|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2019‒04‒01
forty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Ahmad, Ashfaq; Ashfaq, Muhammad; Wajid, Aftab; Khaliq, Tasneem; Ahmd, Ishfaq; Hoogenboom, Gerrit |
| Abstract: | Climate change is an established fact and its impacts on water, agriculture, health, biodiversity, forest and socio-economic sectors are quite visible around the globe. By virtue of its geographical location, Pakistan is highly vulnerable to the consequent climate change because of global warming. Adaptation to climate change and building resilience among ecosystems and people to respond to climate variability and hazard threats are relatively new concepts. Rice-wheat cropping system zone is the bread basket of Punjab, Pakistan and comprising more than 1 million farm families. There is an urgent need for improved climate modeling and forecasting that can provide a basis for informed decision-making and the implementation of adaptation strategies. For this study crop growth models (DSSAT and APSIM) were calibrated and evaluated on experimental field data to develop the robust genetic coefficients. Models were validated using farmers’ field data. Survey data for rice and wheat in Rice-wheat cropping zone of Punjab were collected for this study. An extensive farm survey for 155 farms from the selected five districts Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, HafizAbad, Gujranwala, and Sialkot was conducted. Surveyed data (initial condition, crop management, soil characteristic) were used to create the input files in both DSSAT and APSIM. The past climate of the study region, baseline (1981–2010) was analyzed by using the available weather station data and future climate projection were generated by General Circulation Models (GCMs) for mid-century (2040-2069) under RCP 8.5. Five GCMs (CCSM4, GFDLESM2M, HadGEM2-ES, MIROC5, and MPI-ESM-MR) were used for the generation of climate projections. Trade of Analysis model for Multidimensional (TOA-MD) was used for economic analysis. Results of climate change scenarios showed that there would be mean 2.8 °C rise in maximum and 2.2 31 °C in minimum temperature for mid-century (2040-2069) in Rice-wheat (RW) cropping system of Punjab, Pakistan. In Rice average yield reduction in DSSAT and APSIM was 15.2% and 17.2% while in Wheat average yield reduction by DSSAT and APSIM was 14.1% and 12% during mid-century (2040-2069). A close agreement was observed between farmer and simulated fine rice yield with good statistical indices such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) 409 kg ha-1 and 440 kg ha-1 with d-index (0.80 and 0.78) for DSSAT and APSIM models, respectively. Economic loss of 83% farm household, if they continue to use current production technology in changed climate. Adaptation strategies using Representative Concentration Pathways (RAP’s) were developed to achieve high productivity and meet the need of growing population, it would be required to increase the planting density, fertilizer use and reduce the irrigation amount up to 15% over current with greater potential for promising cultivars. This suggested that due to projected rise in temperature, the cropping seasons will be affected and 5 days earlier transplanting of rice nursery and two weeks earlier in wheat planting over current would be recommended. These strategies have a significant impact in reducing the vulnerabilities of the changing climate with 33% improvement in rice yield to sustain production in Rice-wheat cropping system. Significant reduction in poverty (5-6%) among farm households, if adaptation takes place in this zone |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285087&r=all |
| By: | Akzar, Rida; Umberger, Wendy; Peralta, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | Adoption of agricultural innovations are still low, particularly among smallholder farmers in developing countries. Despite a significant amount of literature on the adoption of agricultural technologies, most of the previous studies have focused on the adoption of a single technology and employed univariate analysis in understanding the significant factors that associate with the adoption decisions. However, farmers are more likely to adopt multiple technologies as complements or substitutes and to maximise their expected benefit from the adoption decisions while constrained by their limited budget and access to information. This study contributes to the literature by studying adoption of multiple technology bundles and its implications in the design of strategies to improve dairy extension programs in Indonesia. The increasing demand for milk products in Indonesia creates a market opportunity for domestic milk producers. Most of the domestic milk supply is produced in small dairy farms with an average herd size two to three dairy cows per farm, producing around 10 litres of relatively low-quality milk per cow per day [1]. Adoption of productivity-enhancing and quality-enhancing dairy farm technologies is likely to enable smallholder dairy farmers to capture this market opportunity. This study is part of a large Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project called IndoDairy, focused on improving the livelihoods of smallholder dairy farmers in Indonesia. Thus, we use data from our recent survey of 600 dairy farm households conducted in August 2017 in West Java, Indonesia. We analyse the pattern of adoption of multiple technologies at the farm-level. Results from Latent Class Cluster analyses suggest that there are three different clusters of smallholder farmers based on the dairy technologies they adopted, reflecting that smallholder farmers have different technology needs. Socio-demographic characteristics of the smallholder farmers help explain why these clusters are different in technologies they adopted. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285094&r=all |
| By: | Nguyen, Huy Quynh |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether land consolidation – reduction of land fragmentation – promotes or hinders the Vietnamese government’s policy objectives of encouraging agricultural mechanization and stimulation of the off-farm rural economy. It does this by viewing land consolidation as a form of technical change, making it possible to apply the insights developed in the economic literature on technical change. This treatment reveals that the impacts of land consolidation depend partly on its factor bias and partly on the degree to which labor is substitutable in production for other factors. At a theoretical level, if a technical change is factor neutral, it will reduce off-farm labor supply and slow rural structural transformation away from agriculture; if it is labor-augmenting and the elasticity of substitution between factors is low enough, the opposite effects are predicted. The paper studies these issues empirically for rice production in Vietnam, focusing on the impact that consolidation of rice land has on rice production, machinery use, and labor allocation. The findings confirm that land consolidation raises both farm productivity and farm income and stimulates increased machinery use. It also reduces farm labor supply, lowers labor intensity in farming, and thereby releases more farm labor to off-farm development, consistent with government policy objectives. Based on these findings, the paper concludes that land consolidation should be encouraged through development of land ownership rights and the promotion of land rental markets. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285078&r=all |
| By: | Vo, D.H.; Vu, T.N.; Vo, A.T.; McAleer, M.J. |
| Abstract: | The food-energy nexus has attracted great attention from policymakers, practitioners and academia since the food price crisis during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and new policies that aim to increase ethanol production. This paper incorporates aggregate demand and alternative oil shocks to investigate the causal relationship between agricultural products and oil markets, which is a novel contribution. For the period January 2000 - July 2018, monthly spot prices of 15 commodities are examined, including Brent crude oil, biofuel-related agricultural commodities, and other agricultural commodities. The sample is divided into three sub-periods, namely: (i) January 2000 - July 2006; (ii) August 2006 - April 2013; and (iii) May 2013 - July 2018. The Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition technique are used to examine how the shocks to agricultural markets contribute to the variance of crude oil prices. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that not every oil shock contributes the same to agricultural price fluctuations, and similarly for the effects of aggregate demand shocks on the agricultural market. These results show that the crude oil market plays a major role in explaining fluctuations in the prices and associated volatility of agricultural commodities |
