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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2021‒09‒20
53 papers chosen by |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A.; Thurlow, James; Pradesha, Angga; Raihan, Selim |
| Abstract: | Bangladesh has successfully improved national food security over the last two decades, primarily by increasing rice production and consumption. However, the country’s food system remains vulnerable to periodic floods and droughts that seriously affect agricultural production and prices. While food imports can cushion the effects of these short-term climate shocks, there is always uncertainty about whether shortages in global commodity markets will coincide with domestic production shortfalls, leading to particularly adverse outcomes, especially for poor farmers and net consumers. This is one of the reasons why Bangladesh’s government has maintained a long-standing public grain procurement and storage system, as well as a large social protection program that distributes subsidized rice and wheat to poor households. These programs, together with investments in farm productivity, have enhanced the resilience of Bangladesh’s food system to climate and world market shocks. Heightened climate variability in recent years has also led the government to increase stocks and make substantial new investments to expand public grain storage capacity. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, food policies, policies, costs, agriculture, investment, infrastructure, targeting |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:9&r= |
| By: | Marivoet, Wim; Ulimwengu, John M.; Sall, Leysa M.; Gueye, Adama; Savadogo, Kimseyinga; Dia, Khadim |
| Abstract: | Using household consumption data collected in 2017/18, this paper analyzes patterns of urban and rural food consumption in Senegal. We adopt two methodological approaches. The first is an in-depth (spatial) analysis of current diets and corresponding nutrient intakes, coupled with an identification of possible food items to address nutrient gaps. The second approach is an application of the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model to examine food consumption dynamics of Senegalese households. Results show that Senegal is a typical case of micronutrient deficiency, especially regarding calcium, iron and vitamin B12. Reflected by their more diversified diet, nutrient intake of urban dwellers is generally better compared to their rural counterparts, which relates to the urban sector’s higher income status and more secure access to food items, especially those rich in calcium, vitamin B12 and vitamin A. In contrast, the dietary status of rural populations is usually poorer and mainly driven by the nutrient content of cereals locally produced. Despite insufficient domestic production, the recent promotion and upsurge of small (local) cereal processing units might be a promising development to increase urban uptakes of iron. Although Senegal’s food system overall is underperforming in terms of assuring a nutritious diet for all, the most remote rural departments of the country, such as Saraya and Podor, display the highest nutrient deficiencies and therefore should be targeted with priority. Apart from geographical targeting and given their higher responsiveness to price and income changes, policies based on food pricing and income transfers should be implemented to ensure a minimal nutrient intake among the most food-insecure households. These policies could be further complemented with behavioral change campaigns which promote an alternative set of nutrient-rich and cost-effective food items. At the same time, such campaigns should advocate against excessive or imbalanced intakes of sugar and fats, which are especially problematic in the more eastern located rural areas of the country and in the urban sector of various departments located in the western and central parts of Senegal, respectively. |
| Keywords: | SENEGAL; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; food consumption; diet; urban areas; rural areas; hunger; demand; elasticities; nutrient adequacy |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2036&r= |
| By: | Headey, Derek D.; Ecker, Olivier; Comstock, Andrew R.; Ruel, Marie T. |
| Abstract: | Suboptimal diets are a major risk factor for avoidable death and disease in low- and middle-income countries. Evidence shows that some foods or food components (e.g., processed red meat, saturated fat, salt, sugar) significantly elevate the risk of noncommunicable diseases and mortality, while others protect health (e.g., vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts/seeds, fish, whole grains—referred to in this document as “protective foods†). We used household surveys to compare dietary patterns in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to the EAT-Lancet healthy reference diet and to quantify and explain consumption gaps for nutritious foods. Compared to the EAT-Lancet healthy reference diet, consumption gaps for pulses and nuts/seeds, vegetables, and fruits are large for both poor and rich consumers in rural and urban areas in the four countries studied, while consumption gaps for meat, fish, and eggs and dairy foods are much larger for lower income groups. Food expenditures of most households in these four countries are far too low to allow consumption of the healthy reference diet; animal-source foods and vegetables are the largest cost components of food expenditures, although quantities consumed of both food groups are much lower than the EAT-Lancet healthy reference diet. Income elasticities of demand for pulses and nuts/seeds and vegetables are often low or moderate, suggesting weak consumer preference for these foods, while income elasticities for fruits and animal-source foods are relatively high. Income growth alone will not solve dietary problems in East Africa; in addition to supply-side interventions to improve affordability, special interventions are required to increase consumer demand for underappreciated protective (nutritious) foods such as pulses and nuts/seeds and vegetables. |
| Keywords: | EAST AFRICA; AFRICA; policies; foods; food production; nutrition; nutritional status; demand; health; food consumption; food prices |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:1265314326&r= |
| By: | Asante, Seth; Andam, Kwaw S.; Simons, Andrew M.; Amprofi, Felicia Ansah; Osei-Assibey, Ernest; Iddrisu, Adisatu; Blohowiak, Samuel |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a description of the agricultural input market in Ghana in 2019 across six districts with high maize production and two municipal districts noted for agricultural marketing activities. Since 2017, Ghana’s agricultural policy has been heavily focused on implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program, which has rapidly scaled up the distribution of subsidized seed and fertilizer with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity and production. Agricultural input dealers play a crucial role in the PFJ program as the final node in the supply chain of seed and fertilizer for farmers. Their operations are expected to enhance the availability of and access to these agricultural inputs. Understanding the characteristics and operations of agricultural input dealers can help policymakers to formulate, implement, and reform seed and fertilizer policies. Our study shows low levels of specialization among agricultural input shops, high participation in the sector association, an increase in the entry of traders into the agricultural input market since the launch of PFJ, and a continuing concentration on fertilizer sales compared to seed sales. Major constraints that agricultural input supplier face in expanding their businesses include difficulties in obtaining financial support from the banking sector, still unreliable supplies, and, for subsidized inputs, the slow processing by government of the subsidy vouchers farmers gave them in exchange for inputs. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; agriculture; farm inputs; markets; assessment; programmes; inputs |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:58&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; You, Liangzhi; Headey, Derek D.; Ru, Yating; Mahrt, Kristi |
| Abstract: | Supply chains for nutritious (“protective†) foods in Africa south of the Sahara are often poorly developed, especially for perishable crops that are vulnerable to wastage. We used LSMS-ISA surveys and geographic information system (GIS) data to explore which factors predict production patterns of four protective food crops (pulses, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and fruits) relative to cereals and starchy roots and tubers (grouped under staples) in Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, with a focus on potential inter-ventions to improve production, trade, and consumption of these foods. Plot-level irrigation adoption is the strongest predictor of fruit and vegetable production, along with precipitation, suggesting that water availability is a major precondition for pro-ducing these protective foods. In contrast, pulses and nuts and seeds can be grown in drier and warmer conditions. Better market access is also associated with higher production of fruits and vegetables, but the association is weaker than that of water access. Investing in and expanding irrigation-especially small-scale irrigation-has strong poten-tial to yield high returns in East Africa, especially for poor households that cannot afford to invest in capital-intensive irrigation technologies. Irrigation investments may need to be complemented by investments in roads, rural elec-trification, and cold storage chains to promote efficiency of postharvest supply chains and reduce marketing costs. |
| Keywords: | EAST AFRICA; AFRICA; policies; foods; food production; nutrition; nutritional status; food crops; supply chains |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:1265314308&r= |
| By: | Fanny Le Gloux; Marie Laporte; Sabine Duvaleix; Pierre Dupraz; Elodie Letort |
| Abstract: | Introducing fodder with high omega 3 content such as grass or linseed in the feed ration of dairy cows both improves the milk nutritional profile and reduces enteric methane emissions per liter. This lever is interesting to contribute to climate change mitigation but can also generate additional farm costs. Payment for Environmental Services, such as the Eco-Methane programme implemented by the association Bleu-Blanc-Coeur in France, can support a change of cows’ diet in dairy farms through the valorisation of methane emissions reduction. The effectiveness of such a scheme depends on (i) the definition of a precise indicator of enteric methane emissions capturing the feeding effect, (ii) a payment level that would be sufficiently attractive to compensate for the additional costs faced by farmers. This study compares two indicators of enteric methane emissions to show the effect of taking feeding into account. It also assesses the extra cost of milk production if the grassland areas in fodder crop rotation systems were to be increased in French dairy farms. The estimation of a variable cost function based on data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) suggests a significant increase of the marginal cost of milk production with additional hectares of grass in mountainous areas, and in plains farms for which maize silage represents less than 30% of the fodder crop rotation system. |
