nep-agr New Economics Papers
on Agricultural Economics
Issue of 2020‒02‒03
27 papers chosen by



  1. Unintended consequences of environmental policies: the case of set-aside and agricultural intensification By Thomas, Alban; Chakir, Raja
  2. The key roles of economic and social organization, producer and consumer behaviour towards a HAFEN (Health-Agriculture-Environment-Food Nexus) By Thomas, Alban; Lamine, Claire; Allès, Benjamin; Chiffoleau, Yuna; Doré, Antoine; Dubuisson-Quellier, Sophie; Hannachi, Mourad
  3. Agricultural Transformation and Farmers' Expectations: Experimental Evidence from Uganda By Bonan, Jacopo; Kazianga, Harounan; Mendola, Mariapia
  4. A Study on Impact of Training for Efficient Water Management in Agriculture By Meena, Mohar Singh; Singh, K M
  5. Is there a win-win scenario with both limited beef production and reduced beef consumption? By Soler, Louis-Georges; Thomas, Alban
  6. Heterogeneous effects of marketing contracts and resource-providing contracts on household income By Ruml, Anette; Ragasa, Catherine; Qaim, Matin
  7. Nutritional-sensitive and sustainable agricultural development- An overview By Singh, KM; Singh, Pushpa
  8. Biotech Crops, Input Use and Landslides: The case of Genetically Modified Corn in the Philippine Highlands By Bequet, Ludovic
  9. IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 46 Economic participation of rural youth: what matters? By Fox, Louise
  10. IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 50 Rural transformation and the double burden of malnutrition among rural youth in developing countries By Kadiyala, Suneetha; Aurino, Elisabetta; Cirillo, Cristina; Srinivasan, C S; Zanello, Giacomo
  11. Using experimental manipulation of questionnaire design and a Kenyan panel to test for the reliability of reported perceptions of climate change and adaptation By Alistair Munro
  12. Cooperative Agricultural Farms in Bulgaria (1890 -1989) By Marinova, Tsvetelina; Nenovsky, Nikolay
  13. Constraints to Tanzanian Agricultural Development: Input Use in Households Under Non-Separability By Dickinson, Jeffrey
  14. Farm Profits, Prices and Household Behavior By Daniel R. LaFave; Evan D. Peet; Duncan Thomas
  15. The specific role of agriculture for economic vulnerability of small island spaces By Stéphane Blancard; Maximin Bonnet; Jean-François Hoarau
  16. Diversification and its Determinants: A Search for Alternative Income and Agricultural Development in Eastern India By Ahmad, Nasim; Singh, KM; Sinha, DK
  17. Family healthy habits: what passes down from adults to children? By Borgia, Riccardo; Castellari, Elena; Sckokai, Paolo
  18. New cohesion and regional policy in 2021-2027 period By Antonescu, Daniela
  19. Testing the Great Lakes Compact: Administrative Politics and the Challenge of Environmental Adaptation By Merriman, Ben
  20. Smallholder farmers’ dissatisfaction with contract schemes in spite of economic benefits: Issues of mistrust and lack of transparency By Ruml, Anette; Qaim, Matin
  21. Local productions, food traditions, nutritional status of a sample of the population living in the rural areas of the Majella Park By Verrascina, Milena; Zanetti, Barbara; Monteleone, Alessandro; Intorre, Federica; Azzini, Elena; Barnaba, Lorenzo; Ciarapica, Donatella; Polito, Angela
  22. The well-being of smallholder coffee farmers in Mount Elgon region- a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a rural community in Eastern Uganda By Bartl, Anna Lina; Bartl, Isabel; Neu, Claudia
  23. Commodity dependence, global commodity chains, price volatility and financialisation: Price-setting and stabilisation in the cocoa sectors in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana By Tröster, Bernhard; Staritz, Cornelia; Grumiller, Jan; Maile, Felix
  24. Consumers’ understanding of healthy foods: The evidence on superfoods in Belgium By Delicato, Claudia; Salvatore, Fiorella Pia; Contò, Francesco
  25. TARGETING HUMANITARIAN AID USING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: MODEL DESIGN AND VALIDATION By Onur Altindag; Stephen D. O’Connell; Aytug Sasmaz; Zeynep Balcioglu; Paola Cadoni; Matilda Jerneck; Aimee Kunze Foong
  26. Factors influencing the use of e-commerce in the agri-food sector: an analysis of Italian consumers By Vladi Finotto; Christine Mauracher; Isabella Procidano
  27. Who cleans the plate? Food waste assessment in an Italian restaurant By Franco, Silvio; Cicatiello, Clara

  1. By: Thomas, Alban; Chakir, Raja
