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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2020‒11‒30
34 papers chosen by |
| By: | K.S. Kavi Kumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics); Anubhab Pattanayak (Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics); Brinda Viswanathan (Professor, Madras School of Economics); Ashish Chaturvedi (Director-Climate Change, GIZ, New Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the research and policy issues relating to climate change impacts, adaptation research and loss and damage assessments for rural India with focus on agriculture and water sectors. The climate change impact assessments have recently been proliferated by statistical models which primarily assess the role of weather as opposed to climate, thereby biasing the extent of impacts. Though the interface between climate change adaptation research and policy has evolved from a broad geographic understanding to the field level challenges of implementation, there is considerable overlap between developmental activities and adaptation activities. Further, it is expected that the climate change impacts will exceed adaptation limits manifesting in loss and damage due to frequent and/or severe climate extreme events. The loss and damage debate also highlights the challenges that development brings in reducing irreversible and unavoidable losses and damages on one hand and increasing losses and damages attributable to intolerability on the other hand. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Climate Risk, Adaptation, Loss and Damages,Climate Policy, Rural India |
| JEL: | Q15 Q54 Q56 Q57 Q58 R52 R58 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-182&r=all |
| By: | Mikhail Miklyaev (Department of Economics, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and Senior Associate/ economist Cambridge Resources International Inc.); Glenn P. Jenkins (Department of Economics, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada and Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus); David Shobowale (Department of Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus) |
| Abstract: | Rwanda has aimed to achieve food self-sufficiency but is faced with binding land and budgetary constraints. The financial and economic returns of seven of the most cultivated crops in Rwanda, namely beans, cassava, maize, potato, rice, soybean, and wheat, are analyzed. The analysis is carried out from the perspectives of the key stakeholders and based on the prevailing agronomic practices and current policies in Rwanda. The farmers’ perspective is evaluated by the estimation of the returns to the farmers; the country’s perspective is addressed by estimating the economic returns to the economy from each crop. Moreover, the stakeholder analysis also evaluates the fiscal impacts of these crops on the government budget. The impacts are valued regionally and then aggregated to show the total country effects. This integrated cost-benefit analysis shows the cultivation of beans, cassava, and potato to be economically and fiscally sustainable, but shows rice, wheat, and soybean cultivation to be unsustainable without continued subsidization. Maize production is found to be economically sustainable in the Southern Province but not in any of the other provinces where it is cultivated. A major refocus of agricultural policies is necessary if the government wishes to achieve its economic development goals. |
| Keywords: | integrated investment appraisal; stakeholder analysis; Rwanda; economic analysis |
| JEL: | D61 Q12 Q13 |
| Date: | 2021–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:dpaper:4566&r=all |
| By: | Bertram, Christine; Ahtiainen, Heini; Meyerhoff, Jürgen; Pakalniete, Kristine; Pouta, Eija; Rehdanz, Katrin |
| Abstract: | In this study, we augment the traditional travel cost approach with contingent behavior data for coastal recreation. The objective is to analyze the welfare implications of future changes in the conditions of the Baltic Sea due to climate change and eutrophication. Adding to the literature, we assess the symmetricity of welfare effects caused by improvements and deteriorations in environmental conditions for a set of quality attributes. Responses are derived from identical online surveys in Finland, Germany and Latvia. We estimate recreational benefits using linear and non-linear negative binomial random-effects models. The calculated annual consumer surpluses are considerably influenced by the magnitude of the environmental changes in the three countries. We also observe asymmetries in the effects of environmental improvements and deteriorations on the expected number of visits. In particular, the results indicate that deteriorations lead to larger or more significant impacts than improvements in the case of blue-green algal blooms and algae onshore for Finland, water clarity for Germany, and water clarity and blue-green algal blooms for Latvia. For the remaining attributes, the effects are ambiguous. |
| Keywords: | Baltic Sea,Asymmetric preferences,Eutrophication,Valuation,Recreational benefits,Contingent behavior,Climate change,Water quality |
| JEL: | Q26 Q51 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225991&r=all |
| By: | Clifford, McKenna E.; McKendree, Melissa G.S.; Hodbod, Jennifer; Swanson, Janice C. |
