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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2021‒07‒19
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Ngoma, Hambulo; Pelletier, Johanne; Mulenga, Brian P.; Subakanya, Mitelo |
| Abstract: | Motivation - Although increasing agricultural production is necessary to feed a growing population and meet changing dietary preferences, basing this on expanding area cultivated at the expense of the forest is unsustainable. Expanding agriculture area into forests accounts for 80% of the deforestation globally. Zambia is estimated to lose between 167,000 and 300,000 ha of total forest per annum. Deforestation contributes to climate change, which in turn disproportionately affects smallholder farmers who depend on rainfed agriculture and yet have the least means to adapt to and cope with climate shocks. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is considered a necessary condition to increase agricultural productivity and resilience, as well as to adapt to and mitigate climate change. However, the pathways through which CSA can reduce deforestation are neither obvious, nor are they well understood. At conceptual level, the Borlaug hypothesis postulates that increasing agricultural productivity enables intensification, which in turn spares nature. However, increasing agricultural productivity makes agriculture profitable, which in turn might incentivize rather than reduce deforestation—a phenomenon called the Jevons Paradox. Understanding the different conditions and enabling environments for either of the opposing outcomes in different contexts remains an unresolved and important empirical regularity. Purpose: This paper aims to contribute towards a better understanding of the linkages among CSA, cropland expansion, and deforestation. It unpacks how, why, and where cropland expansion is occurring among smallholder farmers in Zambia. Approach and Methods: Based on detailed nation-wide household-level data, we use an instrumental variable approach to assess cropland expansion and drivers of that expansion, and assess whether CSA reduces cropland expansion in Zambia. We supplemented this analysis with the spatially-explicit Hansen et al. (2013) data to characterize district-level forest cover changes between 2001 and 2018 and correlate these data with district-level changes in cropland expansion to identify processes and patterns. Findings: One-fifth of the 7,241 farm households surveyed in 2019 expanded cropland between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 farming seasons, clearing on average 0.18 ha, but only 13% expanded their cropland into forests, clearing an average of 0.10 ha of forestland per household. While not all cropland expansion necessarily leads to deforestation, smallholder cropland expansion into forests represents about 4.6% of cultivated land and about 60% (or 150,000 ha) of the 250,000 ha of forests lost per year in Zambia. Most households expanded cropland because of the need to meet subsistence food needs and a few others in response to market opportunities. Much of the cropland expansion among smallholder farmers is concentrated in Luapula, Muchinga, Northern, North- Western, and Western provinces, which are among the most agriculturally favorable areas given the good rainfall conditions (except for Western Province). However, these provinces have high soil acidity, further bringing to the fore a need to address soil health in these areas. Adopting CSA had no statistically significant effect on cropland expansion in our national sample, indicating that CSA alone might not avert expansion-led deforestation. However, age and education are associated with reduced expansion, while secure tenure, landholding size, being male-headed, and distance from the plot to the homestead are positively related to cropland expansion. Thus, CSA-led (technological) intensification alone might not reduce deforestation unless if complemented with improved natural resources management, which would control conversion of forestland to other uses, including agriculture. Policy Implications: We draw three implications for policy. First, relying only on technological-driven intensification to spare forests may be risky. Productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies, like CSA, would be more likely to lead to win-win outcomes for conservation and food production if accompanied by improved resource governance initiatives and better land use planning. Second, seeing that smallholder-led expansion accounts for about 60% of the reported deforestation in Zambia—and most of this expansion occurs in the current agricultural belt—signals the urgency with which policies are required to curb expansion. This is important in order to avert the likelihood that the current agricultural belt, which receives abundant rainfall in Zambia might start to experience reduced rainfall due to deforestation-induced climate variability. And, lastly, we contend that concerted efforts are needed to identify sustainable and efficient ways to scale-up and scale-out CSA adoption in Zambia and the region, given the strategic role CSAs play in building climate resilience. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2019–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:303522&r= |