    Abstract: Set-aside policies providing agronomic and ecological benefits have been mainstream practices in European agriculture. Because they may lead to intensification on cultivated land, they can however have mixed environmental effects. To evaluate the indirect impact of a set-aside policy on crop intensification, we consider two elasticity indicators with respect to set-aside subsidy: chemical input demand and intensity of input use. We estimate a structural, multi-output model on a panel of French farmers from 2006 to 2010, accounting for multivariate selection (corner solutions) on crops and land use, with a semi nonparametric Quasi-Maximum Likelihood estimator robust to deviations from normality and homoskedasticity. Results show that a set-aside subsidy can provide farmers with incentives to intensify their production, leading to potential adverse environmental effects that can however be offset by a complementary tax policy instrument.
    Keywords: Set-aside; land use; fertilizer and pesticide input demand; corner solutions; semi nonparametric estimation.
    JEL: Q12 C33 C34
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:123955&r=all
  2. By: Thomas, Alban; Lamine, Claire; Allès, Benjamin; Chiffoleau, Yuna; Doré, Antoine; Dubuisson-Quellier, Sophie; Hannachi, Mourad
    Abstract: We discuss in this paper the role of the economic and social organization in agriculture and the food industry, in relation with the Health-Agriculture-Environment-Food Nexus (HAFEN) concept. The aim is to better understand the potential impact of the implementation of this concept in food consumption and production systems. We discuss the need for a detailed analysis of the economic and social processes underlying food consumption practices, as well as innovation drivers towards more sustainable agrifood systems. The paper suggests a research agenda dedicated to the modes of social and economic organization of key stakeholders in the implementation of Nexus-based systems, facilitating the convergence between health, food and environmental objectives. Based on a literature survey, three main topics are discussed: a) processes and drivers of change of food consumption practices; b) co-ordination and multi-agent governance modes to better account for health issues in agrifood systems; c) the analysis of paradigms that put forward health as an entry point to reshape existing agricultural and food systems, and associated modes of knowledge production. For each of these topics, we provide examples of researches based on past or on-going scientific projects on selected French case studies, and suggest some research priorities for the future.
    Keywords: Nexus ; food system ; social and economic organization ; behavior
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:123963&r=all
  3. By: Bonan, Jacopo; Kazianga, Harounan; Mendola, Mariapia
    Abstract: Why adoption rate of potentially profitable agricultural technologies in Africa remains low is still puzzling. This paper uses a randomized control trial to study Ugandan subsistence smallholders' decisions to adopt cash crops. A unique way of eliciting farmers price and yield expectations allows us to investigate the role of farmers' ex-ante beliefs about crop profitability on adoption decisions. We find that the provision of extension services increases oilseeds adoption by 15%, and farmers who under-estimate oilseeds price at baseline are the most likely to adopt the new crops. The results suggest that changes in expectations drive agricultural technology take-up.
    Keywords: Technology Adoption,Commercial Farming,Randomized Controlled Trial,Uganda
    JEL: O13 O33 Q14 Q15 Q16
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:456&r=all
  4. By: Meena, Mohar Singh; Singh, K M
    Abstract: Extension functionaries play a catalytic role in adoption of agricultural innovations where water management is no exception. Training plays a pivotal role for enhancing the competence of extension functionaries’ through diffusion of innovations at actual workplace. In this stride, training on scaling up of water productivity in agriculture was organized and evaluated at all the stages of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Skill and Aspiration (KASA) model. The model assumes that change in knowledge, attitude, skill and aspiration leads to modification in practices for creating desired changes in water management in agriculture. Significant change in acquiring knowledge, developing participatory skills, changing attitudes and fulfilling aspirations towards scaling-up of water productivity in agriculture was observed. Hence, the enhanced learning will be effectively diffused among the farmers at the actual workplace for effective water management.
