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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒12‒28
twenty-six papers chosen by |
| By: | Arlène Alpha; Samuel Gebreselassié |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The paper analyses the food and nutrition security (FNS) governance in some net food importing countries by looking at how the multidimensional nature of FNS challenges is addressed in policy-making processes. Two countries are particularly studied, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, where the two authors work and where in-depth interviews have been conducted. Complementary insights are given from Benin and Kenya to support our results. The main argument developed is that FNS policies have a strong inertia around agricultural production issues. Historical actors, mainly trained in agriculture, remain predominant in FNS policy-making and tend to raise sectoral agricultural issues. The FNS institutional framework is increasingly fragmented between agriculture, nutrition and social agendas instead of being conducive to the debate of competing visions of FNS and to intersectoral coordination. To some extent, recent changes in trade policies with the decrease of agricultural taxation and strong producer support since the 2007/08 food crisis are now more coherent with production-oriented FNS policies. Intersectoral initiatives are often the result of high-level commitments and/or individual actors. Aid actors play a key role in those initiatives, especially through innovation in their internal organisation to overcome the tendency to work in silos. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:34&r=agr |
| By: | Maryia Mandryk; Jonathan Doelman; Elke Stehfest |
| Abstract: | We developed a new assessment method of the land supply for agriculture, on a grid scale basis and per region, which takes into account both biophysical, institutional and socio-economic parameters of land availability and suitability for conversion into agricultural production. In many world regions most of the available and suitable land has already been included in agricultural production. Our assessment focuses on the issue of remaining (i.e. potentially available and suitable) agricultural land per region. We first estimated the total available and biophysically suitable land by excluding areas with certain biophysical restrictions (i.e. marginally productive areas, permafrost, steep slopes, wetlands, built-up area). Secondly, we applied institutional parameters of land suitability to exclude protected areas and - in some regions - also intact forests. Thirdly, we used a suitability index to define the potentially available land that is also suitable for conversion to agricultural production from a socio-economic perspective. Subsequently, we subtracted the current agricultural land from the total available and suitable land to derive the remaining (i.e. potentially available and suitable) land per region. As well, we provided the information on the quality and suitability of the available land, based on classes of crop productivity. We also discuss the distribution of global grasslands, in both intensive and extensive agricultural systems, and the effects of this distribution on potentially available land per region. Our results are applicable for global change analysis and modelling. Accurate estimation of agricultural land currently in use influences the possible impact on regional land use change and associated land use emissions from implementation of land-based mitigation schemes, such as REDD, or other policies (e.g. RED). |
| JEL: | Q24 Q15 O13 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fstech:7&r=agr |
| By: | Kaminski,Jonathan; Christiaensen,Luc; Gilbert,Christopher L. |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the extent of seasonality in African livelihoods. It uses 19 years of monthly food prices from 20 markets and three years of nationally representative household panel surveys from Tanzania. Trigonometric specifications are introduced to measure the seasonal gap. When samples are short and seasonality is poorly defined, they produce less upward bias than the common dummy variable approach. On average, the seasonal gap for maize prices is estimated to be 27 percent; it is 15 percent for rice. In both cases it is two and a half to three times higher than in the international reference market. Food price seasonality is not a major contributor to food price volatility, but it does translate into seasonal variation in caloric intake of about 10 percent among poor urban households and rural net food sellers. Rural net food-buying households appear able to smooth their consumption. The disappearance of seasonality from Africa's development debate seems premature. |
| Keywords: | Regional Economic Development,Rural Poverty Reduction,Markets and Market Access,Climate Change Economics,Food&Beverage Industry |
| Date: | 2015–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7520&r=agr |
| By: | Parisa Aghajanzadeh-Darzi; Cecilia Bellora; Jean-Christophe Bureau; Anaïs Goburdhun |