| By: | Jesús Antón (OECD); Johannes Sauer (Technical University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | Increasing productivity at farm level is a key policy objective across most countries and fundamental to the overall performance of agricultural and food systems. This paper applies dynamic statistical methods to farm level data in order to identify the determinants of farm performance over time, in terms of productivity and measures of local sustainability. The analysis sheds light on the effects of policies on productivity, and the links between productivity and sustainability outcomes. It draws on key findings from seven case studies: crop farms in Australia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom (England and Wales); and dairy farms in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, with different sample periods, from the most recent three decades to the last five years. A key finding is that policy changes increasing the degree of decoupling of payments have a positive impact on productivity. Furthermore, with the right incentives, productivity growth can be more locally sustainable insofar as farms can produce more output with less inputs that harm the environment. The detailed background work on the seven samples of crops and dairy farms in the above countries is available in OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Paper N°165. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policy, Agriculture, Decoupling, Drivers of performance, Environmental sustainability, Farm structure, Innovation, Productivity, Technical change |
| JEL: | D24 O31 O33 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:164-en&r= |
| By: | Johannes Sauer (Technical University of Munich); Will Chancellor (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences); Phillip Mennig (Technical University of Munich); Jesús Antón (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides detailed farm level data evidence on the dynamics of farm performance from case studies covering crop farms in Australia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom (England and Wales), and dairy farms in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, with different recent sample periods of five to thirty years. An increase in productivity over time is common to all countries and most crop farm classes, but productivity dynamics vary significantly. In Australia, strong productivity growth among the most productive crop farms has led to an increase in the gap between the highest and lowest performing farms; whereas in France, Italy and the United Kingdom, productivity growth was weak among the most productive crop farms and the lowest performing farms closed the productivity gap. Productivity also increased among dairy farms, with an increasing gap between the most and the least productive farm classes in the three sample countries. The impact of policy changes on performance dynamics is analysed for decoupled payments in France and England, and dairy payments in the Czech Republic. The main findings across countries and policy implications are discussed in OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Paper N°164. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policy, Agriculture, Decoupling, Drivers of performance, Environmental sustainability, Farm structure, Innovation, Productivity, Technical change |
| JEL: | D24 O31 O33 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:165-en&r= |
| By: | Djihad, Tria; Alghorbany, Abdelkader; Bin Muhamad, Azim Izzuddin; Alam, Md. Mahmudul (Universiti Utara Malaysia) |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is considered to be a vital aspect of Algeria’s national economy and rural development. Achieving sustainable agricultural production, generating employment, reducing imports and minimising post-harvest crops losses are the major objectives of the Algerian government. However, based on the evaluation of existing policies, this study found that poor governance is hampering the agriculture sector, particularly in terms of management of financial resources, where most financial investments are made only for short-term gains. The lack of awareness about the importance of post-harvest practices and lack of using modern technology threaten the growth of this sector. Adopting sound post-harvest methods can reduce food losses and wastage in every stage of the food supply chain, and integration of modern techniques, skilled labour, and education training systems are very important if agriculture in Algeria is to progress. |
| Date: | 2020–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:25qag&r= |
| By: | Echeverría, Lucía; Molina, José Alberto |
| Abstract: | Evidence suggests that household responses to price and income changes are significantly sensitive across income levels and rural-urban location. In this paper, we focus on poor households vs. non-poor households using two definitions of poverty, objective and subjective. We evaluate the differential responses of poor households vs. non-poor households to changes in food expenditures and prices and simulate the welfare losses from food price changes across poverty definitions. We use the QUAIDS model to estimate food elasticities with data from the National Expenditure and Household Income Survey, 2016-2017, from Uruguay. Expenditure elasticities at the food level reveal that bread and dairy products are a necessity-food category, regardless of the poverty status and across poverty definitions, while beverages are a luxury good. The demand sensitivity for the rest