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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2017‒11‒26
twenty-two papers chosen by |
| By: | Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Hirvonen, Kalle; Minten, Bart; Yimer, Feiruz |
| Abstract: | Given the high prevalence of undernutrition among children in low income countries and the associated high human and eco-nomic costs (Hoddinott et al. 2013), improving nutritional out-comes must be an urgent priority. Improving nutrition is high on the policy agenda of the government of Ethiopia, as stated in the Growth and Transformation Plan II, which aims to reduce young child stunting levels from 40 percent in 2014/15 to 26 percent in 2019/2020. Lack of access to diverse diets is one of the underlying factors contributing to chronic undernutrition (Arimond and Ruel 2004, UNICEF 1998). Despite recent improvements, child stunting in Ethiopia remains widespread (CSA and ICF International 2017). Moreover, Ethiopian children consume one of the least diverse diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen 2016). At the household level, food consumption baskets are dominated by cereals and pulses, while the consumption of animal-source foods and fruits and Vitamin A-rich vegetables is rare, especially in rural areas.1 Such monotonous diets are regarded as a major contributor to non-communicable diseases in Ethiopia (Melaku et al. 2016). Recent research suggests that the poor dietary diversity in ru-ral areas can be explained, at least partly, both by limited knowledge about the health benefits of diverse diets and by poor access to food markets. Households in areas in which food crop production is not very diverse but which have good access to mar-kets are found to have more diverse diets than do households in such areas but which have poor access to markets and, so, de-pend primarily on own-production for the food they consume.2 Yet, even with sufficient access to markets and knowledge on the benefits of diverse diets, poor households may simply be un-able to afford nutritionally rich foods (Warren and Frongillo 2017). Indeed, prices and affordability of nutritious foods remains a neglected area of research in efforts to understand poor dietary diversity in Ethiopia and elsewhere.3 In the analysis described here, we explore how prices and, consequently, the affordability of nutritious food have changed over the last decade in Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | children; malnutrition; stunting; diversification; cereals; grain legumes; vitamin A |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:67&r=agr |
| By: | Abay, Kibrewossen; Hirvonen, Kalle; Minten, Bart |
| Abstract: | This paper studies associations between farm size, food security, and welfare. Given agricultural land constraints and the rapidly increasing rural population in Ethiopia, with 26 million more people being projected to be residing in rural Ethiopia in 2030 relative to 2016, this is a major concern for the country. |
| Keywords: | food security; farm size; welfare; population growth; rural population; food intake |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:111&r=agr |
| By: | Benfica, Rui; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | This paper uses an economy-wide model to identify agricultural activities and value-chains in Ethiopia whose expansion would be most effective at generating economic growth, reducing national and rural poverty, creating jobs, and diversifying diets. Results indicate that expanding cereals production would continue to contribute positively to national pro-poor growth. However, the analysis suggests that there is no single value-chain that can achieve all policy objectives. Instead, a more balanced portfolio of valuechains would not only enhance agriculture’s future contribution to poverty reduction and economic growth, but also promote faster rural transformation and dietary diversification, both of which are needed to create job opportunities and improve nutrition outcomes over the longer-term. After considering alternative weighting schemes for competing policy goals, the final analysis suggests that vegetables and fruits/tree crops should be considered “priority” value-chains, because these are among the most effective at achieving multiple policy objectives. Other highly-ranked value-chains include oilseeds, tobacco/cotton/tea, and milk/dairy. |
| Keywords: | supply chain; economic growth; poverty; employment |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:110&r=agr |
| By: | Tamru, Seneshaw; Minten, Bart; Alemu, Dawit; Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane |
| Abstract: | We use qualitative and quantitative information from a number of datasets to study the adoption patterns and labor productivity impacts of herbicide use by farmers in Ethiopia. We find a four-fold increase in the value of herbicides imported into Ethiopia over the last decade, primarily by the private-sector. Adoption of herbicides by smallholders has grown rapidly over this period, with the application of herbicides on cereals doubling to more than a quarter of the area under cereals between 2004 and 2014. Relying on data from a large-scale survey of producers of teff, the most widely grown cereal in Ethiopia, we find significant positive labor productivity effects of herbicide use of between 9 and 18 percent. We show that the adoption of herbicides is strongly related to proximity to urban centers, levels of local rural wages, and access to markets. All these factors have changed significantly over the last decade in Ethiopia, explaining the rapid take-off in herbicide adoption. The significant increase in herbicide use in Ethiopia has important implications for rural labor markets, potential environmental and health considerations, and capacity development for the design and effective implementation of regulatory policies on herbicides. |
