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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2018‒10‒22
105 papers chosen by |
| By: | Desalegn, Gashaw; Ali, Seid Nuru |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the empirical literature on the impact of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on different welfare outcomes of rural households in Ethiopia. The main finding of the review is that the PSNP had in general positive impacts on some attributes. PSNP has been found to have positive impacts on the food security of households, increasing crop yield and households’ income. It has also been found to impact welfare in the form of improved health and school attendance, higher rates of insurance uptake, and improved cognitive skills in children. However, there is scant evidence on how much PSNP has protected or mitigated the possible deterioration in the purchasing power of beneficiaries after shocks such as drought and food price spikes. There is one exception to this literature gap, which showed that PSNP had a role in mitigating the adverse impact of inflation on the cognitive skills of children. In the face of declining land to labour ratio, increasing population, changing climate and environmental challenges, an important issue that needs to be addressed through research is the impact of PSNP on the longer-term perspective of agricultural transformation in Ethiopia. Furthermore, an implicit assumption in almost all major studies in the country in relation to social protection interventions such as PSNP is that, rural agricultural households can make a better livelihood within the framework of agriculture. A process of rural transformation requires engagement of households in side-line activities such as cottage industry, small scale manufacturing and services activities. Investigating the role of PSNP in this regard might be useful. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Political Economy |
| Date: | 2018–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubonwp:278228&r=agr |
| By: | Liyanage, Kumuditha Hikkaduwa Epa; Bhavsar, Hiren A |
| Abstract: | The demand for the organic food has increased over the last few years in the USA but organic crop production is not increasing proportionally. In Tennessee numbers of certified organic farms are very low. This study attempts to identify and analyze fruit and vegetable farmers’ perceptions towards organic farming in Tennessee. Two hundred and fifty conventional and organic farmers were randomly selected from the Pick Tennessee products database. From the responses of 116 farmers revealed that 65% of respondents are following organic farming practices. Also, all the eight variables selected as farmers’ perceptions towards organic farming were affected growing practices. There were significant relationships (p≤ 0.05) between some growing practices and perceptions. Most of the organic farmers have identified high cost, labor intensity, pest and disease problems and certification process as challenges to continue organic farming. Conventional farmers have identified high cost of production, time consuming as some of major barriers to enter organic farming. Factors such as producing vegetables, farming experience, hours work per week on farm, gender, annual cash farm income contributed significantly to the adoption of organic farming. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266574&r=agr |
| By: | Laura Carlsona; Vera Bitsch |
| Abstract: | Alternative food networks (AFN) are self-organized groups of individuals and businesses that form new economic relationships intended to mitigate perceived problems in conventional food systems. These relationships are based on a set of principles and activities that contribute to a feeling of solidarity among participants. A grounded theory approach is used to examine the importance of solidarity in the operations of four AFN projects in the former East Germany. Data collection methods include document analysis and participant observation. Data were analyzed using the qualitative data analysis package Atlas-ti, and include photographs, printed materials, and field notes. Projects investigated include two community supported agriculture projects, one cooperative grocery, and one urban agriculture project. Results show that, although solidarity is explicitly mentioned by actors and official documents from each initiative, the concept is conceived of and implemented differently. Interactions between characteristics of the individuals who create and live out the rules that govern these new relationships, local social, environmental and economic history and current conditions and outside institutions result in complex, evolving socio-ecological systems that ripple out to related sets of actors. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276872&r=agr |
| By: | Solomon Asfaw (Green Climate Fund (GCF), South Korea); Giuseppe Maggio (University of Sussex); Alessandro Palma (CEIS - University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy; IEFE - Bocconi University, Milan, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the resilience capacity of rural Ethiopian households after the drought shock occurred in 2011. The work develops an original empirical framework able to capture the policy and socio-economic determinants of households’ resilience capacity by making parametric statistical assumption on the resilience distribution. To this end, the analysis employs a two-wave representative panel dataset aligned with detailed weather records while controlling for a large set of household- and community-level characteristics. The analysis shows that the majority of these factors affects significantly resilience capacity only in the group of households affected by the drought shock, suggesting that the observed effect relates to the adaptive capacity enabled by these factors, rather than a simple welfare effect. Three policy indications emerge from the findings of the empirical model. First, government support programmes, such as the PSNP, appear to sustain households’ resilience by helping them to reach the level of pre-shock total consumption, but have no impact on the food-consumption resilience. Secondly, the “selling out assets strategy” affects positively on households’ resilience, but only in terms of food consumption. Finally, the presence of informal institutions, such as social networks providing financial support, sharply increases households’ resilience by helping them to reach pre-shock levels of food and total consumption. Policies incentivizing the formation of these networks, through the participation of households to agricultural cooperative, agricultural associations, or community projects, may also help farmers in recovering their wealth level after a weather shock. |
| Keywords: | resilience, adaptation, livelihood strategy, food security, climate change, Ethiopia, drought. |
| JEL: | Q12 Q18 I32 C13 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2018-18&r=agr |
| By: | Franco Rosa; Federico Nassivera; Luca Iseppi |
| Abstract: | The food product innovation is advancing under pressure of: 1.st the growing request of innovations in foods products and processing challenging new consumers’ needs; 2.nd, the advance in nutrigenomics and its contribution to increase knowledge about the relation between nutrition and food, iii) biotechnologies contribution to create customized food products to satisfy a variety of customers’ needs (Hobbs, 2002). An emerging food product category is the nutraceutic food, contributing to satisfy ‘nutrients’ and ‘medical needs; beside it is easier with genomic techniques the original food composition to challenge the customers’ needs it must be considered the consumers’ adverse reaction for any technique used to change the food product composition. Purpose of this research is to suggest a modification of the sunflower oil composition obtained with genomic technique to change the product from bulk commodity to enhanced specialty food with health claims. The traditional bulk commodity market is based on uniform quality standard, higher volume of production priced at the minimum marginal cost. The specialty market segment demands products with distinctive attributes of higher quality and safety standards, more varieties and sustainability, supported by marketing mix strategies to set up higher prices and better margins according with customers’ preferences. A growing importance in consumers’ preferences are the combination of nutritional, health and environmental attributes that must be properly communicated with ad hoc messages describing the product’s claim. To test the consumers’ awareness about healthy claim and willingness to accept these enhanced food products, an explorative SEM analysis is conducted with a questionnaire. The results suggest that the consumer is in favor of the health and environmental care, nevertheless it is opportune to examine in deeper the causes (health claim, technology and environmental impact, communication, culture and others) to convince the consumers to adopt these functional product. The first part of the research is dedicated to analyze the innovations and demonstrate the scientific evidence of the health claims of the modified sunflower oil, describing the role of PUFA (Poly-unsaturated fatty acids). It is discussed the metabolic pathway of the eico-esanoid EPA and DHA generated from modified sunflower oil, responsible of benefic effects on the human metabolism. The second part is dedicated to the inference about the consumers’ acceptance of this functional sunflower oil using SEM model. It is our conviction that this procedure will open new perspectives of food innovation in creation of nutrition and healthy food to satisfy the growing population in the world. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276875&r=agr |
| By: | Biernat-Jarka, Agnieszka; Pawlowska-Tyszko, Joanna |
| Abstract: | The article presents types of subsidized crop insurance in agriculture. The purpose of the study was to discuss changes in the area of insured crops in 2009-2015 and to show the link between the introduction of the crop insurance law and the actual level of insurance contracts concluded by farmers. The study attempted to answer the question whether, the principle of compulsory insurance connected with the receipt of direct payments increased the interest of farmers in state-subsidized insurance. The article used data from Statistical Yearbooks of Central Statistical Office, reports of insurance companies submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network). The analysis covered detailed FADN agricultural accounting data for 2009-2015. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276375&r=agr |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Vardges; Shanoyan, Aleksan |
| Abstract: | The Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) model of Lewbel and Pendakur (2009) offers distinct advantages over its predecessor models, however it does not account for a widely observed phenomenon of pre-committed demand. This may lead to biased elasticity estimates when such pre-commitments are present. This study offers a methodological solution by deriving the generalized EASI (GEASI) model, which incorporates pre-committed quantities into the consumer demand structure. The empirical advantage of the GEASI model is illustrated through its application to the analysis of food demand structure in Russia based on novel provincial-level panel data on household food expenditures over 2007-2014. The results provide strong empirical evidence for the presence of pre-committed demand for key food commodities such as cereals, eggs, and fats/oils. Further comparative analysis highlights the significance of pre-commitment bias in the context of food demand in Russia and illustrates the effectiveness of the GEASI approach in addressing it. The findings extend the empirical literature on food demand in Russia by presenting estimated elasticities that account for potential pre-commitments as well as for unobserved provincial heterogeneity. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266579&r=agr |