of the food categories differs by poverty status and poverty definitions. Uncompensated own-price elasticities indicate that when poverty is defined objectively, then changes in demand due to changes in price are greater for poor households (except for meat products). However, poor households, under the subjective definition, are more sensitive than non-poor households only to changes in beverage prices. Additionally, changes in household economic welfare due to price increases vary according to poverty status. On average, the percentage of total income needed to avoid a loss in economic welfare of poor households, defined by the objective method, is double that required by the non-poor households, for all price changes. However, differences are much smaller when using the subjective approach to measure poverty. |
| Keywords: | Poverty,Food consumption,Demand system,Welfare,Uruguay |
| JEL: | D12 I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:890&r= |
| By: | Atkinson, Giles; Gelan, Ayele |
| Abstract: | We explore the challenge of sustainability in Kuwait and, in doing so, explore three distinct (but related) questions surrounding this. First, we assess development prospects in Kuwait using metrics of national wealth and natural capital. Secondly, we construct a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for Kuwait. Third, we provide a risk assessment for Kuwait of climate change impacts by combining an economic model with different climate scenarios relevant to Kuwait’s food security. Our findings on wealth accounting and our GHG inventory point to the importance of strengthening, and extending, statistical systems in Kuwait. The benefits of this would be improved sustainability benchmarks (against which official national savings commitments can be evaluated) and a more robust basis for judging GHG reduction strategies (given our finding that existing data sources underestimate Kuwait emissions). Moreover, understanding climate risks for Kuwait is crucial to prudent assessment of development prospects. We show that food security is a useful starting point for this and investigate the impacts of changing world food prices on the cost of imports and scope for substituting for domestic activities in both the food. production and processing sectors |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:110972&r= |
| By: | Dy, Kenneth |
| Abstract: | The accomplishments of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) have been criticised for inaccurately portraying the land redistribution in the Philippines. Evidence has largely been anecdotal in nature. Examining the breakdown of the accomplishments as to region and type may reveal several important findings that aggregate accomplishment numbers conceal. But cross-validating official redistribution results with data from a different government agency offers an even more unique way to prove or disprove the claims of agrarian reform authorities. This study complements earlier investigative studies by examining whether the decennial Census of Agriculture and Fisheries can offer corroboratory or contradictory evidence to published accomplishments. A ‘farm holding redistribution’ ratio and ‘land use change’ ratio were computed for this purpose, and analysed together with regional average farm size, farm holding Gini, tenure arrangements across time. Furthermore, it looks at the change in farmland distribution before and during the CARP implementation. After scrutinizing the official accomplishments and CAF data, the findings reveal that indeed, CARP accomplishments failed to translate into landownership for small farm operators. However, there is a dim reflection of achieving its stated goals in regions that implemented more compulsory acquisition and in continuing past programs prior to the enactment of CARP. |
| Keywords: | land redistribution, CARP, agrarian reform |
| JEL: | Q15 R52 |
| Date: | 2020–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:108690&r= |
| By: | Carlson, Andrea; Kuczynski, Kevin; Pannucci, TusaRebecca; Koegel, Kristin; Page, Elina T.; Tornow, Carina E.; Zimmerman, Thea Palmer |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uerstb:312341&r= |
| By: | Alam, Md. Mahmudul (Universiti Utara Malaysia); Ibrahim, Yusnidah Bt; Mia, Shahin |
| Abstract: | In Malaysia, there is a declining trend in agricultural productivity and crop yields due to various climate events in the recent years. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impacts of climate change, especially El Nino and flood, on the financial performance of Malaysian agro and plantation firms. The study used a panel data set on 33 Malaysian agro and plantation firms listed in Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2003 to 2016. A panel of regression models including GMM, Pooled OLS, Random Effect and Fixed Effect were used to analyze the data. The results show that both the El Nino and flood have significant negative impact on the firms’ financial performance as measured by ROA and ROE. The findings indicate that climate change results in reduction of agricultural production which reduces revenue and consequently the profit of the agro and plantation firms. The study findings might help the firm managers as well as policy makers to take into consideration the environmental factors that affect the overall financial health of the firms and take appropriate adaptation and mitigation policies to climate change at firm level and macro level in the country. |
