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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2010‒03‒28
39 papers chosen by |
| By: | Ahearn, Mary; Newton, Doris |
| Abstract: | USDA defines beginning farmers and ranchers as those who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less either as a sole operator or with others who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less. Beginning farmers tend to be younger than established farmers and to operate smaller farms or ranches, some of which may provide no annual production. Beginning farmers often face obstacles getting started, including high startup costs and limited availability of land. USDAâthrough the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Serviceâprovides loans and conservation assistance to beginning farmers and ranchers. This report draws on data from annual surveys and the Census of Agriculture to provide policymakers with a better understanding of beginning farmers and ranchers, including how they contribute to U.S. agricultural production. |
| Keywords: | agricultural production, Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), beginning farmers and ranchers, Census of Agriculture, farm assets, Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Conservation Reserve Program, operator characteristics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58618&r=agr |
| By: | Greene, Catherine; Dimitri, Carolyn; Lin, Biing-Hwan; McBride, William; Oberholtzer, Lydia; Smith, Travis |
| Abstract: | Consumer demand for organic products has widened over the last decade. While new producers have emerged to help meet demand, market participants report that a supply squeeze is constraining growth for both individual fi rms and the organic sector overall. Partly in response to shortages in organic supply, Congress in 2008 included provisions in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (2008 Farm Act) that, for the first time, provide fi nancial support to farmers to convert to organic production. This report examines recent economic research on the adoption of organic farming systems, organic production costs and returns, and market conditions to gain a better understanding of the organic supply squeeze and other emerging issues in this rapidly changing industry. |
| Keywords: | organic agriculture, farmers, handlers, consumers, organic production costs, organic supply, marketing organic products, organic label, organic price premiums, local food, organic food imports., Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58617&r=agr |
| By: | Andersen, Erling |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2010–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:seamre:58104&r=agr |
| By: | Kuiper, Marijke |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2009–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:seamre:57933&r=agr |
| By: | Rizzoli, Andrea E.; Wien, J.J.F.; Knapen, Rob; Ruinelli, Lorenzo; Athanasiadis, Ioannis; Jonsson, Benny |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2009–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:seamre:57935&r=agr |
| By: | Geniaux, Ghislain; Bellon, Stephane; Deverre, Christian; Powell, Blaise |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:seamre:57937&r=agr |
| By: | Claassen, Roger; Morehart, Mitch |
| Abstract: | Agricultural Land Tenure and Carbon Offsets examines the potential role that land ownership might play in determining the agricultural sectorâs involvement in carbon sequestration programs. By estimating the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural producers who own most of the land they operate, this report finds that land ownership should not be a constraining factor in agricultureâs ability to provide carbon offsets. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Climate change, carbon sequestration, carbon offsets, cap and trade programs, farmland ownership, tenure, farming practices, conservation practices, Conservation Reserve Program, crops, livestock, environmental services, ERS, USDA, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uerseb:58994&r=agr |
| By: | Elbersen, Berien S.; Kempen, Markus; Andersen, Erling; Staritsky, Igor G. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2010–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:seamre:58107&r=agr |
| By: | Ma, Shan |
| Abstract: | Agriculture, an ecosystem transformed by humans for the purpose of supplying food, fiber and biofuel, can provide people a host of benefits, or ecosystem services (ES). While markets exist for farm products, many of todayâs central agro-environmental policy concerns are related to ES that lack complete markets, such as regulating ES and recreational, aesthetic and cultural ES. Valuation of non-marketed ES linked to agriculture is needed to improve their utilization and efficient provision. Some ES that facilitate agricultural production or provide natural amenities can be perceived by people through various natural resources and landscapes on farmlands and surrounding areas. One indirect way to measure the value of ES is via what people pay for the lands that provide them. In this hedonic study, the agricultural land price is used to reveal marginal values of those resources and landscapes, and to infer the degree of ES capitalization into land prices in southwestern Michigan. Results suggest that recreational and aesthetic services are largely capitalized through lakes, rivers, wetlands, woodlands and conservation lands. Some production-supporting regulating services may have also been partially capitalized. Certain ES from the land parcel and its surroundings are unlikely to be capitalized due to unawareness or little realized value (e.g., beneficial insects and soil microbial communities), as well as missing incentive for large scale public goods (e.g., carbon sequestration and biodiversity). In comparing sales prices and appraisal values, we find that sales prices reflect amenity benefits better than appraisal values, which tend to emphasize agricultural production potential and built capital values. