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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2016‒10‒09
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Joydeep Ghosh; kele Shiferaw; Amarendra Sahoo; Sika Gbegbelegbe |
| Abstract: | A recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to conduct an exante analysis of the economy-wide impacts of new agricultural technologies in India. Differential impacts of changes in productivity of new promising cultivars for irrigated and rainfed maize and wheat are incorporated in the model. Technological change in these crops results in higher future economic growth as well as food security, both in food consumption and availability. While there is considerable scope for increasing the production of both crops through the introduction of new technologies, maize (both irrigated and rainfed) with promising cultivars for higher yield gain generates significant growth in output. The projected gains for wheat are primarily in the rainfed wheat output as this is where the yield gaps are highest from the promising technologies. Lower prices, particularly for maize and wheat, stimulate higher consumption of these cereals and other food commodities. Rural households benefit more than their urban counterparts in food consumption. Although maize’s contribution to the national economy is less than wheat, given the relatively higher estimated yield gains from promising maize technologies, the positive impacts of maize technologies on food security and national income are higher than the impacts of wheat. In view of the land and water constraints in Indian agriculture, maize which is predominantly rainfed and widely adapted could be a viable alternative for the future. However, a joint improvement of maize and wheat productivity would further enhance economic conditions and food security in India. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:mpiacr:2016-16&r=agr |
| By: | Amarendra Sahoo; Lulit Mitik Beyene; Bekele Shiferaw; Sika Gbegbelegbe |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the potential impacts from the introduction of high yielding and drought tolerant varieties of major food staples (wheat and maize) in Ethiopia. We develop a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model with a micro-simulation module to examine the growth, poverty and distributional impacts of agricultural innovations. The analysis shows that introduction of improved varieties of these food staples is likely to boost the cereal sector in the country. Other agricultural sub-sectors grow due to increased labour supply. Given that these staple cereals represent an important share of food consumption for Ethiopian households, the poverty impact of the interventions is positive. Although rural households benefit from higher gains in real consumption, poverty declines more in urban areas compared to the rural. This is mainly because the rural poor are generally far from the poverty line with a higher initial poverty gap compared to urban households and the urban poor benefit from price effects. As productivity-enhancing technologies are introduced, there is a need for policy interventions in rural areas targeting non-agricultural sectors to enhance growth linkages, increase employment and stimulate inclusive growth. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:mpiacr:2016-17&r=agr |
| By: | Hoang Xuan Trung; Luca Tiberti |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the trade liberalization of chemical fertilisers on the allocation of labour between nonfarm and farm sectors in rural Vietnam during the period 1993-1998. To do that, we use a panel dataset controlling for fixed effects and instrumenting the volume of chemical fertilisers and the exogenous change in fertilisers’ prices is exploited. The study shows that a higher volume of chemical fertilisers reduces the employment of rural households in the nonfarm sector and increases labour participation in farm activities. A larger use of chemical fertilisers would also generate other complementary effects such as a higher demand for organic fertilisers, increased on-farm hired labour, a bigger cultivated area with chemical fertilisers and a larger number of crops grown with chemical fertilisers. Also, we find that a larger use of chemical fertilisers creates larger incentives for on-farm family labour for small landholders compared to those with larger agricultural land, and that the magnitude of the effects is relatively larger for new farmers. |
| Keywords: | instrumental variable, chemical fertiliser price, nonfarm activity, rural Vietnam. |
| JEL: | F16 H31 J01 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2016-11&r=agr |
| By: | Bruno Lanz (University of Neuchâtel (Institute of Economic Research), ETH Zurich (Chair for Integrative Risk Management and Economics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change).); Simon Dietz (London School of Economics and Political Science, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.); Tim Swanson (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Department of Economics and Centre for International Environmental Studies.) |
| Abstract: | How much will the global population expand, can all these extra mouths be fed, and what is the role in this story of economic growth? We structurally estimate a two-sector Schumpeterian growth model with endogenous population and finite land reserves to study the long-run evolution of global population, technological progress and the demand for food. The estimated model closely replicates trajectories for world population, GDP, sectoral productivity growth and crop land area from 1960 to 2010. Projections from 2010 onwards show a slowdown of technological progress, and, because it is a key determinant of fertility costs, significant population growth. By 2100 global population reaches 12.4 billion and agricultural production doubles, but the land constraint does not bind because of capital investment and technological progress. |