| Keywords: | Agricultural commodity prices, Volatility, Crude oil prices, Structural Vector Autoregressive model, Impulse response functions, Decomposition |
| JEL: | C32 C58 Q14 Q42 |
| Date: | 2018–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:115608&r=all |
| By: | Chang, Ching-Cheng; Liu, Yi- Ting; Hsu, Chia- Sheng; Hsu, Shih-Hsun |
| Abstract: | The rapid urbanization and income growth have led to changes in the global food systems and nutrition transition in many developing countries. The prevalence of obesity and dietary-related diseases has become an urgent issue in developing national health policies. Taiwan is a rapidly aging society and its highest prevalence of obesity is observed in adults above 65 years old. This paper aims to find the optimal age- specific dietary intake pattern for both sexes based on the data from Nutrition and Health Surveys in Taiwan (NAHSIT). Goal programming approach is adopted to minimize the gap between observed diet and the dietary recommendation intakes (DRIs) from the public health authorities. Food consumption constraints is added to prevent diet plans from including unreasonable pattern and to minimize impacts on household food expenditures. Our result suggests that lack of calcium intake is a common problem for all age groups and both sexes in Taiwan and a shift from meat and oil products to more fish, nuts and vegetables is required. The age- and gender-specific results also show how goal programming modelling can be used to translate the DRIs into economically acceptable food plans. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285064&r=all |
| By: | Pourzand, Farnaz; Noy, Ilan |
| Abstract: | Droughts are expected to become more frequent and more severe under all climate change scenarios. They are predicted, in turn, to result in a significant increase in the associated cost to the agricultural sector in New Zealand. This paper explores how drought hazards affected agricultural productivity and economic performance for different sectors (sheep and beef farming and dairy farming) between 2007 and 2016. We combine agricultural and financial farm-level panel data from Statistics New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) with the drought index produced by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). We estimate a set of fixed-effects panel regressions and find that drought events have negative impact on the agricultural productivity across all sectors, where the most vulnerable sector is dairy farming. Dairy sector’s operating profit is significantly reduced through increasing in operating cost due to proving feed for livestock during drought events. Results also show that droughts affect farms’ financial indicators such as their interest coverage, return on capital, business equity and debt to income ratio. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285051&r=all |
| By: | Mutiara, Vonny Indah; Utami, Ami Sukma; Hariance, Rika |
| Abstract: | Climate change and natural disaster has both direct and indirect effects on agricultural productivity including changing rainfall patterns, drought, flooding and the geographical redistribution of pests and diseases and importantly, the agricultural land use changes to no Agricultural land. Global land system changes are occurring at an unprecedented pace and have major implications for the environment and human well-being. These impact also occurs in West Sumatera, Indonesia. Climate change has impact to agricultural activities such as drought and harvest failure thus posing a risk for farmer. While the natural disaster such earthquake in 2009 resulted the movement of people from coastal area to upland area whereas the agricultural land exist. So that this study aims to analysis the land system resilience of farmer in West Sumatera. This study using a desk study method. The result of the study shows that the matrilineal system in Minangkabau tribe is forcing the farmer to preserve their agricultural land. Most natural resource property, and especially the irrigated rice fields, was inherited property of matrilineages. These Minangkabau people-property complexes were characterized by differentiated mixes of rights held and inherited by individuals or groups within the matrilineage. The property that the ancestors of the lineage members created through their cultivation of the jungle, which descends and is to be shared in continuity through the generations of all lineage members who can trace their matrilineal descent from these ancestors. In other word this property cannot be sold. We study three different location are with different agricultural plant. The first location is Padang City, where most of the farmer cultivate rice. The result shows that the farmers preserve their land because of their land ownership is communal land that belong to tribes in Padang. The same result was founded in Agam District, where the horticultural farmers preserve their land because the land is a high heritage. Surprisingly, in the third location, in West Pasaman, we found different result. The Palm oil farmers have sold their high inheritance land and the land has been certified so that it is no longer belong to communal. It is because oil palm have high economic value rather than the other agricultural products. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285082&r=all |
| By: | Culas, Richard J.; Timsina, Krishna P. |
| Abstract: | The trade between Australia and China was minimal prior to 1972; however substantial increase in merchandise trade occurred from the 1970’s through to 2011-12, which was generated through the continuous development of economic relationships between the two countries. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) became enforced on the 20th December 2015 to strengthen the relationship between the two countries with a view to expanding their export and import industries. Specifically, ChAFTA includes the elimination or reduction of trade barriers between the countries in the form of tariffs or quotas. Removal of trade barriers will enable Australian local industries to explore new markets and investment opportunities. In particular, the agreement will provide major preferential market access for Australia with an advantage over its major agricultural competitors, including the United States, Canada and the European Union. The barriers to Australian agricultural exports will be removed across a range of products including beef, lamb, pork, dairy, wine, hides and skins, horticulture, barley and other grains, seafood and processed food. This paper reviews the potential benefits of free trade with China in relation to major agricultural commodities and their possible impacts on the development of farm economy and regional Australia. Analysis shows ChAFTA will be beneficial to increase the welfare in Australia but varies across the regions. Overall merchandise export trade is dominated by Western Australia along with low proportion of import merchandise trade with China, which shows WA will take more advantage of ChAFTA compared to other States and Territories. However, benefits received for specific sectors are varying across the States and Territories. Result revealed Victoria will be benefitted more from dairy (whole milk production); Queensland will be benefitted more from beef and New South Wales (NSW) will be benefitted more from summer crops, sheep meat, oilseed crops and wool compared to other States and Territories. In addition, this paper also analyses the possible impact of ChAFTA on excluded commodity (wheat) using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index. Result shows higher RCA on Australian wheat to trade with China compared to the world and other countries which having free trade agreement with Australia. In addition, among different States, South Australia has more RCA on wheat trade with China followed by Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. Therefore, it would be worthy to start negotiation for preferential FTA on wheat with China. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285077&r=all |
