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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2016‒10‒02
27 papers chosen by |
| By: | Heather Cooley; Michael Cohen; Rapichan Phurisamban; Guillaume Gruère |
| Abstract: | This report analyses trends in agriculture for the US Southwest region, one of the most water stressed and productive agricultural regions in the world expected to face further water shortages in the future due to climate change and continued growth. It examines projected water risks by mid-century without additional policy action, and discusses the expected implications for the agriculture sector, based on a review of existing data and available publications. The region will likely continue to be a major agricultural producer by mid-century but will be affected by more variable and uncertain water supplies and increased water demand. Irrigated area is likely to decline, with lower value, water-intensive field and forage crops experiencing the greatest losses. Livestock and dairy are also especially vulnerable to water shortages and climate change. Trade and employment may be affected, although projections remain uncertain. Policy options can help mitigate these projected water risks, such as agricultural and urban water efficiency improvements, refined groundwater management, investment in water banks and recycled wastewater systems, and well-defined water transfers. |
| Keywords: | climate change, water competition, drought, California, Colorado River Basin, US Southwest, Agriculture and water risks |
| JEL: | Q15 Q25 Q28 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:96-en&r=agr |
| By: | SENAKPON DEDEHOUANOU; Aichatou Ousseini; LAOUALI HAROUNA Abdoulaziz; Maimounata Jabir |
| Abstract: | Agricultural households in Niger face constraints that may hinder agricultural production and threaten food security. A rural exodus is also resulting from a lack of formal and decent wage employment. The way to enhance agricultural production and improve food security while at the same time increase employment is still an important policy question in rural Niger. This study assesses the effects of off-farm self-employment opportunities on expenditures for agricultural inputs and on food security using the potential outcome framework for treatment effects. The study finds that farm and non-farm related factors determine off-farm self-employment opportunities in rural Niger. Also, participation in self-employment increases agricultural expenditures on purchased inputs and hired labour but decreases the propensity to hire labour. Self-employment opportunities favour food accessibility without having any additional effect on food availability and food utilisation. The results confirm that the policy of promoting the nonfarm sector can be harmonious with the development of the agricultural sector. There is a scope to increase or create favourable conditions for the development of the non-farm sector in rural Niger. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural household, Off-farm self-employment, Food insecurity, Niger |
| JEL: | D13 O15 Q12 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2016-08&r=agr |
| By: | Marilyne Huchet Bourdon; Chantal Le Mouël; Mindourewa Peketi |
| Abstract: | In this paper we provide an assessment of the impacts of Regional trade agreements (RTAs) on agricultural trade, putting emphasis on the role of rules of origin (RO) which are always part of these agreements. We distinguish trade in raw agricultural products and trade in processed food products. Our sample includes 180 countries over four time periods: 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2011. We consider the main trade agreements involving major world exporting countries of agricultural commodities and food products. Using a gravity model, we introduce dummies for controlling for the multilateral resistance terms and we use the Poisson-Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation method to deal with zero trade flows. Econometric results globally confirm that RTAs have a positive impact on trade between member countries, a negative or a non significant direct impact of RO, a negative or a non significant cross impact of RTAs and RO. Our estimation results globally support a significant non linear impact of RTAs, its positive effect on trade between members decreasing with the degree of restrictiveness of involved RO. As expected, our results suggest that trade in food products is more sensitive to RTAs and their RO than trade in agricultural products. Contrary to expectations, our estimation results do not support clear differentiated impact of RTAs and involved RO on North to South and South to North agrifood exports. Finally, our results suggest that RO matter regarding the trade impacts of RTAs. |
| Keywords: | regional trade agreements, rules of origin, agricultural trade, food trade, developing countries, gravity, poisson-pseudo maximum likelihood |
| JEL: | F14 Q17 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201608&r=agr |
| By: | Zwart, Tjitske Anna; Mathijs, Erik; Avermaete, Tessa |
