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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2024‒01‒15
thirty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Borja, R.; Blare, T.; Reimao, M.; Padilla, G.; Oyarzun, P. |
| Abstract: | Smallholder, indigenous farmers play a key role in the food system in Ecuador, applying traditional farming practices that ensure the sustainability of their food production and meeting the dietary demands of many urban consumers, especially for organic vegetables and dairy products. This study examines the position of six women’s associations in the central Ecuadorian Andes, discussing their evolution from rights-based to market-oriented organizations producing and selling agroecological products. We discuss how the history of these associations has led them to play a role in local politics and national policies around agriculture and highlight how these organizations have succeeded both economically and socially, while also noting the challenges they face, as observed by themselves and outsiders. While the history of women’s agroecological production organizations in Ecuador may be unique, as it is entrenched in indigenous rights movements, our results also point to opportunities and obstacles that are more common across small scale farmers and deserve attention from both policymakers and agricultural organizations. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339076&r=agr |
| By: | Huong-Giang Pham (Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, Viet Nam); Tuong-Anh T. Nguyen (Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, Viet Nam); Hoang-Nam Vu (Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, Viet Nam) |
| Abstract: | Conventional agricultural methods are putting considerable strain on developing countries' environments. This problem can be ameliorated through the adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs), which can bring economic, ecological and social benefits for farmers, consumers and the overall economy. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain low in many developing countries. It is therefore vital to provide empirical evidence on the improvement of agricultural productivity as it may assist policymakers in designing suitable policy as well as encourage farmers to adopt SAPs on their farms. This study analyses the impacts of different SAP adoption packages on land productivity and labour productivity in Viet Nam. This is the first attempt in the context of Viet Nam to investigate the economic effects of adopting different SAP packages including crop diversification (CD), conservation agriculture practices (CA) and a combination of those. Using panel Viet Nam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) data with multinomial endogenous switching regressions and an instrumental variable helps reduce potential biases in impact evaluation that previous studies have not fully addressed. Results confirm that if a farmer adopts SAPs, it may raise his net profit per hectare by about 4 million Vietnamese Dong (D)/ha/year, whereas the agricultural income per hectare increases by about 4–6 million D/ha/year. Moreover, the joint adoption of multiple SAPs brings higher benefits (of about 2-4 more million D/ha/year) than single SAP adoption. These findings suggest that policymakers and related stakeholders should focus on promoting the adoption of a combination of crop diversification and conservation practices. |
| Keywords: | sustainable agricultural practices, multinomial endogenous switching regressions, household production, Viet Nam. |
| JEL: | D13 O13 Q12 |
| Date: | 2023–03–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2022-41&r=agr |
| By: | Peter Warr (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia); Huy Quynh Nguyen (Hanoi School of Business and Management, Viet Nam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam) |
| Abstract: | Viet Nam's 1986 programme of market-oriented economic reforms did not include the freedom of farmers to choose their crops independently. Large areas of land remain restricted to rice production. This paper studies the effects of this policy on agricultural productivity, using panel data from the Viet Nam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS), covering the years 2008 to 2016. The econometrics uses fixed effects methods with and without the additional use of instrumental variable methods to allow for the possible statistical endogeneity of the restrictions. The findings are that the crop choice restrictions reduced the overall productivity of annual crop land by about 5%, reduced the overall productivity of farm labour by about 8% and reduced the mean incomes of farm households by 5%-6%, implying increased levels of rural poverty. Moreover, rice output would have been no lower if the restrictions were removed |
| Keywords: | land restrictions, productivity, rice production, land policy |
| JEL: | Q15 C54 |
| Date: | 2023–03–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2022-43&r=agr |
