
| Abstract: | Farm transfers in industrialised countries are a major element of the structural change seen in agriculture today. In France, farm transfers represent a key strategic issue with half of all farm heads being over 50 years old in 2010 and therefore due to retire in the next ten or fifteen years. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the issues and problems associated with the farm transfer process, taking the French region Brittany as a case study. A review of the literature, rounded out by interviews with public and professional stakeholders involved in the transfer and settling processes, identifies certain key aspects, which are borne out by a survey of 15 farmers established for less than five years and 25 farmers eligible for retirement in the next ten years in Brittany. |
| Keywords: | transfer, farm, future transferor, newly settled farmer, investment strategies |
| JEL: | Q12 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201501&r=agr |
| By: | Ujjayant Chakravorty; Martino Pelli; Beyza Ural Marchand |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the returns to household income due to improved access to electricity in rural India. We examine the effect of connecting a household to the grid and the quality of electricity, defined as hours of daily supply. The analysis is based on two rounds of a representative panel of more than 10,000 households. We use the district-level density of transmission cables as instrument for the electrification status of the household. We find that a grid connection increases non-agricultural incomes of rural households by about 9 percent during the study period (1994-2005). However, a grid connection and a higher quality of electricity (in terms of fewer outages and more hours per day) increases non-agricultural incomes by about 28.6 percent in the same period. |
| Keywords: | Electricity Supply, Quality, India, Energy and Development, Infrastructure |
| JEL: | O12 O18 Q48 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tuf:tuftec:0804&r=agr |
| By: | Angelucci, Federica; Pierre, Guillaume |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, International Development, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197154&r=agr |
| By: | Baake, Pio; Huck, Steffen |
| Abstract: | We analyze a stylized model of the world grain market characterized by a small oligopoly of traders with market power on both the supply and demand side. Crops are stochastic and exporting countries can impose export tariffs to protect domestic food prices. We show that export tariffs are strategic complements and that poor harvests can lead to a sharp increase in equilibrium tariffs. Due to the strategic interplay between the governments of exporting countries, traders can gain from a poor harvest in one of the countries. Furthermore, consumers in import countries can benefit from cooperation between grain exporting countries. |
| JEL: | D43 F12 L13 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100569&r=agr |
| By: | Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Ssekabira, Haruna; Aduayom, Dede H. |
| Abstract: | Official poverty figures in Uganda are flawed by the fact that the underlying poverty lines are based on a single national food basket that was constructed in the early 1990s. In this paper, we estimate a new set of poverty lines that accounts for the wid |
| Keywords: | poverty, cost of basic needs, revealed preferences, Uganda |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-150&r=agr |
| By: | Roberto Roson (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Martina Sartori (Department of Economics, University Of Milan, Bicocca) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the construction, decomposition and comparison of water footprint time series in 40 countries and one aggregate macro-region, in the period 1995-2009. The analysis of the different “footpaths” allows us to investigate on the possible causes behind the time evolution of water footprints in the various countries. We notice that the physical and economic impact of economic growth on water resources has been significantly lower than what it could have been, for several reasons. First, both production and consumption patterns are shifting away from water intensive goods. Second, a large part of consumed water is actually not blue water, susceptible of alternative uses. Finally, we do not find strong evidence of gains in the economic productivity of water (dollars per water unit) in many countries, but we do find evidence of indirect efficiency gains, related to the composition of factors in the production processes. |
| Keywords: | Water, Water Footprint, Structural Decomposition, Cross Country Comparison, World Input-Output Database. |
| JEL: | O13 O57 Q25 Q56 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2015:01&r=agr |
| By: | Laure Kuhfuss; Julie Subervie |
| Abstract: | Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are a central component of the environmental policy of the European Union. Despite widespread interest and investment in AESs, few of these programs have been carefully evaluated and doubts are often expressed about the effectiveness of voluntary programs. The purpose of this article is to estimate the additional effects of AESs targeting nonpoint source pollution from pesticides, focusing on one emblematic case study: herbicide use in vineyards. We use original data collected from winegrowers participating in AESs in the south of France, and we use exogenous variation in the timing of the implementation of the AESs as a natural experiment. We show that the quantity of herbicides used by participants in the program in 2012 was around 30% below what they would have used without the program, while the impact was significantly higher in 2011 - around 50% - presumably be - cause of higher weed pressure [...] |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:15-02&r=agr |
| By: | Chinowsky, Paul S.; Schweikert, Amy E.; Strzepek, Niko L. |
| Abstract: | The Development under Climate Change research effort provides a basis for determining quantitative impacts on infrastructure from climate change. This paper provides results of an analysis of sea level rise impacts on road infrastructure in Vietnam. The s |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure, climate, vulnerability, resilience, adaptation |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2014-148&r=agr |
