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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2018‒04‒23
seventeen papers chosen by |
| By: | Cornelia F.A. van Wesenbeeck |
| Abstract: | Strategies to fight hunger and early warning systems often focus on identifying food crises rather than longer-term trends, and concentrate on rural areas. Data on the food and nutrition security situation of West Africa’s growing urban population is scarce and fragmented. Using geo-referenced information available in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), this report estimates the total number and prevalence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition in West Africa for both urban and rural areas. The analysis reveals that almost 110 million people in West Africa are not receiving the correct nutrition for their needs. Over 58 million people in the region are underweight, 22 million of which live in cities. Another 52 million are either overweight or obese, the large majority of whom are adult urban dwellers. This situation reveals the severity of the “double burden” of under- and over-nutrition. It also calls for greater efforts to identify appropriate metrics to monitor food and nutrition security in urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Early warning systems, Food security, Nutrition, obesity, Urban households |
| JEL: | I32 Q18 R28 |
| Date: | 2018–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:swacaa:15-en&r=agr |
| By: | Nikulin, Alexander (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Trotsuk, Irina (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)); Kurakin, Alexander (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This work represents the first step in developing a model for a systematic comparative analysis of the trajectories of the agrarian transformation of the regions of the BRICS countries and the EU. This model is intended, on the one hand, to combine the macro-optics of state planning, characteristic for modern economic research and statistical assessments with micro-optics of empirical projects, that track real local practices of agrarian development of specific rural territories and regions for a number of key indicators; on the other hand, to show the degree of continuity of the current regional and country scenarios of agrarian transformations in relation to the former (or historically distant) principles of economic reform. |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:031824&r=agr |
| By: | Tilekeyev, Kanat; Mogilevskii, Roman; Abdrazakova, Nazgul; Dzhumaeva, Shoola |
| Abstract: | This report provides results of the study of the kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production and the marketing value chain in the Kyrgyz Republic. The main tool of this survey is field study of farmers, dealers-wholesalers, and bean exporters with elements of quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as the results of desk analysis using open sources of information. The report analyzes agrotechnical conditions for bean production, including data on bean-related phytosanitary safety and the situation with bean-related food safety standards when exporting it and marketing problems in foreign markets. Findings of the study include the main barriers and constraints to increasing domestic production, improving bean quality and processing, and improving the phytosanitary situation and food safety standards; recommendations on Kyrgyz bean market improvement are also included. |
| Keywords: | kidney beans, exports, production, value chain |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q17 |
| Date: | 2018–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85299&r=agr |
| By: | Qizhong YANG (JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (PD)); Keiichiro HONDA (Faculty of Administration, Prefectural University of Kumamoto); Tsunehiro OTSUKI (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | Since their implementation in 1995, the Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade of the World Trade Organization have played an increasingly important role in the conduct of international negotiations. This study employs the method of moments estimator proposed by Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) and Nevo (2001) to estimate the effect of Japanese pesticide residue standards on poultry consumption with a particular focus on the maximum residue limits (MRLs) on pesticide and veterinary drugs. The results confirm that more stringent MRLs on pesticide and veterinary drugs enhance the demand for poultry imports by ensuring higher food safety. The results shed light on Japanese consumers’robust preference for food safety. Further counterfactual experiments of alternative MRLs show that the demand-enhancing effect may vary among the exporting countries, and appears to be more prominent for imported poultry from developed countries. |
| Keywords: | Poultry consumption, Maximum residue limit, Random-coefficient model |
| JEL: | D18 F14 L10 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:18e003&r=agr |
| By: | Ann M. Collins; Jacob A. Klerman; Ronette Briefel; Gretchen Rowe; Anne R. Gordon; Christopher W. Logan; Anne Wolf; Stephen H. Bell |
| Abstract: | Federal summer meals programs serve less than one-sixth of children that receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. |
| Keywords: | Summer meals programs, Food Security, SEBTC , Low-Income, Nutrition |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:929bcf4fe0d040fda9ae6ecaf1f5c9be&r=agr |
| By: | Kazianga, Harounan; Wahhaj, Zaki |
| Abstract: | We present findings from a pilot study exploring whether and how existing ties between urban migrants and rural farmers may be used to provide the latter improved access to formal insurance. Urban migrants in Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina Faso) originating from nearby villages were offered, at the prevailing market price, a rainfall index insurance product that can potentially protect their rural relatives from adverse weather shocks. The product had an uptake of 22% during the two-week subscription window. Uptake rates were higher by 17-22 percentage points among urban migrants who were randomly offered an insurance policy that would make pay-outs directly to the intended beneficiary rather than the subscriber. We argue that rainfall index insurance can complement informal risk-sharing networks by mitigating problems of informational asymmetry and self-control issues. |