| By: | Kramer, Berber; Pattnaik, Subhransu; Ward, Patrick S.; Xu, Yingchen |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers often lack documented land rights to serve as collateral for formal loans, and their livelihoods are inextricably linked to increasingly variable weather conditions. Resulting credit and risk constraints prevent them from making potentially profitable investments in their farms. We implemented a randomized evaluation of the impacts of KhetScore, an innovative credit scoring methodology that uses digital technologies and in particular remote sensing to unlock credit and insurance for smallholders including landless farmers in Odisha, a state in eastern India. In our treatment group, where we offered loans and insurance based on the KhetScore methodology, farmers - and especially women - were more likely to purchase insurance, renew insurance coverage in subsequent years, and borrow from formal sources without substituting formal loans for informal loans. Despite increased borrowing, households in the treatment group faced less difficulty in repaying loans, suggesting that KhetScore loans, bundled with crop insurance, transferred risk and eased the burden of repayment. Moreover, the treatment increased agricultural revenues during the monsoon (kharif) season and reduced costs in the dry (rabi) season, enhancing profitability in both seasons. Positive and significant effects are found not only among baseline credit unconstrained farmers but also quantity rationed farmers, suggesting that KhetScore loans can help overcome supply-side credit constraints. Finally, women in the treatment group reported significantly higher levels of empowerment and mental health, manifested in increased participation in household decision-making and reduced feelings of stress, than women in the control group. In conclusion, digital technologies can contribute substantially to expansion in agricultural credit access, risk management, resilience, and wellbeing among marginalized landless farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Financial Economics |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339080&r=agr |
| By: | Kramer, Berber; Porter, Maria; Wassie Bizuayehu, Solomon |
| Abstract: | Index insurance is considered an important strategy to reduce agricultural risk and increase smallholder farmers’ investments. However, insured farmers may develop mistrust of insurance if they experience crop losses and do not receive a payout, for instance because index insurance covers only a subset of covariate risks. At the same time, insurance for idiosyncratic risks would introduce differences in payouts within social networks, which might be considered unfair, introduce jealousy, and further depress demand for insurance. We conduct lab-in-the-field experiments with farmers in Ethiopia to examine the effects of a novel insurance approach that ensures insurance payouts for farmers with crop losses due to idiosyncratic events. We also examine the effects of informing farmers about their neighbors’ experiences alongside their own. We find that such social comparison increases perceived fairness of weather index insurance. In addition, providing complete insurance coverage for crop losses increases farmers’ perceived fairness of outcomes and willingness to pay, without introducing jealousy over neighbors receiving different payouts. Finally, we find that the increase in willingness to pay for complete insurance is concentrated among men and risk averse respondents. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339075&r=agr |
| By: | Zahniser, Steven; Avendaño Ruíz, Belem; Astill, Gregory |
| Abstract: | The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration new powers to ensure that imported food meets U.S. standards. This case study used interviews with Mexican horticultural growers focused on the export market to explore how their industry responded to FSMA’s new requirements. Half of the 26 companies interviewed identified training the head of the firm’s food safety program as the main challenge. Medium-to-large companies (300–1, 000 seasonal workers) were more likely to have modified their food safety activities and hold 3 or more food safety certifications—facilitating the sector’s growing presence in the U.S. market. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:338954&r=agr |
| By: | Gale, Fred; Dong, Fengxia |
| Abstract: | China is a major meat producer, consumer, and importer, but consumption changes are difficult to assess due to inconsistencies in Chinese data. China’s population growth is slowing, meat prices are rising, and income is growing at a slower pace than during earlier decades. Disease and other supply-side factors constrain domestic meat supply and imports are a growing share of the supply of each type of meat. Nevertheless, statistical models based on consumer income growth and meat prices suggest China has potential for continued growth in meat consumption. Consumption of poultry, beef, and mutton is growing faster than pork consumption but pork still comprises more than half of consumer meat expenditure in China. Consumption is growing despite rising meat prices in China, and statistical models confirm that consumption is relatively insensitive to price changes. Beef and mutton consumption have risen despite sustained price increases for these meats. Poultry appears to be a substitute for pork. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:338955&r=agr |
| By: | Tristan Earle Grupp; Prakash Mishra; Mathias Reynaert; Arthur A. van Benthem |