    Keywords: Water Management, Training, Extension Personnel
    JEL: O13 O33 Q16
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98115&r=all
  5. By: Soler, Louis-Georges; Thomas, Alban
    Abstract: In the scientific literature, the debate on health and environmental benefits of a reduction in the share of animal-sourced food, in particular beef, in consumer diets is mostly focused on demand-side vs. supply transitions. We claim in this paper that a win-win scenario may exist where consumer preferences towards quality meat in diets are accompanied by a transition in livestock production systems towards a separating equilibrium in meat quality. Lower beef consumption per head, of higher quality and lower environmental impact, may co-exist with lower-quality beef production for exports. We examine the credibility of the win-win scenario, by detailing conditions related to determinants for reduced beef consumption, productivity gains, innovation in quality and environmental impacts at the global scale. We propose a set of research priorities and recommendations for policy makers. Policies that are best suited for accompanying transition in food and livestock production system can be identified by a cost-benefit analysis at the global scale.
    Keywords: Beef consumption; food system transition; cost-benefit analysis; demand for quality; agricultural exports; product innovation.
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:123956&r=all
  6. By: Ruml, Anette; Ragasa, Catherine; Qaim, Matin
    Abstract: In the existing literature, the effects of contract farming on household welfare were examined with mixed results. Most studies looked at single contract types. This paper contributes to the literature by comparing two types of contracts – simple marketing contracts and resource- providing contracts – in the Ghanaian oil palm sector. We investigate the effects of both contracts on farm income, as well as spillovers on other household income sources. We use survey data collected with an innovative sampling design and a control function approach to address possible issues of endogeneity. Both contracts lead to large positive effects on total household income in a similar magnitude, yet through quite different mechanisms. Farmers under the marketing contract use the increase in oil palm profits to transition out of agricultural production and into off-farm employment. Farmers under the resource-providing contract have a stronger dependency on income from oil palm, which is considerably more profitable under the contract. The findings underline that contract characteristics matter for the effects and that disaggregated analysis of different income sources is important to understand the underlying mechanisms.
    Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:301005&r=all
  7. By: Singh, KM; Singh, Pushpa
    Abstract: Nutrition and Agriculture are interlinked with each other. Sustainable agricultural development is agricultural development that contributes to improving resource efficiency, strengthening resilience and securing social equity/responsibility of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food security and nutrition for all, now and in the future. While poverty has always been associated with severe forms of acute under-nutrition, it is fact that poverty affects an individual’s health throughout their lifetime. Low access to food and associated levels of malnutrition reduces an individual’s intellectual capability, leading to lower learning levels and work capacity. Such a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition ultimately limits an individual’s earning potential throughout a lifetime, increasing vulnerability to serious medical conditions and health inequities. This is one of the vital reasons of farmers’ distress and suicides due to indebtedness. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. One of the biggest challenges of nutritional sensitive agriculture and sustainable development is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy and nutritious food for all. The present study tries to present an overview of the present status and suggests suitable policy initiatives.
    Keywords: Nutrition, Agriculture, Dietary pattern, Sustainable development
    JEL: Q1 Q16 Q18
    Date: 2018–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98120&r=all
  8. By: Bequet, Ludovic
    Abstract: Improved seeds varieties have led to an increase in agricultural production as well as to a change in agricultural practices and input use. A side effect of these changes that has received little attention to date is the impact of those new technologies on environmental degradation. Using an original survey method of farming households on the Philippine island of Mindanao covering the past ten years, this paper finds a positive correlation between GM corn cultivation and landslide occurrence, which is robust to the inclusion of household fixed effects as well as to the use of matching and survival models. An endogenous allocation of crops on plots can be ruled out as a mechanism. Instead, more aggressive weed control via broad-spectrum herbicide appears to explain the results. Looking at the distribution of landslides as a function of wealth, landslides are found to increase socio-economic inequality as poorer farmers lose on average a significantly larger portion of their plots to landslides while for the top tail of the landholding distribution is less affected.