| By: | Muli, Celestine; Gerber, Nicolas; Sakketa, Tekalign Gutu; Mirzabaev, Alisher |
| Abstract: | The frequency, duration, and magnitude of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and variation in rainfall onset and cessation periods will continue to increase. Such stress may result in significant shifts in the functioning of ecosystems. As climate change affects the capacity of ecosystems to mitigate the effects of extreme events such as drought and floods, leading to disruptions in water supply and food production, or to the destruction of infrastructure, human well‐being is ultimately impacted. Chief among those impacts are those on the four dimensions of food security: food availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. An interesting channel of impacts is through the observed and forecasted increase in the variability of water availability. This is said to cause uncertainty in agricultural production resulting in reduced productivity, food insecurity, weak economic growth and the widespread food poverty in Africa today. Due to overreliance on rain‐fed agriculture in Sub‐Saharan Africa, people usually engage in both temporary and permanent migration after consecutive years of bad harvests and reduced incomes from agriculture with migration acting as an adaptation strategy to climatic shocks. Food value chains can be significantly affected, something that the paper identifies as an area that requires further research mainly on the resilience of food value chains to water variability. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubonwp:278230&r=agr |
| By: | Njiraini, Georgina; Ngigi, Marther; Baraké, Evelyn |
| Abstract: | Women are under-acknowledged participants in Africa’s agriculture and food sector, supplying a large share of the labour, but facing significant obstacles, including unequal access to land, traditional division of labour, restrictions on mobility, unequal educational attainment, financial exclusion, and gender norms. As a result, women are being constrained to lower productivity jobs and earning less than men. Their underrepresentation persists all along agricultural value chains. These inequalities translate into lower welfare outcomes for women in addition to inefficient productivity gaps with negative consequences for food security on the continent. Technical and institutional innovations in agricultural value chains must therefore be developed and implemented in a way that considers the particular constraints faced by women in agriculture in order to be fully effective and to avoid further solidifying gender roles and gaps. These could include suitable labour-saving technologies, financial innovations, mechanisms for collective action, and an improved access for women to extension services. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubonwp:278229&r=agr |
| By: | Sebastian Jarzębowski; Natalia Bezat |
| Abstract: | In the last two decades, the topic of sustainability has moved from the fringes of supply chain management research to the mainstream and is now an area of significant research activity, and in particular the short food supply chains (SFSCs). The growing interest in SFSCs reflects the consumer demand for quality and traceability, given the alarming health crises in food markets. The SFSCs’ have potential to increase farm value added (margin distribution), promote sustainable farming systems, diversify production and contribute to local economic development. There are many different forms of SFSC, but they share a common characteristic of reduced numbers of intermediaries between the farmer or food producer, and the consumer. From a customers' point of view, SFSCs transfer more complete information about the origin of the food and, for producers, SFSCs retain a higher share of added value. In this paper, we highlight the importance of SFSC for sustainable economic development and present the current situation in EU. The SFSCs have potential to increase farm value added (profit allocation), promote sustainable farming systems, diversify production and contribute to local economic development. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276877&r=agr |
| By: | Griffin, Bretford; Hartarska, Valentina; Nadolnyak, Denis |
| Abstract: | One of the major demographic trends in the US is the aging of farm operators and landlords suggesting transition of farm ownership in the form of exit and disinvestment. This coincides with economic pressures on farmers’ incomes due to recent market volatility. We model retirement age farmers’ exit/disinvestment as the outcome of intertemporal utility maximization and identify the extent to which economic and demographic factors affect these choices using the Census of Agriculture farm-level data for the 1992-2012 period. Regression results highlight the role of demographic factors. Minority and female farmers are more likely to exit but female operators are less likely to disinvest, while family farms are less likely to exit. High sales farms are less likely to exit but more likely to disinvest possibly targeting a smaller production scale before retirement. The relative size of the non-agricultural economy is negatively associated with exit but positively with disinvestment, while off-farm work reduces exit probability only a little. However, flow economic variables such as return-on-assets and government payments do not seem to impact exit and disinvestment. These findings are largely consistent with the view that mainly demographic factors and size determine farmers’ decisions to retire, which has important policy implications. |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266616&r=agr |
| By: | Julia Anette Schreiner |
| Abstract: | Animal genetic diversity is a unique and irreplaceable heritage. Globally, about 20 % of all breeds or livestock populations are considered to be ‘at risk’ and 9 % are already extinct. On farm, the concentration on elite breeding lines has endangered a number of alternative breeds. In Germany, over half of the entire dairy cattle population belongs to only three dominant breeds. Although several alternative breeds are well known for superior functional characteristics like e.g. a good fertility, an excellent udder health, and their ability to adapt to diverse environments, they are increasingly replaced by Holstein cows due to higher milk performances. To design effective incentive schemes that encourage farmers to maintain desired breeds, it is crucially important to know about their preferences for certain contract components. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 160 dairy cattle breeders revealed determinants of farmers’ willingness to accept conservation contracts to conserve rare German cattle breeds like Red dual-purpose cattle or Angler cattle. We included attributes like the monitoring of pairing, requirements for the keeping conditions, a collective bonus for an increase in population by five percent and the contract length in our experimental design. A Random Parameter Logit (RPL) model revealed that farmers favor shorter contracts (one or five years), a bonus for a population increase and the requirement of outdoor access. In contrast, farmers rather reject to choose a contract that requires participation in a breeding program and the prohibition of slatted floors. Two distinctive classes of farmers can be identified based on the results of a Latent Class Model (LCM). Organic farmers are generally less likely to join a program and are even more disapproving contracts where the pairing is monitored by the breeding association. However, it seems that program requirements should not be too restrictive on the farm management and rather focus on the compensation of associated income loss. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276866&r=agr |
| By: | Anja Rovers; Nanke Brümmer; Inken Christoph-Schulz |
| Abstract: | Farm animal husbandry and animal welfare still are of growing interest in our society. Studies show a mismatch of citizens’ expectations and the present situation in many countries. Therefore intensive livestock production systems seem to lose their societal acceptability. Especially modern pig and poultry production systems are criticized, but dairy farming is also affected. This can more and more be observed in Germany, one of the EU’s biggest livestock producing countries. Against this background, the Scientific Advisory Board on Agricultural Policy, Food and Consumer Health Protection at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture established guidelines to ensure prospective animal husbandry practices, accepted by the majority of the German society. In this paper we present the actual perception of German citizens and the importance of different husbandry aspects based on seven of these guidelines. Thereby, pig, cattle and poultry production systems are considered and the animal species fattening pigs, dairy cattle as well as laying hens are compared. An online survey with at all 2.400 respondents was conducted in 2017. The survey is based on a qualitative pilot study. Therefore citizens were invited for focus groups about the topics pig, poultry and cattle production in Germany. For each topic six focus groups (poultry: eight) took place in three (poultry: four) German cities. Participants discussed about their perception of actual animal husbandry with respect to housing systems, animal health and well-being, regarding the crucial points of the Scientific Advisory Board’s guidelines. Using content analysis, main present husbandry factors in participants’ perception were identified: flooring type, space per animal, fresh air supply, manipulable material, outdoor access and daylight. Using a ranking procedure with these husbandry factors, main criticism points as well as sideshows could be identified for each of the three production systems, in particular fattening pig production, dairy cattle production and laying hens production. The results will contribute to establish livestock production systems in consensus with citizens’ preferences. Furthermore, results will be important for the constructions of upcoming stables for all investigated animal species. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276868&r=agr |
| By: | Ojo, Kehinde; VanSickle, John |
| Abstract: | Nepal is a developing country located in South Asia with high economic dependency on agriculture. Eighty percent of the population works in the agricultural sector, generating 40% of the GDP. Livestock is an important part of mixed farming with dairy generating about two-thirds of the livestock GDP. Almost three-fourths of the households in Nepal keep cattle and one-half keep buffalo for milk production. Even with a larger percentage of the animals being cattle, buffalo produced 71% of the milk. Cost of production is higher for cattle because cattle productivity declines after 5 to 6 lactations but must be kept in the herd because cattle cannot be slaughtered because of religious based policy. This makes milk production cost higher and reduces the competitiveness of milk in south Asia. The no slaughter policy puts Nepal at a disadvantage to other growers in south Asia. The purpose of this study was to assess the cost of production for producing milk and the impact of no slaughter policies on producers. Monte Carlo simulations were completed to quantify a baseline and alternative scenarios for milk production. Our results suggest that milk production would increase significantly allowing domestic consumption and trade to increase as well. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266646&r=agr |