| Abstract: | The European Union designates 26% of its landmass as a protected area, limiting economic development to favor biodiversity. This paper uses the staggered introduction of protected-area policies between 1985 and 2020 to study the selection of land for protection and the causal effect of protection on vegetation cover and nightlights. Our results reveal protection did not affect the outcomes in any meaningful way across four decades, all countries, protection cohorts, and a wide range of land and climate attributes. We conclude that European conservation efforts lack ambition because policymakers select land for protection not threatened by development. |
| Keywords: | land protection, conservation, biodiversity, deforestation, vegetation cover, nightlights, staggered difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | Q23 Q24 Q57 R14 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10820&r=agr |
| By: | Kossi Messanh Agbekponou (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Angela Cheptea (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Karine Latouche (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how the quality of produced goods affects firms' position in global value chains (GVCs). Extending the theoretical framework of Chor et al. (2021), we find that quality upgrading increases the span of production stages performed by the firm: it imports more upstream (less transformed) intermediate products and exports more downstream (more highly processed) products. Expansion along GVCs through quality upgrading is accompanied by an increase in input purchases, assets, value added, and profits. These theoretical predictions are tested using 2000-2018 firm-level data on French agri-food industries (from French customs and the AMADEUS database). In line with recent work, we identify firms that participate in GVCs with those that jointly import and export, and measure firms' position in value chains through the level of transformation (upstreamness) of goods they use and produce. We use several ways to measure product quality at firm level, all inspired by the commonly accepted assumption that, at equal prices, higher quality products are sold in larger quantities. Our findings confirm the prediction that higher-quality firms use more upstream inputs produced by other firms to produce more transformed outputs, and perform a larger span of intermediate production stages in-house. We find limited empirical evidence in support of other predictions. |
| Keywords: | International trade, Global value chains, Quality, Firm strategies, Agrifood industry |
| Date: | 2023–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04321554&r=agr |
| By: | Ferro Gustavo; Gatti Nicolás |
| Abstract: | Experts give scores to wines, which are quality proxies for marketers and buyers. The production of wine quality is explained by a set of observable objective attributes, plus another set of unobservable and subjective (sensory) features, and randomness. We use a Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA) to understand whether objective and subjective (sensory) characteristics of wines explain the differences in wine scores. We estimate a wine quality stochastic frontier production function, using a database of 1800 top-scored wines, in an 18 years-window encompassing objective determinants (price, production, year, grape, country, etcetera), being sensory aspects related to wine grading unobservable. We find that the variables included explain half of the “efficiency” in attaining scores and our results suggest that sensory variables may have a role in explaining inefficiency. |
| JEL: | D61 L66 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aep:anales:4621&r=agr |
| By: | Niftiyev, Ibrahim |
| Abstract: | Understanding the key trends and dynamics in the agricultural commodities market, especially for onions in developing countries, is critical for informed decision making and strategic planning. Onions are an important crop both domestically and in the global market, with factors such as timing of harvest, distance to market and sales volume influencing pricing. Any government policy decisions regarding onions should take into account not only domestic factors, but also external factors such as trade policy, the market power of middlemen and the global economic situation. Nonetheless, a descriptive but systematic understanding of domestic trends provides a solid understanding of recent developments and future expectations in specific agricultural sectors, particularly from a food security perspective. This working paper provides a descriptive overview of the spatial distribution of Azerbaijan's onion production and productivity between 2000 and 2021 to highlight trends and discuss recent policy decisions. The Azerbaijani case underscores pronounced regional disparities and divergent trends in onion cultivation and productivity. Trade relations have become heavily regulated by the state, accompanied by pertinent policy decisions initiated as of 2023. These developments have occurred concomitantly with the international and geopolitical tensions prevalent in the country. Subsequent investigations should adopt a modeling approach, transcending mere descriptive analyses. This study holds significance for economists and policymakers engaged in the examination of sectoral economics within the realm of agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural economics, Azerbaijani economy, descriptive analysis, economic trends, onion production, onion productivity |
| JEL: | E32 O13 O52 Q18 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:280746&r=agr |