| Date: | 2020–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:m9ugw&r= |
| By: | Levi, Sebastian; Goldberg, Matthew H. |
| Abstract: | Climate change concern varies widely across countries. In 2019, 80% of Greeks were at least somewhat worried about climate change, compared to 20% of Egyptians. We argue that variation in climate change concern is partially caused by differences in democracy. Civil liberties protect climate communicators from state repression, censorship, and violence. We offer empirical evidence for the causal effect of democracy on climate change concern using data from 611,909 individuals from 118 countries collected between 2007 and 2019. Exploiting variation in civil liberties across countries and time, we find one unit change in the 7-point civil liberty index to influence climate change concern by 2.3 [95% CI: ±1] percentage points. The effect is much stronger in wealthy countries and less educated cohorts. We also present evidence for our causal pathway using qualitative interviews and by modeling the association between democracy, climate protest, media coverage, and climate concern with simultaneous equations. |
| Date: | 2021–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:6vk9d&r= |
| By: | Bond, Jennifer K.; Hitaj, Claudia; Smith, David; Hunt, Kevin; Perez, Agnes; Ferreira, Gustavo |
| Abstract: | Driven by growing consumer demand for fruits, nuts, and vegetables, U.S. growers are expanding their cultivation of these pollinator-dependent crops. To service the rising number of pollination contracts and seek out quality forage to produce honey, beekeepers move their bees around the country. Limited nationwide data exist on the number of honey bee colonies that pass through each State throughout the year, the routes these colonies take, and the distances traveled. Using data from a USDA survey of beekeepers, this report quantifies honey bee colony movements over the four seasons and provides a basis for understanding how the transport of honey bee colonies affects pollination services, honey production, and the loss of colonies. The intensity of the use of pollination services across a variety of pollinator-dependent crops in various regions and States is also summarized to explain the timing and volume of colony movements. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2021–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usdami:312286&r= |
| By: | Vincent Chatellier (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | The income of non-salaried agricultural workers is at the heart of many debates and analyses concerning the economic trajectory of French farms. According to data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), the farm income (before tax) per annual work unit (non-salaried AWU) amounted on average to 29,500 euros (in constant 2019 prices) over the ten-year period 2010-2019. This average, which is subject to strong inter-annual variations depending on the evolution of international prices and harvested quantities, masks a very strong heterogeneity. To account for this aspect, two typological grids are proposed in this paper, based on a combination of three indicators, namely labor productivity, productive efficiency and debt sustainability. After analyzing the evolution of income dispersion of non-salaried AWU over the last ten years, we present how the two grids were constructed. An application to FADN data permits to measure teachings (developments, progress) in terms of the distribution of French farms and farm incomes. The variability of farm incomes per annual work unit is strong across farm types, but also within each type of farms. The paper aims to convince public and private producers of data on agricultural income to implement whenever possible the two typological grids introduced here. |
| Abstract: | Le revenu des actifs agricoles non-salariés est placé au coeur de nombreux débats et analyses portant sur la trajectoire économique des exploitations agricoles françaises. D'après les données du Réseau d'Information Comptable Agricole (Rica), le résultat courant avant impôt (RCAI) par unité de travail agricole non-salariée (UTANS) s'est élevé à 29 500 euros (en monnaie constante de 2019) en moyenne sur les dix ans de la période 2010-2019. Ce résultat moyen, qui est soumis à de fortes variations interannuelles selon la conjoncture des prix internationaux et l'importance des récoltes, masque une très grande hétérogénéité. Pour en rendre compte, deux grilles typologiques sont proposées en s'appuyant sur la combinaison de trois indicateurs, à savoir la productivité du travail, l'efficience productive et la capacité à faire face à la dette. Après une analyse portant sur l'évolution de la dispersion du revenu des actifs agricoles non-salariés au cours des dix dernières années (2010-2019), le mode de construction des deux grilles est présenté. Une application aux données du Rica permet d'en mesurer ensuite les enseignements en termes de distribution des exploitations agricoles françaises et de résultats. La variabilité du RCAI par UTANS est forte entre les OTEX, mais également au sein de chacune d'elle. L'objectif poursuivi dans la construction de ces deux grilles typologiques est que celles-ci puissent être mises en oeuvre autant que possible par les producteurs, publics ou privés, de données sur les revenus en agriculture. |