| Keywords: | payment for environmental services, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, milk production, marginal cost |
| JEL: | Q10 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:202104&r= |
| By: | Brummund, Peter (University of Alabama); Merfeld, Joshua D. (KDI School of Public Policy and Management) |
| Abstract: | According to standard economic theory, households should equate the marginal revenue product of an input across activities within the household. However, this prediction may not hold in the presence of risk. Using data on farm plots and non-farm enterprises in Malawi, we examine the impact of risk on the allocation decisions of agricultural households as they allocate labor across farm and non-farm production. We control for many household and production characteristics, including household fixed effects, and find farm marginal revenue product of labor (MRPL) to be consistently higher than non-farm MRPL. These results hold when restricting estimation to periods of high and low non-farm labor allocation. These results are consistent with farm production being riskier than non-farm production for most households in Malawi. These findings suggest that improved access to insurance of farming activities and wage employment opportunities could increase total household income. |
| Keywords: | labor productivity, agriculture, non-farm production, risk, efficiency |
| JEL: | J24 J43 O13 Q12 R23 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14703&r= |
| By: | Mikhail Miklyaev (Department of Economics Queens University, Canada and Cambridge Resources International Inc.); Richard Barichello (Food and Resource Economics, University of British Columbia); Katarzyna Pankowska (Independent Consultant) |
| Abstract: | Maize and wheat are the most important staple crops grown and consumed domestically in Ethiopia. With Ethiopia being the third-largest producer of maize in Africa, maize yields are relatively high compared with those of other East African producers but low compared to those other major maize producers in Africa and Asia. Domestically produced wheat is generally grown on smallholder farms, with majority being reserved for on-farm use. The biggest current challenge in terms of improved maize and wheat seeds in Ethiopia is the scaling-up of production and discrimination of high yielding hybrid maize verities and rust-resistant wheat varieties. Other major challenges to increasing the quantity of maize and wheat marketed in Ethiopia is losses due to poor post-harvest management and storage conditions. Using the cost-benefit approach of the integrated investment appraisal, this project aims to increase the availability of improved maize varieties, particularly of high-yield hybrids; improved storage facilities for cooperatives and unions to reduce postharvest losses; professionalization training, capacity building, and business-plan development for cooperatives and Farmers’ Cooperative Unions. This is done by integrating the financial, economic, stakeholder, and risk outcomes of the Ethiopian cereal value chain. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, production, improved seeds, maize value chain |
| JEL: | D61 Q2 Q13 |
| Date: | 2021–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:dpaper:4580&r= |
| By: | Vincent Chatellier; Cécile Detang-Dessendre; Pierre Dupraz; Hervé Guyomard |
| Abstract: | This article provides an overview of French agricultural incomes over the decade 2010-2019, notably of their heterogeneity according to production types, size and location. It illustrates their dependency on CAP budgetary support. On this basis, it analyses the sensitivity of incomes to different scenarios that modify the repartition of CAP direct aids. The first type of measures aims specifically at modifying the distribution of direct aids and incomes. Four simulations are performed corresponding to a measure in favour of small farms, alternative payment modalities for coupled aids to beef and dairy cattle, the full internal convergence of the basic payment per hectare, and a reinforcement of the redistributive payment on the first hectares. The second measures pursue climatic and environmental objectives but have also redistributive impacts. The first scenario corresponds to a transfer of 15 % of the budgetary envelope of the first pillar to climate and environmental measures and support for organic farming in the second pillar. The second scenario implements an eco-scheme targeted on the maintenance of permanent grasslands and the reduction of pesticide use. |
| Keywords: | CAP, France, National Strategic Plans (NSP), income, direct aids, FADN |
| JEL: | Q12 Q18 Q57 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:202103&r= |
| By: | Joseph I. Uduji (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Elda N. Okolo-Obasi (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the corporate social responsibility initiatives of multinational oil companies in Nigeria. Its main focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on equipping the rural young people with essential farming skills and knowledge for adoption and application of modern agricultural inputs in the Niger Delta region. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 800 rural young people were sampled across the oil producing region. Findings – The results from the use of combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model has a significant impact on development of informal farm entrepreneurship generally, but somewhat undermined rural young people in the targeted agricultural clusters. Practical implications – This suggests that youth-specific CSR farm projects can be effective in providing young people with the extra push needed to tackle the knowledge gap and poor agronomic that erect the below-per yield and lack of competitiveness of small-holder farmers in the region. Social implications – It implies that a coherent and integrated CSR response from business would be necessary to unlock investment opportunities on young people in farms for agricultural competitiveness and food security in Africa. Originality/value – This research adds to the literature on informal farm entrepreneurship and rural communities’ debate in sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes that business has obligation to help in solving problems of youth unemployment in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Global memorandum of understanding (GMoU), Rural young people, Informal farm entrepreneurship, sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:21/033&r= |
| By: | Lassana Toure (Université de Ségou); Ousmane Konipo; Atoumane Diagne |
| Abstract: | This paper reports an analysis of the operating account and the economic profitability of farms according to the typology of cotton farmers in the CMDT zones of Fana and Koutiala in Mali, highlighting the causes of the level of profitability. The methodological approach adopted was first of all a descriptive and inferential analysis of the sociodemographic characteristics of the farms, the farm account and the economic profitability by type of farm (well-equipped, equipped and less equipped). It has been found that only wellequipped farms make a positive profit if we value family labour and organic manure. The other types of farms had difficulty covering the costs involved in seed cotton production. Cotton farmers use far too much family labour (10 people on average) without seeing their profits increase exponentially. As a result, the productivity of family labour is extremely low (almost 216 FCFA of Average Labour Remuneration Rate on average overall), making the activity economically unprofitable from this point of view. Moreover, producers of the equipped or less equipped type have negative IRRs (respectively-15% and-36%) as opposed to the well-equipped type with an IRR of 26%. Therefore, only producers of the well-equipped type have an economically profitable activity from the point of view of capital productivity, considering the 12% threshold set by credit institutions. At the end of this investigation, we propose to train cotton farmers in farm management by helping them to better optimise their production costs; reorient some active members of the household towards other incomegenerating activities; grant access to equipment credit for both well-equipped and lessequipped farms so that they can increase their yields and net cotton profits; and easily grant access to land to farms, especially well-equipped ones, so that they can sow more land. |
| Keywords: | Export Crops,Profitability Indicators,CMDT,Fana,Koutiala |
| Date: | 2021–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03334546&r= |
| By: | Njuki, Jemimah; Eissler, Sarah; Malapit, Hazel J.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Bryan, Elizabeth; Quisumbing, Agnes R. |
| Abstract: | Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition, and in more just, resilient, and sustainable food systems for all. This paper uses a scoping review to assess the current evidence on pathways between gender equality, women’s empowerment, and food systems. The paper uses an adaptation of the food systems framework to organize the evidence and identify where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain. Results show strong evidence on women’s differing access to resources, shaped and reinforced by contextual social gender norms, and on links between women’s empowerment and maternal education and important outcomes, such as nutrition and dietary diversity. However, evidence is limited on issues such as gender considerations in food systems for women in urban areas and in aquaculture value chains, best practices and effective pathways for engaging men in the process of women’s empowerment in food systems, and for addressing issues related to migration, crises, and indigenous food systems. And while there are gender informed evaluation studies that examine the effectiveness of gender- and nutrition- sensitive agricultural programs, evidence to indicate the long-term sustainability of such impacts remains limited. The paper recommends keys areas for investment: improving women’s leadership and decision-making in food systems, promoting equal and positive gender norms, improving access to resources, and building cross-contextual research evidence on gender and food systems. |
| Keywords: | WORLD; women; gender; food systems; gender equality; Goal 5 Gender equality; Sustainable Development Goals; women's empowerment; value chains; consumer behaviour; policies; governance |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2034&r= |