| By: | Dean Hyslop (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Trinh Le (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); David Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Lynn Riggs (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Nic Watson (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Climate models indicate that New Zealand’s farms will be increasingly exposed to adverse climate events in the future. In this study, we empirically investigate drought impacts on farm enterprises by linking financial, agricultural and productivity data from Statistics New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) with historical weather data from NIWA. Our sample consists of an unbalanced panel of over 67, 000 observations of livestock farm enterprises between 2002 and 2012. We run a set of panel regressions with time and farm fixed effects to estimate the effect of changes in drought intensity on gross output, profit per hectare, current loans and intermediate expenditure of dairy and sheep-beef farms. To explore factors of resilience to droughts, we also examine how the estimates change with different farm characteristics. Most (but not all) of the estimated drought effects are significant, consistent across various specifications and of the expected sign. However, we have limited success in conclusively identifying farm characteristics that affect drought outcomes in our data. |
| Keywords: | price elasticities, transport demand vehicle kilometres travelled, fuel usage |
| JEL: | D12 R22 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:23_10&r=agr |
| By: | Mauricio Cárdenas (Columbia University (SIPA and CGEP); Center for Global Development); Juan José Guzmán Ayala (Columbia University, Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP)) |
| Abstract: | Forest-based carbon markets could become an important source of income for countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Estimates indicate that under a high carbon prices scenario, the value of the forest-based carbon credit market could increase from US$1.3 billion in 2021 to US$25 billion per year by 2030. Apart from the climate and monetary benefits, forest based carbon markets also have pitfalls that must be avoided. Without the right institutions in place, at the national and local level, forest projects can generate negative externalities, such as population displacement, increases in food prices, and biodiversity degradation. The value chain in carbon credits involves a number of high value-added upstream and downstream activities that tend to take place outside the countries where the projects are located. Industrial policies are required for host countries to receive a higher share of the revenue stream, including in areas such as structuring, monitoring, verification, and surveillance. Countries need to promote actions in labor training, research and development, and access to long-term capital. The paper proposes the creation National Carbon Federations as institutions to resolve several market failures, while preventing conflict, ensuring adequate savings of the additional income, and strengthen democratic governance. These organizations can also provide key public goods, so that local communities benefit from the development of carbon credits from tropical forests. |
| Date: | 2023–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:ppaper:313&r=agr |
| By: | Sabala, Ethan; Davis, Eric |
| Abstract: | From December 2018 to January 2021, Japan entered into four trade agreements (TAs) with regions that, collectively, have supplied more than 98.5 percent of Japan’s beef imports every year for at least the last 10 years. These TAs include annual reductions in Japan’s tariff rates to the respective trade partners for beef products and changes to Japan’s beef safeguards, which may generate large changes in the composition of Japan’s market for these products. This study utilizes a global economic model to estimate the impacts of these TAs on Japan’s beef market 5 and 10 years in the future. After 10 years, the model estimates that Japan’s production of beef products will have decreased by 17.2 percent, and imports will have increased by 26.6 percent. Most of the import increases are estimated to come from the United States and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) countries whose beef export values to Japan see an estimated increase of $413.8 million and $541.0 million, respectively. These impacts are dependent, however, on whether Japan’s beef import safeguards are triggered. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:338953&r=agr |