| Keywords: | smallholders; productivity; farm inputs; herbicides; market access; labor market |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:62&r=agr |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Assefa, Thomas Woldu; Abebe, Girum; Engid, Ermias; Tamru, Seneshaw |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of agriculture in developing economies, food processing industries often dominate employment and value addition in the industrial sector in these settings. For example, it is estimated that the food processing industry in Ethiopia employs one million people, around 2 percent of the economically active population. However, the way in which Ethiopia’s food processing industry is changing and how it functions is little understood. We study the markets in urban Ethiopia for commercial ready-to-eat enjera, the traditional staple pancake of the country. We find that these commercial enjera markets are rapidly growing, employing more than 100,000 people in urban Ethiopia, many of whom are women. Moreover, enjera is now being prepared by mixing flour from locally produced teff with that of imported rice, thus absorbing an important part of the rapidly growing rice imports (almost 200 million USD in 2015) to the country and leading to higher profits for those enterprises en |
| Keywords: | food processing; food technology; enterprises; sales; employment; households; industry; trade; international trade; industry; productivity; urban areas; supply chain; eragrostis tef |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:63&r=agr |
| By: | Berhane, Guush; Hoddinott, John F.; Kumar, Neha |
| Abstract: | Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is a large-scale social protection intervention aimed at improving food security and stabilizing asset levels. The PSNP contains a mix of public works employment and unconditional cash and food transfers. It is a well-targeted program; however, several years passed before payment levels reached the intended amounts. The PSNP has been successful in improving household food security. However, children’s nutritional status in the localities where the PSNP operates is poor, with 48 percent of children stunted in 2012. This leads to the question of whether the PSNP could improve child nutrition. We examine the impact of the PSNP on children’s nutritional status over the period 2008–2012. Doing so requires paying particular attention to the targeting of the PSNP and how payment levels have evolved over time. Using inverseprobability-weighted regression-adjustment estimators, we find no evidence that the PSNP reduces either chronic undernutrition (height-for-age z-scores, stunting) or acute undernutrition (weight-for-height z-scores, wasting). While we cannot definitively identify the reason for this non-result, we note that child diet quality is poor. We find no evidence that the PSNP improves child consumption of pulses, oils, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, or animalsource proteins. Most mothers have not had contact with health extension workers nor have they received information on good feeding practices. Water practices, as captured by the likelihood that mothers boil drinking water, are poor. These findings, along with work by other researchers, have informed revisions to the PSNP. Future research will assess whether these revisions have led to improvements in the diets and anthropometric status of preschool children |
| Keywords: | nutrition; children; nutritional status; stunting; food security; diet; health; malnutrition; anthropometry |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:64&r=agr |
| By: | Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Berhane, Guush; Minten, Bart; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum |
| Abstract: | Ethiopia’s economy is rapidly transforming. However, the extent to which this is affecting off-farm income and labor markets in rural areas is not well understood. Based on a large-scale household survey in high potential agricultural areas of the country, we find that total off-farm income (defined as wage and enterprise income) makes up 18 percent of total rural income. Wage income in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors accounts for 10 percent of total household income, equating in importance to livestock income. We show off-farm income and wage income to be relatively more important for the poor and for female and youth-headed households. We further find that real rural wages increased by 54 percent over the last decade, mostly driven by high agricultural growth. While this wage increase is good news for the poor, it also induces adjustments in agricultural production practices, including increased adoption of labor-substituting technologies, such as herbicides. |
| Keywords: | labour market; labor; rural areas; income; wages; economic development; off farm employment; livestock; households; productivity |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:61&r=agr |
