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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2018‒08‒20
seventy papers chosen by |
| By: | Mather, David |
| Abstract: | While Tanzania has enjoyed strong growth in GDP per capita since 2000 (approximately 7% per year), until 2007, this growth had led to neither substantial reductions in rural poverty nor significant improvements in household nutritional status (World Bank, 2015). While basic needs poverty declined from 34.4 percent to 28.2 percent between 2007 and 2012 (and extreme poverty declined from 11.7 percent to 9.7 percent), a large share of the population remains right above or below the poverty line, which implies that small changes in the cost of living can result in many households transitioning either into or out of poverty (ibid, 2015). Rural areas account for over 70 percent of Tanzania’s population, 80 percent of the poor and the extreme poor in Tanzania live in rural areas, and more than half of the rural poor depend upon subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods (ibid, 2015). As has been recognized by donors and African governments alike in recent years, one of the keys to reducing rural poverty and improving the nutritional status of rural households in Tanzania will be to achieve wide -spread improvements in food crop productivity among smallholder farmers. Prior to the international food price crisis of 2007/08, maize yields in Tanzania remained low, averaging between 800-900 tons/ha nation-wide, despite Tanzania’s favorable agro-ecological potential (NBS, 2004)1. Subsequently, maize production stagnated during the 2000s and did not keep pace with population growth (World Bank, 2009). While there are like ly to be a range of factors which contribute to low maize yields in Tanzania, an obvious constraint is the fact that as of 2007/08 (NBS, 2008), few smallholders outside of the Southern Highlands region used inorganic fertilizer on maize or improved maize seed. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2017–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:266420&r=agr |
| By: | David Blandford; Katharine Hassapoyannes |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Its potential to contribute to limiting global warming to less than 2oC by the end of the century is substantial by reducing direct emissions in crop and livestock production, by reducing indirect emissions associated with changes in land use, and by increasing carbon sequestration. Technological advancements and changes in consumer preferences that result in land-sparing are particularly promising options given food security concerns. Gains in total factor productivity will also enhance the sector’s competitiveness. Changes in domestic and trade policies are essential to maximize mitigation potential. In the absence of global application of carbon pricing, international co-ordination is needed to ensure that national mitigation efforts result in carbon reallocation, i.e. shifts in the location of production to low emissions sources. Measures of emissions relative to the economic contribution of agricultural activities can be insightful for identifying national mitigation priorities. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, global agriculture, mitigation |
| JEL: | Q01 Q18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:112-en&r=agr |
| By: | Debertin, David |
| Abstract: | Climate scientists have long warned that global warming, even if by only a few degrees, would play global havoc, with devastating negative impacts on the entire planet. In the climate science world, there are no positive impacts of a temperature increase, only negatives. Climate scientists frequently blame global warming almost entirely on the steady increase in the use of fossil fuels by human beings as the world becomes ever more and more industrialized. Climate scientists generally believe that drastic and costly steps must immediately be taken to curb the burning of fossil fuels in an effort to reduce the pace of global warming, even if these drastic measures have only a minimal impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, if at all.This paper takes an entirely different view grounded in both plant science and agricultural production economics. This has been largely if not entirely ignored by the climate scientists. The scientific basis is grounded both in agricultural production economics and the basics of plant physiology. The conclusion I reach states that to the extent the planet is warming, while there may be some measurable and reasonable costs, the same warming undeniably generates large benefits to agriculture. These benefits accrue to farmers and consumers. Farmers operating in the Northern Plains states have been and continue to be major beneficiaries. These benefits include not only the direct impacts of the carbon dioxide on plant growth, but also benefits such as increased rainfall associated with greater cloud cover, longer growing seasons allowing a larger diversity of high-value species to be grown, more lush pasture growth for livestock and warmer winters that allow more fall-planted and high-yielding plant such as winter wheats to thrive. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ukyaer:254046&r=agr |
| By: | Kloss, Mathias |
| Abstract: | Measuring factor productivity has been important in economics since its early days as a scientific discipline for a number of reasons. The first is the availability of systematically collected agricultural data after World War I, which allowed researchers to motivate and test newly developed methods. This data was collected to fulfill the societal need to learn more about the farming sector, which was stuck in a deep economic crisis at that time. In addition, economists stressed that agricultural technologies approximate the key assumptions of production theory particularly well. To measure agricultural productivity the analyst must deal with tangible (land, labour, and capital) as well as intangible (e.g., management abilities or unexpected weather shocks) production factors. Separating these two types of inputs and appropriately accounting for the latter is at the core of understanding agricultural production. Recent developments such as rising food prices and the decline in global productivity growth indicate that there is a societal need to understand and raise agricultural productivity again. Interestingly, these trends are accompanied by a new debate among econometricians about basic methodological issues in measuring firm level productivity. [...] Following my analyses, a number of policy implications unfold. As it turned out, materials is the most important input in European field crop farming. Hence, improving the availability of working capital is the most promising way to increase agricultural productivity. This finding is also underlined by the shadow price analysis, which indicated that in a number of countries the estimated return on working capital is much above observed market interest rates. Therefore, policy reforms should aim to ease access to short-term credit. With regards to agricultural labour markets the results indicate for France, West Germany and Italy that hired workers perform the highly specialised tasks leading to an increase in agricultural productivity. Consequently, policy makers should focus on creating incentives for farms to hire such specialised labour. For instance, programs to qualify and hire specialised labour could improve their inflow into agricultural labour markets. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Labor and Human Capital, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2017–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:269558&r=agr |
| By: | Zhou, Qingtian |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of food prices on children’s cognitive development by exploiting historical price and census data in the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century United States. I explicitly model the relationships among food prices, nutrition, and cognitive development for both non-farm and farm households and use the model to motivate my empirical strategy. My empirical results confirm that there exist statistically significant differences between the two types of households in terms of the partial effects of food prices on children’s cognitive development. Using the preferred specification of this paper, I find that on average, a 1% increase in food price level reduces children’s probability of literacy by 0.44% for non-farm households and 0.37% for farm households; the average food price effect for farm households is 5/6 of that for non-farm households, after controlling for nonfood prices, household wages, demographic characteristics, household environments, and agricultural production inputs. These results send an important message to policymakers who want to address childhood nutrition and cognitive skill issues in developing countries—policy prescriptions need to take the population composition into consideration. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2017–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umapmt:261505&r=agr |
| By: | Chamberlin, Jordan; Jayne, T. S. |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Land acquisitions by foreign and local investor farmers has generated much speculation about the impacts on smallholder households and rural communities. This study addresses these issues by exploiting inter-district variation in farmland distribution patterns in Tanzania to determine the impact of localized farm structure on rural household incomes using three rounds of panel data from the Tanzanian National Panel Survey (2009, 2011 and 2013). Because farm structure is a multifaceted concept, five alternative indicators of farm structure are used in the analysis, including (i) the Gini coefficient; (ii) skewness; (iii) coefficient of variation; (iv) share of controlled farmland under medium-scale farms; and (v) share of controlled farmland under large farms. The study highlights four main findings. First, most indicators of farmland concentration are positively associated with rural household incomes, after controlling for other factors. Second, household incomes from farm, agricultural wage and non-farm sources are positively and significantly associated with the share of land in the district controlled by 5-10 hectare farms. Third, these positive spillover benefits are smaller and less statistically significant in districts with a relatively high share of farmland controlled by farms over 10 hectares in size. Fourth, poor rural households are least able to capture the positive spillovers generated by medium-scale farms and by concentrated farmland patterns. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2017–10–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275685&r=agr |