| Keywords: | Global population; Technological progress; Economic growth; Agriculture; Malthusian constraints; Land conversion; Structural estimation |
| JEL: | O11 O13 J11 C53 C61 Q15 Q24 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:16-05&r=agr |
| By: | Bekele Shiferaw; Sika Gbegbelegbe; Amarendra Sahoo |
| Abstract: | A recursive dynamic economy-wide model incorporating productivity changes due to the introduction of promising maize and wheat varieties evaluates foresights for future food security, well-being and economic performance in Kenya. Adoption of promising new maize and wheat varieties not only increases overall economic growth and food availability, it also reduces import dependency and increases the welfare of vulnerable populations, especially rural households in lowland regions. Although maize-producing rural households in the highlands do not gain in terms of real incomes because of declining land income, they benefit from the increased food consumption stimulated by lower food prices. Promising maize technologies will have positive spill-over effect on all crops, mainly on wheat, and have larger positive impact on food security than the expected productivity change from the current promising wheat varieties. Although the lowland economy does not benefit from the adoption of new crop technologies, rural households in this region benefit the most in terms of increases in food and non-food consumption. The welfare gain in terms of food security is further amplified when technological change for the two crops is complemented by a reduction in the marketing costs, which facilitates market access for the increased surplus and further reduces domestic prices. With low marketing costs resulting from reduced trade and transport margins for these two crops, even highland maize producing households experience an increase in real income and the demand for both food and non-food commodities increase substantially, generating significant linkages between agriculture and other sectors. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:mpiacr:2016-14&r=agr |
| By: | Talia Bar (University of Connecticut); Yuqing Zheng (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: | Standards play a vital role in promoting food safety. Certification bodies audit manufacturing sites to certify them for a standard. Using data from the British Retail Consortium global standards program, we offer a glimpse at the market for and examine manufacturers’ choices of certification bodies. Manufacturers prefer geographically close certifiers and those that assigned a higher share of A grades in the previous year. This behavior provides an incentive for lenient grading. We also find a strong tendency of manufacturers to return to the same certification body that audited their site in the previous year. |
| Keywords: | Certifiers, Certification bodies, food safety, standard, product quality, audit grade, British Retail Consortium |
| JEL: | L66 L15 L13 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2016-22&r=agr |
| By: | Mitra, Sandip; Mookherjee, Dilip; Torero, Maximo; Visaria, Sujata |
| Abstract: | In the Indian state of West Bengal, potato farmers sell to local middlemen because they lack direct access to wholesale markets. High-frequency marketing surveys reveal large middleman margins and negligible pass-through from wholesale to farmgate prices. Farmers are uninformed about downstream wholesale and retail prices.To test alternative models of farmer-middlemen trades, we conduct a field experiment where farmers in randomly chosen villages are provided with wholesale price information. Information had negligible average effects on farmgate sales and revenues, but increased pass-through from wholesale to farmgate prices. These results are consistent with a model of ex post bargaining between farmers and village middlemen where farmers also have the option of selling to other middlemen outside the village. They are inconsistent with models of risk-sharing contracts between middle-men and farmers, standard oligopolistic models of pass-through or search frictions. |
| Keywords: | cellphones; Middlemen; Pass-Through; price information; supply chains |
| JEL: | L14 O12 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11548&r=agr |
| By: | Maitra, Pushkar; Mitra, Sandip; Mookherjee, Dilip; Motta, Alberto; Visaria, Sujata |
| Abstract: | Recent evaluations have found that traditional microloans have iinsignificant impacts on incomes and output. Randomly selected villages in West Bengal, India participated in a field experiment with a novel variant of microcredit called TRAIL, where the selection of borrowers of individual liability loans was delegated to local trader-lender agents incentivized by repayment-based commissions. Other randomly selected villages participated in a group-based microcredit program called GBL. TRAIL loans increased the production of the leading cash crop and farm incomes by 27-37%, but GBL loans had insignificant effects. To understand underlying mechanisms, we develop and test a theoretical model that explains borrower selection into the two schemes as well as borrower incentives to invest the loans for productive purposes. We find that borrowers selected by the TRAIL agents were more able farmers than those who self-selected into the GBL scheme; this pattern of selection explains about a third of the observed di fference in income impacts. |