| By: | Johanna Choumert (EDI); Pascale Combes Motel (CERDI); Derya Keles (INRA – LEF); Eric Kere (African Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we explore the role of biofuel production on deforestation in developing and emerging countries. Since the 2000s biofuel production has been rapidly developing to address issues of economic development, energy poverty and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the sustainability of biofuels is being challenged in recent research, particularly at the environmental level, due to their impact on deforestation and the GHG emissions they can generate as a result of land use changes. In order to isolate the impact of bioethanol and biodiesel production among classic determinants of deforestation, we use a fixed effects panel model on biofuel production in 112 developing and emerging countries between 2001 and 2012. We find a positive relationship between bioethanol production and deforestation in these countries, among which we highlight the specificity of Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMICs). An acceleration of incentives for the production of biofuels, linked to a desire to strengthen energy security from 2006 onwards, enables us to highlight higher marginal impacts for the production of bioethanol in the case of developing countries and UMICs. However, these results are not significant before 2006 for developing countries, and biodiesel production appears to have an impact on deforestation before 2006 on both subsamples. These last two results seem surprising and could be related to the role of biofuel production technologies and the crop yields used in their production. |
| Keywords: | Biofuel production, land use change, forest cover loss, , |
| JEL: | Q16 Q23 Q55 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2017.24&r=agr |
| By: | Mankan M. Koné; Carl Gaigné; Lota Dabio Tamini |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether and to what extent agricultural uncertainty drives the location of capital in the food processing industry. We show that when a risk-neutral food company has the possibility of exercising market power as both seller and buyer, the impact of agricultural uncertainty on the decision of producing abroad depends on whether the multinational makes the pricing/production decision before or after uncertainty is revealed. An econometric study is then needed to identify the mechanisms at work. The theoretical implications are tested by using a gravity model on European countries' and the United States' outward FDI stock, detailed by destination country in the agri-food industry. Overall, our results suggest that a higher agricultural volatility in the home country triggers investments abroad and that a host country exhibiting low agricultural uncertainty attracts relatively more foreign capital. Moreover, international di erences in agricultural uncertainty generate incentives for vertical disintegration by food companies, especially when trade costs are suciently low. |
| Keywords: | Multinational firm,Uncertain input supply,Vertical fragmentation,Trade costs, |
| JEL: | F23 Q13 L23 L66 |
| Date: | 2017–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2017s-22&r=agr |
| By: | Abay, Kibrom A.; Koru, Bethlehem; Abate, Gashaw T.; Berhane, Guush |
| Abstract: | What is the optimal size and composition of rural financial cooperatives (RFCs)? With this broad question in mind, we characterize alternative formations of RFCs and the implications of each in improving the access of rural households to financial services, including savings, credit, and insurance services. We find that some features of RFCs have varying implications for delivering various financial services. The size of RFCs is found to have a nonlinear relationship with the various financial services RFCs provide. We also show that compositional heterogeneity among members, including diversity in wealth, is associated with higher access to credit services, while this has limited effects on the savings behavior of members. Similarly, social cohesion among members is strongly associated with higher access to financial services. These empirical descriptions suggest that the optimal size and composition of RFCs may vary across the different domains of financial services that they are designed to facilitate. This evidence provides suggestive insights on how to ensure financial inclusion among smallholders, a priority among agricultural sector policy makers in developing countries, including Ethiopia. The results also provide some insights for the design of rural microfinance operations as they seek to satisfy members’ demand for various financial services. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; economic development; livestock; livestock production; smallholders; market access; rural communities; households; production; grain crops marketing; livelihoods, |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:66&r=agr |
| By: | Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Minten, Bart; Yimer, Feiruz |
| Abstract: | In many developing countries in which staple foods dominate the composition of diets, higher consumption of animal-source foods (ASF) is associated with significant nutritional benefits. Given the importance of prices for consumption decisions in these settings, we analyze ASF price patterns in the last decade (2007-2016), relying on a large-scale price dataset collected in 116 urban retail markets in Ethiopia. We document important seasonal and spatial patterns and we find, worryingly, that real prices of ASF have been increasing in the last decade by between 32 to 36 percent for three major ASF – milk, eggs, and meat. Similar price increases are noted in rural and urban areas and for tradable and non-tradable ASFs. This price trend is in contrast with staple cereals for which real prices stayed at similar levels over the last decade. As we estimate that a price increase of this magnitude would reduce consumption of ASF by approximately 25 percent, holding other things constant, it seems that more investments and attention to the production of ASF and the livestock sector are needed to reduce ASF prices and increase their consumption in Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | milk; eggs; meat; price formation; rural communities; urban communities; investment |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:108&r=agr |