| By: | van Kooten, G. Cornelis |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of the role that forestry activities can play in mitigating climate change. The price of carbon offset credits is used for incentivizing a reduction in the release of CO2 emissions and an increase in sequestration of atmospheric CO2 through forestry activities. Forestland owners essentially have two options for creating carbon offset credits: (1) avoid or delay harvest of mature timber; or (2) harvest timber and allow natural regeneration or regeneration with ‘regular’ or genetically-enhanced growing stock, storing carbon in post-harvest products, using sawmill and potentially logging residues to generate electricity. In this study, a model representative of the Quesnel Timber Supply Area (TSA) in the BC interior is developed. The objective is to maximize net discounted returns to commercial timber operations (and sale of downstream products) plus the benefits of managing carbon fluxes. The model tracks carbon in living trees, organic matter, and, importantly, post-harvest carbon pools and avoided emissions from substituting wood for non-wood in construction or wood bioenergy for fossil fuels. Model constraints ensure that commercial forest management is sustainable, while carbon prices incentivize sequestration to ensure efficient mitigation of climate change. The results are confirmed more generally by comparing the carbon fluxes derived from the integrated forest management model with those from a Faustmann-Hartman rotation age model that explicitly includes benefits of storing carbon. One other question is addressed: If carbon offsets are created when wood biomass substitutes for fossil fuels in power generation, can one count the saved emissions from steel/cement production when wood substitutes for non-wood materials in construction? |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uvicwp:253887&r=agr |
| By: | Sotsha, Kayalethu; Fakudze, Bhekiwe; Myeki, Lindikaya; Ngqangweni, Simphiwe; Nyhodo, Bonani; Ngetu, Xolile; Mazibuko, Ndumiso; Lubinga, H. Moses; Khoza, Thulisile; Ntshangase, Thandeka; Mmbengwa, Victor |
| Abstract: | In 2005, ComMark embarked on the Eastern Cape Red Meat Development Programme (ECRMDP) as an initiative to increase formal market participation of communal farmers. With the end of support from ComMark in 2008, the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) took over. With funding from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and partnerships with the provincial departments and the municipalities, the programme has expanded effectively within the Eastern Cape Province and it has been rolled out to other provinces as well, hence it is now known as the National Red Meat Development Programme (NRMDP). The initiative emanated from the observation that the local demand for beef outstrips production, hence resulting into importation of more beef. This was against the background that there was untapped potential in the communal farming areas where 40% of beef production takes place in South Africa, of which 3.3 million heads of cattle is found in the Eastern Cape alone. Although the programme has so far had a significant contribution towards communal farmers’ participation in formal markets as well as their understanding of the value of formal market participation, empirical evidence to support this notion is still desirable. Hence this case study was conducted to determine the factors that influence farmers’ participation in the programme, focusing on the Eastern Cape Province. A logistic regression model was used to determine factors influencing farmers’ participation in the programme, and the results indicated that distance to markets, stock size, days of fattening and the contribution of the programme (income earned from livestock sales through the programme) significantly influence farmers’ participation. This is an indication that farmers are slowly beginning to understand how they can best make use of the opportunity presented by the programme. Hence policy wise, it is commendable to encourage communal livestock farmers to participate in the programme. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing |
| Date: | 2017–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:zanamc:263686&r=agr |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem; Ahmad, Shabbir; Nadia, Agha; Steen, John; Verreynne, Martie-Louise |
| Abstract: | This paper relies on information obtained from focal group discussions with 26 women involved in farming in four villages in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The sample was drawn from poor households possessing little or virtually no land. Focus group data were collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire. The main purpose of this paper is to identify factors that favour or impede these women taking of agricultural loans for development. The findings indicate that only women in one village had taken loans for the purpose of advancing agriculture. Distinct from other villages, the women in this village had developed strong social networks and were politically quite active. In the village Gagri, the presence of social capital played a major role in agricultural development and alleviated the poverty of their households. In the other villages, the poverty of the households of females participating in the focal focus group discussions remained entrenched. These women seemingly followed a pathway to poverty alleviation and agricultural wealth creation that could be followed by women from other villages. However, this would be a hasty conclusion because women from the other three villages face serious impediments to the creation of social capital, which are identified in this paper. An additional contribution of this paper is to identify the nature of agricultural loans and conditions, which restricted the ability and willingness of the women to take loans for agricultural development. This enables us to provide a grassroots assessment of their current situation as far as finance for women in agriculture is concerned. The results also enable us to suggest a new hypothesis (relevant to the Indian subcontinent) about the relationship between the likelihood of women from agricultural households forming social networks to promote agricultural development in order to reduce the poverty-level of their households. Moreover, the literature frequently expresses doubts about the view that male ownership of land is the major impediment to women obtaining loans for agricultural purposes. All land owned by households in this survey is owned by males. Furthermore, attention is brought to some of the difficult problems involved in measuring social capital and its components. These are often overlooked in the literature. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2017–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqsese:261491&r=agr |
| By: | Giordano, Meredith; Turral, H.; Scheierling, S. M.; Treguer, D. O.; McCornick, Peter G |
| Abstract: | This Research Report chronicles the evolution of thinking on water productivity in the research agenda of IWMI and in the broader irrigation literature over the past 20 years. It describes the origins of the concept and the methodological developments, its operationalization through applied research, and some lessons learned over the two decades of research. This report further highlights how a focus on agricultural water productivity has brought greater attention to critical water scarcity issues, and the role of agricultural water management in supporting broader development objectives such as increasing agricultural production, reducing agricultural water use, raising farm-level incomes, and alleviating poverty and inequity. Yet, reliance on a single-factor productivity metric, such as agricultural water productivity defined as “crop per drop,” in multi-factor and multi-output production processes can mask the complexity of agricultural systems as well as the trade-offs required to achieve desired outcomes. The findings from this retrospective underscore the limitations of single-factor productivity metrics while also highlighting opportunities to support more comprehensive approaches to address water scarcity concerns and, ultimately, achieve the broader development objectives. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iwmirr:257962&r=agr |
| By: | Guilherme DePaula |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The economic impact of global warming varies across firms because of differences in climate, technology, and adaptive capacity. Aggregate estimates of the average effect of warming are thus insufficient to model climate change vulnerability in developing countries. In this study, I measure the distributional effect of climate change in Brazilian agriculture by estimating the quantile and interquantile regressions of land value on climate, using agricultural census data for 490,000 commercial farms. The effect of a 1°C rise in average temperature on land values ranges from -5% for the most productive farmers located in the colder South region to -34% for the least productive farmers located in the warmer North region. The impact is most severe in the extreme 0.01 quantile of the land value distribution. The productivity inequality between farms in the extremes of the distribution of land values may double with marginal warming. |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:18-wp583&r=agr |
| By: | Grant, Jason; Arita, Shawn |
| Abstract: | Although recent data collection have revealed a large and diverse universe of non-tariff measures (NTMs), identification and quantification of these measures remain elusive. While much has been written on the subject, the extant literature has been unable to effectively diagnose the most critical areas of NTM concern, sorting out how and to what extent the trade effects vary across different types of measures, and the development of a suitable framework to address these policies in multilateral and regional trade arenas. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the landscape of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures affecting agri-food trade by exploiting detailed information from the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) SPS committee meeting minutes on specific trade concerns (STCs) as a way to ‘reveal’ major cross-cutting NTM concerns faced by exporters. We catalogue the nature and duration of these measures across countries, products and specific classes of NTMs for the period 1995-2014. Our analysis indicates that developed countries play a significant role notifying specific concerns, although developing country notifications are on the rise. The results suggest that the WTO’s SPS trade concern discussion mechanism may facilitate the resolution of SPS concerns, with success often depending on the type of concern and the participation of Members as raising the issue or maintaining the measure. While most SPS concerns are resolved, the distribution of concerns exhibits sharp peaks and heavy right tails with some concerns lasting more than a decade. Animal diseases and tolerances are identified as recurring concerns in meat and fruit and vegetable trade, respectively, with concerns related to testing and quarantine, customs and administration procedures, certification and import permits also on the rise. A first-pass empirical assessment indicates that SPS concerns impart significant reductions to Members’ agricultural exports. While the SPS trade effects are heterogeneous across types of measures, countries maintaining or raising the measure, and the product sectors considered, they are consistently negative and strikingly large in magnitude, even for some of the largest countries in global agri-food trade. Thus, the analysis and results have important policy implications in terms of targeting SPS areas for discussion. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2017–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatrcp:259417&r=agr |