| Abstract: | Environmental impacts of agricultural production can be intense and widespread. Uniquely, agriculture has the potential to impact surrounding environments, communities, and people both positively and negatively. Implementation of best management practices (BMPs) can increase positive impacts while mitigating the negative ones. BMPs are intended to minimize environmental consequences of agricultural production while increasing operation profitability (Paudel et al., 2008). They are also backed by research to be the most effective, environmentally sustainable, and economically efficient way to manage an agricultural enterprise long-term (Gillespie et al., 2007; Paudel et al., 2008). A newer BMP within the beef industry, adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing focuses on grazing cattle in a way that improves animal and forage productivity, increases water infiltration and reduces water runoff while potentially sequestering more soil organic carbon than other grazing methods (Park et al., 2017; Stanley et al., 2018). AMP grazing is an intensive grazing style in which lightweight, portable fencing systems are used to move animals strategically around a large pasture or range, allowing for dense grazing interspersed by long periods of recovery for the land. AMP grazing is commonly grouped with other adaptive grazing methods such as Holistic Management (HM), High-Intensity Short Duration Grazing, and Management-Intensive Grazing (Mann and Sherren, 2018) which show promise for sustainability and regeneration (Teague and Barnes, 2017). While investment in grazing systems research has been substantial, few detailed studies have gathered broad understandings of rancher perspectives regarding the efficacy or social, cultural, and economic dimensions of alternative grazing systems (Becker et al., 2016; Gosnell et al., 2020). Current AMP grazing research is limited and focused on the environmental and production benefits of the practice (Park et al., 2017; Stanley et al., 2018; Teague and Barnes, 2017). While some studies have explored perceptions of AMP by adopters, empirical studies on social and economic dimensions of AMP (and HM more broadly) are limited (e.g. Stinner et al. 1997; Roncoli et al. 2007; McLachlan and Yestrau 2009; Richards and Lawrence 2009; Alfaro-Arguello et al. 2010; Sherren et al. 2012; Ferguson et al. 2013; Mann and Sherren 2018; Gosnell et al. 2020). Additionally, little is still known about the wider beef industry’s knowledge and perceptions of AMP grazing or their willingness-to-adopt the grazing style. The purpose of this survey is to better understand current utilization, knowledge, and perceptions, in order to inform a study of willingness-to-accept (WTA) AMP grazing. To understand its current utilization, we analyze grazing management with questions crafted to allow for both researcher-identification and producer-identification of AMP grazing. Additional sections of our survey analyze expected and experienced barriers to AMP adoption, desired improvements within the operation broadly, current BMP adoption, and marketing claims; all of which we anticipate helping explain and motivate AMP adoption. Our in-depth analysis of beef producers’ utilization, knowledge, and perceptions was conducted from a national online survey of 459 producers. This material is based upon work supported by the VF Foundation, Wrangler, and Timberland and is part of the wider “Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing Research Project” based at Arizona State University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the author(s). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2020–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midasp:307453&r=all |
| By: | Arnaud Daymard (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Recent econometric work has found that policies improving the functioning of the land rental market have increased outmigration from agriculture in the developing world. I investigate this claim using a two-sector model of structural transformation that takes into account the well-known inverse relationship between farm size and farm productivity. Theoretically, outmigration from agriculture depends on how flexible agricultural prices are, while rigid agricultural prices lead to the reverse phenomenon of immigration in agriculture. Practically, the model predicts that for most countries, land rental market reforms cause little labor movement between sectors. In spite of this, these reforms are found to increase substantially the production efficiency and welfare of farmers. |
| Keywords: | structural transformation, agriculture, land rental markets, land reform |
| JEL: | O11 O13 O14 O41 F41 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2020-06&r=all |
| By: | Nogues, Julio J.; O'Connor, Ernesto |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the recent experience of importing countries’ contingent protection measures against input subsidies from escalated export taxes in biodiesel imports from Argentina. The analysis indicates that the end result of a WTO that is empty of rules on primary agricultural export barriers opens the door for arbitrary policies by exporting countries and leaves importing countries without a legal right to impose compensating contingent measures. This was made clear by the findings of the WTO Panel and Appellate Body in the Argentina-EU biodiesel case. Nevertheless, under Trump’s charge against the multilateral trading system, since December 2019 the WTO Appellate Body remains non-functioning and therefore, importing countries can now impose counteracting measures without risking a negative legal finding as the EU faced. As illustrated by the US contingent measures, a non-functioning Appellate Body now facilitates arbitrary measures by importing countries. The obvious solution to this mess is to include WTO rules on agricultural export barriers, and reinstate the the Appellate Body to normal functioning. |
| Keywords: | Argentina; agricultural export barriers; input subsidies; US; Peru; Appellate Body; antidumping |
| JEL: | F1 F13 F14 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:104058&r=all |