    Keywords: Agriculture; Environmental degradation; Landslides; Biotechnology
    JEL: O13 Q12 Q15 Q56
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98225&r=all
  9. By: Fox, Louise
    Abstract: Employment opportunities (for youth and non-youth) depend on the development of the economy: structural transformation, rural transformation and employment transformation. In rural areas, employment transformation (to steady, more productive wage employment) takes longer than in urban areas. Strategies to facilitate youth’s entry into employment (the youth-specific employment challenge) have to take account of this. We have limited evidence on how youth handle this challenge in rural areas, and on effects of targeted programmes on this challenge – either the impact of non-targeted agricultural productivity and earnings programmes on youth’s challenges or the impact of targeted youth programmes in rural areas. Certainly, the rural-urban gap in education and learning disadvantages rural youth. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when new off-farm opportunities develop in rural areas, youth are able to access them, while entry into farming may be hindered by lack of access to land. Evidence on programmes in urban areas to help youth enter self-employment may hold lessons for programme design for rural youth. A key lesson is that lack of technical skills does not seem to be the biggest obstacle youth face in entering the labour force. Given that most rural tasks (farm or non-farm) do not require a high degree of technical skill, we can expect that this would be even truer in rural areas. Microfinance (or cash grants) has been helpful in urban settings to help youth start non-farm businesses. Evidence on agricultural extension programmes suggests that peer-to-peer learning works best, perhaps arguing for youth-specific programmes to upgrade farming skills and knowledge, but this needs to be tested.
    Keywords: Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:300928&r=all
  10. By: Kadiyala, Suneetha; Aurino, Elisabetta; Cirillo, Cristina; Srinivasan, C S; Zanello, Giacomo
    Abstract: Adolescence and early adulthood are periods of major biological, economic and social transitions for rural youth. They provide a critical window of opportunity for addressing chronic nutritional deficits from childhood, for “catch-up” growth, for providing a solid foundation for a healthy productive and reproductive life, and for arresting the intergenerational transmission of malnutrition. In this study we show that rural transformation processes are associated with improvements in rural youth nutrition – malnutrition and underweight – in nearly all regions, although the pace of change varies considerably across countries. Most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are faced with the double burden of malnutrition and overweight/obesity, and in some countries this double burden is increasing, with the prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity rising concurrently. The effect of rural transformation processes on rural youth nutrition is mediated by its effects on the external and personal domains of the “food environment”. Transformation of agri-food systems are bringing about large changes in the diets of rural youth in LMICs, and particularly of the younger age groups, who appear to be witnessing rapid dietary transitions. The Young Lives dataset suggest that certain near-universal changes in patterns of dietary and nutrient intake patterns can be discerned in LMICs, although the pace of change varies. Dietary transitions are also driven by “globalisation influences” – especially dissemination of information through digital/social media and food industry advertising and marketing strategies – even in countries with low/slow rural transformation. Our results show that rural transformation processes can have both positive and negative effects on rural youth nutrition in LMICs. Despite the globalisation influences of international trade and agri-food systems, dietary changes in individual LMICs are still influenced by national policies and production patterns. Understanding the pathways to impact of rural transformation on rural youth nutrition is crucial for designing “nutrition-sensitive” rural transformation policies.
    Keywords: Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unadrs:301002&r=all
  11. By: Alistair Munro (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan)
    Abstract: While the use of surveys to understand perception of climate change and adaptation is common in research on agriculture, the reliability of aspects of the methodology is still largely untested. In particular there is limited evidence on (i) the degree to which measures of perception are sensitive to questionnaire design (ii) the accuracy of recall methods for climate change and (iii) the degree to which measures of adaptation based on recall from one-time surveys match the historical record. Using an established panel of farmers from across Kenya and a split sample method, I test both the sensitivity of stated perceptions of climate change to question format and the accuracy of recalled adaptations. In one treatment farmers face open-ended questions about temperature and rainfall changes while in the other treatment farmers are o ered closed-end questions. Both approaches are common in the voluminous literature on climate change adaptation. Responses are highly sensitive to question format, both in the degree of perceived change and in the types of changes. Stated adaptations are not so sensitive to question format, but still diverge. Stated adaptations do not correspond well to the historical record of farming practices over the 15 years of the panel. Overall, the evidence suggests that researchers and policy-makers should be highly cautious in their use of subjective perceptions of climate change and the use of adaptation measures based on recall data.