| By: | Burman, Anirudh (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Patnaik, Ila (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Roy, Shubho (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Shah, Ajay (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) |
| Abstract: | The agricultural markets in India sure from high price volatility. There may be an element of a Samuelson Cobweb Model at work, which generates a cycle of boom and bust. When food prices are high, consumers protest and in the years when food prices are low, farmers are in distress and demand loan waivers. Four policy pathways address the cobweb model: storage, national trade, international trade and futures trading. We argue that the Constitution imposes an obligation upon the Union government to achieve a national market. We work out an implementable set of steps through which the Union government can obtain a national market for agricultural produce. |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:18/236&r=agr |
| By: | Estrades, Carmen; Flores, Manuel; Lezama, Guillermo |
| Abstract: | Between 2006 and 2011, in a global context of rising food prices, many countries applied price-isolating policies. Export restrictions were among the measures most frequently applied. However, as countries are not obliged to notify WTO about the imposition of export restrictions, there is not good information about the measures applied. We fill this void by building a comprehensive database on export restrictions applied in the agricultural sector worldwide between 2005 and 2014. We name it the Export Restriction in Agriculture (ERA) database, and we use it to analyze the incidence of export restrictions by country, type of product, type of measure, and time span. Using the ERA database, we assess the effects of export restrictions on agricultural trade and global food prices in the period 2005-2013. To do so, we estimate a disaggregated gravity model of trade where the effects of export restrictions and import tariffs on traded values and volumes allowed us to infer the existence of an effect on prices. Clear evidence of export restrictions affecting world prices is limited to a handful of sectors, and weak evidence suggests that it may exist in some other sectors. We also find weak evidence of an impact of import promoting policies on agricultural prices. These results highlights the idea that export restrictions should be addressed at the multilateral level, but negotiations on export restrictions should not be disassociated from talks on other price-insulating policies. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2017–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatrcp:256421&r=agr |
| By: | Olabisi, Michael; Tschirley, David L.; Nyange, David; Awokuse, Titus |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Edible oil imports to Africa grew over 10% per year from 2006 to 2015, and accounted for 34% of the continent’s total growth in food imports over this period—the highest share of any food group. In the same period, several African countries experienced a boom in the local production and processing of oil-seeds. The combination of import growth and domestic production booms reveals a gap in the literature on the characteristics of edible oil demand in Africa. We begin to fill this gap by estimating own-price, cross-price, and expenditure elasticities of demand for palm, sunflower, and other edible oils in Tanzania. We apply a QUAIDS model to detailed household level data-focusing on palm and sunflower oil, because for the most part, palm oil is imported and sunflower is domestically produced. Our main finding is a surprisingly low level of substitution between the domestic and imported edible oils. Simulated budget shares from our estimates suggest that a 10% tariff increase on palm oil leads to less than a 0.06% change in the budget share of domestically produced sunflower oil. We identify other potential policy implications from our findings and highlight steps for further research. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2018–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275677&r=agr |
| By: | Mather, David; Aung, Nilar; Cho, Ame; Naing, Zaw Min; Boughton, Duncan; Belton, Ben; Htoo, Kyan; Payongayong, Ellen |
| Abstract: | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is one of a series of studies funded by USAID Burma and the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT) to understand the current situation and identify potential ways to improve agriculture and the rural economy in different agro-ecological zones of Myanmar. It focuses on Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone, home to approximately 10 million people. The results are based on information from almost 950 crop-producing households on area planted, quantities harvested and sold, and total crop production costs for the 13 predominant crops in the Dry Zone, based on a reference period of the past 12 months prior to the survey interview. The survey also collected parcel-level data on the household’s main parcel that was planted to at least one of four main crops of interest, namely paddy, groundnut, sesame and green gram. The parcel-level data includes information by season on seeds and other inputs applied to each crop, use of family and hired labor, use of mechanization and/or draft animal power, irrigation costs, and harvested quantities. Key findings are summarized below. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–07–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275680&r=agr |
| By: | Goddard, Ellen; Muringai, Violet; Robinson, Amber |
| Abstract: | In this study, the objective is to identify consumers’ willingness to consume different foods and the factors that could drive their food preferences. One hundred non-academic staff and students at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada participated in the study. Data were collected using focus group discussions, a survey questionnaire and a contingent valuation exercise. In the focus groups, participants discussed their preferences for traits in livestock and their products, their interest in natural foods and their perceptions regarding naturalness of food in relation to the different types of farming and technologies. In the survey questionnaire, participants were asked about their food consumption habits, perceptions, attitudes and preferences for different foods and technologies, generalized trust in people and trust in groups or institutions responsible for food in Canada among other issues. In the contingent valuation exercise, participants chose the price they were willing to pay for pork with different information about carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids. We find that there is heterogeneity in terms of consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviour regarding natural foods. In summary, the cost of food, concerns about human and environmental impacts and trustworthiness of information on labels are some of the factors that influence participants’ decisions to buy pork labeled as coming from disease resilient or feed efficient pigs or pigs that are higher in a human or animal health component. Although some people accept genetic modification, other participants were concerned about its use in improving disease resilience, feed efficiency and human or animal health component in pigs. Although there are some variations in the results, generalized trust in people, food technology neophobia and concerns about product leanness, country of origin of the product, nutrition content, use of hormones and antibiotics in livestock production and environmental foot print of livestock production are associated with attitudes, perceptions and behaviour regarding natural foods. Participants are willing to pay more for pork chops with more information about carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids as compared to pork chops with less information. In comparison to carnosine, participants are willing to pay more for pork chops with information about omega-3 fatty acids. Generalized trust in people, trust in advocacy groups, natural product interest, frequency of purchasing products with a health claim and knowledge of sodium content in pork that have a health claim are associated with willingness to pay for enhanced carnosine and omega-3 fatty acids in pork. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2017–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ualbpr:264421&r=agr |
| By: | Arata, Linda; Guastella, Gianni; Pareglio, Stefano; Scarpa, Riccardo; Sckokai, Paolo |
| Abstract: | In the European Union (EU) periurban agriculture is under the same agri-environmental policy regime designed for general agriculture. We argue that the specific needs of periurban agriculture may justify ad hoc agri-environmental policy measures. We present results from a Choice Experiment (CE) performed on a sample of 600 people living in the municipality of Milan, which was designed to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for ecological benefits generated by four agri-environmental practices implementable in the periurban area and already included in the Rural Development Programmes of the Lombardy region. Results suggest that a large population share is willing to pay to support an increase in the use of the agricultural practices studied with an average WTP ranging between 5.6 to 16.3 euro/person/year, according to the type of practice. These results are in contrast with their current low level of adoption. The sub-optimal uptake rate is likely due to an insufficient per hectare compensating payment, which is too low to cover the income foregone consequent to the adoption of sustainable agriculture measures in this area. The mismatch between the low uptake rate and the high social benefits generated by the four agri-environmental agricultural practices sheds light on the need to design agri-environmental policy programmes specifically targeted to periurban areas, where the costs of compliance with AEMs are high and the social benefits of their adoption are large. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemss:273366&r=agr |
| By: | Uris Baldos; Thomas Hertel; Frances Moore |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the interplay between the biophysical and economic geographies of climate change impacts on agriculture. It does so by bridging the extensive literature on climate impacts on yields and physical productivity in global crop production, with the literature on the economic geography of climate change impacts. Unlike previous work in this area, instead of using a specific crop model or set of models, we instead employ a statistical meta-analysis which encompasses all studies available to the IPCC-AR5 report. This comprehensive approach to the assessment of the biophysical impacts of climate change has the added advantage of permitting us to isolate specific elements of the biophysical geography of climate impacts, such as the role of initial temperature, and differential patterns of warming across the globe. We combine these climate impact estimates with the GTAP model of global trade in order to estimate the national welfare changes which are decomposed into three components: the direct (biophysical impact) contribution to welfare, the terms of trade effect, and the allocative efficiency effect. We find that the terms of trade interact in a significant way with the biophysical geography of climate impacts. Specifically, when we remove the biophysical geography, the terms of trade impacts are greatly diminished. And when we allow the biophysical impacts to vary across the empirically-estimated uncertainty range, taken from the meta-analysis, we find that the welfare consequences are highly asymmetric, with much larger losses at the low end of the yield distribution than gains at the high end. Furthermore, by drawing on the estimated statistical distribution of trade elasticities, we are also able to explore the interplay between economic and biophysical uncertainties. Here, we find that regional welfare is most sensitive to extremely adverse yield outcomes in the presence of uncertainty in trade elasticities. |
