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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Howard, Peter H.; Sylvan, Derek |
| Abstract: | Cover page, abstract, Tables, and Appendix are included in addition to the 40 page length of the article. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Survey, Social cost of carbon, Climate damages, Intergenerational discounting, International climate agreements, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205761&r=env |
| By: | Pena-Levano, Luis M.; Taheripour, Farzad; Tyner, Wallace E. |
| Keywords: | Forest carbon sequestration, Emissions, General Equilibrium, climate change, crop yield, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Q15, R52, Q54, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205629&r=env |
| By: | Skolrud, Tristan D.; Galinato, Gregmar I. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205814&r=env |
| By: | Jung, Suhyun |
| Keywords: | climate change, farmer's welfare, production cost, global tradeoff, carbon, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Q15, Q54, D61, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205693&r=env |
| By: | Fooks, Jacob R |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:206436&r=env |
| By: | Fan, Yubing; McCann, Laura E. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, adoption, climate change, drought tolerant plants, gardening, residential water conservation, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, C25, D12, Q25, Q54, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205544&r=env |
| By: | Stark, Camila; Khanna, Madhu; Bi, Xiang |
| Abstract: | One dominant argument against environmental regulations is that the regulations will increase costs to facilities, causing the facilities to lay-off their workers. However, there are several ways facilities can respond to regulatory and community pressures to increase environmental performance. The facility could reduce its emissions of toxic chemicals by preventing pollution at the beginning of the process, controlling pollution by recycling or treating chemicals, or controlling pollution using end of pipe techniques. Furthermore, these responses can affect employment in different ways, depending on whether abatement activities require more or less labor and their effect on the scale of output. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of facilities’ voluntary reductions in toxic emissions on their level of employment by estimating the level pollution control and employment as a simultaneous decision made by facilities. We compare the different methods facilities use to reduce their emissions and how these methods affect facility-level employment. We apply a 3SLS model to panel data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and a unique facility-level dataset, which includes facility-level characteristic data on over 10,000 establishments across the United States over 15 years, from 1995 to 2011. Our results show that reductions in toxic releases had a statistically significant negative impact on employment. However, if the facility reduces emissions using prevent pollution methods through reducing emissions per unit of sales, then the facility will reduce less employment than if the facility reduced pollution using end of pipe pollution control methods. These effects are similar if the facility is reducing regulated emission as well as non-regulated emissions. |
| Keywords: | Environmental economics, Employment, Toxic Release Inventory, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q52, Q58, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205560&r=env |
| By: | Legras, Sophie; Martin, Elsa; Piguet, Virginie |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:206391&r=env |
| By: | Wallander, Steven; Claassen, Roger; Hill, Alexandra |
| Keywords: | conservation program, contracts, public goods, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205333&r=env |
| By: | Maher, Joe; Song, Xiaopeng |
| Abstract: | To date, the effectiveness of protected areas have been assessed using cross-section matching estimators. In this paper, new evidence quasi-experimental models using two panel datasets of deforestation reveal a new insights into the importance of government oversight of protected areas – findings that counter economists prior notions of the avoided deforestation of new parks.. We extend our analysis to estimate avoided carbon emissions – a key policy metric that varies considerably from deforestation trends. For the both science and policy communities, we underscore uncertainty in policy evaluation based on imperfect satellite-derived deforestation data products. |
| Keywords: | quasi-experiment, protected areas, climate change, remote sensing, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q5, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205987&r=env |
| By: | Ghimire, Ramesh; Green, Gary T.; Poudyal, Neelam C.; Cordell, H. Ken |
| Abstract: | In addition to encouraging people to become more physically active and healthy, participation in outdoor recreation helps to expose people to different instances of environmental degradation in places where they recreate. This exposure may also help people to become more environmentally aware and subsequently informed about environmental conservation programs such as conservation easements. Hence, this paper examined whether people participating in outdoor recreation activities have also placed their lands in conservation easements. Using national level data from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) people who participated in land-based and water-based recreation activities were examined and grouped into consumptive and non-consumptive activities. Results indicated people who participated in land-based non-consumptive recreations have greater odds of placing their lands in conservation easements than people who participated in consumptive recreation activities. |
| Keywords: | Conservation Easements, Environmental Concerns or Awareness, Natural Resources, Open Space, Outdoor Recreation Participation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q24, Q26, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162451&r=env |
| By: | Oh, Juhyun; Guan, Zhengfei; Boote, Kenneth J. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205253&r=env |
| By: | Hertel, Thomas W; Steinbuks, Jevgenijs; Tyner, Wallace E. |
| Abstract: | What are second generation (2G) biofuel technologies worth to global society? A dynamic, economic model is used to assess the impact on crops, livestock, biofuels, forestry, and environmental services, as well as GHG emissions of introducing 2G biofuels technology. Under baseline conditions, this to amounts to $64.2 billion at today’s population or an increase of roughly 0.3% in the valuation of the world’s land resources. Under GHG regulation this global valuation more than doubles, whereas a flat energy price scenario essentially eliminates the value of 2G technology to society. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204909&r=env |
| By: | An, Ning; Thomassin, Paul J. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the economic impact of alternative climate change scenarios on representative cash crop farms in Quebec and Ontario. Mixed Integer Dynamic Linear Programming models are used to determine the annual optimal land and labor allocations over a 30 year time horizon. In the modeling process, five climate scenarios are modeled, along with different combinations of CO2 enhancement and water limitation. Parameters, such as crop prices, costs of production, and crop yields, are simulated and projected into the future using various methods, such as Monte Carlo simulation, Crystal Ball Predictor and DSSAT cropping system model. Rotation and diversification constraints, as well as participation in public risk management programs are also incorporated into the optimization procedures. The results show that the economic impact of climate change varies by scenario, with the CO2 effect and water limitation having a more significant effect than the specific climate scenarios. Technology development, as well as the public insurance programs can contribute to the reduction of economic vulnerability. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, economic impacts, technological change, institutional change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205702&r=env |
| By: | Boutwell, Luke; Westra, John |
| Abstract: | Communities along the US coast are highly vulnerable to coastal storms. Trends in population growth, climatic events and land use are likely to exacerbate future damages. Coastal management entities are faced with decisions about how to manage resources in a manner that improves environmental quality and provides the maximum benefit for coastal populations. This is particularly true along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, where coastal storms are common, land loss is rapid and billions of dollars are allotted for coastal restoration projects. Many of these projects are intended to mitigate hurricane damages by using wetlands as storm buffers. The physical science literature shows that wetlands do provide situational protection from storm surge. However, little economic analysis has explored the effect of wetlands on economic losses. This analysis uses hurricane simulation data to estimate county- or parish-level damages based on observed damages from coastal storms making landfall in Louisiana from 1995-2008. A model describing these damages as a function of wetland area, socio-economic conditions and storm intensity allows the estimation of the value of wetlands for their protective ecosystem services under various contexts and future scenarios. Potential sources of error are discussed and examples are analyzed. The implications of these finding are significant for coastal restoration decisions in a changing environment. |
| Keywords: | wetlands, hurricanes, economic damage, resilience, expected damage function, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q24, Q54, Q56, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea15:197796&r=env |
| By: | Taheripour, Farzad; Hertel, Thomas W.; Gopalakrishnan, Badri N.; Sahin, Sebnem; Escurra, Jorge J. |
| Abstract: | This paper uses an advanced Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model coupled with biophysical data on future changes in crop yields due to climate change to examine: 1) the consequences of climate change for India’s agricultural and food products; 2) the extent to which water scarcity can affect the irrigation adoption and demand for water; and 3) how water scarcity, climate change, and trade jointly alter land use changes across the Indian subcontinent. It shows that when water scarcity is ignored, irrigated areas grows due to changes in crop yields induced by climate change. When water scarcity is introduced, competition for water increases and that largely reduces demand for irrigation across all river basins in India. When available water for irrigation is not limited, climate change alone could moderately increase agricultural outputs at national level and that leads to some welfare gains. However, water scarcity, induced by expansion in water demand in non-agricultural uses and lack of water infrastructure, blocks the demand for irrigation and that generates significant negative impacts on the economy of India and its agricultural activates. The overall welfare losses due to water scarcity for this economy is expected to be about $3.2 billion (at 2007 prices) in 2030. With a 3% discount rate, the net present value of the annual reductions in welfare will be about $24.3 billion for 2008 to 2030. |
| Keywords: | India, Agriculture, Water Scarcity, Climate Change, Irrigation, General Equilibrium, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205591&r=env |
| By: | Hettich, Rachel; Abbott, Philip |