| By: | Riaz, Mohsin; Ashfaq, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | Agriculture sector is the keystone of the economy of Pakistan. It contributes about 19 percent to GDP, accounts for 60 percent of its exports, and provides employment opportunities to 42.3 percent of total labor force. Increasing population is putting pressure on the agriculture sector to fulfill their basic needs related to food and fiber. Water is a key input in development of agriculture and food security in Pakistan. The per capita water availability in Pakistan is 1100 m3, below 1000 m3 water availability means water stress condition. Every coming day is putting pressure on the irrigation sector due to increase of water demand, low water supply, low irrigation efficiency, mismanagement and increasing demand of food items. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) involves the farmers in operation and management (O&M) of irrigation system. These reforms in Pakistan are facing various challenges to achieve its objectives due to conflicts between Farmer Organizations (FOs) and Provincial Irrigation Authorities, although farmers both at head and tail reaches of study areas are in favor of these reforms. The success rate of this reform varies from place to place. This study was carried out in 2 distributaries of LCC (West) Circle, Faisalabad-Pakistan i.e. Maduana (under irrigation Department) and Nasrana (under Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority). Data were collected from 120 farmers, 60 from each distributary through random sampling technique. This study evaluated the motives of farmers to pay irrigation fees and participation in irrigation infrastructure improvement and assessed the impact of irrigation reforms on agricultural productivity and water availability. Results showed that farmers situated on distributary under reformed area were having timely and greater water availability across seasons, having more productivity, were paying more water charges and taking part in the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285081&r=all |
| By: | NA |
| Abstract: | Off-farm work plays a significant role in diversifying rural income and reducing risks generated from relying solely on agricultural production. Prior studies have examined the association between off-farm work participation and land use behaviors of rural households, but little attention has been paid to the effects of the joint off-farm work decisions of farm couples on land transfer choices. To bridge this gap, this study investigates the determinants of farm couples’ off-farm work participation, using a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression model and survey data collected from Hubei province of China. We also estimate the impact of the joint off-farm work decisions of farm couples on land transfer choices by employing a multinomial logit model and controlling for the endogeneity issues of off-farm work variables. The empirical results show that farm couples are jointly making decisions to work off the farm, but their decisions affect household land transfer choices differently. In particular, we show that the husbands participating in the off-farm work are more likely to rent in land, while their wives are less likely to do so. Both the husbands and wives are more likely to rent out land if they work off the farm. Our findings highlight the importance of farm couples’ off-farm work decisions in stimulating the development of rural land rental markets. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285065&r=all |
| By: | Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Li, Lan; Minten, Bart; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; Pauw, Karl; Cameron, Alethia; Endaylalu, Tirsit Genye |
| Abstract: | Storage losses of crops on the farm are often assumed to be an important contributor to presumed large post-harvest losses in developing countries. However, reliable and representative estimates on these losses are often lacking. We study farmers’ storage decisions and self-reported storage losses for grain crops based on two recent large-scale household surveys conducted in major grain producing areas in Ethiopia. We show that a relatively large share of grain production is stored, mainly for own consumption, and that storage technologies are rudimentary. We find that farmers’ self-reported storage losses amount to an average of 4 percent of all grains stored and 2 percent of the total harvest. These storage losses are shown to differ significantly by some households’ socio-economic characteristics and wealth and also by crop and prevailing humidity levels. We further see strong spatial heterogeneity in storage losses, being significantly higher in the southwestern part of the country. Efforts to scale up the adoption of improved storage technologies to reduce storage losses at the farm level should take into consideration these characteristics. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA,crop storage, farm households, postharvest losses, wealth, socio-economic, grain storage |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:71&r=all |
| By: | Sylvaine Lemeilleur (UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - INRA Montpellier - Institut national de la recherche agronomique [Montpellier] - CIHEAM - Centre International des Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Subervie Julie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Anderson Edilson Presoto (USP - University of São Paulo); Roberta De Castro Souza (USP - University of São Paulo); Maria Sylvia Macchione Saes |
| Abstract: | The production of certified coffee has increased significantly in recent years. However, most stringent standards are least often chosen by farmers. We ran a choice experiment among 250 Brazilian coffee farmers in the state of Minas Gerais to investigate the barriers that affect participation in certification schemes that require improved agricultural practices. Our results suggest that non-cash payments such as long-term selling contracts or the provision of technical assistance to comply with the environmental requirements are likely to motivate farmers to participate in certification schemes. Farmers' preferences for these non-cash rewards, however, appear highly heterogeneous. Results moreover show that the minimum willingness-to-accept for compost adoption is twice as high as the average price premium for certified coffee in the current context, which may partly explain why most coffee farmers continue to be reluctant to enter the most stringent certification schemes such as the Organic standard. |
| Keywords: | choice experiment,coffee,certification,erosion,voluntary sustainability standards,pesticides,compost,Brazil |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-02018715&r=all |
| By: | Rösemann, Claus; Haenel, Hans-Dieter; Dämmgen, Ulrich; Döring, Ulrike; Wulf, Sebastian; Eurich-Menden, Brigitte; Freibauer, Annette; Döhler, Helmut; Schreiner, Carsten; Osterburg, Bernhard; Fuß, Roland |
| Abstract: | The report at hand (including a comprehensive annex of data) serves as additional document to the National Inventory Report (NIR) on the German green house gas emissions and the Informative Inventory Report (IIR) on the German emissions of air pollutants (especially ammonia). The report documents the calculation methods used in the German agricultural inventory model GAS-EM as well as input data, emission results and uncertainties of the emission reporting submission 2018 for the years 1990 - 2017. In this context the sector Agriculture comprises the emissions from animal husbandry, the use of agricultural soils and anaerobic digestion of energy crops. As required by the guidelines, emissions from activities preceding agriculture, from the use of energy and from land use change are reported elsewhere in the national inventories. The report at hand (including a comprehensive annex of data) serves as additional document to the National Inventory Report (NIR) on the German green house gas emissions and the Informative Inventory Report (IIR) on the German emissions of air pollutants (especially ammonia). The report documents the calculation methods used in the German agricultural inventory model GAS-EM as well as input data, emission results and uncertainties of the emission reporting submission 2018 for the years 1990 - 2017. In this context the sector Agriculture comprises the emissions from animal husbandry, the use of agricultural soils and anaerobic digestion of energy crops. As required by the guidelines, emissions from activities preceding agriculture, from the use of energy and from land use change are reported elsewhere in the national inventories.The report at hand (including a comprehensive annex of data) serves as additional document to the National Inventory Report (NIR) on the German green house gas emissions and the Informative Inventory Report (IIR) on the German emissions of air pollutants (especially ammonia). The report documents the calculation methods used in the German agricultural inventory model GAS-EM as well as input data, emission results and uncertainties of the emission reporting submission 2018 for the years 1990 - 2017. In this context the sector Agriculture comprises the emissions from animal husbandry, the use of agricultural soils and anaerobic digestion of energy crops. As required by the guidelines, emissions from activities preceding agriculture, from the use of energy and from land use change are reported elsewhere in the national inventories. The calculation methods are based in principle on the international guidelines for emission reporting and have been continuingly improved during the past years by the Thünen Institute working group on agricultural emission inventories, partly in cooperation with KTBL. In particular, these improvements concern the calculation of energy requirements, feeding and the N balance of the most important animal categories. In addition, technical measures such as air scrubbing (mitigation of ammonia emissions) and digestion of animal manures (mitigation of emissions of methane and laughing gas) have been taken into account. For the calculation of emissions from anaerobic digestion of animal manures and energy crops (including spreading of the digestate), the aforementioned working group developed, in cooperation with KTBL, a national methodology. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–03–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:jhimwo:285071&r=all |
| By: | Chaudhary, Bijay; Morales, L. Emilio; Villano, Renato |
| Abstract: | Increasing attention has been given to raising commodity prices due to its negative effects on poverty and undernutrition. An example of this problem are the growing rice prices in Philippines, which are causing high living expenses to the population across the country. To assess the competitiveness of agro-food chains, price transmission has been used as an indicator of market integration. Using monthly data for the period 2000 to 2016, this study tests vertical price transmission between wholesale and retail prices and dynamic relationship between them in five local markets in Philippines. Results demonstrate that retail prices are granger caused by wholesale prices in all local markets. An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model confirms that asymmetry in rice price transmission between wholesale and retail levels in Metro Manila and Davao. In addition, the ARDL model also confirms retail rice prices in all markets studied in Philippines depend on previous retail prices, contemporaneous wholesale prices and wholesale prices lagged one and two periods, depending on the location. Impulse Response Functions (IRFs) show the retail price response initiates almost immediately or at most one month later after shock, i.e. negative and positive change, on wholesale price, and the duration of full price adjustments tend to be considerably longer in all five local markets in Philippines. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285092&r=all |
| By: | Jeremias Mate, Balogh |
| Abstract: | The global food system, from fertilizer production to food packaging, is responsible for one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. On average, carbon footprint represents more than 50% of the total ecological footprint in the world. Carbon footprint is said to be a widely accepted indicator of GHG intensity, originating from different economic activities. Due to its important role in raising awareness of global warming, scientists and policymakers also use it as a management tool. However, the application of carbon footprint on the agricultural sector is still limited in the literature. The aim of the paper is to explore what agriculture-specific factors influence the carbon footprint at a global level. This research investigates the determinants of the carbon footprint on a global sample, considering the role of agriculture and trade for a period of 1961-2013. Data are derived from the Global Footprint Network and the World Bank databases. The sample includes a panel dataset of 133 countries and 53 years’ period. A feasible generalized least squares estimator is applied to the sample in order to estimate the regression model, along with panel tests. Results show that carbon footprint is stimulated by economic development and agricultural production (arable land, agricultural machinery, fertilizer use). Furthermore, agricultural trade has a positive impact on the carbon footprint. By contrast, the growth of carbon footprint is negatively related to the higher share of rural population and agricultural development. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285052&r=all |
| By: | Pérez Blanco, Carlos Dionisio |
| Abstract: | Water is a key input in the production of many goods and services and under certain conditions can become a critical limiting factor with significant impacts on regional development. This is the case of many agricultural European Mediterranean basins, where water deficit during drought events is partially covered by illegal abstractions, mostly from aquifers, which are tolerated by the authorities. Groundwater overexploitation for irrigation has created in these areas an unprecedented environmental catastrophe that threatens ecosystems sustainability, urban water supply and the current model of development. Market-based drought insurance systems have the potential to introduce the necessary incentives to reduce overexploitation during drought events and remove the high costs of the drought indemnity paid by the government. This paper develops a methodology to obtain the optimum risk premium based on concatenated stochastic models. The methodology is applied to the agricultural district of Campo de Cartagena (Segura River Basin, Spain). Results show that the prices in a hypothetic competitive private drought insurance market would be reasonable and the expected environmental outcomes significant |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Risk and Uncertainty |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemcl:178242&r=all |
| By: | Mullen, John; Malcolm; Farquharson, Bob |
| Abstract: | The lowland rice industry in Laos experiences dry conditions regularly. Rice producers also face rising labour costs as the Lao economy grows. Much of the crop is consumed by the farm households who grew it. Between 1997 and 2012 ACIAR co-funded a set of three projects with the main outcomes being the development of rice varieties more tolerant of dry conditions and direct seeding technologies to replace traditional hand transplanting. Human capacity and scientific knowledge were other significant outcomes from the projects. Direct seeding allowed the release of family labour for other on- and off- farm and household activities. Assessing ACIAR’s contribution to the economic and social impacts from this set of projects was difficult because of the length of time since the projects began, because of the lack of data about the adoption of the technologies and because the University team funded by ACIAR were not the only research team working on these technologies. We focussed on estimating the economic impact of the two technologies applying welfare analysis in a farm level market model of the Lao rice industry and on describing gains in scientific capacity and knowledge. Potential social impacts from the releasing labour from transplanting were also described. Given the uncertainties created by inadequate data, care was taken to develop plausible causal pathways between project research activities and economic and social outcomes. The present value in 2017 of the investment in the three projects by ACIAR and partners was estimated to be $A14.1m (all monetary values in 2017 $AUD and applying ACIAR’s 5% discount rate). The present values in 2017 of the streams of measurable benefits from the adoption of more drought tolerant varieties and direct seeding technology were $A18.5m and $A44.1m respectively, for a total of $A62.6m. The net present value of these streams of benefits and costs in 2017 was $A48.5m. The benefit cost ratio was 4.44:1 and the internal rate of return was 16.0%. The modified internal rate of return, MIRR was 11.5% assuming that the net benefit stream can be reinvested through the life of the investment at a rate of 5%. By these three measures the set of three projects, whose impact has been assessed here, are likely to have been a good investment from ACIAR’s perspective. This conclusion is quite robust to the uncertainty surrounding our assumption about the rates of adoption of the technologies and the share of benefits from the two technologies attributable to the ACIAR projects. If both these parameters are halved (approximately) for both technologies, an unlikely scenario in our view, the investment in the projects still earns the required rate of return. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285044&r=all |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Laurent Piet (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST) |