| By: | Euan Fleming; Garry Griffith; Stuart Mounter; Monika Hartmann; Johannes Simons |
| Abstract: | Food value chain businesses form alliances with horizontal and/or vertical partners to take collective action to either overcome or ameliorate chain failure, or to take advantage of new opportunities available due to innovations in products or processes. The desired outcomes from the collective action would not be possible to achieve if these businesses acted independently. While such alliances may take many forms, depending on degree of commitment and infrastructure linkages, they can often be considered to be clubs. Four such types of clubs can be identified (1) horizontal clubs comprising businesses that take collective action across a single cross-section or an aggregate of multiple cross-sections in the value chain; (2) vertical clubs, which consist of businesses that form a strategic alliance for collective action along a single value chain within a network of chains; (3) clubs that specialise in a single product or multiple products in the value chain; or (4) clubs focusing on a single input/activity or multiple inputs/activities. Thus the path to collective action chosen by clubs may vary according to existing capabilities and the scope for collaboration, particularly in relation to the potential for value-creating innovation. The result of the collective action is the provision of a chain good or service which usually leads to greater and more valuable chain coordination. By collectively identifying, funding and acting to capture positive externalities associated with innovation, businesses in many parts of a food value chain can widen opportunities to increase whole-of-chain surplus as well as increase private profits. In this paper four mini-case studies are presented which demonstrate the breadth of past collective actions that have been undertaken by a substantial proportion of businesses in food value chains, two in Europe and two in Australia. These are (1) the Euro Pool System, (2) Global Standards certification in Europe and globally, (3) Meat Standards Australia, and (4) the OBE Beef organic producer alliance in Australia. Each case study yields insights into the rationale of how businesses in different food value chains in different countries have acted as a club to use their joint resources to internalise positive innovation and coordination externalities that would not have been possible to achieve were these businesses to act independently. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276878&r=agr |
| By: | Georges Giraud; Julie Le Gallo; Hippolyte Boucher |
| Abstract: | Representing 30% of food intake of 60% of planet’s inhabitants, rice is a staple food all over the world. According to FAO, worldwide rice production is about 504 million tons (milled basis) in 2017, while international rice trade is 45 million tons. With almost 9% exported, rice is not the top trade food commodity. 43% of wine worldwide produced is exported, 23% of wheat, 11% of maize and 7% of meat. The rice market is mainly composed of coarse rice all over the world. It also includes 18% of aromatic rice, coming from a limited number of countries where the pedoclimatic conditions and human know-how make a specific terroir. Aromatic rice is often protected by a Geographical Indication (GI). This is the case of Basmati, from India and Pakistan, using a collective trade mark since 2008 in Pakistan, and Jasmine from Thailand, bearing a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) as Khao Hom Mali, since 2013. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276862&r=agr |
| By: | Edi Defrancesco; Junko Kimura |
| Abstract: | A GI system for protection of agricultural products and foodstuffs has been recently introduced in Japan aiming to provide a tool for: i) tapping into rural development; ii) increasing exports; iii) preserving the traditional products’ heritage and iv) improve products’ differentiation. Twelve registered GIs are analysed by grouping them in four categories according to their target market and consumer awareness. Our direct survey findings show that each product category is mainly focused on one of the above-mentioned targets, has specific SWOT factors, has different expectations from the GI recognition, its GIs’ governance system works differently, and that specific well-tailored policies are needed. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276861&r=agr |
| By: | Ian Chambers, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Robert Costanza, Julian Cribb, Sean Kerins, Melissa George, Glenn James, Howard Pedersen, Paul Lane, Peter Christopherson, Jennifer Ansell, Kamaljit Sangha |
| Abstract: | The release of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change agreement highlighted the importance of global sustainability internationally. Here, we outline a vision and strategies for developing northern Australia that demonstrate how a focus on sustainable prosperity can both expand historical approaches and current government plans and integrate the biophysical realities with the social, political, and cultural characteristics of the region. We highlight examples of the significant horizontal and vertical integration opportunities that this expanded vision and related strategies provide for (a) land (carbon farming, targeted food production systems, and native title arrangements); (b) water (water resources management); (c) energy (renewable energy production, storage, and distribution); (d) workforce (culturally appropriate ecotourism, Indigenous ranger programs, and protected area management); (e) knowledge services (health care and innovative employment opportunities); and (f) governance (greater participatory governance). We found that realisation of even 10% of these emerging opportunities over the next 10 years alone could result in economic growth worth over AUD 15 billion and 15,000+ jobs for northern Australia as well as the further ecological and social benefits derived from a sustainable prosperity strategy. |
| Keywords: | ecological sustainability, northern Australia, sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable prosperity |
| Date: | 2018–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:appswp:201844&r=agr |
| By: | Charis Linda Braun; Meike Rombach; Vera Bitsch; Anna Maria Häring |
| Abstract: | With the European Union’s move towards “green public procurement”, there is an opportunity to bring more local organic produce into school catering. The present study investigates the value chain supplying school catering with organic produce, using the organic vegetable industry in the Berlin-Brandenburg region as an example. It employs a qualitative case study approach to explore industry actors’ perspectives and their activities within the value chain. Data is collected by conducting ten in-depth interviews with actors on different supply chain levels (production, wholesale, and school catering) and is analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that, while organic food is generally important in school catering in Berlin, locally produced organic vegetables play only a minor role. Inter-organizational coordination of value-added activities could help to further utilize the potential for local organic vegetable production and enable joint investments into lacking infrastructure such as pre-processing facilities. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276863&r=agr |
| By: | Euan Fleming; Garry Griffith; Stuart Mounter; Derek Baker |
| Abstract: | Certain members of a population consciously and deliberately decide to take joint action to provide particular types of goods or services that are at least partly excludable and at least partly congestible because it is too costly to provide such goods individually. These goods are called club goods or collective goods. We first define some key concepts in club theory and public choice. This includes the prospects for determining the optimal level of membership of a club, how to determine the optimal level and range of provision of services by a club, and consideration of the dynamics of club membership. Then we examine the ways in which club theory can help provide an alternative approach to recognising and overcoming market failure in agricultural and food value chains. We note that useful insights can be gained by considering value chains as ‘latent clubs’. That is, they are systems that exist but which are either inactive or have not been fully developed, but which have the potential for improvement through collective action. If value chain members do exploit an opportunity to reap the rewards of collective action, then forming a club that comprises the whole chain or a subset of chain members offers an efficient organisation design to do so. We find that all of the calculus that has been identified for clubs can be applied to agricultural and food value chains. However, there are two particular issues that require further consideration. One is the nature of risk in agricultural value chains, and how it is related to member preferences, and the other is the form of collective action to be taken by agricultural value chains in the future. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276879&r=agr |
| By: | Per Engelseth; I Nyoman Pujawan; Mirwan Ushada |
| Abstract: | The house of risk model represents an approach to mitigate risk through systematically analysing data risk agents based on empirical findings through prioritizing them. Food production is associated with uncertainty both within the production system as well as in environment. Given the state of current technology, including its rapid development impacting on connectivity in supply chains, the house of risk model is considered through this conceptual study applying an ecosystems approach on how to mitigate risk in food chains in their many-faceted environmental setting. Ecosystems thinking is rooted in a normative quest to secure sustainability. It also is at the operations level a complex system. It is pointed out that an ecosystems approach encompasses mixed methods, including both deterministic and complex systems. The nature of this complementarity is discussed. The study provides a list of four issues regarding using the house of risk model within an ecosystem: (1) ethical, (2) development, (3) operations and (4) discourse. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276882&r=agr |