| By: | Marette, Stéphan (Paris-Saclay); Disdier, Anne-Célia (PSE); Bodnar, Anastasia (USDA OCE); Beghin, John C (UNL) |
| Abstract: | New Plant Engineering Techniques (NPETs) may significantly improve both production and quality of foods. Consumers and regulators around the world might be reluctant to accept such products, which may cripple adoption and global market penetration of these products. We develop a parsimonious economic model for R&D investment in food innovations to identify conditions under which NPET technology emerges in a context of international trade. The framework integrates consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the new food, the uncertainty of R&D processes, the associated regulatory cost of approval, and the competition between domestic and foreign products. With generic applicability, the model enables the quantitative analysis of new foods that could be introduced in markets and then traded across borders. We apply the framework to a hypothetical case of apples improved with NPETs. Simulation results suggest that import bans and high values of sunk costs can reduce R&D investment in NPETs to suboptimal levels. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2021–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nbaesp:313493&r= |
| By: | Kramer, Berber; Waweru, Carol; Waithaka, Lilian; Eyase, Jean; Chegeh, Joseph; Kivuva, Benjamin; Cecchi, Francesco |
| Abstract: | Climate change has exacerbated the frequency and severity of extreme weather events affecting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa. Risks such as increased droughts, pests, floods, and heatwaves are projected to increase significantly in future years. The formal seed sector is an important entry point to help farmers better manage these risks, as it provides access to high-quality certified seeds of improved stress-tolerant varieties, selected and bred to maximize productivity in good years, whilst reducing the impact of climate change risks in bad years. The challenge, however, is that the formal market is not always inclusive and is more accessible to middle- or largescale (and often male) farmers. Smaller farmers (often female) are more likely to obtain seeds from informal sources (friends or peers) or collect their own seeds from the crops they grow. This creates social inequities in distribution channels for quality seeds; and in qualitative research, farmers informed us that the COVID-19 pandemic has further restricted their access to inputs. |
| Keywords: | KENYA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; models; modelling; inclusion; seeds; farmers; entrepreneurship; seed delivery |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:1265314309&r= |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas; Hossain, Shahadat; Kabir, Razin; Dorosh, Paul A.; Rashid, Shahidur |
| Abstract: | Price instability is a fact of life. In a market economy, domestic prices change in response to changes in supply, consumer preferences, policy, world prices, and other factors. Crop prices tend to be particularly volatile because harvests occur only once or a few times per year and because the size of the harvest varies due to weather, prices, and other factors. For internationally-traded commodities, volatility in world prices can be another source of instability in domestic prices. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, rice, prices, price stabilization, impact assessment, farms, consumer prices, policies, markets, grain, private sector |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:11&r= |
| By: | Baulch, Bob; Jolex, Aubrey |
| Abstract: | Between April and July 2021, IFPRI Malawi conducted its second, nationwide crowdsourcing exercise on the maize and soybean prices paid to farmers. In contrast, to the main harvesting season in 2020, when around three-quarters of sales of maize and soybeans took place at less than the official minimum farmgate price (MFGP), in 2021 the prices paid to soybean farmers have been good but those paid to maize sellers have been poor. Specifically, between early April and late June this year, about eighty percent of soybean farmers received prices equal to or above the minimum price for soybean. However, over the same period, less than ten percent of maize farmers received prices equal to or above the MFGP for maize. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; soybeans; farmers; food prices; maize; policies; minimum farmgate price (MFGP) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:masspn:41&r= |
| By: | Mockshell, Jonathan; Asante-Addo, Collins; Andam, Kwaw S.; Asante, Felix A. |
| Abstract: | The triple burden of malnutrition is growing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Increasing access to affordable ultra-processed foods in the food environment is contributing to this problem. While existing explanations for this triple burden of malnutrition have examined demand-side factors of food choices, the supply-side policies relating to the food environment drivers, ideas and actors’ interests have been neglected. Using a case study of Ghana, this analysis combines the Advocacy Coalition Framework with the narrative policy analysis to unpack the supply-side food environment policies and actors driving the triple burden of malnutrition. Applying a mixed methods analysis of the transcripts, the narratives reveal public, private and civil society organization (CSO) coalitions with different ideas and interests in the food environment. In the private sector coalition, food companies engage in aggressive advertising and are driven by profit motives – leading to the supply of more ultra-processed foods. The public sector is failing to regulate the market because of inadequate policies, limited institutional capacities and coordination, enforcement challenges, inadequate resources, and self-interest. Social activism by CSOs, for example, pressuring food companies to deliver healthy foods and holding the government accountable, is also lacking. The result is a triple sector (public, private and CSO) failure in the urban food environment with consequences on the availability of ultra-processed foods. This has long-lasting implications for the reduction of the triple burden of malnutrition and the achievement of zero hunger. To accelerate nutrition-sensitive food environments that deliver healthier food options, we argue that it is critical to entertain the ideas and interests of stakeholders and implement food environment policies that cover private and public sector initiatives, as well as increase consumer awareness. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; nutrition; malnutrition; ultraprocessed foods; food environment; civil society organizations; urban areas; governance; policies; nutrition-sensitive; political economy |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2038&r= |
| By: | Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain; Voia, Anca |
| Abstract: | Grassland, especially when extensively managed and when replacing cropland, stores carbon in the ground. As a result, Grassland Conservation Programs, that pay farmers for maintaining grassland cover, might be an effective way to combat climate change, if they succeed in triggering an increase in grassland cover at the expense of cropland for a reasonable amount of money. In this paper, we use a natural experiment to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the French Grassland Conservation Program, the largest of such programs in the world. We exploit a change in the eligibility requirements for the program that generated a sizable increase in the proportion of participants in the areas most affected by the reform. We find that the expansion of the program lead to a small increase in grassland area, mainly at the expense of croplands, which implies that the program expansion increased carbon storage. We also find that the elasticity of grassland provision is low, and that, as a result, the program has large windfall gains. To compute the benefit-cost ratio of the program, we combine our results with similar estimates from the liter- ature using meta-analysis tools and we introduce the resulting parameter in a model of carbon storage in grassland. We find that, for a carbon price of 24 Euros/tCO2 eq, the climate benefits of the program are equal to 7±3% of its costs. When taking into account the other benefits brought about by grassland, we find the benefits of the program to be equal to 44±15% of its costs. We estimate that the program would break even for a carbon price of 194±122 Euros/tCO2 eq. |
| Keywords: | Payment for Ecosystem Services; Grassland; Natural Experiment; Treatment Effect |
| JEL: | Q15 Q18 Q24 Q28 Q57 |
| Date: | 2021–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:125928&r= |
| By: | Myers, Emily; Heckert, Jessica; Galiè, Alessandra; Njiru, Nelly; Alonso, Silvia |
| Abstract: | Studies on credit schemes for small-scale entrepreneurs have documented their potential to alleviate poverty and improve food security, nutrition, and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Other studies find mixed impacts of credit schemes on reducing income inequality, empowering women, and enhancing children’s education. Moreover, growing evidence finds that entrepreneurs offer credit to customers; little is known about what this practice means for entrepreneurs, and even less about gendered differences in this practice. Herein, we consider the case of final retailers in agricultural value chains and examine how male and female informal milk vendors from peri-urban Nairobi borrow and sell on credit, and how these experiences affect their businesses where there are few formal safeguards to ensure repayment. In 2017, we conducted 49 individual interviews, four key informant interviews, and six focus groups with men and women who were current or former milk vendors. A thematic analysis revealed that vendors sell on credit to appeal to customers, which may be advantageous when vendors need to rid themselves of milk before it spoils, regardless of gender. With few strategies to recoup costs from customers who fail to repay, however, failure to collect debt may cause default for vendors who acquired milk via informal borrowing. The consequences are likely more severe for women vendors, who generally have less capital to fall back on relative to men. Development organizations should identify gender-sensitive financial services that can help entrepreneurs maintain viable businesses despite the volatility of borrowing and selling on credit. |
| Keywords: | KENYA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; milk production; enterprises; credit; microenterprises; gender; agricultural value chains; informal sector; qualitative analysis |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2039&r= |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A. |