| Keywords: | FADN,Farm income,Economic performance,Typology,Farms,Rica,Revenu agricole,Performance économique,Typologie,Exploitations agricoles |
| Date: | 2021–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03274451&r= |
| By: | Cecilia GUERRERO; MORI Tomoya; Jens WRONA |
| Abstract: | Using monthly price data from the Survey of Wholesale Markets for Fruits and Vegetables of Japan, we demonstrate that regional taste differences are an obstacle to inter-regional market integration. We propose a novel strategy for identifying the causal effect of localized tastes on bilateral market integration. We use the spatial distribution of historical dialects in Japan to measure historical-cultural proximity, which can be used as an instrument for the persistent dissimilarity in local food preferences. In accordance with the localized taste hypothesis, we find that regions which historically did not share a similar dialect/culture are characterized by persistent taste differences, explaining the lack of bilateral market integration among these regions. |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:21047&r= |
| By: | Julia M. Puaschunder (The New School, New York, USA) |
| Abstract: | Globalization leveraged pressure on contemporary society. Today's most pressing social dilemmas regarding climate change demand for inclusive solutions that marry the idea of sustainable growth with environmental economics. Understanding the bounds of environmental limits to avoid ethical downfalls beyond the control of singular nation states infringing on intergenerational equity – the fairness to provide an at least as favorable standard of living to future generations as enjoyed today – has become a blatant demand. In a history of turning to natural law as a human-imbued moral compass for solving societal downfalls on a global scale in times of crises; the paper covers the ethical justification for environmental economics. Climate change demands for intergenerational equity in the 21st century and climate justice attention around the globe, while the gains and losses of a warming globe are distributed unequally. Only ethical foundations and imperatives will help to provide the groundwork on climate justice within a society, around the world and over time. Ethics of the environment derived from a human natural drive towards intergenerational fairness back climate justice based governance and private sector solutions. |
| Keywords: | Climate Bonds, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Climatorial Imperative, Economics of the Environment, Ethics, Environmental Justice, Environmental Governance, Heidegger, Kant, Public Policy, Rawls, Sustainability, Teaching |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:lpaper:0039&r= |
| By: | Benito Arruñada; Marco Fabbri; Michael Faure |
| Abstract: | We study a large-scale land titling reform implemented as a randomized control-trial to isolate its causal effects on litigation. The reform consisted of demarcating land parcels, registering existing customary rights, and granting additional legal protection to rightholders. We find that, ten years after implementation, the reform doubled the likelihood of households experiencing land-related litigation, but disputes do not escalate into more frequent violent episodes. We suggest that this litigation increase is likely to reflect the complementarity of land titling by registration and by judicial procedures aimed at further clarifying property rights, as the reform registered titles to all parcels but left many of these titles subject to adverse claims. This raised the demand for complementary litigation aimed at perfecting titles for low value parcels which, under the customary system, it was individually optimal to keep unclarified. Consistent with this explanation, we find that the observed increase in litigation takes place among households characterized by low levels of wealth and market integration, who are likely to own land of lower value. |
| Keywords: | Experimental survey, informal institutions, land rights formalization, land tenure reform, litigation, randomized control trial |
| JEL: | K11 K4 Q15 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1787&r= |
| By: | Juliana de Sales Silva |
| Abstract: | Abstract The agricultural sector in one of the most dynamic industries of the Brazilian economy and is responsible for about 30% of the GDP of the state of Pará, located in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon region. This is mainly due to the public policies developed for the sector, with emphasis on the National Policy of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (PNATER) and Rural Credit, in addition to conditional cash transfer programs such as Bolsa Família (Family Allowance). Given this scenario, the purpose of this research is to determine the technical efficiency of the agricultural rural facilities of Pará, and observe the effect of these policies on their inefficiency. The methodology employed in order to achieve these objectives is the stochastic frontier approach, and the data used was obtained from a special tabulation based on the 2006 Agricultural Census. The main results evidence that rural credit policies, social welfare programs, and technical support are important to reduce the technical inefficiency of the rural facilities of the State of Pará. The latter, however, is not statistically significant. Resumen El sector agrícola es uno de los más dinámicos de la