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural land, Hedonic, Ecosystem services, Sales price, Appraisal value, GIS., Environmental Economics and Policy, Q24, Q51, Q57., |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midagr:59321&r=agr |
| By: | Gale, Fred; Buzby, Jean C. |
| Abstract: | The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationâs (FDA) increased attention to food imports from China is an indicator of safety concerns as imported food becomes more common in the United States. U.S. food imports from China more than tripled in value between 2001 and 2008. Addressing safety risks associated with these imports is difficult because of the vast array of products from China, Chinaâs weak enforcement of food safety standards, its heavy use of agricultural chemicals, and its considerable environmental pollution. FDA import refusal data highlight food safety problems that appear to recur in trade and where FDA has focused its import alerts and monitoring efforts. FDA refusals of food shipments from China suggest recurring problems with âfilth,â unsafe additives, labeling (typically introduced in food processing and handling), and veterinary drug residues in fish and shellfish (introduced at the farm). Chinese authorities try to control food export safety by certifying exporters and the farms that supply them. However, monitoring such a wide range of products for the different hazards that can arise at varying points in the supply chain is a difficult challenge for Chinese and U.S. officials. |
| Keywords: | China, food imports, food safety, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, misbranding, labeling, refusals, shipment, violation., Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2009–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58620&r=agr |
| By: | Akpalu, Wisdom; Anders, Ekbom |
| Abstract: | Improving soil carbon through conservation agriculture in developing countries may generate some private benefits to farmers, as well as sequester carbon emissions, which is a positive externality to society. Leaving crop residue on the farm has become an important option in conservation agriculture practice. However, in developing countries, using crop residue for conservation agriculture has the opportunity cost of feed for livestock. In this paper, we model and develop an expression for an optimum economic incentive that is necessary to internalize the positive externality. A crude value of the tax is calculated using data from Kenya. We also empirically investigated the determinants of the crop residue left on the farm and found that it depends on the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil, the prices of maize, whether extension officers visit the plot or not, household size, the level of education of the household head, and alternative cost of soil conservation. |
| Keywords: | conservation agriculture, soil carbon, climate change, bioeconomics, Kenya |
| JEL: | C61 Q18 Q24 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2010–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-10-07-efd&r=agr |
| By: | Tsunehiro Otsuki (Associate Professor, Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP)) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of adopting agroforestry and other soil conservation technologies (SCTs) on agricultural productivity in Kenya, using plot-level data on agricultural production. Using a treatment effects model, it is found that adopting agroforestry methods, as well as manure, chemical fertilizer, and terracing/trenching, increases total factor productivity (TFP) and land productivity. The TFP gain is estimated to be 40.7 percent from agroforestry. The average treatment effect for the adopters, however, turns slightly negative due to the negative self-selection effect, possibly because the agroforestry adopters tend to perceive adverse conditions on their land, which motivates them to adopt SCTs. In this sense, agroforestry and the other SCTs are preventive actions predominantly taken by farmers facing adverse conditions. The analysis demonstrates that both the simple mean comparison and the least squares estimation, due to their failure to reflect those complexities, could obscure the real benefits of SCTs. |
| Keywords: | soil conservation technology; sustainability and agricultural productivity; self-selected participation; treatment effects model |
| JEL: | O13 H43 Q57 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:10e001&r=agr |
| By: | Dimitri, Carolyn; Oberholtzer, Lydia |