| Keywords: | Microinsurance markets,Indexed insurance,Rainfall,Migration,Informal insurance networks |
| JEL: | O15 O16 G21 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:194&r=agr |
| By: | Lionel Nesta (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Gredeg, OFCE SciencesPo and SKEMA Business School); Elena Verdolini (FEEM and CMCC); Francesco Vona (OFCE SciencesPo, SKEMA Business School and Université Côte d'Azur (GREDEG)) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of environmental policies on the direction of energy innovation across countries over the period 1990-2012. Our novelty is to use threshold regression models to allow for discontinuities in policy effectiveness depending on a country's relative competencies in renewable and fossil fuel technologies. We show that the dynamic incentives of environmental policies become effective just above the median level of relative competencies. In this critical second regime, market-based policies are moderately effective in promoting renewable innovation, while command-and-control policies depress fossil based innovation. Finally, market-based policies are more effective to consolidate a green comparative advantage in the last regime. We illustrate how our approach can be used for policy design in laggard countries. |
| Keywords: | Directed Technical Change, Threshold Models, Environmental Policies, Policy Mix |
| JEL: | Q58 Q55 Q42 Q48 O34 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2018.04&r=agr |
| By: | Lorenzo Corsini; Filippo Randelli; Benedetto Rocchi; Stefania Giampaolo |
| Abstract: | In the last twenty years the study of alternative food networks (AFNs) gained growing attention and many scholars argue that this is part of a deep transformation of our agri-food systems towards sustainability (Goodman, 2003; Sonnino and Marsden, 2006; Tregear, 2011). In this paper, we study the on-farm and regional factors affecting the farmer's choice to partecipate to AFNs in Italy. Differently to previous studies (Aguglia et al., 2011) we use data on the entire farms’ population, in Italy which is available from the Census of Agriculture carried out by Istat (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica) in 2010 (about 1,653,000 farms). The research questions that this paper follows to answer are then: among the whole universe of Italian farms, which are those that started the transition? Which farm and/or farmer characteristics’ increase the probability to operate on AFNs? Which regional context do positively affect the spread among farmers of a direct marketing with consumers? Some preliminary results are presented at the end of the paper. |
| Keywords: | Alternative food networks, direct selling, linear probability models, Italy |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2018_04.rdf&r=agr |
| By: | Eduardo A. HADDAD; Fernando S. PEROBELLI; Flãvio V. VIEIRA; Vinicius A. VALE |
| Abstract: | Brazil and Morocco have been engaged in different forms of trade negotiations and committed to liberalize their trade, as they have concluded several bilateral and multilateral trade agreements whether within the WTO or in specific framework. This paper analyzes different facets of trade relations between Brazil and Morocco and assesses the potential for deeper trade integration between these two key players in the southern Atlantic. Trade flows between Brazil and Morocco have been concentrated in a few products and it is clear that there are significant opportunities to improve not only the magnitude of trade flows but also the range of products in the near future. Given the gap in terms of economic size, the Moroccan market does not draw more than 0.35% of the total Brazilian exports (45th market). The Chinese and the American markets are the most important destinations of Brazilian foreign sales, followed by some regional economies like Argentina and Chile. For Morocco, Brazil is relatively more important as a market for national exports, representing, in 2014, 4.6% of total exports and thus, placing itself as the third most important destination for Moroccan exports, after France and Spain. One can say that a significant part of the bilateral trade between Brazil and Morocco is closely associated to the agricultural value chain. Morocco provides fertilizers, while Brazilians exports to Morocco concentrate mainly on agricultural products. The regional distribution of value added effects of Moroccan exports to Brazil reveals that fertilizers exports benefits, direct and indirectly, almost all Moroccan regions, in spite of the concentration of mining and processing activities in specific locations. Simulations have been conducted to assess the impact of the elimination of tariffs and export subsidies on trade between the two countries. On one hand, there is a potential increase in welfare in Brazil equal to USD 212.46 in a context of bilateral liberalization. On the other hand, welfare in Morocco and in the ROW may potentially face a decrease (equivalent to USD 88.03 and USD 64.32, respectively). The divergence in results can be explained in part by the different sizes of these two economies, the share of each economy in the international trade, and the degrees of specialization and inter-sectorial integration in each country. Notwithstanding, there would be potential gainers and losers in both countries. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Morocco, Bilateral trade, Trade barriers, Agricultural products, trade in value added, Specialization, Computable General Equilibrium Model |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaper:pp-18/02&r=agr |
| By: | Bachev, Hrabrin |