| Abstract: | Carbon sequestration by forestry is one way to mitigate climate change, and policy incentives are in place to encourage private investment in forestry. State and federal forestry cost-share programs subsidize the establishment of trees and the improvement of existing forested land. The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of such programs in Maryland and to compare the monetized benefits from permanently sequestered carbon with the current subsidies. To meet this objective, private and social cost-benefit analyses were conducted for three forestry investment scenarios in Maryland that coincide with the main cost-share programs available there. Sensitivity analysis considered a range of values for the social cost of carbon, the discount rate, and program implementation costs. The first program considered was the state funded Woodland Incentive Program (WIP), which provides cost-share assistance for improving timber management. According to the cost-benefit analysis results, the program provides sufficient incentives to induce participation. For a discount rate of 5%, the investment in pre-commercial thinning with participation in WIP increases discounted returns by $60.62 per acre. However, the total program enrollment over the past eight years was only 24,443 acres, compared to GIS analysis results that show approximately 737,000 acres across Maryland are eligible for the program. The total cost share assistance provided by WIP for a timber management improvement practice of pre-commercial thinning was $81.34 per acre, while from society’s view, the discounted carbon sequestration benefits provided by the improved timber stand were $146.82 per acre. By basing the cost-share assistance on the carbon benefits, and so increasing the subsidies, potential and actual program participation may converge. Two land conversion programs were considered: the federally funded Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the state funded Lawn to Woodland (L2W) Initiative. The cost-benefit analysis results show that the conversion from cropland to forest through EQIP does not provide enough incentive to induce program participation. Cropland rents generate income far greater than the benefits from forestry conversion, even when carbon benefits are included. In this case, the program is already providing subsidies larger than the carbon sequestration benefits, and the actual participation of only 344 acres between 2009 and 2013 is still very low. However, when using the pastureland rent, which is about half of the cropland rent, the conversion to forest is much more likely. There are around 750,000 acres of pastureland in Maryland that could be converted to forest to increase carbon sequestration across the state. The conversion from lawn to forest through L2W provided contrasting results. Since timber harvest is unlikely following the conversion from lawn to forest, the carbon benefits are much higher. The cost-share assistance was $335.91 per acre, and the discounted carbon benefits from the conversion were $1,245.87 per acre. Cost-share assistance based on the benefits from permanently sequestered carbon could justify increasing the incentive to participate by almost four times. Since neither land use in this scenario provides financial returns to the owner, the investment decision depends largely on the aesthetic values of lawn versus forest that the landowner possesses, which are difficult to estimate. GIS analysis estimated that approximately 230,000 acres are eligible for this new program across Maryland. Maryland is at the forefront when compared to other states, supplementing federal cost-share programs with its own resources to combat climate change. This analysis suggests the state financed initiatives may exhibit the potential to enhance carbon sequestration more than the federal programs, and for each state program there was scope to increase subsidies given the value of carbon benefits realized. |
| Keywords: | forestry investments, forestry cost-share programs, benefit-cost analysis, climate change mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205055&r=env |
| By: | Englin, Jeffrey; Holmes, Thomas |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q23, Q26, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:206917&r=env |
| By: | Baker, Justin S.; Latane, Annah; Proville, Jeremy; Cajka, James |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205802&r=env |
| By: | Wood, Dallas |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect that higher temperatures will have on the size of wildfires in the western United States controlling for suppression effort, precipitation, and other factors. Using data for 466 wildfires that occurred on U.S. Forest Service land between 2003 and 2007, I find that an increase in temperature of 1 °C is associated with a 12% increase in wildfire size, holding all other factors constant. Given that current climate models predict temperatures to rise by 1.6 to 6.3 °C, this estimate suggests mean wildfire size could increase by 20% to 79%. Off-setting this increase in wildfire size would require an increase in suppression expenditures of at least 16% to 63%. For the average wildfire, this would translate into an increase in suppression expenditures of between $0.5 and $2 million. |
| Keywords: | Fire Economics, Climate Change, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q23 Forestry, Q54 Global Warming, |
| Date: | 2015–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205979&r=env |
| By: | Fernandez, Mario; Huang, Pei; McCarl, Bruce; Mehta, Vikram |
| Keywords: | Climate variability, Value of information, Adaptation, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205123&r=env |
| By: | Chakrabarti, Anwesha; Swallow, Stephen; Anderson, Christopher |
| Keywords: | Environmental economics, Ecosystem service market, Payment for ecosystem services, Provision point mechanism, Field experiments, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q20, Q57, C93, H41, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:206199&r=env |
| By: | Olen, Beau; Wu, JunJie |
| Keywords: | land allocation, water scarcity, climate heterogeneity, extreme weather, water supply institutions, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q12, Q15, Q18, Q54, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205719&r=env |
| By: | Mort Webster; Karen Fisher-Vanden; David Popp; Nidhi Santen |
| Abstract: | Global climate change and other environmental challenges require the development of new energy technologies with lower emissions. In the near-term, R&D investments, either by government or the private sector, can bring down the costs of these lower emission technologies. However, the results of R&D are uncertain, and there are many potential technologies that may turn out to play an effective role in the future energy mix. In this paper, we address the problem of allocating R&D across technologies under uncertainty. Specifically, given two technologies, one with lower costs at present, but the other with greater uncertainty in the returns to R&D, how should one allocate the R&D budget? We develop a multi-stage stochastic dynamic programming version of an integrated assessment model of climate and economy that represents endogenous technological change through R&D decisions for two substitutable non-carbon backstop technologies. Using the model, we demonstrate that near-term R&D into the higher cost technology is justified, and that the amount of R&D into the high cost technology increases with both the variance in the uncertainty in returns to R&D and with the skewness of the uncertainty. We also present an illustrative case study of wind and solar photovoltaic technologies, and show that poor R&D results in early periods do not necessarily mean that investment should not continue. |
| JEL: | O38 Q42 Q48 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21396&r=env |
| By: | Bangsund, Dean A.; Hodur, Nancy M. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:199400&r=env |
| By: | Savchenko, Olesya; Ando, Amy W. |
| Keywords: | stormwater management, dynamic optimal policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205894&r=env |
| By: | Ribaudo, Marc; Key, Nigel; Sneeringer, Stacy |
| Keywords: | hypoxia, nitrogen, compliance, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q58, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204871&r=env |
| By: | Landry, Craig E.; Whitehead, John C. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205441&r=env |
| By: | Townsend, Toby J.; Ramsden, Stephen J.; Wilson, Paul |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc15:204298&r=env |
| By: | Eory, Vera |
| Abstract: | Agriculture plays an important role in the transformation towards a ‘low-carbon’ society. The sector is highly vulnerable to climate variability, and is a significant source of emissions, while at the same time, it has a potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing policies to support GHG mitigation emissions requires information on the effectiveness and costs of potential mitigation opportunities. Such information is frequently depicted in marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs), which help to visualise the hierarchy of mitigation measures and their cumulative level of abatement. Like other tools, MACCs have certain limitations. Furthermore, different derivations of MACCs are appropriate to answer different questions. In order to draw both informative and reliable conclusions for policy decisions, the characteristics of the MACCs and the resulting limitations have to be presented clearly. This paper discusses the main limitations of agricultural MACCs (e.g. wider effects, transaction costs, uncertainty, heterogeneity, non-monetary barriers), reviewing recent methodological developments. Furthermore, it provides guidelines for researchers and policy makers about the choice of methods and the communication of the results in order to improve the use of MACCs in the policy process. |
| Keywords: | marginal abatement cost curves, agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2015–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:srlewp:199777&r=env |
| By: | Baerenklau, Kenneth A. |
| Keywords: | urban water conservation, tiered pricing, welfare effects, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205723&r=env |
| By: | Paudel, Krishna P.; Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia; Pandit, Mahesh |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between income and water pollutants using country-level global water quality data over the period 1980 to 2012. We include civil liberties and political rights in addition to income as explanatory variables. We use recent advances in econometric techniques to address the inclusion of continuous and discrete variables in nonparametric instrumental variable regression models. Results indicate an inverted U-shape relationship between income and pollution for one pollutant (lead) and a cubic shape for three pollutants (nickel, mercury and arsenic). In general, we find that improved civil liberties and political rights are correlated with better water quality. By estimating a nonparametric relationship between political variables and pollution and by accounting for the categorical nature of the political variables, we are able to detect a nonlinear relationship between political variables and pollution, which for some pollutants is an inverted U-shaped curve. |
| Keywords: | Binary variable, environmental Kuznets curve, nonparametric instrumental variable regressions, water pollution, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q53, C14, |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162618&r=env |
| By: | Gonzalez-Ramirez, Maria Jimena; Kling, Catherine L.; Arbuckle, J. Gordon Jr. |
| Keywords: | Cover Crops, Conservation Practices, Matching, Propensity Score, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q15, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205876&r=env |
| By: | Wang, Haoying; Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel; Chonabayashi, Shun |
| Abstract: | Recent statistical studies suggest yields for major U.S. food crops will dramatically decrease under climate change due to the rise of extreme temperatures over the growing season. However, these results do not account for changes in the crop mix, therefore overestimating potential damages to the sector. In this study we seek to determine how the crop mix and growing regions would shift in response to climate change. The paper develops a dynamic multinomial discrete choice framework to model adaptation to climate change through crop choice. A major innovation of this study is the construction of a very large high-resolution data set for the econometric analysis and the computational procedure developed to obtain estimates. We combine data on crop cover (USDA Cropland Data Layer (CDL), 30*30 meter resolution) and climate variables (PRISM, 4*4 km resolution) for the study region, matched with crop prices and production costs at regional level. The data set provides billions of spatial units from which we sample for the spatial analysis. The main advantage of such an extensive and detailed data set is the careful consideration of the spatial heterogeneity within counties. The generality of our empirical framework allows prediction of crop choices at field level under various climate change scenarios. The preliminary empirical results show that both market state variables (yields, prices, and costs) and crop state variables (related to crop rotations) are important predictors of farmers' crop choice at field level. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Land Use, Crop Choice, Discrete Choice, Dynamic Optimization, Climate Change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q15, Q24, Q54, R14, C35, C61, |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205840&r=env |
| By: | Stranlund, John K.; Son, Insung |
| Abstract: | We investigate the optimal regulation of a pollutant given its interaction with another controlled pollutant under asymmetric information about firms’ abatement costs. The co-pollutant is regulated, but perhaps not efficiently. Our focus is on optimal instrument choice in this setting, and we derive rules for determining whether a pollutant should be regulated with an emissions tax, tradable permits, or a hybrid price and quantity policy, given the regulation of its co-pollutant. The policy choices depend on the relative slopes of the damage functions for both pollutants and the aggregate marginal abatement cost function, including whether the pollutants are complements or substitutes in abatement and whether the co-pollutant is controlled with a tax or tradable permits. |
| Keywords: | Emissions trading, emissions taxes, cap-and-trade, uncertainty, price controls, hybrid policies, prices vs. quantities, Environmental Economics and Policy, L51, Q58, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205422&r=env |
| By: | Quintana-Ashwell, Nicolas E.; Peterson, Jeffrey M. |