| By: | Vera Danilina (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Marseille, AMSE) |
| Abstract: | Growing ecological concerns give rise to salient discussions of green policy impact within different social sciences domains. This research studies the outcomes of voluntary environmental labelling in autarky and upon trade integration in the presence of two types of heterogeneity, across countries and across producers. It investigates the impact of the two main types of eco-labels – multiple-criteria-based programmes (ISO Type I) and self-declared environmental claims (ISO Type II), both of which are simultaneously introduced due to the environmental concerns of consumers. The model illustrates the polarisation of eco-labels when the least productive firms tend to avoid green strategies, lower-middle productive and the most efficient firms are incentivized to greenwash, and the upper-middle productive firms choose trustful programmes. It also shows that voluntary green restrictions lead to substantial productivity effects in the market upon opening to international trade, conditionally, depending on the type of the labelling and the relative degree of environmental awareness across trading countries. The model predicts average market productivity losses and within segments productivity gains for the relatively more eco-concerned country, while the effects for the relatively less eco-concerned country are the opposite. |
| Keywords: | eco-labelling, trade integration, voluntary environmental regulation, firms productivity, firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F18 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2017.26&r=agr |
| By: | Schmidt, Emily; Tadesse, Fanaye |
| Abstract: | Agricultural productivity in Ethiopia’s highlands, the country’s breadbasket, is threatened by severe land degradation. To mitigate ongoing soil erosion and soil nutrient loss, the government of Ethiopia initiated the Sustainable Land Management Program (SLMP). We evaluated the program’s impact on the value of agricultural production in select kebeles (administrative sub-districts) in which it was implemented using a two-round survey of farm households. |
| Keywords: | sustainability; land management; land degradation; productivity; agricultural development; water management |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:68&r=agr |
| By: | Lea Skræp Svenningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Bo Jellesmark Thorsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | What role do people think distributional aspects should play in design of climate policy? The literature assessing climate policies has shown that assumptions regarding peoples’ distributional preferences for climate change policy impacts are central for policy assessment, but empirical evidence for such preferences is lacking. We design a discrete choice experiment that varies how climate policies affect the income of people living in the future in three geographical regions. The experiment is implemented on a representative sample of the Danish population and preferences are modelled in a latent class model. Our results show that i) a small majority of Danes expresses preferences for climate policies consistent with inequity aversion, ii) a group expresses preferences resembling simple warm glow, while iii) a small group prefers not to support additional climate policies. Finally a somewhat larger group expresses some form of distributional preferences, but shows positive preferences for costs, suggesting that responses could be influenced by strategic behaviour and over-signalling of commitment. Our results provide support for the inclusion of social preferences regarding distributional effects of climate change policies in policy assessments, and hence for the significant impact on policy this inclusion have. |
| Keywords: | choice experiment, social preferences, inequity aversion, warm glow, altruism, climate change impacts, latent class, social cost of carbon |
| JEL: | D30 H41 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2017_10&r=agr |
| By: | Steven Bond-Smith (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin University); Alan S Duncan (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University); Daniel Kiely (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin Business School; Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin Business School); Ha Trong Nguyen (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, Curtin University) |