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:19-30&r=all
  12. By: Marinova, Tsvetelina; Nenovsky, Nikolay
    Abstract: In this paper we have proposed an institutional reconstruction of the Bulgarian agricultural cooperatives’ history. The aim was to find the theoretical explanation of the complete deprivation of individuality of the agricultural cooperatives in the years of communism and their rejection respectively during the post-communist period. We consider that a relevant explanation was the accumulation of two institutional processes which were related to the nationalization of the cooperative sector and the cooperative idea. The first one may be referred to as being inertial and related to the specificities of the Bulgarian lagging behind and peripheral capitalism from the beginning of 20th century. That capitalism had a state character. The second institutional process occurred mainly in the wake of WWII. It was related to the large scale and actually mechanical application (despite some nominal specificities) of the Soviet model of agriculture and of the communist ideas of the place of that sector in the planned and all people’s economy. It must be underscored that the ideas of the agricultural cooperatives and the organization of agriculture coming from Russia and later from the USSR also played a definite role for shaping up the general understanding of cooperatives in Bulgaria.
    Keywords: agricultural cooperatives, communism, Soviet agrarian model, Bulgaria, institutional reconstruction
    JEL: N53 P13
    Date: 2020–01–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98155&r=all
  13. By: Dickinson, Jeffrey
    Abstract: This paper builds on the literature testing for labor market inefficiencies in developing countries. Empirical tests using a panel data survey from Tanzania first reject the homogeneity of family and hired labor, and then reject labor market separation or completeness. Further tests for the efficient allocation of manure among plots reject, revealing that agricultural households face considerable constraints in factor markets. All rejections, except hired harvest labor, are robust to the inclusion of household-specific effects, and control for heterogenous household preferences, and village-specific shocks. I incorporate high-resolution annual population estimates from the LandScan database, which uses satellite imagery to construct population estimates, and find that in areas with higher population density, less family labor is used and more hired labor is used.
    Keywords: development, labor, agricultural labor, agriculture, Tanzania
    JEL: J1 J43 O12 Q00 Q1 Q10 Q12 Q13 Q16
    Date: 2020–01–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98078&r=all
  14. By: Daniel R. LaFave; Evan D. Peet; Duncan Thomas
    Abstract: The farm household model, in which decisions about production and consumption are made simultaneously, lies at the heart of many models of development. Empirically modelling these simultaneous choices is not straightforward. The vast majority of empirical studies assume that farm households behave as if markets are complete in which case decision-making simplifies to a recursive system where consumption choices can be treated as if they are made after all production decisions. Previous empirical tests of this assumption have relied on restrictions on production decisions. We develop a new approach to testing based on household consumption choices and implement the procedure using data from rural Indonesia. Relative to production-side tests, the consumption-based test is well-suited to identifying those farm households in any setting whose behavior is consistent with complete markets and those for whom the assumption is rejected. We find the recursion assumption is not rejected for larger farmers but is rejected for small farmers. The tests are straightforward to implement and the results of the tests provide new opportunities to identify the behaviors that households adopt in the face of incomplete markets.
    JEL: D52 O1 Q12
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26636&r=all
  15. By: Stéphane Blancard (AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement); Maximin Bonnet (CEMOI - Centre d'Économie et de Management de l'Océan Indien - UR - Université de La Réunion); Jean-François Hoarau (CEMOI - Centre d'Économie et de Management de l'Océan Indien - UR - Université de La Réunion)
    Abstract: Small Island Spaces are confronted to large handicaps resulting in a situation of strong economic vulnerability. The recent food crises revealed that the dependency to imported food is more determinant for structural vulnerability than the weight of agriculture in the economy. We suggest a new structural vulnerability indicator by substituting into the well-known EVI the share of agriculture in GDP by a proxy of imported food dependency. For robustness considerations, this new indicator is obtained from an endogenous weighting system. Our simulations point out that taking into account food dependency strengthens dramatically the exposure of small island economies to structural vulnerability.