| By: | Dayakar Peddi (ICSSR Research Fellow, Madras School of Economics, Chennai); K.S. Kavi Kumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Soil erosion is a major problem of agriculture in India. The objective of this study is to investigate how farmers perceive the severity of soil erosion in the rain fed watershed areas of Telangana, India. The study is based on a detailed survey of 400 households in two sub-watershed areas. The study findings suggest that farmer‘s perception of soil erosion severity corresponds well with expectations of soil erosion determined by site specific factors such as slope of the plot, soil depth, soil texture, road connectivity, irrigation, crop intensity, and type of crops. The findings from the study also corroborate well with the several empirical studies from different parts of the world. Given this correspondence, it is argued that farmer‘s expertise is important while assessing soil erosion severity. The farmer‘s knowledge of the plot level soil erosion could complement the assessments made through secondary sources. The study findings further highlight the importance of using participatory approaches when working to reduce soil erosion. |
| Keywords: | Land degradation, Soil erosion, Soil conservation |
| JEL: | Q5 Q15 Q51 Q57 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-180&r=all |
| By: | Eileen Appelbaum (Center for Economic and Policy Research); Jared Gaby-Biegle (Center for Economic and Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Consolidation came later in the dairy industry than in other agricultural sectors. A long history of dairy farmer cooperatives owned by their farmer members and vertically integrated to produce and distribute fluid milk and cheese products staved off industrialized farming and horizontal consolidation. But by 1990, advances in technology and a change in antitrust regulation enabled investor-owned firms like Borden Dairy and Dean Food as well as large farmer cooperatives like DFA, Prairie Farm and Land O’Lakes to dominate the industry. Consolidation and the pursuit of economies of scale led to two inflexible and separate supply chains in dairy – one serving retail markets for consumers, the other serving commercial markets for institutional customers. The COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown revealed the lack of resilience and risks in a system dominated by a few large actors. Viable reforms in the dairy industry that limit the domination by powerful actors can achieve resilience and improve the ability of the dairy industry to respond to disruptions. |
| Keywords: | Dairy Industry, Industrialization, Consolidation, Monopolization. |
| JEL: | L11 L12 L41 Q13 |
| Date: | 2020–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:thk:wpaper:inetwp134&r=all |
| By: | Bethuel Kinyanjui Kinuthia |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the government input subsidy?the National Agriculture Input Voucher?on farmers' production and welfare in Tanzania as well as the factors that influence agricultural production in the country. The analysis is based on the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture for 2008-13. The study uses panel fixed effects and difference-in-difference and propensity score matching methods to examine the two objectives. |
| Keywords: | Difference-in-difference, Subsidies, Production, panel, Propensity score matching, Welfare, Tanzania |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-149&r=all |
| By: | Anubhab Pattanayak (Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics); K.S.Kavikumar (Professor, Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In the context of agriculture both crop modelling as well as statistical modelling approaches are used to assess climate change impacts. Studies comparing both approaches across developed as well as developing countries have argued that there is little or no difference in their estimates, resulting in further proliferation of statistical approaches. This paper presents a methodological review of the statistical approaches that broadly use crosssectional and panel datasets to quantitatively assess the climate change impacts on agriculture. Arguing that adaptation is modelled differently in different models, the paper provides an estimate of the extent to which impacts could be moderated through long-term adaptation in the context of Indian agriculture. In addition, the paper provides a brief review of the vast parallel literature that exclusively uses time-series data for assessment of the impacts of climate/weather trends. |
| Keywords: | Climate change impacts; Indian agriculture; Statistical models; Adaptation |
| JEL: | Q54 Q10 C10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2019-183&r=all |
| By: | H., Sujaya; Aithal, Sreeramana |
| Abstract: | Organic products seeped into the mainstream of the Indian market from decades with regeneration and shedding insight on sustainable food production. Presently customers typically understand the credentials of organic living, shell out to pay a premium for these products. But the negative repercussion towards the product and delusion towards organic labels slackens the product demands. This creates glitches for the organic industries, which are thriving hard to widen the market. The conventional products have created havoc by created colossal damage of 40% by household consumption and rest damage from the industry. So, it has become imperative for individuals to stick towards organic consumption. This case study identifies the issues of sustainable food consumption and the perceptible behaviour of customers towards organic products. The data is obtained from secondary sources of literature reviews, exhaustive journals and also internet sources. Studies highlight the organic food markets and its consumption rate along with the progress of the industry and obstacle faced by the producers |
| Keywords: | Organic products, Consumption, Perceptible behaviour, Sustainable |
| JEL: | I11 I15 Q1 Q13 Q19 |
| Date: | 2020–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:104008&r=all |
| By: | Julien Gourdon; Susan Stone; Frank van Tongeren |