| Abstract: | Organic foods now occupy prominent shelf space in the produce and dairy aisles of most mainstream U.S. food retailers. The marketing boom has pushed retail sales of organic foods up to $21.1 billion in 2008 from $3.6 billion in 1997. U.S. organic-industry growth is evident in an expanding number of retailers selling a wider variety of foods, the development of private- label product lines by many supermarkets, and the widespread introduction of new products. A broader range of consumers has been buying more varieties of organic food. Organic handlers, who purchase products from farmers and often supply them to retailers, sell more organic products to conventional retailers and club stores than ever before. Only one segment has not kept paceâorganic farms have struggled at times to produce sufficient supply to keep up with the rapid growth in demand, leading to periodic shortages of organic products. |
| Keywords: | Organic, organic food, marketing organic products, organic supply chain, producing organic products, handling organic products, organic price premiums, ERS, USDA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58615&r=agr |
| By: | Lu, Yang; Goldman, Dana |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effects of relative food prices on body weight and body fat over time in China. We study a cohort of 15,000 adults from over 200 communities in China, using the longitudinal China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991-2006). While we find that decreases in the price of energy-dense foods have consistently led to elevated body fat, this price effect does not always hold for body weight. These findings suggest that changes in food consumption patterns induced by varying food prices can increase percentage body fat to risky levels even without substantial weight gain. In addition, food prices and subsidies could be used to encourage healthier food consumption patterns and to curb obesity. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aawewp:58249&r=agr |
| By: | Lohmar, Bryan; Gale, Fred; Tuan, Francis; Hansen, Jim |
| Abstract: | Thirty years ago, China began implementing a series of reforms to improve effi ciency in agricultural production. These, and subsequent, reforms reshaped Chinaâs position in the world economy. Chinaâs rapid economic development and transformation from a planned to a market-oriented economy, however, has reached a stage where further efficiency gains in agricultural production will likely hinge on the development of modern market-supporting institutions. The development of market-supporting institutions in China will bring about long-term and sustainable benefits to producers and consumers in China and the global agricultural economy. This report provides an overview of current issues in Chinaâs agricultural development, policy responses to these issues, and the effects of these policies on Chinaâs growing role in international markets. |
| Keywords: | China, economic reform, economic development, agricultural production, agricultural trade, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58316&r=agr |
| By: | Hanson, Kenneth; Oliveira, Victor |
| Abstract: | In fiscal 2008, the $4.6 billion of food purchased with vouchers from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) generated $1.3 billion in farm revenue. Because WIC participants would have purchased some of these foods with their own money in the absence of the program, the net addition to farm revenue from WIC is estimated at $331 million and the net increase in full-time-equivalent farm jobs at 2,640. The study uses an Input-Output Multiplier Model to derive these estimates and assumes that recent revisions in the WIC food packages were implemented in all States in fiscal 2008. |
| Keywords: | WIC, WIC linkage to farm sector, WIC food package, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, FANRP, ERS, USDA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uerseb:58992&r=agr |
| By: | Hoppe, Robert A.; MacDonald, James M.; Korb, Penni |
| Abstract: | Ninety-one percent of U.S. farms are classified as smallâgross cash farm income (GCFI) of less than $250,000. About 60 percent of these small farms are very small, generating GCFI of less than $10,000. These very small noncommercial farms, in some respects, exist independently of the farm economy because their operators rely heavily on off-farm income. The remaining small farmsâsmall commercial farmsâaccount for most small-farm production. Overall farm production, however, continues to shift to larger operations, while the number of small commercial farms and their share of sales maintain a long-term decline. The shift to larger farms will continue to be gradual, because some small commercial farms are profi table and others are willing to accept losses. |
| Keywords: | Family farms, farm businesses, farm financial performance, farm-operator household income, farm operators, farm structure, noncommercial farms, small farms, small commercial farms, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58300&r=agr |
| By: | Chang, Hung-Hao; Boisvert, Richard N. |