| Abstract: | The EU has a long history of specific trade arrangements with developing countries. Under a variety of schemes, the EU allows developing countries to export goods to the Community market with reduced or zero duty. The stated objective is to encourage economic growth and to promote sustainable development in developing countries through their integration into the world trade system. Recently, these schemes have experienced significant reform. This applies particularly to the case of the Generalized System of Preferences and the arrangements affecting African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. In addition, preferential (reciprocal) trade agreements are replacing non-reciprocal tariff concessions. We describe the current status of EU trade policy with developing countries, focusing on those where food security is a major issue. We assess the impact of selected preferential schemes, using an applied general equilibrium model. Our counterfactual simulations show that removing EU preferences will impact negatively on some developing country economies; both exports and gross domestic product will go down (particularly in North and Sub-Saharan African regions). Overall, our simulations suggest that EU preferential agreements provide export opportunities and contribute to higher incomes, particularly the least developed countries. However, their contribution to food security is indirect. Because of the magnitude of the prices and income changes which we measure at the aggregate level, the impact on food and nutrition security indicators seems limited. To explore in more depth the impact of EU preferences on the food security of particularly vulnerable segments of the population would require our simulations to be combined with household data. |
| JEL: | F13 Q17 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:35&r=agr |
| By: | Jules-Daniel Wurlod; Derek Eaton |
| Abstract: | This paper explores international productivity patterns in agriculture. We test whether countries higher productivity growth has been experienced by countries that were initially further from the technological frontier. Based on a panel of 84 countries at various levels of development, we find support for convergence among OECD countries but divergence in our sample at large over the period 1960-2010. We then test whether technological catch-up is conditional on absorptive capacities and domestic investments in R&D. While agricultural research intensity has a significant effect on labor productivity growth, the size of this effect decreases the further the country is from the frontier. We calculate a threshold level for the effectiveness of research intensity: increased R&D contributes to catching up to the frontier for those countries with a distance to the frontier less than 22. We also test for additional factors affecting productivity growth, and find that secondary education plays a strong role in less developed countries, while trade openness appears to have had a positive effect on productivity in middle income countries. On the other hand, there is little evidence of much effect, either positive or negative from IPR protection. Of perhaps greater interest is the apparent impact of economic growth outside of agriculture in driving agricultural productivity improvements. |
| JEL: | O13 O33 Q11 Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:36&r=agr |
| By: | Shari Eli; Nicholas Li |
| Abstract: | How much do calorie requirements vary across households and how do they affect food consumption patterns? Since caloric intake is a widely-used indicator of poverty and welfare, investigating changes in caloric requirements and food consumption patterns is important, especially for the poor. Combining anthropometric and time-use data for India, we construct a quantitative measure of individual and household caloric requirements. We then link our estimates of caloric requirements with consumption data to examine how caloric requirements coupled with household expenditures shape food demand. Our applications include the measurement of hunger and the role of caloric requirements in explaining food consumption puzzles related to household-scale and changes in caloric intake over time. |
| JEL: | I3 I31 I32 J1 O1 O53 R2 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21697&r=agr |
| By: | Lukas Kornher; Matthias Kalkuhl |
| Abstract: | This paper takes a closer look at price-related food insecurity by looking at commodity prices instead of the national food price indices which are under suspicion of being not representative for poor consumers. A typology is developed that distinguishes between general price instability, seasonal price instability, and price uncertainty. The typology provides an indication of the potential of policy instruments to reduce food price volatility. The paper provides a description to the database which is the product of the analysis. |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fstech:5&r=agr |
| By: | Ben Jebli, Mehdi; Ben Youssef, Slim |
| Abstract: | This paper uses panel cointegration techniques and Granger causality tests to investigate the dynamic causal links between per capita renewable energy consumption, agricultural value added (AVA), carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and real gross domestic product (GDP) for a panel of five North Africa countries spanning the period 1980-2011. In the short-run, the Granger causality tests show the existence of a bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and agriculture, a unidirectional causality running from agriculture to GDP, a unidirectional causality running from GDP to renewable energy consumption, and a unidirectional causality running from renewable energy consumption to agriculture. In the long-run, there is bidirectional causality between agriculture and CO2 emissions, a unidirectional causality running from renewable energy to both agriculture and emissions, and a unidirectional causality running from output to both agriculture and emissions. Long-run parameter estimates show that an increase in GDP and in renewable energy consumption increase CO2 emissions, whereas an increase in agricultural value added reduces CO2 emissions. As policy recommendation, North African authorities should encourage renewable energy consumption, and especially clean renewable energy such as solar or wind, as this improves agricultural production and help to combat global warming. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; Agriculture; CO2 emissions; Panel cointegration; North Africa. |
| JEL: | C33 Q15 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68477&r=agr |