| By: | Kossi Messanh Agbekponou (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Angela Cheptea (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Karine Latouche (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how the quality of produced goods affects firms' position in global value chains (GVCs). Extending the theoretical framework of Chor et al. (2021), we find that quality upgrading increases the span of production stages performed by the firm: it imports more upstream (less transformed) intermediate products and exports more downstream (more highly processed) products. Expansion along GVCs through quality upgrading is accompanied by an increase in input purchases, assets, value added, and profits. These theoretical predictions are tested using 2000-2018 firm-level data on French agri-food industries (from French customs and the AMADEUS database). In line with recent work, we identify firms that participate in GVCs with those that jointly import and export, and measure firms' position in value chains through the level of transformation (upstreamness) of goods they use and produce. We use several ways to measure product quality at firm level, all inspired by the commonly accepted assumption that, at equal prices, higher quality products are sold in larger quantities. Our findings confirm the prediction that higher-quality firms use more upstream inputs produced by other firms to produce more transformed outputs, and perform a larger span of intermediate production stages in-house. We find limited empirical evidence in support of other predictions. |
| Keywords: | International trade, Global value chains, Quality, Firm strategies, Agrifood industry |
| Date: | 2023–06–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04321480&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, Sun Ling; Loduca, Natalie |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the most recently available data to provide current evidence about farm workers’ wage determinants with a focus on legal status. The preliminary results show that while legal status contributes significantly to the wage differences, it is not the major factor. Higher educational attainment, farm work experience, better English-speaking skills, and work in field crop or horticultural production have significant and positive impacts on the wage rate. Legal status is associated with more than 3% higher wages on average. However, there are also structural changes on the legal status effect over a thirty-year time span under potential policy influences. After taking into account the compositional shift among demographic characteristics, employment types, types of work and other factors, the quality-adjusted hourly earnings still grew nearly three times (in nominal terms) over the past three decades. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339078&r=agr |
| By: | Phoebe Koundouri; Georgios I. Papayiannis; Achilleas Vassilopoulos; Athanasios N. Yannacopoulos |
| Abstract: | In this work a general framework for providing detailed probabilistic socioeconomic scenarios as well as estimates concerning country-level food security risk is proposed. Our methodology builds on (a) the Bayesian probabilistic version of the world population model and (b) on the interdependencies of the minimum food requirements and the national food system capacities on key drivers, such as: population, income, natural resources, and other socioeconomic and climate indicators. Model uncertainty plays an important role in such endeavours. In this perspective, the concept of the recently developed convex risk measures which mitigate the model uncertainty effects, is employed for the development of a framework for assessment, in the context of food security. The proposed method provides predictions and evaluations for food security risk both within and across probabilistic scenarios at country level. Our methodology is illustrated through its implementation for the cases of Egypt and Ethiopia, for the time period 2019-2050, under the combined context of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.04428&r=agr |
| By: | Ferdi Botha; Davis C. Ribar; Chandana Maitra; Roger Wilkins |
| Abstract: | Food insecurity—the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life—has many causes, including insufficient incomes, high levels of competing expenditure needs, and inadequate facilities to store and prepare food. These and other characteristics that contribute to food insecurity may also contribute to other personal and household hardships, meaning that many people may experience food insecurity as one of several co-occurring hardships. This study examines people’s experiences of (1) food insecurity, (2) poor financial wellbeing, (3) poor physical health and long-term disability, (4) low levels of social support, and (5) inadequate economic resources and housing stress, using 2020 data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. The study finds food insecurity typically co-occurs with other hardships. Among Australians who are food insecure, nearly two thirds experience one of the other hardships that we examine, and just under one third experience multiple other hardships. |
| Keywords: | Food insecurity, hardships, co-occurrence, Australia |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:syd:wpaper:2023-11&r=agr |
| By: | Andrew R. Tilman; Robert G. Haight |