| Abstract: | Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) provisions and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) generally raise trade costs, but by providing a positive signal to consumers that enhances confidence in imported products they can also expand trade. This paper seeks to identify which specific elements of SPS and TBT measures are particularly trade enhancing. It investigates the trade cost and trade enhancing effects of SPS and TBT measures along with other types of NTMs in agricultural trade. It provides estimations on the quantity and price effects on 34 SPS and 24 TBT measures.The econometric results show that technical measures can increase import prices of agricultural products by nearly 15%, most of which comes from restriction or special authorisation for TBT or SPS reasons, such as registration requirements. Conformity assessment also tends to significantly increase the cost of trade. Trade enhancing effects are identified for labelling and packaging requirements, which are also the measures with relatively low associated trade costs |
| Keywords: | SPS, TBT, Trade costs |
| JEL: | C21 F13 F14 L51 |
| Date: | 2020–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:147-en&r=all |
| By: | Nicolas Taconet (CIRED, ENPC) |
| Abstract: | Studies of the Social Cost of Carbon assume climate change is a stock externality for which damages stem from warming level. However, economic and natural systems are also sensitive to the rate at which warming occurs. In this paper, I study the optimal carbon tax when such a feature is accounted for. Damages caused by warming rates do not aect optimal long-term warming, but they delay the use of the same carbon budget. They also make carbon price less sensitive to discounting assumptions. Numerically, when controlling for the welfare loss from climate change, the more damages stem from warming rates rather than warming levels, the higher the initial carbon price. This suggests that mitigation strategies that overlook this issue might lead to too rapidly increasing temperature pathways. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Social Cost of Carbon, Carbon price, , |
| JEL: | Q54 H23 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2020.22&r=all |
| By: | Gupta, Eashan (The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the India water crisis. Water scarcity in India has been a problem for a number of years now as many Indian water sources contain biological pollutants and excessive use of groundwater for irrigation depletes water reservoirs. This paper will explore non-revenue water levels and conduct a cost benefit analysis. It will conclude with a recommendation on where the solution to mitigating the Indian water crisis lies – privatization. |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:jhisae:0148&r=all |
| By: | Katsushi S. Imai (Department of Economics, The University of Manchester, UK and Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, Japan); Nidhi Kaicker (School of Business, Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship, Ambedkar University, India); Raghav Gaiha (Glovbal Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK and Population Studies Centre, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) |
| Abstract: | Using the panel data on market arrivals and prices for the 17 Indian states from July 2019 to June 2020, the present study examines whether the growth of Covid-19 pandemic influenced fractional changes in market arrivals and prices. A point of departure of our analysis from the literature is that we take into account the dynamic and lagged interactions between the fractional changes in market arrivals and prices of food commodities, namely, rice, onion, potato, and tomato, and the growth rate in the severity ratio of the Covid-19 pandemic, using a panel VAR model based on GMM. Our results suggest that there was virtually no effect of the Covid-19 pandemic growth on fractional changes in market arrivals while the former negatively influences fractional food price changes in the short run. However, once we consider feedback effects in the VAR model based on Impulse Response Functions, the overall elasticity of the fractional change in the market arrival with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic growth turns from weakly positive to zero in a relatively short term. The overall elasticity of the fractional change in the market price with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic growth turns from positive to zero or negative in onion and tomato, from negative to zero in rice and potato. We also find a great deal of regional heterogeneity where, for instance, the negative effect of the pandemic growth on the fractional change in price is larger in Maharashtra, the state with the worst pandemic. While the effect of the pandemic growth is relatively short-lived, policymakers need to take into account dynamic effects over time given the complexity of the transmission mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19 pandemic; Food prices; A panel VAR model; Lockdown; India |
| JEL: | E31 E61 E65 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2020-30&r=all |
| By: | Julia Bronnmann (Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark); Veronika Liebelt (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Fabian Marder (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Jasper Meya (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany); Martin Quaas (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany and Leipzig University Department of Economics, Grimmaische Str. 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The wide range of benefits for humans and biodiversity conservation provided by urban green spaces (UGS) are receiving substantial attention in relation to urban planning and management. However, little is known about to which extent people value the naturalness and biodiversity of urban green spaces. We study how citizens value the naturalness of and the walking distance to their closest UGS in 22 major German cities. For this purpose, we develop a unique measurement scale for the naturalness of UGS, which is embedded in an online survey and in a discrete choice experiment. Results of Mixed Logit estimates and willingness to pay values indicate clear preferences regarding the naturalness of urban green space. For our national representative sample, we elicit a mean marginal WTP for the naturalness of UGS of € 2.31 per month with a standard error of € 0.12. Moreover, the results show that WTP varies between cities. These figures underline the importance of biodiversity in urban areas and can inform urban planning. Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG– FZT 118, 202548816). |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity, discrete choice experiments, non-market valuation, urban green space, willingness-to-pay |