| Abstract: | A dynamic optimization framework is applied to the problem where groundwater stock and the state of technology and the climate are the state variables and groundwater pumping is the control variable and the objective is to maximize the net present value of the stream of rents from irrigation over the life of the aquifer. Dynamical systems govern the evolution of the aquifer, the climate, and the rate of technical progress. These dynamical systems may be dependent upon periodic groundwater allocations, as in the case of the aquifer, or independent of the periodic allocations as in the case of climate and technical change. Alternative plans are considered where the planner ignores one or more of the state variables when prescribing an extraction path. The ``information effect'' in these plans is assessed by comparing extraction, depletion, and rents from irrigation paths. A well accepted formulation of hydrologic dynamics for the aquifer is employed and simple dynamic trends for climate and technology are developed. A simplified example of the model incorporating only deterministic aquifer and technical change dynamics is presented as a linear-quadratic optimal control problem. Numerical results from Sheridan County, KS, suggest that prescribing a pumping schedule ignoring the dynamics of climate change is most costly. Furthermore, once on the optimal path, relatively large savings in groundwater may be achieved with relatively small portions of profits foregone. |
| Keywords: | Aquifer, Ogallala, Optimal Control, Dynamic Optimization, Irrigation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205882&r=env |
| By: | Krumel, Thomas P Jr; Wallander, Steven; Hellerstein, Daniel |
| Keywords: | Conservation Reserve Program, ethanol, subsidy policies, instrumental variables, environment, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205364&r=env |
| By: | Campbell, Robert; Venn, Tyron; Anderson, Nathaniel |
| Abstract: | A significant amount of the forestland in Montana is in need of mechanical forest restoration treatments, which can improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk, but can be expensive to implement and produce little merchantable timber. One option for disposal of the small diameter material produced by these treatments is to utilize it to produce energy, which can offset some fossil fuel use and facilitate the treatment of more acres of forest. However the harvest and utilization of woody biomass for energy generation can have negative effects on air quality and forest health as well. This study used a choice modeling nonmarket valuation survey to quantify the preferences of residents of Montana toward the potential effects of harvesting woody biomass from public forests during restoration treatments and utilizing the biomass to generate energy. |
| Keywords: | Nonmarket Valuation, Choice Modeling, Biomass Energy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205678&r=env |
| By: | Osei, Edward; Steiner, Jean; Saleh, Ali |
| Abstract: | Prolonged drought in the Southern Great Plains of the USA in recent years has raised concerns about vulnerability of beef cattle grazing systems under adverse climate change. To help address the economic viability of beef grazing operations in the Southern Great Plains, this paper provides an economic assessment of beef grazing systems under baseline and prolonged drought situations comparable to the 2011 drought in this region. A coupled economic and environmental modeling system was used to determine the impacts of the prolonged drought scenario on the net incomes of beef grazing systems. The results of the model simulations support the conclusion that prolonged drought of the extent witnessed in recent years would be financially detrimental to beef grazing operations, unless viable mitigation measures are implemented. Beef grazing operations are projected to lose at least a third and in some cases close to half of net incomes when faced with prolonged drought weather patterns. |
| Keywords: | drought, beef, grazing, FEM, economic viability, APEX, Southern Great Plains, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205850&r=env |
| By: | Osman, Rehab; Ferrari, Emanuele; McDonald, Scott |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc15:204292&r=env |
| By: | Zhang, Wei |
| Abstract: | California dairy farms have experienced hard times in recent years. In addition to changes in market conditions in both input and output markets, the burden of environmental regulations has been mentioned as a culprit. This research estimates the costs of a practice-based air quality regulation for dairy farms in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Using farm-level cost data on a panel of dairy farms, I estimate the effects of the regulation on the costs of milk production with a difference-in-differences method. Different from ex ante analyses, my econometric results indicate that the air quality regulation has not significantly affected the total costs of milk production. Estimates from different specifications indicate that the regulation may have reduced feed costs, perhaps because some pollution-mitigation practices can reduce feed fermentation. The regulation has increased the costs of hired labor by about $0.15 per hundredweight of milk, which is equivalent to an 11% increase in the costs of hired labor for dairy farms facing the regulation. Moreover, unlike previous analyses of the effects of environmental regulations on agricultural production, I am able to observe the realized operational changes associated with abiding by this regulation. Calculated adoption rates of different pollution-mitigation practices using administrative data reveal that dairy farms have mainly adopted labor-intensive practices to comply with the air quality regulation. |
| Keywords: | dairy, environmental regulation, production cost, farm practice, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, D24, Q15, Q58, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205304&r=env |
| By: | Bangsund, Dean A.; Saxowsky, David M.; Ripplinger, David |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:196708&r=env |
| By: | Davlasheridze, Meri; Fan, Qin |
| Keywords: | Hedonic, Seawall protection, floods, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205349&r=env |
| By: | Martin, Ian; Pindyck, Robert |
| Abstract: | Faced with numerous potential catastrophes---nuclear and bioterrorism, mega-viruses, climate change, and others---which should society attempt to avert? A policy to avert one catastrophe considered in isolation might be evaluated in cost-benefit terms. But because society faces multiple catastrophes, simple cost-benefit analysis fails: Even if the benefit of averting each one exceeds the cost, we should not necessarily avert them all. We explore the policy interdependence of catastrophic events, and develop a rule for determining which catastrophes should be averted and which should not. |
| Keywords: | bioterrorism; catastrophes; catastrophic events; climate change; disasters; epidemics; nuclear terrorism; pandemics; policy objectives; willingness to pay |
| JEL: | D81 Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10730&r=env |
| By: | Alvarez, Sergio; Asci, Serhat |
| Abstract: | In this paper we conduct a meta-analysis of the non-market valuation literature dealing with water quality improvements in the United States. We use this meta-analysis to estimate benefits transfer functions, which will allow us to estimate the water quality improvements in the state of Florida as a result of adoption and implementation of agricultural BMPs. |
| Keywords: | Water Quality, Benefit Transfer, Meta-Analysis, Best Management Practices, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162534&r=env |
| By: | Maples, McKenzie; Morgan, Kimberly L.; Harri, Ardian; Hood, Kenneth; Interis, Matthew |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162504&r=env |
| By: | Guan, Zhengfei; Zhu, Honggen; Wei, Xuan |
| Keywords: | Information effect, wetlands restoration, Poyang Lake, willingness to participate, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205888&r=env |
| By: | Agarwal, Sandip K. |
| Keywords: | Nitrogen Management, Subjective Beliefs, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205816&r=env |
| By: | Taheripour, Farzad; Mahaffey, Harry; Tyner, Wallace E. |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this study was to evaluate what would be the economic and environmental consequences of losing the GMO traits in the U.S. for the major crops of corn, soybeans, and cotton. The first step was to obtain from the literature a range of estimates of the yield loses if we move away from GMO traits in the U.S. The second step was to introduce the yield losses obtained in the first step into a well know CGE model, GTAP-BIO, to quantify the land use and economic impacts of banning GMO traits in the U.S. Our analyses confirms that if we do not have access to the GMO technology, a significant amount of land would need to be converted from other crops, cropland pasture, pasture, and forest to meet the global food demand. The land expansion likely is similar to the entire U.S. ethanol program. Furthermore, induced land use emissions were significantly larger that the corresponding figure for corn ethanol. Generally, the global savings in land use emissions due to using GMO crops in the US range between 7 and 17 percent of global agricultural emissions. The price changes for corn were as high as 28% and for soybeans as high as 22%. In general, the price increases for the reference and average cases were higher than those observed previously for biofuel shocks. Food price changes in the U.S. amount to $14 - $24 billion per year. As expected, welfare falls both in the U.S. and globally. |
| Keywords: | GMO Crops, Productivity, Computable General Equilibrium, Economic Impacts, Land Use, Land Use Emissions, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204907&r=env |
| By: | Ghimire, Ramesh; Green, Gary T.; Paudel, Krishna P.; Poudyal, Neelam C.; Cordell, H. Ken |
| Abstract: | Amenities at recreation sites are important not only to maintain healthy life of recreation sites, but also to provide visitors greater inspiration to visit these sites. Hence, people place importance on site amenities, based on the activities they participated in. Using freshwater-based recreation data from a national survey and employing spectral analysis and rank ordered logit model, we found that closeness and size were the two most important qualities. Further, we found that recreationalist boaters were more likely to place importance on closeness; swimmers, recreationalist boaters, and picnickers were more likely to place importance on water-quality; and recreationalist fishermen and bird/nature viewers were more likely to place importance on wildlife, while participating in freshwater-based recreations. Freshwater recreation managers may benefit from the findings as our results offer guidance in understanding what kind of attributes to manage as well as improve to meet the needs of various types of user groups. |
| Keywords: | Outdoor Recreation, Rank Ordered Logit Model, Site Characteristics, Spectral Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q26, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162452&r=env |
| By: | Murphy, David M. A.; Berazneva, Julia; Lee, David R. |
| Abstract: | Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa remains a substantial problem. Increasing scarcity of fuelwood can be significant burden to households, as fuelwood is a key component of the energy profile of a rural Sub-Saharan household. However, households do not only collect their fuelwood from off-farm, but also produce it on-farm and purchase it from the market. This paper studies substitution between fuelwood sources for rural Kenyan households. Conducting analysis using shadow prices for household fuelwood in a non-separable theoretical framework, we find that strict gender divisions in household labor contribute to a lack of substitution between fuelwood sources. Because fuelwood production on the farm is more sustainable than off-farm collection, gender divisions inhibit reforestation efforts in this area. This paper finds a direct linkage between women and environmental well-being, and concludes that reforestation efforts in SSA will likely be ineffective until labor substitution between genders increase. |
| Keywords: | Fuelwood, Biomass, Energy, Shadow Price, Gender, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205084&r=env |
| By: | Holland, Benedict M.; Johnston, Robert J. |
| Abstract: | Willingness to pay (WTP) for public goods is often spatially heterogeneous; the relevance of this heterogeneity for policy analysis is increasingly recognized. Within stated preference (SP) analysis, the most commonly analyzed form of spatial heterogeneity is distance decay, in which WTP is assumed to diminish as a monotonic function of distance from the affected resource. This distance is typically calculated from each respondent’s household to the nearest point of the affected resource, using either Euclidean or travel distance. A small but increasing literature, however, now suggests the limitations of a simple distance decay paradigm as the sole means to evaluate spatial heterogeneity. This article illustrates a novel approach to account for spatial welfare heterogeneity that may better capture the systematic sensitivity of preferences to resource proximity. The model accounts for the amount of the affected resource surrounding each respondent’s home location, at distance bands of varying length, rather than the distance to the closest point. This alternative “quantity-within-distance-x” measure is used as a substitute for the common “distance-to-nearestpoint” measure with distance-related models of spatial welfare heterogeneity. Methods and results are illustrated using a choice experiment addressing preferences for riparian land restoration in south coastal Maine. Results suggest that the resulting models better capture spatial elements relevant to respondents’ preferences. Comparison to standard distance decay models shows the additional insight provided by this novel approach. |