| Abstract: | Current sustainability challenges in the dominant agro-food regime highlight the need for a systemic transition towards sustainability. It has been argued that, as a reaction to these sustainability challenges, niches have arisen that reorganise their practices in order to contribute to a more sustainable food system. These niches may in turn be seeds for a systemic transition. One specific type of such niches are Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). AFNs have already been researched in-depth from the perspective of two theories: the Multi-Level Perspective and Social Practice Theory, as well as through their combined use. Nevertheless, these studies have mainly focused on sustainability transitions in production and consumption. In this article we argue that this omits an important element of the food supply chain, namely all the activities between production and consumption. We take a holistic approach by looking at food supply chains as consisting of nine marketing functions. We do this by researching a particular type of AFN – Voedselteams - in Flanders. We find that, whereas in the dominant regime these functions are performed in a highly specialized way, within AFNs, they become more intertwined as more responsibility is taken up by consumers and producers. Yet, as initiatives grow, they might start taking up ‘regime-elements’ again in order to cope with the size. In this way, these initiatives may become hybrids between niche and regime. |
| Keywords: | Alternative Food Networks, Voedselteams, Marketing functions, Multi-Level Perspective, Social Practice theory, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:kucawp:245069&r=agr |
| By: | Megan Sheahan; Christopher Barrett; Casey Goldvale |
| Abstract: | While agro-chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides are often promoted as inputs that increase agricultural productivity by limiting a range of pre-harvest losses, their use may have negative human health and labor productivity implications. We explore the relationship between agro-chemical use and the value of crop output at the plot level and a range of human health outcomes at the household level using nationally representative panel survey data from four Sub-Saharan African countries where more than ten percent of main season cultivators use agro-chemicals. We find that agro-chemicals use is associated with increased value of harvest, with similar magnitudes across three of the four countries under study, but is also associated with increases in costs associated with human illness, including increased health expenditures related to illness and time lost from work due to sickness in recent past. We motivate our empirical work with a simple dynamic optimization model that clearly shows the role that farmer understanding of these feedbacks can play in optimizing the use of agro-chemicals. The central role of information in determining that optimum underscores the role of agricultural and public health extension as modern input intensification proceeds in the region. |
| Date: | 2016–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:2329&r=agr |
| By: | Mukasa Adamon N. (African Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the empirical linkages between production risk and technology adoption decisions among agricultural farmers in Tanzania and Uganda using a balanced household panel dataset from the World Bank’s LSMS-ISA project. Applying a moment-based approach and a Mundlak-Chamberlain IV fixed effects model to control for endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity, I find that the first four moments of production significantly explain changes in the probability of adopting chemical fertilizer, improved seeds, and pesticides. While the use of these modern inputs is found to be risk-decreasing, estimates suggest that the higher their purchasing costs, the greater the cost of farmers’ private risk bearing. Under the assumption of a moderate risk aversion, the risk premium amounts to 12.7% and 30.5% of the expected production revenues respectively in Tanzania and Uganda, largely explained by production volatility and downside risk aversion. This underscores the need to account for farmers’ preferences towards higher order moments when designing technology adoption policies |
| Date: | 2016–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:2328&r=agr |
| By: | Desbureaux Sébastien (University of Auvergne); Eric Kéré Nazindigouba (African Development Bank); Combes Motel Pascale (University of Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes deforestation leakages from natural rainforests to anthropized habitats following the creation of Protected Areas in Madagascar. A simple theoretical framework highlights that a conservation constraint does not necessarily create deforestation leakages on secondary forests. An original dataset is built combining fine scale vegetation cover images and spatialized census data over the period 2000 to 2012. Cover images allow us to distinguish a mosaic of landscapes. Multilevel panel regressions and matching techniques indicate a causal effect of Protected Areas on deforestation leakages. Though Protected Areas reduce deforestation in protected natural forests, forest clearing is mostly reported on other types of anthropized forests. Our results demonstrate the limitations of Porter-like mechanism in agricultural innovation. They also support the hypothesis of a conservation dilemma: protecting biodiversity may come at the expense of the welfare of locals who rely on local (provisioning) ecosystem services. |
| Date: | 2016–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:2341&r=agr |
| By: | Ruth Kattumuri; Darshini Ravindranath; Tashina Esteves |