| By: | Lara Cockx; Nathalie Francken; Hannah Pieters |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a detailed overview of food and nutrition security in the European Union. Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread and overweight and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate. Policy makers are urged to pay particular attention to the poor but also women and children, ethnic minorities and the elderly. The New Member States (NMS) are home to some of the most vulnerable households and prominent challenges in terms of the insufficient availability of fruits and vegetables and the relatively large share of food expenditure in total household budget. The in depth analysis of food demand and food diversity in Romania and Slovakia demonstrates that Romanian households continue to be very sensitive to food price and income shocks and underlines the importance of policies targeted at the generation of incomes as well as rural development. |
| JEL: | Q18 I32 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fspubl:31&r=agr |
| By: | Lindsay Shutes; Marijke Kuiper |
| Abstract: | Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, with their depiction of the whole economy, are well placed to capture the impact of economic shocks and policies on household food and nutrition security. However, many of the global models available include only a single representative household which conceals the impact on the most vulnerable households. This paper presents an alternative method for creating the data for extending the coverage of global CGE models to include different household types, based on the theory and structure of the MyGTAP model (Walmsley & Minor, 2013). The method allows the user to make country-specific choices about the way that national household data are integrated with the existing GTAP database. We make use of the household data processing work already embedded in national Social Accounting Matrices to disaggregate the single household in the GTAP database commonly used in global CGE models. We believe this method is quicker than processing the household survey data from scratch and retains the household detail available in the national Social Accounting Matrices. We illustrate the method with an application for Ghana in which multiple household types are added to the MAGNET CGE model using a household module containing the MyGTAP model code. The addition of multiple household types adds a range of food and nutrition security indicators which can be used in combination with all other MAGNET modules including those covering biofuels and nutrition, to identify impacts vary |
| JEL: | C61 I32 Q18 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fsc:fstech:3&r=agr |
| By: | Heidi Tuhkanen (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Evelin Urbel-Piirsalu (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Tea Nõmmann (Stockholm Environmental Institute); Mikołaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Nick Hanley (University of St Andrews, Department of Geography and Sustainable Development) |
| Abstract: | Many marine and coastal ecosystems are under increasing pressure from multiple stressors. In the Baltic Sea, these stressors include oil and chemical spills from shipping, nutrient run-off from land and invasive species. All of these pressures have been rising over the recent past. Increasing pressures lead to reductions in environmental quality, which produce negative effects on human well-being. In this paper, the choice experiment method is used to estimate the benefits to people in Estonia resulting from reductions in pressure from multiple stressors in the Baltic. |
| Keywords: | multiple stressors, Good Environmental Status, marine and coastal water quality, choice experiments, oil and chemical spills, eutrophication, invasive species |
| JEL: | Q51 O13 Q56 Q57 Q58 Q34 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2015-41&r=agr |
| By: | Gerard van der Meijden (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Karolina Ryszka (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Cees Withagen (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | We study resource extraction by a non-renewable resource supplier who faces demand from two regions, one of which employs a tax on the imported resource and a subsidy on the available backstop technology, and one that has no environmental policy in place. The resource extraction path possibly contains two limit pricing phases, both in the presence and in the absence of speculators on the market. In the case with speculators, the resource price is continuous. Without speculators, the price jumps upward when demand from the region with climate policy drops to zero. A tightening of climate policies results in lower initial resource consumption; no Weak Green Paradox occurs. Yet, a decrease in the backstop production cost or an increase in the backstop subsidy shorten the overall extraction period, potentially resulting in higher total climate costs in the case without speculators. An analysis of the welfare effects reveals that the regulated region faces differential non-green and green incentives to tighten its climate policies in the two price regimes. We find that, even though climate damages might go down, unilateral policy tightening is possibly detrimental to the regulated region's non-green welfare due to a resource supply shift to the unregulated region. |
| Keywords: | limit pricing; non-renewable resource; monopoly; climate change; carbon tax; renewables subsidy |
| JEL: | Q31 Q37 |
| Date: | 2015–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150136&r=agr |
| By: | Mark M. Pitt; Mark R. Rosenzweig; Nazmul Hassan |