| Abstract: | National and household food security in Bangladesh have been greatly enhanced over the past two decades by policies that have allowed a major public foodgrain distribution and relatively large pub-lic stocks to co-exist with private sector trade. Yet, this system has also undergone substantial changes as the structure of the Bangladesh food economy has been transformed in response to growing household incomes, shifts in production and consumption, and changes in international markets. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, food grains, grain, food storage, investment, public sector, stocks, trade, foodgrain stocks |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:7&r= |
| By: | Lassana Toure (University of Segou) |
| Abstract: | In Mali, lack of access to agricultural credit becomes a factor behind low farmer income and even rural poverty. However, agricultural credit is seen as a tool to increase production as well as farm income. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of equipment credit on the income of cotton producers in Mali. To this end, a survey was carried out among 400 producers in 2019, 127 of whom had had their equipment credit applications accepted, compared to 273 who had not had their equipment credit applications accepted. The survey was carried out in the areas of the Compagnie Malienne de Développement de Textiles (CMDT) of Fana and Koutiala in Mali. The method of analysis is the estimation of the instrumental variables multiple regression model of credit, implementing the estimation method of Heckman (1979) to account for the zero profit for 16% of the producers. The results of the econometric model estimates show that the variables that lead to an increase in income at the 5% threshold are: access to credit, quantity sold of cotton, costs of material goods used on the farm, total area sown, quantity sold of other crops, selling price of other crops. In other words, access to equipment credit could enable cotton producers to improve their income by 35%. Equipment credit entitles farmers to use more capital goods on the farm. This use of equipment increases agricultural productivity and yields, and in turn increases farm income.Based on these results, we can make some policy recommendations to boost cotton production, make other crops more beneficial to producers andgrant more equipment credit. |
| Keywords: | Equipment credit,heckman,instrumental variable,cotton producer,agricultural income,CMDT,Mali |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03334545&r= |
| By: | Hillesland, Marya; Kaaria, Susan; Mane, Erdgin; Alemu, Mihret; Slavchevska, Vanya |
| Abstract: | Using the project-Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Index (pro-WEAI) survey tool developed by GAAP2, this study aims to estimate the impact of a microfinance ‘plus’ programme on women’s economic empowerment in communities in Oromia and Afar, Ethiopia. The programme incorporates multiple interventions, which are implemented through women-run rural savings and credit cooperatives (RUSACCOs), with the intention of improving beneficiary women’s decision-making over productive assets, control over income, and leadership in rural institutions. A major component of the programme is aimed at rural women’s greater access to credit, but interventions also include agricultural livestock and technology transfers, business training, as well as a community gender awareness component. A difference-in-difference estimator with Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) is used to evaluate the impact of the programme on women’s empowerment in Oromia. Because of conflict in the area, baseline data collection was delayed and data was collected after some interventions had already begun in Oromia. As such, nearly all beneficiaries already had access to credit through the RUSACCOs at baseline, and both women and men were already empowered in a number of dimensions at baseline. Among households with beneficiaries who continued in good standing between baseline and midline, the programme positively contributed to both women’s and men’s empowerment with regards to respect among household members. It did not lead to additional impacts in terms of overall empowerment and gender parity within the household or across the other pro-WEAI indicators. However, it appears that, by maintaining good standing in the RUSACCOs, female participants were able to maintain high levels of empowerment across the other indicators. A second group of beneficiary women, who either chose to leave the RUSACCO or did not maintain good standing as a member, were also highly empowered across many dimensions at baseline but experienced large average decreases in empowerment across a number of indicators by midline. In Afar, using the midline data only, a single-difference estimator with Inverse Probability Weighting is used to evaluate the impact of the programme. In Afar, the programme had a significant impact on women’s overall empowerment. As we expected, given the nature of the programme, there were significant positive results in terms of access to and decisions on financial services, group membership, and membership in influential groups. There were also positive impacts on control over the use of income, suggesting that the programme contributed to greater control over the use of the output from agricultural activities and control over income from agricultural and non-agricultural activities. On the other hand, the programme also appears to have resulted in reduced empowerment on average with regards to autonomy in income. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; programmes; gender; women; farmers; women farmers; pastoralists; equality; impact assessment; women's empowerment; microfinance; mixed model method; pro-WEAI; gender parity; agricultural households; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index; WEAI |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2037&r= |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Abstract: | This price bulletin was developed by researchers at IFPRI Malawi with the goal of providing clear and accurate information on the variation of weekly retail prices of selected agricultural commodities that are important for food security and nutrition in Malawi. The reports are intended as a resource for those interested in agricultural markets in Malawi. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, food prices, legumes, roots, tubers, cereals, prices, agricultural products, markets, food security, nutrition |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:masspb:9b&r= |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A.; Minot, Nicholas; Kabir, Razin; Hossain, Shahadat |
| Abstract: | Bangladesh has a complex rice value chain consisting of farmers, upstream paddy wholesalers and intermediaries, millers, and downstream rice traders, wholesalers and retailers. Each of these actors serve distinct functions and have lines of trade that affect their stock turnover in different ways. There is a lack of complete information on the volume of rice traded and stored by the private sec-tor. This leads to difficulties in the timeliness of requisite policy actions on the part of the govern-ment. When rice prices spike, the typical response has been to lay the blame at the feet of millers and traders. For the government, it is important to have a general picture of the level of private stocks in a given year to ensure appropriate adjustments in procurement, distribution and import de-cisions can be made to meet their food security and price stabilization objectives. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, trade, rice, paddy, valur chains, surveys, households, grain, private sector, stocks, trader, rice stocks, miller |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:6&r= |
| By: | Rashid, Shahidur; Kabir, Razin |
| Abstract: | Bangladesh has a long history of catering to the consumption needs of its population through public distribution of food-grains—rice and wheat—stored across an extensive network of warehouses all over the country. This network has its roots in the Bengal famine, but now performs a variety of functions ranging from price support to providing a safety net against crises. However, the storage infrastructure is old, with many warehouses having originated some sixty years ago. The food security situation in Bangladesh has also improved remarkably from the time when this warehousing network was established. Finally, there have been remarkable improve-ments in both technology and management of grain storage that have increased overall efficiency. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, grain, rice, wheat, food storage, storage losses, public sector, food security |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:5&r= |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) |
| Abstract: | The long partnership between the Government of Egypt and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) began in the late 1970s but became much more active with the launch of IFPRI’s Egypt Strategy Support Program (ESSP) in 2016. Over the years, IFPRI’s research, with support from PIM since 2012, has informed important decisions on Egypt’s key safety net programs, including the food subsidy and the national cash transfer programs. This note summarizes some of the most recent outcomes of this work. |
| Keywords: | EGYPT; ARAB COUNTRIES; MIDDLE EAST; NORTH AFRICA; AFRICA; social protection; nutrition; food security; programmes; inclusion; subsidies; cash transfers |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:pimons:1265314304&r= |
| By: | Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam; Dr Nicholas Sim |
| Abstract: | How does food consumption improve educational outcomes is an important policy issue for developing countries. Applying the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) 2014, we estimate the returns of food consumption to education and investigate if more educated individuals tend to consume healthier bundles than less-educated individuals do. We implement the Expected Outcome Methodology, which is similar to Average Treatment on The Treated (ATT) conceptualized by Angrist and Pischke (2009). We find that education tends to tilt consumption towards healthier foods. Specifically, individuals with upper secondary or higher levels of education, on average, consume 31.5% more healthy foods than those with lower secondary education or lower levels of education. With respect to unhealthy food consumption, more highly-educated individuals, on average, consume 22.8% less unhealthy food than less-educated individuals. This suggests that education can increase the inequality in the consumption of healthy food bundles. Our study suggests that it is important to design policies to expand education for all for at least up to higher secondary level in the context of Indonesia. Our finding also speaks to the link between food-health gradient and human capital formation for a developing country such as Indonesia. |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2109.08124&r= |