| Abstract: | Rural people in India, particularly farmers, are exposed to climate variability and risk, which is likely to increase due to climate change. This study assessed current adaptation strategies adopted by rural households in two dryland villages of Bagepalli Block, Chikballapur district, Karnataka, in southern India. The adequacy of adaptation strategies was also assessed. The study showed that rural households, and farmers in particular, adopted several practices to cope with current climate risks which include irrigation provisioning (depending on groundwater), shifting cropping pattern (to more resilient but low economically valued crops and varieties), mixed cropping, agroforestry (as a long-term strategy), diversified livestock holdings, and reliance on government development programmes. The adaptation measures also included leaving croplands fallow, sale of assets such as livestock and trees, and migration. Current climate-related responses to agricultural distress are not adequate to cope with even existing climate risks. This further indicates that rural households may not be able to cope with increasing climate variability and climate change. Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand current adaptation strategies and to enhance resilience, and to develop structured adaptation strategies to cope with the risks associated with current and long-term climate change. |
| Keywords: | adaptation; climate resilience; climate variability; dryland agriculture; India |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:64057&r=agr |
| By: | Frédéric Basso (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science); Julien Bouillé (UR2 UFRSS - Université Rennes 2 - UFR Sciences sociales - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - Université Rennes 2); Kevin Le Goff (LPC - Laboratoire de psychologie cognitive - Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille 1 - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Philippe Robert-Demontrond (CREM - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Management - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - Université de Caen Basse-Normandie - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Olivier Oullier (LPC - Laboratoire de psychologie cognitive - Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille 1 - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Food imitating products are chemical consumer items used frequently in the household for cleaning and personal hygiene (e.g., bleach, soap, and shampoo), which resemble food products. Their containers replicate elements of food package design such as possessing a shape close in style to drinking product containers or bearing labels that depict colorful fruits. In marketing, these incongruent forms are designed to increase the appeal of functional products, leading to chemical consumer product embellishment. However, due to the resulting visual ambiguity, food imitating products may expose consumers to the risk of being poisoned from ingestion. Thus, from a public health perspective, food imitating products are considered dangerous chemical products that should not be sold, and may merit being recalled for the safety of consumers. To help policymakers address the hazardous presence of food imitating products, the purpose of this article is to identify the specific design features that generate most ambiguity for the consumer, and therefore increase the likelihood of confusion with foodstuffs. Among the visual elements of food packaging, the two most important features (shape and label) are manipulated in a series of three lab studies combining six Implicit Association Tests (IATs) and two explicit measures on products' drinkability and safety. IATs were administered to assess consumers' implicit association of liquid products with tastiness in a within-subject design in which the participants (N = 122) were presented with two kinds of food imitating products with a drink shape or drink label compared with drinks (experiential products with congruent form) and classic chemical products (hygiene products) (functional products with congruent form). Results show that chemical consumer products with incongruent drink shapes (but not drink labels) as an element of food package design are both implicitly associated with tastiness and explicitly judged as safe and drinkable. These results require confirmation in other studies involving different shapes and labels. Notwithstanding, due to the misleading effect of this ambiguity, |
| Keywords: | policy recommendation,Food Imitating Products |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01306951&r=agr |
| By: | K Hervé Dakpo; Laure Latruffe |
| Abstract: | In this article we assess the impact of agri-environmental subsidies on farms’ technical efficiency, when the latter is measured with and without accounting for greenhouse gases (GHGs). The application is to a sample of beef cattle farms located in grassland areas in France during the 1993-2013 period. In a first stage we calculate robust technical efficiency accounting for both good output (meat) and bad output (GHGs). In a second stage we regress the different technical efficiency scores on a set of explanatory variables including agri-environmental subsidies as an amount received by the farmer related per livestock unit. The results indicate that these subsidies had a positive impact on farms’ technical efficiency among the farmers that have adopted agri-environmental measures. This is the first work on the effect of subsidies on technical efficiency including environmental outputs, and it does not confirm the negative effect generally found in existing studies based on classic technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | by-production, GHG emissions, agri-environmental subsidies, livestock |
| JEL: | D24 O47 Q10 Q50 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201607&r=agr |
| By: | Wineman, Ayala; Mason, Nicole M.; Ochieng, Justus; Kirimi, Lilian |