| Abstract: | The benefits of investments in sustainability are often public goods that accrue at broad scales and to many people. Urban forests exemplify this; trees supply ecosystem service benefits from local (in the case of shade) to global (in the case of carbon sequestration) scales. The complex mosaic of public and private ownership that typically defines an urban forest makes the public goods problem of investing in forest sustainability especially acute. This results in incentives for private tree owners to invest in tree care that typically fall short of those of a public forest manager aiming for the social optimum. The management of a forest pest, such as emerald ash borer, provides a salient focus area because pests threaten the provision of public goods from urban forests and pest management generates feedback that alters pest spread and shapes future risks. We study how managers can design policies to address forest pest outbreaks and achieve uniform management across a mosaic of ownership types. We develop a game theoretic model to derive optimal subsidies for the treatment of forests pests and evaluate the efficacy of these policies in mitigating the spread of forest pests with a dynamic epidemiological model. Our results suggest that a combination of optimal treatment subsidies for privately owned trees and targeted treatment of public trees can be far more effective at reducing pest-induced tree mortality than either approach in isolation. While we focus on the management of urban forests, designing programs that align private and public incentives for investment in public goods could advance sustainability in a wide range of systems. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.05403&r=agr |
| By: | Chahir Zaki (University of Orléans); Alzaki Alhelo (University of Khartoum); Kabbashi Suliman (University of Khartoum) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to examine the nexus between trade, food security and the war in Ukraine with a special focus on Egypt and Sudan. Given the high dependency of the two countries on wheat imports, both experienced high inflation and lower economic growth, threatening their food security. Thus, the contribution of the paper is threefold: first, it examines the macroeconomic implications of the war on the two economies. Second, it analyzes the extent to which food security deteriorated and finally how trade can partially help improve food security in the two countries. To do so, using an error correction model, our results show that the exchange rate pass through was high in Egypt and Sudan and can have long-term implications on inflation. To move forward, we explore how the two countries might develop bilateral capacities targeting agriculture, electricity, and infrastructure with the view to scale-up the economic cooperation. We show, using the trade complementarity index that despite a limited complementarity between their trade structures, there is room to increase their bilateral exports if infrastructure and other behind-theborder barriers are addressed. |
| Date: | 2023–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1659&r=agr |
| By: | Davis, Eric; Sabala, Ethan; Russell, Dylan; Beckman, Jayson |
| Abstract: | Since the turn of the century, Japan has relied on domestic pork production to supply around half of its pork consumption. In part, this production has been aided by import barriers that have helped shield domestic pork producers from foreign competition. Between 2018 and 2021, Japan ratified trade agreements with the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) countries that will virtually eliminate these import barriers by 2028. With essentially all of Japan’s pork imports coming from these trade agreement partners, Japan’s pork market could change considerably in the next 6 years, with imports taking a larger share of domestic consumption. For the United States, this change is estimated to lead to an additional $281 million worth of pork exports to Japan. This report uses a global economic model to estimate the impacts of these trade agreements. Results from the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model suggest that when the trade agreements are fully implemented in 2028, there could be a 3.6- to 13.9-percent increase in pork imports into Japan in 2028 relative to 2018 levels. This increased exposure to foreign competition could also reduce Japan’s pork production between 4.2 and 11.8 percent. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:338952&r=agr |
| By: | Saleh Ghobbe; Mahdi Nohekhan |
| Abstract: | The environmental conservation issue has led consumers to rethink the products they purchase. Nowadays, many consumers are willing to pay more for products that genuinely adhere to environmental standards to support the environment. Consequently, concepts like green marketing have gradually infiltrated marketing literature, making environmental considerations one of the most important activities for companies. Accordingly, this research investigates the impacts of green marketing strategy on perceived brand quality (case study: food exporting companies). The study population comprises 345 employees and managers from companies such as Kalleh, Solico, Pemina, Sorbon, Mac, Pol, and Casel. Using Cochran's formula, a sample of 182 individuals was randomly selected. This research is practical; the required data were collected through surveys and questionnaires. The findings indicate that (1) green marketing strategy has a significant positive effect on perceived brand quality, (2) green products have a significant positive effect on perceived brand quality, (3) green promotion has a significant positive effect on perceived brand quality, (4) green distribution has a significant positive effect on perceived brand quality, and (5) green pricing has a significant positive effect on perceived brand quality. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.15865&r=agr |
| By: | Herrera-Almanza, Catalina; McCarthey, Aine Seitz |
