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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2023‒01‒09
53 papers chosen by |
| By: | Raahil Madhok (University of British Columbia); Frederik Noack (University of British Columbia); Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak (Cowles Foundation, Yale University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the response of agricultural production to rural labor loss during the process of urbanization. Using household microdata from India and exogenous variation in migration induced by urban income shocks interacted with distance to cities, we document sharp declines in crop production among migrant-sending households residing near cities. Households with migration opportunities do not substitute agricultural labour with capital, nor do they adopt new agricultural machinery. Instead, they divest from agriculture altogether and cultivate less land. We use a two-sector general equilibrium model with crop and land markets to trace the ensuing spatial reorganization of agriculture. Other non-migrant village residents expand farming (land market channel) and farmers in more remote villages with fewer migration opportunities adopt yield-enhancing technologies and produce more crops (crop market channel). Counterfactual simulations show that over half of the aggregate food production losses driven by urbanization is mitigated by these spillovers. This leads to a spatial reorganization in which food production moves away from urban areas and towards remote areas with low emigration. |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2349&r=agr |
| By: | Arnaud Lamy (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Institut Paul Bocuse - Center for Food and Hospitality Research, Ecully, France); Sandrine Costa (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Lucie Sirieix (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Maxime Michaud (Center for Food and Hospitality Research, Institut Paul Bocuse, 69130 Ecully, France) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this research is to examine the representations that French chefs have of sustainable cuisine, and to determine whether this includes considerations for a reduction in meat consumption. Global sustainability questions have led to specific issues for the restaurant sector. Among these issues, the recommendation of a reduction in meat consumption is a polarizing topic in France, as meat is deeply rooted in the French culinary tradition. The study of chefs' representations offers a better understanding of the meaning of their actions, what is at stake for them, their obstacles and limitations in the implementation of more sustainable practices in their kitchens. A qualitative methodology based on 29 semi-directive interviews was chosen to explore the chefs' representations. A sub-sample of 15 French chefs was selected to carry out an initial preliminary thematic analysis and to provide some initial insights. The first results of this study show the plurality of perceptions behind the concept of sustainable cuisine. The chefs who have a concrete vision of the concept mainly mention actions related to food supply and culinary preparation. The subject of reducing meat consumption is not prominent in the chefs' representations of sustainable cuisine; however, the chefs do mention various actions to use animal products in a more sustainable way: sourcing from local food systems, favoring farms that respect animal welfare, respecting the seasonality of products or adopting a zero waste strategy in the preparation of meat-based dishes. These results have implications for the restaurant sector, as they provide initial insights into the relationship between chefs and sustainable cuisine, and pave the way for a more in-depth study of chefs' representations. |
| Keywords: | Restaurants,Meat consumption,Professional representations,Qualitative survey,Green practices,Chefs attitudes |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03882689&r=agr |
| By: | Mahjoubi, Soufiane; Mkaddem, Chamseddine |
| Abstract: | This study attempts to assess the impact of climate changes factors, such as average rainfall and average temperature on cereal production in Algeria from 1990 to 2019. We employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulations techniques and Granger causality test to estimate the long and short-term effects of climate change variables. The results showed that the rainfall, agricultural technology, agricultural labour, and cultivation of land enhance cereal output. The long-run ARDL model results provides that the temperature does not impact on cereal productivity. The findings provided by Granger causality tests also suggest that there is a unidirectional relationship between cereal production, climatic variables, and non-climate factors. The ARDL technique provides a better methodology to understanding of the variability of cereal production in Algeria as a result of climate factors. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, crop production, ARDL approach, Granger causality, Algeria |
| JEL: | C22 Q18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115565&r=agr |
| By: | Briones, Roehlano M. |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to assess the degree to which the modernization objective of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) in terms of enhanced profits and incomes in the AF sectors has been achieved. It finds that, while still low compared with the national average, per capita income for agricultural households has been rising since the late 1990s, continuing long-term trends since at least the 1960s. Increases in the income of agricultural households have been largely driven by nonfarm income sources, although agricultural income has also been rising. Increases in agricultural income have been driven in part by productivity growth and increasing competitiveness of agriculture (i.e., declining cost per unit output). However, the increasing fragmentation of landholdings in recent decades is associated with the lost opportunity for increased income. Nonetheless, poverty incidence among agricultural households has been falling, with acceleration in decline since 2012. Consistent with rising income, poverty among agricultural households has been falling, with the pace of decline accelerating from 2012 to 2018.These stylized facts suggest several policy implications: (1) Adopt strategies to accelerate modernization by structural change, such as boosting infrastructure investment and promotion of industrial innovation; (2) Accelerate productivity growth in agriculture by R&D and extension; (3) Undertake measures to promote structural change within agriculture; (4) Promote agri-food systems modernization by appropriate industrial policies, including operational consolidation of landholdings; and (5) Redeploy safety nets and social protection schemes as targeted measures towards cushioning adjustment to reform. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from the date of posting. Email publications@pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | farm productivity;agricultural transformation;structural change;poverty |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2022-28&r=agr |
| By: | Levente Timar (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | I use geographic data and discrete choice modelling to investigate private land-use decisions in the context of prominent New Zealand land institutions and environmental policies. Land-use conversions involving gains and losses in planted forests and natural forests are modelled individually. Land under M?ori freehold tenure is found to be less likely to be used for pastoral grazing and also less likely to undergo land-use conversion (both to and from a forested use). With respect to environmental policies, results suggest the incentives of the Emissions Trading Scheme did not significantly affect land-use decisions during the sample period of 2008-2016: the carbon reward had little effect on afforestation, and the deforestation liability was largely ineffective at deterring deforestation. On the other hand, the East Coast Forestry Project is found to have increased planted forest area in the district both by encouraging afforestation beyond baseline levels and by discouraging deforestation. Evidence for its effect on regenerating natural forest area is weaker in the data. |
| Keywords: | Land use, forestry, land tenure, environmental policy |
| JEL: | Q15 Q23 Q58 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:22_12&r=agr |
| By: | Banerjee, Onil; Cicowiez, Martin; Rios, Ana R.; Lima, Cicero Z. de |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the economy-wide impact of Climate Change (CC) on agriculture and food security in 20 Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. Specifically, we focus on the following three channels through which CC may affect agricultural and non-agricultural production: (i) agricultural yields; (ii) labor productivity in agriculture, and; (iii) economy-wide labor productivity. We implement the analysis using the Integrated Economic-Environmental Model (IEEM) and databases for 20 LAC available through the OPEN IEEM Platform. Our analysis identifies those countries most affected according to key indicators including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), international commerce, sectoral output, poverty, and emissions. Most countries experience negative impacts on GDP, with the exception of the major soybean producing countries, namely, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. We find that CC-induced crop productivity and labor productivity changes affect countries differently. The combined impact, however, indicates that Belize, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Paraguay would fare the worst. Early identification of these hardest hit countries can enable policy makers pre-empting these effects and beginning the design of adaptation strategies early on. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, only Argentina, Chile and Uruguay would experience small increases in emissions. |
| JEL: | C68 J2 Q1 Q5 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11777&r=agr |
| By: | Rosenberg, Andrew B.; Pratt, Bryan; Arnold, David |