    Keywords: Agriculture,composite indexes,DEA method,Small island Spaces,structural vulnerability
    Date: 2020–01–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02441237&r=all
  16. By: Ahmad, Nasim; Singh, KM; Sinha, DK
    Abstract: The eastern region of India, comprising the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, is one of the most backward regions of the nation. This region occupies about 21.85% of geographical area and supports 34% of the population of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of economy in the region. About 67% of the cultivators belong to marginal group and over 75% of their earnings are utilized to ensure their food security. Issues related to diversification have been discussed by researchers for a long period and they have been trying to relate diversification to the developmental prospects and various factors responsible for it. Despite this, the eastern region has rich natural resources i.e. fertile land, abundant ground water (145.12 BCM), however, the pace of agricultural development is very slow. In the present study, an attempt has been made to measure diversification using Herfindahl-Hirschman index, known as the most popular method, it was used to measure extent of diversification. The regression model was applied to access the determinants of crop diversification in the region. The study is based on secondary data collected from various published sources from 2001-02 to 2014-15 i.e. for a period of 14 years. The results revealed that in the region, the diversification for the study period was observed very low in almost all the states under study and for the eastern region as a whole. The study pinpointed the fact that despite the rich natural resources, its potential could not be harnessed from the point of view of improving agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement. Strengthening of crop diversification depends on market and taking care of production risks through technological support, quality input supply, more insurance coverage and establishment of modern storage-processing centres in the region. Keeping in view the rich natural resources and hidden agricultural development opportunities in the region, government has already taken initiative for Second Green Revolution from the region, however a strong policy push up towards instilling confidence among the farming community is needed in this direction.
    Keywords: Diversification, Herfindahl Index, Second Green Revolution, Eastern India, poverty alleviation
    JEL: O11 O13 O33 Q01 Q1
    Date: 2019–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98118&r=all
  17. By: Borgia, Riccardo; Castellari, Elena; Sckokai, Paolo
    Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety
    Date: 2019–12–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea19:300905&r=all
  18. By: Antonescu, Daniela
    Abstract: This paper contains the main aspects and elements to the next programming period and future regional policy of the European Union. From the perspective of the next programming period, cohesion policy keeps on investing in all regions, still on the basis of three categories (less-developed; transition; more-developed). The allocation method for the funds is still largely based on GDP per capita, but the new criteria are added (youth unemployment, low education level, climate change, and the reception and integration of migrants) to better reflect the reality on the ground.
    Keywords: regional development, cohesion, Structural Funds, European Union
    JEL: R0 R1 R11 R28 R5 R58
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98122&r=all
  19. By: Merriman, Ben
    Abstract: This article examines public involvement in the six-year administrative review process of Waukesha, Wisconsin’s application to draw water from Lake Michigan to replace its radium-contaminated local water supply. The article shows that public positions on the proposal inverted the typical relationship between partisanship and environmental attitudes, prompting both supporters and opponents to ignore scientific evidence and the central matter of water safety. In successive rounds of state and regional administrative review, these political stances induced administrators to engage in increasingly legalistic forms of assessment. Although Waukesha’s application was approved in 2016, these administrative dynamics may limit the ability of the recently-enacted Great Lakes Compact to address current and prospective water safety problems in the region. The case typifies an emerging pattern in water governance in the United States: contentious administrative politics drive cooperative agreements to resemble adversarial proceedings, in turn limiting their ability to adapt to new environmental problems. Citation: Merriman, Ben. 2017. “Testing the Great Lakes Compact: Administrative Politics and the Challenge of Environmental Adaptation.” Politics & Society 45(3): 441-466.
    Date: 2017–12–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:rjea7&r=all
  20. By: Ruml, Anette; Qaim, Matin
    Abstract: Contract farming is typically seen as a useful mechanism to help smallholders. However, despite economic benefits, high dropout rates from contract schemes are commonplace. We use data from Ghana to show that smallholders benefit from a resource-providing contract in terms of higher yields and profits, but most of them still regret their decision to participate and would prefer to exit if they could. The main problem is insufficient information from the company. Farmers do not understand all contract details, which leads to mistrust. We argue that lack of transparency may explain high dropout rates in Ghana and other situations too.