| Abstract: | Households in rural Kenya are sensitive to weather shocks through their reliance on rain-fed agriculture and livestock. Yet the extent of vulnerability is poorly understood, particularly in reference to extreme weather. This paper uses temporally and spatially disaggregated weather data and three waves of household panel survey data to understand the impact of weather extremes –including periods of high and low rainfall, heat, and wind– on household welfare. Particular attention is paid to heterogeneous effects across agro-ecological regions. We find that all types of extreme weather affect household well-being, although effects sometimes differ for income and calorie estimates. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:245109&r=agr |
| By: | Short, Gianna; Peterson, Hikaru |
| Abstract: | This updated version reflects the actual conference presentation. |
| Keywords: | Consumer demand, demand analysis, food, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:244990&r=agr |
| By: | duPont, Carolyn M. (Harvard University); Levitt, James N. (Harvard University); Bilmes, Linda J. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | "Green Bonds" emerged as a new form of environmental financing in 2007. While most investors still view them as a niche product in the overall fixed income market, green bonds have grown rapidly to nearly $37 billion in issuance in 2014, with issuers from the World Bank to the State of Massachusetts. This paper examines the current and potential future use of green bonds for financing sustainable land use and conservation projects around the world. The paper draws on interviews with land conservation practitioners, bond issuers, investors, and financial analysts, as well as analysis of two case studies in China and Massachusetts. The paper summarizes the key insights from this community of experts, and lays out a series of steps that will be required before green bonds can develop into a significant and reliable tool in the conservation finance toolkit. The authors find that projects linked to water and storm water management may be investment "sweet spots" for green bonds and land conservation. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-072&r=agr |
| By: | Banerjee, Abhijit (MIT); Hanna, Rema (Harvard University); Kyle, Jordan C. (International Food Policy Research Institute); Olken, Benjamin A. (MIT); Sumarto, Sudarno (National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, Jakarta) |
| Abstract: | Outsourcing government service provision to private firms can improve efficiency and reduce rents, but there are risks that non-contractible quality will decline and that reform could be blocked by vested interests exactly where potential gains are greatest. We examine these issues by conducting a randomized field experiment in 572 Indonesian localities in which a procurement process was introduced that allowed citizens to bid to take over the implementation of a subsidized rice distribution program. This led 17 percent of treated locations to switch distributors. Introducing the possibility of outsourcing led to a 4.6 percent reduction in the markup paid by households. Quality did not suffer and, if anything, households reported the quality of the rice improved. Bidding committees may have avoided quality problems by choosing bidders who had relevant experience as traders, even if they proposed slightly higher prices. Mandating higher levels of competition by encouraging additional bidders further reduced prices. We document offsetting effects of having high rents at baseline: when the initial price charged was high and when baseline satisfaction levels were low, entry was higher and committees were more likely to replace the status quo distributor; but, incumbents measured to be more dishonest on an experimental measure of cheating were also more likely to block the outsourcing process. We find no effect on price or quality of providing information about program functioning without the opportunity to privatize, implying that the observed effect was not solely due to increased transparency. On net, the results suggest that contracting out has the potential to improve performance, though the magnitude of the effects may be partially muted due to push back from powerful elites. |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:16-001&r=agr |
| By: | Freeman, Mark C. (Loughborough University); Groom, Ben (London School of Economics and Political Science); Zeckhauser, Richard (Harvard Univesrity) |
| Abstract: | The initial hope for climate science was that an improved understanding of what the future might bring would lead to appropriate public policies and effective international climate agreements. Even if that hope is not realized, as now seems likely, scientific advances leading to a more refined assessment of the uncertainties surrounding the future impacts of climate change would facilitate more appropriate adaptation measures. Such measures might involve shifting modes or locales of production, for example. This article focuses on two broader tools: consumption smoothing in anticipation of future losses, and physical adaptation measures to reduce damages. It shows that informative signals on climate-change effects lead to better decisions in the use of each tool. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-051&r=agr |
| By: | Hans, Wiesmeth; Weber, Shlomo |
| Abstract: | The extent of provision of a public good often relies on social awareness and public support for it. This applies, in particular, to global reduction of greenhouse gases and its relevance for mitigating climate change. We examine the concept of "public awareness" by introducing a formal model that analyzes efforts to mitigate climate change in a setting with heterogeneous countries. In the theoretical part we examine the Nash equilibrium of the contribution game. The effects of awareness and economic parameters on mitigation efforts can be disentangled, raising the possibility of linking awareness of climate change with economic wealth. The second part provides some empirical observations and offers the rankings of countries regarding awareness for climate change, as well as an empirical relationship between awareness and economic wealth. |