| By: | Taff, Steven J. |
| Abstract: | This report is a summary of the data contained on the farmland sales portion of the Minnesota Land Economics (MLE) web site (http://landeconomics.umn.edu ) as of January 30, 2015. It is formally reissued each year, as new sales data become available. The present document consists largely of graphs and tables summarizing sales over the past twenty-five years. It provides averages at the multi-county region and at the statewide levels of aggregation. Individual transaction data are available for downloading and analysis at the MLE web site. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:197545&r=agr |
| By: | Rode, Julian; Wittmer, Heidi; Emerton, Lucy; Schröter-Schlaack, Christoph |
| Abstract: | Practitioners in the fields of sustainable development, land management, and biodiversity conservation are increasingly interested in using economic instruments that promise "win-win" solutions for conservation and human livelihoods. However, practitioners often lack guidance for selecting and implementing suitable economic approaches that take the specific local needs and the cultural, legal, and ecological context into account. This paper extracts from the academic debate a series of key aspects to be considered by practitioners who wish to accomplish change of behaviour via economic approaches. The paper then presents a practice-oriented framework for identifying the "ecosystem service opportunities" to conserve biodiversity and improve livelihoods in a specific local setting, and for pre-selecting suitable economic instruments. The framework is illustrated by describing its application in two pilot sites of the ECO-BEST project in Thailand, as part of which it was developed and road-tested. |
| Keywords: | conservation management,ecosystem services,economic instruments,assessment framework |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:32015&r=agr |
| By: | Martina Kirchberger |
| Abstract: | While it is clear that natural disasters have serious welfare consequences for affected populations, less is known with respect to how local labour markets in low income countries adjust to such large shocks in particular the general equilibrium effects of the increase in the demand for construction as well as the inflow of resources in the aftermath of natural disasters. Combining data from the Indonesia Famiy Life Survey, the Desinventar database, the US Geological Survey and district level employment indicators, this paper explores how a large earthquake in Indonesia affected local labour markets, in particular the evolution of wages and employment across sectors. We find that wage growth in the agriculture sector is significantly higher in earthquake affected areas. We propose two mechanisms for this result: a higher growth rate of the price of rice in agricultural communities which switch from being net sellers to net buyers of rice and a downward shift in the supply of workers in the agricultural sector. We show evidence for both mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Local labour markets, natural disasters |
| JEL: | J20 Q54 O10 |
| Date: | 2014–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/2014-19&r=agr |
| By: | Grant, Jason; Peterson, Everett; Hejazi, Mina; Klein, Kurt |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197162&r=agr |
| By: | Juanita Villaveces Niño; Fabio Sánchez |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper analyses land reform policy in Colombia since the early twentieth century to 2012, characterized by allocation of public land to peasants. We seek to show the magnitude and importance of this constant public policy and shows its dynamic at national and regional level, in order to contribute to the vast literature on land reform in Colombia that it although analyzes the tensions of this policy, it does not have disaggregated data from the period we describe here. |
| Keywords: | reforma agraria, baldíos, Colombia |
| Date: | 2015–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:012538&r=agr |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); ; |
| Abstract: | The Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported the provincial authorities of Quang Nam in Viet Nam to scale up the implementation of payments for forest environmental services (PFES) through a technical assistance financed by the Governments of Sweden and Norway. The project pilot-tested two innovations— the group approach and the use of a geographic information system—to speed up PFES planning and implementation in the province. Starting with five villages in Ma Cooih commune, the initiative expanded to include two more communes in the Song Bung 4 watershed. This publication shares lessons and insights gained from this experience, and with it ADB intends to contribute to developing a robust, affordable, and sustainable process of planning and implementing PFES at the provincial level, thereby helping accelerate its implementation. |
| Keywords: | adb, asian development bank, asdb, asia, pacific, poverty asia, forest management, environmental financing, quang nam, vietnam, forestry economics, vietnam forest administration, watershed vietnam, Ma Cooih commune, Ta Po commune, Cha Val commune, geographic information system vietnam |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146517-2&r=agr |