| By: | Andrade, Juan E.; Ali, Abu Noman Mohammed Atahar; Chowdhury, Reajul; Crost, Benjamin; Hoffmann, Vivian; Mustafa, Shoumi; Shaima, Nabila Afrin |
| Abstract: | Micronutrients, often referred to as vitamins and minerals are vital to healthy development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. Although only required in small amounts, micronutrients are not produced in the body and must be derived from the diet. Commonly cited micronutrients include Iron, Vitamins A, B, D, Iodine, and Zinc. Malnutrition in micronutrients tends to trap populations in a vicious cycle of poverty, causing adults to be less productive and preventing children from reaching their full potential, and exacerbating household poverty in general. Addressing the problem of micronutrient malnutrition, therefore, provides substantial benefits to the cause of development (Ara et al. 2019). The fortification of staple food items including rice to deliver vital micronutrients offers a unique opportunity to target the vulnerable populace – mostly women, young children and female adolescents – at a low cost, and importantly, without forcing a change in dietary habits.2 Although considerable investments are currently being made to improve micronutrient nutrition outcomes around the world, such efforts generally take time to provide results. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, rice, technology, fortified foods, food fortification, public services, food aid |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:10&r= |
| By: | Richard S.J. Tol (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | Video discussion of stochastic frontier analysis of the impact of climate and weather on economic output. |
| Keywords: | climate change, stochastic frontier analysis, weather, video |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susvid:2109&r= |
| By: | Toossi, Saied; Jones, Jordan W.; Hodges, Leslie |
| Abstract: | The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) typically administers 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs that together affect the lives of millions of people and account for roughly two-thirds of USDA’s annual budget. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, USDA launched two new programs, Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) and the Farmers to Families Food Box Program (Food Box Program). Additionally, USDA implemented numerous policy changes that expanded the scope and coverage of existing programs. Together, these initiatives contributed to an increase in expenditures on food and nutrition assistance programs, which amounted to a historical inflation-adjusted high of $122.1 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2020 (October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020). This report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to examine program trends in the largest U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through FY 2020 and documents the many policy changes implemented since March 2020. It also summarizes a recent USDA, Economic Research Service report examining the prevalence of household food insecurity in the United States in 2019 and a working paper examining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and P-EBT benefit redemptions during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–08–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usdami:313475&r= |
| By: | Laté Lawson (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Roberto Martino (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Phu Nguyen-Van (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Existing studies disjointly addressed the environmental convergence and environmental Kuznets curve hypotheses, though these research lines are theoretically interconnected. This paper proposes a unified empirical methodology to simultaneously investigate both hypotheses, relying on a semiparametric dynamic panel data model that accounts for regressor endogeneity. The approach, when applied to CO2 emissions in 106 countries, suggests that there is no global level evidence supporting the environmental Kuznets hypothesis, while a convergence process is taking place. Our results imply that current international agreements have not been sufficiently binding to globally curb CO2 emissions, especially in high-income countries, as aimed by Sustainable Development Goals. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03098130&r= |
| By: | Berger, Markus; Campos, Jazmin; Carolli, Mauro; Dantas, Ianna; Forin, Silvia; Kosatica, Ervin; Kramer, Annika; Mikosch, Natalia; Nouri, Hamideh; Schlattmann, Anna; Schmidt, Falk; Schomberg, Anna; Semmling, Elsa |
| Abstract: | The water footprint has developed into a widely-used concept to examine water use and resulting local impacts caused during agricultural and industrial production. Building on recent advancements in the water footprint concept, it can be an effective steering instrument to support, inter alia, achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) - SDG 6 in particular. Within the research program “Water as a Global Resource” (GRoW), an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, a number of research projects currently apply and enhance the water footprint concept in order to identify areas where water is being used inefficiently and implement practical optimization measures (see imprint for more information). With this paper, we aim to raise awareness on the potential of the water footprint concept to inform decision-making in the public and private sectors towards improved water management and achieving the SDGs. |
| Keywords: | water footprint,sustainable development goals |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:240208&r= |
| By: | Ahmed, Akhter; Hoddinott, John F.; Roy, Shalini |
| Abstract: | In Bangladesh, social protection programs have the potential to uplift the most vulnerable out of poverty. Until recently, however, these programs have had little impact on nutrition. Results from a randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative – provides the proof of concept that combining social safety net transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) can significantly improve household food security and child nutrition, and these impacts can be sustained over time. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; nutrition; social protection; social safety nets; cash transfers; policies; poverty; food security; behavior change communication |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:1261696987&r= |
| By: | Anne Lardoux de Pazzis (Vertalix Consulting); Amandine Muret (Vertalix Consulting) |
| Abstract: | A wide range of organisations operate at the interface between the demand for (e.g. water agencies or service providers) and the supply of finance (e.g. financing institutions and financiers at large) with the aim of bridging the substantial financing gap for water-related investments. These entities, referred to in this analysis as “intermediaries”, include those working upstream on the enabling environment for finance facilitation; transaction advisory supporting partnership development (of which financing is one component), private sector lending windows of donors and international financial institutions, and dedicated financing facilities. These intermediaries play multiple roles along the investment value chain, in various geographies and at various scales (international, national, regional, local). However a systematic assessment of these intermediaries, their role and the key functions performed has been lacking to date along with an assessment of the gaps, overlaps and misalignments compared with the existing bottlenecks to mobilise financing. The analysis presented in this Working Paper aims to fill this gap. This paper identifies and analyses a sample of 52 diverse intermediaries active in deploying one or more key functions across the investment value chain for 3 specific sub-sectors: utilities, small scale water and sanitation service providers and nature-based solutions. The analysis assesses the extent to which the activities of these intermediaries is aligned with the critical functions needed to mobilise finance across the sub-sectors. It identifies gaps, reduncies and misalignments and calls for a shift from the current opportunistic approach to a more strategic approach in the design and activities of intermediaries, supported by governments and financial institutions. The paper contributes to a forthcoming OECD report Financing a Water Secure Future that distils key insights from the past several years of engagement via the Roundtable on Financing Water and related analytical work. It was jointly developed by the OECD and The World Bank Global Water Practice, in the context of our cooperation on the Roundtable on Financing Water. |
| Keywords: | flood protection, infrastructure finance, investment, irrigation, sanitation, wastewater, water security, water supply |
| JEL: | H41 H54 L95 L98 Q25 Q53 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:180-en&r= |
| By: | Griesoph, Amelie; Hoffmann, Stefan; Merk, Christine; Rehdanz, Katrin; Schmidt, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | Social norms, also called social comparison nudges, have been shown to be particularly effective in promoting healthy food choices and environmentally friendly behaviors. However, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of these nudges for promoting sustainable and climate-friendly food choices and their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the related SDGs. The paper reports a field experiment that tests the effectiveness of two social norms in a real-life setting based on revealed preferences. The study distinguishes between the widely researched descriptive norms and guessed norms, the latter being tested in this context for the first time. While descriptive norms communicate typical patterns of behavior (e.g., 50% of canteen visitors choose vegetarian meals), guessed norms are determined by the individual’s best guess about the norm in a specific context. The results confirm a remarkable nudging effect of guessed norms: The higher the presumed proportion of vegetarian dishes sold, the lower the probability of choosing a vegetarian dish. Surprisingly, this effect is independent of the respective norm specification (meat or vegetarian norm). The paper provides advice for policy makers about when and how to use guessed norms. |
| Keywords: | climate-friendly behavior,field experiment,guessed norm,nudging,social norms |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:240210&r= |
| By: | Pauline Pedehour (Université de Nantes); Lionel Richefort (Université de Nantes) |