| Abstract: | Since both release resources from agricultural production, it is not surprising that decisions to work off the farm and to participate in the U. S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are correlated. By incorporating these decisions into a heteroskedastic specification of a farm household income function, we identify their effects on mean income, as well as on the variability in income for groups of farm households participating in combinations of these activities. Our results indicate participation in CRP and off-farm work by the operator and the spouse increase farm household income, but these choices also decrease the variability in household income among participant households relative to that of other farm households with otherwise similar characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Conservation Reserve Program, farm household income, income distribution, off-farm work, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2009–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:57035&r=agr |
| By: | Nord, Mark |
| Abstract: | Eighty-four percent of U.S. households with children were food secure throughout 2007, meaning that they had consistent access to adequate food for active, healthy lives for all household members. Nearly 16 percent of households with children were food insecure sometime during the year, including 8.3 percent in which children were food insecure and 0.8 percent in which one or more children experienced very low food securityâthe most severe food-insecure condition measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Numerous studies suggest that children in food-insecure households have higher risks of health and development problems than children in otherwise similar food-secure households. This study found that about 85 percent of households with food-insecure children had a working adult, including 70 percent with a full-time worker. Fewer than half of households with food-insecure children included an adult educated past high school. Thus, job opportunities and wage rates for less educated workers are important factors affecting the food security of children. In 2007, Federal food and nutrition assistance programs provided benefits to four out of five low-income, food-insecure households with children. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, food insecurity, hunger, children, SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, WIC, National School Lunch Program, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58616&r=agr |
| By: | Wokia-azi N. Kumase (Georg-August University Goettingen); Herve Bisseleua (Georg-August University Goettingen); Stephan Klasen (Georg-August University Goettingen) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine gender differences in cocoa production in Cameroon using a survey of about 1000 cocoa producers in Southern Cameroon. We find that women farmers have access to land (of similar size to men), but through different mechanisms than men. They are strongly disadvantaged when it comes to access to extension services and marketing and control of proceeds. Despite these disadvantages, the productivity in terms of output per unit of land is similar to that of their male colleagues. Productivity analyses suggest that a slight disadvantage in productivity on female plots turns into a slight advantage when controlling for all the factors affecting productivity. The policy message from this is quite clear: Independent women farmers are a reality in Cameroon that need equal access to inputs and technologies, and support. If given equal opportunities, their productivity is at least as high as that of men. |
| Keywords: | Gender inequality; cocoa farming; Cameroon |
| JEL: | J71 Q12 O13 |
| Date: | 2010–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:027&r=agr |
| By: | Hanson, Kenneth; Andrews, Margaret |
| Abstract: | The Food Stamp Program reduces benefits to households as their earnings rise. This reduction is affected by household participation in other Government assistance programs (cross-program effects) and by the wide variation in State-specific reduction rates for earnings in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This study shows that, for food stamp recipients who also received cash benefits through TANF in 2005, an extra dollar of earnings led to a change in food stamp benefits ranging from a reduction of 36 cents to an increase of 9 cents. On average across all States, the overall reduction rate for food stamp benefits and TANF cash benefits was about 70 percent, or about double the benefit reduction rate for a household that received only food stamp benefits. Even with this high benefit reduction rate, households received larger net incomes by working and earning income. Cross-program effects and State-level variability in food stamp benefits are important considerations in integrating Government assistance programs into a support system for low-income households. |
| Keywords: | Food Stamp Program benefit formula, Effective Benefit Reduction Rates, food stamp benefit effects from TANF earning deductions, effective tax rates., Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58315&r=agr |
| By: | Chang, Hung-Hao; Boisvert, Richard N. |
| Abstract: | Using data from a national survey of farm households in the United States, this paper examines the effects of farm householdsâ decisions to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and to work off the farm on the technical efficiency of farm household production. After controlling for the self selection bias in estimating the multiple output-oriented distance functions, results show that operatorsâ decisions to work off the farm (both separately and combined with participation in CRP) lead to higher technical efficiencies for farm household productionâ implying improvements in the resource allocation between farm and other productive activities by farm households. The technical efficiencies of household production of those farm households participating only in the CRP are lower. |