| JEL: | Q17 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24779&r=agr |
| By: | Xinshen Diao; Agandin, John; Fang, Peixun; Justice, Scott E.; Kufoalor, Doreen; Takeshima, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Ghana is one of a few African countries where agricultural mechanization has recently undergone rapid development. Except for places in the forest zone where stumps are still an issue in fields, tractors used for plowing and maize shelling have been widely adopted even among small farmers. Medium- and large-scale farmers who own tractors provide the majority of mechanization services. Recognizing this fundamental fact is important for designing any effective mechanization policy, which should aim at the entire service market instead of targeting a selected group of service providers as beneficiaries. Tractor owners and operators are often discouraged from traveling long distances to plow only a few acres for individual small farmers, which becomes a considerable barrier for smallholders to access tractor services on time. This requires the government consider mechanisms to improve coordination among small farmers and to encourage Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) to facilitate such coordination. The use of harrowing or second-plowing has been shown as a productivity-enhancing farming practice but it is currently under-demanded by farmers. A pilot program to address the coordination failures and to nudge small farmers to adopt harrowing services together can be considered. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275679&r=agr |
| By: | Mather, David; Belton, Ben |
| Abstract: | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper analyzes differences in productivity, profitability and labor use for four major crops produced in Myanmar’s Dry Zone, namely monsoon paddy, dry season paddy, sesame, and groundnut, comparing farmers using mechanized land preparation relative to use of animal draft power alone, and comparing farmers using mechanized harvesting/threshing relative to manual or mixed techniques. Analysis is based on data collected by the Rural Economy and Agriculture in the Dry Zone survey (READZ) from 1,578 rural households in four townships in Myanmar’s central Dry Zone in 2017 (see Belton et al., 2017). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–07–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275681&r=agr |
| By: | Kari E.R. Heerman; Ian M. Sheldon |
| Abstract: | In this paper, a structural gravity model is presented which features intra-sector heterogeneity in agricultural productivity systematically linked to land and climate characteristics. The “systematic heterogeneity” (SH) gravity model predicts that countries with similar land and climate characteristics tend to specialize in the same agricultural products. Agricultural trade flow elasticities then depend on comparative advantage, with larger-magnitude trade flow responses predicted among countries more likely to specialize in similar agricultural products and thus compete head-to-head in foreign markets. This is in contrast to standard log-linear gravity models, which impose a restrictive pattern of trade flow elasticities that depend only on absolute advantage in the agricultural sector. We also show how the SH gravity model can accommodate product-specific trade costs. This allows the model to analyze changes in the dispersion of trade costs across products. Such analysis cannot be carried out in a standard gravity model, in which trade costs are assumed constant. Our results confirm economically and statistically significant heterogeneity in the effects of the variables that typically proxy for trade costs in gravity models and demonstrate that the SH gravity model is able to overcome the limitations imposed by the restrictive pattern of elasticities in a standard gravity model. |
| JEL: | F11 F14 Q17 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24772&r=agr |
| By: | van Kooten, Gerrit Cornelis |
| Abstract: | Supply-restricting marketing boards shift the costs of agricultural support payments from the treasury to consumers. Canada, Australia and the European Union adopted quota regimes in dairy, but Australia and the EU subsequently dismantled their programs, while providing milk producers with compensation, but the dairy quota system remains entrenched in Canada. In this paper, dairy policies in the aforementioned jurisdictions, plus the U.S. and New Zealand are reviewed, and a stylized description of the EU reform is provided. An applied welfare economics framework based on the EU experience is then used to investigate potential mechanisms for reforming Canada’s dairy quota regime. The main issue regards producers’ compensation. The analysis shows that one has to be careful not to overcompensate producers, which could make a reform program prohibitively expensive on the treasury. The analysis provides a framework within which policy discussions regarding compensation can take place. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2017–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uvicwp:256743&r=agr |
| By: | Mather, David; Minde, Isaac; Waized, Betty; Ndyetabula,Daniel; Temu, Anna |
| Abstract: | We use plot-level data from the National Panel Survey to estimate maize - N respon se rates and the profitability of inorganic fertilizer use. We find that average smallholder maize-N response rates are not even 50% of those from zonal center trials, implying that there is a considerable gap between actual and potential returns from fertilizer use. Fertilizer use on maize is only marginally profitable for farmers with average response rates, even in higher potential zones. Farmers who used improved maize seed, fallowed a plot more recently and/or received an extension visit have higher response rates and more profitable fertilizer use, yet fallowing is infrequent and extension does not reach most farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2016–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:260437&r=agr |
| By: | Vantomme, Katharina |
| Abstract: | After the breakdown of the Soviet Union many socioeconomic, but also demographic changes took place in Kazakhstan. The large collective farms have partly been broken up. The result was a tri-partitioned farm structure with agricultural enterprises including agroholdings, individual farms as well as household farms. Furthermore, a strong exodus especially from northern Kazakhstan took place, which included many skilled workers, leading to a scarcity of labour and to mismatches between skills offered and skills needed in agriculture. However, the potential of the Kazakh agriculture cannot be fully tapped without suitable labour. Thus, at present low productivity prevail. Therefore, a central term of the dissertation is the term "labour rationing". An agricultural unit is labour rationing if it is not able to find enough suitable workers even though it would be willing to pay a higher wage than the real wage. This dissertation focused on investigating labour rationing in the rural areas of Kazakhstan using two cross-sectional farm level data sets from 2003 and 2011 with data collected in the two oblasts, Akmola and Almaty. Besides, the production model under factor constraint was applied. From this model the shadow price analysis was derived with help of the Lagrangian method. Three Heckman models, for 2003, 2011 as well as for 2003 and 2011 together were estimated as well as the respective shadow prices of the different farm types. The latter were then compared with the real wages. All farm types faced an excess demand for labour. However, agroholdings suffered from the strongest labour rationing and thus, had most problem finding suitable workers, skilled workers in particular. Regarding the reasons for labour rationing, the analysis suggests mainly the following: * In 2011, agricultural producers that carried out joint activity with other agricultural units were less likely to be labour rationed than those that did not carry out any joint activity together with others. * Agricultural units with a peripheral and poorly connected location were more likely to be rationed on the labour market. Moreover, in Akmola oblast labour shortages were more severe than in Almaty oblast. * Regarding the value of machinery and movable equipment, it can be said that these factors normally rather attract workers, especially in Kazakhstan. However, in order to operate more sophisticated machinery more skills are needed. But skilled workers were particularly scarce. * Regarding education it cannot be clearly observed that more educated managers have fewer problems or more problems finding workers in Kazakhstan. Finally, it can be said that according to the data wages in agriculture in Kazakhstan did rise if 2003 and 2011 are compared, but so did the shadow wages. Thus, an excess demand for labour and the problem of labour rationing persist. Nevertheless, it seems that the labour productivity increased which might be due to investments in machinery. At the same time this means that especially skilled workers are in demand. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2017–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:269557&r=agr |
| By: | Amrouk, El Mamoun; Grosche, Stephanie-Carolin; Heckelei, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the price dynamics between a selection of international staple food and cash crop futures prices. This price interaction is particularly relevant for developing countries that rely on cash crop export earnings to finance their staple food import requirements. We employ a multivariate Copula-DCC-GARCH model to characterize the cash crop and staple food price interaction over time and a rolling-sample volatility index to identify the direction of the volatility spillover for staple-cash commodity pairs. Results show that the intensity of interaction varies considerably over the sample time, but is, generally positive, and stronger during the period 2007-2012 associated with high commodity prices and financial market stress. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2017–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubfred:265665&r=agr |
| By: | Lubinga, H. Moses; Mazibuko, Ndumiso; Ngqangweni, Simphiwe; Potelwa, Y. Xolisiwe; Nyhodo, Bonani |