| Abstract: | The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest agricultural land retirement program in the United States, with the General Signup competitive auction accounting for about one-half of enrolled acreage. In this study, we assess the land use impacts of the CRP, identifying the land uses that could have been retired had rejected offers in the 2016 General Signup instead been accepted. We also compare information from proposed offers with land use decisions after offers were rejected to determine the costs that the program would have to pay to avoid these land uses. In the immediate years after the Signup that we examine, 47 percent of acreage in fields with a rejected offer was planted in crops for grain, while 14 percent was planted in crops for forage, and 10 percent was used for grazing. We find that the fraction of land in each use is relatively consistent across a range of Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) scores. Further, we find that the cost effectiveness of retiring grain and other productive agricultural uses is relatively constant across a large range of EBI scores but is lower for the lowest scoring offers. Finally, we find that program land use impacts vary significantly across states and depend on prior enrollment status. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa23:316533&r=agr |
| By: | Fatima El Hadad-Gauthier (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes); Bleoussi Bernardin Monhoussou (CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes); Abdelhakim Hammoudi (Universit ́e Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Paris-Saclay Applied Economics); Maria Angela Perito (Universit ́e Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Paris-Saclay Applied Economics, Facoltà di Bioscienze e tecnologie agro-alimentari e ambientali - Faculty of Bioscience and Agro-Food and Environmental Technology [Teramo] - UniTE - Università degli Studi di Teramo) |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the perception of ethnic foods by European consumers. The aim of this work is to enrich the literature on the analysis of consumer perception of ethnic foods by focusing on the socio-demographic characteristics of consumers, the possible role played by product attributes, psychographic characteristics, and willingness to pay for these products, specifically date fruits. We surveyed a representative sample of 1123 Italian and French consumers. Using an ordered logit model, we found that, as for any other product, geographical indication, region of production, organic character, and fair trade are attributes that individuals consider in their purchase decisions for ethnic foods. Similarly, country of origin is a source of quality for ethnic foods such as dates. The results reveal that women, more educated individuals, and Generation Z (younger individuals) have a higher willingness to pay for organic, fair trade, and GI-labeled ethnic foods. Finally, this willingness to pay is driven more by product knowledge than by cognitive closeness to the ethnic food. |
| Keywords: | ethnic food,organic foods,consumers’ attitude,willingness to pay,date fruits |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03879642&r=agr |
| By: | HUYGENS Dries (European Commission - JRC); GARCIA-GUTIERREZ Pelayo (European Commission - JRC); ORVEILLON Glenn; SCHILLACI Calogero; DELRE Antonio (European Commission - JRC); ORGIAZZI Alberto; WOJDA Piotr; TONINI Davide (European Commission - JRC); EGLE Lukas (European Commission - JRC); JONES Arwyn; PISTOCCHI Alberto; LUGATO Emanuele |
| Abstract: | Sewage sludge is the residue following the treatment of waste waters. It contains valuable agricultural resources, but also contaminants that may pose risks to human health and the environment. This study aims to assess impacts on the environment and human health from main sludge management routes occurring in the EU. It was found that a relatively small set of pollutants may cause significant risks to both humans and soil organisms when present in concentrations levels typically documented for sewage sludge. These priority contaminants are persistent in soils and have a bioaccumulative and toxic effect on humans and soil organisms. Secondly, it was indicated that sewage sludge management, other than landfilling, has a small impact on the overall global warming potential, and that the enforcement of best sludge management practices will only limitedly offset impacts resulting from waste water treatment. Thirdly, it is indicated that sound management of sludge could contribute to reducing the depletion of the critical raw material rock phosphate. Even options other than landspreading can return a significant share of the phosphorus contained in sludge to agricultural land in a plant-available form. Altogether, it is indicated that a mix of sludge management routes, adapted to the local settings and needs, may be required to maximise benefits and minimise adverse impacts across the different sustainability dimensions affected by sludge management within the EU. |
| Keywords: | sewage sludge, agriculture, contaminants, nutrient management |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc129690&r=agr |
| By: | Mukherjee, Manisha (RS: GSBE MGSoG, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the moderating role of access to agricultural adaptation measures in how climate change is affecting human migration in the middle- and low-income countries. The literature on the association between climate change, agricultural production, and migration has seen a dramatic expansion in the past decade and highlighted the complexity of the process. Yet, a crucial link that is missing in the discussions is the inter-linkage between migration responses and access to in-situ agricultural adaptation measures. To address this gap, I build this study on an emerging approach that treats adaptation to climate change as an additional component of sustainable economic development. I systematically review 81 quantitative and qualitative studies on the nexus of climate change, migration, and agriculture in the middle- and low-income countries and investigate the migration responses of agricultural households in conjunction with access to agricultural adaptation measures. I find a significant overlap between the social class of farmers, their capabilities to adapt in situ, and their migration decisions. The migration responses vary across agricultural households based on access to in-situ adaptation measures. Additionally, this interaction is heavily moderated by other local contextual factors- such as easy access to credit, participation in social networks, ethnic and social fractionalization, presence of conflicts, and social structures. Based on the findings, I propose a conceptual framework that could aid in deconstructing the migration responses of agricultural households in less-developed countries. Furthermore, I highlight critical policy gaps in building climate-resilient rural economies and suggest future research agendas with regard to climate change, migration, and agricultural adaptation measures. |
| JEL: | O13 Q01 O15 Q15 R20 |
| Date: | 2022–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2022039&r=agr |
| By: | Berhane, Guush; Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Wolle, Abdulazize |
| Abstract: | This study examined the patterns, trends, and drivers of agricultural intensification and productivity growth during the recent decade (2012 - 2019) using three rounds of household data collected from four agricultural regions of Ethiopia. The descriptive results indicate a positive trend both in adoption and intensity of inputs and outputs, albeit from a low base and with considerable heterogeneity by ac-cess to information, rainfall levels and variability, labor, soil quality, and remoteness, among others. The econometric results show significant association between intensification, yield growth, household die-tary diversity, and consumer durables. The results on the association between current yield levels and per capita consumption expenditures are however mixed (i.e., while an increase in cereal yield im-proves food consumption expenditures, an increase in cash crop yield improves only non-food con-sumption expenditures). In sum, while the increasing input intensification and the resulting yield gains are associated with improvements in household diets and consumer durables, it falls short to have strong impact on incomes (as measured by total consumption expenditures), indicating that additional efforts must be made to see meaningful impacts on higher order outcomes. Additional welfare improv-ing productivity gains through increased input intensification may require investments in appropriate fer-tilizer blends; investments in improved seeds (to accelerate varietal turnover), ways to mitigate produc-tion (rainfall) risk, and investments to remodel Ethiopia’s extension system to provide much needed technical support to farmers on production methods. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, households, data analysis, data collection, rainfall patterns, yield factors agricultural intensification |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:october2022b&r=agr |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas; Warner, James; Aredo, Samson Dejene; Zewdie, Tadiwos |
| Abstract: | Agricultural transformation refers to a series of changes in agriculture that both reflect and drive rising income and economic development more broadly. While the macroeconomic patterns of agricultural transformation are relatively well documented, less is known about how it is manifested at the household level. Ethiopia makes an excellent case study as it has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. An important aspect of this process is agricultural commercialization, that is, the rising share of agricultural output is sold on the market rather than being consumed at home. Agricultural commercialization tends to rise with development with improved infrastructure and communications, the availability of inputs and know-how regarding commercial crop production, and farmers being willing to accept the risks associated with producing crops for the market. Agricultural commercialization is widely believed to allow farmers to earn higher income as they specialize in crops for which they have a comparative advantage. The analysis makes use of a data from three rural household surveys carried out in Ethiopia by IFPRI in 2012, 2016, and 2019. Each survey used a sample that was representative of the four main agricultural regions of the country (Tigre, Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP) with sample sizes of 3000 to 5000, including 1,900 households that were interviewed in all three rounds. In addition, we incorporate several weather variables based on CHIRPS rainfall data to estimate the effect of the level and variability of rainfall on agricultural commercialization. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, crops, trends, commercialization, agricultural transformation, income, economic development, households |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:april2022&r=agr |