| Keywords: | choice experiment, distance decay, nonmarket valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205450&r=env |
| By: | Stevens, Andrew |
| Abstract: | Ethanol production in the United States, driven by federal renewable fuel policy, has exploded over the past two decades and has prompted the construction of many ethanol refineries throughout the US Corn Belt. These refineries have introduced a new inelastic demand for corn in the areas where they were built, reducing basis for nearby farmers and effectively subsidizing local corn production. In this paper, I explore whether and to what extent the construction of new ethanol refineries has actually increased local corn acreage. I also explore some environmental effects of this acreage increase. Using a thirteen year panel of over two million field-level observations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska, I estimate a net increase of nearly 300,000 acres of corn in 2014 relative to 2002 that can be attributed to the placements of new ethanol refineries. This increase comprises approximately 0.75% of the total 2014 corn acreage within my dataset. Furthermore, this effect is separate from the general equilibrium effect of ethanol policy increasing aggregate demand for corn. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that over 21,000 tons of the nitrogen applied to fields in my sample in 2014 can be attributed to refinery location effects. Essentially all of these observed effects occur only in areas within 30 miles of an ethanol refinery, suggesting that refineries have meaningful localized impacts on land use and environmental quality such as nitrate runoff. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Q15, Q16, Q53, |
| Date: | 2015–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205741&r=env |
| By: | He, Lixia; Lambert, Dayton M.; Boyer, Chris N.; English, Burton C.; Papanicolaou, Thanos; Clark, Christopher D. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205184&r=env |
| By: | Wade, Tara; Claassen, Roger |
| Keywords: | no-tillage, tillage history, continuous adoption, ordered logit, ARMS, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q12, Q15, Q18, Q24, Q1, Q2, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204957&r=env |
| By: | Asci, Serhat; Borisova, Tatiana; VanSickle, John J. |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the challenge of developing fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) for agricultural producers that would both optimize the crop production and minimize water quality impacts from agricultural operations. The overall objective is to develop recommendations to improve BMP development process by allowing for a more comprehensive consideration of production and marketing risks affecting farmers’ production choices. Specifically, we use linear stochastic plateau production function to evaluate risks associated with the alternative levels of fertilizer application and prices for Florida potato production. Such analysis helps us to determine under what conditions alternative fertilizer BMP recommendations can be too restrictive, and how likely these conditions to occur. The results of the study are summarized in the form of recommendations for BMP development process in Florida and other states that use BMP as the primary tool to address nutrient water quality issues in agricultural areas. |
| Keywords: | Nitrogen fertilizer use decision, water quality, stochastic plateau production functions, risk analysis., Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162536&r=env |
| By: | Zhong, Jia; Yu, T. Edward; Clark, Christopher D.; English, Burton C.; Larson, James A. |
| Keywords: | Switchgrass, Biofuel, Supply chains, Grey Water Footprint, Trade-off, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205697&r=env |
| By: | Ancev, Tiho; Azad, Samad Md. |
| Abstract: | The study proposes a new way of measuring productivity and efficiency, with and without considering environmental effects from a production activity, by modifying the conventional Luenberger productivity indicator. The Luenberger approach has so far been applied in productivity and efficiency measurement in time-varying contexts. It has been mainly used in comparisons of international productivity growth and efficiency over a period of time. This study proposes the use of the Luenberger approach in an alternative way by constructing two new indicators: the Luenberger environmental indicator and the Luenberger spatial indicator. These two indicators take a spatial orientation, as opposed to the temporal orientation of the traditional Luenberger indicator. The Luenberger environmental indicator is employed to measure relative performance of productive units across space by incorporating environmental impacts in the production model. The Luenberger spatial indicator does not include environmental impacts. To compare the performance of a unit of observation to a meaningful reference, a new concept of a reference frontier, an infrafrontier, is proposed. An empirical application of these indicators is to the Australian irrigation agriculture sector taking place in eleven natural resource management regions within the Murray-Darling Basin. These newly developed indicators can be widely used in any sector of the economy to measure relative productivity and environmental efficiency. |
| Keywords: | environmentally adjusted productivity, environmentally adjusted efficiency, infrafrontier, Luenberger indicators, Environmental Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q50, Q55, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204912&r=env |
| By: | Zhong, Hua; Hu, Wuyang |
| Abstract: | Water Quality Trading (WQT) programs may offer farmers compensation to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs). We conducted a survey of farmers in the Kentucky River watershed from 2011 to 2012. With respect to the five types of BMPs considered in the survey, about 20% of respondents did not indicate how much they will adopt. Missing responses are common for surveys on farming decisions. We compare three methods to handle the missing data: deleting the observations with missing value, mean imputation, and Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equation (MICE). Following these missing data treatments, we estimate the factors affecting how much farmers may engage in BMPs using Tobit or Poisson model. The results show that increasing the compensation for using BMPs is more likely to encourage farmers to adopt riparian buffers. In addition, land area, percentage of household income from farming, percentage of total household income reinvested back to farm, and current experience of BMPs will affect BMP adoption. The results obtained after using the MICE are more promising and reasonable than using the deletion or the mean imputation method. Implications are discussed for farmers’ BMP adoptions under WQT while missing observations are present. |
| Keywords: | Best management practices, water quality trading, Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q52 Q56 C89, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205199&r=env |
| By: | Nalley, Lanier; Anders, Merle M.; Kovacs, Kent F.; Linquist, Bruce |
| Abstract: | This study looks at the economic feasibility of Alternate Wet Drying (AWD) irrigation methods to address concerns of groundwater depletion and greenhouse gas (methane) emissions associated with rice production. AWD is an irrigation régime where the producer allows the rice field to dry intermittently during the rice life-cycle rather than having the field continuously submerged. In previous studies AWD has been found to reduce water usage by from 20-70% and to reduce methane emissions by over 50% as compared to rice produced under continuous flooding. However; the large disadvantage of AWD is that it is often times associated with a yield loss. Thus, this study sets out to estimate the economic viability of three types of AWD irrigation methods in Arkansas using test plot data. Data includes water usage, methane emissions and yields for three hybrid rice varieties across three years and three AWD methods. The goals of this study are to (1) estimate if any of the AWD methods demonstrate higher profitability than traditional flooding (2) introduce a carbon offset market to capture benefits of the GHG reduction, via methane, and estimate profitability between AWD and traditional flooding (3) introduce a water tax equivalent to the social cost of water and reestimate profitability of AWD and traditional flooding. These results will give producers as well as large rice buyers (MARS and Kelloggs) an idea of relative profitability and additional premiums necessary to switch to/source a more “sustainable” rice crop. |
| Keywords: | Rice, GHG, AWD, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q54.Q25, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162548&r=env |
| By: | Baulcomb, Corinne; Böhnke-Henrichs, Anne |
| Abstract: | There is a long history of the application of economic valuation methods to marine environments, changes to marine environments, and changes to marine management. Increasingly, however, there is an interest in analyzing the economic consequences of changes in marine ecosystem service provision resulting from changes in marine management and marine ecosystem state. In turn, this requires either that researchers conduct new, primary valuation studies focused on particular marine ecosystem services, or that researchers use existing studies and transfer values from one research and policy context to another (also known as benefits transfer). This study presents the result of a review of the marine economic valuation literature that was conducted as a part of an EU-FP7 project with the goals of understanding 1) the state of the marine economic valuation literature in certain countries, 2) the potential for this literature to support benefits transfer-based analyses, and 3) gaps in the existing literature. The review was also intended to support the undertaking of new, gap-filling primary non-market valuation studies. The results indicate that there are many gaps in the existing marine valuation literature with respect to the individual ecosystem services valued, the valuation methodologies that have been utilized, and the types of economic value captured. |
| Keywords: | Marine Ecosystem Services, Economics Values, Non-Market Valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:srlewp:190935&r=env |
| By: | Sambucci, Olena; Lybbert, Travis J. |
| Keywords: | grapes, pesticide use, technology adoption, disease management, disease forecasting, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q12, Q50, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205454&r=env |
| By: | Fraisse, Clyde |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usao14:204988&r=env |
| By: | Pieralli, Simone |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of changes in stochastic climatic variables on a sample of French agricultural farms between 1990 and 2000. We quantify the productivity impact by decomposing productivity changes over time via nonparametric productivity accounting. This method provides an empirical nonparametric measure of the impact of climate variables on production, a measure of technological change and a measure of efficiency change. |
| Keywords: | climate change, France, productivity, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D20, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205892&r=env |
| By: | Lerouge, Frederik; Sannen, Kurt; Gulinck, Hubert; Vranken, Liesbet |
| Abstract: | Land is a scarce resource and should be used in such a way that the increasing global demand for food and feed can be fulfilled, ensuring sufficient levels of ecosystem services. While the demand on open space to deliver a multitude of services is increasing, drivers like global change and urbanization are undermining these services. Decision makers and other stakeholders are in need of appropriate diagnostic tools to estimate trade-offs and synergies associated with land allocation and land use intensity decisions. This often implies trade-offs between food and biomass production and other non-provisioning ecosystem services. This paper presents an analytical framework to evaluate land use strategies. An integrated approach that combines spatial and economic analyses and that relies on the ecosystem services concept is used to evaluate land use in a rural area under urban pressure. A preliminary application of this framework to a case study area demonstrates the relevance of this approach, and highlights current challenges. The results suggest that the optimal land use scenario in consideration of ecosystem services depends on the biophysical and spatial context as well as on the socio-economic context. |
| Keywords: | bioproductive land, land use strategies, ecosystem services, land sharing vs sparing, wildlife-friendly farming, spatial context, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:kucawp:187605&r=env |
| By: | Lesch, William C.; Wachenheim, Cheryl J. |
| Abstract: | Recent high commodity prices and other factors have resulted in a reduction in farmland acres devoted to conservation. This report provides discussion and synthesis of literature considering factors affecting adoption of conservation practices on working lands and in land retirement programs. Literature reviewed originates from research including producer and landowner input as elicited through surveys, interviews, and instruments obtaining their reactions to hypothetical choice sets including conservation practices. Literature reporting on research using secondary data was also reviewed. The literature supports use of the utility model, including both monetary and non‐monetary factors, to predict producer attitudes, intentions, and behavior regarding conservation practices and enrollment in conservation programs. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:164828&r=env |