| By: | Baez, Javier E.; Lucchetti, Leonardo; Genoni, Maria E.; Salazar, Mateo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the causal consequences of Tropical Storm Agatha (2010) -- the strongest tropical storm ever to strike Guatemala since rainfall records have been kept -- on household welfare. The analysis reveals substantial negative effects, particularly among urban households. Per capita consumption fell by 12.6 percent, raising poverty by 5.5 percentage points (an increase of 18 percent). The negative effects of the shock span other areas of human welfare. Households cut back on food consumption (10 percent or 43 to 108 fewer calories per person per day) and reduced expenditures on basic durables. These effects are related to a drop in income per capita (10 percent), mostly among salaried workers. Adults coped with the shock by increasing their labor supply (on the intensive margin) and simultaneously relying on the labor supply of their children and withdrawing them from school. Impact heterogeneity is associated with the intensity of the shock, food price inflation, and the timing of Agatha with respect to the harvest cycle of the main crops. The results are robust to placebo treatments, household migration, issues of measurement error, and different samples. The negative effects of the storm partly explain the increase in poverty seen in urban Guatemala between 2006 and 2011, which national authorities and analysts previously attributed solely to the collateral effects of the global financial crisis. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Consumption,Climate Change Economics |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7177&r=agr |
| By: | Ricardo de Avillez |
| Abstract: | The Canadian forest products sector has had an above-average productivity performance in the 2000-2012 period, driven in particular by the wood product manufacturing subsector. While the forestry and logging subsector has also benefited from strong productivity gains, the productivity performance of the paper manufacturing subsector has been far from impressive, especially in the post-2008 period. This report provides a detailed analysis of output, input and productivity trends in the Canadian forest products sector. It also looks at the key drivers of productivity in the sector, investigating potential barriers to productivity growth and discussing policies that could enable faster growth. Given the increasing role of countries with low-labour costs in several forest product markets, maintaining robust productivity growth is an imperative for the Canadian forest products sector if it wants to remain competitive internationally. In this sense, the report recommends renewed focus on human and physical capital investment, as well as on R&D spending. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Growth, Forestry, Canada, Research and Development, Capital Intensity, Human Capital, Physical Capital, Wood Product Manufacturing, Paper Manufacuturing, Forest Products Sector |
| JEL: | O13 O30 O51 J00 E23 Q20 D24 J08 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1401&r=agr |
| By: | Gabrielyan, Georgi; Sumner, Daniel |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197186&r=agr |
| By: | Edward B. Barbier (Department of Economics & Finance, University of Wyoming, USA); Mikolaj Czajkowski (Department of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Nick Hanley (Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores both theoretically and empirically whether or not the willingness to pay (WTP) for pollution control varies with income. Our model indicates that the income elasticity of the marginal WTP for pollution reduction is only constant under very restrictive conditions, which are not necessary for an environmental Kuznets curve relationship between pollution and income. Our empirical analysis tests the null hypothesis that the elasticity of the WTP for pollution control with respect to income is constant, employing a multi-country contingent valuation study of eutrophication reduction in the Baltic Sea. Our findings reject this hypothesis, and estimate an income elasticity of the WTP for eutrophication control of 0.1-0.2 for low-income respondents and 0.6 - 0.7 for high-income respondents. Thus, our empirical results suggest that the elasticity is not constant and always less than one. |
| Keywords: | Baltic Sea, benefit transfer, environmental Kuznets curve, eutrophication, income elasticity of willingness to pay, non-market valuation. |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2015-04&r=agr |
| By: | Paolo Casini; Lore Vandewalle; Zaki Wahhaj |
| Abstract: | Self-help groups (SHGs) are the most common form of microfinance in India. We provide evidence that SHGs, composed of women only, undertake collective actions for the provision of public goods. Using a theoretical model, we show that an elected official, whose aim is to maximise re-election chances, would exert higher effort in providing public goods when private citizens undertake collective action and coordinate their voluntary contributions towards the same goods. This effect occurs although government and private contributions are assumed to be perfect substitutes. Using first-hand data on SHGs in India, we test the predictions of the model and show that, in response to collective action by SHGs, local authorities tackle a larger variety of public issues, and are more likely to tackle issues of interest to SHGs. |
| JEL: | D70 G21 H42 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1503&r=agr |
| By: | Luciano Pilati; Vasco Boatto |
| Abstract: | This paper formulates a bio-economic model that specifies the sequentiality of allocative choice on a migratory beekeeping farm in discrete form. It is assumed that the modeled farm operates in conditions of certainty and, allocating an apiary to forage sites, produces only two marketable outputs: commercial pollination service and honey. The biological connotation of this model is derived from the fact that the apiary outputs are specified as functions of the number of adult bees active on the pollinated sites. The bio-economic model determines revenues, variable costs, gross income and profits of a migratory beekeeping farm for each sequence of forage sites to be pollinated, i.e. for each practicable sitechronological regime. The bio-economic model allows the existence of jointness in sites to be tested, i.e. to ascertain if the sequential allocative choices are independent. The jointness in the forage sites can arise on the side of the revenues, on that of the variable costs or on both sides simultaneously. This bio-economic model formulated for migratory beekeeping farms is convertible to other farming activities involving transhumance, such as the grazing or rearing of livestock. |
| Keywords: | Migratory Beekeeping, Bio-economic Model, Sequential Discrete Choices, Sitechronological Regimes, Jointness in Sites. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpem:2014/10&r=agr |
| By: | Magrini, Emiliano; Morales-Opazo, Cristian; Balie, Jean |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats14:197193&r=agr |