| Abstract: | This study develops a model of water extraction with endogenous social norms. Many users are connected by a unique shared resource that can become scarce in case of over-exploitation. Preferences of individuals are guided by their extraction values and their taste for conformity to social norms which provide incentives to follow others. As the main result of this study, the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium is established under a sufficient condition. Afterward, some comparative statics analysis shows the effects of change in individual heterogeneous parameters, conformism, and density of the network on the global quantity extracted. Welfare and social optimum properties are established to avoid the tragedy of the commons and sub-optimal consumptions of water. Lastly, this theoretical framework is completed by extensions to highlight levers of water preservation, including the calibration of social norm incentives. |
| Keywords: | Comparative statics, Conformism, Nash equilibrium, Network, Social norms, Water extraction |
| JEL: | D04 D80 Q01 Q25 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2021.20&r= |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A.; Ali, Shawkat; Bin Khaled, Muhammad Nahian; Mustafa, Shoumi |
| Abstract: | For almost fifty years, the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) of the Ministry of Food has played a role in policy analysis and planning related to the Public Foodgrain Distribution System (PFDS) and food policy in Bangladesh. Supported by a series of major donor-funded technical sup-port projects, this small unit has had major positive impacts on food policy reforms, as well as policy decisions on timing of PFDS imports, domestic procurement and distribution. And in the last dec-ade, the FPMU has played a lead role in formulation and monitoring of Country Investment Plans for Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition. Thus, the FPMU provides support not only to the Ministry of Food, but nine other ministries, as well. This expanded mandate and the increased complexity of food and nutrition policy in Bangladesh suggest the need for an in-depth examination of the FPMU’s structure and performance. This diag-nostic study, based on a review of documents, interviews of FPMU staff and other government offi-cials, stakeholder consultations and synthesis of findings, assesses the organizational structure, management, technical performance (data management and direct support to food policy implemen-tation) and capacity strengthening needs to provide insights on how to further enhance the FPMU’s effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, food grains, grain, food storage, planning, food policies, food prices, staff, incentives, Food Policy Monitoring Unit (FMPU) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprpp:8&r= |
| By: | Dong, Diansheng; Stewart, Hayden |
| Abstract: | Sales taxes on foods sold at grocery stores and/or restaurants exist in almost every county in the United States. By combining county-level sales tax data with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2012–13 National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), we examine the association between both types of taxes and a household’s spending on grocery and restaurant foods for three groups: USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, households that are eligible for SNAP but do not participate in the program, and households that are not eligible for SNAP. We found that, among households that are eligible for SNAP but do not participate in the program, grocery taxes are associated with reduced spending on foods purchased for at-home consumption. No such association is found among the two other groups of households considered in this study, suggesting they are less sensitive to grocery taxes. SNAP households spend more money on foods purchased for at-home consumption in communities with higher restaurant taxes. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2021–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usdami:313477&r= |
| By: | Dipu, Sudhakar; Quaas, Johannes; Quaas, Martin; Rickels, Wilfried; Mülmenstädt, Johannes; Boucher, Olivier |
| Abstract: | Radiation management (RM) has been proposed as a conceivable climate engineering (CE) intervention to mitigate global warming. In this study, we used a coupled climate model (MPI-ESM) with a very idealized setup to investigate the efficacy and risks of CE at a local scale in space and time (regional radiation management, RRM) assuming that cloud modification is technically possible. RM is implemented in the climate model by the brightening of low-level clouds (solar radiation management, SRM) and thinning of cirrus (terrestrial radiation management, TRM). The region chosen is North America, and we simulated a period of 30 years. The implemented sustained RM resulted in a net local radiative forcing of −9.8 Wm−2 and a local cooling of −0.8 K. Surface temperature (SAT) extremes (90th and 10th percentiles) show negative anomalies in the target region. However, substantial climate impacts were also simulated outside the target area, with warming in the Arctic and pronounced precipitation change in the eastern Pacific. As a variant of RRM, a targeted intervention to suppress heat waves (HW) was investigated in further simulations by implementing intermittent cloud modification locally, prior to the simulated HW situations. In most cases, the intermittent RRM results in a successful reduction of temperatures locally, with substantially smaller impacts outside the target area compared to the sustained RRM. |
| Keywords: | regional radiation management,climate engineering,radiative forcing |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:240193&r= |
| By: | Davillas, Apostolos (University of East Anglia); Jones, Andrew M. (University of York) |
| Abstract: | We designed an experiment to explore the extent of measurement error in body mass index (BMI), when based on self-reported body weight and height. We find that there is a systematic age gradient in the reporting error in BMI, while there is limited evidence of systematic associations with gender, education and income. This is reassuring evidence for the use of self-reported BMI in studies that use it as an outcome, for example, to analyse socioeconomic gradients in obesity. However, our results suggest a complex structure of non-classical measurement error in BMI, depending on both individuals' and within-household peers' true BMI. This may bias studies that use BMI based on self-reported data as a regressor. Common methods to mitigate reporting error in BMI using predictions from corrective equations do not fully eliminate reporting heterogeneity associated with individual and within-household true BMI. Overall, the presence of non-classical error in BMI highlights the importance of collecting measured body weight and height data in large social science datasets. |
| Keywords: | BMI, experiment, measurement error, reporting bias |
| JEL: | I10 C18 C50 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14695&r= |
| By: | Amal Ahmad (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst) |
| Abstract: | Information problems are pervasive in developing economies and can hinder pro- ductivity growth. This paper studies how much rural producers in developing countries can learn from their own experience to redress important informa- tion gaps. It builds a model of learning from experience and applies it using a rich dataset on cotton farmers in Pakistan. I test whether farmers learn from cultivation experience about the pest resistance of their seeds and use this in- formation to improve selection and productivity. I find no such learning effect and this conclusion is robust to several parameters that could signal learning. The findings document the difficulty of parsing out and processing information from cultivation experience alone and point to the importance of information provision to producers by the government or external agencies. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ums:papers:2021-03&r= |
| By: | Arnade, Carlos; Hoffman, Linwood; Effland, Anne |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) projections of annual corn output on the price of corn futures. We tested if output projections significantly drive responses to the futures market. We also tested if the accuracy of past projections influences market response to the current projections. For each month—from May (planting month) to October (harvesting month)—we estimated a system of equations representing the daily opening, closing, high-, and low-futures prices. These equations test the forecast’s impacts on both price levels and daily variances. We found USDA’s projection of annual corn production influenced future prices and daily variances. The projection moved the future price closer to the October harvest price, and its impact lingered for several days. We found errors in past output projections have only a small effect on the projection impacts on future prices. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2021–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usdami:313488&r= |
| By: | Amal Ahmad (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst) |
| Abstract: | Why have Israel and the Palestinians failed to implement a “land for peace” solution, along the lines of the Oslo Accords? This paper studies the application of game theory to this question. I show that existing models of the conflict largely rely on unrealistic assumptions about what the main actors are trying to achieve. Specifically, they assume that Israel is strategically interested in withdrawing from the occupied territories pending resolvable security concerns but that it is obstructed from doing so by violent Palestinians with other objectives. I use historical analysis along with bargaining theory to shed doubt on this assumption, and to argue that the persistence of conflict has been aligned with, not contrary to, the interests of the militarily powerful party, Israel. |
| Keywords: | Israel-Palestine, international conflicts, strategic behavior |
| JEL: | D74 F51 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ums:papers:2021-04&r= |
| By: | Bertram, Christine; Quaas, Martin; Reusch, Thorsten B.H.; Vafeidis, Athanasios T.; Wolff, Claudia; Rickels, Wilfried |
| Abstract: | Carbon sequestration and storage in mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows is an essential coastal ‘blue carbon’ ecosystem service for climate change mitigation. Here we offer a comprehensive, global and spatially explicit economic assessment of carbon sequestration and storage in three coastal ecosystem types at the global and national levels. We propose a new approach based on the country-specific social cost of carbon that allows us to calculate each country’s contribution to, and redistribution of, global blue carbon wealth. Globally, coastal ecosystems contribute a mean ± s.e.m. of US$190.67 ± 30 bn yr−1 to blue carbon wealth. The three countries generating the largest positive net blue wealth contribution for other countries are Australia, Indonesia and Cuba, with Australia alone generating a positive net benefit of US$22.8 ± 3.8 bn yr−1 for the rest of the world through coastal ecosystem carbon sequestration and storage in its territory. |