| Abstract: | A growing number of studies in finance and economics seek to explain insurance choices using the assumptions advanced by behavioral economics. One recent example in agricultural economics is the use of cumulative prospect theory (CPT) to explain farmer choices regarding crop insurance coverage levels (Babcock, 2015). We build upon this framework by deriving willingness to pay (WTP) for insurance programs under alternative assumptions, thus extending the model to incorporate farmer decisions regarding whether or not to purchase insurance. Our contribution is twofold. First, we study the sensitivity of farmer WTP for crop insurance to the inclusion of CPT parameters. We find that loss aversion and probability distortion increase WTP for insurance while risk aversion decreases it. Probability distortion in losses plays a particularly important role. Second, we study the impact of yield distribution skewness on farmer WTP assuming CPT preferences. We find that WTP decreases when the distribution of yields moves from negatively- to positively-skewed and that the combined effect of probability weighting in losses and skewness has a large negative impact on farmer WTP for crop insurance. |
| Keywords: | skewness,Crop Insurance,Cumulative Prospect Theory,premium subsidy |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-01947417&r=all |
| By: | Hirvonen, Kalle; Wolle, Abdulazize; Minten, Bart |
| Abstract: | As in many other low-income countries, fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is very low in Ethiopia. Consequently, micronutrient deficiencies, such as for Vitamin A, are widespread, and more than half of young Ethiopian children suffer from anemia. Efforts to increase FV consumption in Ethiopia have focused on improving consumer knowledge of the health benefits of FV and other nutritious foods. While these interventions have been successful in improving knowledge and ultimately improving dietary diversity, diets remain extremely monotonous across the country. Recent international research in this area suggest that high relative prices of FVs could be another important constraint. To shed more light on this issue, we assess the affordability of FVs in Ethiopia. Using expenditure and price data collected by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, we find that the average Ethiopian household would have to spend 11 percent of their income to meet the international recommendation of two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables per person per day. This share is more than 2.5 times higher for households in the poorest quintile, indicating that meeting these guidelines is currently out of reach for the poorest households in Ethiopia. More investments and research attention to the production of fruits and vegetables is urgently needed to improve supplies and, hence, their affordability. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA,fruits; vegetables; food prices; nutrition; diet; trace elements; health; dietary guidelines; micronutrients |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:70&r=all |
| By: | Thomas Baudin (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Robert Stelter (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | To assess the importance of the rural exodus in fostering the transition from stagnation to growth, we propose a unified model of growth and internal migrations. Using an original set of Swedish data, we identify the deep parameters of our model. We show that internal migration conditions had to be favorable enough to authorize an exodus out of the countryside in order to fuel the industrial development of cities and the demographic transition of the country. We then compare the respective contribution of shocks on internal migration costs, infant mortality and inequalities in agricultural productivity to the economic take-off and the demographic transition that occurred in Sweden. Negative shocks on labor mobility generate larger delays in the take-off to growth compared to mortality shocks equivalent to the Black Death. Deepening inequalities of productivity in the agricultural sector, like it has been done by enclosure movements, contributes to accelerate urbanization at the cost of depressed economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Europe, Sweden |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-005&r=all |
| By: | Zhao, Peiru |
| Abstract: | Agricultural insurance has been implemented for more than ten years in China. It is of great significance to analyse the impact of agricultural insurance on agricultural production in order to further design and promote innovative agricultural insurance. From a national perspective, 31 provinces in China are divided into four agricultural insurance development regions according to the level of economic development and agricultural development by cluster analysis. Then panel data model is used to analyse the impact of national and four regions agricultural insurance on agricultural production value. The empirical results show that the gross value of agricultural production is positively and significantly affected by agricultural insurance, planting area, loss ratio, and human capital. |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285046&r=all |
| By: | Philippe Le Coent (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Raphaële Preget (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Sophie Thoyer (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | This article analyses the role played by social norms in farmers' decisions to enroll into an agri-environmental scheme (AES). First, it develops a simple theoretical model highlighting the interplay of descriptive and injunctive norms in farmers' utility functions. Second, an empirical valuation of the effect of social norms is provided based on the results of a stated preference survey conducted with 98 wine-growers in the South of France. Proxies are proposed to capture and measure the weight of social norms in farmers' decision to sign an agri-environmental contract. Our empirical results indicate that the injunctive norm seems to play a stronger role than the descriptive norm. |
| Keywords: | agri-environmental contracts,behaviour,social norms |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:halshs-01936004&r=all |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Carole Ropars-Collet (AGROCAMPUS OUEST); Jude Saint-Gilles (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST) |
| Abstract: | We use Almost Ideal Demand Systems (AIDS) models estimated by the nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) method on scanner data (i) to examine the demand for ecolabeled food products (organic and fair trade) as a function of the good having a private label (PL) or a national brand (NB) and (ii) to assess the impact of information campaigns promoting organic and fair trade products. We find that while demand is elastic for NB organic milk and NB fair trade coffee, it is inelastic for their PL counterpart. As for organic eggs, demand is always inelastic. Cross-price elasticities show substitutability between ecolabeled and conventional goods but only within the NB goods (milk and eggs) and within the PL goods (milk and coffee), but also complementarity between NB conventional and PL ecolabeled goods (milk and coffee). Finally, we find that while information campaigns increase the predicted expenditure shares of PL organic milk by 33%, of NB fair trade coffee by 50%, they decrease the predicted expenditure shares of PL conventional eggs but only by 3%. These effects are non-lasting. |
| Keywords: | information campaign,organic,fair trade |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-01947418&r=all |