| Abstract: | Fertility decline in rural sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind other developing countries. The gap in fertility preferences between men and women plays a pivotal role in determining household fertility and reproductive health outcomes, with men desiring more children and exerting more significant influence in household decision-making. This disparity becomes more pronounced in rural regions where patrilineal norms, especially those associated with land inheritance, remain prevalent. We estimate the effect of an informational family planning intervention on male and female fertility preferences in rural Tanzania. The experiment consisted of randomizing household consultations on modern contraception, with sessions conducted either jointly for husbands and wives or exclusively for wives in private. Surprisingly, husbands who engaged in joint consultations increased their desired additional number of children, and their wives mirrored this increase in fertility preferences. In contrast, women in private consultations reduced their additional desired number of children while their husbands’ preferences remained unchanged. We provide suggestive evidence that the unintended effects on fertility preferences might be motivated by land inheritance expectations, as our results are driven by households with firstborn daughters (rather than sons). |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339077&r=agr |
| By: | Sam Huckstep (Center for Global Development); Michael Clemens (George Mason University, Center for Global Development, IZA, and CReAM/UCL) |
| Abstract: | Climate change will have, and is having, major ramifications for migration at every level. While most migration affected by climate change will be internal, the international system is unprepared and inadequate for the needs that will arise. This paper reviews issues faced in the governance of climate-affected migration at the internal, regional, and international levels. It finds that at every level migration can be a valuable tool for adaptation, but that action is needed if its positive impact is to be maximised and negative consequences are to be avoided. Policy options are proposed or identified in numerous spheres of action. |
| Date: | 2023–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:ppaper:292&r=agr |
| By: | Benjamin Stephens (Instiglio); Sebastián Chaskel (Instiglio); Mariana Noguera (Instiglio); Maria del Mar Oyola (Instiglio); Lucía Pérez (Instiglio); Mateo Zárate (Instiglio) |
| Abstract: | As Dissanayake (2021) and Dissanayake and Camps (2022) have argued, pull financing is an underutilized tool with the potential to drive the development and adoption of critical technologies necessary to address the globe’s climate crisis. The paper builds the case further and provides tangible examples by presenting two case studies that illustrate how pull climate finance can be used to deliver urgently needed climate results and support development objectives across low- and middle-income countries. The case studies respond to two pressing issues contributing to the globe’s climate challenge: (1) the growing use of energy intensive residential air conditioning and (2) the common use of stubble burning agricultural practices. For both cases, we propose that an Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a form of pull finance, could be used as a promising tool to enable technology development and adoption, driving a market shift towards a new and cleaner equilibrium. In the case of cooling, we outline the potential of an AMC to drive a sustained shift in the Indian market by enabling the scale-up of cleaner cooling technologies, driving down their costs to ensure their future competitiveness. In the case of stubble burning, also focused on India, we show that an AMC could offer incentives for producers to innovate to drive short-run take-up of stubble burning alternatives, facilitating a sustained market shift to stubble burning alternatives in the medium-term. We find both cases hold promise to achieve substantial and cost-effective emission reductions, as well as important development benefits in the form of both economic and health outcomes—a finding which should justify significant investments. |
| Date: | 2022–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:ppaper:278&r=agr |
| By: | Edward T. A. Mitchard; Harry Carstairs; Riccardo Cosenza; Sassan S. Saatchi; Jason Funk; Paula Nieto Quintano; Thom Brade; Iain M. McNicol; Patrick Meir; Murray B. Collins; Eric Nowak |
| Abstract: | Independent retrospective analyses of the effectiveness of reducing deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) projects are vital to ensure climate change benefits are being delivered. A recent study in Science by West et al. (1) appeared therefore to be a timely alert that the majority of projects operating in the 2010s failed to reduce deforestation rates. Unfortunately, their analysis suffered from major flaws in the choice of underlying data, resulting in poorly matched and unstable counterfactual scenarios. These were compounded by calculation errors, biasing the study against finding that projects significantly reduced deforestation. This flawed analysis of 24 projects unfairly condemned all 100+ REDD projects, and risks cutting off finance for protecting vulnerable tropical forests from destruction at a time when funding needs to grow rapidly. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.06793&r=agr |