| Abstract: | South Africa’s industries in the agricultural sector spend some of the statutory levy income on export promotion and market development (EPMD) activities. Some industries argue that levy expenditure on EPMD activities generates satisfactory returns on investment but empirical evidence is yet to be presented to support the argument. Hence, this study fills this gap by building a unique dataset based on levy expenditure on EPMD for four industries (citrus, deciduous fruits, table grapes and wine) and using econometric analysis to assess the impact of EPMD on exports, net agricultural income and social welfare over a ten years’ period (2006- 2015). Furthermore, we estimate the returns generated on exports, agricultural net income and social welfare per Rand of levy expenditure on exports, net agricultural income and social welfare. In the analysis, we control for unobserved heterogeneity, multi-collinearity and reverse causality. Results suggest that levy expenditure on EPMD has a statistically significant positive impact on exports, net income and social welfare across all industries. On average, a unit increase in levy expenditure on EPMD leads to an increase in exports by 7.3 percent (table grapes and deciduous fruits), 5.6 percent (wine), 5.25 percent (citrus). For agricultural net income, a unit increase in levy expenditure on EPMD is on average associated with a 7.5 percent, 4.9 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.6 percent increase for table grapes, citrus, wine and deciduous fruits, respectively. Across all industries, the range of social welfare improvement lies between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent per unit increase in levy expenditure on EPMD. Furthermore, results suggest that one Rand spent on EPMD for the four industries in question on average generates a R404 increase in exports, R39 of additional agricultural net income and a US$26 worth of improvement in social welfare. All in all, levy expenditure on EPMD plays a key role in fostering exports, agricultural net income and social welfare improvement. Policy wise, there is need for mobilisation of more resources to facilitate the EPMD initiative into new markets and products for the industries. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2017–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:zanamc:262913&r=agr |
| By: | Odusola, Ayodele |
| Abstract: | The developmental role of agriculture has long been recognized in the literature. As a leading sector of most economies in the developing world, agriculture helps facilitate industrial growth and structural economic transformation. Agriculture plays a multidimensional role in the development process, which includes eliciting economic growth, generating employment opportunities, contributing to value chains, reducing poverty, lowering income disparities, ensuring food security, delivering environmental services and providing foreign exchange earnings, among others. Due to the neglect of this sector, development progress has been hindered in a number of countries, which explains why 75 per cent of world poverty is rural and why sectoral income disparities have exploded, as well as why intense food insecurity and environmental degradation have become widespread (World Bank, 2007; Byerlee, de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2009). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development |
| Date: | 2017–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:undpae:266998&r=agr |
| By: | McCluskey, Jill; Nelson, Gene |
| Abstract: | The objectives of this project are to accomplish the following: Identify overarching priorities for agricultural and applied economics research and education to address society's challenges over the next decade.; Promote communication among agricultural and applied economists about the priorities for developing new research projects, research methods, and curricula to meet the future needs of society.; Communicate to policy makers in Congress and federal agencies about the key needs and priorities for research and education in agriculture and applied economics.; Articulate the unique role of agricultural and applied economists in working with other disciplines to respond to the challenges facing society.;Identify the educational needs for future agricultural and applied economists and develop new and innovative curricula to meet those needs. |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2017–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfarer:257243&r=agr |
| By: | Guilherme DePaula |
| Abstract: | Abstract: In this study, I exploit the recent technology-driven soy boom in Brazil to assess how the diffusion of different technologies, namely the genetically modified soy and biological nitrogen-fixing soy varieties adapted to the Brazilian savanna, change the agricultural supply response function. I use a novel panel dataset combining farm-level data for 1.5 million commercial farms from the 1996 and 2006 Brazilian agricultural census surveys to estimate the price effects on the expansion of the soy acreage. I find that the acreage response functions become increasingly elastic towards the agricultural frontier because of the existence of different technological diffusion processes. The large price effect on the adoption of nitrogen-fixing soy designed to convert marginal savanna pastureland into soy production explains most of the heterogeneity in the acreage supply function in Brazil. The estimated long-run price elasticity of soy acreage is 0.6 in the south and 1.8 in the savanna. On the agricultural frontier close to the savanna–Amazon border, the price elasticity of agricultural land is 0.13, implying that a 10% permanent increase in soy prices would result in the conversion of 1 million hectares of natural vegetation to farmland. |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:18-wp582&r=agr |
| By: | Spiegel, Alisa; Britz, Wolfgang; Djanibekov, Utkur; Finger, Robert |
| Abstract: | Perennial energy crops such as short rotation coppice (SRC) have gained interest among both farmers and policy makers. SRC is characterized by fast biomass production, low-input use and high managerial flexibility. In addition, SRC provides environmental benefits compared with competing crops and contributes to the transition process towards renewable energy sources. Yet, the combination of high irreversible costs and uncertainties hampers SRC adoption by farmers. Policy instruments that are currently implemented to foster SRC adoption in Germany show limited success. In this study, we therefore assess different policy measures to incentivize the adoption of SRC in terms of their efficiency and farm-level effect while taking into account uncertainties related to SRC cultivation. We use the combination of the stochastic programming and the real options approaches. Our case study focuses on poplar production in Germany. We analyse four policy measures to foster SRC cultivation, i.e. a planting subsidy, a price floor, a guaranteed price and increasing the “Ecological Focus Area” (EFA) weighting coefficient within the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. Our results show that the recently implemented planting subsidy could create incentives to adopt SRC by leading to a substantial increase in farm income. However, increasing the EFA coefficient and a price floor are more efficient in terms of governmental expenditures; while a guaranteed price triggers immediate introduction of SRC. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2017–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubfred:263448&r=agr |
| By: | Alston, Julian M. |
| Abstract: | Sixty years ago, T.W. Schultz introduced the idea of the productivity “residual” to agricultural economics. His main message was that growth in conventional inputs accounted for little of the observed growth in agricultural output, and that there was work to be done by agricultural economists to understand and ultimately eliminate this unexplained residual called “productivity.” Thus was launched the economics of agricultural productivity as a sub-field within agricultural economics, along with the economics of agricultural R&D and innovation and related government policy. Much progress has been made in the decades since. Still, critical issues remain unresolved. This matters because agricultural innovation and productivity matter, and so do the related policies that rest to some extent on our established understanding of the economic relationships. In this paper, I review some unsettled issues related to economic models and measures applied to agricultural R&D and productivity, and some unfinished business in terms of economic and policy questions that are not yet well answered. Before doing that, I present some evidence on agricultural productivity and why it matters. Next, with a nod to “factology,” I present available productivity measures from USDA and InSTePP, and compare them in the context of translog cost function models. In subsequent sections I use these and other data to develop new evidence related to two contentious questions: (1) Do farmers benefit from public agricultural R&D? (2) Has U.S. agricultural productivity growth slowed in recent decades? The answers are revealed within. |
| Date: | 2017–08–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:262924&r=agr |
| By: | Yang, Xinyue; Odening, Martin; Ritter, Matthias |
| Abstract: | In the last decade, many parts of the world experienced severe increases in agricultural land prices. This price surge, however, did not take place evenly in space and time. To better understand the spatial and temporal behavior of land prices, we employ a price diffusion model that combines features of market integration models and spatial econometric models. An application of this model to farmland prices in Germany shows that prices on a county-level are cointegrated. Apart from convergence towards a long-run equilibrium, we find that price transmission also proceeds through short-term adjustments caused by neighboring regions. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:bokufo:275485&r=agr |
| By: | Federica Cappelli |
| Abstract: | Water is a multidimensional issue, involving water availability, access to freshwater, spatial and temporal distribution of resources, competition among its uses, ecosystems conservation, climate-related disasters and risks and several other aspects. The water security approach manages such complexity and proposes a comprehensive view of human security in relation to the water-related issues. Consequently, the solutions developed in order to face this multi-faceted concept should reflect its thorough vision. The aim of the present work is to investigate the relationship between climate change and water security. Exploring such a relationship is truly important in order to help policy-makers in the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the water context, this challenge is further complicated by the possible conflicts arising between climate and water policies. In order to carry out such an analysis, an indicator measuring water security, namely the Water Security Index, is created. In the present work, climate change is considered from four different perspectives but, as revealed by the econometric results, it always has a predominant (negative) effect on water security. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemss:257880&r=agr |
| By: | Lubinga, H. Moses; Ngqangweni, Simphiwe; Nyhodo, Bonani; Potelwa, X. Yolanda; van der Walt, Stephanie; Phaleng, Lucius; Ntshangase, Thandeka |