| Keywords: | Conservation Reserve Program, off-farm work, household technical efficiency, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2009–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:57034&r=agr |
| By: | Alan Matthews (Department of Economics and Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin); |
| Abstract: | There has been much debate about the possible negative effects of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for food security in ACP signatories. This paper investigates whether the commitments undertaken by ACP governments when they signed EPAs are a threat to food security. Analysis of the tariff liberalisation schedules suggests that ACP states have made use of their flexibility to exempt many food staples from liberalisation. However, the EPA provisions on other border measures are more problematic. Although EPAs were intended to create a WTO-compatible system of trade preferences between the EU and ACP states, all of the EPAs require ACP signatories to make commitments which go beyond WTO disciplines. From a food security perspective, these commitments concern tariff standstill provisions, the ban on export restrictions and export taxes, limits on the size of the remedies available under the bilateral safeguard clause, and the failure to prohibit the use of export subsidies by the EU partner. The paper recommends that disciplines which potentially might limit the policy measures which ACP governments could take to improve food security, and which go beyond WTO-compatible provisions, should be removed either through renegotiating the existing interim agreements or when establishing full EPAs. However, it also warns that an excessive focus on trade policy has distracted attention from the more important question of the domestic initiatives that ACP governments take to ensure that agriculture can play its role as an engine of growth and poverty reduction. The potential of EPAs to improve food security can only be realised by a focus on greater agricultural investment and improved institutions. |
| Keywords: | Economic Partnership Agreements, ACP, EU, trade, food securityG |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iis:dispap:iiisdp319&r=agr |
| By: | Yano, Yuki; Blandford, David; Surry, Yves |
| Abstract: | The promotion of biofuel use in preference to traditional petroleum-based transportation fuel has linked agricultural commodity markets and energy markets more closely together. Biofuel policies can involve multiple policy instruments, but studies examining their effects on biofuel feedstock and energy markets are scarce. In addition, the impact of alternative policy approaches in the context of variability in petroleum prices and the supply of biofuel feedstock has received limited attention. Focusing on the current situation in the United States, in which prohibitively high duties prevent imports of ethanol, this paper examines how variability in the price of petroleum and corn supply affects domestic market variability under three types of domestic policies, inclusive of their combinations, for promoting the use of ethanol: 1) the provision of a fixed subsidy (tax credit) for blending ethanol with gasoline; 2) the use of a blending mandate; and 3) the use of a consumption mandate. Varying relative variability in petroleum price and corn supply, we analyze numerically the implications of changes in domestic biofuel policy for variability (measured by the coefficient of variation) in ethanol use and corn prices. We also provide some brief insights into the design of market stabilization policies. Results obtained from Monte Carlo simulations show that in the absence of mandates the quantity of ethanol used under a subsidy policy is highly susceptible to fluctuations in oil prices and corn supply, providing that there are no constraints to adjustment in ethanol demand. The impact of oil price fluctuations on the price of corn is large, but corn supply fluctuations have no or a small impact on the equilibrium corn price, depending on the flexibility of the use of corn in ethanol refining. This is because variations in ethanol volume absorb shocks caused by corn supply fluctuations. Consequently, high fluctuations in the price of petroleum are expected to result in high variability in the corn price in the absence of mandates. With a mandate (with or without a subsidy), as the likelihood that the mandate becomes binding increases, variability in ethanol use declines, the impact of variations in petroleum price on corn prices is reduced, and the impact of variations in corn supply on prices is accentuated. Therefore, if the mandate is likely to be binding, high fluctuations in corn supply are expected to result in high variability in the corn price. If the likelihood that ethanol use exceeds the mandated level is high, the effects are similar to those in the absence of a mandate. The effects of changes in biofuel policy, such as a reduction in the level of tax credit under a mandate and an increase in its level, on the price of corn depend on the relative magnitudes of world oil price and domestic corn supply fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, subsidies, mandates, variability, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:suaswp:58486&r=agr |