| By: | Mkaddem, Chamseddine; Mahjoubi, Soufiane |
| Abstract: | This study aims to explore the link between weather and bottled water consumption in Tunisia using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) between 1995 and 2020. Ours results show that the precipitation and labor rates in the three sectors have an impact in the short and long term. An increase of 1°C in temperature in the short term leads to an increase in consumption of more than 4 liters of bottled water. However, 1 % more rainfall means a decrease in long-term bottled water consumption of about a quarter of a liter. While in the short term the effect is mixed (both positive and negative). Temperature further increases bottled water consumption in rural areas and among climate-exposed professions. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Bottled water, water consumption, ARDL, Tunisia |
| JEL: | C22 Q25 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115658&r=agr |
| By: | Li, Zhiyun; Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel |
| Abstract: | A growing empirical literature is analyzing the effects of weather fluctuations on a variety of economic outcomes with the goal of better understanding the potential impacts of climate change. In agricultural studies, constructing weather variables typically requires researchers to define a “season”, a time period over which weather conditions are considered relevant to the agricultural outcome of interest. While researchers often have the background knowledge to make reasonable assumptions about seasonality in crop-specific analyses, these modeling choices are less obvious when dealing with aggregate agricultural data encompassing multiple crops or livestock. In this article, we explore the consequences of assuming an incorrect season in such analyses. We first provide a conceptual framework to show that imposing an incorrect season essentially introduces non-classical measurement error in weather regressors, causing unknown biases in weather impacts. We confirm this finding in simulations. We then propose a tractable data-driven approach to recover the “true” underlying season. The approach consists of a grid search with cross-validation that evaluates the fit of models based on a wide range of season definitions. In simulations, we find the approach is effective at recovering the “true” season under certain data generating processes. Finally, we apply our approach to a US state-level panel of agricultural Total Factor Productivity. We find, unsurprisingly, considerable differences in seasonality across regions. Importantly, our empirical findings suggest that imposing arbitrary seasons lead to substantially different estimates of weather effects in either direction, in line with our theoretical and simulated results. This work contributes to the development of more robust empirical studies of climate change impacts on agriculture and beyond. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa23:316528&r=agr |
| By: | Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Regassa, Mekdim; Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Increased diversification of rural households into the rural non-farm economy is an important driver of economic growth and structural transformation in countries like Ethiopia where most people live in rural areas and are largely dependent on seasonal agriculture. In this study, we explore the patterns and trends of diversification and assess its drivers and welfare effects during the recent decade (2012 – 2019) using three rounds of representative household data collected from four major regions in Ethiopia. Our results show that sample households generally adopt a livelihood strategy dominated by farming and that the level of diversification has been stagnant over the period of analysis considered. More importantly, most households continue to draw a substantial share of their income from crop production, followed by livestock. The income from non-farm activities accounts only between 17-23% of the total household income. Upon exploring the link between diversification and welfare outcomes, we find that households with relatively diversified income sources have significantly higher consumption expenditure per capita, consume diverse diets, and live in house with better roof quality. Further analyses reveal that income diversification is positively associated with credit access, membership in social insurance, ownership of assets and wealth, and population density. Conversely, access to relatively large, fertile, and irrigable land discourages diversification. In sum, the results imply the need for a deliberate effort to expand the non-farm economy to tap its full potential for employment generation, income growth, and overall welfare improvements. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, income, households, economic diversification, agriculture, welfare, welfare economics, crop production, livestock, rural communities, trends |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:october2022&r=agr |
| By: | Dionisio Ortiz-Miranda (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València); Olga Moreno-Pérez (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València); Laura Arnalte-Mur (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València); Pedro Cerrada-Serra (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València); Victor Martinez-Gomez (UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València); Barbara Adolph (IIED - International Institute for Environment and Development); Joanes Atela (African Centre for Technology Studies - Partenaires INRAE); Sylvester Ayambila (Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana); Isaurinda Baptista (UNICV - Universidade de Cabo Verde); Raluca Barbu (Highclere Consulting); Hilde Bjørkhaug (Institute for Rural and Regional Research); Marta Czekaj (University of Agriculture in Krakow); Dominic Duckett (GCU - Glasgow Caledonian University); Arlindo Fortes (UNICV - Universidade de Cabo Verde); Francesca Galli (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, University of Pisa, Pisa); Giannis Goussios (Agricultural University of Athens); Paola Andrea Hernández; Pavlos Karanikolas (Agricultural University of Athens); Kennedy Machila (Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, P.O Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi); Elpiniki Oikonomopoulou (Agricultural University of Athens); Paolo Prosperi (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes); María Rivera (Universidade de Évora); Łukasz Satoła (Universidade de Évora); Monika Szafrańska (Institute for Rural and Regional Research); Talis Tisenkopfs (baltic studies centre); Charles Tonui (African Centre for Technology Studies - Partenaires INRAE); Richard Yeboah (Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana) |
| Keywords: | Europe,Africa |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03878977&r=agr |
| By: | Dorothee Weiffen (ISDC - International Security and Development Center); Ghassan Baliki (ISDC - International Security and Development Center); Tilman Brück (ISDC - International Security and Development Center, Thaer-Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops) |
| Abstract: | Agricultural interventions are one of the key policy tools to strengthen the food security of households living in conflict settings. Yet, given the complex nature of conflict-affected settings, existing theories of change might not hold, leading to misinterpretation of the significance and magnitude of these impacts. How contextual factors, including exposure to conflict intensity, shape treatment effects remain broadly unconfirmed. To address this research gap, we apply an honest causal forest algorithm to analyse the short-term impacts of an agricultural asset transfer on food security. Using a quasi-experimental panel dataset in Syria, comparing treatment and control households two years after receiving support, we first estimate the average treatment effect, and then we examine how contextual factors, particularly conflict, shape treatment heterogeneity. Our results show that agricultural asset transfers significantly improve food security in the short-term. Moreover, exposure to conflict intensity plays a key role in determining impact size. We find that households living in moderately affected conflict areas benefited significantly from the agricultural intervention and improved their food security by up to 14.4%, while those living in no or high conflict areas did not. The positive effects were particularly strong for female–headed households. Our findings provide new insights on how violent conflict determines how households benefit from and respond to agricultural programming. This underscores the need to move away from one-size-fits-all agricultural support in difficult settings towards designing conflict-sensitive and inclusive interventions to ensure that no households are left behind. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural intervention, Asset transfers, Food security, honest causal forest, impact evaluation, machine learning, Syria, Violent conflict |
| JEL: | D10 D60 O12 O22 Q12 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:381&r=agr |
| By: | Banda, Chimwemwe; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jolex, Aubrey |