    Keywords: Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Risk and Uncertainty
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:301006&r=all
  21. By: Verrascina, Milena; Zanetti, Barbara; Monteleone, Alessandro; Intorre, Federica; Azzini, Elena; Barnaba, Lorenzo; Ciarapica, Donatella; Polito, Angela
    Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Production Economics
    Date: 2019–12–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea19:300909&r=all
  22. By: Bartl, Anna Lina; Bartl, Isabel; Neu, Claudia
    Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries
    Date: 2019–12–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea19:300906&r=all
  23. By: Tröster, Bernhard; Staritz, Cornelia; Grumiller, Jan; Maile, Felix
    Abstract: Commodity price volatility remains a crucial development challenge of commodity-dependent countries of the Global South. Drawing on structural development economics' concerns with commodity price volatility and stabilisation, this article calls for the integration of price-setting into the analysis of governance in global commodity chains (GCCs). It argues that price-setting power and related uneven exposure to price instability and risks adds to other power dimensions in producing unequal distributional outcomes in GCCs. The paper assesses national price stabilisation in the top cocoa-producing countries Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana against changing inter-firm governance and price-setting institutions in the cocoa GCC. Based on over 50 interviews with commodity trading houses (CTHs) and cocoa sector actors in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, our analysis shows that national-level price stabilisation mechanisms address intra-seasonal producer price volatility, but have few possibilities to shield export and producer prices from inter-seasonal price variations. This is because both countries remain 'global price takers' with global prices set on financialized derivatives markets and transmitted along the GCC by CTHs, which limits possibilities for 'domestic price making'. This leaves the major burden of price risks between seasons with smallholder producers that have the least possibilities to deal with these risks.
    Keywords: Global Commodity Chains,Cocoa,Commodity Trading Houses,Price Setting,Financialisation,Côte d'Ivoire,Ghana
    Date: 2019
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:oefsew:62&r=all
  24. By: Delicato, Claudia; Salvatore, Fiorella Pia; Contò, Francesco
    Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety
    Date: 2019–12–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea19:300907&r=all
  25. By: Onur Altindag (Bentley University Department of Economics and Economic Research Forum); Stephen D. O’Connell (Emory University Department of Economics and IZA Institute of Labor Economics); Aytug Sasmaz (Harvard University Department of Government); Zeynep Balcioglu (Northeastern University Department of Political Science); Paola Cadoni (UNHCR Lebanon); Matilda Jerneck (UNHCR Lebanon); Aimee Kunze Foong (UNHCR Lebanon)
    Abstract: We develop and assess the performance of an econometric targeting model for a large scale humanitarian aid program providing unconditional cash and food assistance to refugees in Lebanon. We use regularized linear regression to derive a prediction model for household expenditure based on demographic and background characteristics; from administrative data that are routinely collected by humanitarian agencies. Standard metrics of prediction accuracy suggest this approach compares favorably to the commonly used “scorecard” Proxy Means Test, which requires a survey of the entire target population. We confirm these results through a blind validation test performed on a random sample collected after the model derivation.
    Date: 2019–09–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1343&r=all
  26. By: Vladi Finotto (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Christine Mauracher (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Isabella Procidano (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice)
    Abstract: Understanding the determinants of users’ propensity to purchase goods online is urgent for firms in the food industry. The present paper aims at analyzing how socio-demographic traits and characteristics influence consumers’ propensity to buy online. More specifically, the paper aims at understanding whether there are any differences or similarities in online purchases of food and beverage items vis-à-vis the purchases of non-food items. We find that a variety of socio-demographic characteristics influence online buying behavior and do soin nuanced ways. As far as food purchases are concerned, we find that males, aged 40-49 are more inclined to buy food and beverage online. While age and gender explain online shopping for food and beverage, other variables, such as education and place of residence, play a role in explaining the propensity to buy online non-food items. Several indications related to the preferences of customers in terms of additional services are proffered throughout the paper.
    Keywords: e-commerce; online shopping; food and beverage
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:171&r=all
  27. By: Franco, Silvio; Cicatiello, Clara
    Keywords: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety
    Date: 2019–12–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea19:300918&r=all

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