economía brasilera y es responsable –aproximadamente– del 30% del PIB del estado de Pará, ubicado en la Amazonía oriental brasilera. Esto se debe –principalmente– a las políticas públicas desarrolladas para el sector, con énfasis en la Política Nacional de Asistencia Técnica y Extensión Rural (PNATER) y Crédito Rural, además de los programas condicionales de transferencia de efectivo, como Bolsa Familia. Ante este escenario, el objetivo de este artículo es determinar la eficiencia técnica de las instalaciones agrícolas rurales en Pará y observar el efecto de estas políticas en su ineficiencia. La metodología utilizada es el enfoque de la frontera estocástica Los datos utilizados se obtuvieron en una tabulación especial basada en el Censo Agrícola de 2006. Los principales resultados muestran que las políticas de crédito rural, los programas de asistencia social y el apoyo técnico son importantes para reducir la ineficiencia técnica de las instalaciones rurales en el Estado de Pará. Sin embargo, esta última no es estadísticamente significativa. |
| Keywords: | technical efficiency; Agriculture; stochastic production frontier; public policy; parametric; rural extension. |
| JEL: | B22 D22 Q12 |
| Date: | 2021–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:019349&r= |
| By: | Villamizar, Rodrigo; Villamizar-Villegas, Mauricio; Arango, Lucia; Castelblanco, Geraldine |
| Abstract: | In this policy note we propose a new country-based sustainability index comprised of three main drivers: climate change, energy use, and resource depletion. We argue that increases in clean energy intensity (clean energy per dollar of GDP), decreases in carbon intensity (carbon emission per dollar of GDP), and water intensity (water used per dollar of GDP) significantly affect sustainability. Supplementary, we compare our proposed index with macroeconomic indicators like GDP, Income per capita and other development indices such as the Human Development Index and the GINI, showing marked differences, which we interpret as unexplored areas for sustainable gains. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability; Climate change; Energy use; Resource depletion |
| JEL: | Q56 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rie:riecdt:82&r= |
| By: | Peter Andre (University of Bonn); Teodora Boneva (University of Bonn); Felix Chopra (University of Bonn); Armin Falk (briq and the University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We document individual willingness to fight climate change and its behavioral determinants in a large representative sample of US adults. Willingness to fight climate change - as measured through an incentivized donation decision - is highly heterogeneous across the population. Individual beliefs about social norms, economic preferences such as patience and altruism, as well as universal moral values positively predict climate preferences. Moreover, we document systematic misperceptions of prevalent social norms. Respondents vastly underestimate the prevalence of climate- friendly behaviors and norms among their fellow citizens. Providing respondents with correct information causally raises individual willingness to fight climate change as well as individual support for climate policies. The effects are strongest for individuals who are skeptical about the existence and threat of global warming. |
| Keywords: | climate change, climate behavior, climate policies, social norms, economic preferences, moral values, beliefs, survey experiments |
| JEL: | D64 D91 Q51 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-036&r= |
| By: | John Cawley; Michael R. Daly; Rebecca Thornton |
| Abstract: | Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are relatively new and there is little evidence about their impact on SSB consumption or body mass index (as opposed to prices, purchases, or sales), their impact on youth (as opposed to on adults), or their impact in non-Western nations. This paper adds to the evidence base on all of these dimensions by estimating the effect of an SSB tax on the consumption and BMI of youth in Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, which we compare to Maldives, another island nation in the Indian Ocean which did not implement an SSB tax during the time of our data. Results of difference-in-differences models indicate that the tax in Mauritius had no detectable impact on the consumption of SSBs or the body mass index of the pooled sample of boys and girls. However, models estimated separately by sex indicate that the probability that boys consumed SSBs fell by 9.4 percentage points (11%). These are among the first estimates of the effect of SSB taxes on youth consumption, and contribute to the limited evidence base on the impact of SSB taxes on weight, or in non-Western countries. |
| JEL: | H2 H3 I12 I18 L66 O1 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28960&r= |