| By: | Anand, Mohit; Miao, Ruiqing; Khanna, Madhu |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates farmers’ willingness to grow bio-energy crops (namely, miscanthus and switchgrass) while accounting for their preferences toward loss. We model a representative farmer’s optimal land allocation problem between conventional crops and bio-energy crops by employing the prospect theory. Numerical simulation is conducted for 1,919 U.S. counties east of the 100th Meridian that have yield data for corn and for at least one bio-energy crop. Results show that all else equal, if farmers are credit constrained then accounting for loss aversion will decrease the miscanthus production but increase switchgrass production. If farmers are not credit constrained, however, then accounting for loss aversion only has small impact on bio-energy crop production, indicating that the availability of credit mitigates the effect of farmers’ loss preferences. We also find that biomass production on marginal land is less sensitive to farmers’ loss aversion than production on high quality land is, which underscores the importance of marginal land in providing biomass for the bio-energy and bio-product sector. Moreover, results show that impact of loss aversion is smaller when interest rate is low as compare to scenarios under which interest rate is high. Geographical configuration of biomass production under various loss aversion, credit constraint, and interest rate scenarios are examined as well. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266326&r=agr |
| By: | Roy, Tirthankar |
| Abstract: | A view popular in Indian economic history scholarship claims that the institutional and commercial policy of British India made the rich Indians richer and the poor poorer during colonial rule. The paper shows that the evidence to support the conjecture is weak. Missing data on peasant income makes it hard to generalize on aggregate trends in inequality. But the evidence does question the role of state policy behind trends in inequality. An alternative account starts from the distinction between land-dependent and trade-dependent occupations. The open economy of the nineteenth century affected these two spheres differently. Low and stagnant land-productivity limited the average return that accrued to land-dependent occupations. Occupations directly or indirectly dependent on trading could escape the constraint partially. |
| Keywords: | colonialism; inequality; British Empire; South Asia |
| JEL: | N15 N3 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:90409&r=agr |
| By: | Me-Nsope, Nathalie M.; Nankhuni, Flora J. |
| Abstract: | Background : Pigeon pea (Cajunus Cajan) is a crop that is well adapted in the semi-arid tropics. The legume is also highly drought tolerant (compared to maize, tobacco and cotton), and its long taproot is advantageous in accessing nutrients in deeper soil profiles (Snapp et al. 2003). The crop is also well adapted to the needs of poor smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics (Jones, Freeman, and Le Monaco 2002), because compared to maize, an important cash crop in Malawi, pigeon pea production is less resource intensive.1 Because of its adaptation to the agro-ecology in eastern Kenya, southern Malawi, northern Mozambique, southern Tanzania and northern Uganda, pigeon pea is a legume of choice grown by local population and the crop is particularly important in the diets in these regions (Jones, Freeman, and Le Monaco 2002). Smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa grow pigeon pea for subsistence and as a cash crop (Jones, Freeman, and Le Monaco 2002). At the household-level, the plant has multiple uses— its dried seed, pods and immature seeds are consumed as green vegetables; the leaves and stems are used for fodder and the dry stems are used as fuel (Simtowe et al. 2010). Compared to the dominant maize crop, pigeon pea grain has a high protein content of 21 to 25 percent (ibid), thus making it a valuable source of protein for many poor families who cannot afford other sources of protein, such as dairy and meat (Me-Nsope and Larkins 2016). The crop is also promoted in Malawi for its potential contribution to soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation as well as from the leaf fall and recycling of the nutrients (Mhango, Snapp, and Phiri 2012; Snapp et al. 2002). Pigeon pea also has a strong potential to contribute to national food security through market possibilities. Almost two decades ago, Orr et al (2014) found that in the southern region of Malawi, the legume accounts for approximately 20% of household income among poor farmers. Several studies observe the potential the crop offers to improve livelihoods of resource-poor farmers (Bie 2008; De Schutter 2010); Mula and Saxena 2010). Despite these numerous potential benefits, smallholders continue to face numerous challenges that limit their ability to reap these benefits. Several questions remain about the performance, competitiveness, and profitability of pigeon pea production and marketing, and the ability of the value chain to contribute to the food security and poverty reduction objectives of the country of Malawi. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:275676&r=agr |
| By: | Nehring, Richard; Gillespie, Jeffrey; Erickson, Kenneth; Harris, J. Michael; Heutte, Silke; Sauer, Johannes |
| Abstract: | With rapid structural change in the U.S. dairy industry, we use data from USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey to determine financial performance, scale efficiency, and technical efficiency associated with U.S. conventional and pasture-based milk production during 2010-2016. Large farms generally outperformed smaller farms in terms of technical efficiency, profitability measures, and returns to scale. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266535&r=agr |
| By: | Tewari, Rachna; Gonzalez, Carmen Alamo; Martinez, Franklin Roman; Mehlhorn, Joseph; Jones, April |
| Abstract: | Federal nutrition assistance programs at farmers' markets are considered effective strategies to support direct marketing of local produce, and to increase consumer access to healthy food in low-income communities. This research consisted of a preliminary exploratory survey for participating FMNP farmers and recipients at the farmers’ markets in the regions of west Tennessee and Puerto Rico. Survey questionnaires were administered to participating FMNP vendors (farmers) and recipients at the farmers’ markets in west Tennessee and Puerto Rico, in cooperation with the respective state agencies (Tennessee Department of Health, Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and Puerto Rico Department of Family). The results from the study suggest that most recipients and vendors in both locations consider the program to be working effectively. Study findings will also provide policy recommendations to expand and improve the existing program, as well as to enhance direct marketing of local produce. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266495&r=agr |
| By: | Chen, Xuan; Vuong, Nguyen |
| Keywords: | Household and Labor Economics, Rural/Community Development, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274187&r=agr |
| By: | Alex L. Marten; Richard Garbaccio; Ann Wolverton |
| Abstract: | The requisite scope of analysis to adequately estimate the social cost of environmental regulations has been subject to much discussion. The literature has demonstrated that engineering or partial equilibrium cost estimates likely underestimate the social cost of large-scale environmental regulations and environmental taxes. However, the conditions under which general equilibrium (GE) analysis adds value to welfare analysis for single-sector technology or performance standards, the predominant policy intervention in practice, remains an open question. Using a numerical computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we investigate the GE effects of regulations across different sectors, abatement technologies, and regulatory designs. Our results show that even for small regulations the GE effects are significant, and that engineering estimates of compliance costs can substantially underestimate the social cost of single-sector environmental regulations. We find the downward bias from using engineering costs to approximate social costs depends on the input composition of abatement technologies and the regulated sector. |
| Keywords: | environmental regulation, general equilibrium, social costs |
| JEL: | D58 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201806&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, Haiyan; Zivkovic, Sanja |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:267163&r=agr |
| By: | Ståle Navrud |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews and compares five case studies on quantification and economic valuation of benefits in cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of regulating phthalates, mercury, PFOA (perfluoro-octanic acid) and its salts, NMP (1 methyl-2-pyrroloidine) and formaldehyde. The case studies had all been carried out as part of the SACAME project, and the purpose of the present paper is to draw out cross-cutting findings from these studies. |
| Keywords: | Chemicals regulations, cost-benefit analysis, damage function, ecosystem services, health benefits, impact pathway |
| JEL: | D61 J17 Q51 Q53 Q57 |
| Date: | 2018–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:136-en&r=agr |
| By: | Erandathie Pathiraja; Garry Griffith; Bob Farquharson; Rob Faggian |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276938&r=agr |
| By: | Segovia, Michelle S.; Palma, Marco A.; Nayga Jr., Rodolfo M. |
| Abstract: | By randomizing the order in which participants perform a cognitive test and a food choice task in a controlled experiment, we show that overweight and obese participants exhibit an anticipatory food reward effect. Eye tracking data revealed that temptation, in the form of visual attention, and emotional arousal was higher under low cognitive resources. The anticipation of food reward helped enhance the mental resources of overweight and obese individuals and improve their performance in a cognitive test. However, there was no anticipation reward among normal weight participants. Our results support the notion that rewarding processes underlying food intake present similar patterns to those behind other forms of addiction. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| Date: | 2018–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266457&r=agr |
| By: | Nguyen, Nam; Pozo, Veronica F. |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Research Methods/Econometrics/Stats, Food and Agricultural Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273840&r=agr |
| By: | Nicolas Fuchshofen; Darya Hirsch; Lilian Irene Brodtmann; Wiltrud Terlau |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276905&r=agr |
| By: | Yeon, Kwanghun; Han, Doo Bong |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266534&r=agr |
| By: | Wu, Tingting; Thomassin, Paul J. |
| Keywords: | Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Environmental and Nonmarket Valuation |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274418&r=agr |
| By: | Holcomb, Rodney B.; Bowser, Timothy J. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2018–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266458&r=agr |
| By: | Oh, Saera; Cho, Sung Ju |
| Keywords: | International Trade, Agribusiness Economics and Management, Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274267&r=agr |
| By: | Kim, Dahye; Ahn, Byeong-il |
| Keywords: | Food Safety and Nutrition, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Food and Agricultural Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273886&r=agr |
| By: | Chen, Bowen; Villoria, Nelson B. |
| Keywords: | International Trade, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274285&r=agr |