| Abstract: | We exploit recent molecular genetics evidence on the genetic basis of arsenic excretion and unique information on family links among respondents living in different environments from a large panel survey within a theoretical framework incorporating optimizing behavior to uncover the hidden costs of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. We provide for the first time estimates of the effects of the ingestion and retention of inorganic arsenic on direct measures of cognitive and physical capabilities as well as on the schooling attainment, occupational structure, entrepreneurship and incomes of the rural Bangladesh population. We also provide new estimates of the effects of the consumption of foods grown and cooked in arsenic-contaminated water on individual arsenic concentrations. The estimates are based on arsenic biomarkers obtained from a sample of members of rural households in Bangladesh who are participants in a long-term panel survey following respondents and their coresident household members over a period of 26 years. |
| JEL: | I15 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21741&r=agr |
| By: | Dennis Guignet; Rachel Northcutt; Patrick J. Walsh |
| Abstract: | There are few studies examining the impacts of groundwater quality on residential property values. Using a unique dataset of groundwater well tests, we link residential transactions to home-specific contamination levels and undertake a hedonic analysis of homes in Lake County, Florida; where groundwater pollution concerns stem primarily from agricultural runoff. We find that testing and contamination yield a 2% to 6% depreciation, an effect that diminishes after the situation is resolved. Focusing specifically on nitrogen-based contamination, we find prices decline mainly at concentrations above the regulatory health standard, suggesting up to a 15% deprecation at levels twice the standard. |
| Keywords: | drinking water, groundwater, hedonic, nitrate, potable water, property value, water quality |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201505&r=agr |
| By: | Patrick J. Walsh; Charles Griffiths; Dennis Guignet; Heather Klemick |
| Abstract: | The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries provide a range of recreational and aesthetic amenities, such as swimming, fishing, boating, wildlife viewing, and scenic vistas. Living in close proximity to the Bay improves access to these amenities and should be capitalized into local housing markets. We investigate these impacts in the largest hedonic analysis of water quality ever completed, with over 200,000 property sales across 14 Maryland counties. We use a spatially explicit water quality dataset, along with a wealth of landscape, economic, geographic, and demographic variables. These data allow a comprehensive exploration of the value of water quality, while controlling for a multitude of other influences. We also estimate several variants of the models most popular in current literature, with a focus on the temporal average of water quality. In comparing 1 year and 3 year averages, the 3 year averages generally have a larger implicit price. Overall, results indicate that water quality improvements in the Bay, such as those required by EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load, could yield significant benefits to waterfront and near-waterfront homeowners. |
| Keywords: | water quality, hedonic property value analysis, Chesapeake Bay, valuation |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201507&r=agr |
| By: | Robin R. Jenkins; Dennis Guignet; Patrick J. Walsh |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to comprehensively identify all relevant benefit categories associated with prevention and remediation of releases from underground storage tanks (USTs), as well as from reuse of formerly (or potentially) contaminated UST sites. The benefit categories include improvements in human health, ecosystem services, aesthetics, recreational opportunities, and land productivity. A qualitative explanation of each benefit category is provided and examples of UST sites associated with each is offered. The suggestion is not that all the categories are associated with all UST sites. Instead, there is a great deal of variability across sites, as illustrated by four case studies presented in this paper’s appendix. The paper also offers background information on the problem of UST releases, as well as descriptions of the regulatory program and the population of regulated systems and facilities. |
| Keywords: | contaminated sites, contamination, land cleanup, land reuse, leaking underground storage tanks, LUST, qualitative benefits |
| JEL: | D61 Q24 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201405&r=agr |
| By: | Barone, Adriana; Nese, Annamaria |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship between body weight and academic choice and performance, focusing on gender differences and using survey data from students at the University of Salerno in Italy.Our findings indicate a significant negative relationship between body weight and academic performance,particularly for female students.In our examination of BMI and field of study (i.e.,science vs.the humanities),our results indicate that overweight/obese females are less likely than those of average weight to pursue scientific studies, and hence, more remunerative careers.The asymmetry of the findings between males and females suggests that during late adolescence physicality plays different roles according to gender. |
| Keywords: | Human capital; Body weight; Educational economics; Microeconometrics |
| JEL: | C25 D01 I12 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68450&r=agr |