| By: | Pierre-Emmanuel Darpeix (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Food price volatility has drawn much attention from the international community in the beginning of the 21st century, in the aftermath of the 2008 and 2010 food riots. One strand of the literature aimed at identifying the economic origins of the increased variability of prices (supply shocks, underinvestment in the agricultural sector, financial speculation and increased demand from the emerging markets), while several articles were trying to assess whether there had actually been a change in the volatility regime in the first place. Yet another strand of the literature focused on the consequences of food price shocks and volatility. This paper provides a comprehensive review of this extensive literature on the impacts of food price shocks and food commodity volatility. The consequences are assessed both in micro- and macroeconomic terms, from the consumer's and producer's sides, as well as from the theoretical and empirical points of view. If the vast majority of studies points to a detrimental impact of food price shocks on the livelihood of many in the developing world, and on potentially dire consequences on production, growth and political stability, this literature review reveals, above all, the lack of proper investigation about the consequences of food price volatility in itself. The hype around the excessive volatility of the food markets did not translate into an academic focus on the consequences of this price instability. |
| Keywords: | Food price volatility,investment,development,human capital,conflicts |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:hal-02072329&r=all |
| By: | Henrik Andersson (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - Toulouse School of Economics); Emmanuelle Lavaine (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of properties being located in vulnerable zones in term of nitrates on the property prices using a change in the classification of vulnerable zones in France in 2012. Using an identification strategy based on a spatial difference- in-dfferences specification, we show that the revision of the classification significantly decreased not only property prices in zones that became classified as vulnerable after the revision, but also those of properties already classified as vulnerable. However, the effect was stronger for the former, 10% vs. 5%, and this differences may reect a difference in how zones are classified. The risks covered in the 2012 classification cover a broader range of risks, and hence the larger price effect may reflect this additional perceived risk exposure. |
| Keywords: | difference in difference,Hedonic Price Analysis,water pollution |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-01947415&r=all |
| By: | Ilaria Brunetti (CMAP - Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées - Ecole Polytechnique - X - École polytechnique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Mabel Tidball (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Denis Couvet (MNHN - Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss. In this work we model the interdependent relationship between biodiversity and agriculture on a farmed land, supposing that, while agriculture has a negative impact on biodiversity, the latter can increase agricultural production. Farmers act as myopic agents, who maximize their instantaneous profit without considering the negative effects of their practice on the evolution of biodiversity. We find that a tax on inputs can have a positive effect on yield since it can be considered as a social signal helping farmers to avoid myopic behavior in regards to the positive effect of biodiversity on yield. We also prove that, by increasing biodiversity productivity the level of biodiversity at equilibrium decreases, since when biodiversity is more productive farmers can maintain lower biodiversity to get the same yield. |
| Keywords: | cleansing dictator game licensing moral in(consistency taking game. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:halshs-01936005&r=all |
| By: | Sylvain Chabé-Ferret (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - Clermont Auvergne - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Philippe Le Coent (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Arnaud Reynaud (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - Toulouse School of Economics); Julie Subervie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Daniel Lepercq (CACG - Compagnie d'aménagement des côteaux de Gascogne - Compagnie d'aménagement des côteaux de Gascogne - CACG) |
| Abstract: | Improving water efficiency is a growing challenge for the Common Agricultural Policy. In this article, we test whether social comparison nudges can promote water-saving behavior among farmers. We report on a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, in which information on individual and group water consumption were sent every week to farmers equipped with smartmeters. We do not detect an effect of nudges on average water consumption. We however find that the nudge decreases water consumption at the top of the distribution while it increases consumption at the bottom. This study highlights the potential of nudges as an agricultural policy tool. |
| Keywords: | nudges,behavioral economics,government policy,irrigation water use |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-01947420&r=all |
| By: | Shepard, Richard; Malcolm, Bill |
| Abstract: | There is little sound information about the impact of cow genetic selection programs on whole farm profit. We analyse aggregate industry data to identify trends in dairy herd genetic, production and reproductive performance. We model genetic distribution within herds over time from a long-term genetic selection program and use a representative whole-farm bioeconomic (simulation) model to explore the impact of herd genetic change on profit of the case farm. Analysis of an industry herd recording database reveals an average annual rate of increase in Balanced Production Index (BPI) of 7 units for the herd (2.9 and 10.1 for the bottom and top BPI quartiles) and 10.8 BPI units for artificial insemination sires used within herds. Modelling these trends for herds with an age-cohort BPI range average of 43 units of BPI and 20% cohort attrition rates show that the natural range between bottom and top BPI quartiles expands gradually but remains between 75–100 units in most herds across 50 years of selection. Bioeconomic modelling found an average of around $2,500 extra contribution to farm profit per annum for the 250-cow herd representative farm, with the herd achieving an annual rate of increase in herd BPI of around 10 units per year. These findings indicate that comparing performance of BPI quartiles within herds provides almost no insight into impacts of genetic selection on farm profit. Applying more widely the findings and insights from modelling genetic gain in representative pasture-based dairy farm suggests it is likely that that on many, or even most dairy farms, the gains in profit from cow genetic selection may be modest. Good advice to dairy farmers would be to (i) have realistic expectations about the role of genetic gain in their business; (ii) evaluate returns from investment in herd genetics; and (iii) compare expected returns from investments into all limiting factors present on the farm. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285097&r=all |
| By: | Svanidze, Miranda; Götz, Linde |
| Abstract: | Using a threshold vector error correction model approach we find the wheat market of Russia segmented, with the primary grain export region poorly integrated into the domestic market. Results also indicate that trade costs are high, hindering spatial market efficiency of wheat markets in Russia. In addition, our study demonstrates that, by including the USA as benchmark country, a comparative approach enables a more comprehensive assessment of the spatial market efficiency of the wheat market in Russia. The study shows that the distinction between grain production and export potential, especially for markets located in peripheral regions of Russia, is essential to correctly identify Russia's future role for global food security. As a general conclusion, besides raising agricultural production potential it is also essential to strengthen spatial market efficiency in the agricultural sector to boost agricultural export potential and to increase global food security. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamodp:285196&r=all |
| By: | Satria, Dias; Mayasari, Dewi |
| Abstract: | The pattern of food consumption can be used as an indicator in looking at the level of community welfare and regional typology is an important determinant that helped determine the pattern of household food consumption, because the consumption patterns associated with behavior that cannot be separated from the socioeconomic cultural and environmental conditions. This study aims to (1) analyze the impact of socio-economic conditions on household food consumption patterns in urban and rural areas and (2) to estimate the elasticities of urban and rural food consumption in East Java in response to changes in prices and income. The micro household data from Susenas 2016 is used to answer the objective by using the demand system model of Linear Approximation Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS). The results showed that the socioeconomic condition generally influenced in determining the pattern of household food consumption, where the pattern of food consumption in urban areas tended to prioritize food consumption with better nutritional value than rural areas. While based on the value of elasticities, food commodities in East Java are still a necessity, households in rural areas are generally more responsive to both price changes and income changes than urban households. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285085&r=all |