| Keywords: | Agent-based Lending; Agricultural Finance; Group Lending; Repayment; selection |
| JEL: | D82 O16 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11549&r=agr |
| By: | Elissa Cousin (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Emmanuelle Taugourdeau (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we focus on the issue of water loss caused by leakage from obsolete water mains. We develop in this theoretical paper, a cost minimization problem of a water utility that faces leakage from water mains. Our framework enables us to determine the optimal water main quality index according to different parameters such as the cost of water production, the quantity demanded and the cost of installing good quality water mains. |
| Abstract: | Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la question des pertes en eau causées par les fuites dans les infrastructures d'acheminement des eaux devenues majoritairement obsolètes dans de nombreux pays occidentaux. Nous développons un modèle théorique de minimisation des coûts d'une régie d'eau qui fait face à des fuites dans les conduits qu'elle gère. Ce cadre théorique nous permet de déterminer l'indice optimal de qualité des infrastructures en eau qui dépend de plusieurs paramètres tels que le coût de production de l'eau, la quantité demandée et le coût d'installation de conduites de bonne qualité. Des simulations sur données françaises et américaines nous permettent de comparer les résultats du modèle théorique aux chiffres observés dans la réalité. |
| Keywords: | water loss,infrastructure quality,cost minimization,eau potable,qualité des infrastructures,coûts |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01159753&r=agr |
| By: | Michael Redlinger (Department of Revenue, State of Alaska); Ian Lange (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines); Peter Maniloff (Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines interfirm learning economies in improving productivity and environmental safety in Bakken oil drilling. We distinguish between firms accruing match-specific relationship capital, idiosyncratic match quality, and learning about match quality. We find some evidence that firms do accrue relationship-specific capital which improves firm productivity. However, we do not find evidence that firm or interfirm learning leads to increased environmental safety. We do find evidence that idiosyncratic match quality leads to both higher productivity and improved environmental safety. |
| Keywords: | Learning, Shale Oil, Drilling, Environmental Accidents |
| JEL: | L51 L71 Q35 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp201610&r=agr |
| By: | Mariana Považanová (Faculty of Economics Matej Bel University); Anna Vallušová (Faculty of Economics Matej Bel University); Gabriela Nedelová (Faculty of Economics Matej Bel University) |
| Abstract: | The article deals with the outsourcing of 11 types of domestic chores in order to better understand consumer behavior of Slovak households in a group of market services which could replace the unpaid work done in households. On the basis of data obtained by a primary research in Slovakia on the sample of 1,142 households, we have identified that Slovak households outsource mainly catering the food, vehicle maintenance services, services connected with reconstruction and repairs of dwelling and catering and preparing fuels for heating. On the other hand, activities such as cleaning and ironing are outsourced rarely. We have also investigated what factors households perceive as important for making decisions about outsourcing domestic chores for each category of housework. The outsourcing of certain domestic chores could be partially explained by household resource argument and also by demand capability argument. The barriers to outsourcing domestic chores are in categories catering the food, cleaning and laundry and ironing affordability and in all categories strong orientation of Slovak households toward self-service economy. |
| Keywords: | outsourcing, domestic chores, household economics, barriers to outsourcing, consumer behaviour |
| JEL: | D13 D12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:4206700&r=agr |
| By: | Chakraborty, Kamalika; Chakraborty, Bidisha |
| Abstract: | This paper builds an overlapping generations household economy model in rural set up and examines the relationship between landholding and child labour in presence of unemployment in the manufacturing sector. We find that irrespective of whether the parents work in the agricultural sector as farmers or they work on own land, increase in size of land holding leads to decline in schooling of the child worker in the short run, and decline in growth rate of human capital formation in the long run but may lead to increase in the steady state human capital in the long run. |
| Keywords: | land holding, child labour, human capital, schooling, unemployment |
| JEL: | E24 J22 J24 O15 Q1 Q15 |
| Date: | 2016–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74206&r=agr |