| Abstract: | If Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy program aims to increase food security in the country, it should strive to target the most productive farmers. Subsidy levels can be set to self-target this group of farmers. This would maximize output achieved with subsidized fertilizer and eliminate the need for costly and error-prone top-down targeting. Maximizing the productive capacity of the AIP In a previous policy note, we argued that by setting the farmer contribution to fertilizer subsidized under that Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) so that farmer demand matches what the program can supply, the government can maximize the total amount of fertilizer available for distribution under the program (Banda et al.,2022). In this note, we argue that a second advantage of this pricing strategy is that it ensures that each subsidized bag of fertilizer has the largest possible yield response, thus maximizing the additional amount of food produced through the program. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA, agricultural economics, commodity markets, crop yield, farm inputs, farmers, fertilizers, food production, food security, market prices, supply balance, Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:masspn:48&r=agr |
| By: | Simpson, James |
| Abstract: | Why are some land reforms more successful than others? Interwar Europe provides an opportunity to answer this question as many countries, often at different levels of economic development, carried out major reforms. In agrarian societies in Eastern Europe, the pro-poor redistributive land reforms transferred a fifth of agricultural land and were expected to transform not just farming, but political life. Although farmers struggled because of insufficient land and weak markets, land reform allowed families to maintain food consumption in the 1930s by increasing selfsufficiency. By contrast, policy makers in transforming economies such as Czechoslovakia or Spain were divided between meeting the economic and political needs of those farmers living in acute poverty and responding to the struggling familyoperated commercial farmers. Land reform strengthened agrarian political parties, but these were generally too divided along nationalist cleavages to influence policy in the new successor states, and by regional differences created by uneven economic development in transforming economies. |
| Keywords: | Land Reform; Interwar Europe; Agrarianism; Family Farms; Land Inequality & Economic Growth |
| JEL: | N54 O13 P14 Q12 Q13 |
| Date: | 2022–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:36227&r=agr |
| By: | Nolte, Kerstin; Sipangule, Kacana; Wendt, Niels |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has profound impacts on agricultural households. We discuss how these impacts might affect the underlying drivers of land-use decisions. First, we conceptually extend models of (smallholder) land-use decision-making to assess how the pandemic affects the underlying drivers of land-use decisions. We then examine effects on agricultural households’ livelihoods, by drawing on high-frequency phone surveys from eight African countries and a literature review. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic affects these households’ livelihoods substantially, reflected for instance, by reductions in various income sources. We further find that households’ coping capabilities are weakened, meaning vulnerable households have difficulties to cope with the impacts of the pandemic. Agriculture is likely to become even more important in the years to come for households with very limited resources. Accordingly, we expect more labour-intensive uses of agricultural land. However, context matters and thus impacts on land-use are likely to be very variable. |
| Keywords: | Land-use change, agricultural household, COVID-19, Africa |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:266633&r=agr |
| By: | Xu, Yuelu; Elbakidze, Levan; Etienne, Xiaoli |
| Abstract: | The rapid development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) has raised public concerns about its land use and competition with agriculture. Using county-level data from 1997 to 2018, we find that on average, UOG development negatively affected crop acreage in the contiguous U.S. However, there exists significant regional heterogeneity. The relationship is positive in Southwestern region, U-shaped in Great Plains, and negative in Appalachia. There is significant difference in crop acreage between counties with and without UOG after 2008 in the contiguous U.S. and Great Plains. The reduction in crop acreage after 2008 was highest in Great Plains. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa23:316536&r=agr |
| By: | N. Devaraju (LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Rémi Prudhomme (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Anna Lungarska (US ODR - Observatoire des Programmes Communautaires de Développement Rural - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Xuhui Wang (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences [Beijing] - Peking University [Beijing]); Zun Yin (LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Nathalie de Noblet-Ducoudré (LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Raja Chakir (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Pierre-Alain Jayet (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Thierry Brunelle (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Nicolas Viovy (LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Adriana de Palma (NHM - The Natural History Museum [London]); Ricardo Gonzalez (NHM - The Natural History Museum [London]); Philippe Ciais (LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Synthetic Nitrogen (N) usage in agriculture has greatly increased food supply over the past century. However, the intensive use of N fertilizer is nevertheless the source of numerous environmental issues and remains a major challenge for policymakers to understand, measure, and quantify the interactions and trade-offs between ecosystem carbon and terrestrial biodiversity loss. In this study, we investigate the impacts of a public policy scenario that aims to halve N fertilizer application across European Union (EU) agriculture on both carbon (C) sequestration and biodiversity changes. We quantify the impacts by integrating two economic models with an agricultural land surface model and a terrestrial biodiversity model (that uses data from a range of taxonomic groups, including plants, fungi, vertebrates and invertebrates). Here, we show that the two economic scenarios lead to different outcomes in terms of C sequestration potential and biodiversity. Land abandonment associated with increased fertilizer price scenario facilitates higher C sequestration in soils (+ 1014 MtC) and similar species richness levels (+ 1.9%) at the EU scale. On the other hand, the more extensive crop production scenario is associated with lower C sequestration potential in soils (− 97 MtC) and similar species richness levels (− 0.4%) because of a lower area of grazing land. Our results therefore highlight the complexity of the environmental consequences of a nitrogen reduction policy, which will depend fundamentally on how the economic models used to project consequences. |
| Abstract: | L'utilisation de l'azote synthétique (N) dans l'agriculture a permis d'accroître considérablement l'approvisionnement alimentaire au cours du siècle dernier. L'utilisation intensive d'engrais azotés est néanmoins à l'origine de nombreux problèmes environnementaux et reste un défi majeur pour les décideurs politiques pour comprendre, mesurer et quantifier les interactions et les compromis entre le carbone des écosystèmes et la perte de biodiversité terrestre. Dans cette étude, nous examinons les impacts d'un scénario de politique publique visant à réduire de moitié l'application d'engrais azotés dans l'agriculture de l'Union européenne (UE) sur la séquestration du carbone (C) et les changements de biodiversité. Nous quantifions les impacts en intégrant deux modèles économiques avec un modèle de surface des terres agricoles et un modèle de biodiversité terrestre (qui utilise les données d'une série de groupes taxonomiques, y compris les plantes, les champignons, les vertébrés et les invertébrés). Nous montrons ici que les deux scénarios économiques conduisent à des résultats différents en termes de potentiel de séquestration du carbone et de biodiversité. L'abandon des terres associé au scénario d'augmentation du prix des engrais facilite une plus grande séquestration de C dans les sols (+ 1014 MtC) et des niveaux de richesse des espèces similaires (+ 1,9 %) à l'échelle de l'UE. En revanche, le scénario de production végétale plus extensive est associé à un potentiel de séquestration de carbone plus faible dans les sols (- 97 MtC) et à des niveaux de richesse en espèces similaires (- 0,4 %) en raison d'une surface de pâturage plus faible. Nos résultats soulignent donc la complexité des conséquences environnementales d'une politique de réduction de l'azote, qui dépendra fondamentalement de la manière dont les modèles économiques utilisés pour projeter les conséquences. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03881919&r=agr |
| By: | Banerjee, Onil; Cicowiez, Martin; Macedo, Marcia; ; Verburg, Peter; Goodwin, Sean; Vargas, Renato; Rattis, Ludmila; Brando, Paulo M.; Coe, Michael T.; Neill, Christopher; Damiani, Octavio |
| Abstract: | The Amazon biome, despite its resilience, is being pushed by unsustainable economic drivers towards an ecological tipping point where restoration to its previous state may no longer possible. This is the result of self-reinforcing interactions between deforestation, climate change and fire. In this paper, we develop scenarios that represent movement towards an Amazon tipping point and strategies to avert one. We assess the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of these scenarios using the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform linked with high resolution spatial land use land cover change and ecosystem services modeling (IEEMESM). This papers main contributions are developing: (i) a framework for evaluating strategies to avert an Amazon tipping point based on their relative costs, benefits and trade-offs, and; (ii) a first approximation of the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of movement towards an Amazon tipping point, and evidence to build the economic case for strategies to avert it. We find that a conservative estimate of the cumulative regional cost through 2050 of an Amazon tipping point would be US$256.6 billion in Gross Domestic Product. Policies that would contribute to averting a tipping point, including strongly reducing deforestation, investing in climate-adapted agriculture, and improving fire management, would generate approximately US$339.3 billion in additional wealth. From a public investment perspective, the returns to implementing strategies for averting a tipping point would be US$29.5 billion. Quantifying the costs, benefits and trade-offs of policies to avert a tipping point in a transparent and replicable manner can pave the way for evidence-based approaches to support policy action focusing on the design of regional strategies for the Amazon biome and catalyze global cooperation and financing to enable their implementation. |