| By: | Joanna Ryan (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town); Murray Leibbrandt (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | It is well established that household food security is a complex phenomenon with numerous indicators and outcomes, the measurement of which is yet to be adequately captured by a single measure. We propose the adoption of the methodology of multidimensional poverty measurement in calculating an index of multidimensional food insecurity. This framework has gained increasing popularity, particularly with the introduction of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The assertion is that, like poverty, food insecurity is a multidimensional phenomenon, requiring the inclusion of multiple aspects of deprivation in its measurement. Nationally representative data from South Africa is used to construct a Multidimensional Food Insecurity Index (MFII), based on the methodology of the MPI. The MFII is used to develop a detailed profile of individual food insecurity in South Africa. Nationally, close to half of the population are considered multidimensionally food insecure, with the greatest contributors to food insecurity being dietary diversity and subjective food consumption adequacy. The Western Cape and Gauteng enjoy the lowest levels of multidimensional food insecurity, while Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal suffer the highest levels. How food security is measured can have an important impact on how policies are developed and implemented in order to deal with the problem. As such, measurement methodologies can be very practically relevant to research. |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional Food Insecurity Index (MFII), Household food security, South Africa, National Income Dynamics Study |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:160&r=agr |
| By: | Asche, Frank (UiS); Misund, Bard (UiS); Oglend, Atle (UiS) |
| Abstract: | Typically, the risk premium in futures prices is examined by regressing the ex post risk premium on the ex ante spot-futures price basis. However, recent studies suggest that industry specific production factors as well as the basis can influence the relationship between spot and futures prices. The Atlantic salmon market is a market where risk associated with special production characteristics may affect the spot-forward relationship. Futures markets have recently been introduced for aquaculture products, and an understanding of the specific risk factors is important if these markets are to succeed. Using spot and futures prices as well as a set of industry specific variables, we seek to explain the variation in the risk premium in salmon futures by the variation in the basis. We find that shocks in key production variables help explain the variation in the risk premium along the forward curve. |
| Keywords: | Atlantic salmon markets; Forward prices; Risk premium |
| JEL: | G13 G14 Q22 |
| Date: | 2015–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:stavef:2015_013&r=agr |
| By: | Krieger, Tim; Leroch, Martin |
| Abstract: | "Land grabbing" or, less emotionally charged, large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA), which occur mainly in the Global South, have become the center of a heated political and academic debate. So far, economists have mostly abstained from this debate. This may possibly be explained by the fact that they view these kind of deals in land property primarily as an opportunity for improved local economic development in poor countries. Arguably, foreign investors are then assumed to be able to utilize arable, but mostly idle land more efficiently than locals (cf., e.g., Deininger/Byerlee, 2011). At the same time, critics (mostly from other disciplines) claim that these very land deals have highly detrimental effects on local populations, especially smallholders, as neither governments nor international investors typically care much about these people’s interests and do not honor their often informal land-use rights (cf., e.g., Cotula, 2011). They claim that this may then endanger the local people’s livelihoods. [...] |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wgspdp:201508&r=agr |
| By: | Hyland, Marie; Haller, Stefanie |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp513&r=agr |
| By: | Ann Harrison; Benjamin Hyman; Leslie Martin; Shanthi Nataraj |
| Abstract: | India has a multitude of environmental regulations but a history of poor enforcement. Between 1996 and 2004, India's Supreme Court required 17 cities to enact Action Plans to reduce air pollution through a variety of command-and-control (CAC) environmental regulations. We compare the impacts of these regulations with the impact of changes in coal prices on establishment-level pollution abatement, coal consumption, and productivity growth. We find that higher coal prices reduced coal use within establishments, with price elasticities similar to those found in the US. In addition, higher coal prices are associated with lower pollution emissions at the district level. CAC regulations did not affect within-establishment pollution control investment or coal use, but did impact the extensive margin, increasing the share of large establishments investing in pollution control and reducing the entry of new establishments. For reducing SO2 emissions, our results suggest that higher coal prices were more effective in improving environmental outcomes than command and control measures. |
| JEL: | O14 O33 O44 Q4 Q52 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21763&r=agr |
| By: | Asche, Frank (UiS); Misund, Bard (UiS); Oglend, Atle (UiS) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the Fish Pool salmon futures contract with respect to how well the market performs in terms of the futures price being an unbiased estimator of the spot price and whether the market provide a price discovery function. Using data for 2006-2014 and with futures prices with maturities up to 6 months we find that spot and lagged futures prices are cointegrated and that the futures price provides an unbiased estimate of the spot price. We also find that, with the exception of the front month, that the causality is one-directional. The spot prices lead futures prices between 1 to 6 months maturity. Hence, while the spot and lagged futures prices are unbiased estimates, we do not find support for the hypothesis that futures prices provides a price discovery function. Rather, it seems that innovations in the spot price influence futures prices. This finding is not uncommon in new and immature futures contracts markets. Hence, the salmon futures market is still immature and has not yet reached the stage where futures prices are able to predict future spot prices. |