| JEL: | C81 H41 Q51 Q57 R21 R58 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sdk:wpaper:sebe5&r=all |
| By: | Lan , Le; Iftekhar, MD Sayed; Fogarty, James; Schilizzi, Steven |
| Abstract: | Globally, the agriculture sector is the largest user of groundwater, and reducing groundwater extraction by the agriculture sector is an active policy objective in many jurisdictions to manage a declining groundwater resource. Determination of the cost to agriculture in terms of lost gross margin due to implementing exogenously determined water extraction restrictions has been an active research area. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on groundwater management by developing a hydro-economic farm level optimization model that allows us to internalize the environmental externalities associated with groundwater extraction and compare with various levels of uniform proportional reduction in groundwater extraction. Our case studies are three sub-areas within Western Australia’s most important groundwater system: the Gnangara Groundwater System. We find that when environmental externalities are considered, the reduction level of water extraction varied between 26% and 38% across the three sub-areas. Following the reduction, the total farm gross margin falls by 21% and the environmental damage falls by 98% relative to the current level of water extraction limits. We also find that to reach the same level of reduction in environmental damage, the uniform cut has to be between 40% and 50% and this results in a fall in farm gross margin by 29% to 39%. We present this contrasting result as evidence against using a policy of uniform proportional cuts to agriculture sector groundwater allocations |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2020–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:307434&r=all |
| By: | Arnaud Daymard (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Most studies of structural transformation assume a closed economy when modeling. Is this assumption justified in a globalized world? I test the relevance of closed versus open economy models of structural transformation using data on the sectoral productivity levels of developed and developing countries over the 1950-2013 period. The empirical findings suggest that trade openness does affect the mechanics of structural transformation in the way predicted by the theory, but that the practical effect of trade is small. Nonetheless, the difficult creation of manufacturing jobs in Latin America and Africa—a trait commonly referred to as ”premature deindustrialization”—suggests that trade might have a significant role on the mechanics of manufacturing employment, a role that it does not play on agriculture and services. As an alternative to the role of trade, I also emphasize that large fixed costs in the formal manufacturing sector might explain the difficult industrialization of Latin America and Africa. |
| Keywords: | structural transformation, industrialization, agricultural productivity, international trade |
| JEL: | O11 O13 O14 O41 F41 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2020-07&r=all |
| By: | Adámek, Jakub (Comenius University in Bratislava) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to explore agriculture in modern-day Uaxactún, Petén, Guatemala. The results are based on two types of data – spatial and anthropological. Spatial data are represented in the visualization of recent agricultural features (Milpas) visualized from orthophoto maps, processed in QGIS 3.10.1. Anthropological data were obtained during July and August 2019 in the Uaxactún, as a part of the Regional Archaeological Project of Uaxactún (Proyecto arqueológico regional Uaxactún – PARU). 18 respondents had taken part in the research. The research was conducted by semi-structured interviews and participant observation. To list finds – the average Milpa dimension was described, most interesting crops and agricultural techniques were described, and a model of the local agricultural year was provided. The key find is that, even if one could interpret recent Uaxactún agriculture as traditional, the drives and motivations of the farmers are modern, capitalistic, and monetary oriented. |
| Date: | 2020–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5jcxr&r=all |
| By: | Escarley TORRICO |
| Abstract: | Many works focus on water conflicts in urban or rural areas, but very few try to understand what happens in spaces where boundaries are diffuse. In this article, we analyze the tensions and conflicts that arise in the urban-rural interface of Hampaturi, located on the northwest edge of the urban sprawl of the city of La Paz, where we find part of the water dams supplying water for household consumption. |
| Keywords: | Bolivie |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2020–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en11754&r=all |
| By: | Jaime, Glória; Hobeika, Alexandre; Figuié, Muriel |