| By: | Kristine Pakalniete (AKTiiVS Ltd., Latvia); Juris Aigars (Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Latvia); Mikolaj Czajkowski (University of Warsaw, Department of Economics, Poland); Solvita Strake (Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Latvia); Ewa Zawojska (University of Warsaw, Department of Economics, Poland); Nick Hanley (Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | The ecological status of coastal and marine waterbodies world-wide is threatened by multiple stressors, including nutrient inputs from various sources and increasing occurrences of invasive alien species. These stressors impact the environmental quality of the Baltic Sea. Each Baltic Sea country contributes to the stressors and, at the same time, is affected by their negative impacts on water quality. Understanding who benefits from improvements in coastal and marine waters is key to assessing public support for policies aimed at achieving such changes. We propose a new approach to account for variability in benefits related to differences in socio-demographics of respondents, by using a structural model of discrete choice. Our method (1) provides a convenient way of incorporating a wide range of socio-demographics as explanatory variables in conditional multinomial logit models without the risk of collinearity, and (2) is more statistically efficient than the alternative, typically used approaches. The new technique is applied in a study which examines the preferences of Latvian citizens towards improvements of the coastal and marine environment quality that could help the Baltic Sea waters of Latvia reach Good Environmental Status as required by the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Applying the discrete choice experiment method, we find that overall, Latvians are willing to pay for reducing losses of biodiversity, for improving water quality for recreation by reduced eutrophication, and for reducing new occurrences of invasive alien species. A significant group within the sample seems not to value environmental improvements in the Baltic Sea, and, thus,is unwilling to support costly measures for achieving such improvements. The structural model of discrete choice reveals substantial heterogeneity among Latvians towards changes in the quality of coastal and marine waters of Latvia. |
| Keywords: | good environmental status, coastal and marine water quality, biodiversity, invasive alien species, eutrophication, discrete choice experiment, observed preference heterogeneity, socio-demographic characteristics, hybrid choice model |
| JEL: | Q51 Q25 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2016-14&r=agr |
| By: | Horbach, Jens |
| Abstract: | The profitability of green investment is crucial for the diffusion of the resulting technologies but the knowledge about these effects is still limited. Positive performance effects may be based on cost savings stemming from the introduction of cleaner production processes connected with lower material and/or energy use. The present paper empirically analyzes the effects of environmentally active behavior on the performance of a firm. The analysis is based on the 2013 wave of the Eurobarometer data for small and medium-sized firms (SME's). The analysis for SME's seems to be interesting because small firms might be especially affected by the costs of environmental measures as the introduction of resource efficiency measures are costly in the short run. The results of a bivariate probit model show that a high amount in investment in resource efficiency measures triggers the overall performance of the firm. A high selfperceived greenness of the firm and a high share of green employment are positively correlated to performance. In fact, not all measures in improving resource efficiency are connected with positive performance effects: An increased use of renewables leads to a higher performance whereas measures to reduce water consumption are negatively correlated to turnover development. |
| Keywords: | eco-innovation,bivariate probit model,SME |
| JEL: | C35 O33 Q55 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:643&r=agr |
| By: | Patricia Andrade de Oliveira e Silva (IPC-IG); Marcelo Marques de Magalhães (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "Brazilian poverty rates are generally highest among family farmers in the countrys Northeast region. Of special note among rural development policies is the National Land Credit Programme (Programa Nacional de Crédito Fundiário?PNCF), which provides credit to farmers with little or no land to buy a property and carry out the necessary improvements. However, in an effort to reduce default rates, to receive credit, farmers are required to be organised; therefore, the policy indirectly promotes association and the generation of social capital (the assets that are the result of social relations). Thus, although not explicitly the policys main objective, the generation of social capital can contribute towards rural development in the country". (?) |
| Keywords: | Land, credit, policy, Brazil, evidence, social network |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:334&r=agr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat and Francois Steenkamp and Christopher Rooney (University of Cape Town); Francois Steenkamp (University of Cape Town); Christopher Rooney (University of Cape Town) |
| Keywords: | inequality; africa; inclusive growth; poverty |
| JEL: | O13 Q18 O32 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rac:wpaper:2016-03&r=agr |
| By: | Lívia Maria da Costa Nogueira (IPC-IG); Flavio Luiz Schieck (IPC-IG); Valente and Veruska Prado (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "The challenges involved in the realisation of the human right to adequate food and nutrition (HRtAFN), and of food and nutrition sovereignty and security in African countries and in Brazil, comprise different elements?but also share several similarities. While there has been evidence of a significant reduction in hunger and malnutrition worldwide, it is observed that this phenomenon has not occurred at the same pace in sub-Saharan Africa and in some regions of Brazil. At the same time, there has been a rapid increase in the rates of overweight, obesity and related illnesses, such as diabetes, cardiac disease, various types of cancer, etc". (...) |
| Keywords: | Food, nutrition security, realisation, human rights |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:ifocus:36&r=agr |