| By: | Ritter, Matthias; Huttel, Silke; Odening, Martin; Seifert, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Hedonic land price models often use parcel size as an explanatory variable. Empirical analyses, however, are rather ambiguous regarding the direction and the size of the effect of this variable on farmland values. The objective of this paper is to investigate this size-price relation in detail and to derive recommendations for an appropriate specification of hedonic land price models. Our analysis consists of three steps. First, we conduct a meta-analysis based on a comprehensive literature review. Second, we analyze a dataset of more than 80,000 land transactions in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, using the non-parametric locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) estimator. This unconditional smoothing algorithm identifies negative size-price relations for very small and large plots, whereas it finds a positive relation for medium plot. We use this finding in our third step, a hedonic land price model, in which the size-price relation is modelled conditional on land and buyer characteristics. From these steps, we conclude that the complex relationship between land price and plot size cannot be captured by a simple functional form since it is affected by several economic factors, such as economies of size, transaction cost, and financial constraints. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285062&r=all |
| By: | Chudleigh, Fred; Bowen, Maree; Holmes, Bill |
| Abstract: | Low levels of reproduction efficiency have been considered a key constraint of the economic performance of beef herds grazing the rangelands of northern Australia. Considerable effort has been directed at resolving the issue and beef geneticists have developed technologies to allow the selection of animals with superior traits for fertility. It has been shown that incorporating selection for these traits with other herd management strategies will lead to herds with higher reproduction efficiency. However, modifying rates of reproduction efficiency will impact herd structures and output over time, making prediction of the economic value of the genetic improvement of fertility a relatively complex task. Consideration of alternative management strategies available to improve herd performance is also necessary to understand the relative value of improving reproduction efficiency. This analysis evaluated the profitability of genetically changing fertility in two regions of northern Australia: the Katherine region of the Northern Territory and the Fitzroy Natural Resource Management (NRM) region of central Queensland, using property-level, regionally-relevant property models that determine whole-of-business productivity and profitability over a 30-year investment period. We assessed the value of the genetic improvement of fertility by comparison to baseline production systems with typical reproduction efficiency for each region and to alternative management strategies available to the property manager. We demonstrate that appropriately assessing the biological, financial and economic components is critical to estimating the value of genetically improving the reproduction efficiency of a beef herd in northern Australia. An alternative approach of generating $Indexes represents a flawed approach to identifying the value of genetically improving fertility in northern beef herds giving potentially misleading and incorrect results. Our analyses indicated that purchasing bulls with different genes for fertility is likely to have variable impacts and unexpected outcomes on the profitability and riskiness of beef enterprises in northern Australia. Furthermore, there are alternative investments available to beef producers that can produce better economic outcomes. Good quality science in the area of genetic improvement of fertility needs to be paired with equally sound economic methods to ensure appropriate conclusions are reached about value to beef producers and the industry. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285095&r=all |
| By: | Vu, T.N.; Vo, D.H.; McAleer, M.J. |
| Abstract: | The paper develops a model to examine rent seeking in innovation and export licenses, with an application to Vietnam rice exports. Firms can lobby for export restrictions or for free trade. Innovation is introduced as a cost-reducing technology. The analysis focuses on the innovation incentives of the firm lobbying for export restrictions, and the determinants of lobbying incentives. The analysis shows that firms lobbying for export restrictions may have lower incentives to adopt technological innovations under export restrictions than under free trade. The findings can help to identify economic inefficiency when the political elites use export restrictions to seek rents. |
| Keywords: | Trade restrictions, export licenses, innovation, monopoly, rent seeking, free trade, economic development |
| JEL: | D72 G1 L12 O13 Q55 |
| Date: | 2019–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:115607&r=all |
| By: | Clune, Tim |
| Abstract: | Developing a sustainable and resilient agribusiness sector is fundamental if Australia is to capture the value of the opportunity presented the by the growing food and fibre needs of a global population expected to reach 9.8bn by 2050 and 11bn by 2100. Key threats in the Australian context are an increasingly dynamic climate, changing demographics of regional Australia, economic factors related to currency fluctuations and the reality of being a price taker in a global market. While the current policy environment provides a number of mechanisms to support agribusinesses in mitigating these threats (including research and development investment, infrastructure investment, action to increases access to and competitiveness of markets as well as a suite of agricultural welfare options), it does not contemplate the relative readiness of individuals and businesses to act on the interventions of government. This paper proposes the adoption of the capabilities approach (CA) to refocus the policy framework and environment to prioritise the delivery of outcomes that are valued by individuals and businesses. A conceptual model is proposed to support the development, design and evaluation of future agribusiness policy. Fundamental to the conceptual model is the recognition of the central focus on the achievement of outcomes valued by agribusinesses, when considered within the constraints of the resource base, the capabilities of agribusiness owners to achieve the valued outcomes as well as the external factors required to aid in the conversion of the resources to valued outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285037&r=all |
| By: | Newsome, Lucie; Sheridan, Alison; Smith-Ruig, Theresa |
| Abstract: | The literature on alternative agriculture has highlighted producer values of supplying locally, producing high quality products, farming sustainably and community engagement. This exploratory paper examines the motivations of four female alternative agricultural producers in the Australian context. Alternative agriculture in the US context has been extensively researched, but little is known about the practices in Australia. This exploratory study reveals the importance of community and place to these women, and adds to our understanding of gender and alternative agriculture in the Australian context. Rather than their presence being simply the result of easier access for women than the traditional agricultural environment, we find these women exercising agency as they pursue alternative agriculture. The values of social and environmental sustainability are core to these producers’ farming identities and while they are prioritised over profit motives, as consumers become more conscious of food origin and food miles, adherence to these values does enable financial business success. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285058&r=all |
| By: | NA |