| Abstract: | The significant increase in antibiotics resistance (AMR) has become a major issue over the last decade. Current international focus falls largely on reducing the excessive use and misuse of antibiotics in animal farming. The drivers of this consumption are generally studied through farmers' behavior and veterinary-farmers interactions. However, drug use also results from structural factors that determine the functioning of the drugs market chain and farmers' access to drugs. This article presents an overview of the limits to access to veterinary drugs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), as well as the international policy tools and setups that claim to improve it. We analyze the scientific and grey literature, the publicly available data of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry and international organizations in order to gather information on the veterinary drugs markets in SSA, and on the norms, recommendations, guidelines and initiatives at international level that impact the functioning of the markets chains in SSA. We highlight numerous roadblocks to access to veterinary medicines in SSA. The African market is highly dependent on imports. It suffers from a high level of fragmentation, weak distribution infrastructures and services and is driven by the multiplication of private non- professional actors playing a growing role in the veterinary drug chains. The distribution system is increasingly dualized, with on the one hand the public sector (supported by development organizations) supplying small scale farmers in rural areas, but with limited and irregular means; and on the other side a private sector largely unregulated which supplies commercial and industrial farming systems. Different innovations have been developed at the international level to lower these barriers, such as homogenization of national legislations, donations and vaccine banks. Along decades-old inter-state cooperation, many new forms of Public-Private partnerships and hybrid forums are emerging, signaling a growing power of the private sector in the global governance. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), access to veterinary drugs is far from a given and remains an issue for many farmers. Drugs access is highly heterogeneous, little regulated and the market chains are increasingly segmented. The duality of the structure of the market chains has significant implications for the strategies aiming at controlling AMR at global level. Many of them emphasize the need to reduce the use of antibiotics at farm levels, without embracing this duality within countries. These strategies need to take to take into account the diversity of the conditions of access and use of drugs. Policies aimed at regulating the risks associated with the use of some drugs, especially antimicrobials, should not only focus on end users, farmers and veterinarians, but also encompass the actors that influence the flow of these compounds. |
| Date: | 2020–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:africa:8vcj2&r=all |
| By: | Rickels, Wilfried; Merk, Christine; Reith, Fabian; Keller, David P.; Oschlies, Andreas |
| Abstract: | Intentionally removing carbon from the atmosphere with negative emission technologies (NETs) will be important to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and to limit global warming to 2 °C or even 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). Model scenarios that consider NETs as part of mitigation pathways are still largely restricted to afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), while the '[f]easibility and sustainability of [NETs] use could be enhanced by a portfolio of options deployed at substantial, but lesser scales, rather than a single option at very large scale' (IPCC 2018, p 19). Here, we show the results from an anonymous expert survey, including 32 Earth-System-Model (ESM) experts and 18 Integrated-Assessment-Model (IAM) experts, about the role of NETs in future climate policies and about how well the various technologies are represented in current models. We find that they strongly support the view that technology portfolios are required to achieve negative emissions, however, the responses show that the number and range of NETs that can be assessed in IAMs is small and that IAMs and ESMs are rather applied to analyze technologies separately than in combination. IAM experts in particular consider BECCS as part of a future NETs portfolio; but at the same time, all experts judge the constraints BECCS would face regarding future overall feasibility and more particularly regarding resource competition to be the highest. Regarding the assessment of constraints the ESM experts are much more skeptical than the IAM experts; they also think that the BECCS carbon removal pathways are less sufficiently represented in ESMs compared to what the IAM experts thinks about the representation in their models. Despite the perceived need for NETs portfolios, the range of NETs which can be assessed in IAMs is rather small and ocean NETs have, so far, mostly been overlooked by the IAM experts. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225999&r=all |
| By: | Per Arild Garnåsjordet (Statistics Norway); Margrete Steinnes; Zofie Cimburova; Megan Nowell; David N. Barton; Iulie Aslaksen (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | The article enhances the knowledge base for assessment of urban ecosystem services, within UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA), which is based on spatial extent accounts (area of ecosystems) and biophysical condition accounts (ecological state of ecosystems). Case studies from the Oslo region are explored, combining land use/land cover maps from Statistics Norway with satellite data. The approach suggests that especially in an urban context, extent and condition accounts are not separate approaches as suggested by SEEA EEA but should be integrated for ecosystem accounting. Moreover, the basic spatial unit should not be fixed, as suggested by SEEA EEA, but should reflect that modelling of different ecosystem services, as basis for trade-offs in urban planning, requires different spatial units to capture urban green elements. |
| Keywords: | Experimental ecosystem accounting; ecosystem services; urban ecosystems; spatial analysis; land use maps; land cover maps |
| JEL: | Q34 Q56 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:941&r=all |
| By: | Malik, Afia |