| Abstract: | There has been a collective nervousness following the decline in the resources sector in Western Australia and its associated grim headlines. Agriculture has historically been an important industry for the state. With an expanding middle class in China and a rising population in South-East Asia, agribusiness has now emerged to be a much touted candidate for businesses, investors and the government looking for new sources of growth and prosperity. But among all the hubris and rhetoric there has not been any notable acceleration in the industry. Indeed by some measure it is an industry in decline. This clearly is not due to moderating demand as consumption has been high, particularly in the developing countries of Asia, and is expected to continue to rise. Might this be due to the industrial structure of the sector, technology, inefficiencies or bottlenecks? Or the response from domestic Asian economies in prioritising their own agri-food security for the future posing as a threat for WA? Or is it simply the case that the industry is looking or waiting for leadership, certainty, or policy shifts? This is the first Focus on Industry report by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. Following the initial Focus on Western Australia and Focus on the States reports, our researchers believe that an in-depth look at the industries that may make or break WA is in order. This report asks if WA is positioned to take advantage of the unique opportunity presented by the increasing global demand for high quality, secure food produce. In doing so, we discuss the state of play in agribusiness and where WA sits in comparison with the dominant producers, analyse the contribution of agribusiness to the WA economy, and assess our natural endowments, and innovative and productivity capabilities to meet increased global demand. The report highlights the key challenges, risks and policy issues requiring attention to ensure that WA agribusiness secures its place at the global dinner table. |
| Keywords: | Western Australia, WA economy, agriculture, horticulture, productivity and innovation, economic growth, regional economic development, |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ozl:bcecrs:fi01&r=agr |
| By: | Mark E. Eiswerth; G. Cornelis van Kooten |
| Keywords: | payments for ecosystem services; water quality; best management practices; externalities; dynamic optimization; uncertainty; principal-agent problems. |
| JEL: | Q25 Q57 C61 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rep:wpaper:2017-06&r=agr |
| By: | Sofia Torreggiani; Giuseppe Mangioni; Michael J. Puma; Giorgio Fagiolo |
| Abstract: | Achieving international food security requires improved understanding of how international trade networks connect countries around the world through the import-export flows of food commodities. The properties of food trade networks are still poorly documented, especially from a multi-network perspective. In particular, nothing is known about the community structure of food networks, which is key to understanding how major disruptions or "shocks" would impact the global food system. Here we find that the individual layers of this network have densely connected trading groups, a consistent characteristic over the period 2001 to 2011. We also fit econometric models to identify social, economic and geographic factors explaining the probability that any two countries are co-present in the same community. Our estimates indicate that the probability of country pairs belonging to the same food trade community depends more on geopolitical and economic factors - such as geographical proximity and trade agreements co-membership - than on country economic size and/or income. This is in sharp contrast with what we know about bilateral-trade determinants and suggests that food country communities behave in ways that can be very different from their non-food counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Food security, international trade, complex networks, communitystructure detection, multi-layer networks |
| Date: | 2017–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2017/29&r=agr |
| By: | Knippenberg, Erwin; Hoddinott, John F. |
| Abstract: | The malign effect of shocks has long been a concern within economics, partly because they result in transitory welfare losses and partly because they may have persistent effects. In development discourse, this latter concern has spurred interest in the concept of resilience and how public interventions can enhance resilience. Within this context, we assess the impact of a social protection program, Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program, on the longer term impacts of drought on household food security. We find that drought shocks reduce the number of months a household considers itself food secure and that these impacts persist for up to four years after the drought has ended. Using a Hausman instrumental variable estimator, we find that receipt of PSNP payments reduced the initial impact of drought shocks by 57 percent and eliminates their adverse impact on food security within two years. In this way, the PSNP strengthens the resilience of its beneficiaries against adverse shocks. This impact is largest for PSNP beneficiaries with little or no land. Results are robust to using an objective measure of drought derived from satellite data, the Standard Evapotranspiration Index. They are also robust to changes in sample composition, the presence of other interventions, and the estimator used. |
| Keywords: | food security; drought; resilience; household food security |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:109&r=agr |
| By: | Ondrej Filip; Karel Janda; Ladislav Kristoufek; David Zilberman |