| By: | Luiz de Mello (Economics Department, OECD); Teresa Ter-Minassian (Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of subnational investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation, emphasizing the importance of subnational entities in driving climate action at the local level. We discuss financing options, including public funds and private sector engagement, as well as governance structures necessary for effective subnational climate action. We also highlight the need for multi-level governance, collaboration, and clear policy frameworks to support subnational entities in implementing climate change initiatives. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2324&r=agr |
| By: | Aloun Phonvisay |
| Abstract: | This policy brief discusses the development of a national blue economy framework for the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to capitalise on the country's rich water and forest resources in a sustainable manner. The framework would promote sustainable development of the blue economy, identify priority areas for investment, enhance stakeholder capacity, and promote the Lao PDR blue economy. The priority sectors identified for investment include fisheries, forest carbon, inland marine connectivity, and hydropower development. |
| Date: | 2023–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:pb-2023-08&r=agr |
| By: | Denitsa Angelova (Institute for Sustainable Resources, Bartlett School of Environment Energy & Resources, University College London); Andrea Bigano (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC); RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment (EIEE)); Francesco Bosello (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC); Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice); Shouro Dasgupta (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)); Silvio Giove (Department of Economics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a transparent and replicable methodology to rank countries according to climate change risk through a composite indicator approach. We show that adherence to the IPCC definition of risk easily leads to a dominance of the exposure component in risk determination. This, on its turn, produces a country risk ranking that can differ also substantively from that of other indicators used for similar purposes, especially by rating agencies. These last indicators are, in fact, closer to the concept of vulnerability to climate change, than risk. Our major conclusion is that by accounting for all the components of risk, the dichotomy "high-climate-change-risk developing countries" vs "low climate-change-risk developed countries" blurs substantively, while climate risk becomes relatively higher than commonly considered in the latter group. |
| Keywords: | climate risk, physical climate risk, climate risk index, composite indicator |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2023:28&r=agr |
| By: | Rutledge, Zach; Richards, Timothy; Martin, Philip |
| Abstract: | Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) are regional minimum wages paid to foreign employees working in the United States under the H-2A visa non-immigrant agricultural guest worker program. AEWRs were established as a mechanism to prevent US farmworkers from adverse effects due to the employment of foreign guest workers. However, AEWRs may have unintended consequences. We develop a simple theoretical framework to gain insights into how the AEWRs may influence the wages of non-H-2A farm employees. Our model predicts that higher AEWRs cause the wages of non-H-2A farm employees to rise through two channels: (i) a substitution effect and (ii) a market signalling effect, or “lighthouse effect, ” where non-H-2A employees use the AEWR as a benchmark to demand higher wages from employers. We test these hypotheses using a regression framework with data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey. Our estimates suggest that a 10% increase in the AEWR causes a three percent wage increase of non-H-2A farm employees across the nation and a five percent increase in the top five H-2A employment states where more than half the H-2A jobs are certified. We find that one-year AEWR freeze would reduce the growth of wages paid to US-based farm employees by about $500 million. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339074&r=agr |
| By: | Dahye, Kim; Castillo, Marcelo; Rutledge, Zachariah |
| Abstract: | Many indicators suggest a potential decline in the domestic farmworker supply, which is often presumed to have driven agricultural employers towards an increased reliance on the H-2A visa program. Since hiring H-2A workers is generally more expensive than employing domestic farmworkers, it remains to be seen if reductions in domestic farm employment could be fully offset by increased H-2A employment. In this study, we first examine whether a recent downturn in the employment of U.S.-based Mexicanborn workers is responsible for the recent rise in H-2A employment. Subsequently, we quantify the extent to which changes in domestic farm employment impact the employment of H-2A guest workers. Our results suggest that a structural shift in the domestic farm labor market around 2011 may be responsible for the recent increase in H-2A employment. However, the rise in H-2A worker employment has not fully compensated for the decrease in domestic farm employment. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:assa24:339079&r=agr |