| Abstract: | The study has identified poor institutional quality and industrialization behind high energy intensity in Pakistan while income per capita and associated urbanization playing a significant role in reducing energy intensity. For Pakistan being a country in transition, industrialization is expected to rise in future along with its adverse impact on energy intensity. However, economic policies that boost income would help in reducing energy intensity; provided income effect is large enough and sustainable to offset the negative impact of industrialization. Similarly, good governance practices and better quality of institutions can play an effective role in increasing the efficiency in the use of energy thus reducing overall energy intensity |
| Keywords: | Energy Intensity, Income per capita, Industry, Urbanization, Institutional Quality |
| JEL: | E02 O11 Q43 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:103456&r=all |
| By: | Filippo Bontadini; Francesco Vona (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | We study green specialization across EU countries and detailed 4-digit industrial sectors over the period of 1995-2015 by harmonizing product-level data (PRODCOM). We propose a new list of green goods that refines lists proposed by international organizations by excluding goods with double usages. Our exploratory analysis reveals important structural properties of green specialization. First, green production is highly concentrated, with 13 out of 119 4-digit industries accounting for 95% of the total. Second, green and polluting productions do not occur in the same sectors, and countries tend to specialize in either green or brown sectors. This suggests that the distributional effect of European environmental policies can be large. Third, green specialization is highlypath dependent, but it is also reinforced by the presence of non-green capabilities within the same sector. This helps explain why economies with better engineering and technical capabilities have built a comparative advantage in green production. |
| Keywords: | Green goods; Green specialization; Revealed comparative advantage; Complementarity; Path dependency |
| JEL: | Q55 L60 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6m5kss847r91no96hiublu6anu&r=all |
| By: | Zhuldyz Ashikbayeva; Marei Fürstenberg; Timo Kapelari; Albert Pierres; Stephan Thies |
| Abstract: | This thesis studies the impacts of flooding on income and expenditures of rural households in Northeast Thailand. It explores and compares shock coping strategies and identifies household level differences in flood resilience. Drawing on unique household panel data collected between 2007 and 2016, we exploit random spatio-temporal variation in flood intensities on the village level to identify the causal impacts of flooding on households. Two objective measures for flood intensities are derived from satellite data and employed in the analysis. Both proposed measures rely on the percentage area inundated in the surrounding of a village, but the second measure is standardized and expressed in comparison to the median village level flood exposure. We find that household incomes are negatively affected by floods. However, our results suggest that rather than absolute levels of flooding, deviations from median flood exposure are driving negative effects on households. This indicates a certain degree of adaptation to floods. Household expenditures for health and especially food rise in the aftermath of flooding. Lastly, we find that above primary school education helps to completely offset potential negative effects of flooding. |
| Keywords: | Flooding, Household level effects, Southeast Asia, TVSEP |
| JEL: | Q54 D10 I10 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tvs:wpaper:wp-022&r=all |
| By: | Maloney, Patricia A. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2020–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cantrf:305880&r=all |
| By: | Tonke, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | Individuals often desire to achieve certain outcomes, but potentially lack the procedural knowledge on how to do so. This study provides causal evidence that imperfect procedural knowledge is a severe obstacle to efficient behavior, but can be overcome by providing low-cost information. I conduct a large-scale field experiment with a public water utility to encourage water conservation during a drought. Providing mass-targeted conservation strategies via text message decreases consumption by 5.2 percent. Additional treatments encouraging individuals to develop own strategies are ineffective and rule out alternative explanations such as reminders, awareness of water scarcity, or being asked to reduce consumption. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment,information provision,resource conservation |
| JEL: | C93 D91 Q25 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc20:224536&r=all |
| By: | Sowmya Dhanaraj (Assistant Professor, Madras School of Economics); Smit Gade (Good Business Lab); Christy Mariya Paul (Madras School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Income shocks on households in developing countries are known to have an impact on the investment in the education of children. In this paper, we explore the effects of various income and expenditure shocks on educational investment and cognitive outcomes of children. In order to understand the mechanisms through which shocks affect children‟s human capital we employ a range of dependent variables that capture input, output and outcome measures of education. We use three rounds of household-level panel data from Young lives survey conducted in two southern states of India, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Dynamic Panel data model using system General Method of Moments (GMM) estimator is used for investigating the impact of various income and expenditure shocks on children‟s education and cognitive abilities. We find that idiosyncratic shocks like paternal health shocks and livestock loss translate into lower inputs of children‟s education which in turn reduce their cognitive ability captured through vocabulary and mathematics tests. The results also suggest that these shocks mainly affect children‟s development through decreased time spent in school |