| Keywords: | climate change;Agriculture;decarbonization;ecosystem services modeling;Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform;dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model |
| JEL: | Q15 Q5 C68 Q2 E21 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11392&r=agr |
| By: | Lauren F. Bergquist; Benjamin Faber; Thibault Fally; Matthias Hoelzlein; Edward Miguel; Andrés Rodríguez-Clare |
| Abstract: | Policies aimed at raising agricultural productivity have been a centerpiece in the fight against global poverty. Their impacts are often measured using field or quasi-experiments that provide strong causal identification, but may be too small-scale to capture the general equilibrium (GE) effects that emerge once the policy is scaled up. We propose a new approach for quantifying large-scale GE policy counterfactuals that can both complement and be informed by evidence from field and quasi-experiments. We develop a quantitative model of farm production, consumption and trading that captures important features of this setting, and propose a new solution method that relies on rich but widely available microdata. We showcase our approach in the context of a subsidy for modern inputs in Uganda, using variation from field and quasi-experiments for parameter estimation. We find that both the average and distributional impacts of the subsidy differ meaningfully when comparing a local intervention to one at scale, even for the same sample of farmers, and quantify the underlying mechanisms. We further document new insights on how GE forces differ as a function of saturation rates at different geographical scales, and on the importance of capturing a granular economic geography for counterfactual analysis. |
| JEL: | F15 F63 O13 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30704&r=agr |
| By: | Leonardo Becchetti (CEIS & DEF, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Sara Mancini (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Sara Savastano (IFAD) |
| Abstract: | We examine differences in food security indicators between (rural development program) treated and untreated farmers in the Solomon Islands in the COVID-19 post-treatment period. Our findings show that treated farmers report significantly lower nutrition problems in the pandemic period. We as well consider that the project in its components (building local infrastructure, transmitting knowledge and competences and providing links and easier access to business partners) can produce positive spillovers in terms of externalities to control farmers in proportion to their geographical proximity to treatment farmers. Our findings are consistent with this hypothesis since the majority of treatment nutrition score outcomes are enhanced when controlling for spillover effects. |
| Keywords: | rural development, nutrition. |
| JEL: | I31 Q18 |
| Date: | 2022–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:545&r=agr |
| By: | Amirapu, Amrit (University of Kent); Clots-Figueras, Irma (University of Kent); Rud, Juan Pablo (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of extreme temperature shocks on political participation using data from Indian elections between 2009 and 2017. Taking advantage of localized, high-frequency data on land surface temperatures, we find that areas with greater cumulative exposure to extreme temperatures experience an increase in voter turnout and a change in the composition of the pool of candidates who stand for election. As a consequence, electoral outcomes are affected. We provide evidence that our results are driven by the negative effect of climate change on agricultural productivity. First, we show that the results are strongest in areas with a larger rural population. Second, we show that there is a non-monotonic relationship between temperatures and turnout which closely mirrors the relationship between temperatures and agricultural productivity. We also find that, following temperature shocks, winning candidates are more likely to have an agricultural background. Finally, we show that politicians with an agricultural background invest more in irrigation, which mitigates the effects of high temperatures, on both agricultural production and on turnout. Our paper provides new evidence about the ways in which political agents in developing countries (including both voters and candidates) may respond to climate change via political channels. |
| Keywords: | climate change, political economy, voter turnout |
| JEL: | O13 P48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15764&r=agr |
| By: | Raluca Ioana IORGULESCU (Institute for Economic Forecasting, Romanian Academy) |
| Abstract: | Bioeconomy is a concept developed in the past hundred years in humankind’s search for a sustainable way of development. A special emphasis deserve the issues related to agriculture, as food is, along with energy, the metabolic basis of human beings and their societies. This paper contrasts the etymological meaning of the term bioeconomy to the meaning promoted by international institutions (OECD and EU) to explain why a digital bioeconomic society leads to the divergence of natural organisms with artificial organisms. The evolution phases of agriculture, respectively organic agriculture (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, respectively 4.0) are presented. The positive and negative aspects of digital technology use in agriculture are presented. |
| Keywords: | Bioeconomy, Agriculture 4.0, Organic 3.0 |
| JEL: | Q57 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rjr:wpiecf:221002&r=agr |
| By: | Stephen Bazen; Jean Marie Cardebat (BSE - Bordeaux Sciences Economiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Magalie Dubois |
| Abstract: | Wine is an experience good whose true quality can only be known by consuming it. This characteristic provides a rationale for recourse to experts who provide information on wine quality and reduce the information asymmetry for the consumer. Consumers may come to rely more on the comments and ratings of other consumers or peers, rather than those of experts (guides, specialized journals, personalities). This tendency has been observed in the hospitality (restaurants, hotels) and cultural (movies, novels) markets where popular applications exist and allow information to be collected from peers. We hypothesize that consumers' ratings will come to dominate expert ratings in the wine expertise market. We use the ratings posted by consumers on the Vivino online marketplace for 37, 960 French red wines. We employ a hedonic regression framework which includes the usual attributes of the wines as well as the ratings from both recognized experts and those of consumers on the Vivino platform. Average consumer ratings are found to have a larger effect on price than expert scores. These results are found to be robust to outliers and the general conclusion that peers matter more than experts holds when we exclude the top-end wines. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic analysis, Wine experts, Peer rating, Wine prices, Quality evaluation |
| Date: | 2022–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03891458&r=agr |
| By: | Teevrat Garg; Maulik Jagnani; Hemant K. Pullabhotla |
| Abstract: | Even as policymakers seek to encourage economic development by addressing misallocation due to frictions in labor markets, the associated production externalities - such as air pollution - remain unexplored. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show access to rural roads increases agricultural fires and particulate emissions. Farm labor exits are a likely mechanism responsible for the increase in agricultural fires: rural roads cause movement of workers out of agriculture and induce farmers to use fire - a labor-saving but polluting technology - to clear agricultural residue or to make harvesting less labor-intensive. Overall, the adoption of fires due to rural roads increases infant mortality rate by 5.5% in downwind locations. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.02664&r=agr |
| By: | Headey, Derek D.; Ruel, Marie T. |
| Abstract: | The 21st Century has been marked by increased volatility in food prices, with global price spikes in 2007-08, 2010-11, and again in 2021-22. The impact of food inflation on the risk of child undernutrition is not well understood, however. This study explores the potential impacts of food inflation on wasting and stunting among 1.27 million pre-school children from 44 developing countries. On average, a 5 percent increase in the real price of food increases the risk of wasting by 9 percent and severe wasting by 14 percent. These risks apply to young infants, suggesting a prenatal pathway, as well as to older children who typically experience a deterioration in diet quality in the wake of food inflation. Male children and children from poor and rural landless households are more severely impacted. Food inflation during pregnancy and the first year after birth also increases the risk of stunting for children 2-5 years of age. This evidence provides a strong rationale for interventions to prevent food inflation and mitigate its impacts on vulnerable children and their mothers. |
| Keywords: | inflation, income, food prices, wasting disease (nutritional disorder), stunting, child development, child growth, developing countries, diet quality, malnutrition, macroeconomics, agriculture, developing countries |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2146&r=agr |
| By: | Alfano, Marco (Lancaster University); Cornelissen, Thomas (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | Due to economic interconnectedness across regions, locally confined violent conflict may have welfare effects far beyond directly affected areas. This paper focuses on Somalia's al-Shabaab insurgency and investigates whether the food transportation network propagates the effects of violent conflict to distant locations. Combining granular geospatial information on agricultural areas, roads, and itineraries, we show that conflict along transportation routes significantly increases food prices at markets located hundreds of kilometers away. Standardized estimates amount to up to half the magnitude of the effect of rainfall. Negative effects of conflict on road traffic as measured by satellite images of light emissions point towards decreases in food transportation. Moreover, conflict decreases food security, nutrition, health, and education for households living in far-away market areas. This suggests that food prices act as a propagating mechanism that links – among others – human capital to far-away conflict. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that spatial spillovers add an additional 30% to the welfare cost of local conflict. |