| Abstract: | High transaction costs caused by dispersed and fragmented tracts, insecure tenure and incomplete information in rural land market has become a common issue in the transition economies. Horizontal integration may economize on transaction costs but aggrandize governance inputs. Therefore trade-off between integration and governance is one of the biggest challenges in land commercialization and rural restructuring worldwide. Resorting to a field survey in Nanhai District, Guangdong Province, this work estimates how the transaction costs of rural collective construction land are influenced by the horizontal integration degree and the level of self-organization governance of collectives. Four Tobit models are constructed based on the scale of collectives and the results show that: (1) There is an almost U-shaped relationship between the horizontal integration degree of the collectives and the transaction costs. The horizontal integration among shareholders can not only centralize the fragmented land assets from individual farmers and reduce the transaction costs of rural construction land, but also result in organization costs. The transaction costs are not decreasing as the horizontal integration increases until the transaction costs saved are equal to resultant organization. (2) The more collective leaders, the higher organization costs and the more opportunism behaviors, which will give rise to the transaction costs. This suggests that the Chinese authorities should strengthen the ongoing efforts to reduce the transaction costs of market and improve the efficiency through a more transparent and accessible market and optimal scale of horizontal integration of the collective. Our work sheds some light on the mechanisms at play in the reform and innovation of rural grass-root governance and it contributes to a better understanding of land-based shareholding cooperation system and nature of ongoing rural construction land market in China and transitional economies. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285093&r=all |
| By: | Linda Kleemann (IfW Kiel, Germany); Marie-Catherine Riekhof (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Decisions involving risk are usually taken in the presence of other insurable or non-insurable risks, the latter type called background risk. We examine how changing background risk influences risk-taking based on panel data with monthly observations from Senegalese fishermen. Fishing income is volatile and income risk depends on weather conditions and on technologies employed. To measure risktaking, we use an incentivized investment task. To measure background risk, we consider long-run wind conditions and a measure based on comparing standardized monthly income deviations from the yearly individual mean. We find that the latter measure that controls for technology choices and thus takes conscious reduction of risk exposure into account has a significant impact when overall fishing income is below average. Then, higher income risk increases risk-taking, suggesting intemperate behavior in low-income situations. This effect is stronger for poorer fishermen, highlighting the need for safety nets. |
| Keywords: | risk-taking, background risk, temperance, investment, fisheries, Senegal |
| JEL: | C93 D81 O12 O13 Q22 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:18-301&r=all |
| By: | Goddard, Ellen |
| Abstract: | Given challenges facing agriculture and public health there remains an urgent need for new technologies to expand production to feed the world’s expected population. However, for food, technology remains an uncomfortable concept for many people. In some countries, this slows down the regulatory approval (even to health enhancing functional foods) and in others the absence of labelling regulations has created a commercial non GMO verification system with its own economic costs for the entire food system. There are considerable inequities in the distribution of costs from either restrictions on the use of the technologies or the creation of parallel technology free products. Given long standing angst about genetic modification and food, there are concerns about newer genomic technologies such as gene editing and gene drives, and their potential for success. Scientists are firmly of the belief they are breeding and there is no need for regulation. However, given history, the public may remain suspicious about these technologies and complete lack of any oversight may become a weakness in the longer term. |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285083&r=all |
| By: | Benyam, Addis; Rolfe, John; Kinnear, Susan |
| Abstract: | The cost of disposing domestic food waste (DFW) in open landfills is a significant financial expenditure for most Councils in regional Australia. However, there is little information about the extent that householders value the environmental goods and services that are impacted by DFW disposal. This paper presents non-market valuations for a hypothetical kerbside domestic food waste collection service from a household survey in two local government areas in the Central Queensland region. Choice modelling (CM) and contingent valuation method (CVM) were employed to elicit and estimate willingness to pay (WTP) of the community for a DFW collection service. In the CM exercise, latent class analysis results for the sub-groups supporting an improvement option revealed that the respondents’ utility increased by $4.13 for lifespan expansion of the local landfill. On the contrary, the group had $3.05 and $0.28 utility declines for a fortnightly DFW collection service and an increase in the rate of methane emission from DFW disposal, respectively. For the status quo group, utility increased by $5.05 for a landfill lifespan extension but decreased by $16.26 for potential odour from the collection bins. Under the CVM exercise, a Multilogit estimator model for the overall sample population showed a WTP of $30.42 for the service, with 58% participation rate in the improvement option. This valuation study provides policy insights on the importance of full-cost accounting of environmental goods and services attributes, which is useful information for future implementation of voluntary or mandatory DFW diversion schemes. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285074&r=all |
| By: | NA |
| Abstract: | Over the past decades ambient concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) have dramatically reduced in metropolitan areas in Japan. This paper analyzes a property-level panel dataset for 1992-2015 to measure the extent to which the improved air quality was capitalized into residential land prices. Single-equation estimates show no evidence of the capitalization. To address potential endogeneity biases, I instrument SPM concentrations with municipalities’ designation status under the Automobile NOx/PM Law (ANPL), and find that the elasticity of residential land prices with respect to SPM concentration is -0.57. Using IV approach, I also find that the improvements in SPM concentrations increased inflows of migrations. These results are confirmed with a battery of robustness checks. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare19:285086&r=all |
| By: | Frank Wijen (Rotterdam School of Management - Erasmus University Rotterdam); Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics, UP1 - Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne - Pres Hesam) |
| Abstract: | Voluntary standards certifying environmental qualities of labeled products have proliferated across sectors and countries. Effectuating these standards requires the collaboration among and between creators (typically firms and nongovernmental organizations) and adopters (firms across a particular supply chain). However, the need to collaborate does not rule out the presence of controversy. Drawing on the case of the Marine Stewardship Council, a leading seafood standard to conserve the world's threatened marine fauna, we analyze how this controversy, from economic and sociologic vantage points, impacts a sustainability transition. In essence, interest divergence drives controversy over standard design, which spurs controversy over standard effectiveness and prompts the proliferation of competing standards. Controversy is magnified by the opacity or nontransparency of the fields which such standards seek to govern. We conclude that, while interest divergence and field opacity entail inherent controversy over voluntary environmental standards, the impact of this controversy on sustainability transitions is typically predominantly positive. |
| Keywords: | competition,certification,standard,self-regulation,nongovernmental organization,Marine Stewardship Council,conflict,controversy,environmental governance,label |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02071504&r=all |