| Abstract: | Empirical studies on efficiency of the governance system in agriculture are very rare. That is a consequence of both theoretical and practical challenges. The criteria and approach for assessing social efficiency are still debated while appropriate statistical, accountancy, etc. data for evaluation diverse mechanisms and modes of governance are not readily available. This is a first attempt for a comprehensive empirical study on the efficiency of the system of agrarian governance in Bulgaria. Since there is a social “contract” about sustainable agrarian development in EU and Bulgaria, the impact to sustainability is taken as a criterion for assessing the social efficiency of the governance system. The interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics framework is incorporated, and the impact of institutional environment and diverse market, private, collective, public and hybrid modes of governance on agrarian sustainability at the current stage of development in Bulgaria assessed. First, the methodological framework of the study is outlined. After that impact of major components of institutional environment of agrarian sustainability evaluated. Following, dominating governing modes in Bulgarian farms of different juridical type, size, specialisation, ecological and geographical location are identified, and their impacts on agrarian sustainability assessed. In conclusion implications for further research, public policy improvement, and private managerial strategy formation are presented. |
| Keywords: | Agrarian governance, sustainability, institutions, market, private, collective, hybrid modes, Bulgarian agriculture |
| JEL: | D22 D23 D4 K0 L2 L22 L25 O1 O13 Q12 Q13 Q15 Q18 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85576&r=agr |
| By: | Courtemanche, Charles (Georgia State University); Denteh, Augustine (Georgia State University); Tchernis, Rusty (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Administrative data are considered the "gold standard" when measuring program participation, but little evidence exists on the potential problems with administrative records or their implications for econometric estimates. We explore issues with administrative data using the FoodAPS, a unique dataset that contains two different administrative measures of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro-gram (SNAP) participation as well as a survey-based measure. We first document substantial ambiguity in the two administrative participation variables and show that they disagree with each other almost as often as they disagree with self-reported participation.Estimated participation and misreporting rates can be meaningfully sensitive to choices made to resolve this ambiguity and disagreement. We then document similar sensitivity in regression estimates of the associations between SNAP and food insecurity, obesity, and the Healthy Eating Index. These results serve as a cautionary tale about uncritically relying on linked administrative records when conducting program evaluation research. |
| Keywords: | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, food stamps, SNAP, food insecurity, obesity, body mass index, food purchases, food expenditures, healthy eating index, misreporting, measurement error |
| JEL: | C81 H51 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11412&r=agr |
| By: | Améline Vallet (CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research - CIFOR, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, AgroParisTech); Bruno Locatelli (CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research - CIFOR); Harold Levrel (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, AgroParisTech); Sven Wunder (CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research - CIFOR) |
| Abstract: | Understanding interactions between ecosystem services (ES) is a high priority in ES research. Two types of interaction are commonly defined: (1) tradeoffs, in which one service increases while another one decreases in time or space; (2) synergies, in which both services either increase or decrease. Most studies on ES use statistical analysis and descriptive methods to assess ES spatial or temporal correlation. Recently, a new framework for ES interactions based on ecological-economic production possibilities frontier (EEPPF) has been developed, which relies on the production theory branch of microeconomics. Applied to natural capital, this framework considers different levels of ES produced across a broad range of management actions and landscape configurations and describes graphically the nature and intensity of ES interactions by determining the production frontier (i.e. the set of Pareto-optimal values for pairs of ES). This study aims to estimate empirically EEPPF using multiple ES maps and to compare the EEPPF framework with statistical approaches. InVEST software was used to model and map ES production in the upper part of the Reventazón watershed (Costa Rica) for carbon storage (C), water yield, sediment retention, nitrogen retention (n) and phosphorus retention (p). Agricultural production (pa) was represented by its economic value. Spatial concordance and temporal covariation between ES were analyzed using statistical correlations for four observed land-uses (LU) over time. EEPPF curves were constructed using a set of 32 contrasting LU scenarios generated considering slope and altitude constraints for some LU and assuming different LU proportions and distributions (either random or clustered). The nature and intensity of interactions between ES varied widely according to the methodologies used for evaluating tradeoffs. In comparison with the analysis of spatial and temporal ES correlations, EEPPF curves brought supplementary information related to tradeoff intensity and identification of optimal LU scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Ecosystem Services mapping,Tradeoff,Modeling,Production possibilities frontier |
| Date: | 2016–10–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01674150&r=agr |
| By: | Hinnosaar, Marit |
| Abstract: | When a policy gives temporary incentives for healthy behaviors, how long does the impact last? I study the U.S. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which gives vouchers for healthy foods. Using household-level scanner data, I find that the effect of the program diminishes when households become ineligible. Demand model estimates show that price differences between healthy and unhealthy foods play a large role in the decrease of the program's impact. The estimates imply that the program has a persistent effect, in that it increases the impact of subsequent policies like subsidies on healthy foods. |
| Keywords: | Consumer behavior; dietary choices; long-term policy effects |
| JEL: | D12 I12 I38 L66 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12815&r=agr |