| By: | Thurgood, John M.; Bagley, Paula C.; Comer, Challey M.; Flaherty, Daniel J.; Karszes, Jason; Kiraly, Mariane |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2009–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudaeb:57045&r=agr |
| By: | Schmit, Todd M.; Hulcoop, Leslie; Weybright, Robert |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2009–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudaeb:57046&r=agr |
| By: | Todd, Jessica E.; Mancino, Lisa; Lin, Biing-Hwan |
| Abstract: | Food away from home (FAFH) has been associated with poor diet quality in many studies. It is difficult, however, to measure the effect of FAFH on diet quality since many unobserved factors, such as food preferences and time constraints, influence not just our choice of where to eat but also the nutritional quality of what we eat. Using data from 1994-96 and 2003-04, this study applies fixed-effects estimation to control for such unobservable influences and finds that, for the average adult, FAFH increases daily caloric intake and reduces diet quality. The effects vary depending on which meals are consumed away from home. On average, breakfast away from home decreases the number of servings of whole grains and dairy consumed per 1,000 calories and increases the percent of calories from saturated and solid fat, alcohol, and added sugar (SoFAAS) in a day. Dinner away from home reduces the number of servings of vegetables consumed per 1,000 calories for the average adult. Breakfast and lunch away from home increase calories from saturated fat and SoFAAS on average more among dieters than among nondieters. Some of the overall negative dietary effects decreased between 1994-96 and 2003-04, including those on whole grain, sodium, and vegetable consumption. |
| Keywords: | Food away from home (FAFH), diet quality, 2005 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2005), fixed-effects, first-difference, Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:58298&r=agr |
| By: | Hignight, Jeffrey; Stiles, Scott; Wailes, Eric; Watkins, Brad; Miller, Wayne |
| Keywords: | Arkansas, crops, disaster, revenue, loss, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Financial Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, Q10, Q11, Q54, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uarksp:57087&r=agr |
| By: | Jacobs, Elne; Punt, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify trade trends for primary products from the Western Cape agricultural, forestry and fisheries sector for the period 2000 until 2008. Annual trade data was received from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The postal code information were used to identify from which province exports were sent or for which province the imports were destined. The postal code provided is that of the exporter or importer, and thus does not reflect the final destination in South Africa of imports or the origin (province) of our exports. Traded goods are classified using the Harmonised System (HS) that is used internationally. Results indicate that in South Africa and the Western Cape, the value of total imports are more than total exports, but in the agricultural sector of both South Africa and the Western Cape exports still dominate, i.e. South Africa and the Western Cape are still net exporters of agricultural products. For the Western Cape horticultural products, especially fruits, are at the top of the list of agricultural exports. The two main export countries for horticultural products are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Agricultural imports to the Western Cape are mostly field crops such as wheat, rice and tobacco, mainly from Argentina, Thailand and the United States of America. The values of exports and imports of fisheries and forestry from 2000 to 2008 indicate that the value of fish trade varies over time and the main trading partners also changes notable every year. The value of forestry trade is more stable than fish trade and since 2004, the main export country was Vietnam, but the United States dominates for imports. Nominal values are reported. |
| Keywords: | General Trade, Country and Industry Studies of Trade, International Relations/Trade, F10, F14, |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:provbp:58064&r=agr |
| By: | Sibylle Lehmann (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn); Oliver Volckart (London School of Economics and Political Science, Economic History Department) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the Swedish general elections that took place in spring and autumn 1887. Our aim is to discover which groups of voters were responsible for the severe losses that the supporters of free trade suffered in the second of these contests, and that allowed the protectionists to gain the majority in parliament and to initiate a new tariff policy. We find that while capital owners and wage earners consistently favoured free trade, in the spring election only the largest farmers supported protectionism. By autumn, political preferences among smallholders and middling farmers had shifted in favour of protectionism, too. As these groups were not specialised in the production of import competing goods, we assume that the political landslide in the autumn elections can be attributed to the influence of anti-free trade propaganda. |