| Keywords: | Atlantic salmon; futures prices; price discovery |
| JEL: | G13 G14 Q22 |
| Date: | 2015–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:stavef:2015_016&r=agr |
| By: | Heather Klemick; Charles Griffiths; Dennis Guignet; Patrick Walsh |
| Abstract: | This study conducts a meta-analysis of the value of water quality in the Chesapeake Bay derived from separate hedonic property value estimates in 14 Maryland counties. The meta-analysis allows us to: 1) investigate heterogeneity of estimates of the value of water clarity across counties based on socioeconomic and ecological factors, 2) understand the implication of econometric specification choices made in the original hedonic equations for benefit estimates, and 3) transfer the benefits out-of-sample to Bayfront counties in Washington, DC, Delaware, Virginia, and four additional counties in Maryland. We also investigate the in-sample and out-of-sample predictive power of different transfer strategies and find that a simpler unit value transfer can outperform more complex function transfers. The results illustrate both the usefulness of meta-analysis and the challenges of benefit transfer even when estimates being transferred represent a common geographic area, environmental attribute, and policy instrument. |
| Keywords: | meta-analysis, benefit transfer, water quality, Chesapeake Bay, hedonic property value analysis |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 Q57 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201504&r=agr |
| By: | Patrick J. Walsh; Charles Griffiths; Dennis Guignet; Heather Klemick |
| Abstract: | While the mean global sea level has climbed by an average of 3.2 mm/year since 1993—and is projected to increase another 0.18 – 0.82 meters by 2100—coastal populations have continued to expand. Coastal communities may be compelled to adapt to these competing forces, and at an increasing frequency in the near future. This paper explores the property price impact of several adaptation structures that can help bolster the shoreline and protect homes from sea level rise (SLR) in Anne Arundel County, MD. Our study uses a novel dataset on coastal features that is very spatially explicit, and contains the location of all adaptation structures. We also use maps of SLR zones to explore how property price impacts vary depending on vulnerability to sea level rise. Results indicate that sea level rise and adaption structures, such as bulkheads and rip-raps, can have a significant impact on waterfront home prices, with the impact varying across risks and type of adaption structure. A home located in the most threatened SLR zone that is unprotected by an adaptation structure sells for 19-23% less, on average. On the other hand, homes in threatened SLR zones with certain adaptation structures see a 21% increase in property price, approximately compensating for the threatened location. Since sea level in the Chesapeake Bay is projected to rise approximately two feet over the next century, the results here suggest that property markets are incorporating this information. Our results should be useful to policy makers, developers, insurers, and other parties involved in coastal management, who trade off the costs and benefits of development and adaptation. |
| Keywords: | sea level rise, hedonic regression, coastal resources, environmental economics, benefit-cost analysis, valuation |
| JEL: | H40 H70 Q25 Q26 Q51 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201502&r=agr |
| By: | Bassirou Diop (CEREGMIA - Centre de Recherche en Economie, Gestion, Modélisation et Informatique Appliquée - UAG - Université des Antilles et de la Guyane); Nicolas Sanz (CEREGMIA - Centre de Recherche en Economie, Gestion, Modélisation et Informatique Appliquée - UAG - Université des Antilles et de la Guyane); Yves Jamont Junior Duplan (CEREGMIA - Centre de Recherche en Economie, Gestion, Modélisation et Informatique Appliquée - UAG - Université des Antilles et de la Guyane); Elhadji Mama Guene (IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Fabian Blanchard (Ifremer, Unité Biodiversité Halieutique de Guyane - Unité Biodiversité Halieutique de Guyane); Luc Doyen (GREThA;Groupe de Recherche en Économie Théorique et Appliquée - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-Christophe Pereau (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux 4 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the biological and economic effects of global warming on the French Guiana shrimp fishery. The sea surface tem- perature is explicitly introduced into four natural growth functions, among which the Cobb-Douglas function best adjusts the available data. Besides, a Cobb-Douglas harvest function is also estimated, in- dicating that shrimp production in French Guiana is highly sensitive to the shrimp stock, which implies that global warming may have strong economic implications. We nally consider a centralized resource man- agement of the French Guiana shrimp shery, that is undertaken in various trend scenarios concerning the sea surface temperature. Un- der the most plausible scenario, in which the sea surface temperature follows the trend of the last decades, pro ts and biomass respectively decrease and collapse around the end of the 2020s. |
| Keywords: | Resource management,Climate change,Temperature |
| Date: | 2015–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01243305&r=agr |