| Abstract: | This paper replicates and extends the study of Zhang et al. (2010): “Food versus fuel: What do prices tell us?” Energy Policy 38, pp. 445-451. We confirm the findings of the original paper that there was only a weak relationship between ethanol and food commodities in the period between March 1989 and July 2008. In addition, we extend that study and examine the cointegration relationship between biofuels and related commodities for a considerably enlarged dataset (3 vs. 1 market, 26 vs. 8 commodities, analysis up till 2017 vs. 2008, weekly vs. monthly data frequency). Focusing on the biofuel markets of Brazil, the EU and the USA in the three separate periods before, during, and after the food crisis of 2007 and 2008, we show that studying the time variation of the relationships plays an essential role in their proper understanding. Our results help to clarify the wide extensive discussion about the role of biofuels prices in food shortages manifested particularly during the food crises. In agreement with the original study, we confirm that price series data do not support strong statements about biofuels uniformly serving as main leading source of high food prices and consequently the food shortages. |
| Keywords: | Biofuels, fuels, food, cointegration. |
| JEL: | Q16 Q42 Q56 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2017-73&r=agr |
| By: | Global Nexus |
| Abstract: | Since inception nearly a century ago, corporations and industries have coevolved with Morocco’s legacy of peace and prosperity. With a growing pressure on agricultural production and natural resources, exacerbated with climate change, there is urgency to define sustainable strategies that would reassure corporations and industries for longterm prosperity and for a healthy economy. Studies have highlighted the perilous state of our natural environment, the exhaustion of our aquifers, the challenges facing our GDP growth, and the unraveling of our social fabric. The underlying science is well established striving to search for new solutions, for us to better manage our resources and improve the industrial processes, through research and on-going creativity. In fact, it has become important to take pragmatic measures to ensure that Morocco adapts to escalating crisis, and lays the foundations of a climate-proof culture. The industrial sector should take the lead to the road of resilience. Not only will it make it possible to endure the coming shocks of stress and scarcity, but to prevail over them. This policy brief will demonstrate how resilience will spread. |
| Keywords: | productivity, optimzation, efficiency, water scarcity, industrial water use, integrity |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb-1734&r=agr |
| By: | BEN YOUSSEF, Adel; Hammoudeh, Shawkat; Omri, Anis |
| Abstract: | The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis has been recognized in the environmental economics literature since the 1990's. Various statistical tests have been used on time series, cross section and panel data related to single and groups of countries to validate this hypothesis. In the literature, the validation has always been conducted by using a single equation. However, since both the environment and income variables are endogenous, the estimation of a single equation model when simultaneity exists produces inconsistent and biased estimates. Therefore, we formulate simultaneous two-equation models to investigate the EKC hypothesis for fifty-six countries, using annual panel data from 1990 to 2012, with the end year is determined by data availability for the panel. To make the panel data analysis more homogeneous, we investigate this issue for a three income-based panels (namely, high-, middle-, and low-income panels) given several explanatory variables. Our results indicate that there exists a bidirectional causality between economic growth and pollution emissions in the overall panels. We also find that the relationship is nonlinear and has an inverted U-shape for all the considered panels. Policy implications are provided. |
| Keywords: | Environment, economic growth, EKC hypothesis, Simultaneous-equation models. |
| JEL: | O4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2016–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:82609&r=agr |
| By: | Markus Lampe (Vienna University of Economics and Business); Paul Sharp (University of Southern Denmark, CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We argue that Danish agriculture provides an ideal opportunity to understand how and why modern accounting emerged. Denmark underwent an unusually rapid and successful agricultural transformation in the second half of the nineteenth century, largely based on dairying, for which we present unique Ôreal timeÕ data on the process of the development of accounting. We observe that economic actors first argued for the introduction of modern accounting at a time of crisis during the Napoleonic Wars and immediately after, when the proscriptive arguments offered failed to take hold. Then, in the 1850s and 1860s, a group of Ôrational farmersÕÐ owners and administrators of landed estates Ð made a second attempt. During this latter period, they succeeded in spreading their ideas: initially to their peers, but later even to the peasantry through the cooperative movement, thus transforming agricultural practice in their wake. We analyze this within a theoretical framework borrowed from the international relations literature, and see the rational farmers as an example of the creation of an Ôepistemic communityÕ: they emerged during a period of uncertainty, offered interpretations based on their normative understanding of reality, and finally institutionalized praxis through for example scientific journals and schooling. |
| Keywords: | Accounting, bookkeeping, dairies, Denmark |
| JEL: | M41 N53 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0115&r=agr |