| Keywords: | Climate-change mitigation,Economics,Marine biology |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:240209&r= |
| By: | Marianne Lefebvre (UA - Université d'Angers); Jesus Barreiro-Hurlé (Joint Research center - European Commission); Ciaran Blanchflower (UA - Université d'Angers); Liesbeth Colen (University of Göttingen - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen); Laure Kuhfuss (The James Hutton Institute); Jens Rommel (SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences); Tanja Šumrada (University of Ljubljana); Fabian Thomas (OS UAS - Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences - Hochschule Osnabrück); Sophie Thoyer (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - 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: | In order to keep pace with the evolution of the objectives and means of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, evaluation tools also need to adapt. A set of tools that have proved highly effective in other policy fields is economic xperiments. These allow the testing of a new policy before its implementation, provide evidence of its specific effects, and identify behavioural dimensions that can influence policy outcomes. We argue that agricultural policy should be subject to economic experiments, providing examples to illustrate how they can inform CAP design. We identify the additional efforts needed to establish further proof-of- concept, by running more –and more robust –experiments related to the CAP. This can happen only by integrating experimental evaluation results within the policy cycle and addressing ethical and practical challenges seriously. To do so, researchers would benefit from a concerted European effort to promote the methodology across the EU; organise the replication in time and across Europ of experiments relevant for the CAP; and build a multi-national panel of farmers willing to participate in experiments. Steps are being taken in this direction by the Research Network of Economics Experiments for CAP evaluation (REECAP). |
| Abstract: | Face à l'évolution des objectifs et des moyens de la politique agricole commune de l'Union européenne, les outils d'évaluation doivent également s'adapter. Les expérimentations économiques sont un ensemble d'outils qui se sont avérés très efficaces dans d'autres domaine d'action des pouvoirs publics. Elles permettent de tester une nouvelle politique avant sa mise en oeuvre, fournissent des informations sur les effets spécifiques de cette politique et identifient les dimensions comportementales qui peuvent influencer ses résultats. Nous soutenons que la politique agricole devrait être l'objet d'expérimentations économiques et fournissons des exemples pour illustrer comment celles-ci peuvent éclairer la formulation de la PAC. Nous identifions les efforts supplémentaires nécessaires pour établir d'autres preuves de concept, en menant des expérimentations liées à la PAC plus nombreuses -et plus robustes. Cela ne peut se faire qu'en intégrant les résultats des évaluations expérimentales dans le cycle de la politique et en s'attaquant sérieusement aux défis éthiques et pratiques. Pour ce faire, les chercheurs bénéficieraient d'un effort européen concerté pour promouvoir la méthodologie à travers l'Union européenne ; organiser la réplication dans le temps et à travers l'Europe d'expérimentations pertinentes pour la PAC ; et constituer un panel multinational d'agriculteurs désireux de participer à ces expérimentations. Des mesures sont prises dans ce sens par le Réseau de recherche sur les expérimentations économiques pour l'évaluation de la PAC (REECAP). |
| Keywords: | Experimental economics,Common Agricultural Policy,Evaluation tools |
| Date: | 2021–08–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03329617&r= |
| By: | Miguel Riviere (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Sylvain Caurla (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Forest sector models encompass a set of models used for forest-related policy analysis. As representations of a complex human-environment system, they incorporate multiple facts from their target, the forest sector, which is usually understood as comprising forests, forestry and forest industries. Even though they pursue similar goals and display similarities, forest sector models show divergences in their representation of the forest sector. In this paper, we question and discuss the determinants behind the representation of facts in forest sector models, and try to highlight the reasons behind modelling practices. The forest sector's boundaries are often unclear, and it comprises facts of different natures for which dynamics take place on different time and spatial scales. As a result, modelling practices vary, and both empirical data and theory play varying roles in representing facts. Early models were developed in the 1970s and find their roots in traditional forest economics, the economics of natural resources, econometrics, but also transportation problems and system dynamics. Because they developed within a small but well-connected field, early efforts were influential in shaping current practices. Numerical simulation and scenario analysis are used as means of enquiry into model worlds: in that, forest sector models are a classical example of model use in economics, and they constitute a good example of how simulation models have been developed for decision-support purposes. Forest sector modelling is heavily influenced by its applied uses, and policy contexts shape both questions asked and how facts are introduced in scenario storylines. Understanding the determinants of modelling choices is necessary to ensure sound modelling practices. Forest sector models are now used to address issues wider than timber production. Practices turn to integration into multi-model frameworks to expand the boundaries of the system studied, but also towards the use of qualitative methods as new ways of representing facts, in particular deep changes that quantitative models may not be able to capture. |
| Abstract: | Les modèles de secteur forestier sont des outils utilisés dans le cadre d'exercices de prospective portant sur la filière forêt-bois. En tant que représentations de systèmes complexes, ces derniers incorporent de multiples faits issus de leur cible dans le monde réel, et qui peuvent être de différentes natures : dynamiques naturelles, procédés industriels, comportements économiques. Bien que poursuivant des objectifs semblables, ces modèles divergent dans le choix des faits représentés ainsi que dans celui des méthodes utilisées pour les représenter. Dans cet article, nous mettons en lumière les déterminants derrière les représentations du secteur forestier dans les modèles de filière, et remettons ainsi en perspective les pratiques de modélisation, notamment vis-à-vis de leur ancrage historique et méthodologique. Le secteur forestier constitue a priori un ensemble bien défini, mais ses limites exactes sont souvent floues. Elles varient selon la région du monde ou l'échelle spatiale considérée, et comprennent des dynamiques intervenant sur des échelles temporelles souvent disjointes. En résultent des choix de modélisation variés, utilisant à divers degrés théorie et données empiriques. Les premiers modèles furent développés dans les années 1970 et trouvent leur inspiration dans l'économie forestière et celle des ressources naturelles, mais aussi dans la dynamique des systèmes et les problèmes de transport optimal. Héritières d'une recherche au sein d'un champ restreint, les pratiques de modélisation du secteur forestier se sont fortement influencées entre elles, et l'empreinte des premiers modèles se retrouve encore aujourd'hui. La recherche repose sur des simulations numériques permettant d'explorer les futurs possibles par analyse de scénario, et le modélisateur observe le modèle afin d'en tirer des conclusions à propos du système représenté. En cela, les modèles de secteur forestier constituent un exemple archétypal de l'émergence de la simulation en économie comme procédé d'appui à la décision. En retour, le contexte dans lequel un modèle est développé a une forte influence sur les pratiques de modélisation, qu'il guide. Les modèles de secteur forestier sont aujourd'hui utilisés pour traiter de thématiques environnementales, et les pratiques se tournent vers une intégration de plus en plus forte avec d'autres modèles, permettant de repousser les limites du système représenté, mais aussi vers le recours à des méthodes qualitatives comme une nouvelle manière de représenter les faits difficiles à prendre en compte à l'aide de modèles quantitatifs. |
| Keywords: | Forest economics,Mathematical model,Simulation model,Prospective,Economie forestière,Modèle mathématique,Modèle de simulation |
| Date: | 2020–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03088084&r= |
| By: | Coleman-Jensen, Alisha; Rabbitt, Matthew P.; Gregory, Christian A.; Singh, Anita |
| Abstract: | This supplement provides statistics that complement those in Household Food Security in the United States in 2020 (ERR-298). That research report provides the primary national statistics on household food security, food spending, and use of Federal food and nutrition assistance programs by food-insecure households. Additional statistics here cover component items of the household food security measure, the frequency of occurrence of food-insecure conditions, and selected statistics on house-hold food security, food spending, and use of Federal and community food and nutrition assistance programs. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2021–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usdami:313486&r= |
| By: | U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service |
| Abstract: | This report provides information to inform the transportation planning and project selection processes that build and maintain the highway infrastructure upon which the agriculture industry relies upon for safe and efficient transportation of goods. It demonstrates the interconnected nature of agricultural freight and highlights the need for cooperation across jurisdictions via 1) A summary of the economic significance of highway infrastructure to the agriculture industry; 2) Identification of High-Volume Domestic Agriculture Highways based on 2018 commodity flows; 3) Modeled projections of future infrastructure conditions and performance; 4) Identification of efforts to improve agricultural freight movements. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uamstr:313492&r= |
| By: | Schwanitz, Valeria Jana |
| Abstract: | Integrated Assessment Models of Global Climate Change are an established tool to explore possible pathways of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The models are a quantitative backbone for IPCC reports. But can the models be trusted? This manuscript discusses how the models can be scrutinized and where limits to model validation exist. |
| Date: | 2021–09–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:63yd8&r= |
| By: | Marcos Gallacher |