| Keywords: | conflict, spillover effects, food security, health, education |
| JEL: | D74 I15 I25 Q18 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15761&r=agr |
| By: | Salazar, Lina; Palacios, Ana Claudia; Selvaraj, Michael; Montenegro, Frank |
| Abstract: | This study combines three rounds of surveys with remote sensing to measure long-term impacts of a randomized irrigation program in the Dominican Republic. Specifically, Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite images are used to measure the causal effects of the program on agricultural productivity, measured through vegetation indices (NDVI and OSAVI). To this end, 377 plots were analyzed (129 treated and 248 controls) for the period from 2011 to 2019. Following a Differencein-Differences (DD) and Event study methodology, the results confirmed that program beneficiaries have higher vegetation indices, and therefore experienced a higher productivity throughout the post-treatment period. Also, there is some evidence of spillover effects to neighboring farmers. Furthermore, the Event Study model shows that productivity impacts are obtained in the third year after the adoption takes place. These findings suggest that adoption of irrigation technologies can be a long and complex process that requires time to generate productivity impacts. In a more general sense, this study reveals the great potential that exists in combining field data with remote sensing information to assess long-term impacts of agricultural programs on agricultural productivity. |
| Keywords: | Irrigation;Remote Sensing;Impact Evaluation;Agriculture |
| JEL: | Q00 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11607&r=agr |
| By: | Ahn, Soojung; Steinbach, Sandro |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the determinants of temporary non-tariff measures (NTMs) in response to the coronavirus pandemic and their implications for agricultural and food trade. Using a control function approach, we show that economic and pandemic considerations played an essential role in implementing such NTMs. Relying on variation between treated and untreated varieties, we estimate a dynamic post-event trade response of 5.4% for import facilitating and -27.5% for export restricting NTMs. After revoking them, their trade effects fade away, implying that these temporary trade policies were effective in achieving the set policy goals, causing only a limited degree of long-term trade disruptions. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa23:316789&r=agr |
| By: | Katsuhito Nohara |
| Abstract: | Most Japanese consumers focus on the appearance of vegetables, for example, their shape, color, or size. However, giving consumers precise information about the growing process of vegetables may change their preferences. Therefore, in order to reduce food loss, it is important to change consumers' preferences for vegetables and for producers to understand consumers' preferences, and select vegetable production methods. Japanese supermarkets sell vegetables containing legally permissible amounts of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and chemical-free vegetables are generally hard to find. Therefore, in this study, pesticide-free vegetables were cultivated from scratch to analyze whether consumers are willing to pay a premium when presented with pesticide-free vegetables. The contingent valuation method and double-bound dichotomous choice were used for analysis. The results revealed that consumers' willingness to pay was not related to the appearance of the pesticide-free vegetables. In other words, they cared neither about the color nor about the shape of the vegetables so long as they were pesticide-free. In Japan, some farmers continue to grow organic or pesticide-free vegetables, although they are few. Therefore, if producers know the actual needs of consumers' vegetables, they may reduce their dependence on pesticides and chemical fertilizers and expand the market for environmentally friendly and healthy vegetables. Such a change could, in turn, reduce food loss. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:30&r=agr |
| By: | Banda, Chimwemwe; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jolex, Aubrey |
| Abstract: | The market price of fertilizer in Malawi has, in nominal terms, more than tripled compared to two years ago. The price hikes were both unexpected and beyond the control of the government, linked to global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This changed global reality reinforces the need to rethink the way in which Malawi approaches its agricultural input subsidies. A number of options for reforming the AIP have been outlined in recent policy work, but all have medium to long term implementation horizons. We will not repeat these here and instead refer the interested reader to Chadza and Duchoslav (2022), De Weerdt and Duchoslav (2022), and Nyondo et al. (2022). This policy note discusses a strategy that can be implemented readily and immediately, potentially still this year, to ensure that the budget allocated to fertilizer subsidies has the highest possible effect on food security in the country. It also discusses how the strategy, once adopted, can be used to phase out the AIP, while ensuring allocative efficiency within the program. This can be achieved by, each year, fixing the budget at a lower point and conducting the same optimization exercise. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA, commodity markets, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, COVID-19, farm inputs, farmers, fertilizers, food security, market prices, supply balance, Affordable Input Programme (AIP), farmer contributions |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:masspn:47&r=agr |
| By: | Dominique Desbois (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | After recalling the conceptual framework of the estimation of agricultural production costs, we present the empirical data model, the quantile regression approach and the interval principal component analysis and clustering tools used to obtain typologies of European countries on the basis of the conditional quantile distributions of fertilizer cost empirical estimates issued from FADN data. |
| Abstract: | Après avoir rappelé le cadre conceptuel de l'estimation des coûts de production agricole, nous présentons le modèle de données empiriques, l'approche de régression par quantile et les outils d'analyse en composantes principales par intervalle et de clustering utilisés pour obtenir des typologies de pays européens sur la base des distributions conditionnelles par quantile des estimations empiriques du coût des engrais issues des données du RICA. |
| Date: | 2022–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03868997&r=agr |
| By: | Agbekponou, Kossi Messanh; Cheptea, Angela; Latouche, Karine |
| Abstract: | The present paper investigates the link between the decision of French agri-food firms to supply retailers with private-label (PL) products and their integration in global value chains (GVCs). In line with the recent literature, we identify firms that participate to GVCs by the ones that engage simultaneously in import and export activities. We consider the certification with the private International Featured Standard (IFS), required by all retailers operating in France, as an indicator of firms’ choice to become private label suppliers. We combine firm-level data from the AMADEUS database and French customs over the 2006-2011 period, and estimate the linkage betweens firms’ decision to engage in foreign trade and to integrate a retailer-driven value chain using a multivariate binary choice model. Results confirm a strong positive correlation of these decisions, and show that retailers’ PL suppliers (i.e. IFS-certified firms) are by 5.83 percentage points more likely to integrate GVCs (i.e. to jointly import and export) than other firms in the agri-food sector. This figure corresponds to an almost twofold increase in firms’ probability to participate to GVCs observed in the sector. We also show that the integration in GVCs is primarily driven by the higher probability to export of these firms. Our findings are robust to the control for endgeneity and the use of alternative estimation techniques. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2022–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:inrasl:329781&r=agr |
| By: | Kesternich, Martin; Osberghaus, Daniel; Botzen, W. J. Wouter |
| Abstract: | Most empirical studies on private climate change adaptation rely on self-reported intentions which often fail to translate into real actions. Consequently, this strand of literature can only insufficiently account for the intention behavior gap (IBG) in climate change adaptation, which complicates the deduction of policy recommendations for stimulating adaptation behavior. Using a large unique longitudinal survey data set from Germany covering more than 5,000 households, our study offers extensive insights into the IBG in climate change adaptation by analyzing intentions and actual implementations of both flood-proofing and heat stress reduction measures. Our results do not only reveal a substantial IBG for most stated intentions but also show that intentions can rarely serve as good predictors for realized actions. At the same time, the IBG itself can hardly be explained by observable household data characteristics which in turn again makes it difficult to reveal information on realized actions out of stated intentions only. However, we also find that drivers of adaptation intentions are often reasonable proxies for assessing the drivers of behavior. This implies that similar explanatory variables affect both intentions and implementations, but they provide only limited insights on the actual levels of implemented intentions. In line with regret theory, the IBG in our data can be partly explained by anticipated regret caused by a feeling of having invested in vain in cases where adaptation measures are installed but extreme weather events do not occur for the time being. |