| By: | Swarna Nantha, Hemanath; Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | Managing the forested landscape in Malaysia and Indonesia for timber extraction while also conserving the endangered orangutan that inhabit some of the remaining forests in this region is a challenge. Heavy logging is a common feature of the Indonesian and Malaysian timber industries. It is profitable but detrimental to the survival of this primate species. A type of logging which appears to be compatible with maintaining orangutans in the forested landscape is light logging. It involves extracting fewer logs and ensures that the logged area is minimally damaged. However, switching to a light logging regime involves a financial opportunity cost, a cost which is an obstacle to the widespread adoption of this type of logging by businesses and the state. This paper reviews the case study of a unique light logging experiment conducted in the Deramakot Forest Reserve, in one of the orangutan’s strongholds, the Malaysian state of Sabah. The Deramakot experiment claims to generate revenue from low-impact logging while also sustaining its population of orangutans. Here, we survey the importance of the timber industry to Sabah, the profitability of the Deramakot scheme, the orangutan conservation aspect of this scheme, and the influence of the politico-bureaucratic factor or public economics on sustaining the domestic light-logging agenda. Then, this paper attempts to answer the question of whether economic returns could be balanced with orangutan conservation given the light and heavy logging regimes, bearing in mind the opportunity costs associated with these. More specifically, using the data that has been made available from the Deramakot case study, this paper employs a mathematical model to analyse whether the foregone profits of pursuing light logging is higher than setting aside strict protected areas while more intense logging the remaining forests, subject to the goal of maintaining a desired orangutan population size. The results reveal that, under certain conditions, the option of conserving the orangutan under mainly light logging is economically more attractive for a scenario involving Sabahan forests than the option of strictly protecting orangutan habitats and heavily logging the forests without significant orangutan populations. This finding contributes to the question asked by conservationists of how forests should be partitioned to satisfy both economic and conservation needs. |
| Keywords: | Biodiversity conservation, government, orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus spp.), opportunity cost, sustainable logging, timber, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, H00, Q23, Q57, |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:168376&r=env |
| By: | Sara Moarif |
| Abstract: | Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) produced a negotiating text in February 2015, which forms the basis for negotiations toward a climate change agreement scheduled for adoption at the 21st Conference of the Parties in December 2015. This document aims to better understand proposals in the Geneva negotiating text related to the notion of strengthening nationally determined contributions (NDCs) over time, contained under the headings “strategic review of implementation”, “aggregate ambition assessment” and “enhanced ambition mechanism”. This paper focuses on how key elements of these proposals might apply to mitigation contributions or the mitigation component of NDCs: The document examines the main proposals in terms of their relevance, coherence, assumptions, scope, and feasibility, in the context of a cycle of mitigation contributions that seek to become more ambitious over time. It also explores whether the proposals are likely to be effective in achieving their foreseen outcomes, the majority of which involve changes to NDCs. In general, it finds that there is significant overlap between proposals for various “review” processes in different parts of the Geneva negotiating text, as well as overlap with monitoring, reporting and verification processes under the UNFCCC. The document also presents some broad messages on the subject of “strategic review” expressed during the CCXG Global Forum in March 2015. It is currently unclear what a review or assessment process would comprise, largely because it relates to an overarching process – a cycle of contributions – for which there is not yet an agreed vision or scope.<P>L'Examen Stratégique: conséquences des propositions sur les contributions d'atténuation<BR>Les Parties à la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC) ont produit en février 2015 un texte de négociation. Celui-ci constitue la base des négociations en vue d’un accord sur le changement climatique, dont l’adoption est prévue à l’occasion de la 21ème Conférence des Parties qui se réunira en décembre 2015. Ce document a pour objectif de permettre de mieux comprendre certaines propositions formulées dans le texte de négociation de Genève, relatif à la notion du renforcement progressif des contributions déterminées au niveau national, présentées sous les intitulés « examen stratégique de la mise en oeuvre », « évaluation de l’ambition globale » et « mécanisme pour l’amélioration de l’ambition ». Ce rapport épluche les principaux éléments de ces propositions et comment ils pourraient être appliqués aux contributions en matière d’atténuation (ou à la composante atténuation des contributions déterminées au niveau national). Il examine la pertinence, la cohérence, les hypothèses, la portée et la faisabilité des principales propositions, dans le contexte d’un cycle de contributions à l’atténuation qui se veut de plus en plus ambitieux au fil du temps. Il s’efforce également de déterminer si les propositions ont des chances d’être efficaces et atteindre les résultats qu’elles prévoient, qui impliquent pour la plupart des modifications des contributions déterminées au niveau national. D’une manière générale, ce document conclut qu’il existe des recoupements importants entre les propositions visant les divers processus d’« examen » décrits dans les différentes parties du texte de négociation de Genève, ainsi qu’un chevauchement avec les procédures de suivi, de communication des informations et de vérification relevant de la CCNUCC. Y sont présentés aussi quelques messages à caractère général sur la problématique de l’« examen stratégique », exprimés en mars 2015 au forum mondial du CCXG par des participants divers. Pour l’heure, il n’apparaît pas clairement de quoi le processus d’examen ou d’évaluation sera constitué, surtout parce qu’il dépend d’un processus prédominant – le cycle des contributions –pour lequel l’ambition ou la portée n’a pas encore été définie d’un commun accord. |
| Keywords: | climate change, mitigation, UNFCCC, 2015 agreement, greenhouse gas, gaz à effet de serre, atténuation, CCNUCC, accord de 2015, changement climatique |
| JEL: | F53 H87 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaab:2015/2-en&r=env |
| By: | Lutes, Jennifer; Popp, Michael |
| Abstract: | Cow-calf producers in Arkansas experience annual fluctuations in their farm returns and are increasingly scrutinized for their role in climate change. Increasing farm efficiency can increase farm returns and either increase or decrease net greenhouse gas emissions, but often these practices also increase income risk. Diversifying enterprise choices, the addition of switchgrass production grown on converted pasture land, in this case, is thought to lower income risk by providing a drought hardy crop while at the same time a supply of lignocellulosic biomass for potential bio-refineries. Adopting rotational grazing, compared to a baseline of continuous grazing, frees pasture acreage to either increase beef output or to the production of a dedicated energy crop. The objectives are to determine what switchgrass price is needed to be income neutral and whether adoption of switchgrass does in fact impact income risk without affecting feed or food supply. Decision support software, the Forage and Cattle Planner (FORCAP), is used to compare financial returns, along with GHG emissions, across multiple farm management strategies. The study reveals that the addition of switchgrass production, when compared to increased beef production, offers lower income risk but the needed switchgrass price to break even is higher than the price needed to compete with the least intensive continuous grazing option and lowest stocking rate. Net GHG emissions implications of changes are quite small. |
| Keywords: | Cow-calf, Switchgrass production, Switchgrass price, Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205416&r=env |
| By: | Narayanan, Badri G.; Taheripour, Farzad; Hertel, Thomas W.; Sahin, Sebnem; Escurra, Jorge J. |
| Abstract: | The economy of South Asia faces serious challenges in water availability, which are expected to aggravate over the coming decades. In this context, we assess the long-run economy-wide impact of potential water scarcity in South Asia within a global context. This paper uses a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, in tandem with an advanced comparative static CGE model, to examine the differences in economic growth possibilities in South Asia with and without water scarcity. Alternative assumptions on substitution between water and other inputs are considered. Our analysis shows that water scarcity is likely to affect economic growth of entire South Asian region adversely, more so in the future years. The potential losses for not pursuing productivity improvements in water use are huge, ranging from 7% to 45% of the potential GDP in 2030. Further looking at the sectoral impacts, we also find that water scarcity generates larger price impacts, particularly in the food sectors, in the medium term. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205651&r=env |
| By: | Dhingra, Neeraj; Wachenheim, Cheryl J.; Roberts, David; Lesch, William C. |
| Abstract: | Interest in the Conservation Reserve Program in the U.S. has waned. Enrollment for 2015 was targeted at 26 million acres but as of the end of February, actual enrollment had declined to 24.6 million acres (USDA, 2015). Available studies point to recent fluctuations in commodity prices as a predominant factor in this enrollment gap. Other potentially influencing factors remain understudied, including farmer preferences for contract design. A choice experiment was conducted in the Prairie Pothole region to assess these preferences. An exploded logit model was used to evaluate the preference heterogeneity among program attributes. Results indicate that an increase in maximum allowed rental payment, length of contract, and the government’s share of establishment cost increase utility of farmers, whereas, fixing terms at the beginning of the contract, and imposing more land use restrictions on enrolled land have a negative impact. |
| Keywords: | choice experiment, Conservation Reserve Program, Prairie Pothole Region, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205712&r=env |
| By: | Kawasaki, Kentaro; Lichtenberg, Erik |
| Abstract: | While the capacity of pesticides to protect output from losses is well established, the contribution of pesticides to prevention of quality damage has been less extensively documented. The relative importance of the quality and quantity effects of pesticides has received even less attention. We investigate the relative effects of the three major classes of pesticides—insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides—on the quantity and quality of output. To do so, we build on our previous work to develop a new econometric estimator for estimating quality and quantity of output simultaneously when quality is measured in terms of discrete grades. We apply that estimator using a panel of data from Japanese wheat production for the period 1995-2006. The estimated parameters of the model indicate that the quality effects of fungicides and fertilizer are substantial: Increases in quality account for two-fifths of the overall marginal revenue product of fertilizer and close to a fifth of the overall marginal revenue product of fungicides. The magnitude of the effect of fertilizer on wheat quality attests to the importance of kernel size and weight in determining grade. Similarly, the magnitude of the effect of fungicides on wheat quality speaks to the importance of disease control in wheat production. |
| Keywords: | grading standards, pesticides, fertilizers, productivity, climate change, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C33, C35, Q10, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204848&r=env |
| By: | Atallah, Shady S.; Cohen, Alexander; Zollner, Patrick |
| Keywords: | Agent-Based Model, Coupled Natural Human Systems, Ecological Economics, Outdoor Recreation, Wildlife Disturbance., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C63, Q26, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205631&r=env |
| By: | Kim, C.S.; Fuglie, Keith O.; Wallander, Steve; Wechsler, Seth |