| Abstract: | Despite the increasing competitiveness of South Africa’s wine industry globally and the industry’s outstanding number of geographical indications (GIs), the impact of these GIs on wine exports has not been assessed (and if it has been assessed such work is not publicly available or not seen by the authors). Understanding the impact of the GIs is critical in enhancing informed policy decisions towards securing more geographical indicators for wines and other products. In addition, the unearthed evidence may be the basis for more government interventions in support of the initiative while protecting the good reputation in communities where production occurs. Based on E-Bacchus database for GI, we use the gravity flow model framework to empirically analyse the effect of GI on South Africa’s wine exports to the European Union (EU). Three proxies are used to capture the impact of GI. Results suggest that GI fosters South Africa’s wine exports into the EU irrespective of the proxy used. With respect to the dummies, GI leads to an increase in South Africa’s wine exports by about 170 percent (0.169, p<0.1). When the actual number of GI names was used, the estimated coefficient (0.007, p<0.1) also suggests that GI enhances wine exports into the EU by 0.7 percent. While using the difference between the number of GI names for South Africa and EU, findings show that GI is associated with 87 percent increase in wine exports. Conclusively, GI positively impact on South Africa’s wine exports into the EU. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2017–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:zanamc:262912&r=agr |
| By: | Buckwell, Andrew; Fleming, Christopher; Smart, James; Mackey, Brendan; Ware, Daniel; Hallgren, Willow; Sahin, Oz; Nalau, Johanna |
| Abstract: | There is now an established interest and a clear case for using economic valuation of ecosystem services to inform a range of policy issues and questions. However, access to both habitat data and economic valuation for less developed countries is limited, despite these communities relying acutely and directly on ecosystem services. Here we set out an ecosystem assessment methodology that employs GIS data and benefit transfer studies, which can be carried out remotely and rapidly and at multiple scales. We use two case studies: Vanuatu, in the south west Pacific Ocean and one of its less developed islands, Tanna. These case studies reveal the value of ecosystem services to communities is considerably larger than income reported through traditional national accounts, suggesting that policies that support sustainable exploitation of these services and conservation of natural capital are paramount in securing human and community well-being. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare18:273524&r=agr |
| By: | van Kooten, G. Cornelis |
| Abstract: | Traditional arguments for commodity storage assume that weather is a controllable input so that agricultural producers’ total variable costs (and quasi-rents) are dependent on a shifting supply function. In this paper, an alternative explanation is offered that considers a fixed supply function but variable, weather-determined outputs. The standard result no longer holds unequivocally. With no government intervention, agricultural producers can fail to recoup their investment costs under good or bad weather outcomes, which incentivizes them to lobby for price stabilization policies. In developing countries, governments have a further incentive to store grain for food security – storage can prevent prices from rising so the most vulnerable can no longer afford to buy food. Numerical simulations indicate that extended periods of good or bad years can be troublesome because storage is no longer a neutral activity as there is a mismatch between purchases and sales. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uvicwp:270677&r=agr |
| By: | Bluffstone, R.; Coulston, J.; Haight, R.G.; Kline, J.; Polasky, S.; Wear, D.N.; Zook, K. |
| Abstract: | Chapter 3 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a systematic approach to quantifying benefits of conservation programs." |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2017–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfarer:260680&r=agr |
| By: | Braha, Kushtrim; Cupak, Andrej; Pokrivcak, Jan; Qineti, Artan; Rizov, Marian |
| Abstract: | We analyse the link between diet diversity, which is a proxy of diet quality and health outcomes measured by body-mass index (BMI) in a representative sample of Kosovar adults using household expenditure micro-data. Building on a household model of health production we devise a two-stage empirical strategy to estimate the antecedents of diet diversity and its effect on BMI. Economic factors and demographic characteristics play an important role in the choice of balanced diets. Results from the BMI analysis support the hypothesis that diet diversity is associated with optimal BMI. One standard deviation increase in diet diversity leads to 2.3% increase in BMI of the underweight individuals and to 1.5% reduction in BMI of the obese individuals. The findings have important implications for food security policies aiming at enhancing the public health in Kosovo. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulefwp:265397&r=agr |
| By: | Rizov, Marian; Davidova, Sophia; Bailey, Alastair |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of the CAP payments on the indirectly generated non-farm jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are central to job creation. It examines whether there are differences in the effect according to business location - rural or urban, the agricultural supply chain, and according to CAP Pillars. A microeconomic approach is employed, based on firm data from FAME dataset combined with detailed subsidies information from DEFRA. The generalised method of moments (system GMM) is used to estimate the effect of CAP payments in both static and dynamic models of employment. The results suggest positive net spillovers of CAP payments to non-farm employment. Although the magnitude of the effect is small, it is economically significant. In general, Pillar 1 has a stronger positive employment effect relative to Pillar 2. However, Pillar 2 payments have a stronger positive effect per Euro spent in rural areas and within agricultural supply chain. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2017–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulefwp:268008&r=agr |
| By: | Yann Briand (IDDRI - Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris); Julien Lefevre (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); Jean-Michel Cayla (EDF R&D - EDF R&D - EDF - EDF) |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01688931&r=agr |
| By: | Laurent Gobillon (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Wolff Francois Charles (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - UN - Université de Nantes, INED - Institut national d'études démographiques) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the effect on quality, quantity and prices of an innovative fishing gear introduced for a subsample of vessels on a single wholesale fish market in France. Estimations are conducted using transaction data over the 2009-2011 period during which the innovation was introduced. Using a difference-in-differences approach around the discontinuity, we find that for the treated the innovation has a large effect on quality (29.2 percentage points) and prices (23.2 percentage points). A shift in caught fish species is observed and new targeted species are fished very intensively. We also quantify the treatment effect on the treated market from aggregate market data using factor models and a synthetic control approach. We find a sizable effect of the innovation on market quality which is consistent with non-treated vessels adapting their fishing practices to remain competitive. The innovation has no effect on market quantities and prices. |
| Keywords: | difference in differences,discontinuity,fish,innovation,product quality,product prices,synthetic controls,factor models |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01431160&r=agr |
| By: | Lawin, Kotchikpa G.; Tamini, Lota D. |
| Abstract: | The literature considers crop diversification a risk management strategy at the farm level. In this article, we combine experimental data on risk aversion with survey data to identify the extent to which risk aversion affects crop diversification decisions. We conduct experiments to measure the risk aversion of smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso and a field survey to gather data on various socio-economic variables. To measure crop diversification, we use three indices of spatial diversity in crop species adapted from the ecological economics literature, i.e., the count index, the Herfindahl index measure of crop concentration and the Shannon index of evenness. An Ordinary Least square (OLS) model is used to estimate the impact of risk aversion on crop diversification when the count index is used as the dependent variable, whereas a Tobit model is used for the Herfindahl index and the Shannon index. Our results show that risk aversion has a negative and significant effect on crop diversification. Although the effect is significant for all diversity indexes, the magnitude of the effect differs among them. Other variables also affect crop diversification. In particular, education level, distance to market, farm area and land fragmentation are associated with greater crop diversification. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2017–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:caes17:258058&r=agr |
| By: | van Kooten, G. Cornelis |
| Abstract: | Forest-dependent, rural communities often experience declining populations and prosperity because technological changes related to harvesting, transportation and processing of wood fiber occur more rapidly than technical improvements in fiber availability – in forest growth. How then can communities where forest resources are the primary economic driver increase wealth that might then be used for economic development? Answers to this question are explored by examining the potential of different management regimes to create greater employment and wealth, particularly management options that include carbon values. Our application is to an interior forest region of British Columbia, the province where First Nations control the most timber supply and the region that produces the greatest volume and value of lumber for export. We examine the trade-offs between revenue as measured by net present value, employment and carbon in forest ecosystems, where the latter is a proxy for the ecological health of the forest. We conclude from the analysis that no management strategy is able to satisfy all of the technical, environmental and social/cultural constraints and, at the same time, offer forest-based economic development that will prevent the decline of rural communities. Nonetheless, given knowledge of tradeoffs, there are management options that can improve upon current employment, wealth and/or ecological health of the forest. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uvicwp:270681&r=agr |
| By: | Mather, David; Minde, Isaac |
| Abstract: | We use panel data of smallholder farm households from Tanzania to empirically assess a large- scale fertilizer subsidy program in Tanzania with respect to its ability to meet its stated targeting criteria and the effect of subsidy receipt on both smallholder commercial fertilizer demand and total fertilizer use. We find that the majority of subsidy recipients met the targeting criteria in practice in regards to area cultivated to maize and that few of them had used inorganic fertilizer on maize or rice in the previous five years. However, we also find that depending on the year, between 25 to 37% of households receiving a fertilizer voucher did not use it, implying that these households did not gain the experience using fertilizer on maize or rice as envisioned by NAIVS |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2016–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:260442&r=agr |