| Keywords: | Intention-behavior gap,Adaptation,Climate Change,Flooding,Heat |
| JEL: | Q54 D91 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:22055&r=agr |
| By: | Cazzola, Giacomo |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an application of the analytical path assembled within my PhD research on Disaster Risk Creation (DRC) in humanitarian contexts, to Flood Risk Management (FRM) planning in Italy. The investigation concerns some key challenges, for spatial planning and disaster risk management, in understanding, evaluating, and addressing Disaster Risk (DR) drivers and pressures, those processes and land uses enhancing exposure, vulnerability and flood hazard itself. The reference methodological approach benefits from well-established theoretical models of causal analysis of Disaster Risk Creation processes as bridging analytical construct for reordering and coordinating flood risk management interventions. These theoretical and analytical reflections are build upon a gap between the European Water Framework and the Flood Directives that, despite their many interconnections and commonalities, differ in the focus (or lack of) on underlying causal factors. Thus, the Water Framework Directive provides a valuable operational reference for orienting flood risk management planning to the reduction of disaster risk creation components. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2022–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:329690&r=agr |
| By: | Stephen K. Dimnwobi (NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria); Kingsley I. Okere (Gregory University, Uturu, Nigeria); Favour C. Onuoha (Evangel University Akaeze, Nigeria); Chukwunonso Ekesiobi (Igbariam, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | Agricultural productivity remains pivotal to the sustenance of the economies and livelihoods of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Given the emerging threat of energy and environmental uncertainties globally, this study makes a foray into understanding the link among energy poverty, environmental degradation and agricultural productivity in 35 SSA nations in particular, and the nature of their impacts across the sub-region constituents namely; the Central, Eastern, Western and Southern sub-regional blocs in general. To begin, our identified variables comprised of the following: Energy Poverty Index, derived using the principal component analysis, agricultural value added as a share of GDP served as a measure of agricultural productivity and ecological footprint to represent environmental degradation. Subsequently, the instrumental variable generalized method of moment (IV†GMM) technique was implemented for the aggregate SSA model, while the IV-two stage least square technique was adopted for the sub-regional estimations for the Central, East, West and South African blocs respectively. Major findings from the SSA model revealed that whereas the index of energy poverty has a significant positive influence, ecological footprint exhibited an inverse and significant impact on agricultural productivity, while the Central, East, West and South African models yielded mixed results given regional disparities in economic development, regional variations in agricultural productivity and an imbalance of available resources. Policy recommendations were suggested to, among other things, transform the energy, environmental and agricultural fortunes of the region. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Productivity, SSA; Energy Poverty, Environmental Degradation, Africa’s sub-region |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:22/096&r=agr |
| By: | Martin C. Hänsel; Michael D. Bauer; Moritz A. Drupp; Gernot Wagner; Glenn D. Rudebusch |
| Abstract: | The extent of future climate change is a policy choice. Using an integrated climate-economy assessment model, we estimate climate policy curves (CPCs) that link the price of carbon dioxide (CO2) to subsequent global temperatures. The resulting downward sloping CPCs quantify the inverse relationship between carbon prices and future temperatures and illustrate how climate policy choices determine climate outcomes. Our analysis can account for a variety of climate policies—for example, carbon or fuel taxes, emissions trading programs, green subsidies, and energy-efficiency regulations—all of which can be summarized by means of an effective CO2 price. Importantly, we also examine CPC uncertainty, for example, by perturbing the model’s equilibrium climate sensitivity to trace out the temperature range associated with a given CO2 price. Finally, based on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) integrated-assessment model scenarios, we estimate an implicit CPC, which provides a high-level IPCC summary of the climate policy actions required to achieve global climate targets. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, carbon tax, climate-economy models, model comparison |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10113&r=agr |
| By: | Rouhani, Omid |
| Abstract: | I review a New York Times best-seller book, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken. Drawdown provides many interesting solutions, descriptions, and arguments regarding the global impacts of climate change. Indeed, the book sets forth around 80 solutions and 20 coming to attractions (future options for combating climate change). In this review, however, I focus primarily on the book’s transport solutions. Overall, the book comes short of offering innovative and cost-effective solutions, in contrast to other sectors’ solutions. I believe the reason is the book’s narrow view regarding the overall impacts of transportation and latent opportunities in the sector. |
| Keywords: | Transportation; Climate change; Policies; GHG emissions. |
| JEL: | Q01 Q20 Q54 R42 R48 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115675&r=agr |
| By: | Serdar Yilmaz (World Bank); Farah Zahir (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | The benefits of climate change action at all levels of government accrue to the overall population nationally as well as globally. Therefore, there is a role for all kinds of governmental institutionsÑlocal, regional, national and internationalÑin climate action. The challenge is to identify effective public policy tools and fiscal instruments that reconcile local costs and global benefits. In this paper, we analyze the potential of including three recent payment schemes pioneered for compensating costs incurred for climate action into intergovernmental fiscal toolbox. The focus is whether payment for ecosystem services (PES), reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) and ecological fiscal transfers (EFT) provide sufficient incentives to subnational governments to take on climate action. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2208&r=agr |
| By: | Penha, Thales |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to analyse the impacts on social upgrading in the two main fruit-produc-ing areas of the Brazilian Northeast – Açú-Mossoró and Petrolina-Juazeiro. The concept of decent work deficit was elected as a guideline for the theoretical background, as many authors have applied it to address social upgrading in a more objective way. The paper has adopted the time series econometric analysis to identify possible structural breaks in the formal workers’ demand per hectare for the two regions. The main results indicate some structural breaks in the formal labour market in both regions. This corroborates with the literature that some institutional changes impact working conditions. However, the intensity and direction of these impacts differed in each researched area. With the results is possible to affirm that a decrease in the decent work deficit resulted from the enforcement of the labour laws since the emergence of a new institutional environment. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajy:icddwp:42&r=agr |
| By: | Daniel Mirza (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, CEPII - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales - Centre d'analyse stratégique); Elena Stancanelli (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Thierry Verdier (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | This paper adds to the scant literature on the impact of terrorism on consumer behavior, focusing on household spending on goods that are sensitive to brain-stress neurocircuitry. These include sweet- and fat-rich foods but also home necessities and female-personal-hygiene products, the only female-targeted good in our data. We examine unique continuous in-home-scanner expenditure data for a representative sample of about 15, 000 French households, observed in the days before and after the terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert-hall. We find that the attack increased expenditure on sugar-rich food by over 5% but not that on salty food or soda drinks. Spending on home maintenance products went up by almost 9%. We detect an increase of 23.5% in expenditure on women's personal hygiene products. We conclude that these effects are short-lived and driven by the responses of households with children, youths, and those residing within a few-hours ride of the place of the attack. |
| Keywords: | Conflict economics, Household economics, Food consumption, Stress |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-03673160&r=agr |
| By: | Y. Zhao; C. Huang; J. Luo |
| Abstract: | The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused enormous disruptions to not only the United States, but also the global economy. Due to the pandemic, issues in the supply chain and concerns about food shortage drove up the food prices. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices for food increased 4.1% and 3.7% over the year ended in August 2020 and August 2021, respectively, while the amount of annual increase in the food prices prior to the COVID-19 pandemic is less than 2.0%. Previous studies show that such kinds of exogenous disasters, including the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, 9/11 terrorist attacks, and major infectious diseases, and the resulted unusual food prices often led to subsequent changes in people's consumption behaviors. We hypothesize that the COVID-19 pandemic causes food price changes and the price changes alter people's grocery shopping behaviors as well. To thoroughly explore this, we formulate our analysis from two different perspectives, by collecting data both globally, from China, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States, and locally, from different groups of people inside the US. In particular, we analyze the trends between food prices and COVID-19 as well as between food prices and spending, aiming to find out their correlations and the lessons for preparing the next pandemic. |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2211.15515&r=agr |