| By: | William L. Huth; O. Ashton Morgan; John C. Whitehead |
| Abstract: | We fuse and jointly estimate revealed and stated preference data over the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill time horizon to analyze the potential for a new seafood traceability system to mitigate long-run decreases in product demand following a major contamination event. Findings indicate that traceability information flows that provide more precise information to oyster consumers regarding the location of harvest ameliorate consumers’ perceived risk of eating oyster meals after the spill, leading to a significant increase in demand. Further, the magnitude of the increase is greater than the negative long-term post-spill effects, leading to overall welfare gains. However, any price increase associated with the information will mitigate the initial welfare gains. Overall, our findings suggest that the potential success of a new seafood traceability system depends on the implementation costs and the extent to which price increases are passed onto consumers. Key Words: Traceability, oyster consumers, consumer surplus, contamination event, risk preferences |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:16-17&r=agr |
| By: | Czyżewski, Bazyli |
| Abstract: | This book has been prepared by a team of researchers from six renowned academic centres in the field of agricultural economics in Poland, under a National Science Centre research grant titled “Political rents in the European Union’s agriculture – comparative analysis basing on the UE27”. It aims not only to extend the paradigm of sustainable development and the concept of political rent, but also to present the results of empirical studies carried out using data from 27 EU member states for the years 1995-2014 (some of the analyses also go back to the 1950s) together with Polish case studies. Viewing the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy from the standpoint of the theory of rent seeking is a relatively uncommon approach, particularly as the authors draw attention to the need to predefine the concept of political rent received by farmers in a situation where they are supplying public goods. The book can thus be said to some extent to fill a gap in existing research at the boundary between agricultural and political economy. The approach proposed by the authors may be all the more interesting since it presents issues of agricultural policy and political rents in agriculture from the point of view of a new EU member country, while the existing literature on the topic is dominated by analyses carried out by researchers from the old EU-15 members.The book is divided into four parts, forming a logical sequence. The research goal is to develop the theory of rent seeking and adapt it to the paradigm of sustainable agriculture and, more broadly, to that of sustainable development in general. The deliberations of the authors of the individual chapters, taken as a whole, serve to verify several research hypotheses: 1) the conceptual approach to political rents in agriculture is incomplete, because it does not take account of the process of creation of public goods in agriculture and the need to apply correction to the market in that sector;2) political rents in sustainable agriculture fulfil a new role, which goes beyond the rent-seeking concept; 3) despite the existence of a Common Agricultural Policy, the political rents received by EU farmers are highly differentiated at national and regional level – there exist national models of rent seeking;4) the European Agricultural Model is not a universal development model for EU agriculture given the existing large disproportions in rent seeking between countries. |
| Keywords: | political rent, economy, agriculture, sustainable development, european farmers |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74253&r=agr |
| By: | Mihai, Florin-Constantin |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview regarding the recycling prospects in the case of rural communities in Neamt County. |
| Keywords: | recycling; waste management; rural areas; |
| JEL: | H70 K32 Q53 Q56 Q58 R00 R53 |
| Date: | 2016–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74244&r=agr |
| By: | Cati Torres (Applied Economics Department, Universitat de les Illes Balears); Nick Hanley (Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews) |
| Abstract: | Quantifying the monetary value of ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine resources can help policy makers assess the trade-offs and synergies inherent in ecosystem -based management of marine and coastal environments, thus increasing the social efficiency of decision-making processes. As shown by the valuation literature, the number of coastal and marine management settings where valuation researchers have attempted to make a contribution is rising fast. However, this rise in research activity has not been matched by the increase in the use of economic valuation (EV) in the actual management of coastal and marine resources. This raises an interesting question: is EV responding to the needs of policy makers? This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the knowledg e base regarding the economic values for coastal and marine ecosystems. It then discusses how to improve the uptake of ES valuation research by focussing on two core issues which are thought to be essential for more effective communication with the policy community. |
| Keywords: | economic valuation, marine and coastal ecosystem services, coastal and marine management, policy analysis, benefit transfer |
| JEL: | Q51 Q25 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sss:wpaper:2016-13&r=agr |