| By: | Lee, Keehyun; Capps, Oral |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Food and Agricultural Marketing, Household and Labor Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274149&r=agr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven; Smale, Melinda; Kergna, Alpha; Thériault, Veronique; Assima, Amidou |
| Abstract: | Herbicide use has grown rapidly in Mali over the past decade and a half. Quantities imported have more than doubled since the year 2000, while unit prices have fallen by 50% in CFAF francs (Table 1). Unlike fertilizer, which receives a 50% government-financed price subsidy, herbicide users pay full commercial price. While large-scale government subsidies have fueled recent increases in fertilizer availability, rapid growth in herbicide use has emerged as a result of purely private sector supply systems meeting growing on-farm demand. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2016–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:260401&r=agr |
| By: | Xiao, Wei (Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics); Zhao, Guochang (Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of agricultural land on rural-urban migration and the labor market outcomes in the context of China. We employ the rural sample of the 2009 RUMiC data, which cover approximately 8000 rural households in 82 counties of China. We find that an increase in the agricultural land of a household tends to increase the household members’ propensity for migration for working in cities. We also find that an increase in land significantly decreases the number of days of migration, increases the number of days of farming work, and decreases the number of days of local non-farming work. More interestingly, the negative effect on time for local non-farming work is much larger than that for non-local non-farming work. The increase in the amount of agricultural land also pushes household members to move further. These results show us a new pattern different from the literature. To explain such a difference, we compare the effect of land among different age-groups and find that the positive link between agricultural land and rural-urban migration only exists for young people. Therefore, our results may reflect the change of the role of agricultural land over time. Our finding that less agricultural land hinders rural-urban migration suggests that, to help rural residents access opportunities in cities, governments should implement policies targeting households with less agricultural land. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land, rural-urban migration, time allocation, China; Transport infrastructure; high-speed rail; firm performance; inventory; China |
| Date: | 2018–10–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xjt:rieiwp:2018-09&r=agr |
| By: | Adams, Kerr; Kovacs, Kent |
| Abstract: | Agriculture in the Arkansas Delta region is dependent upon the accessibility of irrigation water. The most common irrigation water source is groundwater. This practice has led to the depletion of groundwater which is having a damaging influence on the natural resources of the state and the productions costs of agriculture in the region. The adoption of reservoirs and tail-water recovery systems are being promoted as a way of minimizing groundwater depletion and promoting surface water irrigation. Despite the long term benefits of surface water use, many producers are reluctant to adopt the water saving practices. To better understand the barriers of adoption, this project uses the responses from producers who took part in the Arkansas Irrigation Survey in 2016. The responses from this survey are used to find which factors are correlated with the adoption of water storage facilities. The research finds that peer networks are positively correlated with the adoption of surface water irrigation. Producers who know someone who has already adopted surface water irrigation practices, are more likely to have adopted. The results of this research can be used to help extension agencies promote surface water irrigation. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266494&r=agr |
| By: | Tester, Colson; Popp, Michael; Kemper, Nathan; Nalley, Lanier |
| Abstract: | The third most consumed meat around the world is beef. Despite global demand side growth, cattle markets experience price cycles related to biological production lags causing variability in cashflow and profitability for producers. Price-driven herd size management strategies thus have received attention. This study adds to that literature by analyzing both price and production risk using three herd size management strategies: i) constant size – holding herd size constant; ii) dollar cost averaging – keeping reinvestment constant by varying the number of replacement heifers retained at a constant long run average dollar total; and iii) moving average – using an uptrend/downtrend price signal to lower/increase production in anticipation of future price declines/increases. These strategies are evaluated with and without weather induced forage availability changes that impact the relative profitability and risk of these strategies over the most recent 2004-2014 cattle cycle. This analysis is useful for decision makers of medium- to large-scale cow-calf operations. Results suggest that price signal-based strategies can enhance profitability but the managerial cost required for this type of herd size management is deemed larger than its benefit. Weather risk did not impact this conclusion. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266539&r=agr |
| By: | Louisa von Hardenberg; Heinke Heise |
| Abstract: | Many consumers express strong demands for higher farm animal welfare standards – especially in conventional livestock husbandry systems. This applies primarily to products from pork production, as consumers have recognized a quality decrease in recent years. Although pig farmers are key stakeholders for the implementation of animal welfare programs (AWPs) there is little evidence of their attitudes towards farm animal welfare (FAW) and AWPs. Thus, the main objective of this investigation was to investigate pig farmers’ attitudes towards FAW and AWPs and to determine target groups for participation in AWPs. Therefore, an explorative factor analysis and a hierarchical cluster analysis were applied. Three farmer groups were identified which significantly differ regarding their attitudes towards FAW and their willingness to participate in AWPs. This paper represents a starting point for the design of tailor-made strategies to increase the market penetration of AWPs. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276867&r=agr |
| By: | Jean-Marc Montaud (CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour); Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari (CATT - Centre d'Analyse Théorique et de Traitement des données économiques - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the need for a better access to health services has become a social objective in many sub-Saharan African countries that seek to achieve the Millennium Goals for Development. Yet such pursuits raise questions about the appropriate balance between the social goals and economic objectives of poverty reduction policies, such that measures promoting agricultural growth might appear as a more effective strategies. This article explores how an improvement of health subsidies policy in Uganda experiment might meet both these social and economic goals. Focusing on the relationship between farmers' health and agricultural productivity, we use a computable general equilibrium model and a non-parametric micro-simulation model to predict the effect of this policy. The results show that it is likely to increase both households' access to health care and growth processes. They also show that in a context marked by scarce budgetary resources, it is possible to maximise the impact of this policy by reallocating subsidies toward the categories of health care with the greatest impacts on workers' productivity or toward rural households. |
| Keywords: | Poverty,Computable general equilibrium model,Health policy,Micro-simulation |
| Date: | 2018–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01880339&r=agr |
| By: | Du, Xiaoxue; Ye, Fanglin |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies, Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274373&r=agr |
| By: | Jostein Vik; Gunn-Turid Kvam |
| Abstract: | International trade in agriculture open markets abroad for producers and suppliers. However, the capacity to serve these markets are not evenly distributed. For many exporters it is a challenge to access foreign markets and connect to global value chains (GVC). Agricultural markets are often characterised by asset specificity and oligopsonic market structures. These are features that tend to imply hierarchic governance structures and asymmetric dependencies. Thus, for the exporters, how to engage with partners in order to access foreign markets becomes critical. In this paper we explore how three export initiatives from Norwegian agriculture coordinate and connect to global value chains. We discuss the mode of governance, as well as the role of middlemen. We further discuss the characteristics of the coordination and the strategic implications for the exporting partners. The three cases are export of Whey protein concentrate (WPC 80) from Tine SA, export of the genetic material (The breed Norwegian Red) from Geno SA, and cured meat of lamb legs (fenalår) from the company Fenalår from Norway SA. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276869&r=agr |
| By: | Seidu, Ayuba |
| Keywords: | Household and Labor Economics, Agribusiness Economics and Management, Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274154&r=agr |
| By: | Ralph Tröger; Sebastian Clanzett; Richard Joachim Lehmann |
| Abstract: | Visibility data (providing details about supply chain activities in e.g. production, logistics, and quality processes) is of highly sensitive nature – not just in the food sector, but also beyond. Amongst other things, unauthorized data access can be (mis)used to uncover supply chain relationships, volumes, and other business context information. At the same time, it becomes increasingly important to share visibility data with trading partners, e.g. to meet customer requirements and legal obligations. So far, it is not a trivial matter to access or even discover that data, which is often stored in numerous distributed databases. A possible means to overcome this predicament is a Discovery Service (DS), which has knowledge of the parties owning information about specific objects (e.g. product batches) and can provide pointers to the actual data sources to authorized clients while leaving no opportunity to misuse accessible data. It is important to note that a DS itself does not contain actual visibility data, but only references to it. Yet, even the knowledge that party A, B and C have information about a specific product is still sensitive as the querying client would be able to reveal the flow of goods and may take advantage of that knowledge. For instance, he could identify his supplier’s upstream vendor and, for the sake of saving costs, try to procure products directly from that upstream vendor rather than from his previous supplier. Hence, a DS should provide the ability to prevent such scenarios if it strives to achieve a high level of acceptance. A key enabler for a DS is a trust-inspiring means to ascertain whether a querying party is actually part of a given chain of custody (CoC). In conjunction with a set of rules previously defined by the respective data owners, the DS is then able to decide which service addresses (if at all) can be provided in the message response to the query client. Afterwards, the querying party can gather detailed information about a specific object by querying the indicated data sources. In this context, our paper addresses the following research question: How can a DS ascertain if and to which extent a trading partner, whether known or not, is entitled to get pointers to visibility data stored in distributed repositories while ensuring privacy of the data owners? In pursuing this research question, we first provide the relevant background including the current state of the art. Second, we explain and discuss the solution approach and complete our paper by outlining the solution we are going to realize in the course of the research project ‘FoodAuthent’ (funded by the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture). |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276870&r=agr |