| By: | Baum, Chad M.; Weigelt, Robert |
| Abstract: | Although interest in sustainable food has increased substantially in recent years, the actual demand for such products has typically proceeded quite unevenly across consumers. Making sense of the variable pace of behavioral change requires that we explore the foundations of sustainable consumer behavior, especially the importance attached to particular attributes and the types of tradeoffs that exist. For this reason, this study utilizes a discrete choice experiment (DCE) that integrates the type of retail format to establish the potential for interaction effects with attributes. Stated-preference methods like DCEs have proven useful to explain how and why individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for qualities such as organic, fair trade, and locality can differ. However, by mostly focusing on product qualities alone, the importance of the retail formats where products are actually purchased – and their potential impact on the valuation of attributes – is left unexplored. Framing this DCE in relation to sustainable tomato consumption, we can conclude that the type of retail format is a significant determinant of purchasing behavior, both on its own and in its interaction with the other qualities. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2017–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubfred:262055&r=agr |
| By: | Minnesota Chapter of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:asfmrr:267201&r=agr |
| By: | Hurley, Terrance; Koo, Jawoo; Tesfaye, Kindie |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research was to explore how weather risk affects the value of nitrogen fertilizer use and improved seed variety adoption to Sub-Saharan African (SSA) maize farmers. It contributes to the literature by providing additional broad support for the hypothesis that low rates of fertilizer use and improved seed variety adoption can be attributed to the fact that the SSA landscape is heterogeneous, so fertilizer and improved seed are not always advantageous, especially when considering the potentially high cost to farmers of obtaining fertilizer and improved seed. The analysis finds a synergy between nitrogen fertilizer and improve seed varieties. While the benefits of nitrogen tend to increase overtime without improved seed varieties and the benefits of improved seed varieties tend to decrease overtime without nitrogen, combining the two provides more sustained productivity benefits. Therefore, securing both nitrogen use and improved variety adoption is important for promoting sustained productivity increases across most of SSA. The research also contributes to the literature a methodology for calculating willingness to pay bounds that assess the importance of farmers’ risk tolerances as a barrier to fertilizer use or improved seed variety adoption. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2016–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:hcwpum:265634&r=agr |
| By: | King, Robert P.; Lev, Larry; Houston, Laurie; Feenstra, Gail; Hardesty, Shermain; Joannides, Jan |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Marketing, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2017–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umaesp:263408&r=agr |
| By: | The Food Industry Center, University of Minnesota |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:umrfar:259766&r=agr |
| By: | Mary Doidge; Hongli Feng; David A. Hennessy; J. Roy Black; William M. Edwards |
| Abstract: | Crop insurance is an important tool that allows farmers to manage risks in agricultural production. This report is a summary of a survey of farmers’ crop insurance choices in Iowa, a state typical of the central US Corn Belt, and Michigan, a state with a more diversified crop portfolio. Survey data indicate that Michigan farmers were less likely to purchase insurance than Iowa farmers. A smaller share of Michigan farmers received an indemnity payment from 2011 to 2015 than those in Iowa. Michigan farmers were more likely to report that they felt they have paid more for crop insurance policies than they have received in indemnity payments. For farmers in Iowa, downside yield and price risk was rated most important by the largest number of respondents, followed closely by out-of-pocket premium price. The ranking of these two factors was reversed for farmers in Michigan. The cross-state differences reported by the survey respondents imply that the federal crop insurance program has different regional impacts. In order to assist in informed policy debate, it would be useful to understand how different regions can achieve all the potential benefits afforded by the program. Specifically, it will be useful to know whether Michigan farmers are not taking best advantage of existing crop insurance opportunities or whether simple adjustments could result in program uptake as high as in some other states. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2017–08–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midasp:262455&r=agr |
| By: | Ibrahima Barry (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique); Olivier Bonroy (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique); Paolo Garella (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca [Milano]) |
| Abstract: | Taxes and subsidies on products embodying environmental qualities often coexist with certified private labels---like Ecocert, Scientific Certification System, or OEKO-TEX. Their interaction is yet quite unexplored. We analyze a duopoly where consumers value an environmental quality, with an externality. A certifier sets the quality standard for a label. The fee for granting the label is either set by the certifier (certifier power), or in a noncooperative bidding game (firm power). Taxes and subsidies then affect the fee, depending upon how this is set, and the standard. This channel can produce distorted or even reversed effects. If firm power exists, for instance, a subsidy to the labeled good ends up decreasing the environmental quality and welfare. Conversely, absence of firm power nullifies the effects of ad valorem taxing the unlabeled "dirty" product. Only a per unit tax has similar, but always worsening, effects. |
| Date: | 2018–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01845647&r=agr |
| By: | Croonenbroeck, Carsten; Odening, Martin; Hüttel, Silke |
| Abstract: | Within this paper, we aim to investigate asymmetries among bidders in land auctions that may entail non-competitive prices. Using representative data for Eastern Germany including winning bids, bidder characteristics, and land amenities, we pursue a structural approach to derive distributions of latent land values for different bidder groups. By applying nonparametric techniques, we cannot find evidence for asymmetric bidder structures while differentiating between legal entities, tenancy status, and nationality of bidders. Our findings challenge the hypothesis that land privatization via auctions discriminates against certain buyer groups—an argument that is often used to justify stricter regulation of agricultural land markets. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:bokufo:275486&r=agr |
| By: | DeYoung, David J.; Reyes, Byron; Osorno, Juan; Mejia, Gustavo; Villatoro, Julio Cesar; Maredia, Mywish K. |
| Abstract: | The study of climbing bean farmers in five departments of the Altiplano region (a.k.a. western highlands) of Guatemala confirms the importance of beans as a crop for own consumption in the study area. On average, households planted 0.4 hectares with beans in the study region. Beans, planted as part of the traditional intercropped system called Milpa, are most commonly planted simultaneously (or directly) with corn, while relay (Milpa-relevo) was a second common planting method in the study area. In terms of area planted, most farmers ranked beans as either the first or second most important crop. The majority of farmers do not sell harvested grain. Indeed, for 47% of households, their own bean production is sufficient to cover 6 months or less of annual household bean consumption; beyond which they rely on purchased beans to fill their consumption needs. Bean consumption among households in this region is the highest soon after harvest (often between October and January) and lowest in July, August and September. The study confirms that men and women farmers have slightly different preferences for bean seed varietal traits and women are willing to pay $0.16 more for bean seed of varieties with their preferred traits than men. On average, farmers indicated they are willing to pay only a 10% premium for bean seed of a preferred variety over the price of grain. Thus, any efforts to increase the use of new improved varieties of beans to promote productivity growth in this region will need to be based on subsidized seed dissemination efforts to make the seeds affordable by smallholder farmers in the western highlands of Guatemala. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2017–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midasp:268951&r=agr |
| By: | Clay, Daniel C.; Bizoza, Alfred |
| Abstract: | Recent in-depth analysis of current trends in Rwanda’s coffee sector, together with research findings from the Africa Great Lakes Coffee Support Program (AGLC) have revealed that low and stagnating production has placed Rwanda’s coffee sector in a vulnerable state (AGLC, 2016). Perennially low coffee prices (24 percent below others in the region) have resulted in low, often negative profits to farmers, discouraging them from investing in their plantations. Simply put, farmers have been left out of Rwanda’s “coffee renaissance” over the past 15 years and the consequences are now more apparent than ever. Many farmers report that losses in coffee have driven them to abandon their coffee trees and increasingly to uproot them in favor of other, more profitable crops. AGLC research shows that these trends are particularly acute among largeholder coffee farmers (those with 1000+ trees). These are farmers who are more highly commercialized, are highly responsive to cherry prices, and have other farming and off-farm options. They also own the majority (57 percent) of coffee trees in Rwanda (AGLC, 2016). Equally disconcerting is the finding that young farmers are choosing not to enter into coffee at all, often for the same reasons. They see clearly how their parents struggle to make a living in coffee and opt to produce other crops instead. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275678&r=agr |
| By: | Caritas Woro Murdiati (Faculty of Law, Universitas Atma Jaya, Indonesia. Author-2-Name: Author-2-Workplace-Name: Author-3-Name: Author-3-Workplace-Name: Author-4-Name: Author-4-Workplace-Name: Author-5-Name: Author-5-Workplace-Name: Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:) |