| Keywords: | voting, election analysis, tariffs, trade policies |
| JEL: | N43 N53 N73 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2010_08&r=agr |
| By: | Cleary Haines; Paul Cashin; Montfort Mlachila |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of the erosion of trade preferences, with a focus on the export of Caribbean bananas to Europe. Estimates are made of the magnitude of implicit assistance provided over a period of three decades to eastern Caribbean countries through banana trade preferences. The value of such assistance rose until the early 1990s, and has declined precipitously since then. Using vector autoregressive analysis, the paper finds that changes in the level of implicit assistance have had a considerable macroeconomic impact, especially on Caribbean real GDP growth. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural exports , Agricultural production , Agricultural trade , Bananas , Caribbean , Economic models , Export prices , Terms of trade , Trade liberalization , Trade policy , Trade preferences , |
| Date: | 2010–03–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:10/59&r=agr |
| By: | Ahlheim, Michael; Frör, Oliver |
| Abstract: | With the availability of new techniques to close wine bottles avoiding the risk of “corky” taste the tradition of closing wine bottles with cork stoppers is on the retreat. As a consequence the Mediterranean cork oak forests with their rich biodiversity are endangered since their cultivation is not profitable anymore. This paper explores the viability of a market approach to the preservation of these ecologically valuable landscapes. In an internet-based Contingent Valuation survey we assess wine consumers' willingness to pay a higher price for wine bottles closed with high-quality cork stoppers instead of buying wine with alternative stoppers in order to preserve the cork oak landscapes. We find that though many wine consumers have experience with tainted wine they are, nevertheless, willing to buy wine with (highquality) cork stoppers at higher prices. Their average WTP is, however, not sufficient to cover the additional costs of these stoppers. Thus, we propose a financing mix of market returns and government subsidies for preserving the cork oaks. As a precondition for this market approach to be successful bottles with high-quality cork stoppers must be clearly identifiable in the shops, and consumers must be informed about the ecological consequences of supporting the cork production. -- |
| Keywords: | Provision of public goods,cost-benefit analysis,Contingent Valuation,cork oak landscapes |
| JEL: | D6 H4 Q27 Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:122010&r=agr |
| By: | Todd, Jessica E.; Newman, Constance; Ver Ploeg, Michelle |
| Abstract: | In 1996, the safety net for poor households with children fundamentally changed when Federal legislation replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This study investigates participation in, and benefits received from, AFDC/TANF and food assistance programs, before and after the legislation, for children in low-income households (income below 300 percent of the Federal poverty line). The results show that, between 1990 and 2004, the share of children receiving food stamp benefits declined, most notably among children in the poorest households (income below 50 percent of the Federal poverty line). The share of children receiving benefits from the school meals programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) rose, mainly among children in low-income households with income above the Federal poverty line. Overall, the share of children in households that received benefits from AFDC/TANF or food assistance programs grew from 35 percent to 52 percent. However, the net result of these changes is that average total inflation-adjusted household benefits from all programs examined declined. The decline was largest among children in the poorest households. |
| Keywords: | Food Stamp Program, SNAP, food assistance, welfare reform, WIC, school meals, National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, TANF, AFDC, multiple program use, Survey of Income and Program Participation, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:58613&r=agr |
| By: | Durst, Ron |
| Abstract: | Significant changes in Federal individual income and estate tax policies have occurred over the last 10 years. Analysis suggests that changes in Federal tax provisions affecting both individual and business income taxes have reduced average tax rates for all farm households, resulting in the lowest tax burden on farm income and investment in a decade. Similarly, an analysis of the changes to Federal estate tax policies suggests that increases in the value of property that can be transferred to the next generation free of the estate tax, combined with special provisions for farmers and other small businesses, have greatly reduced the number of farm estates subject to the tax and the amount owed. While nearly 10 percent of commercial farm estates could owe tax in 2009, only 1 to 2 percent of all farm estates are estimated to be subject to the Federal estate tax this year. |
| Keywords: | income tax, estate tax, tax rates, estate, Federal tax policy, farm losses, commercial farms, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:58619&r=agr |