| By: | Hendricks, Nathan P.; Haroon Bin Farrukh, Syed |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, International Trade |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274334&r=agr |
| By: | Khan, Saad Ullah; Asirvatham, Jebaraj |
| Abstract: | About 49 million Americans – roughly 15% of entire America - live in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. Past experiences and fear of food accessibility could affect the quality of diet and eating behavior in many ways. In this study we examine long-term trends in food insecurity and obesity over a 20-year period. We specifically examine the changing role of health behaviors in the association between food insecurity and obesity. Most studies on this topic have conducted cross-sectional analysis. Examining this association over time would help us make more careful considerations in making policies. Until recently, it was assumed that the only reason for being overweight was excessive eating. Food insecurity could also cause weight gain due to adverse social and physical environments with identifiable risk factors. It is imperative to know that food security and poverty are both forms of material deficit which bring about a range of detrimental results such as excess weight gain. Food insecurity is a continuum of experiences ranging from the most extreme form, starvation, to complete food security and changes in food security status can be temporary, cyclical, medium or long term. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266725&r=agr |
| By: | Simmons, Vivian; Yu, Jisang |
| Keywords: | Food Safety and Nutrition, International Development, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273892&r=agr |
| By: | Edi Defrancesco; Maria Angela Perito; Irene Bozzolan; Leonardo Cei; Gianluca Stefani |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276913&r=agr |
| By: | Sulewski, Piotr |
| Abstract: | The study attempts to assess the economic viability of afforestation of poor quality agricultural lands. The change in the direction of use of the poorest soils is justified both for environmental and agro-economic reasons. Assumptions regardingt he increase in the forest cover ratio have been inscribed in the National Woodland Extension Programme for over 20 years. The analyses showed that afforestation of the poorest agricultural lands executed with the support of the so-called “Afforestation programme” under the RDP may result in an improvement in agricultural income. Obtaining positive effects in this area, however, depends on, the possibility of carrying out afforestation and care works with the involvement of only own workforce. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276379&r=agr |
| By: | Levi, Loic; Chavas, Jean-Paul |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273831&r=agr |
| By: | Benjamin, Catherine; Gallic, Ewen |
| Keywords: | Household and Labor Economics, Production Economics, Food Safety and Nutrition |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274185&r=agr |
| By: | Ferreira, Marcelo D P; Feres, Jose |
| Keywords: | Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274436&r=agr |
| By: | Sampson, Gabriel; Perry, Edward |
| Keywords: | Natural Resource Economics, Environmental and Nonmarket Valuation, Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274300&r=agr |
| By: | Zietara, Wojciech; Zielinski, Marek |
| Abstract: | The paper aims, above all, at assessment of the effects of allocating straw surplus from the Polish agriculture to energy purposes or as a source of additional organic matter in the soil. Consequently, the authors discuss the issue of significance of straw as an alternative energy source and draw attention to the role of organic matter in improving the production potential of soils and carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. Additionally, the paper analyses economic effects and development possibilities of farms having non-negative balance of CO2 sequestration at the backdrop other farms. The study used literature data from 2,069 farms specialising in cereal, oilseed crop and high protein crop farming and running accountancy for the Polish FADN in 2015. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276383&r=agr |
| By: | Oliver Meixner; Magdalena Kubinger; Parissa Haghirian; Rainer Haas |
| Abstract: | Within the study, we show that it is quite demanding to conduct consumer surveys abroad, in particular, if the targeted society differs in so many ways from the one of the home market. The results of a study are presented analyzing consumer behavior in the Japanese rice market. We evaluated the preferences of Japanese consumers in rice. Amongst others, focus was set on origin (which is actually a prominent attribute in Western European food markets). To approximate the impact of relevant attributes influencing consumers’ purchasing decision (origin, brand, quality seals and price), a discrete choice experiment was conducted with Japanese consumers, mainly living in urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276881&r=agr |
| By: | Pawlak, Jan |
| Abstract: | The paper presents economic effects of using GHG emission reduction technologies on model farms. Replacement of traditional tillage with aggregate for direct tillage and seeding (as contractor services) caused increase in annual operation cost of tillage on the model farm by 308.5%. Total annual operation costs of farm machinery on model farm (including costs of contractor services) increased by 25.2% in spite of a decrease in Diesel oil consumption by 26.8%. CO2 emissions per value unit of production decreased by 22.6%. Replacement of traditional crop production technology with energy-efficient one causes reduction of CO2 emission per value unit of obtained production by 22.6%. Change of technology, advisable from the ecological point of view, is not realistic because of the increase in the machinery operation costs and decrease in the production value on model farm. This barrier could be overcome with the use of relevant financial support, which however has adequate consequences for the state budget. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276380&r=agr |
| By: | Sharma, Sankalp; Walters, Cory G. |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Behavioral & Institutional Economics, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273881&r=agr |
| By: | Jensen, Kimberly L.; Griffith, Andrew P.; DeLong, Karen L.; McLeod, Elizabeth M. |
| Abstract: | There is considerable farmer interest in finishing cattle and selling them through a Tennessee Certified Beef (TCB) Program. Given this level of interest, it is helpful to better understand how beef cattle farmers might prefer to sell their TCB cattle (e.g., private contracts, marketing cooperative, processing cooperative). This study uses a multinomial logit model and data from a 2016 beef cattle farmer survey to estimate influences on the probability of selecting a particular marketing arrangement. The most commonly selected marketing arrangement was a processing cooperative (42.99 percent), followed by a marketing cooperative (38.55 percent), and private contracting (18.46 percent). |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266325&r=agr |
| By: | Hansen, Kristiana M.; Hovhannisyan, Vardges |
| Keywords: | Natural Resource Economics, Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274303&r=agr |
| By: | Regmi, Madhav; Tack, Jesse B. |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274468&r=agr |
| By: | Chmielewska, Barbara |
| Abstract: | Following enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and in the subsequent years, 13 new members, including Poland (EU-13), were covered with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The introduced reforms contributed to improvement of the agrarian structure and a drop in the labour inputs in agriculture. Consequently, countries from the group of the EU-13 were characterised by higher farm income growth dynamics than countries that have been members of the EU for a much longer time (EU-15). The paper aims at assessment of whether the period following the accession was marked by real convergences (in 2010 prices) of farm incomes per labour input unit expressed in AWU or whether the process was reversed – there occurred divergence between the EU Member States, especially between the group of the EU-13 and the EU-15. To this end, comparative analysis method was used relying on measure of diversity of distribution used in statistics. The study was mainly based on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA, Eurostat). The study covers the years between 2004 and 2016. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, International Development, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276385&r=agr |
| By: | Wineman, Ayala |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the welfare and livelihood strategies of women in rural Tanzania after they exit marriage. We draw from a three-wave individual-level longitudinal survey, using a correlated random effects approach within regression analysis to control for time-invariant individual effects. Attention is given to whether women exit marriage through widowhood or divorce, and whether they subsequently become household heads or join another household. Nearly 40% of widowed or divorced women are not the heads of their households, but instead reside with relatives. We find that women, and particularly widows, are more likely to be poor after marriage exit. Upon widowhood or divorce, women also work longer hours in off-farm employment, and those who become household heads are especially likely to experience a reduction in land access and a heightened reliance on non-farm income, including the receipt of transfers. This underscores the importance of both the non-farm economy and family networks for women′s livelihoods after marriage. Results illustrate that women′s experiences outside of marriage are diverse and cannot be broadly proxied with a household status of being female-headed. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2017–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:261671&r=agr |
| By: | Adusumilli, Naveen; Wang, Hua |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266542&r=agr |
| By: | Suram Balasubrahmanyam (Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode) |