| Abstract: | "Objective – This article analyses the co-existence of customary forest knowledge and management with contemporary forest policies, management, and the prevailing legal/regulatory framework. In addition, this article explores the extent to which customary forest knowledge and management have endured over time. Methodology/Technique – This research uses a conceptual approach based on perspective and doctrines from laws studies. Findings – Kajang's customary community has and implements moral principles as customary knowledge in forest resource management, such as respect towards nature, cosmic solidarity and the concern of nature; a simple way of living and life in harmony with nature. The several principles are supposed to be valuable basic for finding out the new ethical attitudes oriented to forest sustainability. The principles and the customary knowledge can be the strong basic for forest law development in Indonesia because it grows within the community. Novelty – The research embodied in this article examines how customary forest knowledge can inform the development of contemporary forest policies, management, and laws/regulations." |
| Keywords: | Customary Communities; Customary Knowledge and Contemporary Forestry. |
| JEL: | I21 Q23 |
| Date: | 2017–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr483&r=agr |
| By: | Shang, Max Zongyuan; McEwan, Ken |
| Abstract: | Transactions can be facilitated by mechanisms such as markets, contracts, and hierarchies. We treat the mechanisms as black boxes and depict the efficiency of each mechanism by the mean and variance of the output costs. The boundaries of livestock farms are measured by the percentage of homegrown feed in total feed requirement. A theoretical model is proposed which explains how farm boundaries are shaped by the efficiency of two alternative transaction-facilitating mechanisms: markets and hierarchies. Using tax file data from Ontario swine farms, this article analyzes the impact that mechanism efficiency has on farm boundaries. To identify the causal relationship, monthly CAD/USD exchange rates are used as the instrumental variable for corn prices in Ontario. The findings suggest that the boundaries of Ontario swine farms are not arbitrary, rather they are shaped by the relative efficiency of the mechanisms. It is estimated that if the average corn price were doubled, ceteris paribus, the average Ontario swine farmer would grow all required corn by themselves (i.e., the farm boundary is 100%). If the variance of corn prices were doubled, the average farm boundary would increase from 44% to 49.8%. The costs for doubling farm boundary are estimated to be C$9,841. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2017–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:caes17:264191&r=agr |
| By: | Thamo, Tas |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwared:253608&r=agr |
| By: | Burggraf, Christine |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2017–10–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:269539&r=agr |
| By: | van Koppen, Barbara; Nhamo, Luxon; Cai, Xueliang; Gabriel, M. J.; Sekgala, M.; Shikwambana, S.; Tshikolomo, K.; Nevhutanda, S.; Matlala, B.; Manyama, D. |
| Abstract: | A survey of 76 public smallholder irrigation schemes in the Limpopo Province was jointly conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), South Africa, and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (LDARD), as part of the ‘Revitalization of Smallholder Irrigation in South Africa’ project. About one-third of those schemes was fully utilized; one-third partially utilized; and one-third not utilized in the winter of 2015; however, no single socioeconomic, physical, agronomic and marketing variable could explain these differences in utilization. Sale, mostly for informal markets, appeared the most important goal. Dilapidated infrastructure was the most important constraint cited by the farmers. The study recommends ways to overcome the build-neglect-rebuild syndrome, and to learn lessons from informal irrigation, which covers an area three to four times as large as public irrigation schemes in the province. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Marketing |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iwmwpb:257964&r=agr |
| By: | Erven, Bernard L. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea89:270691&r=agr |
| By: | Wainger, L.; Loomis, J.; Johnston, R.; Hansen, L.; Carlisle, D.; Lawrence, D.; Gollehon, N.; Duriancik, L.; Schwartz, G.; Ribaudo, M.; Gala, C. |
| Abstract: | Chapter 2 of "The Valuation of Ecosystem Services from Farms and Forests: Informing a systematic approach to quantifying benefits of conservation programs" |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2017–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfarer:260679&r=agr |
| By: | Grau, Aaron; Odening, Martin; Ritter, Matthias |
| Abstract: | Land market regulations are often justified by the assumption that activities of foreign and nonagricultural investors drive up land prices in countries with low land price levels. However, empirical knowledge about the dynamics of agricultural land prices across borders is sparse. Using the German reunification as a natural experiment, we study the effect of the former inner German border on the dynamics of agricultural land prices in East and West Germany. We apply a land price diffusion model with an error correction specification that estimates to what extent agricultural land markets are spatially integrated. A novel feature of our model is its ability to distinguish price diffusion within states and across state borders. We find that local agricultural land markets in Germany are linked by a long-run equilibrium relationship. Spatial market integration, however, does not hold among all counties in our study area. Regarding our main research question, we provide evidence for a persistent border effect given that the fraction of spatially integrated counties is larger within states than across the former border. Moreover, we observe non-significant error correction terms for many counties along the former border. From a policy perspective, it is striking to realize that even 25 years after German reunification, pronounced land price differences persist. It is quite likely that price diffusion through existing borders within the EU would take even more time given language barriers, different administrative procedures for land acquisitions, different tax systems, and information asymmetries between domestic and foreign market participants. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:bokufo:275487&r=agr |
| By: | Matyukha, Andriy |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:254051&r=agr |
| By: | Bhattarai, Madhusudan |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iwmirr:43246&r=agr |
| By: | Ma, Emily (Jintao); Duan, Bob; Shu, Lavender (Mengya); Arcodia, Charles |
| Abstract: | China has become Australia’s most important source market and there are growing number of visitors participated in wine tourism. Using in-depth interviews, the study looked into Chinese tourists’ preferences, motivations and barriers to participate in wineries tours in Australia. The study enriched to literature on wine tourism. It offered practical implications for wineries and destinations to better understand and accommodate Chinese wine tourists’ needs and preferences. |
| Keywords: | Wine Tourism, Chinese Visitors, Preferences, Motivations, Barriers |
| JEL: | L83 M1 O1 |
| Date: | 2016–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85569&r=agr |
| By: | Ibrahim Soliman |
| Abstract: | The limited resources of water and agricultural land and deficit in feed supply for horizontal expansion in Egyptian livestock population, imposed the vertical expansion as the only feasible approach for development. There are evidences that Egypt has comparative advantage in milk production from the Egyptian river buffalo strain. Therefrom, the approach towards increasing the domestic supply of milk is to raise the buffalo milk yield via genetic investment. The study used a field sample survey data to apply a designed dynamic mathematical investment model to evaluate the feasibility of such biological technology for development. The model results in estimating the internal rate of return (IRR) to genetic investment using the semen of selected buffalo sires via artificial insemination. The study estimated the Predicted milk difference of such semen of about 0.425 kg of milk per milking day. The most probable level of IRR was feasible, i.e. 19.71%, as it was above the interest rate for dairy cattle loans (16.0%) and the inflation rate in milk price (10.5%). larger number of services for conception, older age at first calving and longer service period by 10%, would decrease the IRR by 7.51%. Therefore, the reproduction physiology research program should be focused on improvement the dairy buffalo’s reproductive performance. A decrease in feed efficiency by 10% would decrease the IRR by 9%. Therefore, nutrition research program should focus on better and least cost ration plans. Any probable worse economic conditions such as 10% increase in feed costs and price per an inseminating service, with 10% decrease in milk price would decrease IRR by 7%. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2017–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:zudacp:266308&r=agr |
| By: | Curtis, John |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:rb201815&r=agr |
| By: | Joglekar, Alison B.; Pardey, Philip G. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:hcbrum:253951&r=agr |
| By: | Fabrice Dossa (Département d’Economie et Sociologie Rurales - Université de Parakou); Christian Todota (Département d’Economie et Sociologie Rurales - Université de Parakou); Yann Miassi (Département d’Economie et Sociologie Rurales - Université de Parakou) |
| Abstract: | Maize and cotton are two crops that are highly produced in North Benin. Their production has advantages as well as constraints. These advantages and constraints are considered in the choice of the producer to cultivate one of them. The objective of this study is to present, at first, the advantages and constraints that the producers of Kandi commune face on these two crops. It also aims to expose the producers' preference according to the advantages and constraints listed by them. To achieve this, the data were collected in two districts of the municipality over a period of two weeks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty producers through an interview guide. Data processing was carried out using a dual approach (quantitative and qualitative) which, on the one hand, consisted in carrying out statistical tests and, on the other hand, analyzing the statements collected during the data collection. The main statistical test used in this study is Kendall's W-concordance test, which has been used to prioritize constraints. At the end of the analyses, it appears that cotton, just like corn, enables producers to meet the needs and social development of their households. On the other hand, the non-organization of the maize sector, the lack of inputs and the delay in their distribution, maize prices fluctuation and difficulties in the evacuation of cotton are the main constraints reported by producers. Despite its lack of organization and the other constraints to which it is subject, maize crop is the most preferred. In view of this, it would be appropriate to consider the organization of the maize sector and the optimization of the services provided by the organizations in charge of the cotton sector. This will be beneficial to both production systems and to all actors involved. |
| Keywords: | Food security,Income,Advantages,Constraints,Farmer’s choice |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01852139&r=agr |