| Abstract: | Traditional models of groundwater economics, as well as many current iterations of those models, assume that optimal aquifer depletion occurs with a fixed irrigation technology. As noted by Koundouri (2004), this assumption is one of several that contributes to the Gisser-Sanchez Effect (GSE), one of the most controversial theoretical/empirical results in groundwater management literature since it appeared in a seminal paper in 1980. The GSE states that economic benefits from managing the groundwater use for irrigation would be insignificant when the storage capacity of groundwater stock is relatively large and the demand for groundwater is highly inelastic. In this paper, we show that the elasticity of the groundwater demand curve decreases over time as increasing extraction costs drive movement to more efficient irrigation technologies. In addition, this shifting of the demand curve is even greater when incorporating a model of induced technical change through endogenous R&D expenditures. Using this model, we show that the GSE does not exist when the assumption of a fixed irrigation technology is relaxed. |
| Keywords: | Gisser−Sanchez, consumptive water use, application rate, induced irrigation technology, optimal government subsidy rate, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205350&r=env |
| By: | Katuwal, Hari; Venn, Tyron J.; Paveglio, Travis; Prato, Tony |
| Abstract: | Provision of adequate and unbiased information is a prerequisite for contingent valuation. However, there remains substantial disagreement and lack of understanding regarding how information provided in the survey influences responses to valuation questions. In this study, we examine the effects of wording of the willingness-to-pay (WTP) statement (question framing), the level of information provided by the survey instrument (information framing), and prior exposure of respondents to information about the issue on WTP for a wildfire management program to reduce wildfire risk. Question framing had a statistically insignificant effect on WTP. On its own, information framing was a statistically insignificant determinant of WTP; however, became significant when prior exposure of respondents to information was accounted for. For all information framing levels considered in the study, respondents with greater prior exposure to information were found to have higher WTP than those with less prior exposure. Respondents used information provided in the survey to update their risk perceptions and WTP for the program, although the direction of change was conditional on their prior exposure to information. As the level of information provided by the survey increased, the WTP of respondents with alternative levels of prior exposure to information converged. This convergence supports calls from practitioners to better inform survey recipients about the good they are being asked to value. Our study suggests testing the level of agreement between respondents with differing levels of prior information may be desirable for increasing the level of confidence with which non-market valuation estimates may be used to support decision-making. |
| Keywords: | Willingness-to-pay, Contingent valuation, Information framing, Risk, Wildfire, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q51, D81, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205645&r=env |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | Concern about agricultural sustainability emerged as a major issue in the closing decades of the last century as part of the global debate about the sustainability of economic development. In the 1980s, the three pillar concept of sustainable development was proposed and specifically applied by Conway to the evaluation of alternative agroecosystems. Although Conway’s contribution was important at the time, it was limited in its perspective. Recent approaches adopt a wider approach, and in this century, attention has been focusing on ways to sustainably increase agricultural supplies rather than to just maintain these. This recognizes the fact that a substantial increase in demand for agricultural produce is expected in this century. Consequently, the scope and rationale for sustainably intensifying agriculture is examined (in some detail), and the extent to which greater use of organic agriculture is able to contribute to sustainable agricultural development is assessed. The comparative roles of agroecology and economics in guiding agricultural production are discussed, and the concept of multifunctional agriculture is re-examined in the light of proposals for the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Important shifts in the debate about agricultural sustainability have occurred in this century. |
| Keywords: | Agroecology, agroecosystems, multifunctional agriculture, organic agriculture, sustainable agriculture, sustainable intensification of agriculture, sustainable development., Environmental Economics and Policy, Q18, Q56, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:197549&r=env |
| By: | Mark, Tyler B.; D'Antoni, Jeremy; Griffin, Terry |
| Abstract: | ENSO is a climatic phenomenon that influences global weather patterns. The objective of this 4 paper is to assess the impact it has on DSFW. DSFW fluctuations impact an operator’s 5 equipment purchases, planting/harvesting decisions, and profitability. Results indicated that 6 DSFW is inversely related to El Niño cycles for states analyzed. |
| Keywords: | El Nino, La Nina, Climate, Days Suitable for Fieldwork, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162512&r=env |
| By: | Mukherjee, Zinnia; Segerson, Kathleen |
| Abstract: | Marine hypoxia, a seasonal phenomenon, adversely affects parts of numerous waterbodies around the world. The effects extend to marine organisms. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, we present a simple theoretical model that can be used to analyze both the aggregate and distributional effects of hypoxia on harvest within an industry. Second, we use temporally and spatially differentiated harvest data for Connecticut Long Island Sound lobster industry, and a set of environmental and economic variables to estimate the contemporaneous and lagged effects of hypoxia on harvest shares across the three adjacent fishing zones, only one of which faces moderate to severe hypoxic conditions each summer. The key insight from the theoretical model shows that, theoretically, hypoxia can have an ambiguous effect on the optimal harvest shares from the hypoxic and non-hypoxic fishing zones. Results from the empirical model indicate that an increase in hypoxic water condition reduces the share of harvest from the hypoxic water zone, compared to the other fishing zones. |
| Keywords: | hypoxia, harvest, fishery, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q22, Q57, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205108&r=env |
| By: | Ang, Frederic; Mortimer, Simon; Areal, Francisco; Tiffin, Richard |
| Abstract: | Using a nonparametric framework, we analyse the impact of dynamic profit maximization on biodiversity for a sample of UK cereal farms for the year 2007. Recognizing the drawbacks of directly implementing biodiversity as an output or input in a distance function framework, we only consider inputs and outputs that are clear choice variables from the firm’s perspective. We use a dynamic, intertemporal profit function to take into account adjustment costs. We assess how dynamic profit maximization may shift land use allocation and, as a consequence, the Shannon index for crop diversification. Doing so allows us to calculate the shadow prices of crop diversification in a novel way that is consistent with the dynamic theory of the firm. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, Shannon index, network DEA, dynamic optimisation, shadow value, United Kingdom, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, D22, D24, D92, Q15, Q51, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205857&r=env |
| By: | Serfis, Jim |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:usao14:205000&r=env |
| By: | Jensen, Kimberly L.; Lambert, Dayton M.; Clark, Christopher D.; Holt, Caroline; English, Burton C.; Larson, James A.; Yu, Edward; Hellwinckel, Chad |
| Abstract: | A triple hurdle model is used to estimate cattle farmer willingness to adopt prescribed grazing on farmland east of the 100th meridian in response to a hypothetical incentive program. First the interest in adoption is modeled, then willingness to accept a hypothetical incentive, followed by modeling of acreage converted. Farm size did not influence program interest, but positively impacted acres converted among those interested. The supply elasticity of program acres with respect to an incentive is 0.13; thus an additional percent incentive is projected to result in an additional 0.13 percent of acres enrolled into the program on owned acres. |
| Keywords: | Prescribed Grazing, Adoption, Triple Hurdle Model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea14:162247&r=env |
| By: | Hurley, Terrance M.; Mitchell, Paul D. |
| Abstract: | The objectives of this research were to assess 1) the value of alternative insect management practices to farmers and 2) how these values relate to nonpecuniary factors such as simplicity, convenience, yield risk, and human and environmental safety. To accomplish these objectives, we conduct¬ed telephone surveys in 2014 of corn and soybean farmers in the U.S. as well as corn, soybean and canola farmers in Canada. Corn farmers were queried about their use in 2013 of Bt corn, insecticide seed treatments, soil insecticides and foliar insecticides. Soybean and canola farmers were queried about their use in 2013 of insecticide seed treatments and foliar insecticides. All farmers were queried about their educational background, farming experience, insect pests of concern, sources of insect management information and nonpecuniary factors influencing their insect management decisions. Finally, all farmers were asked about the value they receive from these various insect management practices. Factor analysis was used to better understand the nonpecuniary factors influencing farmer pest man¬agement decisions. Also, econometric methods were used to better un¬derstand regional difference in pest management practices and the value of these practices as well as how differences in these pest management practices and the value of these practices related to various nonpecuniary factors. Finally, the results of the econometric analysis were used to esti¬mate the value of these different insect management practices to farmers. Based on these results, neonicotinoid seed treatments were the most valued insect management practice for North American corn, soybean and canola farmers, with a total farmer value of $1.43 billion in 2013. Bt corn was second, with a total farmer value of $1.3 billion in 2013. The total farmer values of foliar and soil insecticides were $306 million and $175 million respectively. Taken as a whole, these results demonstrate that neonicotinoid seed treatments provide substantial value to North American corn, soybean and canola farmers. |
| Keywords: | neonicotinoid, insecticide, non-market valuation, interval regression, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205129&r=env |
| By: | Chitchumnong, Piyayut; Horan, Richard D. |
| Abstract: | One of the main challenges in livestock production is to manage disease risks. Producers can implement preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of becoming infected; however, such efforts exhibit positive spillover effects that generate strategic behaviors. In this setting, prior work has shown that multiple equilibria could arise, particularly when one’s risk management choices and neighbors’ choices are strategic complements. We expand on prior work to examine how the availability of multiple risk management choices, as well as the role of market price responses, may affect the uniqueness and stability of strategic outcomes. We find that modeling multiple choices is important because the presence of these choices can significantly alter the predicted strategic interactions and outcomes; for instance, we can identify conditions under which having multiple choices is more likely to yield unique and stable Nash equilibria. We have found that appropriate policies are able to improve social welfare and to reduce the risk of coordination failure. In addition, our results show the importance of considering the role of market price responses, which can also facilitate risk management to promote stability and uniqueness. |
| Keywords: | Strategic interactions, Spillover effects, Multiple Nash equilibria, Multiple choices, Market effects, Biosecurity, Livestock disease management, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205778&r=env |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | The genetic diversity of traditional food crops is rapidly declining in the Pacific Islands, as is also true globally. This loss in the Pacific is of particular concern worldwide because some of these islands (such as New Guinea) are primary centres of origin of several globally important food crops (e.g. bananas and sugar cane). This article provides background information on the evolution of the diversity of these crops, investigates (within the Pacific context) the socioeconomic reasons for this loss, analyses its possible economic consequences, and considers the economic benefits and costs of conserving crop varieties. The potential economic benefits foregone by failing to conserve a crop variety that possesses genetic attributes which would counter a productivity reducing new disease or environmental development is shown to depend on the nature of the demand function for the crop’s production. Other things being held constant, this potential loss is greater the larger is the absolute demand for a crop’s production and the more inelastic is this demand. Staple crop’s production seem to satisfy these conditions, especially the first one. In fact, gene banks in the Pacific Islands have concentrated on conserving varieties of staple crops. However, ignoring the conservation of minor traditional crops may not always be optimal, given that circumstances change. The economics and costs associated with the conservation of crop diversity in situ and ex situ are discussed. The effective analysis of this is shown to be challenging but it is an important consideration in making conservation decisions. Unfortunately, this subject appears to have received little attention in the Pacific as well as globally. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity loss, crop varieties, gene banks, genetic capital, food crops, food security, Pacific Islands, sustainable development., Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Q1, Q2, Q3, O1, |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:168374&r=env |