| Keywords: | diversity; Environmental awareness; Kyoto protocol; Public Goods; regional economics |
| JEL: | C72 D74 H41 H87 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11525&r=agr |
| By: | Djanibekov, Utkur; Gaur, Varun |
| Abstract: | The focus of our analysis is on nexus issues among energy use, incomes, employment, investment decisions, and agricultural production for meeting food and feed demands, as well as health-related effects on rural households. As an example we investigate potential policies, such as public subsidies for solar panels and increase in non-agricultural employment opportunities, for meeting energy demands and improving rural livelihoods, using an agricultural household dynamic programming model. The model includes two types of households that differ in their socio-economic characteristics - poor and rich as measured by their asset and resource endowments, which are linked through the agricultural contracts such as wage-labor and payment for irrigation supply. Moreover, we differentiate the potential impacts of policies at the intra-household level, with special focus of effects on men, women and children. The case study area is the Uttar Pradesh province of India and the main data source is the household survey. The study shows that state subsidies for solar panels improve energy use, agricultural production and incomes of both households in comparison to the business-as-usual case. Also, interactions among two households with agricultural contracts increase. The policy scenario on increasing non-agricultural employment opportunities do not change much energy use pattern of rural households but substantially improves the income levels of poor household, where such household allocates most of labor force for non-agricultural work. In contrast, the household that is better endowed with agricultural production resources looses from such a policy due to less labor available to manage its farm. |
| Keywords: | Nexus, Energy use, Heterogeneity, Rural inequality, Dynamic programming, Environmental Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, C61, D63, J41, O13, Q4, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:244754&r=agr |
| By: | Lazarus, William F.; Ibendahl, Greg; Klose, Steven; Langemeier, Michael; Salassi, Michael; Smith, Nathan; Wolf, Chris; Zering, Kelly |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:245164&r=agr |
| By: | Delbridge, Timothy A.; King, Robert P. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:244732&r=agr |
| By: | Samboko, Paul; Chapoto, Antony; Kuteya, Auckland; Kabwe, Stephen; Mofya-Mukuka, Rhoda; Mweemba, Bruno; Munsaka, Eustensia |
| Abstract: | A lack of electricity has devastating consequences for any economy. Since early 2015, Zambia experienced a 2,100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) power deficit triggering countrywide power rationing. We assess the impact of power rationing on Zambia’s agricultural sector, and the costs to firms operating in the agricultural sector. Our analysis reveals economy-wide losses amounting to ZMW 32,496,100,813 (representing 18.8% of the GDP). Losses to the agricultural sector are estimated at ZMW 2,827,160,771 (representing 1.6% of the GDP), and are likely to stifle future economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:245111&r=agr |
| By: | Olivier Boucher (Met Office Hadley Centre - Met Office); Valentin Bellassen (CESAER - Centre d'Economie et Sociologie appliquées à l'Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement); Hélène Benveniste (Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Philippe Ciais (Joint Unit, LSCE - Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives); Patrick Criqui (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Celine Guivarch (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Hervé Le Treut (LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique - UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - Polytechnique - X - INSU - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Sandrine Mathy (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Roland Séférian (CNRM - Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques - Aucune) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze research gaps and identify new directions of research in relation to a number of facets of the Paris Agreement, including the new 1.5 °C objective, the articulation between near-term and long-term mitigation pathways, negative emissions, verification, climate finance, non-Parties stakeholders, and adaptation. |
| Keywords: | Paris agreement,COP21,research gaps,interdisciplinary climate research |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01342710&r=agr |
| By: | Soliman, Ibrahim |
| Abstract: | 158th EAAE, SSESSION 4D DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 9-10TH OF Sept., 2016 MAICH, CHANIA, GREECE |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:zudacp:244970&r=agr |
| By: | Lorenzo N. Almada; Rusty Tchernis |