| Abstract: | In light of ever increasing shortages of several key resources like water and oil, it is growing more and more indispensable to embrace new technologies and new business models to address the imbroglio of food scarcity and crises all over the globe. While technology paradigms like precision farming, drip irrigation, cloud seeding and genetic farming have solved this problem to some extent, the benefits gained were either one-sided or sub-optimal in nature apart from few concerns pertaining to the ecology. The upcoming vertical farming paradigm seems to address all these issues in a holistic manner. Given the finite resources on planet earth, it makes sense to be prudent in leveraging our scarce resources. Resource leverage framework from the domain of strategic management maps very well to this vertical farming paradigm. This paper attempts to synthesize wisdom from the dual domains of agriculture and strategic management in terms of various resource leverage practices that come to the rescue of humanity facing a multitude of resource shortages. As it is an emerging paradigm, ground level difficulties need to be addressed step by step in a spirit of discovery-driven planning before scaling up this paradigm. No technology is perfect on day one and vertical farming is no exception. Governments need to promulgate laws and policies that are congenial and conducive towards making this vertical paradigm a reality so that an entrepreneurial opportunity is leveraged for the larger benefit of nations along with the vertical farms |
| Keywords: | Vertical Farming |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iik:wpaper:276&r=agr |
| By: | Jean Ruffier (ISEOR - Institut de Socio-économie des Entreprises et des ORganisations - Institut de socio-économie des entreprises et des organisations); Jorge Walter; Hernán Manson (ITC (UNCTAD-WTO) - International Trade Center - WTO - UNCTAD) |
| Abstract: | In a research undertaken in the early 2000s, we observed a change in existing regulations in the European Union (specifically, the appearance of Eurep Gap norms and mandatory traceability) faced by small and medium off-season fruit exporting companies from Uruguay and Argentina. For producers to be able to make the necessary investments, some of their main clients –we will refer in this paper to the prototypical case of the French supermarket Carrefour– changed the type of contract they used to sign with them (common in captive value chains) and adopted a type of contract more frequent in relational chains. The new contracts were based in a cahier de charges agreed with the producers regarding the changes to be implemented, offering a price stability guarantee as a counterpart for the period necessary to implement them. Did this mean that producers abandoned their traditional products and production modes? By means of a historical analysis of their exporting trajectories, the study of the chains –made from the point of view of the producers– revealed, on the contrary, that their resilience (understood as their ability to face difficult situations, remaining competitive) depended in the long term from a prudent combination of offensive strategies –as the one mentioned in the beginning– and defensive ones, based on maintaining old and local productions and distribution channels (not always), less profitable than exporting. |
| Keywords: | Global Value Chains,Quality Adaptation |
| Date: | 2018–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01879351&r=agr |
| By: | Sulewski, Piotr; Was, Adam |
| Abstract: | The paper attempts at assessment of usefulness of the index-based insurance of gross margin compared to traditional production insurances. The analysis used FADN data and was limited to the example of winter wheat. The conducted simulations showed that the category of gross margin is characterized by higher variability than yields or prices, thus the costs of its insurance expressed as fair premium would be higher than the costs of traditional production insurance. However, the major problem in case of index-based insurances is still the basic risk related to the possibility that part of the insured will not receive compensation even though they incurred losses. The conducted analyses showed that the assumption of the index basing on the average drop in yields in a voivodeship would result in major percentage of errors as regards payment and refusal of payment of the compensation compared to individual insurance. Structuring of the system of index-based insurances would require collecting data – to construct indices – from areas of much smaller territorial coverage. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Political Economy |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276382&r=agr |
| By: | Ganc, Marzena |
| Abstract: | The study shows the efficiency of the dairy cooperative depending on the level of their current financial liquidity. Cooperatives were grouped according to the current liquidity ratio using quartiles methods and significance e test of the differences between the groups was conducted on the groups. Adopted to verify the hypothesis that dairy cooperatives with liquidity above the recommended standards of literature show highest efficiency adopted for verification. The most advantageous financial conditions were characterized by dairy cooperatives with liquidity above and within the limits recommended in the literature. This may be due to the fact that having adequate levels of liquidity may be in the form of cooperative farming more important than maximizing financial performance. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Financial Economics, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276386&r=agr |
| By: | Chen, Kuan-Ju; Marsh, Thomas L. |
| Keywords: | Ag Finance and Farm Management, Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274111&r=agr |
| By: | Christian H. Meyer; Dominik Frieling; Martin Hamer; Gero Oertzen |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276888&r=agr |
| By: | Hutchins, Jared; Hueth, Brent M. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness Economics and Management, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273776&r=agr |
| By: | MacLachlan, Matthew J.; Boussios, David |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, International Trade, Research Methods/Econometrics/Stats |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273974&r=agr |
| By: | Carroll, Christine L. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies, Agribusiness Economics and Management, Rural/Community Development |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274368&r=agr |
| By: | Geir Wæhler Gustavsen; Kyrre Rickertsen |
| Abstract: | Over their life course, people change their consumption habits when prices, income, tastes or nutritional needs change. The time period during which an individual grew up is often reflected in his or her consumption of different types of food. To investigate the possible links between demographic changes and food consumption, we constructed two-step censored demand systems for different groups of foods. We estimated the systems using Norwegian data for the 1986 – 2012 period. In the systems, age, period, cohort, other demographic and economic variables are included. The estimated systems are used to construct a long-run forecasting model for meat and dairy products. In this model, younger cohorts replace older cohorts with a different consumption pattern. The total purchases of beef, lamb, pork and fluid milk are predicted to decrease, while the total purchases of chicken, yoghurt and cheese are predicted to increase towards 2027. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276865&r=agr |
| By: | Liang, Jiaji; Hu, Wuyang |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Marketing, Agribusiness Economics and Management, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274050&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Yunhan; Shonkwiler, J. Scott |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Behavioral & Institutional Economics, Ag Finance and Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274145&r=agr |
| By: | Aramburu, Julian; De Salvo, Carmine Paolo |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, International Development, International Trade |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273836&r=agr |
| By: | Charlton, Diane; Kostandini, Genti |
| Keywords: | Household and Labor Economics, Production Economics, Agribusiness Economics and Management |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274169&r=agr |
| By: | Orden, David; Brink, Lars |
| Keywords: | International Trade, Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Food and Agricultural Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274277&r=agr |
| By: | Anna Hulda Olafsdottir; Ingunn Gudbrandsdottir; Harald U. Sverdrup; Sigurdur G. Bogason; Gudrun Olafsdottir; Gunnar Stefansson |
| Abstract: | VALUMICS is a Horizon 2020 project funded by the European Commission (2017-2021). The project structure is highly integrated and transdisciplinary, building on the expertise of over 30 specialists in various fields of research including knowledge integration through systems analysis and system dynamics modelling, food science, supply chain management, life cycle assessment, logistics, economics and social science. The aim of the project is to analyze the dynamics of food supply systems using a structural analysis including system analysis and perform system simulations using system dynamics. The VALUMICS research approach and the project design are explained and it is justified why system analysis is needed to obtain an understanding of the complex connections and interactions of the distinct parts of food systems. Patterns will be recognized and thus causes and effects of complex relations within the selected food supply system and networks will be identified. This understanding of the functioning of the system can in turn be used to identify policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276883&r=agr |
| By: | Melo, Grace; Rabinowitz, Adam N. |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Food Safety and Nutrition, Food and Agricultural Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273844&r=agr |
| By: | Calil, Yuri Clements Daglia; De Salvo, Carmine Paolo |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Environmental and Nonmarket Valuation, International Trade |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273876&r=agr |
| By: | Su, Ye |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness Economics and Management, Industrial Org./Supply Chain Management, Food and Agricultural Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273789&r=agr |
| By: | McGinnis, Ian R.; Atallah, Shadi S. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resource Economics, Production Economics, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274297&r=agr |
| By: | Moffitt, Jason; Jacques, Bianca; Yeboah, Anthony; Owens, John Paul; Bynum, Jarvetta |
| Abstract: | This case study research was undertaken as an initial step towards studying the critical factors that influence the adoption of value-added as an additional enterprise by small farmers in North Carolina. Human factors such as age, years in farming, and level of education were perceived to be common elements. Production variables such as total acreage and value-added marketing were also deemed to be common features amongst the operators. The need to generate value-added funding, supply consumer demands, and expand core business operations were often mentioned among the goals of operators implementing value-added activities. Amongst the value-added operators, land availability, acquiring employee assistance, and weather calculations were cited as barriers or problems faced at their value-added operations. The biggest driving forces behind the operator’s view of success was passion for their value-added growth and educational agritourism. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266566&r=agr |