| By: | Vollaard, Ben (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | The probability of conviction commonly varies across different circumstances due to imperfect monitoring. Evidence of whether and how offenders exploit gaps in monitoring provides insight into the process by which deterrence is produced. We present an empirical test of temporal displacement of illegal discharges of oil from shipping, a major source of ocean pollution, in response to a monitoring technology that features variation in the probability of conviction by time of day. After sunset and before sunrise, evidence collected using airborne radar day-round becomes contestable in court because the nature of an identified spot cannot be verified visually. Using data from surveillance flights<br/>above the Dutch part of the North Sea during 1992-2011, we only find evidence for temporal displacement after 1999, with further tightening of the regulations. By that time, the overall level of discharges had been reduced considerably, making the observed temporal displacement relatively small in absolute levels. |
| Keywords: | deterrence; pollution; environmentel crime |
| JEL: | K32 K42 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:ecd1f718-05f7-43cd-b237-2f480498ab42&r=env |
| By: | Eskander, Shaikh M.S.U; Barbier, Edward B. |
| Abstract: | Tenure security and subsistence needs influence the choice between unexploited topsoil and unspent money (i.e., savings) as the mode of transfer. Using a unique household-level dataset from Bangladesh, which contains data on cropping-intensity and savings spent on education, we detect that rural agricultural households with secured tenure have lower cropping-intensity and higher educational expenditure. Furthermore, tenure security and poverty have opposite, but not offsetting, effects. Households prefer higher educational expenditure to lower cropping-intensity as the mode of transfer. Thus, increased public expenditure may lower the pressure on land and soil resources, by lowering private educational expenditure. |
| Keywords: | Cropping-intensity, educational expenditure, soil conservation, subsistence needs, tenure security., Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q24, D13, D64, Q15, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205225&r=env |
| By: | Weber, Jeremy G.; Key, Nigel; O'Donoghue, Erik J. |
| Abstract: | Federally subsidized crop insurance has expanded in recent decades, with annual premium subsidies increasing from roughly $1 to $7 billion dollars between 2000 and 2013. The 2014 Farm Act further expanded crop insurance, making it the main conduit of financial support to farmers. Although designed for non-environmental goals, subsidized insurance may affect the use of land, fertilizer, and agrochemicals and therefore environmental externalities from agriculture such as nutrient and chemical runoff into lakes and streams. We use a newly constructed farm-level panel data set to examine farmer responses to changes in insurance coverage. Identification comes from an instrumental variable approach that exploits program limits on coverage, which constrained the response of some farmers to increasingly generous subsidies more than others. Our estimates indicate that expanded coverage had a small, if any, effect on farm decisions such as fertilizer and chemical use. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q15, Q18, Q12, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:204972&r=env |
| By: | Liu, Pengfei; Swallow, Stephen K. |
| Abstract: | We generalize the dominant assurance contract (Tabarrok, 1998) to the threshold public good provision. This contract offers, to donors who agree to a minimum price, an assurance payment as compensation in the event that fundraising fails to achieve the threshold needed to fund the good. We analyze the outcomes when individuals face 1) a minimum price for eligibility for the assurance payment and 2) an assurance payment that differs from the suggested price. We report a field experiment to fund bird habitat in Rhode Island, USA. An increase of assurance payment does not necessarily increase donations; however, for online donation data, we find positive evidence that the assurance payment can increase donation probability. Assurance payments could potentially improve fundraising success and the private provision of public goods. |
| Keywords: | Assurance Contract, Public Good Provision, Ecosystem Service, Field Experiment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, Q56, Q57, C72, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205384&r=env |
| By: | Chen, Tianjie; Swallow, Stephen; Johnston, Robert |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205793&r=env |
| By: | Towe, Charles |
| Abstract: | We examine both the short- and long-term effects of newly preserved open space in an exurban landscape. The open space is secured via voluntary perpetual easements that sever the development right from the land. We find mixed results with significant impacts on developable neighboring parcels, both on their likelihood of subdividing and on their likelihood of entering a preservation easement. We show that subdivision and preservation activity disproportionately locates near past neighboring preservation easement activity. The first outcome is an unintended consequence in contrast to policy objectives while the latter is, in fact, a policy induced effect. The analysis relies on a unique spatially explicit parcel-level dataset documenting residential development and preservation activity for almost 30 years, the primary objective is to test for interaction effects among parcels which would be impossible with any other sort of data and the results are robust across models addressing endogeneity concerns. |
| Keywords: | Land Use, Policy Evaluation, Open Space Amenities, Propensity Score Matching, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q24, R14, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205316&r=env |
| By: | João Paulo Viana |
| Abstract: | A Política de Garantia de Preços Mínimos para Produtos da Sociobiodiversidade (PGPMBIO) tem como objetivos reduzir variações na renda dos extrativistas e apoiar a valorização de seus produtos. A operacionalização da PGPMBIO é de responsabilidade da Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab), a qual determina o preço mínimo para certos produtos oriundos de extrativismo, e paga um benefício correspondente à diferença entre o preço mínimo definido pelo governo e o preço de venda dos produtos, na forma de subsídio. Após quatro anos e meio de execução, a PGMBIO alcançou pouco mais de 12 mil extrativistas em onze estados e 84 municípios, pagando R$ 16,1 milhões em subsídios. Extrativistas da Bahia, do Maranhão e do Amazonas receberam R$ 6,1 milhões (38%), R$ 4,7 milhões (29%) e R$ 2,2 milhões (14%), respectivamente. A Conab alocou no período aproximadamente R$ 64 milhões para o pagamento de subsídios. Entretanto, apenas 25% do montante foram efetivamente executados no pagamento de subsídios para apenas seis dos catorze produtos apoiados pela política. Aproximadamente 38% do valor total foi pago em subsídios para a fibra de piaçava, seguindo-se os pagamentos para amêndoas de babaçu (30%), borracha (27%), castanha-do-brasil (4%) e, por fim, para os frutos de açaí e do pequi, que juntos somaram menos de 1% dos pagamentos. O aperfeiçoamento da PGPMBIO requer que a Conab continue expandindo a carteira de produtos apoiados, bem como atuando junto a parceiros de maneira a expandir o número de extrativistas portadores da Declaração de Aptidão ao Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar (DAP) e adotar, no cálculo dos preços mínimos, os custos ambientais dos produtores extrativistas. The Price-Support Policy for Biodiversity Derived Products (PGPMBIO) aims to reduce income variations for extractivists and to support the valorization of their products.In exchange, the extractivists, by using their traditional, reduced impact exploitation techniques, contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources inside and outside protected areas. The implementation of PGPMBIO is the responsibility of the National Supply Company (Conab), which sets a minimum price for selected products and operationalizes the payment of the benefit, in the form of a subsidy.The benefit corresponds to the difference between sale price of the extractive products and the minimum price set by the government. After four and a half years, the PGPMBIO has reached over 12 thousand extractivists in 11 states and 84 counties, paying R$ 16.1 million in subsidies. Extractivists from Bahia, Maranhão and Amazonas received R$ 6.1 million (38%), R$ 4.7 million (29%) and R$ 2.2 million (14%), respectively. In the period under consideration, Conab allocated approximately R$ 64 million for payment of subsidies. Yet only 25% of this was actually paid out as subsidies for just six of the fourteen products supported by the policy. Approximately 38% of the amount paid was for piassaba fiber; followed by babassu seed (30%), rubber (27%) and Brazil nut (4%), complemented by assai and souari nut, which together accounted for less than 1% of payments. Upgrading PGPMBIO requires that Conab keeps expanding the portfolio of supported products as well as working together with partners in order to increase the number of DAP certified producers; and to adopt, in the calculation of minimum prices, the environmental costs of extractivists. |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2104&r=env |
| By: | Mahesh, Ramachandran |
| Abstract: | Human perception of water quality that determines utility and behavior may not correspond to often used science-based measures, leading to mismeasurement of implicit prices in hedonic models. This paper seeks to estimate the effect of water quality degradation on the sale price of coastal single-family residential properties using a spatially explicit hedonic approach, while validating the measure of water quality using a behavioral approach. The results show that a combined approach of hedonic modeling and behavioral validation is an important preliminary step in addressing omitted variable and perception biases present in traditional hedonic modeling approaches. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic, coastal, spatial, behavioral, water quality, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q5, Q510, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205664&r=env |
| By: | Bergtold, Jason S.; Ramsey, Steven M. |
| Abstract: | Estimation of binary choice models typically require that the econometric model satisfy the utility maximization hypothesis. The most widely used models for this purpose are the binary logit and probit models. To satisfy the utility maximization hypothesis the logit and probit models must make a priori assumptions regarding the underlying functional form of a representative utility function. Such a theoretical restriction on a statistical model withouth considering the underlying probabilistic structure of the observed data can leave the postulated estimable model statistically misspecified. Feed-forward back-propagation artificial neural networks (FFBANN) provide a potentially powerful semi-nonparametric method to avoid misspecifications. This paper shows that a single-hidden layer FFBANN can be interpreted as a logistic regression with a flexible index function. An empirical application is conducted using FFBANNs to model a contingent valuation study and estimate marginal effects and willingness-to-pay. Results are used for comparison with more traditional methods such as the binary logit and probit models. |
| Keywords: | Binary Choice, Contingent Valuation, Logistic Regression, Neural Networks, Marginal Effects, Seminonparametric, Willingness to Pay, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205649&r=env |
| By: | De Valck, Jeremy; Broekx, Steven; Liekens, Inge; Aertsens, Joris; Vranken, Liesbet |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of nearby nature substitutes on preferences for nature restoration. Previous studies have generally approached the substitution question by looking into competing destinations. We evaluate substitutes from the respondent’s viewpoint. We use a contextual approach relying on densities of nature substitutes within various ranges from each respondent’s home. This approach has the advantage of allowing the consideration of the direct, indirect and non-use values of nature. Data from three similar discrete choice experiments carried out in Flanders (northern Belgium) are compared. Different spatial discounting factors are tested to better understand how the substitution effect behaves with regard to distance. Latent class analyses are performed to account for preference heterogeneity among respondents. Our results show divergent behaviours across groups of respondents. The “distance-to-substitutes” affects the way respondents rank substitutes and we observe a significant influence of the squared average buffer distance. However, this effect varies in sign across case studies and classes of respondents. Our research calls for further investigation of the influence of taste heterogeneity and nature perception on people’s capacity to value nature. The eligibility of potential nature substitutes and what contributes to their relative attractiveness compared to other substitutes, deserve further exploration in future research. |