| Abstract: | The effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on obesity have been the focus of much debate. However, causal interpretation of estimates from previous studies, comparing participants to non-participants, is complicated by endogeneity and possible misreporting of participation in SNAP. In this paper, we take a novel approach to examine quasi-experimental variation in SNAP benefit amount on adult obesity. Children of SNAP households qualify for free in-school meals, thus freeing some additional benefits for the household. A greater proportion of school-age children eligible for free in-school meals proxies for an exogenous increase in the amount of SNAP benefits available per adult. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 we show that school meals represent a non-trivial part of the food budget for SNAP households. We find that increases in SNAP benefits have no effect on obesity levels for the full sample of those who report SNAP participation. To better isolate the effects of additional benefits from other potential changes we restrict our analysis to adults living in households with at least one child under 5 years of age. In this setting, we find that additional SNAP benefits reduce BMI and the probability of being obese for SNAP adults. |
| JEL: | H51 H53 I1 I38 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22681&r=agr |
| By: | John C. Whitehead; Tim Haab; James Sherry Larkin; John Loomis; Sergio Alvarez; Andrew Ropicki |
| Abstract: | The lost recreational use values from the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were estimated from cancelled recreational trips to Northwest Florida. The impacts were calculated using the travel cost method for a single site with primary data collected from an online survey conducted after the spill. The data were collected in August and September 2011 with respondents residing in U.S. states that constitute the primary market for coastal tourism to Northwest Florida. The survey gathered information from respondents on their recreational visits to Northwest Florida, including detailed information on their past trips and the number of trips cancelled to the study region due to the oil spill. The empirical analysis involves the estimation of random parameters negative binomial count data demand functions. Using these models we find significant preference heterogeneity surrounding the effects of the oil spill. Aggregate damages are estimated to be $207 million. Key Words: BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill,travel cost method,cancelled trips |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-16&r=agr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven; Babu, Suresh; Harris, Jody; Mkandawire, Elizabeth; Nthani, Dorothy; Hendriks, Sheryl L. |
| Abstract: | This review of the micro-nutrient policy process in Zambia serves as a companion piece to two parallel studies in Malawi and South Africa. All three studies employ the Kaleidoscope Model of policy change to trace the causal forces leading to key micro-nutrient policy decisions in each of the three countries. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:245110&r=agr |
| By: | Nicolas Lesca (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Marie-Laurence Caron-Fasan (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Edison Loza Aguirre (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon) |
| Abstract: | This research is reporting on the pre-adoption of Strategic Scanning (S.Scan) information systems (IS). More specifically, it relates to the pre-adoption phase, that is, the emergence of the idea of such a system and the evaluation of its need for the organization, upstream of any technological consideration. The research question is the following: what are the drivers and barriers that influence the pre-adoption of a S.Scan IS? The objective of this research is to extend knowledge on a subject that has received little attention from the scholars. Research's originality relies on the use of isomorphic processes from neo-institutional framework to study pre-adoption in the field of S.Scan. On the basis of a multi-method research combining qualitative and quantitative exploratory studies in the specific field of sustainable supply chains (SSC), our results highlight 31 drivers and barriers to pre-adoption of S.Scan IS, ten of which have not been identified before, and five types of pressures. They therefore suggest that pre-adoption of S.Scan IS can be subject to both functional and institutional pressures. It can be driven either by competitiveness or conformism pressures, and hindered by performance objectives or lack of coercive pressures. Finally, these results put a question mark about the understanding of the strategic dimension of S.Scan IS by organisations, and the government's role and its responsibility for promoting SSC initiatives and for the adoption of S.Scan IS on this issue. |
| Keywords: | strategic scanning,sustainable supply chain,adoption,pre-adoption,institutional theory,drivers,barriers |
| Date: | 2015–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01337216&r=agr |
| By: | Cordella, Tito (The World Bank); Yeyati, Eduardo Levy (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Why should developing countries buy expensive catastrophe (CAT) insurance? Abstracting from risk aversion or hedging motives, we find that insurance may have a catalytic role on external finance. Such effort is particularly strong in those low to middle income countries that face financial constraints when hit by a shock or in its anticipation. Insurance makes defaults less likely, thereby relaxing the country's borrowing constraint, and enhancing its access to capital markets. The presence of multilateral lenders that explicitly or implicitly provide inexpensive reconstruction funds in the aftermath of a natural disaster weakens but does not eliminate the demand for catalytic insurance. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-055&r=agr |