| By: | Adnan M. S. Fakir (Business School, The University of Western Australia); Tushar Bharati (Business School, The University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the performance of two behavioral interventions aimed at reducing tobacco consumption in an ultra-poor, rural region of Bangladesh where conventional methods like taxes and warning labels are infeasible. The first intervention asked participants to daily log their tobacco consumption expenditure. The second intervention placed two graphic posters warning participating households of the harmful effects of tobacco consumption on their children and themselves in their sleeping quarters. While both interventions reduced household tobacco consumption expenditure, male participants who logged their expenditure substituted cigarettes with cheaper smokeless tobacco. Risk-averse males who spent relatively more on tobacco responded more to the logbook intervention. Relatively more educated, patient males with children below age five responded better to the poster intervention. The findings suggest extending policies that worked elsewhere to the rural poor in developing countries, where cheaper substitutes are readily available, might be unwise. Instead, policies can leverage something as universal as parents’ concern for their children’s health for promoting healthy decision-making. |
| Keywords: | tobacco; smoking; healthy decision-making; nudge; field experiment; Bangladesh |
| JEL: | C93 D9 I1 I12 I18 O1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:21-13&r= |
| By: | Laurent Piet (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Vincent Chatellier (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Nathalie Delame (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Philippe Jeanneaux (Territoires - Territoires - AgroParisTech - VAS - VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement - AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Catherine Laroche-Dupraz (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Aude Ridier (SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Patrick Veysset (COMETE - Conception, modélisation et évaluation des systèmes d’élevage d’herbivores - UMRH - Unité Mixte de Recherche sur les Herbivores - UMR 1213 - VAS - VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement - AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | This article presents an analysis of the indicators used to measure farm income in France. While the chart of accounts defines the precise method of calculation of various intermediate management balances (including the gross added value, the gross operating surplus and the farm income), the statistical sources used to discuss the question of the level of 'income' of French farmers are diverse and the indicators used are not always homogeneous. This sometimes results in a fragility in the public expression on "farmers' income". By matching two distinct sources of information over fifteen years (2003 to 2017), namely the Farm Accounting Data Network (Rica) produced by the Ministry of Agriculture and the database for self-employed contributors (COTNS) of the Caisse Centrale de la Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), this article compares the level of several of these indicators. The matching was carried out using the SIRET number of the farms and methodological work was carried out so that the scope of the farms is common to both databases. It is thus highlighted that the 'agricultural profit' (from the MSA) is, on average, one third lower than the current result before tax (from the Rica), and that the amount of private withdrawals is weakly correlated to the accounting result or agricultural profit. Finally, a more specific analysis of ‘low incomes' shows that, while the frequency of occurrence of such events obviously depends on the threshold chosen, the years 2009 and 2016 were particularly bad and cannot be considered representative of the average situation observed over the entire studied period. |
| Abstract: | Cet article présente une analyse des indicateurs utilisés pour mesurer le revenu des exploitations agricoles en France. Si le plan comptable définit le mode de calcul précis de différents soldes intermédiaires de gestion (dont la valeur ajoutée brute, l'excédent brut d'exploitation et le résultat courant avant impôt), les sources statistiques utilisées pour évoquer la question du niveau de « revenu » des agriculteurs français sont variées et les indicateurs pris en référence pas toujours homogènes. Il en résulte parfois une fragilité dans l'expression publique concernant le « revenu des agriculteurs ». En procédant à un appariement entre deux sources d'informations distinctes sur quinze années (de 2003 à 2017), à savoir le Réseau d'Information Comptable Agricole (Rica) du Ministère de l'Agriculture et la base des cotisants non-salariés (COTNS) de la Caisse Centrale de la Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), cet article procède à une comparaison du niveau de plusieurs de ces indicateurs. L'appariement a été réalisé à partir du numéro SIRET des entreprises et un travail méthodologique a été effectué afin que le champ des exploitations soit commun aux deux bases. Il est ainsi notamment mis en évidence que le « bénéfice agricole » (issu de la MSA) est, en moyenne, inférieur d'un tiers au résultat courant avant impôt (issu du Rica), et que le montant des prélèvements privés est peu corrélé au niveau du résultat comptable ou à celui du bénéfice agricole. Enfin, une analyse plus spécifique des « bas revenus » montre que, si la fréquence d'occurrence de tels évènements dépend évidemment du seuil retenu, les années 2009 et 2016 ont été particulièrement mauvaises et ne peuvent être considérées comme représentatives de la situation moyenne observée sur l'ensemble de la période étudiée. |
| Keywords: | Farm income,FADN,Revenu agricole,Rica,MSA,France |
| Date: | 2021–07–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03276776&r= |