| By: | Adam Stefan (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides estimates of the costs of organic agriculture (OA) programs, and sets them in the context of the costs of attaining the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It analyzes the costs of OA programs in four case studies: Wanzai, PRC; Wuyuan, PRC; Kandy, Sri Lanka; and Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. The results show considerable variation across the case studies, suggesting that there is no clear structure to the costs of adopting OA. Costs do depend on the efficiency with which the OA adoption programs are run. The lowest cost programs were more than ten times less expensive than the highest cost ones. A further analysis of the gains resulting from OA adoption reveals that the costs per person taken out of poverty was much lower than the World Bank’s estimates, based on income growth in general or based on the detailed costs of meeting some of the more quantifiable MDGs (e.g., education, health, and environment). |
| Keywords: | organic agriculture programs, MDGs, case studies |
| JEL: | Q01 Q18 Q56 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:2167&r=agr |
| By: | Aslihan Arslan; Christopher P. Reicher |
| Abstract: | The Ethiopian government initiated the Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative in 2004 for three coffee origins: Sidama, Yirgacheffe and Harar. Following a court case between Starbucks and the Ethiopian government regarding this initiative, Oxfam organized a publicity campaign. This paper evaluates the effect of these interventions on the export prices of trademarked Ethiopian coffees. We find that the prices of the trademarked coffees increased by about 10% following these interventions. The magnitude of this change is comparable with the farm gate prices reported in the literature; however, we cannot establish direct causation or observe the passthrough into farm gate prices |
| Keywords: | Trademarks, Coffee Prices, Public Campaign, Oxfam, Starbucks, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | O13 F14 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1606&r=agr |
| By: | Steve A. McIntosh; Rob Southwick; John C. Whitehead |
| Abstract: | Wetlands have functional values that may extend beyond traditional real estate values. This paper uses contingent valuation and ecological field assessments to place heterogeneous values on heterogeneous wetlands. Wetland functions evaluated are water quality, habitat, recreation, storing floodwaters and erosion abatement. The model used incorporates the public value of wetland functions and adds that value to the common local appraisal cost. We use a “percentage willingness-to-pay” value elicitation question in which respondents are asked about the percentage amount that the state government should pay over and above market value to purchase and preserve a wetland function. These values are then mapped into an ecological matrix to value the wetland as a whole. We show how these values can be applied in the field. Key Words: wetlands, appraisal, evaluation, mitigation, contingent valuation methodLength: |
| JEL: | Q51 Q57 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apl:wpaper:10-01&r=agr |
| By: | Subhani, Dr.Muhammad Imtiaz; Osman, Ms.Amber |
| Abstract: | Brand awareness remains fundamental to consumer life as the interaction initiation point to the brands. This paper put forwards the relationship of brand awareness on consumer/brand loyalty in the packaged milk brands in the urban Pakistan. There is evidence of brand awareness and consumer/brand loyalty on brand equity. The approach takes into account sources of brand equity—brand awareness, consumer/brand loyalty, and image (perceptions / associations) on the sample of consumer households. This paper suggests that in Pakistan among the packaged milk brands there is no relationship between brand awareness and consumer/brand loyalty. In addition, testing relationship by setting perceptions as the mediating variable between brand awareness and consumer/brand loyalty results the same. For practicing managers and marketers it is important to note that there is a need to update their understanding of the nature and role of brand awareness on convenience products which has random switch purchase behavior and low-involvement. In the current era, marketers must develop branding strategies for commodity-products such as milk packaged brands by investing and strengthening its supply chain system, to create and increase brand awareness for the milk brands in-turn to build consumer/brand loyalty than trying to directly build consumer/brand loyalty by heavy spending on promotional tools. |
| Keywords: | BRAND AWARENESS, CONSUMER/BRAND LOYALTY, BRAND EQUITY, BRAND PERCEPTION |
| JEL: | B21 M37 L66 D71 M31 D12 A13 D43 D01 |
| Date: | 2009–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21366&r=agr |
| By: | Hochman, Gal (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics); Sexton, Steven E. (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics); Zilberman, David D. (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics) |
| Keywords: | trade, biofuels, environment, globalization, capital flows, technical changes, household production |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:are:cudare:1100&r=agr |