| Abstract: | El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la importancia de insumos asociados al conocimiento (“cambio tecnológico”) y precios relativos como determinantes de la demanda de factores en la agricultura argentina. Motiva este trabajo el incremento significativo (x 15) en la demanda de fertilizantes ocurrido en el período 1990-2019. Conocer los factores responsables de la demanda de fertilizantes resulta importante ya que estos insumos explican una parte significativa del producto agrícola en países con sectores agropecuarios altamente productivos, como es el caso de los EEUU y otros. En adición a lo anterior, la creciente preocupación por la sostenibilidad en el tiempo de los sistemas agrícolas enfatiza la necesidad de comprender la economía del uso de fertilizantes pues estos insumos, si bien contribuyen a la producción sostenible, (aumento de producción de grano y también de materia vegetal a ser incorporada al suelo) también generan inquietudes como resultado del consumo de energía necesaria para su producción y la posible contaminación de napas subterráneas que su uso puede generar. Los resultados muestran que en período 1990-2019 el incremento en la demanda de fertilizantes resultó no solo de bajas en el precio relativo fertilizante/grano, sino también del aumento de la productividad marginal del fertilizante. Esto sugiere la creciente importancia de “insumos asociados al conocimiento” en el proceso productivo. / The objective of this paper is to analyze the relative importance of knowledge inputs (or “technical change”) and input prices in explaining factor demand in Argentine agriculture. Motivation for the paper is the fifteen-fold increase in fertilizer demand observed in Argentina in the 1990-2019 period. Understanding the factors affecting fertilizer use is important, as this input accounts for a significant portion of output in countries with a highly productive agricultural sector, such as the U.S. and others. In addition, increased concern for the sustainability of agricultural systems requires understanding of the economics of fertilizer use, as fertilizers can both contribute to sustainable production (via increased production not only of marketable products, but also dry matter to be incorporated to the soil), but at the same time raise issues, in particular, related to groundwater contamination and energy (in the form of fertilizer) used in the agricultural sector. Results show that in the 1990 – 2019 period increase in fertilizer demand was a result not only of a fall in the fertilizer/crop price ratio, but also on increased marginal productivity of the fertilizer input. It is suggested that this is a result of the increased importance of “knowledge inputs” in the production process. |
| JEL: | D24 Q10 Q12 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:811&r= |
| By: | Oliver Hümbelin; Lukas Hobi; Robert Fluder |
| Abstract: | In many countries, it is difficult to study subnational poverty patterns, as official statistics often rely on surveys with limited ability to disaggregate regionally. This is a drawback because the social and economic structure varies within countries, which has a significant impact on who lives below the poverty line. To address poverty, it is therefore important to further understand urban/rural differences. In this context, administrative data-based approaches offer new opportunities. This paper contributes to the field of territorial poverty studies by using linked tax data to examine poverty in a large political district in Switzerland with 1 million inhabitants and large rural and urban parts. We measure poverty using income and financial reserves (asset-based poverty) and examine poverty in urban and rural areas. By doing so we can compare the social structure of the poor in detail. We then use random forest based variable importance analysis to see whether the importance of poverty risks factors differs in urban and rural parts. We can show that poor people in rural areas are more likely to be of retirement age compared to the urban parts. Among the workforce, the share of poor is higher for those who work in agriculture compared to those working in industry or the service sector. In urban areas, the poor are more often freelancers and people of foreign origin. Despite on where they live, people with no or little education, single parents, and people working in gastronomy/tourism are disproportionately often poor. With respect to risk factors, we find that the general opportunity structure like density of workplaces or aggravated access in mountain areas seem to be of minor importance compared to risk factors that relate to the immediate social situation. Low attachment to the labor market is by far the most important characteristic predicting poverty on the household level. However, the sector of occupation is of big importance too. Since the possibilities to engage in a specific occupation is linked to the regional opportunity structure, this result fosters the argument that territorial opportunities matter. The importance of the sector of occupation is especially dominant predicting poor households in rural parts. |
| Keywords: | poverty, poverty risk factors, regional difference, admin-data, random forest |
| JEL: | I32 |
| Date: | 2021–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bss:wpaper:40&r= |
| By: | Muhammad, Andrew; Griffith, Andrew P.; Martinez, Charles C.; Thompson, Jada |
| Abstract: | For the last five years (2016-2020), beef and beef products have been a top-five U.S. agricultural export. In 2019, for instance, U.S. beef exports were valued at $8.1 billion, third behind soybeans ($18.7 billion) and tree nuts ($9.1 billion).1 Japan is the most important foreign market for U.S. beef (around $2 billion annually), accounting for around 25 percent of total U.S. exports (See Figure 1) (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021a). Thus, the U.S. beef sector is concerned when Japanese policies change in favor of competing countries, resulting in a disadvantage for U.S. beef exports. This was actually an issue when the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) entered into force in December 2018.2 The CPTPP countries that export beef to Japan (e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico) faced immediate tariff reductions and a tariff phase-down from about 40 percent to nine percent over a 15-year period (Muhammad and Griffith, 2018). Fortunately, the U.S. was able to negotiate similar tariff reductions for U.S. beef in the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement (USJTA), which entered into force January 2020. However, unlike beef from CPTPP countries, U.S. beef products face more restrictive safeguard measures in Japan (Imaizumi, 2021). Safeguard measures are used to limit excessive import growth by allowing governments to increase tariffs on a product when imports exceed a certain level during a specified period. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and agreements like CPTPP and USJTA allow the Japanese government to increase tariffs on beef when imports exceed a certain volume during a specified period. This specified volume is often referred to as a safeguard trigger. For instance, if Japan’s annual beef imports from CPTPP countries exceeded 601,800 metric tons (MT) (around 1,327 million pounds) from April 2019–March 2020, the Japanese government could have enforced a higher tariff to limit beef imports from CPTPP countries (Imaizumi, 2018).3 Japan’s safeguard trigger for U.S. beef negotiated under USJTA is currently 242,000 MT (around 534 million pounds), which is significantly lower than the CPTPP safeguard trigger. While the relatively higher safeguard trigger could be due to CPTPP including multiple countries and USJTA only including the U.S., Japan essentially imports beef from two countries, the U.S. and Australia. Imports from other CPTPP countries are significantly smaller by comparison. Thus, the more generous CPTPP safeguard trigger is predominantly applied to Australian beef, whereas U.S. beef is facing a significantly more restrictive safeguard trigger. To put this in context, U.S. beef exports to Japan exceeded 242,000 MT the last five years (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021a). Given this fact, it was no surprise when the Japanese government announced in March 2021 that imports of U.S. beef from April 2020 to March 2021 reached 242,229 MT, exceeding the safeguard trigger, and that tariffs on U.S. beef would temporarily increase from their current level (25.8 percent) to 38.5 percent for a 30-day period (Imaizumi, 2021). The goal of this report is to examine how Japan’s beef safeguard measures could impact the competitiveness of U.S. beef, vis-à-vis beef from competing countries like Australia. While there is some evidence that Japanese consumers do not consider U.S. beef and Australian beef to be perfect substitutes and have different preferences based on product attributes (e.g., U.S. grain-fed beef versus Australian grass-fed beef), prior research suggests that price competition is still important and that tariffs could affect the competitiveness of U.S. beef in Japan, resulting in less imports of U.S. beef and increased imports of Australian beef (Muhammad et al., 2018). In this report, we provide background on the U.S. beef sector and Japanese beef imports, details on Japan’s beef tariffs and safeguard measures in the CPTPP and USJTA, and lastly, we present findings on how temporary tariff increases due to safeguard measures impacts U.S. beef exports relative to other exporting countries in the Japanese market. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2021–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:utaeer:313523&r= |
| By: | Pierre Levasseur (SADAPT - Sciences pour l'Action et le Développement : Activités, Produits, Territoires - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Cet article étudie les dynamiques de la relation entre la corpulence et les salaires au Mexique, un pays émergent fortement touché par l'obésité. Dans cette étude empirique, nous utilisons les données de panel issues de l'enquête ménage Mexican Family Life Survey (2002-2012). Premièrement, nous examinons de façon descriptive la relation corpulence-salaire et son évolution dans le temps. Nous appliquons ensuite un modèle par doubles différences fournissant des estimations robustes à l'hétérogénéité invariante dans le temps. Nos résultats montrent que la relation entre la corpulence et les salaires horaires dépend du genre, de l'année d'enquête et du statut professionnel. Tandis que les résultats révèlent des pénalités salariales au cours du temps pour les travailleurs des services en surpoids, nous observons une acceptation relative de l'excès de poids dans d'autres secteurs d'emploi, en particulier dans les emplois à haute qualification. Nos résultats ont ainsi des implications importantes en termes de politiques publiques. |
| Keywords: | Mexico,Overweight,Obesity,Wages |
| Date: | 2021–08–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03335825&r= |