| By: | Zabolotnyy, Serihiy; Wasilewski, Mirosław |
| Abstract: | The goal of the research is to estimate the level of risk of agricultural companies according to degree of operating and financial leverage, and to define relations between these measures and ratios of financial efficiency. The research involved companies from the database of the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics – National Research Institute in 2005-2013. The greatest impact on risk of agricultural companies had the degree of operating leverage characterizing sensitivity of operating profit on volatility of operating revenue, regarding to cost structure. The degree of financial leverage showing the level of debt and interest paid influenced the risk of agricultural companies to a lesser extent. Agricultural companies with a high degree of total leverage had lower financial efficiency, arising from a low ability to generate operating profit. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:276377&r=agr |
| By: | Inutu Lukonga |
| Abstract: | Financial technology (fintech) is emerging as an innovative way to achieve financial inclusion and the broader objective of inclusive growth. Thus far, fintech in the MENAP and CCA remains below potential with limited impact on financial inclusion. This paper reviews the fintech landscape in the MENAP and CCA regions, identifies the constraints to the growth of fintech and its contribution to inclusive growth and considers policy options to unlock the potential. |
| Date: | 2018–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:18/201&r=agr |
| By: | Mérel, Pierre; Gammans, Matthew |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/Econometrics/Stats, Environmental and Nonmarket Valuation, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274399&r=agr |
| By: | Carriquiry, Miguel A. |
| Keywords: | Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis, Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis, Environmental and Nonmarket Valuation |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273837&r=agr |
| By: | Mohammed, Rezgar; Murova, Olga; Chidmi, Benaissa |
| Abstract: | This article applies the quadratic almost ideal demand system model to a scanner data from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Pittsfield, Massachusetts retailers augmented with consumer characteristics to analyze consumer choices and estimate demand elasticities in a differentiated yogurt market after the introduction of Chobani brand in 2005. Choices are made at the brand level and at the style level. Main brands of Chobani, Dannon, Yoplait and the private level are used at the brand level while brands are grouped to the Greek and non-Greek yogurt at the style level. Empirical results show that consumers’ loyalty for Dannon and Yoplait brands are more than the new brand of Chobani which the latter has the highest own-price elasticity among yogurt brands. Demand is price elastic at the style level with almost same magnitude for both styles. Unlike at the brand level, at the style level, the substitution among groups is symmetric. A majority of groups are expenditure elastic with the highest magnitude for Chobani among brands. Finally, demand estimates are used to analyze the variation in own-price elasticities at the style level using the meta-analysis. The difference in price sensitivity between different groups of consumers suggests that retailers can have area-specific pricing. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266417&r=agr |
| By: | Bolotova, Yuliya V. |
| Abstract: | In 2008 and 2009 dairy farmers in the U.S. Southeast and Northeast regions filed class action antitrust lawsuits, in which they alleged that Dean Foods, the largest fluid milk processor in the country, and Dairy Farmers of America, the largest dairy cooperative in the country, engaged in anticompetitive conduct, which restricted competition in the fluid milk market in these regions. This research analyzes the behavior of Class I milk prices in ten cities located in the Southeast and Northeast regions during the period of alleged anticompetitive conduct (the pre-antitrust action period) and the period of antitrust actions (the antitrust action period). There is empirical evidence indicating that the monthly average Class I price and the monthly average cooperative Class I price are higher in the antitrust action period, as compared to the pre-antitrust action period, in all analyzed cities. The monthly average premium measured in $ per cwt and the monthly average premium measured as a percentage of the cooperative Class I price increase in the antitrust action period, as compared to the pre-antitrust action period, in all analyzed cities located in the Southeast region and in one city representing the Northeast region. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea18:266563&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Haoyang; Zhao, Jinhua |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274474&r=agr |
| By: | Darya Hirsch; Zoe Heuschkel; Wiltrud Terlau1 |
| Abstract: | Urban food systems consist of many stakeholders with different perspectives, different interests and different governance tools. This study aimed at developing potential future scenarios for the food system of Cologne by analysing the system with a Delphi approach. In our research-design, the suitability of the Delphi-method was evaluated not only as a tool for future modelling and scenario design, but also as a communication tool among the group of participants on a multistakeholder- platform. As a case study, the Food Policy Council of Cologne, Germany was used. Cologne can be seen as a forerunner among German cities in the development of a new urban food policy. Some of the successful steps to re-envisioning food as an urban system include joining the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, the decision of the City Council to become an edible city and the establishment of a Food Policy Council. For the study it was important to capture participants’ visions of a common goal regarding the governance of the urban food system and also to identify mental ‘silos’. It was obvious that the municipality of Cologne together with the Food Policy Council made great efforts towards participatory processes to build a vision for a sustainable and regional food supply. However, many stakeholder-groups in the process still work exclusively among themselves and do not actively practice the confrontation with the viewpoints of other relevant groups. This supports the maintenance of ‘silos’ and leaves little room for face-to-face discussions. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to explore key components of food provisioning in the future for Cologne while confronting all stakeholders (municipal administration and politicians, farmers and food activists) with the perspectives of all group members. We used a multi-stakeholder Delphi approach with 19 panellists to find out essential components of the municipal regional food provisioning system in Cologne. Unique in this Delphi study is the bringing together of municipal administration, regional urban farmers and food activists. The research is still on-going, but preliminary results show that more communication among all relevant actors, especially horizontally among different city departments, in the urban food system is needed. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276874&r=agr |
| By: | Tim Viergutz; Birgit Schulze-Ehlers |
| Abstract: | The membership base of dairy cooperatives has become increasingly unstable in the past decades. Understanding the factors influencing dairy farmers’ rescinding of such memberships is crucial for preventing supplier losses, which may threaten the cooperatives’ competitiveness. Since the dairy sector is characterised by substantial complexity and uncertainty, the broader context in which such decisions take place must be considered. To this end, a factorial survey experiment is developed. The experiment contains descriptions of realistic scenarios that have to be evaluated by the respondents in terms of the incentives to switch. The factors and processes described in the scenarios result from an extensive literature review and a qualitative pre-study with sector experts. Implemented by means of an online survey, the survey experiment was distributed by Northern German dairy cooperatives among their member suppliers. The obtained results provide evidence for the relevance of the prices paid by the cooperative, the current performance of the cooperative, as well as the importance of the farmer orientation of a dairy and the state of the relationship quality. Moreover, findings provide statistical evidence for the influence of other farmers’ switching decisions and neighbouring farmers delivering to a competitor. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276864&r=agr |
| By: | Nina Langen; Mounaim Rhozyel; Christine Göbel; Melanie Speck; Tobias Engelmann; Holger Rohn; Petra Teitscheid |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi18:276929&r=agr |
| By: | Beatty, Timothy; Shimshack, Jay P. |
| Keywords: | Food Safety and Nutrition, Food and Agricultural Marketing, Research Methods/Econometrics/Stats |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273913&r=agr |
| By: | De Giorgi, Giacomo; Wossen, Tesfamicheal |
| Keywords: | Household and Labor Economics, International Development, Productivity Analysis and Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:274159&r=agr |
| By: | Kevin Berry (Institute of Social and Economic Reesarch, Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage); Eli P. Fenichel (School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University); Brian E Robinson (Department of Geography, McGill University) |
| Abstract: | Common pool resources often insure individual livelihoods against the collapse of private endeavors. When endeavors based on private and common pool resources are interconnected, investment in one may put the other at risk. We model Senegalese pastoralists who choose whether to grow crops, a private activity, or raise livestock on common pool pastureland. Livestock can increase the likelihood of locust outbreaks via ecological processes related to grassland degradation. Locust outbreaks damage crops, but not livestock, which are used for savings and insurance. We show the incentive to self-protect (reduce grazing pressure) or self-insure (increase livestock levels) changes with various property rights schemes and levels of ecological detail. If the common pool nature of insurance exacerbates the ecological externality even fully-informed individuals may make decisions that increase the probability of catastrophe, creating an “insurance trap.” |
| Keywords: | Environmental externality, common pool resources, poverty trap, endogenous risk |
| JEL: | Q20 Q54 Q57 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ala:wpaper:2018-04&r=agr |
| By: | Spaulding, Aslihan D.; Wolf, James R. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness Economics and Management, Ag Finance and Farm Management, Rural/Community Development |
| Date: | 2018–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea18:273781&r=agr |