| Keywords: | income shocks, child time use, test scores, dynamic panel estimation |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mad:wpaper:2018-177&r=all |
| By: | Carlos Garriga; Aaron Hedlund; Yang Tang; Ping Wang |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a dynamic competitive spatial equilibrium framework to evaluate the contribution of rural-urban migration induced by structural transformation to the behavior of Chinese housing markets. In the model, technological progress drives workers facing heterogeneous mobility costs to migrate from the rural agricultural sector to the higher paying urban manufacturing sector. Upon arrival to the city, workers purchase housing using long-term mortgages. Quantitatively, the model fits cross-sectional house price behavior across a representative sample of Chinese cities between 2003 and 2015. The model is then used to evaluate how changes to city migration policies and land supply regulations affect the speed of urbanization and house price appreciation. The analysis indicates that making migration policy more egalitarian or land policy more uniform would promote urbanization but also would contribute to larger house price dispersion. |
| JEL: | O11 R21 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28013&r=all |
| By: | Graham Bradley (Griffith University); Zakaria Babutsidze (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Andreas Chai; Joseph Reser |
| Abstract: | As the actions of individuals contribute substantially to climate change, identifying factors that underpin environmentally-relevant behaviors represents an important step towards modifying behavior and mitigating climate change impacts. This paper introduces a sequential model in which antecedent psychological and sociodemographic variables predict climate change risk perceptions, which lead to enhanced levels of response efficacy and psychological adaptation in relation to climate change, and ultimately to environmentally-relevant behaviors. The model is tested and refined using data from large national surveys of Australian and French residents. As hypothesized, in both samples, risk perception (indirectly), response efficacy (both indirectly and directly), and psychological adaptation (directly) predicted behavior. However, these effects were stronger in the Australian than in the French sample, and other unexpectedly strong direct effects were also observed. In particular, subscribing to a “green” self-identity directly predicted all endogenous variables, especially in the French sample. The study provides valuable insights into the processes underlying environmentally-relevant behaviors, while serving as a reminder that effects on behavior may be nation-specific. Strategies are recommended for promoting pro-environmental behavior through the enhancement of a green identity, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; Pro-environmental behavior; Risk perception; Response efficacy; Psychological adaptation; Green self-identity |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/61ih2qtadc8g1894enmudd2f09&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, Wendong; Xiong, Tao |
| Abstract: | The novel coronavirus has shocked the world’s economies. |
| Date: | 2020–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:202003130700001773&r=all |
| By: | Ishak, Phoebe W. |
| Abstract: | We study the spatial distribution of the effect of oil and gas revenues on Brazilian municipalities, using variations in the international prices of oil and gas to establish causality. Oil and gas revenues increase economic activity, measured by night-time light emissions, in oil-producing municipalities but impose negative spill-overs on neighbouring municipalities. Spill-overs dominate beyond 150 km from oil activities and compensate direct effects in micro-regions. In oil municipalities, oil and gas revenues increase royalties, population, local real prices, crime, and real wages, essentially in manufacturing and services. Spillovers are negative on wages and prices and positive on royalties and crime. |
| Keywords: | Natural resources curse,oil,spill-over effects,Night-time lights,Brazil |
| JEL: | O11 O13 Q32 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc20:224612&r=all |
| By: | Heimann, Tobias |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how bioeconomy activities, stated in the concepts of the European Union, Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, and the German government, potentially affect the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of the bioeconomy is to substitute the use of fossil resources by renewable resources, while the SDGs set targets for a holistic sustainable global development. A literature-based influence analysis on empirical studies is employed to derive three bioeconomy scenarios (business as usual, bioeconomy, and sustainable bioeconomy) and to quantify their effects on the individual SDG targets. It is shown that the bioeconomy scenario has positive as well as negative effects on the SDG targets. While targets for cleaner industrial production are strongly supported, socioeconomic targets are subject to mixed effects and environmental targets significantly hurt. This paper outlines which SDGs need special attention when implementing a bioeconomy according to the above-mentioned concepts. The results add to the debate on SDG trade‐offs and on the substitutability of SDG targets. Without regulations, policies, and investments ensuring sustainability, or in case the substitutability of SDG targets is not allowed, the bioeconomy concepts have the potential to jeopardize the achievement of several SDGs. In contrast, the sustainable bioeconomy scenario assumes strong sustainability measures that reveal the extensive potential of the bioeconomy to support the achievement of the SDGs. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:225998&r=all |