| By: | PIERALLI Simone (European Commission - JRC); CHATZOPOULOS Thomas; ELLEBY Christian (European Commission - JRC); PEREZ DOMINGUEZ Ignacio (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | This report documents the EU module of the European Commission’s version of the Aglink-Cosimo model. Aglink-Cosimo is a recursive-dynamic, partial equilibrium, multi-commodity market model of world agriculture developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Secretariats in collaboration with some OECD member countries. The model is used to simulate the development of annual supply, demand and prices for the main agricultural commodities produced, consumed, and traded worldwide. Aglink-Cosimo covers 35 individual countries, 12 regional aggregates, and 29 market-clearing prices at the world level. At the EU level, the model is used to produce the report “EU agricultural outlook for markets, income and environment” (henceforth, EU Outlook). |
| Keywords: | Aglink Cosimo, agricultural commodity markets, modelling, Outlook |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc130965&r=agr |
| By: | Sébastien Duchêne (Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School); Adrien Nguyen-Huu (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Dimitri Dubois (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Marc Willinger (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | We assess the impact of environmental externalities on port folio decisions in a lab-in-the-field experiment on finance professionals and students. Participants are prone to accept lower returns for positive environmental impact but will not bear increased risk. They show a symmetric pro-environmental preferences depending on the sign of the externality. Finance professionals are more pro-environment than students, particularly regarding positive externalities, and less influenced by a ranking signal about environmental performance. Control tasks show that experimental measures of pro-social and environmental preferences have less influence on port folios than market practices for professionals but are significant predictors for students. |
| Date: | 2022–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03883121&r=agr |
| By: | Rouhani, Omid; Moradi, Ehsan; Do, Wooseok; Bai, Song; Farhat, Antoine |
| Abstract: | The Drawdown book surfs through 100 possible solutions and technologies. Those solutions could help mitigate GHG emissions in order to constrain climate change. In this book review, we examine the estimated CO2 reduction levels as well as the costs of each solution. Alternative cement, smart thermostats, and geothermal energy are the top cost-effective solutions. We, however, discuss our top five solutions, according to the combination of their potential drawdown, cost effectiveness, and future development. Those solutions target refrigerants, wind energy, food, cement, and female education. Overall, the book could inform people with little or no knowledge about well-known solutions to mitigating climate change footprints. Nevertheless, the numbers and costs are too speculative to ponder for policy making. |
| Keywords: | Sustainability; Global Warming; Climate Change; Greenhouse Gas Emissions |
| JEL: | F64 H7 Q2 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115674&r=agr |
| By: | Xiang, Huasheng (Lancaster University); Albani, Viviana (Newcastle University); Goffe, Louis (Newcastle University); Akhter, Nasima (University of Durham); Lake, Amelia (Teesside University); Brown, Heather (Lancaster University) |
| Abstract: | Half of local governments in England use planning policy to promote a healthier environment. In 2015, Gateshead Council in the North-East of England was the first local authority to ban planning permission for any new fast-food outlet. We explore if this policy is associated with changes in inequalities in childhood overweight and obesity at age 10/11 by area level deprivation. Data on childhood overweight and obesity came from the National Child Measurement Programme for 2011-2020. Data on food outlets were obtained from Food Standard Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme for 2012-2020. Data on area level deprivation is from the Office of National Statistics. We employed a difference-in-difference approach, to compare changes in childhood overweight and obesity rates between Gateshead and five other local authorities in the North-East of England which did not use planning policy to restrict fast-food outlets. The analysis was at the Middle Super Output Area Level (MSOA). Our results showed the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the second and third most deprived quintiles of MSOAs reduced by 4.798% and 4.106%, respectively, compared with the control groups. We did not find statistically significant changes in other deprivation quintiles when comparing the control and treatment groups. Using planning policy to limit new fast-food outlets may have played a small part in reducing health inequalities in childhood weight in Gateshead when comparing with other local authorities in the North-East of England. Planning in conjunction with other policies may be a cost-effective approach to tackling inequalities in childhood weight. |
| Keywords: | food environment, childhood weight, England, difference in difference |
| JEL: | I18 J13 I14 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15795&r=agr |
| By: | Simona Pojar |
| Abstract: | Environmental assessments are a crucial aspect of green budgeting as they help to understand the impact and effectiveness of government policies in reaching the climate and environmental objectives. They are also useful to better grasp the link between inputs and outputs within the budgetary process. This paper presents an overview of such practices across EU Member States, covering both ex-ante impact assessments and ex-post evaluations. It also demonstrates how other green budgeting tools, such as environmental performance and impact indicators and sovereign green bonds, can help developing environmental assessment methodologies. Overall, only few Member States have incorporated environmental assessments into their regular budgeting cycle, highlighting their extensive resource requirements. Building environmental assessment methodologies on already existing green budgeting tools can ease the process. It also helps ensuring consistency between different green practices and definitions at the national level and avoiding duplication of efforts. |
| JEL: | H5 H61 Q58 Q51 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:euf:dispap:175&r=agr |
| By: | Luigi Biagini |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates Machine Learning (ML) in establishing ratemaking for new insurance schemes. To make the evaluation feasible, we established expected indemnities as premiums. Then, we use ML to forecast indemnities using a minimum set of variables. The analysis simulates the introduction of an income insurance scheme, the so-called Income Stabilization Tool (IST), in Italy as a case study using farm-level data from the FADN from 2008-2018. We predicted the expected IST indemnities using three ML tools, LASSO, Elastic Net, and Boosting, that perform variable selection, comparing with the Generalized Linear Model (baseline) usually adopted in insurance investigations. Furthermore, Tweedie distribution is implemented to consider the peculiarity shape of the indemnities function, characterized by zero-inflated, no-negative value, and asymmetric fat-tail. The robustness of the results was evaluated by comparing the econometric and economic performance of the models. Specifically, ML has obtained the best goodness-of-fit than baseline, using a small and stable selection of regressors and significantly reducing the gathering cost of information. However, Boosting enabled it to obtain the best economic performance, balancing the most and most minor risky subjects optimally and achieving good economic sustainability. These findings suggest how machine learning can be successfully applied in agricultural insurance.This study represents one of the first to use ML and Tweedie distribution in agricultural insurance, demonstrating its potential to overcome multiple issues. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.03114&r=agr |
| By: | Hammami, A. Malek; Beghin, John C. |
| Abstract: | We investigate the determinants of U.S. bilateral imports of olive oil and their dynamics from shocks in foreign supplies and changes in U.S. olive oil demand, using an augmented gravity framework that leads to an equilibrium of bilateral trade flows from olive oil exporters to the U.S. market. The empirical specification is applied at the disaggregated HS-6 level in a panel dataset, and three estimation techniques (truncated OLS, PPML, Heckman), for which the latter two account for zero trade flows, the extensive margin of trade and the potential censored distribution of exports with zero trade flows. We run Reset and HPC tests to qualify our results. On the supply side, exporters’ capacity to exports, multilateral trade resistance, and immigrants’ networks into the US are strong determinants of the bilateral trade flows for both aggregate olive oil exports and for virgin olive oil exports, On the consumer side, U.S. GDP, the import unit value, and immigrant network effects are robust determinants of bilateral flows as well for aggregate and virgin olive oil trade flows. Migrants’ stock, exporters’ GDP and population, and total exports revenues increase the probability of an exporter entering the U.S. market. We could not find robust evidence of consumer behavior being influenced by popular press measures of the emergence of Mediterranean diet and olive oil, or measures of cultural globalization of U.S. consumers. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2022–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nbaesp:329693&r=agr |