| By: | Francesca MARCHETTA (Université d'Auvergne(UdA)); David SAHN (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)); Luca TIBERTI |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of rainfall variability and cyclones on schooling and work among a cohort of teens and young adults by estimating a bivariate probit model, using a panel survey conducted in 2004 and 2011 in Madagascar—a poor island nation that is frequently affected by extreme weather events. Our results show that negative rainfall deviations and cyclones reduce the current and lagged probability of attending school and encourage young men and, to a greater extent, women to enter the work force. Less wealthy households are most likely to experience this school-to-work transition in the face of rainfall shocks. The finding is consistent with poorer households having less savings and more limited access to credit and insurance, which reduces their ability to cope with negative weather shocks. |
| Keywords: | Climate shocks, Employment, Schooling, Africa. |
| JEL: | I25 J43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1917&r=agr |
| By: | Michela Faccioli (: Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP), University of Exeter); Mikołaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Klaus Glenk (Land Economy & Environment, Scotland’s Rural College); Julia Martin-Ortega (Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds) |
| Abstract: | Economic valuation is frequently employed to provide evidence of people's preferences for environmental goods. However, it is also often criticised for providing a simplified representation of preferences, with many factors that affect value formation not accounted for. This is the case of environmental attitudes and especially place identity perceptions, which have been largely overlooked in economic valuation, despite representing amongst the most important drivers of people's behaviour towards the environment, according to the environmental psychology and sociology literature. To address this gap, we designed and conducted a choice experiment where we explored the simultaneous role of environmental attitudes and place identity perceptions on willingness to pay (WTP), taking peatland restoration in Scotland as a case study. This study adds to the existing literature in that no valuation study to date has simultaneously integrated both aspects in preference modelling. Given that both factors are potentially strong drivers of preferences, focusing only on one or the other provides a partial picture of the determinants of WTP. Moreover, we do not just look at 'generic' environmental attitudes, but also at ‘specific’ environmental attitudes. Our results, estimated through a novel and econometrically robust approach based on the hybrid choice model, show that people with more positive environmental attitudes and those who feel attached to Scotland and think that peatlands are an important part of Scotland's identity and landscape tend to display higher WTP. These findings are important to provide a richer understanding of the determinants of preferences for environmental goods. Our results also open up new insights to the discipline in relation to the spatial heterogeneity of preferences: we have shown that people do not only relate with the space around them by focusing on the distance to the improvement site, as most frequently postulated in valuation studies. The idea that place can be understood as a space with emotional and cultural meanings also plays a critical role in shaping preferences. All these are critical elements to better inform policy-makers in the design of more socially acceptable and effective environmental policies. |
| Keywords: | environmental valuation, discrete choice experiment, environmental attitudes, place identity, hybrid choice models, peatlands, Scotland |
| JEL: | Q51 D6 D91 Q20 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2018-08&r=agr |
| By: | Valentina Bosetti; Cristina Cattaneo; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | There is extensive evidence that higher temperature increases the probability of local conflict. There is also some evidence that emigration represents an important margin of adaptation to climatic change. In this paper we analyse whether migration influences the link between warming and conflicts by either attenuating the effects in countries of origin and/or by spreading them to countries of destination. We find that in countries where emigration propensity, as measured by past diaspora, was higher, increases in temperature had a smaller effects on conflict probability, consistent with emigration functioning as "escape valve" for local tensions. We find no evidence that climate-induced migration increased the probability of conflict in receiving countries. |
| JEL: | F22 H56 Q34 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24447&r=agr |
| By: | Boiangiu, Marius Cosmin |
| Abstract: | The paper does a qualitative assessment of the current European Union policies for dealing with climate change. In the EU mitigation policies are derived from the international agreements for reducing and limiting greenhouse gases emissions. Mitigation policies have a strict compliance regime using both positive and negative reinforcement. On the other side, adaptation measures, meant to increase nature’s and society’s resilience to climate change negative impact, are designed more as recommendations complementing sectoral policies. Agriculture has a relatively low potential of curbing GHG emissions but are some of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. By examining the relative projected efficiency of EU’s mitigation efforts compared to the overall goal of stopping global warming, the paper finds that there is clear imbalance between mitigation policies and adaptation policies. It concludes that in the absence of matching binding commitments from other large emitters of GHG, the climate objective will not be met. This requires at European level a medium and long-term strategy for the societal and economic adaptation to the new climate conditions and, on short-term, more focus on adaptation policies in vulnerable sectors such as agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Climate change policies, European Union, mitigation, adaptation, agriculture |
| JEL: | O38 Q01 |
| Date: | 2017–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85367&r=agr |