| Keywords: | discrete choice experiment, distance, GIS, latent class, nature valuation, spatial, substitute, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q20, Q26, Q51, Q57, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:kucawp:182808&r=env |
| By: | Swaibu, Mbowa; Komayombi, Bulegeya; Charles Kizza, Luswata |
| Abstract: | This brief highlights the quality concerns of inorganic fertilizers on the Ugandan market. The findings reported are an excerpt from a study that analysed the quality of inorganic fertilizers on the Ugandan market1. The analysis was based on 170 samples (in 50 kg bags and small 1-2 kg packs) of the commonly used fertilizers on the Ugandan market i.e. urea, NPK, DAP and CAN that were purchased and subjected to rigorous laboratory tests. Procedures followed in the purchasing of fertilizer samples mimicked a farmer purchasing fertilizers randomly from any input dealer countrywide. Analytical results from the fertilizer samples revealed low quality fertilizers with moisture content above acceptable limits of 0.5-1.5 percent; and untruthfulness in both weight and nutrient content. In some instances, the nutrient content quoted on the labels did not match with the analytical content. This has serious consequences because fertilizer recommendations are based on the nutrient content. If the nutrients are not of the right quality, then the end-user (a farmer) will not attain the intended crop response to fertilizer application. The study findings reveal that re-packaging fertiliser into smaller quantities is justifiable to meet the requirements of smallholder farmers, but leads to loss of nutrients (especially nitrogen); and also aggravates the high moisture content problem. Results reveal gaps in the current regulatory system; therefore there is an urgent need for government to approve and operationalize the fertilizer policy, regulations and strategy. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcpb:206173&r=env |
| By: | Mekonnen, Dawit; Bryan, Elizabeth; Alemu, Tekie; Ringler, Claudia |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the tradeoffs between domestic and productive uses of biomass energy sources in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia using a non-separable farm household model where labor and other input allocations to energy collection and farming are analyzed simultaneously. We estimate a system of five structural equations using three stages least squares and find that use of dung as a domestic fuel source has a negative impact on agricultural productivity while, use of fuelwood is associated with increased productivity. In particular, on-farm production of fuelwood appears to provide many benefits for crop productivity and labor savings, by making fuelwood collection easier and more convenient for households. The results show that households remain reliant on multiple sources of traditional biomass fuels and that these are largely complementary. At the same time, rural households have limited options to meet their domestic energy needs, and most lack access to modern fuels and technologies. The discussion suggests ways of making domestic energy collection more efficient through policy interventions aimed at the promotion of agroforestry and increasing access to new energy-efficient technologies. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, energy, fuelwood, gender, tradeoffs, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205752&r=env |
| By: | Moreno-Sánchez, Rocio del Pilar; Maldonado, Jorge Higinio; Gutiérrez, Camilo Andrés; Rubio, Melissa |
| Abstract: | La valoración económica tradicional (VE) se ha constituido en una herramienta fundamental para apoyar el establecimiento de áreas marinas protegidas como la estrategia preferida para la conservación de los ecosistemas marinos y costeros y de los servicios que éstos proveen. Sin embargo, generalmente, estos ejercicios estiman los beneficios que la conservación genera a actores situados fuera de las mismas, quienes no hacen uso extractivo de los recursos como su principal fuente de alimento e ingresos, y han ignorado los valores que las comunidades locales otorgan a los ecosistemas que las rodean, o los costos de oportunidad que las comunidades locales, usuarias de recursos, asumen cuando deben enfrentar las restricciones que imponen las AMPs en el acceso a los recursos. Adicionalmente, se ha cuestionado la pertinencia de realizar VE en contextos locales porque su implementación aún enfrenta desafíos prácticos, metodológicos, éticos y políticos. Siguiendo las recomendaciones de The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), este estudio propone una metodología de valoración económica que es innovadora, porque combina herramientas cualitativas de valoración que permiten capturar la importancia relativa que los usuarios locales otorgan a los ecosistemas, y a los diversos servicios que proveen, con herramientas cuantitativas estándares de la VE, experimentos de elección, que permiten capturar la disponibilidad a aceptar restricciones en el uso de recursos impuestas por el establecimiento de AMPs. La metodología propuesta incorpora enfoques de valoración colectiva y deliberación grupal, en donde la construcción participativa de los escenarios de base y de cambio permite un mejor entendimiento, por parte de los usuarios de recursos, de la situación hipotética a valorar. |
| Keywords: | Valoración participativa, comunidades locales, experimentos de elección, métodos de asignación de puntajes, Colombia., Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, C25, C81, Q01, Q22, Q51, Q56, |
| Date: | 2013–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulaedd:161374&r=env |
| By: | Benavidez, Justin; Richardson, James; Anderson, David |
| Abstract: | Several unique factors will make 2015 a watershed year for the CRP. First, the Agriculture Act of 2014 mandates an acreage reduction in CRP enrollment from thirty-two million acres nationwide to no more than twenty-four million acres by 2018. According to the Agriculture Act of 2014 total CRP acreage must be no more than twenty-six million acres in 2015. The mandate comes at a ‘ten-year interval’ from the beginning of the CRP, meaning that a large amount of CRP acreage is up for renewal. According to an Economic Research Service report published in August 2014, an estimated two million acres are scheduled for reenrollment at the end of fiscal year 2014. Complicating the situation further is the drastic change in crop prices over the last year. According to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute’s December 2014 U.S. Crop Price Update, corn price has fallen from a national average of $6.89/bu in 2012 to $4.46/bu 2013, grain sorghum from $6.33/bu to $4.48/bu, wheat from $7.70/bu to $6.70/bu, and soybeans from $14.40/bu to $13.00/bu. Prior to the price decline, per acre return disparity between CRP land and cropland would have been more significant, therefore making the decision to stay in the program or use the land for production easier for producers. This research has several objectives. The first is to provide a decision aid for producers that will help them decide at what bid price they should enter the program. This aid will take in to consideration the decision to stay in the CRP, or to go back in to production of several major row crops, or livestock. The second objective of this study will be to develop a ‘probability of acceptance’ for farmers bidding in to this program, based on their bid amount and EBI score. The final result of this paper will be a comprehensive decision aid that will inform producers on the best financial choice they can make, using their probability of acceptance. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205342&r=env |
| By: | Allan, Corey; Jaffe, Adam B; Sin, Isabelle |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys the existing literature on diffusion of environmentally beneficial technology. Overall, it confirms many of the lessons of the larger literature on technology diffusion: diffusion often appears slow when viewed from the outside; the flow of information is an important factor in the diffusion process; networks and organisations can matter; behavioural factors such as values and cognitive biases also play a role. With respect to policy instruments, there is some evidence that the flexibility of market-based instruments can have a beneficial impact on technology diffusion, but there are also numerous cases in which regulations have forced the adoption of new technologies. There would be significant benefit to increased investment in studies that look at questions such as the role of information provision, networks and framing issues in households’ and firms’ adoption decisions. |
| Keywords: | Technology diffusion, technology transfer, policy instruments, green technology, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, O33, Q55, Q56, |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:187037&r=env |
| By: | Lopez Santana, Jeruselsky Mercedes; Mendez Zepeda, Antonia Francisca |
| Abstract: | El objetivo de la presente investigación consistió en evaluar, por primera vez, la salud del cuerpo de agua del río Estero Real mediante la variación de los parámetros fisicoquímicos y su reflejo en la dinámica del crecimiento de los grupos de clorofitas, cianofitas, diatomeas y dinoflagelados en el periodo de junio-noviembre 2013. El río se dividió en 10 puntos de muestreo, desde la Cooperativa Herrera Membreño hasta AGRIMAR II (23 Km). Una vez al mes se tomaron lecturas de los parámetros físicos y químicos (salinidad, oxígeno, temperatura, pH y turbidez) y recolectaron muestras de agua para evaluar las concentraciones de los géneros de microalgas. El río Estero Real presentó los mayores niveles de turbidez de la entrada de la Cooperativa Carlos Fonseca hacia aguas arriba. En los meses de junio y noviembre, el sector de la Cooperativa Herrera Membreño presentó valores de salinidad de 16 ppm y 0 ppm, respectivamente. Los valores de oxígeno disuelto, en promedio, son menores a 2 mg/L en los meses de junio-septiembre, experimentando un leve incremento en octubre y noviembre llegando a 3.15 y 2.5 mg/L, respectivamente. En todo el periodo de estudio el valor de pH del agua presentó un rango de 7-7,2. De manera general, los cuatro grupos de microalgas estudiados presentan disminución de las concentraciones de cel/mL a lo largo del periodo de estudio. De cada uno de los grupos estudiados los géneros que presentaron las mayores concentraciones con respecto a los demás géneros de su grupo son: Chlorella sp., Microcystis sp., Esqueletonema sp. y Prorocentrum sp. y los grupos que presentaron relación entre el número de células/mililitro y la concentración de la salinidad del agua fueron en orden decreciente los dinoflagelados (R= 0,570; P< 0.001), seguido de las diatomeas (R= 0,442, P= 0.010), clorofitas (R= 0,337, P=0.009) y cianofitas (R=0.139, P <0.001). Nuestros resultados sugieren que el bajo valor de la concentración de oxígeno disuelto encontrado en todo el periodo de estudio, podría afectar la salud del cuerpo de agua del río Estero Real, situación que propicia la perdida de la biodiversidad estuarina. Asimismo, la presencia de Microcystis sp., Esqueletonema sp. y Prorocentrum sp. indican posibles ambientes de riesgo para la salud animal y humana. |
| Keywords: | clorofitas, cianofitas, diatomeas, dinoflagelados, Microcystis sp., Esqueletonema sp., Prorocentrum sp., Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nauntg:189464&r=env |
| By: | Guney, Selin |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses exchange rate pass through for forest product prices, namely sawnwood, plywood, lumber spruce and logs prices by incorporating smooth structural changes. The major countries investigated are the USA, Japan (Tokyo), Nigeria (Sapele), Malaysia and Gabon and similar or identical products that are traded are examined. In keeping with Hanninen et al.(2000, 20006), paper examines regime-specific ERPT effects. Results suggest evidence for the convenience of the STAR type models (SETAR and LSTAR) to model deviations from LOP in a nonlinear fashion for tropical forest product markets. Reasonable estimates of the threshold values that may be a representation of transaction costs that are in line with the theoretical arguments in international trade were found. It was also observed that the values of threshold variables vary hugely across different countries and also the impulse responses analysis for each price pairs are also supporting the changing behavior of price ratios in high and low regimes that may be regarded as another justification to use models accounting for structural changes to model LOP and/or ERPT in a nonlinear fashion. |
| Keywords: | Exchange Rate Pass-Through, Smooth Transition Models, Forest Product Market, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Production Economics, F10, F30, F41, L16, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea15:205107&r=env |